#lest I fall back into the self confidence abyss I am crawling out of

[scapeartist]

@handypolymath put out a general tag for anyone wanting to play the top/bottom 5 kudosed fics on AO3. Thought I would play along. Trying to get back into a fic frame of mind.

Starting with the sad and lonely bottom:

Odin's Emissary (0 Kudos): A character study of Eric from the Sookie Stackhouse series. I loved early Eric from the books. Sigh.. 

Being a former soldier, Ocella still found it difficult to stay away from combat, and when Ocella was set on going, Eric could not refuse him even if he had wanted to. Besides, following a large army on the move provided so many opportunities for steady meals it was hard to resist. Eric, too, would feel a rush at the thought of the thousands of beating hearts all converging on one place ready to be stopped by spear, sword, bullet, or fang.

Slice of Strife (1 kudos): Based on the prompt "Captain Hook & Pizza." This takes place during season 2 of OUAT after Emma leaves Captain Hook in a storage closet in NYC when he attempted to kill Gold.

He’s not sure how long he’s knocked out, but when Hook awakens, his head is throbbing and he cannot see. The floor beneath him is smooth underneath the thin layer of grit, and he’s sure he’s never smelled anything like what’s assailing his nostrils right now. It’s overpowering, burns, and leaves an oily feeling in the back of his throat. He coughs trying to clear it, but all that does is send a shooting pain through his skull.

Dead Men Don't Tell Tales (3 kudos): This Farscape fic takes place during the season 3 hiatus and was my take on how Crichton and the gang would take down Scorpius. I was right about at least one part, so go me! 

She hadn't been down there since before he died in her arms. Aeryn had watched helplessly as Stark and Crais had carried John's body away, still covered in the red blanket they shared. They had taken him to the med bay to initiate the cryogenic process to keep him until they found Moya again, and then they placed him in the cryo pod stored at the back of the cargo bay. It was hard not to think of him back there alone in the dark-it was even harder to think of jettisoning his body into cold space. But now, she would have preferred he was floating millions of metras away than used as a decoy to fool Scorpius, whom she secretly doubted could be deceived at all.

Bicorne (3 kudos) Based on the prompt "Liam Jones & Uniform." It’s a short, dialog only bit about a special occasion between the brothers during their Naval days. 

“How do I look?”

“Ridiculous.”

“Looking for a flogging are you?”

Ascension and Dissension (3 kudos): Another short piece based on the prompt "Lt. Jones and Apprehension." Filler for the flashbacks of “Good Form.”

“It’s doom,” the boy said, and something in his tone of voice gave Killian pause.

Perhaps it was the unwavering certainty of the pronouncement, perhaps it was his choice of word, but no matter what the reason, every part of Killian tensed like a line being pulled by a desperate fish at the end of a hook.

And now on to the top 5:

Time and Again (114 kudos): Part 9 of the Drinks with the Prince series, takes place during "Snow Drifts" and "There's No Place Like Home." Killian and David chat at Granny's before and after his and Emma's time traveling adventures.

The Prince moved slowly through the crowd, as if looking for something, while Hook approached him from the far end of the counter where the alcohol was being set up. He had tucked a mug of beer for himself into the crook of his hooked arm, the mug he'd procured for David in his hand. They met in the middle of the room, guests of the party maneuvering around them to get a glimpse of the royal child.

As You Don't Wish (115 kudos): Emma Swan buys a ship in a bottle and gets more than she bargained for in the shape of a genie pirate. (Based on a short story by Neil Gaiman.)

Emma Swan didn’t know what possessed her to buy the dusty, old, ship-in-a-bottle at the dimly-lit antique shop downtown, but she couldn’t resist the perfect, billowed sails, nor the cheery yellow trim along its rails and hull. It was a ship fit for the open seas.

She had no idea where she was going to keep the thing.

20 Questions and a Bagel (141 kudos) Captain Cobra. Takes place early in season 3b. Henry and Hook have a conversation while waiting for Emma. (Yes, there are 20 questions in it.)

Henry closes the door behind Hook and walks over to the small coffee table in front of the couch he had been sitting at. There are bags and napkins and cups strewn about the surface and Henry points at a lumpy bag. "Wanna bagel? They aren't as good as the ones we have at home, but they're better than nothing."

"I am feeling a bit peckish. Thank you, lad." Hook sits down on the couch and picks up the bag, peering into it. It smells heavenly—the scent of cinnamon most prevalent—and the bread is still slightly warm. He grabs the first one he can reach and pulls it out, sniffing it with his eyes half closed. It’s been far too long since he’s had sweets of any kind.

Sit, Stay, Feel (157 kudos) Modern AU: Emma Swan is the owner of Pet Savior — a dog training/walking/sitting service. Killian Jones, and his dog Gale, are her clients.

The blonde human and the sleek black canine had been a team since Gale started with Pet Saviors as a 12-week old rambunctious ball of fluff about a year ago. In that whole time, Emma hadn't met Gale's owner. They communicated by notebook — he would leave instructions or training requests and she would write a little something about Gale's day — but they had never crossed paths. Their "conversations" amused Emma more often than not because they frequently pretended to write as if they were Gale. It was silly, but once it (he) started there was no going back. Some days those notes were the only thing worth laughing about. Nonetheless, Emma never felt a need to get to know Gale's owner since the whole point of Emma being with Gale was to break up the dog's lonely day and give her the exercise she needed to not be a furniture eating lunatic. People weren't Emma's thing anyway, so notes and the random email worked just fine for Emma and Gale's "Dad," Killian Jones.

Laundry Day (161 kudos) CS Smut. That’s really probably all I need to say, and explanation for why this is my top kudosed fic. But here’s the description anyway: Hook's doing laundry and Emma needs to see it for herself.

Emma rolled her eyes at her father and attempted to refocus on the paperwork in front of her, which was futile, because, seriously. How does a three-hundred-some year-old pirate do laundry? Washboard? Pounding his clothes on rocks? Mmmm...pounding…. Stop. She tried not to picture it (in any more detail) because in every scenario that arose, he was buck naked, and, well, she was still sharing office space with her father for Pete's sake. Blowing an errant hair from her face (definitely not trying to cool the blush blooming across her face), and shifting in her seat (because the uncushioned chair was uncomfortable, not because anything down below was beginning to tingle or heat up or in need of relief), Emma rattled the papers again pretending she was being productive. Jesus Christ.

And there you have it. The good, the bad, and the kudoed. Consider yourself tagged if you want to play.