#qaf fic recs

[winderlylandchime]

May I ask what are your favorite Britin fics? 🥺

Hello dear sweet anon!

I am always happy to share my QAF/Britin fic recs. I keep a collection going of my bookmarks at AO3 and try to keep them pretty well tagged. You can find that here but I’ll pull out a few that I find particularly enjoyable:

Pulse Point - a complete AU with trauma surgeon!Brian and EMT!Justin. By Xie

Unfold Me - a S5 canon divergent fic which honestly solves a lot of my issues with S5. By mornmeril

Monogamy - another S5 canon divergent fic which takes an entirely different approach and is full of the feels. By frayach

The Love Song of Brian A. Kinney - a post canon classic, one shot. By ipoiledi.

Counting Dollars - a gapfiller for between S3 and S4, one shot. Also by ipoiledi.

Catalepsis - lovely S3 canon divergent fic, lots of delicious hurt/comfort. By @lostcol

Forward - post canon one shot focusing on Brian. By @kinnenvy

Glowing Rooms - canon divergent at 122 - Brian moves to NYC and doesn’t go to prom, Justin is bashed anyway. One shot. Amazing. By ohmyjetsabel

Only Time - post canon series, honestly could be S6, absolutely brilliant. Also by Xie

Homecoming - honestly, you cannot go wrong with this writer but her main series (The One Where Justin Loses His Hearing) can be intimidating. These are two parts of that series that can be read as a standalone fic (two chapters). By LaVieEnRose

If you want some fantastic PWP, I highly recommend devil_on_your_shoulder27384

Also all of ivysunna’s fics are incredible but I love their canon fics such as we’d still worship this love (S2, canon compliant, outsider POV which is always fun for Britin) and their newest the heat of your electric touch (S4/cancer arc gapfiller, canon compliant).

Wait - set during S3, Justin has an HIV scare (open ending). By @thissugarcane

Also, if you are new to fic in QAF, I would be absolutely remiss if I didn’t direct you toward Myrna’s four part fic that is canon divergent after the end of S2 and is delicious hurt/comfort and alternating POV. It is partway down this archive page. Look for If You Needed Me (If You Needed Me / I Would Come to You / I’d Swim the Seas / For To Ease Your Pain). I encourage you to save it as PDFs because it is hard to track down.

Overall, I tend to bookmark fics where the premise is interesting (bonus points for hurt/comfort), the characters and their growth are central, and the characters must be in character (any changes to their character must be explained by growth or AU circumstances but honestly I love these characters and I want to read about them), and the writing is good. I don’t enjoy fics that are anti-character. I know those are popular in this fandom and I’m not going to yuck anyone’s yum, but I generally find every character on this show has something redeeming about them and they are all flawed. It’s far more interesting to me to explore that rather than have an outright villain. More than any other fandom, I tend to enjoy canon-based fics rather than complete AUs (I say as I’m partway through writing a complete AU).

Happy reading! If you read anything that you enjoy, come back and let me know your thoughts (from this list or anything else).

[atlasshrugd]

Hi there. I found your big QAF fic rec list on a random search the other day and I was hoping you might be able to help me find a fic? I saw it on another rec list on an author website and the link doesn't work anymore. And the author has made their live journal friends only and I don't have an LJ account. Anyways, it's called "In Between Days" by rachel anton or sparkledark, that's the LJ account name. Thank you in advance!

You have come to the right place! Honestly, I didn't have high hopes on finding this one as the only link has expired (being from 2005), but I FOUND IT on the wayback machine, where it had been captured once in 2008.

Here is the link:

https://web.archive.org/web/20081019123727/http://hometown.aol.com/ranton1013/inbetweendays.html

I'm putting it on my list! Hope you enjoy it! :)

[lostcol]

queer as folk rec list (#1)

Wooooo finally, sorry it took so long @bethespark ​ ♥

(This is also... inspiration for @eusuntgratie , but no pressure, we’re all well aware of your completely normal and sedate decent into hockey rpf that has consumed your soul and fic life.)

This will be the first post of a few; when I was going through my QAF bookmarks I came across way too many fics I want to rec. No real theme to these, there’s a variety of topics/themes/vibes.

ALL FICS ARE BRITIN/BRIAN X JUSTIN <3

The One Where Justin Loses His Hearing by LaVieEnRose

Series summary: AU after Season 4. The year Justin turns 23, he and Brian get the news that over the next year he's going to gradually lose all of his hearing. The series tracks the next years of their life as they manage their new reality, after-effects of the bashing, their eventual move to New York, and their ever-evolving relationship. Told in first-person chapters from their points of view and some outsiders, with some angst, a lot of hurt/comfort, and loads of humor. Never any big relationship drama, always disability-positive, and no one ever takes themselves too seriously. This isn't a WIP, per se, because all the stories are their own complete thing. It's just a collection of stories in a universe, so it's not going to have some definite end.

Absolutely my #1 rec. Listen, I know you’re going to open it and go holy shit this girl’s insane; it’s a series of one shots set in a universe, currently at 157 one shots and over 800,000 words. But because it’s a series of self-contained one shots, there’s no need to read it all, rush through, whatever. It’s amazing and so so worth it. Just check out the first fic, trust me. Most fics are M, some T, one or two E.

A Queer as Folk Halloween by Brynneth

Rated E, 4K, canon compliant

Summary:  A Halloween costume party, Brian and Justin style. Which of them will win the bet to decide what costumes they will wear?

This is possibly the first fic I read involving subspace. Funny and hot.

Sunshine is a Fucking Dick by Frayach

Rated M, 4K, canon compliant

Summary: Hurt/Comfort? Hurt/Comfort's bullshit.

Brian has cancer and the only way he’ll accept his Sunshine’s help is if he’s a dick about it. This is so good, I’ve reread it a bunch of times.

Contacts by LaVieEnRose

Rated G, 800 words, canon compliant

Summary: Over the years, they saved each other under different names.

What it says on the tin. How and why they’ve saved each other under different names in their phones over the years. Very cool character/relationship insight.

Fatherhood by PrettyTheWorld and TrueIllusion 

Rated M and E, 94K, 5 one shots (so far), post-series

Series summary: A series of one shots that focus on Brian's relationship with teenage Gus.

Really good series set post-series, Justin and Brian are living in NYC and Brian’s son Gus, who was 5 when the show ended, is a teenager living in Canada with his moms. Brian sometimes struggles to navigate parenting a teen, but he’s grown a lot and is determined to have a good relationship with his son, unlike his father’s relationship with him. On the softer side, some super sweet moments, some angst, some humor. 

[wildlydone]

Top Tier Britin Fic

A character study of Brian from his Guardian Angel's perspective (AKA Vic Grassi). This is honestly the best representation of Brian I have ever read. This fic runs through Brian's childhood, canon events, and after Justin leaves for New York as they try to maintain a long distance situationship. But Brian is in need of an emotional intervention when he starts spiraling and what better way to knock some sense into him than Vic punking him?

10/10 fav Britin fic absolutely 💯

(such emotion, such angst with comfort, excellent character study, so beautiful)

[sophsun1]

do u have any good qaf fic recs that takes place after the show ended. either bri going to nyc to see justin, or justin coming home

Hey anon!

These are some of my most favourite fics to read for britin in this qaf universe, I have tagged one story but please check out their story archive to see what else they've written. Some are continuing on from canon and some become AU. All these wonderfully talented writers capture their voices so, so well and for me it feels very realistic and true to how their story would continue. So I wish you well on your reading endeavour and make sure to give these amazing people lots of love in their comments because fic writing and all writing in general is such an art form and definitely not something I could do!

I would also suggest checking out the writers bookmarks where you can find other stories and fellow writers they love so you discover new stuff that way also.

I'm actually so behind in reading myself as I'm usually too busy giffing them I haven't had time to catch up, so I will be flooding their comments as soon as I can. I will tag some of the writers that I know are here on tumblr and if anyone else has any recs or wants to plug their own stories please do!

@ivysunna

@winderlylandchime

@lostcol

https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account

[ficwriterhub]

(and I'd do it again)

by @winderlylandchime

Summary: “It’s…Justin,” Emmet’s southern drawl hides behind his efforts to keep his voice calm.

“No shit, Honeycutt,” Brian pushes on the guy’s shoulder, pushing him out of the loft, throwing his clothes after him. “I didn’t think you called me up at midnight to chit chat about place settings for your next soiree.”

Canon divergence after Brian and Justin break up in Season Five. I thought maybe something other than a bomb could bring them back together.

Read it on Ao3!

[mariunnnn]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Queer as Folk (US) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Brian Kinney/Justin Taylor (Queer as Folk), Melanie Marcus/Lindsay Peterson, Ben Bruckner/Michael Novotny Characters: Brian Kinney (Queer as Folk), Justin Taylor (Queer as Folk), Michael Novotny, Debbie Novotny, Emmett Honeycutt, Lindsay Peterson, Melanie Marcus, Gus Peterson-Marcus, Jenny Rebecca Novotny-Marcus, Jack Kinney, Joan Kinney, Claire Kinney Additional Tags: there's mentions of sex, and some kind of super powers, it's a superpower au i think, let me know if there's anything else I should tag Summary:

"justin kissed him softly, his hand grabbing onto brian's hair, tightening slightly..

and the tv shut off.

brian's hands held onto the front of justin's shirt and he barely put any distance between them to get a quick look at the tv.

"piece of shit."

justin snorted unattractively and all the lights in the flat went out with a high crackling sound."

a superpower!au

[bisexualdawnsummers]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

Thanks! I can't say that these five are my favorite fics I've written, but I'm pretty proud of them.

Warm (due South, fraser/vecchio) My first due South fic! I posted this last year for Ray Vecchio Day. I wrote this fic backwards, knowing I wanted to connect the ending to the episodes They Eat Horses, Don't They? and Pizza and Promises with Ray finally allowing Fraser to warm him up. And also reference the 'picture 'heat me up' postcard from Burning Down the House.

Where you belong (qaf us, brian/michael) I've attempted to write something for this pairing many times over the years, this is the first one to come together and I still like how it turned out. I'm very happy to have contributed something to one of my fave, tragically underrated otps.

A Mountie Under the Influence (due South, fraser/vecchio) I love a silly inebriated love confession. It was a fun way to get Fraser to let his guard down and open up.

What Were You Doing New Year's Eve? (due South, fraser/kowalski) More intoxicated shenanigans in this one. This was a last minute, burst of inspiration fic that I wrote the night before. I think it turned out pretty fun. It has a fun romcom vibe.

Parting Gift (Interview with a Vampire, daniel/armand) I enjoyed writing my own take on Daniel's turning. It was fun playing with Armand and Daniel's complex dynamic and possible past entanglement. I think it turned out pretty well!

[perotovar]

Erin, I have a question inspired by your latest Shane/Tim fic! It completely blew me away and I know I’m going to keep thinking about them 🖤

Have you ever watched the show Queen as Folk? It was one of my absolute faves growing up, written by Russel T Davis, with Aidan Gillan and a (very) young Charlie hunnam? It’s set in Manchester in 1999 and although it’s a very different story is gives suchhhh vibes of Bloody Kisses that i think you’d really enjoy it?

You might be the like, Al of course I’ve seen QAF or it might absolutely not be your thing.

Much love,

Al

omg i love you for this 😭

i’ve seen a couple of episodes for the american version of the show but never a whole season/series! i should probably watch some to get some more of those late 90s/early 00s vibes!

thank you so much for the rec!!

[liggytheauthoress]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written :) (you knew i was gonna send this to you, right)

I am fully aware this is cheating but I refuse to pick just one fic from the series so Melt the Elements. That series is my baby. Even if I'm still not entirely sure where it came from.

the oldest one on this list: The Right to Love. (I really need to write more Leverage ot3 fic whoops)

my first but decidedly not my last Kaysanova fic, broken bones and tattered clothes.

can't tame the lion, aka one of THE most self-indulgent things I've ever written (even if I did technically write it for you :P) and somehow still the only Losers fic I've actually gotten around to finishing...

cheating again (but barely, it's only two fics at the moment) with my Kaysanova Lowell!verse bc again, super self-indulgent.

(honorable mention goes to a light in the room, aka my super niche Nagron Queer as Folk au that I decided was a fantastic idea to write despite only having seen, like, half a season of QAF)

[winderlylandchime]

I need ALL of you’re britin recs! 🥹

Oh hello, hello, hello lovely anon. Buckle up for my list of Britin recs. I’ll try to be organized…

Some of my favorite canon-divergent fics are:

Catalepsis by @lostcol - Canon divergent in S3 and follows how Brian and Justin may have reunited in a different way. Lots of delicious hurt/comfort.

The One Where Justin Loses His Hearing by LaVieEnRose - Canon divergent sometime in S5 (before the break up) and follows Brian and Justin as Justin navigates losing his hearing. Before you balk at the 800K+ word count (yes), remember that it’s a series. There are a few story arcs but generally the fics do not end on cliff-hangers and you can pace yourself. The first 26 fics (all of which start with The One Where) are the original series and I would start there. I tend to like my fics rated E and the T ratings initially put me off of this series. If you’re like me, give it a chance anyway. LVER is an incredible writer (she’s published IRL) and there’s a reason this is a modern classic.

Homecoming this is part of the TOWJLHH series but is also published as a stand-alone fic. It’s two chapters exploring how else Brian and Justin may have reunited in S3. You don’t need familiarity with the rest of the series to enjoy this.

Glowing Rooms by OhMyJetsabel - Canon divergent in S1. Brian gets the job in NYC and Justin gets bashed at prom anyway.

If You Needed Me by Myrna (halfway down the page, non-AO3 link) - Canon divergent after S2. Told in four parts: Ethan, Michael, Brian, Justin. An alternate version of Brian and Justin getting back together and Justin has a brain tumor. This is classic, classic, classic QAF fanfiction.

Some of my favorite gap-filler fics are:

A Real Fucking Legacy by @evermoresx - Gap filler for 2x07 when Justin wants to go without condoms. Brian’s POV.

Counting Dollars by Ipoiledi - Gap filler for between S3 and S4 when Brian has lost everything but the loft to defeat Stockwell.

Wrist by LaVieEnRose - Gap filler for 2x14 when Justin narrowly escapes Sapperstein’s party.

We’d Still Worship this Love - Not strictly gap-filler but definitely canon-compliant, set sometime during the first half of S2. Michael’s POV. (Orphan account)

Some of my favorite post-canon fics are:

The Love Song of Brian A. Kinney by Ipoiledi - Brian’s POV when Justin asks to take a break from phone sex.

Only Time by Xie - Alternating POV and it’s written so perfectly it’s canon to me now.

I have all my QAF bookmarks in this collection. Some of them are locked to AO3 registered users and I didn’t include them in this list for that reason since I don’t know if you have an AO3 account.

And all the QAF fics I’ve written are here.

Thanks for this ask anon!

[atlasshrugd]

Hello! I used to be very into QAF when it was on TV. I was looking for a piece of fiction wherein Brian and Justin engage in double penetration and I can't seem to find it. Was it by burnitbackwards? I cannot for the life of me find it. Let me know if you could possibly recommend. I appreciate it!

Hi! I'm sorry for the late reply. I have searched for a fic like this by burnitbackwards but I can't seem to find it. However I did find this fic by rhiannonhero called 'Incarnadine.' Is this the one you were looking for?

Link: https://rhihero-fic.livejournal.com/47908.html#cutid1

Hope this helps!

[lostcol]

queer as folk fic rec list (#2)

Let’s gooooooooo 🤩

As with the previous list, all fics are Britin/Brian x Justin. 

Turn of the Wheel by Predec2

Rated E, 80K, historical au

Summary: Brian Kinney is a man of affluent means, wealthy beyond compare, and not wanting for any material thing. But he is emotionally empty. Will an unexpected visitor cause him to change? 

Set in the late 1800s. Justin is homeless and crash lands in Brian’s life when Brian’s carriage nearly runs him over, so Brian is obliged to let Justin stay while he recovers. Snobbish, wealthy Brian slowly thaws to Sunshine’s charms. There’s also a sister (Molly) who’s rescued from the miserable life she was sent to on the orphan train, and an absolutely bitch of a housekeeper who gets exactly what she deserves. This is SO. GOOD, guys, seriously. If you’re at all into historical au’s, check it out.

Who’s Your Daddy? by Azile (WitnessMarks)

Rated E, 5K, sort of canon compliant?

Summary: Justin just wanted to try a night out at a different club. He didn't expect it to make him question his whole relationship with Brian.

Justin drags Brian to the local leather club one night, and Brian’s forced to say he’s Justin’s Daddy to get some asshole to leave his precious Sunshine alone. A slight identity/relationship crisis ensues for Justin when he starts to realize all the ways Brian does, actually, play a fatherly role in his life. This skews funny, not angsty, and it’s delightful. 

Brian’s Cocktails by Techgirl

Rated E, 3.4K (9 ficlets), canon compliant

Listen. This is crack. It’s also hysterical. It’s so dumb and I say that with the most affection possible. It’s short little ficlets told from the POV of Brian’s cock. If you’re looking for a laugh, for something silly, check this out.

Growing Up by LaVieEnRose

Rated T, 1.7K, canon compliant

Summary: Justin gets sick, Brian handles it like an adult, and everyone else is surprised. Set sometime in S4.

What it says on the tin. Short and sweet.

Drunken Love by Techgirl

Rated E, 3.8K (6 ficlets), more or less canon compliant

Summary:  Short, drunken glimpses into the world of Brian and Justin.

Once again, what it says on the tin; in each ficlet, one or both of them are drunk.

Another list will be coming! Probably whenever @munsonboy​ starts harassing me for it 😘 

If you read anything I rec and have feelings about it, I’d love to hear about it!

💖🧡💛💚💙💜

[winderlylandchime]

I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s one of those fics I have saved as a PDF *just in case*

This fic is a must read for any britin fan it made me laugh, the humour is incredible. Made me cry it's so well written and the characterisation in my opinion is spot on. I could hear the dialogue in their voices and having it from the pov of each character was inspired. What a talented bunch of writers there's been in this fandom across the years 💛

If anyone wants to read it link is here titled - If you needed me

Ty to @winderlylandchime for putting it on their rec list where I found it!

[queerascait]

Find me a fic? I've been working through Ao3's supply of Britin fics, and I came across Strangers in the Night by Tammy, which had been imported in as part of the preservation of The Brian/Justin Archive (link in comment so hopefully Tumblr won't hide this post).

It's a S2 fic where Brian has been assaulted, but he's blanked out a lot of the details. A prominent gay lawyer was murdered - there's a bit about Brian's DNA found on the scene but it's suspicious af - and it leaves off with Carl getting an anonymous tip to look into Ted. It's not finished on Ao3, but I was wondering if anyone knows anywhere it might have been finished? Thank youuuu :)

[fanfictionlibrarian]

I’m new to QAF fanfiction and I really needed to share the best series I’ve read from the fandom. 

The One Where Justin Loses His Hearing by LaVieEnRose

It is 121 parts (currently) and Its about Justin losing his hearing and Britin moving to New York City. The author develops all of the incredibly complex original characters and it was a joy to read. If you haven’t found any good QAF fics (or you have but want more) I definitely reccomend!