#i used to see fics about tommy having feelings for like. sal. and i get the angst theyre trying to achieve but im just not feeling that at a

[silasplaskett]

really into the headcanon that tommy once had a little crush on chimney back in the day and how complementary it is in my mind to my other headcanon about bucks crush on connor

[bidisasterevankinard]

Ok because some people encouraged me here is sal x buck x tommy au pre-1s au threesome fic draft (maybe it will not became bigger)

Nsfw

Buck wants it to be noted that when he came to that night club all his roommates were talking about for weeks in the tightest jeans possible, he didn't plan to meet both of his hot instructors. And he definitely didn't plan or even in his wildest dreams though he would actually have a chance to be sandwich between them.

But after some shots of tequila that Mr. Kinard and Mr. Deluca, or as Sal said "tonight for you, it's just Tommy and Sal, sweety" bought for them, he was carefully led to the middle of dance floor, sandwiched between two big bodies, with Sal's dick grinding in his ass more and more with every move of man's hips, and Tommy's grinding over his cock that was quick to get to excited about the attention Buck was having.

Ten minutes of dirty dancing, with his hands on Tommy's broad shoulders barely hidden by his tank top while man was holding his hips and Sal's hot hands on his waist beautifully in sync with Tommy moving Buck between them so that Buck felt like a toy for them to feel good, and he was so on edge he felt his orgasm on the tip of his tongue. That was when Tommy lean to his ear and bit it a little before whispered "don't be shy pretty boy, come for us." And Buck did, but before he could form any coherent thoughts, Sal whispered "you know, you shouldn't be shy to tell us what you want, sweety. I'm positive we want it too."

Then Buck pretty sure he begged about their cocks taking him how they want, but he was so delirious with the bliss and intoxicated with tequila some memories are blur.

But he knows that now he gags on Sal's cock, while Tommy thrust hard and deep behind him and it is the best possible outcome of the night he could ever imagine.

"Where did your pretty brain went to, huh, sweety?" Sal takes him from himself and makes eye contact Buck can barely hold because of the tears in his eyes from pleasure and the feeling of thick cock hammering his prostate. "I think we don't fuck you good enough if you have time to think about something else, don't you think so? Maybe we should be more rough with you, sweety? Train you better, huh? We can't let you be bad toy in your firehouse."

"Don't be so rude to him, Sal," Tommy says when he bottoms out faster and somehow getting deeper than before, making Buck scream from the sensation. "Don't you see how perfect he is? How good he takes us?"

Buck shivers from praise.

"Aw, sweety likes to be praised?" Sal says tugging his hair hard and pust him back on his dick, hitting his throat and making Buck gag. "You should work more like a good whore you are, if you want to have good grade, sweety."

Buck shivers again and moves his head to fuck himself on Sal's dick.

"Yeah, like that. Not bad, but you sure can be better, sweety."

[bucktommyscones]

In the Name-Epilogue

Ao3 appears to be down at the moment, so I'll add the link when it's up, but here's the whole epilogue. Thanks for the support! Eventually, there's gonna be more. Almost certainly a honeymoon fic, but I have another idea I want to work on first.

Here we go!

Epilogue: Eddie

Eddie’s sipping a whiskey at the open bar when he spots Buck and Tommy holding court at their table, standing with their arms around each other, so damned happy that Eddie can practically feel it from across the room. He’s been keeping an eye out for trouble all night because you never know. There’s been too much his family has gone through in the last few years and Eddie will get Buck and Tommy through their wedding day if it kills him.

He’s gratified to see that the Buckley parents really have turned a corner, which he wouldn’t have believed had someone told him it would happen a year ago. Tommy had even danced with Margaret Buckley and he only looked a tiny bit uncomfortable so Eddie supposes he’ll count that as a win.

“Gross, right?”

Eddie looks to the side to see that Lucy Donato has sidled up next to him. She orders a beer and turns to him, looking at Buck and Tommy (who have shifted position just slightly, but somehow still have their arms around each other) a little wistfully.

“They’re so in love,” Lucy continues and Eddie snorts.

“Try being around them more,” Eddie says affectionately. “They really are like that all the time. Being married now will probably make it worse.”

Lucy laughs as she takes the beer the bartender just handed her.

“I’ve been around them enough to know in the last two years.”

“Fair enough. Doesn’t take much.”

“So, Diaz,” she says, taking a sip. “Wanna dance?”

He’s about to say ‘sure’ when he spots Maddie motioning to him from the entrance to the reception hall, giving him the hand signal that can only mean one thing.

“Shit,” Eddie mutters.

“What?” Lucy asks and he turns to her.

“Tommy’s dad’s here.”

Lucy’s face clears of confusion and Eddie thinks she must know enough because now she looks pissed. “Seriously? He’d actually show up?”

“Yeah, Maddie and I worked out a way to tell each other without letting on to Buck and Tommy.” Eddie looks towards them to see that they’re now talking with Hen and Sal. They’re facing the entrance hall and he looks at Lucy again.

“Hey, can you just make sure they stay distracted? I’m going to go take care of this.”

“Yeah,” she says. “Of course.”

Then she turns to where they’re standing and hollers, “Hey, Kinard!”

Eddie has the presence of mind to snort a laugh as both Buck and Tommy turn to her.

That works.

He walks calmly over to Maddie before following her out the door and to the entrance of the venue.

“He showed up about ten minutes ago,” Maddie says. “Amanda thought she could warn him off with the Persona Non-Grata, but that didn’t work and she sent another employee to find us.”

“God, what an asshole,” Eddie says. “Tommy says he made it very clear he wasn’t welcome.”

“I know.”

They get to the entrance and Eddie hears the smarmy, too polite, voice that reminds him nothing of the warm way Tommy tends to speak. Even if he’s shooting out one of his deadpan remarks, he never sounds like this, like the person he’s speaking to is so far beneath him, they’re not even work listening to.

“...my son’s wedding, and…”

“You’re not welcome here,” Eddie snaps, stepping in front of Amanda, who had glided back when she saw Eddie and Maddie.

George Kinard looks at him disdainfully. “And you are?”

Eddie rolls his eyes, not bothering to introduce himself. “I was there when you accosted Tommy at his former workplace.”

George scoffs. “Accosted, please. I simply went there to have a discussion with him.”

“In which you made it perfectly clear how you feel about him and his husband,” Eddie snaps. “You were told not to come and I’m here to enforce their wishes. Leave. Now.”

“And who do you think you are to talk to me like th-”

“Mr. Kinard,” a familiar voice says from behind Eddie and he turns to see Bobby and Athena rushing up, Athena holding up her badge. “I’m Sargent Athena Grant of the LAFD. You were warned not to come. If you don’t leave now, I will arrest you for trespassing.”

He sneers at her. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh please, try me,” Athena says, planting her hands on her hips, looking authoritative and a little scary in her dark blue gown.

“Tommy and Evan don’t want you here. Go. Now.”

He looks at them all. “Well,” he says with another scoff. “I know when I’m not wanted.”

“Do you, though?” Eddie wonders and Maddie stifles a laugh next to him.

George gives them all one last disdainful look before spinning on his heel and stalking off to the town car waiting some distance away.

“Thanks, Athena,” Eddie says. “How did you know?”

“I spotted your little exchange in the doorway,” Athena says.

“When you didn’t come back right away, I figured there was trouble.”

“Come on.” Bobby wraps an arm around her. “Let’s head back inside. I think they’re going to cut the cake soon.”

They all troop back inside and Eddie knows he’s going to have to tell Buck and Tommy about this but when he spots them at a back table, Buck sitting on Tommy’s lap, an arm around his neck and kissing him sweetly, Eddie sighs.

He’ll tell them in a couple of days. He wants them to enjoy tonight.

For now, he’ll go find Lucy for that dance.

Tag list: @desert--moonchild, @sazzynatural, @multishippinghussy, @mmso-notlikethat, @tommy-kinard-buckley,

@sunnywithachanceofbi, @sleepywinchesters, @buck-up-buckley, @manifestingchaoticvibes, @corvid-cryptidd

@lbltpsmspenguin

[eddiediazismyhusband]

👿👊

👊 - The Eddie Punches Tommy Fic

Titled: "He's Not a Saint (And He's Not What You Think)"

----------

“Hey, we need to talk,” Eddie said, in lieu of a greeting. 

Buck cast him a sideways glance before focusing on packing up his gear. “What is there to talk about?”

“Well, I kinda punched your boyfriend in the face the other night,” Eddie let out a soft nervous laugh, trying to cut the tension. “And I wanted to tell you what he said to make me do that.”

“Oh he already told me what he said,” Buck huffed. “What else is there to talk about?”

“H- He told you?” Eddie’s brows furrowed, wondering why Buck was upset with him over Tommy calling his kid a slur, Buck slamming the door to one of the engine’s side compartments shut. 

“Look, Eddie, I know you’re having a hard time with Chris right now,” Buck seethed, “but taking it out on Tommy isn’t okay. Especially when he didn’t do anything to deserve it.”

“Didn’t do anything?” Eddie frowned. 

“Yeah,” Buck rolled his eyes. “He told me that he and Sal were just talking about sports- that you came up out of nowhere and punched him. I’ve gotta say, Eddie, I thought you almost killing a guy would be enough to cut you out of this violent streak, but I guess not.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Eddie asked, frustrated confusion beginning to surge through him.

“Just that if you wanna punch someone, join another fight club,” Buck spat. “Don’t use my boyfriend as your personal punching bag. You’re not the only one who misses Chris here, but you don’t see me assaulting people over it.”

“You don’t fucking know what you’re talking about,” Eddie shot back. 

“Oh, no?” Buck scoffed. “Well, I guess we don’t have anything to talk about then. But don’t expect me to come crawling over to coddle you when you’re feeling bad about missing your son again. I’m not trying to get punched here.”

“Don’t you fucking dare talk about my son again,” Eddie growled, fighting the urge to pin Buck against the truck. How the fuck could Buck be defending Tommy in this situation? How could he be so thoughtless about Chris? “You don’t get to fucking do that.”

“Buckley! Diaz!” Gerrard’s enraged voice carried across the street. “On the truck. Now.”

Buck said nothing as he spun around and stormed off to climb into the cab. Eddie watched for a moment before Hen walked up to him, glancing from where Buck had climbed into the truck to Eddie with a frown on her face.

“What the hell was that?” she asked.

“Buckley siding with his ‘innocent boyfriend’,” Eddie snapped. “Because apparently I’m the violent attacker in this situation.”

----------

👿 - The Homophobic!Marisol Fic

Titled: "I Don't Wanna Miss You Like This (Come Back, Be Here)

----------

“What’s wrong, bud?” Eddie asked, sitting down next to his son, rubbing his hand up and down the teenager’s back.

“I’m just tired,” Chris said softly.

“Okay,” Eddie nodded. “You wanna just go ahead and go to bed? Call it an early night?”

Chris nodded and stood from the couch, slowly making his way towards the hallway, Eddie standing to follow him- usually he would wait for Chris to ask for him to help if he needed it, but Eddie was attuned to his son’s behavior enough to know this was a help-from-dad-night. 

“I hope you sleep well, Christopher,” Marisol told him from where she still sat on the couch.

“Thanks,” Christopher replied, stepping into his room. 

Eddie shut the door behind the two of them as Chris made his way over to his bed, climbing in as he passed off his crutches to Eddie.

“You sure everything’s okay, superman?” Eddie asked. 

“Is Buck mad at me?” Chris’s voice came out small.

“Why would you think that, bud?” Eddie moved to sit next to Chris on the bed, wrapping his arm around him.

“He said he wanted to see pictures from the nature walk,” Chris told him. “I sent him a lot earlier, but he never replied- I saw that he looked at them, but he didn’t say anything. I hope I didn’t do anything to hurt him.”

The tightness in Eddie’s chest twisted at that. Buck avoiding Eddie was bad enough, but Chris? Something had to be going on here.

“I’m sure Buck was probably just busy,” Eddie said. “He will probably reply tomorrow.”

Chris nodded slowly as Eddie ran his hand up and down his back, comfortingly. Eddie pulled him in close for a hug, tucking his chin over top of Chris’s head.

“I love you, kid,” Eddie told him. “More than anything, you know that?”

“I love you too, dad,” Chris returned the hug, Eddie melting into his son’s embrace.

“Now-” Eddie planted a kiss on Chris’s curls before pulling back. “You, my good sir, need to get some shut-eye. Don’t want you falling asleep in class.”

“Goodnight, dad,” Chris said, laying back into bed as Eddie adjusted the comforter over him.

“Goodnight, mijo,” Eddie smiled before planting one more goodnight kiss on his head.

He flipped out the light, taking one more look at his son before shutting the door behind him and returning to the living room.

----------

Make Me Write!

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend, ready to get my heart broken tonight by the Buckley-Diaz family. Do I love that we are getting to see just how connected Buck is to Chris and Eddie's life? Obviously. Do I have to like the path of how we got here? You couldn't pay me to. Why did we have to have the transphobe around all season? Why did no one in the writers room say "actually there are about 10 million other ways to have Eddie get over his dead ex than having an exact replica her play act Shannon so he can get closure and his son can be traumatized". So yes, I will cry and eagerly eat this entire Buddie 4 course meal (as opposed to the bucktommy side salad), but the ingredients still suck.

I'll also hold on to the faint but probably misplaced hope that this will be the straw that breaks the bucktommy relationship apart, because let's face it from what we've seen it wouldn't take much. I don't want to have to dodge horrible takes all hiatus as the stans try and make Thanksgiving dinner from a few bread crumbs (that's my 2nd food metaphor in two paragraphs, better eat something before the show). Anyway good luck to us tonight bestie, where about to get some heartwrenching performances I think, especially when tears up after Bobby climbs dramatically out of his hospital bed (I refuse to believe any other outsome is possible). Cheers friend 🍷🍸🍸!!!

Bestie, I am *vibrating*. As someone who carries all my anxiety in my stomach, I am....absolutely not eating yet 🤣 But the snort I made at that side salad joke was SO loud 🤣🤣🤣

Yeah, there was zero reason to keep the transphobe all season and I absolutely could have done without the doppelganger nonsense (or at least have her be played by someone else when Buck meets her so he could be like, Eddie she doesn't look that much like Shannon, Imma drive you to therapy now), but GOD the Buddie stuff has been so good so I'm just gonna ignore it for now and eat my Buddie meal.

I have a feeling hiatus is gonna be messy, unfortunately but at this point with zero development and no scenes showing Tommy really actually wants to spend time with Buck, IDK why they would give Buck another dead horse relationship to drag out longer than it should 🤷🏻‍♀️ I guess we will see! I've got ice cream waiting for when I get home and a fic that I swear to christ I'm going to work on.

Cheers!

[screaming-universe]

SO GOOD!!! 🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹 If you're open to specific requests/have thought about it yet, could we hear more about some of the other former victors? I have a feeling there are some more familiar names who will be in the Quarter Quell...

Thank you and thanks for this ask! 🧡 Hope you don't mind that I answer this in bullet points and not in sentences I'd keep in the fic, I have had some thoughts but not much is planned out or decided yet tbh ^^ Here's some people who will definitely be victors:

Bobby Nash, District 12. Has a book of all the names of the tributes that died during his Games and then all of the names of the tributes he feels he failed as mentor. Was married to Marcy and had Rob Jr. and Brook but when he starts voicing Opinions about the Games his house in the Victors’ Village inexplicably burns down. The ruin of it is still there to see and Bobby starts drinking to deal with all of the additional guilt he feels.

Athena Grant, District 11 (what's left of Florida?). Went into the Games with Emmett Washington and came out alone; they were in a relationship when they were reaped. She sees herself and Emmett in Buck and Eddie. She married Michael and had May and Harry but was looking for a way to get her children away from Panem before they become eligible for the Hunger Games. She succeeded and now they are in District 13 while she had to stay behind. She does not know if they made it and how they are. Michael meets David in District 13.

Tommy Kinard, District 4. The youngest victor to ever win at age 14. Like Finnick Ordair he was pretty much pressured into prostitution and used that to get hovercraft flying lessons (among other things).

Sal Deluca, District 4. Haven’t given him much thought so far ^^'

Carson, District 3. Because I need more of him and Josh. I don’t know how I’ll include Josh so far but I want to include both of them.

And some people I'm still thinking about. I've added what I'd make their story be if they are victors but I haven't fully decided yet:

Doug Kendall, District ?. He met Maddie as he was touring the districts and they fell in love. Thanks to his status as a victor they were allowed to marry despite the fact that they are from different districts (at least I think that would be hard for normal people to achieve?). She agreed to it despite hardly knowing him and it did not turn out well. In his district she later meets Chimney and falls in love with him but I haven’t really thought about how all of that will go down.

Hen, District 5?. She turns towards healing and helping people after the trauma of the Games.

Chimney, District ?. Would be from the same district as Doug. But I’m really not sure about making him a victor.

Eva Mathis, District ?. She understands what Hen went through in a way Karen can never. Deals with the trauma by taking drugs.

Claudette Collins, District ?. Something fire-based happened during her Games.

Lena Bosko, District ?. Deals with the trauma through fighting. Ronnie Cooper was her mentor and he was crucial to her survival.

Lou Ransone, District ?. Was thought dead when somebody slit his throat and a canon sounded at pretty much the same time. Since this was right at the end of the games none of the other tributes learned he was still alive. The two thinking they were the last tributes killed each other, making Ransone the victor.

I will also need to make a timeline of who won when but that is a problem for future me ^^

[chicleeblair]

Dear Yuletide Writer

Dear Yuletide Author,

EDIT: I am not able to participate in Yuletide this year--I had to forfeit in 2016 due to being unexpectedly hospitalized in Nov/Dec after poorly managing my time, and misreading the rules--I thought the ban could be cleared by submitting a treat OR waiting a year, turns out I have to complete a finished story to be cleared, which I will this year.

All that said, I spent quite a bit of time on this and since I could manage to pinch hint and get to make my requests I’m going to leave my DYW letter here. If anyone feels like writing to these prompts, feel free. I’ll probably reuse them last year, depending on what is written for other people, but I already have plans to nominate a few newer fandoms next year.

Fandoms included: Newsflesh (incl Feedback), 

Hi! I’m incredibly excited about Yuletide this year, and I’ve been considering my requests and offers with more thought than I should be willing to admit to this week. There are so many fandoms that I love nominated, and though I’ve learned to be careful about what I offer to write for, I’ve still found myself making detailed mentao pro-con lists, especially since I try not to request fic from the same fandoms I offer to write in. Still, I’ve been surprised by some of the nominations—I only finished The Lonliest Girl in the Universe a week ago, and Lauren James isn’t well-known in the States, despite being one of my favorite authors. Anyway, I think I’ve got my lists figured out now, so the time has come to tell you what it is I love about my favorite pieces of underappreciated media. What an easy project /sarcasm.

 DISLIKES Before I get into the fandoms individually, I suppose I should let you know what my squicks are (you know you’ve been in fandom too long when you’re shocked Word doesn’t recognize the word ‘squicks.) None of these are triggers in particular, I’ve got depression, but it’s managed, and I don’t have any major traumas to worry about in particular. I don’t mine NSFW/explicit fic, but it’s also not often my reason for reading. That said, the following tags make me likely to hit the back button: watersports, alpha/omega, knotting, feces, mpreg. I’m not particularly fond of girl!penis as a kink, though it’s different if the character is actually dealing with being trans or intersex.

 LIKES One thing I do like that a lot of people don’t is bloodplay, though as there aren’t any vampire stories in my requests it probably won’t be a Thing this year, and I’m good with consensual BDSM.

 I’m sure it’s obvious from my reqs that I’m into zombie fiction, though it’s the human side of it I like, whether that’s humans dealing with zombies, or zombies attempting to deal with their humanity. One thing I will say is that I’ve chosen fandoms that all rest on detailed world-building, and if you want to write a fic that explores the edges of these universes without necessarily including the listed characters, I’m happy with that. Anything that explores how the world has changed/how a certain person has been affected by the big change is fine with me!

 I’m bi, with a deeply abiding love for f/f fic. I definitely have het ships that I’ll fill you in on, but I still love stories where those ladies interact with their female friends. I’m very pro kid!fic, I adore time stamps, alternate POVs, epistolary fic, social media fic, anything that explores the world that an author has already built. I wasn’t ever the kid simply rubbing their Barbies together, I acted out Barbie and Ken meeting while they babysat Kelly and Tommy. (True story: these stories were also written down in a notebook I carried around at school. Basically, I started writing Barbie fanfic at the age of eight.)  

 I’ve received some great Yuletide gifts via letters where I’ve spelled out specific desires, but this year I don’t have specific stories I want written so much as worlds I’d like to see explored further. What are they? Glad you asked, friend!

 Newsflesh (Feed, Deadline, Blackout, Rise, & Feedback)

 This isn’t the most obscure fandom in the world, by any means, since it’s written by Seanann McGuiare under her Mira Grant penname, and because Mark Oshiro of Mark Does Stuff chronicled his journey through the original trilogy. That said, I’m pretty obsessed with the world of these books, and have read and reread all the books and novellas, and I’m not as into the main ship as most readers seem to be. I’m adopted, so the relationship between Georgia and Shaun I don’t love incest in general, though a high school obsession with Life with Derek means I can’t cast stones. However, I nominated this fandom in the first place, and I picked the character pool especially so that even if I didn’t end up requesting it, other participants might take the chance to explore other characters, specifically the characters introduced in Feedback. Their story takes place parallel to Feed; while the Masons are covering the Ryman campaign, Aislinn North, the Irwin who adores chasing zombies, and her companions are on the election trail with Senator Shannon Kilbourne. I like Feedback due to the diversity of its cast—Mat, the teams’ techie and makeup blogger, is nonbinary, and Ash is married to Ben, the Newsie, on paper, but really in a relationship with the final member of their team, fiction-writer Audrey). But another feature I love about this book? Unlike the original trilogy, it was written after the date when Grant sets the Rising—July 2014. Because of this, the book contains some amazing pop cultural nuggets that just make the whole thing seem more real, for instance Ash mentions that Frozen merchandise is a rarity, since the Rising happened mid-PR campaign, and Taylor Swift’s pre-2013 music is “before she turned political.” (If only. Tay and JLaw disappointed me last year.) Like I said, I’m not married to you using these characters. Heck, if you want to explore Taylor Swift’s life, post-Rising, that’d be cool with me. That said, I chose Ash, Emily Ryman, Maggie, and Georgia because they are awesome female characters, and I’d love to see them interact. I can see Ash and Maggie having known each other/dated at some point—though post-canon I am pro-Maggie/Alaric, though less crazy about Ash’s girlfriend—and any situation where they could meet would make a great fic, especially if both Georgia and Ash have to deal with their prejudices towards each other. Also, in regards to Maggie, I wouldn’t mind knowing more about Alisa, Alaric’s sister, especially because the Masons take her in from a shelter in Ferry Pass, which is part of my hometown of Pensacola. Emily is painfully underused, being born pre-Rising and developing retinal KA, and all of them are just badasses. Basically, this world is awesome and I think more people need to be exposed to Feedback, and it’s Irish spitfire of a POV-Irwin. Another feature of this universe I’m interested in is the kids who grow up post-Rising. Grant looks into this with blog posts and flashbacks, but even the description of the post-Rising orphanages in the “All the Pretty Little Horses” short story from Rise makes me want more.

 Parasitology Parasite, Symbiont, Chimera

 Another Mira Grant, another apocalypse. People have accused her of revamping the same story again, but in spite of having some similar characters and circumstances Sal’s story is nothing like Georgia or Ash’s. Of course, I adore the similarities in story-telling—ephemera is my kryptonite—but Sal’s development is unique to Mira Grant books, if not to books in general, and her relationship to her own humanity/lack thereof is fascinating. I especially love that she spends the whole series in a committed relationship, one that she is confident of, and that in spite of only technically having existed for six years she is incredibly sure of herself. I nominated this one as well, and chose Sal, Juniper, Doctor Cale, and Tansy because they are strong ladies with complex stories that have lots of room to be explored. Dr. Cale, Tansy, and Sal to a degree, deal with disability—and this is particular interesting for Tansy & Sal, since they are aware of the fact that they are making a choice to keep this malfunctioning human body. Juniper is a little girl, yet she and Tansy are learning to be people together, Sal is learning to be a mother, and in a way so is Dr. Cale. Also, eventually Juniper will have to decide whether or not to engage with the humans of her generation, and that could be fascinating. That said, Grant hasn’t told nearly as many stories in this universe, since the trilogy relies far more on Sal herself than Newsflesh relies on the Masons, so I’d love to see an exploration of how the parasites and chimeras affected other parts of the world. I think the fact that the symbiotes have brought humanity so close to eradicating illness is something that could be explored further, too, especially when you consider that the parasites disabled their inventor, and that if the Mitchells hadn’t been attempting to hide Sally’s epilepsy, Sal might not have been born. There’s also the fact that the other doctor who is close to Sal—Cale’s son, Nathan—does not use the implants at all, suggesting that at their core physicians with their hearts in the right place know that there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed, that maybe humans need illness and disability to thrive.

 In the Flesh

I really debated requesting this, since it’s a fandom I think I could write in, but I liked the idea of letting my requests adhere to a theme, and this series was the first piece of zombie media I ever consumed (pun intended). There have been many great fics in this fandom, they are often AU and revolve around Kieren’s relationships—I’m all for people celebrating canonically queer characters, but to me neither of those ships were what drew me into the series. I didn’t nominate ItF myself, and I wish I had because I would have included Amy Dyer. As it is, I don’t mind if you mention either of Kieren’s relationships, but I only asked for Kieren and Jem because they’re the characters I care most about, truly. Honestly, I actually care the most about Jem, because I think she’s an incredible character who went through so much to protect her family and is forced to face her fears every day in order to have a relationship with the brother who made her who she is—in so many ways. I am also fascinated by the idea of a world that has faced the apocalypse and is having to move forward. The little details that serve to remind us that society had to hit the pause button, such as the lack of cell phones, are really intriguing to me, as well as the issues students like Jem face having to return to school after war. This world also opens the door for an exploration of what life might be like for children&teens who came back—Henry was a missed opportunity IMO—and while I don’t mind if you don’t bother incorporating the storylines Dominic Mitchell has said he would include in a season three, the idea of Jem making a friend with PDS (as opposed to PTSD, that acronym similarity needs mentioning) would be so great. Again, though, feel free to take this world and run with it, no need to stay in Roarton—I wonder what adulthood for Jem would be like, with Kieren never having aged, for instance?

 World War Z

Another of my nominations. I don’t know why, but I am obsessed with this book, specifically the audiobook. Max Brooks has talked about how he based this book on an oral history of WWII, and I think the parallels between the two wars are deep if you look closely—the idea of total war, the amount of work on the home-front, the inefficiency of assuming what won against one enemy will suffice against another, children escaping unimaginable violence, the nuclear bomb survivor, so much more—but what I really loved is how Brooks really fills in the details from each POV he uses. Without naming celebrities, Brooks clearly sets it in the Bush-era, which is interesting to me but probably not affect fic, but shows how well the world is crafted. The imagery that comes from the Australian astronaut who spent the war on the ISS is particularly poignant to me, especially the way he describes them discovering the burrowing zombies. I also get chills from Jessica’s story, the girl whose parents dragged her up to Canada, and when she discovers the Spongebob sleepover, because it’s a mark of how bizarre our culture and entertainment would seem, and how our comforts could disappear in the blink of an eye. I do think that this book is lacking in female POVs, particular ladies who might not be soldiers but were fighting the war in their own way. I loved Joe Mohammad’s POV, too, but not everyone would need to be part of a patrol group or militia to survive. I’d love to see what the situation was like for city-dwellers, or people who were in the areas not getting supplies due to the Reddecker plan. What about the Israelis, what was it like in the country during this isolated period? There have been some great fics exploring issues like euthanasia and abortion in that period, and I’d love to see an issue like that expanded. On the other hand, there is a lot that could come from looking into the world post-war, describing what the Narrator goes through to get these stories, or what kinds of stories he might hear after the initial book is published—a history of the rebuilding would be interesting since in this world the threat isn’t completely gone. Brooks has written two short stories that are explicitly in this world (a couple that are borderline) and one of them, Closure LtD, and I don’t want to spoil it, but it really makes me wonder what other kinds of industries would emerge in a post-zombie war world.

 Inhuman Condition

Also my nomination, this is a webseries that did not get NEARLY the amount of viewers or fans it deserved. The author has created this incredibly interesting alternative history, and I don’t think everyone who watched even knows how much detail was put into it. For instance, I discovered a blog (https://angrydeadgirl.wordpress.com) written from the POV of Clara—my favorite character—wherein she analyzes TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, except it’s Grey’s Anatomy reimagined through the lens of this world, and there is NOTHING I love more than inter-textual references like that. There are other in-universe shows that I have honestly begged to see for real, and via the show we only get a taste of these details. I’d also love to know more about how the existence of zombies and lycans affected history aside from the terror attacks we know of from the series. I’d also love to see more about Kessler, what got her into working with other-humans, whether there is a personal connection that we’re not told, more about her daughter, Mira, who has grown up in a world where the truth is known, there’s so much in there to mine. I didn’t nominate Tamar, the character who seems more superhero than supernatural, because to me her story seems to fit into this world less than Clara and Linc. Not that I don’t like her, I did, but while I totally believe they could all exist in one universe—I read Marvel, after all—her condition doesn’t seem to be in the same category, so the backstory would be different. Lycanthropy and Clara’s form of zombiism both seem to be medical conditions, to a degree, and while Tamar’s issues definitely parallel mental illness, it’s a different issue. I wouldn’t mind seeing her or others like her, just that I think the dynamics of lycan/walker-type conditions. I really appreciate how, like In the Flesh, this series allows the conditions to be a metaphor for real life issues, without erasing those issues. One of Clara’s blog entries, for instance, mentions that there are cases of people being killed for not informing sexual partners of their condition, and this is explicitly related to people with HIV who have faced similar violence. Also, Linc and Kessler are both explicitly bisexual, and in my mind Clara is non-straight, too, and that’s a reason I included Mira because WHY NOT? I nominated Frank because after seeing a fic that shipped him and Clara I got interested in what it would be like to have to spend all your time with this vibrant girl who is so afraid of becoming a monster, I don’t ship them necessarily, but I am interested in knowing more about him. This is the one fandom where I am kind of tied to having the canon characters front and center, but if you want to explore this world through a different lens, I’m open to it.

 The Loneliest Girl in the Universe

 I really, really thought about using this slot for iZombie, because it’s one of my favorite things and fits the theme, but I read The Loneliest Girl in the Universe a few weeks ago, and am THRILLED with the idea of finding other people who love it. I also considered offering to write for it, but I do not have confidence in my ability to calculate transmission delays or describe space physics. I mean, it’s basically a YA version of The Martian featuring an MC with anxiety who writes fanfic. WHAT MORE DO ANY OF US WANT? Throughout this book I was terrified that J would turn out to be an AI, but his actual backstory basically broke my heart, as did the reveal of Romy’s history. I really wish her mother had survived, and I would like to see more of her in Romy’s memories or maybe in the logs/archives now that Romy might be open to looking into them. I would love to see her asking Molly about them, or reading/watching her parents’ reports or journals as she builds a new world with Issac. I also want to know about Issac Evans. Who is he? What happened with him and J? Will he and Romy be MFEO, or simply besties who raise babies? What are the other adults on the ship like? Does Romy find a different person to love? Is it a girl? I’d also LOVE LOVE LOVE to see Romy’s life from the POV of an Earth dweller. You see, DYW, I am a huge fan of several family vlogs; there are babies I have watched grow up via the internet, and I am DEEPLY invested in their lives. NASA would be crazy not to have gotten the world to rally around baby Romy, and some of them probably still read her fics. That’s the thing, though, this book includes her fic, and imaging fic from 2067 makes me want to see more of their social media, and to know how it affected this next group of astronauts. Also, since it turns out that J lied about the war and the collapse of the world’s governments, I’d love to see what the world is actually like. What else is NASA doing? Does the entire world freak out when they find out what happened with Romy and J, or only Molly? Who is Molly? Did she suspect J based on how well she knows Romy? I have a need to know.

 That is it, oh Yuletide Author, way too many of my thoughts about Alternate Worlds, most of them infested by the undead. As I’ve said, I would be happy with stories that feature the characters I requested, or that don’t at all, but unless mentioned I’m not crazy about canon-alternatives.