#i mean you can only read so many fics with the same premise

[presidentofthelipglossclub]

ok i love rescue bots and the fandom but we are NOT tapping into proper fic potential ok. where are the fics about heatwave and jules verne meeting in the future? where are fics about the rescue bots’ missions/lives in space? where are the fics about them on other planets or just on cybertron? where’s the fics on frankie and heatwave talking about triple changing? where’s the fics on the rescue bots meeting team prime? where’s the fics on an au of the show where heatwave accepts optimus’ offer to join his team? WHERE ARE THE FICS??

[storiesforallfandoms]

too far ~ jschlatt

word count: 2231

request?: no

description: in which he takes his dickishness a little too far

pairing: jschlatt x female!reader

warnings: swearing, rpf, angst, use of y/n, schlatt being a dick, insecurities and self...issues (?),

masterlist (one, two, three)

*i read a fic with this premise like a week or two ago but i cannot for the life of me find it anymore and i needed some mean schlatt angst turned fluff so i am writing my own version. if you are the original author this one goes out to you i will tag you if i can find you*

Everyone who knew Schlatt knew that he was sometimes "mean". It was never serious, it was all just meant to be teasing. For the most part, the worst of it went to Minx who was able to match his energy without it ever affecting her. Everyone else just got a few comments every now and then, but never anything incredibly rude.

Until it suddenly got directed all on you.

You had known Schlatt for some time, having met him through his online friend group while gaming one night. You had become acquainted quickly and you found yourself being excited whenever you knew you'd be playing or recording with him. It seemed like he felt the same way, or at least he was friendly and civil. That was until one recording when you were excitedly talking about something, he suddenly piped up to say, "Jesus, do you ever shut the fuck up?"

Everyone was laughing, so you figured it was just a joke, but it took you by surprise. You knew Schlatt was blunt, but it seemed completely out of nowhere when no one else seemed to mind your babble. You chuckled along with everyone, but you found yourself falling silent for the rest of the recording. Some of the others would include you in the conversation, but you only gave short answers.

After that, it seemed like Schlatt would be picking on you more and more. He rarely had anything nice to say to or about you. It became harder and harder to want to do recordings or streams when he was acting like that, and your mutual friends were starting to notice his continued bullying. It made everyone feel uncomfortable, even if he kept insisting it was just jokes.

It all came to a head when you were asked to do one of those "dating shows" on YouTube. It was you, Minx, Emma, and Jaiden, and Schlatt, Ted, Tanner, and Connor, with Jack hosting it. You weren't sure what the rules were or how the game was supposed to go down, but you loved watching the hilarity of other online "dating shows", and couldn't wait to be a part of it. You were a little weary of Schlatt's presence, but there were so many people involved that you figured you wouldn't get the brunt of his insults today.

Jack sent you the link for the Zoom call. You were one of the last people to join the call, so you were immediately met with a cacophony of overlapping voices. You chuckled to yourself at the familiar chaos. You adjusted your volume settings and positioned your webcam before turning it on.

A high pitched scream brought the conversations to a halt.

"What the fuck was that?" Jack said with a laugh.

"I think it was Schlatt," Ted said.

"Yeah it was me. Sorry, I just saw a jumpscare," Schlatt responded.

"What the fuck are you on about?" Minx asked.

"I saw (Y/N)'s ugly mug suddenly join the call and it scared me."

Everyone was silent. Your face burned and tears started to form in your eyes. Your body moved before your brain could register, your hand moving your mouse to click the "End Call" button. The moment everyone's faces disappeared, you allowed yourself to cry.

For all the hurtful stuff Schlatt had said, he had never gone after your appearance. It was one of your biggest insecurities because you felt like you didn't measure up to other female streamers. Sure, that was a cliche insecurity, but it was your truth. You marveled at how pretty all your friends were and would often mentally compare yourself to them. It wasn't something you had spoken publicly about, so obviously Schlatt didn't know he would touch a nerve, but it still felt like an extremely low blow. Especially for it to be the first thing you heard when you turned your camera on.

You sent Jack a message to apologize for leaving, but you told him you didn't feel up to doing the show anymore. He responded almost immediately to let you know that it was okay and he didn't blame you for your decision. You were shutting down your set up when your Discord started ringing; a voice call from Ted.

"Aren't you supposed to be recording?" you asked, trying to keep your voice even.

"We're taking a quick break while Jack decides if he wants Schlatt to compete anymore," Ted explained.

"Don't kick him off just because of me," you said.

"We don't really want him to play after what he said. It was incredibly fucked up and uncalled for."

"He's said worse to Minx."

"Yeah, but he and Minx have an understanding. We've all noticed that he makes fun of you, but you don't respond the way Minx does. I don't know what his problem is recently, but you don't deserve those insults. You're an incredibly kind person, unlike us assholes."

You chuckled through your tears. "You're not an asshole, Ted."

"I am sometimes, don't lie."

"Only a little bit." You wiped the fresh tears from your eyes and let out a shaky sigh. "I don't want to record with Schlatt anymore."

"I understand," Ted said. "I'll let everyone know, too."

"Thank you."

When you and Ted hung up, you sat back in your chair and took a deep breath. The sting from Schlatt's words was still strong, but you also felt some relief in having talking to Ted about it and him assuring you that you wouldn't have to record with Schlatt anymore. It still upset you that Schlatt made such a 180 when it seemed like you were both getting along so well, but you weren't going to wast anymore brain space on him.

Your phone buzzed from a Discord notification. You looked down at the screen to see Schlatt was trying to send you a message. Instead of reading it, you went to his Discord profile and blocked him.

~~~~~~

It was easier than you thought to forget about Schlatt and his insults. All your friends did as you asked didn't invite you to recordings if Schlatt was a part of them, or vice versa with him. You went on to block him on all social media, and even muting his channels on YouTube so you wouldn't risk seeing him in your recommended. It was like he never existed, and you didn't even care.

You were in the middle of editing a video when a knock came at your door. You assumed it was the Uber Eats you had ordered, so you saved your progress and got up to answer. Instead of finding a delivery guy, you came face to face with the man you had been avoiding for weeks.

"What are you doing here?" you asked. "Wait, better question, how do you know where I live?"

"I bothered Ted until he told me," Schlatt responded.

You rolled your eyes. "Ted's dead to me."

You went to close the door, but Schlatt's hand shot out to block the door. You scowled at him. "Take the hint, Schlatt. I don't want to see you."

"I know you don't, and I get why, but please let me explain and apologize."

"I don't want to hear what you have to say. Honestly, you don't even deserve to take up my time to try and give some shitty explanation for your shitty behavior."

"I know - "

"You really hurt me," you cut him off. "I took the insults in silence because I knew you poked fun at everyone, but they really hurt me. It got to a point where I was dreading having to interact with you every time someone invited to a Discord call and I saw that you were in there too."

"(Y/N) - "

"And then you called me ugly in a call in front of everyone and that hurt the most. I know it shouldn't have given how much else you've said to me, but my looks are one of my biggest insecurities, and I know you probably didn't know that but still, going after how I look was such a low blow. And it hurts so much because I thought we were friends, but suddenly you're insulting me and bullying me at every chance you get, and it almost felt worse than the way you act with Minx so how am I supposed to take it as anything other than you not liking me and - "

Your rambling was finally cut off by Schlatt taking hold of your face and pulling you into him. You were shocked when you felt his lips against yours. Your initial reaction was to pull away and to start yelling at him again, but suddenly your brain switched to tell you lean into it. So you did. You pressed into Schlatt as much as you could; your body against his, your hands on his hoodie, standing on your toes so you could reach him.

Also to your surprise, Schlatt was the one to pull away first. He rested his forehead against yours, keeping his face inches apart from yours.

"That was one way to get me to stop talking," you joked.

He smiled. "Seemed to be the most effective way."

"So, are you about to tell me the reason you were being mean to me is because you liked me? Because if so, that is a very elementary school explanation."

"Unfortunately, that is the reason."

You pulled away from Schlatt and finally gestured for him to come in. You realized you had been standing in the doorway this whole time, and now that you had somewhat calmed down, you figured you'd listen to his explanation. You were much more intrigued now after your kiss, although you were far from completely forgiving him for what had happened.

You led Schlatt to your living room and you both sat down on the couch. You were very much aware of how close you two were sat. His body was inches away from yours. You could be touching him again if you wanted to.

"I was trying to push you away," he said, bringing you back to the topic at hand. "I was afraid you wouldn't like me back, and it felt easier to make you hate me than to risk that rejection."

"No offense, but that's a really stupid idea."

He chuckled. "Yeah, no offense taken because you're right. I should've just talked to you about it like an adult instead of assuming you would've rejected me. I thought the easier route would be to make you hate me, but then that succeeded and I realized how much I missed getting to talk to you. Not to sound too corny or anything, but everything felt empty when you weren't around. I knew I fucked up majorly, and I tried to apologize that night after what happened, but you blocked me on everything and I realized just how far I had actually gone."

You thought back to the call you had with Ted that day when everything had come to a head with Schlatt. "Did you not tell Ted how you felt?"

"Not until I begged him for your address. Listen, I love Ted and all, but the dude has a big fuckin' mouth. He would've let it slip one way or another how I feel about you, and I didn't want that. Actually, no one knew. I kept it to myself completely."

"You're an idiot. You know that, right?"

He nodded. "I'm more than well aware, yes."

"And you know it's going to take more than just kissing me and apologizing to completely redeem yourself? I understand why you acted the way you did, as stupid as it was, but it still really hurt me. I'm not going to forget everything just because you were being stupid."

"I don't expect you to. All I wanted was to explain myself and hope that you'd give me a second chance. I'm serious, (Y/N), I don't think I can just not have you in my life. If you don't want to date, that's fine. I'm okay with something platonic, as long as I have you."

You smiled and finally dared to reach out and touch him. You took his hand in yours, running your thumb over his knuckles. You then dared to lean forward and capture his mouth with yours in a quick, gentle kiss. When you pulled away, Schlatt had a smile on his face. You mirrored it with a smile of your own.

"You'll have to work for forgiveness," you told him. "You can start by taking me out on a date."

"Done," he said. "Right now?"

You giggled. "Maybe tomorrow. I was actually in the middle of editing a video when you came, and I have Uber Eats on the way."

As if on cue, there was a knock at your door.

"That would be it."

"Can I stay and hang out while you edit?" Schlatt asked.

"Of course. But I'm not sharing my food with you."

"Oh, you have no choice. You invited me in and let me stay, therefore you're sharing your food."

"You know what? Go fuck yourself, I take back everything I said."

You exclaimed and giggled as he suddenly grabbed you and pulled you to him. "Too late! No take backs! You're stuck with me for a very long time, toots."

[goddessofwaifus]

Honestly, how shinichiro managed to worm his way into my heart still surprises me...

He deserves love too! Nobody is "normal" by any standard so how does such a cute weirdo like him get rejected 20 times?! Whatever if none of the girls who rejected him want him, I guess that means no competition for being his one and only 😏 This one is for my shinichiro lovers!!! He may be a loser but he can get a w while being a lovable dork. If takemichi can get bitches, then it shouldn't be out of the question that the same can apply for Shin!

Premise- You're walking in the usual crowded halls and there you bump into the boy who every girl gossips about at school. He's weird, he doesn't know how to talk to women, he's been rejected 20 times... Wait what? How does that happen?!

The only real thing I should note for this little fic is that you and Wakasa are familiar with one another. The relationship can be familial or platonic. Might give some background in a follow up part if anyone is interested in exploring that aspect in detail. Reader,as usual,is gender neutral for inclusion of all who read.

Lose to win

Shinichiro Sano x Reader

How many dates would you go on with this guy? Honest answer for the shinichiro simps out there, I know you're out there!

Personally, I'd go on however many dates he wants. If none of those girls want him, I'll take him myself 🙄 their loss

Honestly school is shit. Especially when you're the subject of gossip and your friends have better luck with pulling than you. That was the case for Shinichiro Sano. Poor guy had been rejected 20 times, he was about ready to give up and just fully dedicate himself to the gang life with his love for bikes. Walking down the hall with him were his friends Wakasa Imaushi, Takeomi Akashi, and Keizo Arashi (Benkei).

"Honestly Shin, I'm starting to worry about ya bud. You are just woman repellant, I feel so sorry for you."

"Maybe his charisma just doesn't work on girls? You really need to stop letting your intrusive thoughts win, man... Girls avoid you like the plague and I don't need you scarin' off the bad bitch I snagged this week..."

"You'll find someone eventually. Girls are picky. If it doesn't work out, who knows? Maybe datin' ain't it for you. If not, you got us! We can go out and kick some ass! Cheer up man!"

Shinichiro gave a small smile to Benkei 's attempt to lighten the mood. He gave a frown to Waka and Takeomi, feeling the white-haired boy give him a light punch to his arm with a chuckle. Some friends they are, he joked until he felt an impact with his chest that prompted him to stop with his friends pausing as well. You had bumped into him on your way to class and bowed your head, embarrassed for getting in his way.

"Sorry... I wasn't watching where I was going. I didn't mean to bump into you! I'll get out of your way... Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll-"

"No no you're fine! This hallway is pretty crowded so it was inevitable for this to happen."

Shinichiro laughed, rubbing the back of his neck while his friends looked down at you. You were going to move aside and continue your trip to your classroom when Wakasa spoke to you.

"Yo y/n, before we let you go off to class, I got a question for ya. You got a type?"

The question was completely out of left field so it flustered you a bit. What kind of question was that? Wakasa is prone to asking odd questions, sometimes to perform his own personal social experiments among other students or simply for his own personal reasons. Maybe to try and see what kind of person they are? You'll never know, Waka has always been aloof and a bit mysterious in your time of knowing him. You shrug and figure maybe this was a test of his, so you'll bite.

"In partners? I guess it doesn't really matter as long as they're not an absolute dickhead or douchebag just looking for some ass. I can't stand people like that..."

You trailed off as you had glanced up at Shinichiro who looked like he wanted to be swallowed up by the floor beneath him. You slowly put the pieces together as you remembered overhearing girls giggling and laughing or gagging in over exaggerated disgust about some boy named Shinichiro who had supposedly asked them out, but they either blew him off or he somehow screwed up his chance by saying something weird that creeped them out/ turned them off from pursuing anything with semblance to a date. You then glanced over to Wakasa as you were now curious to see where he was going with the question now answered.

"You've probably heard around the hallways, but this guy has had an unlucky streak with the ladies. Unlike everyone else, you're one of the nice ones here on campus. You can probably see where I'm going with this."

You nodded, looking back at the embarrassed delinquent busying his gaze with the floor to avoid looking at his friend who was smirking slightly at the response. A gentle tilt of the chin upwards was almost enough to put the boy into cardiac arrest as he instinctively swallowed against your hold. His charcoal eyes meet your (e/c) ones in hesitation,you can see the anxiety building behind them. He watched your lips as you spoke your next words, his ears at attention.

"Shinichiro Sano. 20 rejections? What did you do to scare them off?"

"Too honest and open."

"Speaks before he thinks."

"Being himself is apparently the worst advice to give him..."

You weren't expecting the three boys to list every fuck up the guy made for every girl he potentially had interest in. You almost felt bad for his string of bad luck, but you figured Waka chose you for the most obvious reason.

You didn't have the best track record with dating either. Although you don't like to admit it, you can sympathize with the guy. Girls, as a joke or genuinely, have warned/told you not to get involved with Shinichiro. Social suicide they said, you'll never be able to eat with the little friends or acquaintances you have due to associating with the weirdo, he's not worth it, and so many other disheartening things they spewed from their mouths.

Who were they to tell you not to give the guy a chance? Half of the girls spouting that crap are either dating his friends, fucking with them, or haven't gone out with the guy and are simply regurgitating what everyone else is saying so they don't get the side-eyed by the ones who started spreading the information around. Some say he's bad in bed, others say he's not loyal, one girl said she couldn't stand the smell of smoke from his cigarettes, another said he's impulsive, and so on. They all had something to say about him, never positive things. You would decide, not them. You had a mind of your own and you could tell a person's intentions based on their behavior.

So what if he's bad in bed? Sex ain't everything in a relationship after all.

Most of the girls couldn't say anything about being unfaithful to their lovers when the hypocrisy in their words couldn't have been any louder.

You honestly couldn't say anything about the cigarette smell, but he should quit while his lungs are still healthy and taking in oxygen as they should. The smell is an easy fix, just spritz cologne lightly and it should overpower the nicotine. Some girls don't mind the smell or taste.

As for the impulsive part, that comes with being a teenager. Hormones play a part as well as other factors. You were a bit impulsive yourself so maybe every now and then you say something wild or out of turn that would have the class eyeing you like hawks and wishing you could vanish right then and there in the moment. Perfectly natural for both men, women, and those in between. Nothing new, nothing bad.

Half of the things they listed weren't heinous or anything worth slandering his name for. If not to put these stupid rumors to rest, then just to satisfy your buzzing questions and learn more about the boy who supposedly repels girls away instead of attracting. You don't know what the fuss is about, he's a good looking guy and from the times you've passed by him and his friends, he's a pretty chill and easygoing person. He's never caused trouble, his grades are decent, has no problem with making friends, and you wouldn't assume he's the type of guy who goes around beating up other students to assert his dominance and show off his strength. Shinichiro Sano seems like your average guy who might,one day, work as a mechanic.

"You're L/n-san, right? Y/N? Y-you don't have to if you don't want to... I wouldn't want to waste your time or bring down your reputation by asking you out. I'd only cause problems for you and the guilt would eat at me..."

"What are you talking about? What reputation? I'm not losing anything from going out with you. If anything, I think I wanna be the first girl to ask you out for a date~ If that's alright with you."

You stopped his train of thought right then and there, a smile he swore took the breath from his lungs and made his heart thump hard enough to nearly trigger a panic in him. You asking him ,out of all the guys at school, on a date? He swears up and down his face has never been so hot and red like a cherry tomato before. The smugness of his best friends couldn't have been so loud and visible to the raven-haired delinquent.

It's a big deal because, while you aren't picky about who you date and go out with, you still have standards and on top of that, major trust issues as a result of relationships that have crashed and burned for many reasons you don't want to think about or remember right now.

"Is it cool if I join you guys for lunch period? For once, I don't wanna eat by myself like I usually do. Maybe I can also get to know the gossip topic himself better so I have a better read of him. I have a fairly good idea of who he is,but I wanna hear it from his mouth for myself."

"Y-yeah! It's perfectly fine for you to hang with us! T-the more the merrier right?"

He can't get any cuter or be more of a dork, you thought to yourself with a soft smile. The boys walked you to class and you breezed through most of the lectures with ease. Before you can even squeeze in a little nap, it's lunchtime and unlucky for you, you completely forgot to make yourself lunch this morning before you took off towards the school grounds. You sighed in disappointment,trudging to the roof as you also didn't have enough money for even a little snack to suffice. All you brought with you on the way up was your sketchbook for doodling while you ate, but maybe today was looking up for you.

"Hey. You made it...Did you forget to make yourself lunch before you went to bed again last night?"

The look on your face gave Wakasa his answer, he chuckled as Shinichiro had been telling Benkei that he was saving the extra bento he made to hopefully give to someone (preferably someone who was a good cook) as a taste tester for his cooking. Ever since his little brother and sister started teasing him about being a bad cook, he had become determined to improve his culinary skills in the kitchen to get his rotten little siblings off his back and prove he was a good cook. The lunch he made tasted fine to him, however a second opinion was needed due to his taste being an "unreliable source" to his siblings and grandfather. No more takeout, he would learn to cook for them. Plus, it makes good practice.

"Alright, what idea kept you up this time? I'm assumin' ya jotted it down in your handy sketchbook so let me have a look and see."

While Benkei was distracted by whatever you had stayed up late to work on instead of getting your precious sleep, Takeomi saw the extra lunch Shinichiro made as a perfect opening for the two of you. He nudged their leader and nodded his head over to you to signal him into seizing the golden opportunity to learn more about you. The messy haired bundle of nerves that was Shinichiro gave a subtle nod to his friend's encouragement, sighing deeply as Wakasa sat on one side of you and Benkei sat by Takeomi. You and Shinichiro were sat in the middle as the five of you sat against the fence walls along the school rooftop, Waka seeming to get the same idea that Takeomi had when he remembered the extra bento his friend was holding onto.

"Uh hey Y/n? So I've gotten into cooking recently on account of wanting to get better at it for my lil siblings and grandpa. S-since you forgot to make lunch for today, I figured maybe you could try the extra one I made and have that if you like it. If it's cool with you, I wanna see what you were working on last night too in exchange. If you're not cool with that, I'll still give you the lunch either way!"

You nodded, a bit nervous about showing him the doodles and pieces you scribbled away in the confines of your sketchbook, but you figured it wouldn't hurt for him to see. You didn't think you were the best artist and admittedly didn't think you were good at cooking to really be a good judge of taste testing. Wakasa would shut down any and all belittling of your skills, be your number one cheerleader, and encourage you to pursue your hobby. If you didn't think you were the best cook, shut up. How dare you call his friend a bad cook? He should have you cook something for him and he'll judge it for himself.

Shinichiro traded you the lunch for your sketchbook under the single condition that he didn't laugh and make fun of what you worked on until 2 in the morning before finally falling asleep upon satisfaction of your finished product. Let it be known that you rarely show anyone your work on account of being laughed at and/or bullied for the subject matter of your pieces. You were an anime fan, you liked to watch anime at night and often imagined scenarios between you and your favorite characters from the media, if inspiration struck (more often than not as you're getting ready to go to bed) you would draw said idea in your sketchbook, erasing and redrawing line after line until it looked exactly like your daydream or was close enough to it.

Watching with held breath as the charcoal eyes of Shin glided across the page where your latest piece from the night before sat. He admired each line you drew, the expressions, poses, no space on the filled canvas was left untouched by the observant eyesight of the gang leader. You were so worried about what he thought about your artwork that you hadn't touched the lunch he gave to you. What did he think of the doodles you made? Was he gonna laugh at you too? So many questions flow into your mind, filling your stomach with dread and slowly regretting handing over your sketches.

"I recognize this character! I've seen the anime before, but I can't remember the name. God... What's it called? Oh! A/n (Anime/name)! It was really good!"

"You've seen that anime? Y-you watch anime? I didn't think you were the type to be into that."

"Well, I remember reading the manga for it and thinking 'what's the anime like?' so I watched it and I got invested! This art is really cool! I like the way you drew them, is this your character in the anime? They look really nice."

You smiled, nodding as Shinichiro didn't need you to tell him what was what. He did notice you hadn't touched the lunch he made yet, he looked through the other pages before he was satisfied with taking in your work and committing it to his memory.

Eventually, you opened the bento and found delicious food inside,wafting to your nostrils and making you salivate from the aroma. Shinichiro watched you drool over what he cooked this morning,pride blooming in his chest at the sense of accomplishment but he needed to know if you would eat it. He needed you to take a bite and give him your thoughts on how it came out. Now you were the one being observed closely with bated breath by Shinichiro as you thanked him for the food, bringing a portion up to your lips taking a bite of what you grabbed. The flavor made you tear up with a smile, chewing thoughtfully to savor the taste in your mouth.

You won't forget the looks on their faces as Wakasa cackled from the range of emotion in his friends in response to what you said about Shinichiro and his food. Shinichiro was redder than a strawberry and trying to cover his face, Benkei nearly spit out his food from how wild your response to the food was, and Takeomi was just as flabbergasted if not in utter disbelief at what came out of your mouth. Once Wakasa could breathe somewhat and finally wipe the laugh tears from his lavender eyes, all the snow haired boy had to say was:

"I told you you weren't the only one who blurts out weird shit on impulse! I tooold you!!!"

You hadn't even realized what you said until you saw Shin turn into a tomato with his coal eyes wide open in shock and other things in the mix. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't flattered by the comment on his cooking. It meant he was improving and his practice was starting to pay off. Did you really love what he cooked that much? If so, he'd make a personal note to try and cook more for you in the future. Maybe he could even taste your cooking one day if the date was still gonna happen and it went well. The date was still on and you'd make sure it was fun for the both of you. This date would be the best one that you and Shinichiro had ever been on.

"Ready to go?"

You gave Shinichiro a nod, looking forward to how this date would pan out. Even if the date didn't go well, you would give him the opportunity to take you on another one to make up for it. The two of you had fun riding around together, watching the world pass by as you were behind him on the bike. He'd check on you every few minutes to make sure you were okay, slow down if he felt you were nervous about the speed he was going, he was very accommodating and that alone made the afternoon all the more enjoyable for you.

Shinichiro took you to the movie theater, you had tickets but wouldn't tell him what movie you were seeing. You wanted it to be a surprise,and you had good seats in the back with a perfect view of the screen as long as no one blocked it in the middle row. You two had all kinds of snacks and the best part about this theater was the security doing their job to ensure the watchers had a good time which meant they made sure everyone turned off their phones or put them on silent. If they didn't, well they would "mysteriously lose signal" on their phones and would be forced to go outside to get better reception. If they brought noisy kids, quiet them down or leave. If you stepped out of the viewing room for any other reason besides going to the bathroom or getting more snacks for the movie, you weren't allowed back inside to avoid disrupting the movie for everyone else.

If the adults who were disregarding the viewing room rules of turning off their phones brought kids, the children would have to leave with the parents or whomever the adult in attendance was. They were serious about their jobs and they too respect the rules of the viewing rooms. You had gotten mildly annoyed because as the movie was getting good, that's when the wailing of upset babies, ringing phones, and loud talking began.

Unbeknownst to either of you, Wakasa happened to be in the watch room with the two of you, acting as the discreet wing man once he spotted you both on the way in. Waka did his part and helped jam the signals of any moviegoers who were on the phone when they shouldn't have been. Many complaints followed by irritated teens and adults alike exited the theater to get better reception to their dropped calls or messages they couldn't send, falling into the trap of being kicked out via signal jammers. If they came with kids, the kids would be escorted to their families to avoid the risk of leaving them unsupervised. It's not like they would be allowed to come back inside once they were out anyway.

With the amount of noise now back at acceptable levels, you could hear the movie and enjoy your large shared bucket of popcorn that you got for the two of you to share. Although you both weren't focused on the movie, moreso on one another as you both softly conversed in the back row while munching on your snacks and sipping your respective drinks. Really, you two were using the time to get better acquainted with one another by learning about your common interests and what lives you two lived. By the time you two noticed the movie was nearly over, you felt kinda bad for not watching it because you didn't know what the movie was about.

You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding when Shinichiro admitted he wasn't really focused either. He'd already seen the movie several times so it didn't really matter, but he still had a great time with you and that's all that really mattered at the end of the day. The movie could have been absolute garbage and he'd much rather talk with you than watch it because he really liked you. You'll admit that,on some level, part of you is happy that other girls aren't attracted to Shinichiro and think they're out of his league. Because you aren't too sure you'd have been able to compete otherwise if there had been anyone else that was interested. If it were up to you, you'd keep this handsome,dorky sweetheart of a boy all to yourself and Shinichiro wouldn't mind it. If this is what being loved feels like, then he's all yours and how can he refuse someone as sweet as you if you ever suggested being his one and only lover? He can't and he won't.

I hope I did Shinichiro justice 👉👈 Same with Wakasa and the other boys too, they haven't been animated yet but with how they act in the manga, I assume they're a couple of bros that fuck around and tease their leader about his failing love life. They might shit on him for it but hey, they aren't your friends if they don't at least try to help set you up with someone they think you have a shot with or try to cheer you up if you've been rejected back to back. Bros roast each other but they've got each other's backs when they need it.

[wrongcaitlyn]

okay fuck so i got an anon ask for solangelo fic recs and then i made a draft on my phone but then deleted it bc i wanted to type it out on my computer but then that deleted the ask too so!! hopefully this reaches the anon i apologize deeply for losing your ask😭

but anyway. SOLANGELO FIC RECS. ALWAYS. ANYTIME. I HAVE SO MANY

so first of all if you wanna check out my ao3 i have a bunch of recs in my bookmarks (57 solangelo ones im pretty sure)

but here are some of my favs

i'm put in awe (of something so flawed and free) by CordeliaRose (@cordelia---rose)

archaeologist!Nico & trauma surgeon!Will AU. this fic is. ohmgyod. nico's internal dialogue is just absolutely perfect in this fic and i laughed so hard and god it was just so beautifully written?? but also solangelo are literally so cute. like. ahglskdf. i gotta reread this actually but anyway (also anything by this author, absolutely hilarious, such good writing)

dumb, dumb love by thegoldenappleofdiscord

five times nico and will are dumb and in love, and the one time they are totally 100% dead serious. i love a good outsider's pov, and this fic is just gorgeous. it's a bunch of different perspectives into solangelo, and it's pure fluff, and it's got some of my favorite solangelo quotes (like, when i read fanfic i screenshot parts i rlly like and i practically screenshotted this entire fic), and their characterization is just so so accurate they're so so in love

paris by ethannku (@ethannku)

Nico has a travel YouTube channel. And a crush on one Will Solace. i'm such a sucker for socmed au's and this one is done SO so well. my all time favorite. and it's sequel too!! the formatting i am in awe of, but other than that, it's just a really good time and i just love all the little details. i've reread this too many times to count and was SO excited when a sequel was published, and i can only hope that there's more to the au in the future!! (also this author writes incredible solangelo fics and even more valgrace fics which i recently just bingeread and are soo good)

Perfect Places by buoyantsaturn (@buoyantsaturn)

“My name’s Will,” he started - so far so good - but then continued, “and I guess my favorite food to cook would be, um, frozen pizza.” Was Nico only attracted to idiots? this one's fucking hilarious. i can't even put it to words like their dynamic in this fic is so funny and yet so cute and nico is honestly just like. shocked that will is somehow still alive?? will's a safety hazard. but also piper and jason in this fic are so funny too, it's honestly just such a good, fun read (and, once again, this author's incredible. read everything by them)

I Can't Help It If You Look Like an Angel by the_oncoming_stormaggedon (@lordstormageddidnt)

Will Solace is a pre-med student whose friends run a true crime podcast called "Nothing to See Here". Nico di Angelo, despite not realizing he's a missing person, is the subject of one of the episodes. They meet by chance in a random bar, and shenanigans ensue. i mean, if it's got a taylor swift title, i'm already sold. and then it's part of a series called "Hey Stephen is a solangelo song and i will die on that hill" which is the realest thing ever?? but ASIDE from that, i could honestly rec this entire series (+ the other series it's a part of, "Nothing to See Here" which is all part of the same au) and also everything by this author - it's hilarious, i just love the premise, and the writing is so good!! and hey stephen is a solangelo song, thereby reinforcing my "fearless is will's favorite album ever of all time and i will die on this hill" argument

Even When the Music's Gone by the_oncoming_stormaggedon

It's the 74th Annual Hunger Games, and Nico and Will are the last two tributes alive. haha this is pure angst. just gutwrenching angst. love a good hunger games au and some MCD!

can i handle the seasons of my life? by buoyantsaturn

“I think that most people your age finished high school, and whether they knew what they wanted to do with the rest of their life or not, they went to college. That was their version of ditching everything they knew in order to find themselves. Maybe it’s time for you to stop taking advice from other kids who grew up the same way you did, and take it from someone who used to be normal.”  FAME AU FAME AU FAME AU FAME AU i mean, not REALLY about the fame aspect of it, but i still love it so so much. will's essentially a nepo baby turned not-nepo-baby turned college student and nico's naomi's driver, and there's even... there's EVEN A VERY BRIEFLY IMPLIED POLLEN. yeah they're relationship is just so cute in this and i love the au and i love how it's written and ugh i need more fame au's in my life

so it turns out teachers don't live at school by RegretfullyRegretful (@marbleheavy)

Nico's TA and students are determined to figure out something, anything about him. Of course, it would all just be a lot easier if they asked. Either way, Professor di Angelo is decidedly a lonely hermit. (Someone should really tell his husband and baby that) this was one of the first solangelo fics i ever read, and it's just. so. funny. another outsider's pov bc i love it, and just... the assumptions abt nico, the fluff of solangelo, and then their story of how they got together is so...ahhsdlkjs this author is just a master at tooth-rotting fluff go read everything they write

my lover's the sunlight by demigodbeautiies

Figure Skater Nico di Angelo has a run in with Ice Hockey Player Will Solace. It doesn't go too smoothly, but then again - when does it ever? OLYMPICS AU. FAME(ISH) AU. IM OBSESSED THIS IS WRITTEN SO WELL and like... the very brief part where it feels a lot like a fame au like i just i'm obsessed can you tell. the writing is just beautiful in this, i love nico's internal dialogue, and... i mean, it's an olympics au. ofc its perfect

The Stolen God by TsarinaTorment (@tsarinatorment)

Python is defeated. The prophecies are restored, and Nero has fallen. Apollo has not been seen since. His trials are over; why isn’t he back on Olympus? okay so. this is a bit of a longer fic. and it's a post-toa, pjoxmcga crossover, and it's not *entirely* focused on solangelo - but when i tell you that this fic, if i weren't reading it on ao3, i would truly and full-heartedly believe was a real life published novel - i am NOT LYING. i rec'd this to my friend right after i read it bc i was just like so so obsessed with it and it's literally just. the plot?? is insane. i'm in awe of the author, bc this isn't even the only novel-length fic that they've written with an insane plot too (their fic Eclipse is also phenomenal, but it's more focused on apollo and hades so i didn't rec it here) there's some fierrochase here, lester being lester, and some very very very cute solangelo! and meg! i think sometimes you read a fic and you're like "oh, shit, that could be a novel, and i would think it's better than some actual novels i've read" and this is one of them

(Please Don't Let Me) Fade Alone by TsarinaTorment

Please. Don't let me. the summary's really short here so it's basically that will gets very very very injured and then apollo saves him (rip, i'm sorry, i suck at summaries) once again this isn't necessarily nico focused... it's much more will & apollo. this author writes the absolute best stuff for the apollo cabin, genuinely, if you love will/cabin 7/apollo PLEASE read everything they've ever written but this is just so angsty and the hurt/comfort is so real and goddd it's so good

he was seen on occasion (pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea) by stargirltv

Nico di Angelo is a completely normal eighteen year old. He attends high school, has a socially acceptable amount of friends for a social outcast and has been in a relationship for the past four years with the guy he’s pretty sure he’s going to marry. He also happens to be the world's biggest bedroom pop artist, ‘Hell’s Angel’, with a fan base that will stop at nothing to uncover his true identity and a Father that continually pushes him to be better. His boyfriend freaking out under every single one of his tweets is making it a bit easier for them to figure it out. so. fame au. y'all already know the premise of this is just absolutely hilarious and the interview?? the posts?? will just being will and i absolutely love his characterization?? and the friend group?? this is one of the funniest things ever but also just written so well anddddd yes yes yes it's a fame au POPSTAR NICO RIGHTS except he's not *really* a popstar in this one but like close enough oh AND it's a taylor swift title??? like this fic was made for me basically

okay that was MUCH longer than intended but i hope you enjoy some of the fics on here!! pls let me know if y'all ever want more recs i read literally so many fics - and if you guys ever want to give me any recs, feel free to do so! as of today, i have read *checks fic tracker bc i'm obsessive and need to keep track of everything* about 7.3 million words of fanfic this year. and that's actually less than normal (for me)

also if anyone reads patrochilles please read this fic it's literally been in my head nonstop for the past few weeks since i've read it and it's one of the best things i've ever read and like holyshit if you read patrochilles read it read it read it

[booksandabeer]

A Man Takes His Sadness Down to the River (The Consolation of Philosophy) (E | 150 K)

To celebrate the completion of the fourth & final part Lost Vocabularies that Might Express (The Memory of These Broken Impressions) in this wonderful series by dorian_burberrycanary.

Author's summary: The worst of times, like the best, are always passing away. How’s that for some consolation on the road? A post-The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Stucky fix-it as part of the all-American road trip, detours included.

Follow Steve and Bucky on their Great American Road Trip as they drive and eat their way across the country and beyond. From the beaches of the Jersey Shore to the graveyards of Savannah, from the cragged horizons of Mexico to deserts with (small) volcanoes, from college campuses to earthship settlements, from the mountains of Colorado to the monumental emptiness of the Great Plains and on and on and on…there is always more road ahead.

A Man Takes... is a miracle of a series that works with what should be an unworkable premise: Steve really did leave to go live in the past. He returned a few months later, yes, but he still made that choice. Knowingly. So, how can any author, any story, rectify such a colossal mistake, and how can it be reconciled with a believable, satisfying romance that short-changes neither Steve nor Bucky? Like this. With patience, and care, and often painful honesty. Just like Steve, this story slowly digs itself out from under the burden of that terrible decision.

I know that some people are very reluctant or even outright refuse to read EG-compliant fics and I understand why this might be a tough sell for them. Believe me, I do. But this series manages to neither let Steve off the hook for his choices nor does it punish him excessively. Instead, Steve and the readers are repeatedly confronted with the fact that there are no magical solutions here, no take-backs—it’s a fix-it, yes, and very much a Stucky fic through and through, but it’s not a fix-it fantasy where in the end everything turns out to have been an unfortunate misunderstanding after all. What's done is done and the only way out is through. But. even if you usually prefer to ignore anything that happened post-[insert preferred point of canon divergence here], please, please try to give this absolute marvel of a series a chance. It is genuinely one of the most rewarding and satisfying works I've ever read in this fandom. It's catharsis in slow motion.

You will find descriptive writing here that is so incredibly beautiful that it will bring you to your knees in awe. This series transcends fanfiction in many ways, as it stands out for the remarkable quality of the prose and the nuance, subtlety, and precision with which it explores both the emotional landscapes of its protagonists and a fictionalized, yet very recognizable post-Snap America. At the same time, it could only ever work as fanfiction because it stays so close to the characters and is so deeply rooted in and filtered through Steve’s inner life and perspective. Just like the real Steve Rogers, this story is smart and curious, and deeply empathetic towards its characters and the world they inhabit.

Every detail is imbued with meaning. The food Steve and Bucky eat. The clothes they wear. The art they look at. The books they read. The music they listen to. The places they stay at. The landscapes they drive through and the objects they carry with them or acquire along the way. One doesn't need to understand or even notice all of the references, allusions, or ambiguities to enjoy the series, but it makes for such a rewarding reading experience to really dig deep into the many, many layers the author has so expertly assembled into this phenomenally rich text. More often than not in this fic, the curtains aren’t just blue. Or rather, Bucky’s sweatpants aren’t just gray.

At some point amidst this sprawling, reflective journey, a bittersweet realization sets in: There simply is no compensation for the time and life lost, for the pain suffered. No money, no medals or statues, no hagiographies, and certainly no delusional pipe dreams forcibly made real, will ever make up for all that loss. You can't outrun your past, but that doesn't mean you should bury yourself in it. And maybe, solace can be found in mutual understanding, not just between these two men, but in interactions, in shared community—however fleeting—with ordinary people doing ordinary things in their ordinary lives. And in the beauty of the mundane and the relief that there still is a world in which such beauty can exist, even though it is so often a cruel and unjust place. Steve Rogers finally allows himself to feel his feelings: his grief and his shame, but also his joy and—even though he’s already so very tired—his hunger for more. More time, more life, more Bucky.

This series is a wonderful tribute to Steven Grant Rogers—an honest and affectionate portrayal of this compelling and lovable, if at times difficult, character. It is also a gorgeous, intricate love letter to the miracle of a man that is James Buchanan Barnes. As you can probably tell by now, I love it a totally not normal amount.

A most heartfelt thank you to @burberrycanary for taking us all along on Steve and Bucky's long journey across America and (back) to each other. Thank you for letting us sit in the back seat and watch as they learn to love and live with each other in old and new ways, finally find some measure of well-deserved rest and peace, and, together, face their greatest challenge, their longest fight, the eternal question:

How to live with all this survival?

[galvanizedfriend]

hi! so i’ve read pretty much all of your works and loved them so much. your writing is amazing and some of the best fan fiction i’ve read.

the only ones i haven read from you are the wolf series but i keep hearing so many good things about it.

i know it’s a TO rewrite with caroline instead of hayley (and i could look past the baby plot if it means klaroline) but i’ve tried watching the show a few times and hated hayley’s personality and some other nuances to the show and o was wondering if The Wolf is Caroline in place of Hayley but her personality and the way she acts in situations is how Hayley does in the show, or if it’s very much so Caroline if she were put in the position Hayley is in? if that makes sense

First of all, thank you very much, nonnie! ❤️ Glad you enjoy my little fics 🥰 Your question makes perfect sense, yes.

The short answer is: no, Caroline is not just Hayley in a wig 😂 If you're asking me, I'm obviously going to say it's completely different! I'm biased, but I also know how much work I put into it, so I know all the ways TW deviates from the show. I think Caroline is very IC in this, if I may say so myself, so obviously not Hayley, and every time I've gone back to re-read parts of this fic I have had a great time 😂 So personally, I think this is a very entertaining story, but again, it's my story lol Other people might be able to give you less biased opinions.

If you hate hate The Originals, there is still a chance you won't like this anyway, but I do think it's very different, and I have a longer answer if you're interested.

Under the cut because I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! Be careful what you guys ask me, you might get a freaking bible as a reply.

I have become deffensive of this fic over the years because I have received some very nasty comments in the past (not saying your question is offensive in any way, nonnie, this is a very valid question!). I can respect people not liking it, I can respect this isn't everybody's cup of tea, and that's totally fine. What I can't stand is when people tell me I haven't done anything to the show, or that Klaus and Caroline are exactly the same as Klaus and Hayley. I did not spend the amount of time I have spent overthinking and overwriting this shit into something that makes much more sense and is way more fleshed out than the show ever was to hear from people that I've done nothing. I can't even list all the ways TW deviates from the show, or Caroline from Hayley, because I'd be here for the rest of the day.

As the person writing the story, I know exactly how much thought I have put into it, how many original scenes and dialogues and shit I write each chapter, and how much of what I've taken from the show I have cracked my brain to twist and change in a way that fits. I have spent more time of my life overthinking the crappy writing on this show in order to add context and find correlations and make connections and rationalize characters' behaviors and add depth to their actions and their thoughts, and let me tell you, nonnie, it was not easy. It's unbelievable how weak the writing for TO is, the actors do a lot of the work all by themselves. My friends who were with me during this time know how fucking annoying I was lol

This was me sending messages to @definedareasofuncertainty in the middle of the night to explain an idea:

I realize I can't expect readers to feel the same way, everyone is entitled to their opinions and I can only be responsible for what I write, not for how people are going to understand it, but I can't help the way I feel because, to me, it's insane when someone reads this and thinks it's the same. The entire premise of The Wolf is different. It's never about the baby, the baby is almost background noise. The Originals starts and ends around Hope, but The Wolf is not about baby Eve (that's the baby's name), it's about Caroline. Everything is about Caroline, and about Klaus' feelings for her.

A lot of what I think is wrong with TO is that it just doesn't make sense. The things they do, the choices they make, the way they relate to each other just doesn't work, and what I tried to do was rewrite it in a way that it did make sense, not only moving the story forward, but also, and especially, the characters, their motivations and their relationships. I feel like TO was always going to be a better show if they'd focused more on characters than on plot, because that's what I was there for from the start, the family and their bonds, not undercover werewolf packs or baby-stealing aunts. But the writers sacrificed the characters so much for the sake of some arguably very silly plots (don't even get me started here…). While I do keep the plot points, what I tried to do (and hopefully succeeded, at least to a certain degree) was to bring the characters to the front and push the action and enemies and wars and such to the background. So instead of having the characters reacting to the plot, I have the plot serving the characters, if that makes sense. I kept the parts that interested me and that I felt I could use to serve my purposes and threw out everything I could dispense with.

And what I was aiming for first and foremost was to get Caroline the center stage I always felt she deserved, and the love story she could've had with Klaus. So the whole thing is really about that. S1 is the two of them sorting through their differences and understanding their feelings for each other, S2 is the two of them negotiating an actual relationship, S3 is them being married. That's it. I had the best time writing about the two of them through the eyes of the other characters, to have Elijah and Rebekah and Kol and Marcel witnessing and monologuing about Klaroline, all these different points of view on them. And my actual favorite part of the entire story is the part that isn't The Originals at the end of TW2.

So anyway, my point with my TO rewriting was never to fix everything that is wrong with the show. I wasn't writing the version of TO I wish it had been, my ideal spin off. I could've done that, but I didn't, because it's not what the project was ever about when I started. I wanted to keep the show as close to what it is as possible, whilst trying to prove a point (to myself, but also, hopefully, to some other people) that there was a way that this show could've still kept me invested. I'm an easy girl, just give me faves on their journey towards endgame and I'm satisfied, you know.

If you made it to the end of this, congratulations, nonnie 😂 You wanted a yes or no answer and you got a STATEMENT. I'm very sorry for my dumbass response, I've just become *protective* of this fic. If you do read it, I hope you'll find it enjoyable. If not, that's ok too! There are many amazing fics out there for you to be wasting your time on something that won't spark joy for you ❤️ And thanks again for reading my other fics, that's very lovely of you!

[saintsenara]

As much as I love Dramione and that community. I stopped reading Dramione because of Ron’s characterization. Ron bashing is so normalized that it has become a Dramione convention and I’m not in for it. A lot of the faults that they give Ron are a lot of things that I can relate to (mediocre at school, procrastination, feeling like the lesser sibling) these are pretty standard Ron characteristics in Dramione. Usually the relationship with Draco start as a secret so Hermione is always alone in Dramione fanfics, her friendship with Harry and Ron is only a thing from the past that is occasionally mentioned. So a lot of Ron’s strong points are never there, I.e his loyalty, bravery, his defense of his friends, vast knowledge of the wizarding world. It is bothersome to see the way they portray students that do not excel in school, or have strong points that do not include academia.

Then also Astoria, she’s usually death or the crazy wife. Rose granger Weasley is non-existent while Scorpius Malfoy is a pretty common character, and Hugo… who is that ? The community doesn’t even mention him. I’m a bit disturbed by the way all of Hermione’s children in canon are just erased. Draco can be the dad, the widower, or the divorce but Hermione is the one that is single for a while, never married, haven’t had a proper shag, and ready to be the stepmother.

I always feel that they’re projecting their ex-boyfriends onto Ron, and Draco is the rich, intelligent, hot guy that they’d wished they upgraded for. In many stories Ron and Hermione break up because they always fight, but then they have Draco and Hermione quarrel just as much.

I would not be so bothered by it if I didn’t see all of this so much.

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

dramione certainly isn't my circus, but i find the same phenomenon occurring in my fandom spaces, since i'm someone with a preference for pairings which put harry with someone other than ginny - i've waded through so many fics in which ginny ends up getting turned into a complete bitch with no redeeming qualities and her relationship [both romantic and platonic] with harry is handwaved away in order to make her someone he never actually liked, who he only dated for a bit because he was forced to.

part of this is just standard slash subfandom misogyny when it comes to female characters, which we all need to get a grip on. but - as you say - it's also so prevalent in the fandom treatment of ron. and i find it really uninteresting!

i bang on a lot on here about how any ship is possible if an author has enough nerve - and how the reason for this is that love is fundamentally strange and unpredictable, and nobody can ever predict how it will strike.

but this comes with a flip side - that the strangeness of love means that its ability to last isn't always guaranteed. or - any ship can be disentangled interestingly and sincerely and [if that's an author's aim] canon-coherently with a bit of effort.

i think there are lots of really compelling things which could be done with the premise that ron and hermione don't get together or don't stay together - whether dramione ends up as the endgame or not - which don't need to reduce ron to the lazy, whinging boor he so often becomes.

and this includes thinking about divorce and co-parenting and blended-families in circumstances which aren't acrimonious. i think it's really striking that - as you say - there's an unease in fandom spaces with characters [above all female ones] having been married or had children in prior relationships. and there's also an unease about marriages which end for comparatively benign reasons - such as a couple simply not wanting to be in a romantic relationship with each other, but wishing to maintain a platonic one. divorces are always bitter - and the only time relationships break down without one partner becoming the bad guy, it's because someone [usually a woman] is dead.

this obviously isn't something fandom created, but it's still a wider cultural bleed-through into fandom which i find fundamentally boring.

and this is even though i very much understand the appeal of fairytale endings - draco malfoy as every disney prince rolled into one - as tropes. we all love a bit of self-insert fantasy, a bit of rom-com schmaltz, a bit of a knight in shining armour rescuing princess hermione from horrible ron.

but i think there's something valuable - and something no less fun, or moving, or compelling - about love stories which feel a bit less epic. second love, or friends-to-lovers-to-friends-again, or "there's no such thing as soulmates", or "this was fun while it lasted".

i genuinely think ron would be great as a divorced dad - not least because you know the single mams would be flocking to chat to him when it's his turn to bring the cake for playgroup - who remained best friends with hermione after they split.

and i think the dramione-specific comedy-of-errors of him and draco negotiating their new dynamic [mutual seething giving way to begrudging cordiality giving way to tentative respect] would properly bang as a premise.

[inawickedlittletown]

I'm On Trial Waiting 'til the Beat Comes Out (buddie one-shot)

Notes: To begin I want to say this fic was inspired by a post I saw on here a little while ago. So I want to give credit to that post and to @smilingbuckley for the premise. It was too funny not to write it. About halfway through writing this I also became aware that she had written and posted her own fic (which I will be reading asap).

Summary:

“There’s someone here to see you.”

“To see me?”

Bobby looked a little apprehensive. “Well, they want to start with you. Said they want to talk to all of us.”

Buck finished tying his left shoe. “Okay…but what is this about?”

“Professional Standards Division,” Bobby said. “Is there any reason they may need to speak with you, Buck?”

-

Internal Affairs is back at the 118, this time dealing with a more personal matter. The question at hand, are Buck and Eddie in a romantic relationship?

Words: 8,023

on Ao3

-

It happened on a Tuesday.

Buck was in the process of getting his shoes on, when Bobby rapped on the glass to catch his attention. He was ready to make excuses for why he’d arrived a little late, but Bobby spoke first.

“There’s someone here to see you.”

“To see me?” 

Bobby looked a little apprehensive. “Well, they want to start with you. Said they want to talk to all of us.”

Buck finished tying his left shoe. “Okay…but what is this about?” 

“Professional Standards Division,” Bobby said. “Is there any reason they may need to speak with you, Buck?” 

It had been nearly a month since their last visit from internal affairs. Buck thought that things had been fully cleared up especially after they all got praised for the acquisition of a chopper instead of promptly fired. He couldn’t imagine that it was somehow coming back around. He couldn’t think of anything else, unless there had been some kind of complaint. That did happen on occasion, but it didn’t require someone from the professional standards division to come down. Usually it was just a conversation with Bobby. 

“I have no idea,” Buck said. 

“Well, head up to my office,” Bobby said. “I’m sure it’s nothing.” 

Except that from the way he said it, Bobby clearly didn’t think it was nothing. He also definitely did not know what it was. 

Assistant Chief Gilbert was someone Buck had met maybe one time and it had definitely happened at a multi-alarm fire where everything was chaos and there was no time for real introductions. She sat behind Bobby’s desk, leaning back in the chair and eyes trained on a tablet. Her eyes flitted up when Buck entered, but returned back to the screen for a long moment. 

“Firefighter Buckley,” Assistant Chief Gilbert said.

“That’s me,” Buck said. 

She smiled, flashing very straight and very white teeth behind the red lips. “You can sit. I don’t think this will take long. It is necessary.” 

“May I ask what this is about?” Buck asked. 

Gilbert sat up, leaning forward. “Something has been brought to my attention that couldn’t be ignored. There is a reason that family members working for the LAFD don’t usually belong to the same firehouse, why it’s a bit murky when things like this do happen.” 

“If this is about Chim and I — I mean, he’s not even my brother-in-law yet. And shouldn’t he be—”

She cut him off with a shake of her head. “No, Firefighter Buckley, this is not about Firefighter Han. This is about you and Firefighter Diaz.” 

Buck had no response to that. His mouth was open, but no words came out. He could only stare at her, surprised and shocked because…what did he and Eddie have to do with anything. 

“Eddie and I aren’t related,” Buck said, when he finally found words. 

“That is not what I’m saying,” Gilbert said. “What has come into question is the existence of a romantic relationship between you and Firefighter Diaz. It has been observed and documented and there are just too many instances that have made this a concern. So now, there are questions to ask to determine if keeping you at the 118 is viable.” 

“No,” Buck said with a shake of his head. “We’re…no, we aren’t together. He’s my best friend. Nothing more. I don’t know why anyone would think we’re dating. That’s crazy.” 

Gilbert frowned. She touched her tablet and seemed to scroll. “For now, I have a few questions. This is an investigation, Firefighter Buckley, and for now we have to go through procedure.” 

“Right,” Buck said. 

No one ever talked about the politics behind the LAFD. The hierarchy that was put in place so that the whole thing ran smoothly and all the divisions that made it all possible. Buck was but a speck in the whole grand scheme. 

“Are you and Eddie Diaz in a relationship of a romantic nature?” 

“No.”

“But you are very close. Close enough that you would take guardianship of Eddie’s son if the worst happened?” 

“That’s true, but…”

She waved him off. “Is it also true that everyone considers you the boy’s second parent?”

“Not really. At least, I didn’t think they did.” 

“Does Eddie?” 

“Uh. No.” 

“Is it true that when Firefighter Diaz was shot, you took care of his son?”

Buck nodded.

“Is it also true that you are on his son’s emergency calls list?”

“I guess so,” Buck said. “But, any one of us could have stepped in to take care of Chris. That time it happened to be me.” 

“Moving on from that, is there a reason that the two of you carpool nearly every day into work?”

“To save on gas money and pollute less?” Buck said and it came out like a question. “And it’s not every day. It’s happened every once in a while.”

“According to your files, carpooling doesn’t make sense unless you’ve moved. Are you in the habit of sleeping at each other’s places?” 

Her stare was piercing as if she was waiting for Buck to give up and tell her what she wanted to hear. 

“Sometimes I crash at his house after babysitting his kid. Or when it’s too late and I’m too tired to drive to my apartment.”

She made a humming noise. 

“Many saw the incident a few years ago with the well. Your reaction when Diaz cut the rope was well documented. It was all over the news. I just find it interesting that you are clearly so emotionally involved.”

Buck let out a breath. “He’s my best friend.”

“It’s not just on your end. His reaction when you were struck by lighting cannot be ignored. Not to mention everything that occurred during the tsunami. I am well aware of how closely firefighters work, the familial relationship that can develop through the shared experiences, but you two are different. So, the truth now, Firefighter Buckley, how long have you and Firefighter Diaz been dating?” 

“We’re not,” Buck said. “Eddie is my best friend. He has a girlfriend and until about a month ago so did I. This is insane, you can ask anyone, we are not dating.” And out of some sort of desperation, he threw out: “In fact, you can ask Tommy Kinard.”

Gilbert looked thoughtfully at him. “That is your final answer,” she said with a hum. “I will be speaking to everyone in the firehouse as well as Firefighter Diaz. We will get the truth and there will be consequences if anyone is lying.” 

“I’m not,” Buck said. 

—

“Can you describe your relationship with Firefighter Buckley,” Assistant Chief Gilbert said. 

“Well we work together and I consider him my closest friend,” Eddie said. 

“Right. So, you spend a lot of time together outside of work.” 

Chief Gilbert had that quality about her that explained exactly how she had made it to the position she had and perhaps even how she was involved in the Professional Standards Division. It was in the way her eyes narrowed, looking like a disappointed parent waiting for their kid to come clean. 

“I mean, how much time do you spend with your best friend?” Eddie shot back. “Considering the amount of hours that we work, we do spend quite a bit of time together outside of work. I also see a lot of Hen and Chim. We’re all very close.” 

She nodded. “Okay. So I’m here to get to the bottom of things and there are a few things I’d be glad to have cleared up.”

“Sure,” Eddie said. 

“You changed your will, at least in regards to your son,” Gilbert said. “You named Firefighter Buckley as guardian to your son in the event that you couldn’t care for him.”

“That’s true,” Eddie said. “There is no one else I would trust with my son. I see nothing wrong with that.”

“There isn’t. I just find it curious when you have living parents and siblings.”

Eddie nodded. “You haven’t met them,” he said with a slight smile. “And my son has CP. It’s not a burden, but that does mean that he is not like other kids. My sisters have their own lives and kids. My parents are only getting older and Chris requires more than they could give him. Not to mention they are all in Texas away from his friends and his school and everything I’ve worked very hard to set up for him.”

Chief Gilbert actually smiled at that. “You believe Evan Buckley would be best for your son.” 

“Absolutely,” Eddie said. 

“Is that because the two of you are dating?” 

Eddie chuckled. “We’re not,” he said. “For one thing, I have a girlfriend. For another, Buck is straight.”

She eyed him for a moment and Eddie couldn’t identify what he was seeing. It was as if she was holding back from saying something. 

“I’ll even give you Marisol’s number. She’ll be happy to talk to you.”

Chief Gilbert nodded. “That would be helpful.”

Eddie looked through his phone and Chief Gilbert handed him a piece of paper. “I am curious why this is coming up now? Was there a complaint or something that made the division concerned?”

She took the paper when Eddie handed it back to her. “I’m not at liberty to say. What I can say is that some have observed your closeness and they are concerned.” 

“Some,” Eddie said. “Did this happen at a call? Was this—”

“I really can’t say, Firefighter Diaz. I will ask once more, are you and Firefighter Buckley in a romantic relationship? Just know that there will be consequences if we find out you have been lying to us. This is the time to come clean.” 

“We are not dating,” Eddie said. 

She hummed in response. Eddie stood to go. It had been mostly painless, if perhaps insulting to have someone think that he was lying about something so major. That he and Buck could be dating under everyone’s noses and managing to keep it to themselves. 

He had made it to the door, before he decided to turn back. “What happens now?” 

“We will be investigating this further. If you and Buckley are just friends then nothing. We will be speaking to everyone at the station, as well as a few others.” 

Eddie gave a nod and then he walked out. 

—

Having dealt with internal affairs during her tenure as a temporary Captain, Hen couldn’t say that it hadn’t unnerved her when Bobby said someone wanted to speak to her. 

“Is this about that guy again?” Hen asked. 

“Nope,” Bobby said. 

“This better not be about the going out to find the cruise ship thing.” 

“Better if you just go and talk to the Assistant Chief.” 

Hen narrowed her eyes. She had spent most of the beginning of her shift going through the stock of supplies on the ambulance and hadn’t even been aware that anyone from the Professional Standards Division was present in the firehouse. If she had, maybe she would have been more prepared. She wondered who they had already spoken to. 

“Fine,” Hen said. “Have you spoken to them yet?” 

Bobby shook his head. “Not yet.” 

“So you don’t even know what this is about,” Hen said. 

Exactly because she had known Bobby that long, Hen could tell that he was bothered by the whole thing too. 

“She’s waiting in my office,” Bobby said. 

Hen headed up. Assistant Chief Gilbert was someone Hen was actually very familiar with. When Hen first met her she’d been rising in the ranks, becoming the Captain of her own firehouse at a time when Hen was only just getting her feet at the 118. Athena had introduced them and impressed upon Hen how much the job wasn’t an all boys club. 

“I admit, I didn’t expect you,” Hen said. “How are you, Amelia?” 

“I’m well. And you?” 

“Good. I guess I'm confused. What is this all about?” 

Amelia motioned towards the chairs in front of Bobby’s desk and Hen took a seat, lifting an eyebrow in question. 

“Well,” Amelia said, “we have reason to believe that Firefighter Buckley and Diaz are involved in a romantic relationship.” 

Hen couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Wait…wait, what? Buck and Eddie…no, that’s definitely not true.” 

Amelia relaxed back into the chair. “This isn’t a joke, Hen, there really is a concern.” 

“Well, there shouldn’t be. Buck is like one big giant puppy that’s finally found a friend willing to deal with all his excitement. Not to mention there is no way that boy is in any way queer. The amount of women he’s slept with. It’s gross. He broke up with his latest girlfriend a little over a month ago. I would know if he was into men…and I would definitely know if he and Eddie were a thing.” 

Amelia made a humming noise that made Hen narrow her eyes in suspicion. Was there something that she was missing? 

“Where is this coming from?” 

“It’s coming from a place of concern. Look, workplace romances…they happen. They just cannot be allowed to interfere with the work. We’re firefighters and that means our work is life or death. I’m just here doing what I need to do in order to be sure everything is running without issue.”

Hen nodded. “I understand that. I do. I also know they’re not dating and that the two of them work better together than apart. I would know, I was their Captain for a time. There’s trust and there is a connection that is only forged by doing our type of work. It’s like me and Chim. They are just best friends.” 

“Could you say that with 100% certainty?” 

Instead of answering, Hen shot a question of her own. It wasn’t that she was doubting Eddie and Buck or even questioning if in some way they were managing to pull off such a lie, it was just that LAFD wouldn’t involve themselves in such an investigation without something to go off of. 

“Why are you so certain they are dating?” 

“I’m not,” Amelia said. “It’s all the little things adding up.” 

“Such as?” 

Hen wasn’t sure if Amelia would tell her anything, but then Amelia leaned forward on the desk. 

“Okay, to start it seems like they are raising a child together more like two parents than a parent and a friend or uncle. There is all the time they spend together in and out of work. There’s the many incidents where one has been in danger and the other has acted rashly. They are each other’s emergency contact other than your Captain. Diaz has made Buckley his kid’s guardian in the event that he is incapable of caring for him.”

Hen sighed. “That doesn’t really add up to anything. It just shows they’re really close. Come on, Amelia, you’re not insinuating that they are deliberately lying to everyone about dating. Buck is a horrible secret keeper and so is Eddie.”

Amelia looked, if nothing else, a tad apologetic. “Having spoken to them, no, I don’t actually believe they are dating and lying about it. I do have to conduct all the interviews. But from one lesbian to another, maybe they should be?” 

At that, Hen burst into laughter. She couldn’t stop laughing. The very idea that Buck and Eddie could be together like that seemed hilarious even though…well, they did do all the things that couples did. Whenever the 118 got together outside of work — usually at Bobby and Athena’s — no one was surprised when Hen arrived with Karen, Chim with Maddie, and then Buck with Eddie. 

Then there was…well, Hen and Chim had joked about it at the time, but Eddie had been really bothered when Buck was with Taylor. Eddie hadn’t been too happy when Buck got together with Natalia. He had disapproved of Buck being a sperm donor. If Hen didn’t know better — which she did, thank you very much — then Eddie had been jealous. And as for Buck…wasn’t he possessive of Eddie at times?

She must have been silent for too long, because Amelia coughed. 

“You see it too, don’t you?” 

Hen shook her head. “I see what you mean…but I don’t think that they’re together or that they have feelings for each other. I mean, are either of them even into men?” 

Amelia lifted her hands placatingly. “Maybe pay them some more attention. I’ll move on to my next interview. Give my best to Karen.” 

“Will do. We’ll do dinner or something soon.” 

Amelia nodded with a smile. “I’m never wrong, Hen,” she added as Hen made it to the door. 

—

Chim was on the phone with Maddie when Bobby motioned for him to go with him. He got off the phone with a quick goodbye and put his attention on Bobby. 

“What’s up, Bobby?” 

“Your turn,” Bobby said. 

Chim had seen Assistant Chief Gilbert arrive, but he’d kept his curiosity to himself while Bobby talked to her and then watched as Buck headed into the office. He’d come out with a frown, a bemused look on his face. It had been especially telling that something happened because Buck didn’t go find Eddie and instead he walked elsewhere. Then, he saw Bobby send Eddie in. He came out shaking his head. Hen went in, took the longest, and then came out smiling. 

“What’s this all about, Bobby?” 

“Just go in there, Chim.” 

Assistant Chief Gilbert was looking at a tablet when he walked in. Chim took a seat and waited for her to be done. 

“Firefighter Han, I hear congratulations are in order. You’re getting married soon.” 

Chim grinned. “Thank you. We’re deep in the planning stages.” 

Chief Gilbert nodded. “I know that you’re marrying Maddie Buckley. You work with her brother, Firefighter Buckley.” 

“That’s correct.”

“So out of anyone in this firehouse, you should have the most contact with Firefighter Buckley. He is your fiance’s brother and uncle to your daughter. So, you would know if he were dating someone.” 

Chim was becoming more and more confused. This was not going in any direction that he could have predicted. 

“Sure, but Buck wears his heart on his sleeve and isn’t shy with sharing sometimes more than any of us want to know. And no, he’s not dating anyone. His last girlfriend lasted a few months. Before that was Taylor Kelly…the guy doesn’t have the best taste. And I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure he hooked up with Tommy.”

Chief Gilbert raised an eyebrow. “So, he and Firefighter Diaz aren’t in a romantic relationship?” 

Chim knew suddenly exactly why Hen had been so amused when she was leaving the office. He barely held back a laugh. “Oh…now this is something I won’t be dropping any time soon. You seriously believe Buck and Eddie are dating. That’s…yeah, no, that’s not possible.” 

Chief Gilbert sighed. “So I’ve been told.”

“They’re very close,” Chim said. “There is no denying that, but they aren’t involved. They’re just the type of friends that no one really has past childhood. You know, the best friend that you need in order to do anything…attached at the hip. That’s them. They are never going to live this down, though.” 

“Your fiance would say the same?” Gilbert asked

Chim nodded. “Just think of them this way, they could both get married to other people and somehow they will still spend more time with each other than with their wives. That’s just Buck and Eddie.” 

Gilbert shook her head. “If my wife spent more time with someone else I’d be concerned, wouldn’t you.”

“Well, yeah,” Chim said. “I see your point.” 

“I do want one more thing answered.”

“Sure,” Chim said. 

“What do you think about how close they are? I mean to say, has it ever affected their work?”

“They’re close. We’re all close. And no, it has never affected the way we do our jobs. I dare you to find any firehouse where the firefighters don’t consider themselves family. Buck and Eddie work well together, they barely have to speak to know what the other is thinking…no one is safer than when the two of them are performing a rescue.”

“That’s all I needed to hear, Firefighter Han. I will be in touch with your wife.”

“I won’t even tell her you’re coming,” Chim said. 

Chief Gilbert rolled her eyes. “One last thing, could you see a romantic relationship forming between them at any time.” 

“I — well, I don’t know. I mean, if the Tommy thing happened then Buck isn’t as straight as I thought—”

“This is Firefighter Tommy Kinard?”

Chim nodded. “But I don’t know for sure that anything happened. It was just a vibe.”

—

Ravi gave Amelia a curious and rambling answer when asked about Buck and Eddie: “Well, when I was new they were all kind of a legend and I did think they were maybe together and no one talked about it. I mean, you’ve seen Buck, right? He’s a bisexual disaster. But then there was the blackout and I met Ana. I thought she was Eddie’s wife and Chris’ mom. I was wrong…but that kind of ended right after the blackout. And when Eddie was working at dispatch, Buck was kinda difficult to work with. They’re super co-dependent and I think Eddie really had something against Taylor. To be honest, I’m pretty sure they hate each other’s girlfriends. Of course, the whole Natalia thing was weird because she’s a freaking death doula. Like what is the point of that, right? And I don’t think Eddie and Marisol are gonna last much longer either. She stopped by the other day and there was just some kind of tension. Does that answer the question?” 

Amelia didn’t know what to say to all the information given to her, so she just nodded. “So they aren’t dating now?”

“No. No. They would make a good couple though…right? Buck’s practically already Chris’ dad. He even signs his permission slips sometimes when Eddie forgets. And I know Chris’ school called him instead of Eddie once when Chris was sick.”

After Ravi came other interviews. She spoke to almost every firefighter at the 118 from both shifts. Answers ranged. Some were staunchly against the idea that Buck and Eddie could be anything other than platonic, some shared their own insights to how Buck and Eddie were perceived. A couple were even sure that of course they were dating and had been for a while. Someone even brought up what had been dubbed as “the divorce” when Buck had filed a lawsuit against LAFD and Eddie was angry and sullen for days specifically about not being able to speak to Buck because of it. 

In some ways, it made her day far more amusing than most, and yet there was probably a pile growing back at her desk that she could have been taking care of. 

—

When Assistant Chief Gilbert arrived, Bobby had been surprised. He was even more surprised when she gave him very little explanation other than informing him they were investigating something and that he needed to see each of his firefighters starting with Buck. He watched as each of them walked in to see her. Some interviews went on for a while and others ended quickly. 

By the time that Bobby was called into the office, she had spoken to everyone and they were several hours into their shift. He wasn’t surprised at the lack of calls, assuming that dispatch had been told to not send any their way unless really necessary. It had to be serious. 

“Captain Nash,” Gilbert said. 

“You can call me Bobby,” he said. 

“Bobby, then,” she said. “I did not expect to meet you under these circumstances, but here we are.” 

“Here we are,” Bobby said. “And why are we here?” 

He could tell that she was tired. She had hardly left his office since she arrived, he figured she probably had to be hungry or thirsty.

“I held off on talking to you, Captain, because I wanted to get to Firefighter Buckley and Diaz first. There has been an allegation that they are involved in a romantic relationship. And upon our initial investigation it did seem like that was a possibility. They have denied it. So has mostly everyone we’ve spoken to. As far as I’m concerned, I believe they are telling the truth. What do you think?”

“I think I want to know where that allegation comes from,” Bobby said. “They aren’t dating. I know my people, Chief Gilbert, and if they did ever become involved, they would have told me. Not just because I don’t think either of them could keep it secret, but because they know the importance of the job.”

Gilbert sighed. “We had to look into it. If you recall, a month or so back there was a different investigation involving Firefighter Wilson — Captain Wilson at the time.”

“I’m aware,” Bobby said. 

It had been one of the many things he and Athena had gotten back to after the failure that had been their honeymoon cruise. He thought that Hen had handled everything perfectly. Most especially in regards to the rescue she had enacted that saved him, Athena, and several others right on the heels of that.  

“Someone had a concern after that night. As far as I know they were interviewed together and they were observed to be a little too close. They started to investigate and then there was a complaint that came through. There is one other thing, Taylor Kelly’s book. I’ve emailed you the file.” 

Bobby tried to hold in the sigh. “That book is drivel,” he said. 

“Perhaps,” Gilbert allowed. “That doesn’t change that she had a particular insight into this firehouse due to her relationship with Firefighter Buckley.” 

“Can’t deny that,” Bobby said. “And that very relationship should tell you he and Eddie are not together.” 

Gilbert looked more amused than anything. “At this point, I think you are all hiding their relationship fairly well or that they are just that oblivious.”

Bobby blinked at her. “What does that—”

“Nevermind,” Gilbert said. “I think I have everything I need. I also expect that once they do figure out they’re head over heels you will have the right forms filled out and filed. Retaining professionalism while at work will keep them both at the 118. If there is one thing I’ve taken away it’s that they really do make a great team.”

—

After her interview, Maddie was still wiping tears of laughter. She was also rethinking a few interactions. Her brother had never said it, but that didn’t change how she had caught him watching other guys back when he was a teenager. Not that he had ever pursued a relationship with a guy. Maddie had her suspicions about the influence their parents had had on Buck. She also had her suspicions about Buck and that guy that helped rescue Bobby and Athena.

And then there was how flustered he’d gotten that time shortly after Maddie had arrived in LA when Eddie’s name came up. She had to remember that Buck and Eddie had only just met then. There was no one that could deny Eddie was hot. Her brother certainly couldn’t have ignored it. 

Chim had told her at one point about how Buck had reacted to Eddie at first and suddenly she was starting to wonder. 

It had been years since then, but sometimes infatuation didn’t fade. Buck and Eddie were really close. They were both too dumb to try and hide a relationship…but maybe they were both dumb enough to hide what they felt about each other from each other — and everyone else. 

Seeing as her interview took place at dispatch, Maddie had wound up telling Josh all about it. 

“That is wild,” Josh said. “I always did suspect your brother could be attracted to men. You know, I thought you were trying to set us up that one time, but then I kinda figured I had no chance because he was so into Eddie.” 

“Really,” Maddie said. 

“Yes. And it’s not like he doesn’t have a chance.”

Maddie needed to talk to Chim. Maybe even Hen. They had to compare stories. 

—

Athena heard about it from Hen when she and Karen were over. 

“I think Amelia has a point,” Karen said. “Eddie has always given me a bit of a not-straight vibe.”

“Really?” Hen asked. “I don’t think so.” 

“Oh, come on,” Karen said and she looked between them. “Then again, you were married to a gay man and had kids with him and you have always had horrible gaydar. Remember how shocked you were the first time we ran into that guy that used to work at the 118. What was his name—”

“Tommy,” Hen said, thoughtfully. 

“Kinard?” Athena asked. “But he’s not—”

“He was making out with a guy,” Hen said. “Yeah, I was surprised too.”

“Huh,” Athena said with a laugh. “Fair enough. But that doesn’t change that Buck and Eddie are not a couple.” 

“Currently,” Karen said. “But if I were an outside party looking in, it wouldn’t be a hard stretch.”

It was a hard thing to wrap her head around, and yet she knew that Karen had a point. It was just that sometimes she did still think about Buck like the dumb kid that didn’t know to keep his mouth shut. The one that slept with anything that walked and that grew into someone she could respect. Then again, maybe it did make sense. Athena did have her experience with Michael to go off of. Maybe Eddie was the same. Maybe he had decided to push that part of himself down in order to prioritize being a father. 

Over the years she had gotten to know a lot about the firefighters from the 118 and she admired Eddie for his efforts as a single father. Her own experience as a mother had made her conscious of how much Eddie put on himself and so she knew with perfect clarity how much Buck shouldered for Eddie. It wasn’t surprising that someone looking in could see them as a family unit. Maybe they were. 

“What I want to know,” Athena said, “is why this is in question now.” 

“Amelia didn’t say,” Hen said. “I think someone else in the division raised the question the last time they were at the station.” 

Athena nodded. She didn’t like the sound of that. It was one thing if something had happened out on a call. She wouldn’t have been concerned if the whole thing came up after Buck did something seriously risky just because he could and it was tied somehow to Eddie’s well being. That was practically normal for them. This was seemingly out of nowhere and if it originated with internal affairs then someone up high had some biases they had to check. 

“Maybe Bobby knows more,” Hen said looking just past Athena where her husband was surely standing. 

“Knows more about what?” 

“About the whole thing with internal affairs,” Athena supplied. 

Bobby’s smile was amused. “Well, she doesn’t think they’re actually together. Someone from internal affairs did have some suspicion. They were interviewed together and they raised some flags. She also mentioned Taylor Kelly’s book.”

Hen snorted out a laugh. “Taylor’s book. Wouldn’t that prove that Buck has awful taste in women.”

“She sent me the file,” Bobby said. “I guess she wanted me to know where it was all coming from.”

“And?” Karen said, leaning forward.

Bobby smiled. Athena was almost sure that he was going to deny them the info due to some sort of confidentiality thing. 

“There was a complaint. It came from someone at a call. A week or so back. I don’t know what call it came from but they observed Buck and Eddie being a bit too close and decided it was unprofessional. Looking at what they wrote, it wasn’t the closeness they were complaining about as much as the idea that it was two men.” 

Athena felt a jolt of anger go through her. Of all the things…that was not what she expected. She could tell that Bobby felt the same way. Hen and Karen had their own restrained anger. In their line of work they encountered so many people, it was hard to avoid the bigots. Having to rise up and be the bigger person against someone racist, homophobic, and so many other things. 

“And they took that seriously,” Hen said. “Seriously enough to investigate?” 

Bobby nodded. “Well, I don’t know what they saw or heard the night they questioned everyone the last time they were at the firehouse. Chief Gilbert just says even in her file that someone raised some concern.” 

“And Taylor’s book,” Karen said. “What about that?” 

“There are some listed chapters and pages. I don’t know.” 

“Maybe it’s time one of us read it,” Hen said. 

—

“So, it’s all over?” Buck asked. 

He and Eddie were seated across from Bobby. They hadn’t even made it out of their street clothes before Bobby was pulling them into the office. Buck hadn’t known what to expect, but it had been a few days since the initial investigation began and he was ready to hear how it ended. 

“Basically, yes,” Bobby said. “They’ve concluded that they were wrong and that you are not romantically involved.” 

“Good,” Eddie said. “Because we are not.” 

Buck gave his own nod. 

“Is that all?” 

“No,” Bobby said. “I wanted you to know the reason why they made that assumption.” 

“What is it?” Eddie asked. 

Buck leaned closer, paying close attention to Bobby. 

“Someone made a complaint after a call we responded to. The complaint had nothing to do with our response or the level of care. It was about your closeness to each other. It mentioned perceived inappropriate touching and flirting and they overheard you talking about Chris. Whatever the conversation was, it led them to believe you were a couple. This person then took it upon themselves to complain. It was uncalled for, biased, and it wouldn’t have happened if you were a man and woman.” 

“Wow,” Eddie said. “That’s insane.” 

Buck just shook his head. “A homophobe strikes again.” 

“There’s more,” Bobby said. 

“What else could there be?” Eddie asked.

When Buck looked at his direction, he could see Eddie fidgeting with his hands. It had been strange, the last few days. The thing was that Buck was still a bit shaken about the whole thing. Not that it happened or that he and Eddie were questioned. After all, if one wasn’t guilty, one had nothing to fear. It was that it had brought a few things forward in his mind. Things that Buck used to explain away…that he had literally just shoved down and ignored. Things like how ridiculously attractive he found Eddie. And how maybe his desire to belong somewhere that had made him jump at the chance to be so involved with Christopher and Eddie wasn’t just because he wanted to belong anywhere, but because his family was Chris and Eddie.  

Buck found Bobby looking at him. 

“What is it?” 

“Have you read Taylor’s book?” 

Buck shook his head. “She sent me a copy. Even signed it. It’s probably still sitting on my bookshelf gathering dust. Why?” 

“Internal affairs used it as evidence,” Bobby said. 

Buck couldn’t help but laugh. Eddie next to him was silent. Even though he had never said it, Buck knew that Eddie had been happy after Buck and Taylor were over. The whole thing had been some attempt at having someone and she was someone that knew him and accepted him. It was just that Buck had forgotten how she could be and focused instead on the vulnerabilities she had shown. 

“No wonder this went nowhere,” Buck said. “I guess I’m glad it’s all over.” 

“Me too,” Eddie said. 

“I think we all are,” Bobby said. “Go get changed before a call comes through.” 

Buck followed Eddie out. They hadn’t talked about it. The day of the interview, Buck had been left overthinking everything and then after Assistant Chief Gilbert left, they’d had several calls to keep them busy. By the time their shift was over, Hen and Chim had been teasing them about the whole thing and it had just been easier to laugh about it. So, they just didn’t talk about it. 

Instead, they went home and the next night when Buck went over to Eddie’s, Christopher was around and there was no point in bringing it up. 

“It’s a little funny,” Buck said as they made their way down to the locker room. “Them using Taylor’s book.”

Eddie turned back to look at Buck. “You really haven’t read it?” 

“Nope. I’m curious now, like what could she have put in there about us.”

“I don’t know if I want to know,” Eddie said. “Can you believe how seriously they took that complaint, though? It’s insulting. It wasn’t about the job…it was just some bystander observing us and making a judgment based on their own biases.”

“It’s crazy,” Buck said. 

They had changed around each other so often that it was normal for Buck to just strip off his shirt in front of Eddie. He caught Eddie’s eyes as he reached for the door to his locker and saw the moment that Eddie’s eyes went lower, looking at his bare chest. Buck didn’t move, frozen as Eddie seemed to check him out. When his gaze went back up to Buck’s face, his eyes widened as he realized what he’d been caught doing. That was followed by his face going just lightly red. 

“I—” Eddie began and coughed. 

Buck finished dressing, letting Eddie have his dignity while in his mind he tried to figure out what he could say. 

No sooner had they both finished getting into their uniforms before the call came and they were rushing to the truck. It would have to wait. 

They were called to a car accident. Minor injuries, but one of the drivers was trapped in her car and he and Eddie worked together to get the door off and help her get out. Considering the last few days, they kept some distance and spoke only about their task. 

By the time they got back to the firehouse, Bobby needed Buck’s help with preparing lunch and Buck thought that Eddie looked a little relieved. He felt a little of that too, even while deeply aware of the tension between them. 

“What’s going on, Buck?” Bobby asked. 

Buck took a breath. He had known all the way back when he was a teenager that saying anything about how interesting he was suddenly finding the boys in his class alongside the girls wouldn’t go over well with his parents. And since girls were just as appealing, Buck had leaned into that far more. It was only after he’d left home that Buck had given himself the permission to explore. It had always been lowkey — hook ups and one-night stands. Never anything serious. Not even his last hook up with a guy. With Tommy Kinard. 

“Bobby, I’m bi,” Buck said. 

Bobby set down the knife he was holding, turning entirely to look at Buck. “Thank you for telling me.”

Buck let out a breath. “I’ve never really told anyone before.”

“Why not?”

Buck shrugged his shoulders. 

“Well, I’m glad you’re telling me now. Can I ask what brought this along?” 

Buck didn’t answer for a while. He looked around at everything that Bobby had set out but couldn’t actually connect it all to anything in particular. 

“I guess it’s about Eddie,” Buck said. 

Bobby hid his reaction well, but Buck knew that he was likely shocked. “Is this because of the investigation?” 

“Yeah. I just…I guess when you’re in the middle of it you don’t really notice. He’s the person I look to, you know, like I rely on him. And I know he does the same for me. There’s Christopher. There’s all the things we do together, we’ve been pretty much going on dates every single week for the last who knows how long. I’m at his house more than my own. What if…what if we are in a relationship and it’s not that we’ve been lying to everyone or keeping it hidden, but that we’ve been lying to ourselves too.” 

Bobby grasped him by the shoulders. “I think you need to talk to Eddie. Do you have feelings for him?”

Buck let out a huff. “Yeah. I do.”

“Then you know what you want. And the one thing I didn’t tell you earlier is that Chief Gilbert will fully support you if you do start to date. She won’t make either of you leave the firehouse.” 

Buck hadn’t even been worried about that, but he was glad that he didn’t need to be concerned. It wouldn’t have stopped him, he realized, if one of them did have to transfer to another firehouse. 

“Now, come on we have to get this food ready.” 

“Thanks, Bobby.” 

—

He was spotting for Chim and trying his hardest to forget about that moment in the locker room when his eyes had lingered for too long on Buck. It was just that usually Eddie tried not to look, he tried not to show his appreciation for his best friend’s body. He would have to be blind to not know how gorgeous Buck was…made even more so by his personality. Buck was unattainable, though. 

“You’re distracted,” Chim said. 

“I guess,” Eddie said. “I’m just in my head about the whole thing with Chief Gilbert.” 

Chim grinned. “I still think it’s hilarious. Of all the things they would want to investigate, that’s what they go for. Did you guys ever find out why.”

“Some homophobe made a complaint. And someone that came here the night they were looking into Hen thought we were a little too close. And something to do with Taylor’s book.”

“Wow,” Chim said. 

“Yup,” Eddie said. 

“It’s crazy, but you know, you and Buck are really close. It wouldn’t be the worst thing…”

It would be the best thing. If he allowed himself to, Eddie could picture it. Buck already fit so perfectly in his life — in Christopher’s life. And how much would change between them? The physical aspect…the fact that Eddie could hold Buck, could kiss Buck, could take Buck into his bedroom and explore every inch of his skin? 

“He’s not into men,” Eddie said. 

Chim turned fully around to face him. “Are you into men?” 

Eddie knew he was blushing again. “I’m…I mean I’ve never but yes. Yes.”

Chim grinned widely at him. “I think shoot your shot, Diaz.” 

“I just might,” Eddie said. 

The next time he saw Buck, it was at lunch. They sat next to each other as usual and Buck didn’t shy away from Eddie. Instead, it seemed like he was sitting even closer than was normal for them. 

They went on a few calls after lunch. A little boy stuck in a tree, a hit and run, and a grease fire at a restaurant. One of their less hectic days. By the time they were changing back out of the uniform, Eddie felt nervous. He grabbed Buck’s arm as they were stepping out, realizing that even if this wasn’t pressing he still probably would have wanted to spend time with Buck after work. 

Buck turned to look at him with a smile. 

“Do you think…can I come over?”

“Sure,” Buck said. His eyes were glinting. It made Eddie want to lose himself in looking into them. “Want me to drive?” 

Eddie nodded. He was distracted the whole way there, keeping his eyes away from Buck and wondering just how badly he was about to wreck his friendship with Buck. He followed Buck up to his apartment in the same way. Eddie had always liked Buck’s apartment. It was just simple and very very Buck. He felt his nerves ease as they walked in.

“Beer?” Buck asked. 

“Sure.”

—

Buck took as long as he could getting them beer out of the fridge. He found Eddie had wandered out to the balcony and it felt as good place as any. Devoid of distractions in some ways. When he stepped out, Eddie turned to look at him and Buck smiled as he handed him one of the bottles. Buck set his own down by the foot of his chair. Eddie took a gulp and Buck watched his throat, the way that his adam’s apple moved. 

“This has been an interesting week,” Buck said.

“I’d say,” Eddie said. “Made me think, though.” 

Buck’s eyes didn’t waver from Eddie. He could see something like hesitation, and something like hopefulness. 

“Me too,” Buck said. “I didn’t think about it, you know, we’re just kinda like that.”

“Right,” Eddie said. “And what if…what if—”

Buck reached over, grabbing Eddie’s hand. They touched all the time, a hand on a shoulder, a pat on the back, even a hug on occasion. Touching his hand felt different, charged. 

“What if they’re kinda right,” Buck said. 

Eddie let out a breath. “Yeah.” He turned his hand, palm up and Buck’s fingers intertwined with his. “Buck, next to Christopher, you are the most important person in my life.”

“Oh,” Buck said. 

Maybe it wasn’t insane to think it could work, that they could take their friendship to a whole other level where all the things they did together and for each other actually meant everything. It wasn’t hard to imagine.

“I’m…I care about you, Eddie,” Buck said. “I think this could work. Us.”

Eddie was the one to lean over, hovering so close to Buck and waiting for Buck to react one way or another. Buck was the one to push forward and draw Eddie into a kiss. It felt right. Buck by his own admittance had kissed a lot of people. More women than men, and there was a difference, but kissing Eddie was just more. 

Despite having been the one to start the kiss, it was Eddie that led it. He sped it up, or slowed it down. He was the one to lick the seam of Buck’s lips and to lick in and Buck lost all thought. He could taste the beer Eddie had drunk and he lost his mind because it was hard to process that it was actually happening. 

Eddie pulled away, but he was slow to do so, staying so close that their breaths mingled and that their noses brushed when Buck moved back. He knew that he was smiling wide and that it wasn’t a smile that was going to go away any time soon. Their hands were still entwined and Buck felt grounded by it, knew everything was real because he could feel Eddie. He pulled Eddie out of his chair by pulling at their joint hands and Eddie followed inside wordlessly. 

They didn’t make it too far before Eddie stopped and pulled Buck to him, wrapping him up in a hug that led to kisses down Buck’s jaw and then their lips meeting again. He could get lost to the feeling of Eddie pressed against him…to the experience as a whole. Eddie’s smell, his taste, the way that they fit together. 

—

“What are we going to do now?” Eddie asked. 

Buck, from the driver’s seat glanced over. They were just five minutes away from the firehouse. 

“I mean, with work. Are we going to have to actually hide this?” 

Buck laughed. “Now that would really get us fired.”

“I’m serious,” Eddie said. 

“We’ll have to fill out some forms,” Buck said. “It’s not a big deal. The big deal is we finally figured this out.” 

“Yeah,” Eddie breathed. 

—

Assistant Chief Gilbert was not surprised when she saw the email with the newly signed workplace romance paperwork sent from Captain Nash. It was quicker than even she’d expected. 

[parkerslatte]

Hi love,

Sorry to hear you’re struggling with writer’s block. Let me start by telling you that you have a such a wonderful way with words, and your fics were the ones that made me explore other ACOTAR characters and fall even more for the ones I already loved!

Since you’re taking requests, may I ask for an Eris fic? I know so many premises have been explored with this character but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him written with an “Immortal x Mortal” trope.

The way I see it, maybe the reader is the youngest Archeron sister. Given she’s younger than her sisters, she didn’t get to accompany them much during their journeys in Prythian nor was she there when the King of Hybern turned Elain and Nesta into fae.

With her being the only human in the inner circle, and Velaris, everyone is increasingly protective of her. Even more so when Eris takes a liking to her. Just like Cassian felt a tinge of the mating bond when Nesta was still human, over time, Eris and the reader begin to feel the same.

To Eris, our reader is hope, light, and warmth. To Reader, Eris is fierce, protective, and loving.

But how can they be together, knowing they’re from two different worlds? Will reader be able to be with Eris? Will their courts accept it?

I hope you find the idea intriguing enough to explore it🤍

Thank you so much for this request! It definitely helped get me out of my little writing slump. It definitely got a lot longer than I thought it would do I have split it into a couple of parts so I can explore the reader and Eris’s relationship more and how the immortal x mortal trope effects their relationship!

And thank you so much for your kind words, they seriously mean a lot to me. I am so glad you enjoy my writing 🥰

You can read the first part -> HERE

Hope it is alright that instead of the youngest, I made the reader the oldest Archeron as I do not typically write the reader younger than 25 for my Eris and bay boys fics :)

[legend-as-old-as-time]

Bionicle Fic Recommendation List - AO3 Series

I have so many favorites that it makes sense to make several posts for my recommendations.

I'm starting with stories that are part of a larger universe / part of series. To support the authors, I'll add link to their AO3 profiles, tumblr blogs if they are present, and commission posts on tumblr.

Please assume canon-typical violence and the likes for every fic.

Under the cut for length.

----

Random_ag is also active on tumblr as @randomwriteronline and has posted their stories here as well. Here's their commission post, please give them a read! They're a great writer!

They love Pohatu x Kopaka as a couple as well as their friendship, and have written several stories starring them. I definitely recommend to give their stories if you're looking for these two plus interesting plots and intense feelings.

Summary: Pohatu likes the cold and hates the dark. The two things are connected.

Important information and tags: Generation 2015, implied connection to Generation 1, memory loss, fear of the dark, descriptions of a panic attack. Kopaka x Pohatu is tagged as pairing, but can be read as friendship in my opinion.

My thoughts: You know these stories where you slowly realize why a character is behaving as they are, rejecting any connection to the people around them, but the character themself has no context why they do that?

And you realize this character changed from trauma they don't even remember and have no chance of healing from like they are? Only a tiny bit of their previous self remains. Memories they don't realize are memories.

This is Pohatu (and the other toa). It's heartbreaking and I love it. The author wrote this premise based on a headcanon post.

Summary: Sort of sequel to Acluophobia.

Kopaka thinks, thinks, thinks - about things he can't remember, about himself. About Pohatu.

Important information and tags: Generation 2015, memory loss, idolization, implied connection Generation 1.

My thoughts: The reason why Kopaka in Generation 2015 differs from his Generation 1 self is the same as for Pohatu in this AU.

It's heartbreaking that he yearns and has no idea why he focuses on Pohatu or why his behavior breaks his heart, when he doesn't remember how Pohatu used to be. He puts him on a pedestal and doesn't think he could get hurt and be afraid. Until he realizes. Like in the first part, he offers him comfort but this time it's intentional.

Where the first ending offered relief, this one gave that and comfort.

----

Summary of the first entry:

A sudden tremor shakes Spherus Magna: something seems to have impacted the planet from a great altitude, if the unrecognizable wreckage a small party is able to find is anything to go by. More unexpected, however, are the creatures seemingly emerging from it. (a possible ending situation to the epilogue serial "The Powers That Be")

My thoughts: This series happens some time after where Lego ended Bionicle Generation 1 on Spherus Magna. The premise is that the Red Star trasnformed Pohatu and Kopaka into fully organic beings over a timespan implied to be at least several months if not years.

Three entries so far, they focus on the two toa being found after the Red Star crashes. They as well as their friends and families have to deal with the changes and what that means for them. It's gut-wrenching and heart-rending.

I'd like to do explain my thoughts on each entry separately in the future because it's such an amazing series.

----------

MahouMascot is also active on tumblr as @magicalgirlmascot. On top of being a great writer, she's an artist that offers drawing commissions. Her commission post shows samples of her art style, it's really cute!

On AO3, she has posted one on-going series that I'll recommend here, as well as several Bionicle oneshots. She's another author to look into if you like Pohatu and Kopaka as a romantic couple.

This series has two entries so far. It's an AU set on Earth in a contemporary 21st century setting resembling Canada, where most of the characters are humans. Toa and turaga still have powers, but the details differ from canon. A lot of the story happens at the titular school - fully fleshed out as a setting - where most of the current main cast works as teachers or other jobs.

Tip: Magicalgirlmascot shares fun tidbits of the AU on her tumblr.

Summary: Kini Nui P.S. is a gorgeous old K-8 grade school in a small rural town in the middle of nowhere. Students attending KNPS can expect the following:

-extremely competitive sports teams -frequent infighting between the junior and intermediate teachers -oddly prescient administrative staff -wild animals on the school yard -and more!

A very normal elementary school AU.

Important information and tags: The story has several romantic relationships, some with varying degrees of slowburn: Whenua x Nuju, Onewa x Krahka, Lewa x Onua, Gali x Tahu, Nokama x Matau x Vakama, and Pohatu x Kopaka. These are subplots and are affected by the mainplot.

My thoughts: It's recognizable Bionicle and it's own thing at the same time. Makuta is sealed under the school, and Mata Nui rests underground, in a coma because of Makuta. The toa protect people from Makuta's machinations.

I love how the author translates canon elements into a world that is much more familiar to some readers in its mundanity. The Toa Mata as well as every other toa were born and had average childhoods.

They're at the core similar characters to their counterparts. But this change shifts which hurdles and fears they face. At the same time, they're still different to other toa. I'm excited to learn what the Toa Mata's deal here is!

Another thing: All toa have to act in secret because of the same mundane.

Nobody else aside a few confidants have any idea about what lies hidden in Kini Nui. This creates conflict that doesn't exist in canon - the toa lie to many a loved ones, peers, colleagues, etc. where the fantastical aspects were an everyday part of life.

It's a contrast to the island of Mata Nui where everybody knew the danger they lived in, and a parallel to Metru Nui where the matoran didn't know of the danger that had come into the city.

Summary: Vakama's visions began when he was a child, and that was the start of the downward spiral of his life.

Side story for Kini Nui Public School.

The main pairing is Roodaka x Vakama. Vakama has one-sided feelings for Lhikan. And he realizes later that he has feelings for Matau and Nokama, but keeps silent about his revelation.

This story depicts snapshots from pivotal moments in Vakama's life from before Kini Nui Public School, starting with his first vision. It wrenched my heart in several parts. Sometimes because of the unfairness of all that he experienced (like at the hands of his parents); because of the pain it brought him.

Sometimes because he feels so much and he struggles dealing with it. He's outwardly much more vulnerable than his counterpart - even in his thoughts -, so the weight of his feelings hit harder.

Especially the aftermaths of either instances with his relationship to Roodaka broke my heart. He just breaks at the emotional climax of the Hordika arc because he's hurting so much.

Themes and depictions of abuse and neglect appear through the fic so be careful with that.

----------

Inthehouse001 is also active as @byz-was-here here on tumblr. A great author, they have invented a neat AU series on a fascinating premise I've not seen elsewhere. And if you love interesting OCs, I'll double recommend this one.

Series Summary:

AU of Bionicle where some Agori managed to survive on Aqua Magna after the shattering, using living plesiosaur ships, and eventually encounter the Island of Mata Nui sometime after the Great Cataclysm. The Pleisosaur Ships are canon, by the way.

My thoughts: This is the neat premise I promised. Each entry has a different protagonist - each an Agori, with a different story to tell, and all are part of an overarching plot.

I adore the Agori OCs and how their perceptions differ of Mata Nui the island. They're the strongest part of the stories for me.

Imagine that your family and community has been surviving on Aqua Magna for such a long time. There is no land on the planet. They travel across the vast ocean, always looking for food and other resources. They only know each other.

One day, they sight a strange ship - a ship that could've been only made on land. They follow its track, travel through the mist-

and find the first land they've ever seen in their life. Land that wasn't there before.

This is only the beginning / the first story. Because even this seeming paradise has its dangers. Like a certain Makuta who doesn't like factors he can't control.

[palant1r]

I feel like you're a good person and smart, so here is a question for you. A fanfic site is bound to be popular with kids. Say a child is being abused, and they go to AO3 and all they see is fics romanticizing their abuse/incestual abuse/ etc. It'll tell them it's erotic and enjoyable and A-OK. If they were to read a fic that portrayed it as a bad thing though, then they can see that their abuse is bad. I know it's unrealistic to ban all fics that portray it as a good thing [1/2]

This ask is full of so many wild ass logical leaps and baffling conclusions that I debated not answering it at all, but you've caught me in a good mood with a lot of time on my hands, so.

First of all: methodological concerns. "They did a poll a while back" who the hell is They? Is this a tumblr poll? Why are we assigning any significance to whether or not half of the users who happened to see a tumblr poll that was likely produced by someone who shared their biases THOUGHT that SOMEONE THEY KNEW had seen pedophilia and incest normalized by fic? That's such an ass backwards thing to base any position on.

You want to save the kids. Sure. Admirable goal. But the premise of your proposal here is based entirely on conjecture and the results of some poll that They did. Also, hey, most underage/incest content on ao3 is WELL TAGGED. Meaning that, when someone clicks on it and reads it, even IF the actual subject matter is "romanticized" there is literally a heading for the reader saying "THIS WORK DEPICTS [THING], WHICH IS BAD"

Say a child is abused, and they read Lolita. They make the same mistake as many, many readers and adaptation makers of Lolita, and they think it's a love story, and that makes their abuse "erotic and enjoyable and A-OK."

...Where do we go from here? Do we now decide that, because Lolita is a complex work with multiple layers and a narrator that deliberately uses purple prose and invokes classical literature to hide his own monstrousness, it needs to be banned?

Why should it be the responsibility of art to impart a beneficial personal and social message not just to its target audience, but to literally anyone who might potentially come across it? Why should the writers of a genre overwhelmingly tagged as Explicit, meaning that people have to affirm that they're over 18 before reading it, on a site you have to be 13+ to use, bear the responsibility of Educating the Nation's Youth on what is Right and Proper?

Your rhetoric is familiar. Very familiar. I got fuckin steeped in it over the last summer when I was reporting on anti-trans legislation, wading through Heritage Foundation summit transcripts and hundreds of pages of bills. Hell, I saw the very phrase "normalizes pedophilia" show up in a bill explicitly targeted at banning queer books from schools. The idea that the very existence of material that is "too erotic" poses an existential threat to children, and that any censorship of art is justified if it Saves the Children, is a deeply conservative one.

A personal story: when I was young, I read The Dragonriders of Pern. This was before I'd had any education on sex ed or consent. There's a rape scene in that series. It's very romanticized. Something about it felt off to me, but it was the only sex scene I'd ever read. I just thought that was what sex was like.

About a year later, I read a Stucky fic with a rape scene. The scene was framed as, if not romantic, at least sexualized in a way that played up the danger and angst of the scene, and it was between the endgame couple. This was, I'd wager, something that you'd want banned. In the beginning chapter note, the author called it what it was: rape.

Two rape scenes, both sexualized, both between an endgame couple we were supposed to root for, only separated by their framing. One taught me a bad lesson. One made me realize that what I had read in that book was, in fact, not consensual sex.

My parents, unbeknownst to me, were going through my search history. They sat me down and said they didn't want me reading erotica, not knowing I already had been in published books. If they had their way — if they'd judged things by YOUR standards — I never would have read those explicit fics. Instead, who knows how much longer I would have gone thinking a man forcing himself on a woman was romantic? Ignorance didn't teach me anything. Experience did.

And, IDK. I think back on news stories I've heard of abused children finding their experiences in books about sex and consent, and seeing themselves in them. Being able to point out what was done to them, because they had a point of reference.

So, no, I don't think that banning every fic that "portrays abuse as good" would be remotely desirable even if it were logistically feasible. And I think you need to move past the idea that art only has the right to exist if it's good for children, saving the children is a goal to which all other ideals should be blindly subservient, and if someone says that something "harms kids" that means you need to uncritically take up arms. I say this without hyperbole: that's the kind of thinking that gets people into QAnon.

[olderthannetfic]

You know since I see this constantly brought up when anyone talks about Chinese novels, especially danmei and the tropes used, and one of the asks brought this back to the forefront again.

It's great that some of you have read MXTX's works, but you do realize that you're allowed to read danmei novels from other Chinese authors. And you're also allowed to talk about them. Just because MXTX's novels have the biggest fandoms out there in the West, doesn't mean that literally every vague mention of Chinese tropes or any mention of danmei is by default and exclusively about MXTX.

I love MXTX's novels as well, I enjoy rereading them, but I've also read and am reading novels from other Chinese danmei authors. Recently I'm reading the official Priest and Meatbun translations, and it's getting ridiculous with how many people take any vague mention of a danmei novel, or even just a mention of Chinese novels and common tropes in general and with full conviction claim it must be about MXTX instead of some of the hundreds of fan translated danmei or some of the tens of officially translated novels you can find. Especially when trying to avoid spoilers by being a bit vague.

There are actually small fandoms for these other novels as well, yeah maybe there are only a few hundred or thousand fics for them instead of like 100k+ combined, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

I completely get that if you mention something that also happened in MXTX's work that most people will probably immediately point towards her works. But that doesn't mean that her works are 100% the answer just because in the West she has the biggest following. MXTX's works also have several common tropes that you can find in the works of other authors, that doesn't mean every time one of those tropes is mentioned it's about her works, or at least not JUST about her works. I think the main reason this irks me so much is because people start building a huge strawman because they've convinced themselves that it must be MXTX no matter what you say and there's just no way that it could be anything but MXTX, because they just don't read anything else. Don't get me started on show-series only people, they often don't even seem to realize that other Chinese danmei authors and stories exist period.

Spoilers used as an example: If I say "Shizun fucker pining after his dead Shizun." Of course people are gonna point at SVSSS first because it's a bigger fandom. Well but maybe this was about Mo Ran and Chu Wanning from Husky and his white cat Shizun instead, a smaller but still comparatively big fandom. But you have even smaller fandoms around novels with that premise. You'd actually be surprised about how many Shizun fuckers pining for their dead Shizun novels there are out there tbh. You can do the exact same thing for transmigration btw.

--

[naranjapetrificada]

Fic recs based on what bits of s2 promotion made you go 👀

So obviously we only have a couple days left and I shouldn't have put this off for so long, but I've been making connections between fics I've encountered and questions raised by the teaser, trailer, and BTS video and thought I'd share some of them. Light (extremely light, like you've just emerged from an isolated cave light) s2 spoilers possible, although it's still mostly speculation?

Anyway this obviously got very long, so I'm throwing in a break now so I don't slow your scroll.

Maybe time in nature helps Ed do some healing?

Fallow Land & Bigger Sky, which I can't ever seem to shut up about was such a rewarding and healing read for me. Especially recommended for people who are interested in Ed's inner life, healing journey, and coping mechanisms, maladaptive or otherwise. Also folks who are excited for him to have an animal friend like Stede Bunnet, although in this fic it's a sweet little black lamb that he sometimes carries around in his shirt.

It begins with Ed having spent a year since The Dock living incognito on a remote (but not deserted!) island trying to get his head around everything that happened and looking for something like peace, however he can get it. It's written in an evocative, poetic way and includes some incredibly lovely flashbacks, believable character growth, important realizations, and tender emotional moments. The vibes are more pastoral than castaway, but Ed is still given time and space to do the work he needs to do in rugged, isolated surroundings so it still scratches that itch for me.

[There are definitely some triggers to be aware of but it feels like the author did a good job of mentioning them at the beginning of each chapter.]

Maybe they do some healing together?

There's no need to reinvent the wheel so I'm going to borrow heavily from an earlier post I made about healing and fanfic two make the case for these two:

Brace Yourself and Nestle into Me: The premise is that Ed and Stede figure out that they're into each other around episode 7, and they're deliriously happy to know that they feel the same way about each other. But Stede has some (understandable) sexual dysfunction around being queer thanks to the horrible society that he grew up in. Ed is a darling trying to help him through it all, and along the way he realizes he also has some of his own hangups he needs to work through, and that they can both support each other's healing.

I appreciate that this one doesn't treat healing like a straight line because it never is, and emphasizes that trust can't just be implicit, you really have to talk it through as a crew, even if it's just a crew of two broken middle-aged men who are desperately in love with each other. It also gets into some of the stuff I've been talking about on here about grieving your former selves and the selves you never got to be, which was validating as hell. That sounds heavy and there are concepts that are literally part of modern therapy modalities woven into the story, but there are also warm and loving and hilarious moments too, including this gem:

“Also can you just imagine how proud little horny baby gay Stede would be know you would be to know that whatever he went through, today you’ve got your own ship and are getting completely railed by Blackbeard? I mean, just absolutely dicked down by the most famous pirate in history? He would lose his mind.”

Adrift Between the Dreaming Seas: Based on my usual filtering on ao3 I probably never, ever would have come across this fic if it weren't for a recommendation someone posted here. It's got fantasy elements, allegory, metaphors stacked on metaphors, talking animals, and so many other things that would have kept me from ever discovering it on my own. My life would be poorer for it.

Basically Stede is cursed to be a lighthouse keeper on an island that seems to move around the world. Animals show up and the ones who talk to him are members of the crew, and Ed is an actual kraken. It's all this symbolism about monstrosity and trauma and maladaptive coping and the messiness that is Stede's kindness scraping against his self loathing. I shed tears of many kinds along the way, and it made me think hard about community and recovery and the things we do to and for ourselves and others.

It's just a lovely little gem of a story that made me feel so much so deeply while also making me laugh much more than I was anticipating. I'm so glad I gave it a chance.

Maybe there's a massive, life-altering storm?

A World of Tempestuous Things, which is nearly finished and has been such a rewarding, moving journey to follow as it explores another take on their reunion story. There's the expected angst and misunderstandings, but also wit and warmth and longing and rage and these casually devastating historical asides, some of which still haunt me out of the blue because of the staggering and inescapable nature of the passage of time. Speaking of passages and being haunted, dig if you will, this picture:

so little time to dwell amongst strangers as a citizen of the world will never, ever stop reverberating in my head like a cymbal crash and I guess that's just something I live with now. @lostakasha, you've given me the existentially beautiful prose version of tinnitus.

Maybe Stede's slut party era is finally upon us?

If so, good for him, he deserves it so much.

When the Light Shines In is a missing scene/lightly canon-divergent take on s1e06, if you just like the idea of meeting a jolly version of Drunk Stede (vs that "unhand me or bleed" guy, who is hot in his own way or course but can't beat messy earnest bossy Stede in my opinion). It's set immediately after the fight with Izzy. Ed is patching him up and trying not to vibrate out of his own skin, while Stede is affectionate and chatty and besotted whether he knows it or not, and steadily working his way through a bottle of rum for the pain. So not really related to season 2, but it will still scratch that same itch and make you smile real big.

Well, I Ain't Tactful is actually set during season 2, inspired by the moment in the BTS video where Ed sees Stede getting drunk with his new leather buddies. If you asked yourself what might happen if Ed felt compelled to keep an eye on Sloppy Stede and tuck him in with a glass of water, then this one will be fun. Ed is caring and lovely about it all even while still being a bit mad at him for everything, and Stede is a mess but so sweet and still so, so in love.

Maybe we'll get to see young Ed on Hornigold's ship?

There's no evidence of that so far beyond the whole ghost of Hornigold thing, but it certainly would be a treat. But even if it doesn't, if the idea of more young Ed appeals I cannot possibly recommend the pre-canon Never Shall We Die enough.

Now there's no getting around two crucial things that may be dealbreakers for some people: first, it's long. It's very, very long. Second: it's a WIP. Only one of two I've allowed myself to follow in this fandom so I don't get overwhelmed or bogged down. But!

The writing is so impeccable that it stands head and shoulders above almost everything I've ever read on ao3 and honestly above a lot of commercially published original fiction I've encountered in the same span of time since I've started it. The settings are deliciously (and sometimes, due to the realities of life on a pirate ship, disgustingly) immersive, the action scenes are perfectly paced, and the emotional beats, when they hit, hit hard and ring true and stay with you.

Starting at at age 13, young Ed's growth and development over time is equal parts rewarding and harrowing. Threads are pulled together from canon and from earlier parts of the story to coalesce into a portrait of a living, breathing version of our favorite guy trying to find his place in the world, stumbling along the way, and eventually realizing that if he wants a place he'll have to make it himself. The secondary characters leap off the proverbial page too, and the connections he does or doesn't form with them have interesting, believable fallout for everyone involved.

I mentioned action scenes earlier, but I want to circle back around to them again because NSWD takes Izzy's season 1 comment about Blackbeard being the greatest sailor he's ever known and says the same with its whole chest. I know I'm not alone in hoping to see Incredible Sailor Ed in season 2, but in the mean time this is more than scratching that itch for me. We see Ed set foot on his first ship with no skills beyond attracting (mostly) unwelcome attention and observational skills that become the foundation of his later abilities with the sea and with the art of fuckery. From the outside he looks like a savant but on the inside he builds his skills slowly over time, delighting in learning new things and seeing a plan come together. But best of all, he delights in the skills of others, eagerly learns from them when he can, happily teaches what he can to the few people he trusts, and takes pleasure and pride in their own success.

I could literally keep talking about this fic until the next chapter gets posted, but the good news is that happens regularly! I know it can be tough to trust a WIP but I for one am so thankful for the moment of poor impulse control that led to me starting this one. New chapters come roughly every two weeks, and looking at @tresdem's output elsewhere helps me feel secure that we'll actually get to the end.

[weiying-lanzhan-fics]

Down comes the night by danegen

What a great case fic and premise. Very different than other stories I have read in this fandom. Enjoyed the mystery and relationship development. ❤️❤️🥰

Quotes:

As they walk back to the cart, Wei Wuxian takes a flask from his robe, drinks from it as messily as usual, then offers it to Lan Wangji.

“No, thank you.”

“It’s only water,” Wei Wuxian says, grinning.

“I’m fine.”

Wei Wuxian shrugs and puts the flask away. “Are there rules against sharing a flask, too?”

“That would be unnecessary.” He would not wish to drink from the same flask as his brother, much less a veritable stranger.

Wei Wuxian snorts a laugh. He doesn’t seem capable of taking offense. “How many rules does your sect have?”

“Three thousand.”

Wei Wuxian stops walking to stare at him, wet mouth gaping. “Three thousand?”

“Yes.” He lifts his chin, prepared to defend his sect, but Wei Wuxian seems too shocked for insolence.

“Do you have them all memorized?”

“Yes. All disciples must memorize them.”

“Or what?”

“What do you mean?”

“What happens to them if they don’t memorize all those rules?”

Lan Wangji frowns, confused. “They work until they do. Young disciples copy the principles as part of their lessons.”

Wei Wuxian continues to look perplexed. “But when do you have time to learn actual useful stuff if you’re spending all that time memorizing rules?”

Lan Wangji clenches his jaw and continues walking. “The rules are ‘useful.’”

————

They watch the rain and sip the tea in something like companionable silence. Then Wei Wuxian sighs and stretches out his legs. “Sorry if I’ve been . . . difficult. I’ve always hated being cooped up.”

Lan Wangji could joke that Wei Wuxian is always difficult, but Wei Wuxian’s statement feels like a confession, like he is admitting to a vulnerability—quite unlike his usual arrogance. It seems to warrant a similar admission. “I dislike crowded spaces.”

Wei Wuxian snorts. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.” But his elbow bumps Lan Wangji’s arm to relieve the sting. Such a simple gesture of camaraderie. Lan Wangji could not match it with every word in his vocabulary. He considers bumping back, but he hesitates too long. To do so now would be too awkward.

————

Do you have anybody out there? he wants to ask. Not Wei Wuxian’s mother. Not his shige, if Lan Wangji interpreted last night’s events correctly. Wei Wuxian’s theory—and Lan Wangji has seen no evidence otherwise—is that the creatures can only take the form of those who’ve died. If the blindfolded man was Baoshan’s other disciple, then it’s possible that the only person Wei Wuxian has left is his shifu.

Wei Wuxian is talking about something, but Lan Wangji cannot focus on the words. Let it be me, he thinks as he watches Wei Wuxian, painted gold by the sunlight. Let me be the one who cares for you, here and now, out there and ever after.

The dizi taps his shoulder. “What are you thinking about, Handsome-gege?”

E, 67k

Summary:

Lan Wangji walks forward, extending his senses for some sign of the magic confining them. But there is nothing. One moment, he is walking away from the village. The next, Wei Wuxian stands in the road ahead of him, the dizi tracing lazy arcs in the air.

He stops and looks behind him. The view has not changed. He stands there, helpless. Baffled. Like a koi circling a pond, eternally struggling to go nowhere.

“Messes with your head, doesn’t it?”

He turns to Wei Wuxian, who regards him calmly, almost pityingly. Wei Wuxian has endured this for months. Months. Lan Wangji wants to scream. He wants to batter down this cage and fly away without looking back.

—

Or while returning from a night hunt, Lan Wangji is trapped in a strange village that is terrorized by monsters. However, an intriguing cultivator named Wei Wuxian is also trapped there, so it isn't all bad. And guess what? They have to be roommates.

[bitimdrake]

Do you have fic recs by any chance? You really seem to have a lot of comics knowledge so I trust that you know what’s accurate to the source material and what’s not :)

you know I've gotten a few asks about this and I never quite manage to answer them, because I'm always convinced that I will somehow end up with a perfect and complete rec list if only I wait to reply just a little longer.

SO I'm gonna try cutting myself off at the head this time, and not giving you a prefect list by any means, but at least giving you an answer:

Here is a collection that I'm slowly forming for fics that really feel like they're actually based off comics. It is currently very small and people are welcome to bookmark to it if they find other very comics-based fics, but it's a start.

And a couple random recs as I scroll through my personal bookmarks:

Redrawing the Lines (11k) is fantastic Batman Reborn era Dick & Tim & Damian fic, and it continues as a series after.

also the second before the other shoe drops (8k) about the same trio. AU where Damian makes a murder attempt in a subtler way--but most important, is not demonized by a narrative that instead gives everyone a fair shake.

will we ever get to the other side? (5k) Dick & Tim in a very specific era where Dick's life is falling apart and filled with trauma, and Tim has just been hit with a huge smack of grief and also trauma, and neither is at their best but they're trying.

Everything by @silverwhittlingknife is ideal Dick & Tim content, and all deeply rooted in comics. I will call out:

The Return (11k), which is Dick's pov of Tim coming back to Gotham after Brucequest

only you will have stars that can laugh (9k) which is sad and loney but also sweet on Christmas

Red Letter Day (42k, wip) in which god Dick is trying his fucking best to hold it together okay. (aka everyone is kind of prickly, Dick is stressed, there's a Mysterious Wednesday of unclear importance, and I love them sm)

@flybynightwing has equally comics-based and also absolutely fascinating and compelling fics. I'll call out:

How Far Love Goes (99k) a case fic that draws in everyone in the bat family, with a tilt towards Dick (although the Steph is also fantastic), and turns into a reflection on Bruce as a parent.

goal-oriented mindset (5k) Catalina's pov, meeting Dick again well after everything went down. Subject may not be for you, but I find it SO interesting and roll it around and around in my head. (And it is of the very very rare selection of actually comics-based fics about that arc.)

It's a Wonderful Earth-218 (7k). A thoroughly depressed Dick goes to a world where he was never born, it's a wonderful life-style.

(And carrying on with various authors again:)

Hate and Love are Two Sides of the Same Coin (5k + 13k sequel) every member of his family is forced to say what they like least about Dick. The fic makes no secret of its thoroughly contrived premise and doesn't particularly care to justify it either, but still comes out with great characterization and relationship reflections.

Mikey Dies At The End (4k), outsider pov centered around Jason as the Red Hood, which is so very confident in its characterization of him and has zero considerations given to fanon and it's an excellent read.

A Meditation on Railroading (24k), a Tim-centric fic that deals heavily with his relationship with his dad. This one is not really canon at all, but it is good, and its version of the relationship is compelling.

Young Justice Visit the Suez Canal (3k) look this one is pure 90s-style Young Justice humor. We're here for a good time.

Aaand I know there are many more good fics, but I have run out of steam and I am trying so so hard to remember that some answer is better than no answer. Though I am very sorry to all my beloved writers & mutuals who have written excellent comics fic.

Anyway final tip is when you find an author who knows what they're talking about, go through all their fics, and then go through all their bookmarks.

[booksandabeer]

Hi,

First of all thank you for all the recs you do, it couldn’t be easy doing all that. I just wanted to ask you about your favourite fics where Steve and Bucky were already together during first avenger and get back together in the future? Once again, thank you so much. Even if you don’t answer this I would still be grateful because I got so many of my favorite fics from your blog. You’re amazing and take care.

Hi!

Thank you very much for your kind words. It's lovely to hear that I could help you find some of your favorite fics. 🥰

I've sat on this ask for a few days now because it's actually a really difficult one for me to answer/find recs for without getting into things that can be quite, uh, awkward to discuss "on main." But I will try. As always, I'm going to ramble, so I'll put this under a cut.

(There will be fic recs in here, I promise. Just scroll down if you want to skip the waffling.)

So. When it comes to fics set in canonverse, I mostly stick to either stories that end before the war or stories where Steve and Bucky only get together once they meet again in the future. I hardly read fics with the premise you've described in your ask because—and this is where it gets dicey—they are rarely ever done in a way that I personally find satisfying.

Here’s the thing: If you read a story set in canonverse, inevitably, at some point the war will arrive and with it: Peggy. Now there’s a much larger, much more complex discussion to be had here about Steve’s perceived sexuality, societal expectations of what constitutes "successful masculinity" in the 1930s/40s, and self-repeating and -reinforcing cycles of fanonization that I don’t want to get into right now, so I’ll just say this: Unless the author goes the polyamory route (which I personally don’t care for and therefore don’t read; at least not in that particular combination), usually none of the characters involved come out of such a scenario looking their best or like they haven’t received a personality transplant from one chapter to the next. I know that some people love that kind of conflict and are really into the angsty drama that comes with it—and they may find my stance on this boring and square—but to be honest with you, there’s already plenty of angsty drama in any story involving Steve and Bucky to begin with; I don’t need this on top of it.

And also—look, to be very blunt about it: If I click on a Steve/Bucky story I want to read a Steve/Bucky story, and decidedly not a story about Steve falling in love with Peggy halfway through—especially not when he’s already been practically married to Bucky for years. I'm okay with scenarios where Steve falls in love with her (or the idea of her, really) because he cannot or thinks he cannot be with Bucky for reasons ranging from very reasonable to entirely idiotic, but in a world where they are already together? Honestly, no thanks. I don't want it.

(Also, let's not even pretend that I don't have a huge Bucky-bias.)

But! you asked for recs and not 500 words of waffling, so I went through my lists and bookmarks to find stories that either try to grapple with this *problem* in a sensitive and thoughtful manner, find elegant ways around it, or simply skip over it entirely.

Here we go:

(Note: The exact meaning of 'Being Together' can vary greatly from story to story)

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by newsbypostcard | 6 parts, 146K, T-E

Author's summary: "You keep asking me what I want," Bucky manages, eventually. "But on any given day, my number one priority is to get through the day alive and myself, and to do it without killing anyone. Everything else is extra." Each work is a standalone.

-> A Post-CW AU that also tells Steve and Bucky's history with each other through flashbacks. Apart from this series, you can really read any story by this author because they do this neat thing where they use roughly the same pre-war/wartime backstory and then depending on when they wrote it and where MCU canon was at the time, the fics branch off from there. Plus, all of their stories are simply wonderful and I will alway recommend them any chance I get.

The Good Morrow by Hark_bananas | 75K, E

Author's summary: Every night, Steve falls asleep and finds himself dreaming about a diner, and every night he finds Bucky waiting for him there. But in the waking world, Bucky has disappeared, gone on the run after the fall of the Triskelion and Project Insight, and the strange dream that they share may be the only way that Steve has to bring him home.

après nous le déluge by tomorrowsrain | 9K, T

Author's summary: After us, the deluge. Steve and Bucky break, mend, and try to find their place in the world without the mantles of Captain America or the Winter Soldier. AU, post Civil War.

-> Part 1 of gale song series, the second part of which which I recced in my Road Trip Rec List. In fact, there are quite a few fics on that list that fit the premise of 'together before/during the war and getting back together in the 21st Century,' so if you haven't already, you might want to take a look at it!

Roll On by jaxington | 3 parts, 306K, T-M

Author's summary: In 1938, there's a bar in Brooklyn called Sully’s where people are safe to be themselves. Behind the bar, a girl pours drinks. She's always got a big smile for Steve and she says queer like it's a good thing. On a regular basis, she takes his shoulders in her hands and tries to shake sense into him, saying, "When will you do something about that best friend of yours?" In 2012, Bucky’s gone, but Steve’s not, and the girl’s hands are too old to shake him. She does her best to make him see sense anyway. Steve had people who loved him before the war, and it turns out a few of them are still around when he finally comes home.

Practice Makes Perfect by nekare | 10K, M

Author's summary: And it’s just. It’s too much. Weeks of pain and months of missing Steve and his mouth and the stupid shit that comes out of it; years of molding himself to his back at night and pretending there’s nothing else to it apart from sharing warmth; a decade of his stomach twisting with the foolish desire to make Steve laugh.   It's August and sweltering when Steve asks, out of nowhere, if Bucky wants to try kissing. Just to see what it's like. Bucky then spends far, far too many years pretending it didn't mean anything at all.

a hat, a horse (a Hyundai), and the will to ride by synonym4life | 67K, E

Author's summary: After Steve and Bucky rescue their pals from the Raft prison, they decide to dig deeper into Zemo’s involvement in the UN headquarters’ bombing which sends them on a backpacking trip across select European countries. Steve and Bucky believe this is a story about their mission. Scott Lang and Sam Wilson, who join them halfway through, believe it’s a story about their Eurotrip (and they’re probably right). This writer, however, has been waiting to tell you that the fic’s true mission is Steve and Bucky missioning towards missionary. Follow them on their journey across Europe in tiny cars, packed subway trains and even on skis as they tumble down the Swiss Alps (in a fun way this time!), all the while reigniting untold feelings of the past through inappropriate sexual encounters and terrible communication skills.

Five times Steve kissed Bucky by paragon | 16K, T

Author's Summary: (+ once, finally, it was the other way around)

-> I'm very amused by how short this summary is, but the fic really is exactly what it says on the tin: Steve and Bucky kissing, pre-war to post-CA:TWS.

I Wanna Live in the Hidden Parts of Your Skin by Voylitscope_speed | 10K, E

Author's Summary: Sometimes, Steve looks at Bucky across the floor of their apartment or in the middle of the sidewalk, and it's not goddamn fair how good Bucky looks. It's not fair how Steve, who's spent his whole life fighting with his lungs for air and his heart for a steady beat, sometimes looks at Bucky and his breath and pulse are wrong for reasons that aren't his lousy health at all. And ever since the day with the purple ink, Steve can't stop thinking about people being canvases, like the models at that exhibit. Steve keeps thinking that Bucky'd be the most stunning canvas a guy could ever ask for. (Or: Steve and Bucky discover a kink in 1940. They find a reason to come back to it 80 years later. )

All The Angels and The Saints by Speranza | 48K, E

Author's summary: In which Steve Rogers loses God and finds God and loses God, and also: Bucky.

-> Look, this fic does some of the exact things I said above I usually try to avoid, but (1) it doesn't really do it (kind of, it's hard to explain), and (2) it would be *absolutely ridiculous* to not include it when putting together a list of fics with a pre-war to post-WS arc. This fic is legendary for a reason. It rewired my brain. It was one of the first Stucky fics I read that made me realize and appreciate the full potential and beauty of this ship, and to this day, it remains one of my absolute favorites.

▶ I'm really sorry that I didn't write something for every individual fic like I usually do, but I'm moving back to my home country in less than three weeks, so time is very limited right now. I hope this is still ok, and that you'll find something on this list that you like!

▶ There is a series that would've been perfect for this list but unfortunately it was deleted without warning a few months ago. If anybody has a saved copy of apricotcake's long is the road that leads me home that they'd be willing to share with me, I would be forever grateful! I'm still so sad that it's gone and angry with myself that I didn't download it when I had the chance. :(