#ship:john/brian

[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: What Happens in Cheshire

by cloudy_blue

Link to fic

Summary:

Sometimes, when they get like this – John, mostly, but Paul too if he drinks enough – filthy and suggestive, innuendos so pointed it feels almost like flirting – well, Ringo does wonder.

Forty-five minutes in New Brighton, October 1962. Or, five conversations in a night.

Why I like this fic:

A very sweet and funny glimpse into a night out with the Beatles while Brian and George try to deal with all that John and Paul business, Ringo tries to get used to being in the band, and Paul obsesses about whether Little Richard will show up

I love the way the 5 POVs show different glimpses into the evening - especially George’s. We need more George POVs.

“Well, George knows and he doesn’t mind –”

“I do mind,” George says, but they ignore him.

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[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: Managing Expectations

by @pauls1967moustache

Link to fic

Summary:

A shaken and confused Paul runs into Brian, and questions him about his relationship with John. Things escalate into an intense exploration of Paul McCartney's sex and psyche, and come to a halt in the most beautiful way.

Why I like this fic:

Because it's relentless, and because of the way Brian handles Paul.

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[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: From Barcelona to Santa Cruz

by @thinkpink20

Link to fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/347719

Summary: John comes back from his holiday with Brian. Paul is waiting in their hotel room.

Why I like this fic: This author's writing is fantastic, and this fic? Hits hard. All the pent up emotion about John's holiday with Brian, all of Paul's jealousy and fear about what it means for the two of them... brutal and real.

Link to fic

[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: We Happy Few

by Selena

Link to fic

Summary: Five reasons Brian loved the Beatles.

Why I like this fic:

It's a great character study of Brian, but also a lovely exploration of his relationship with each Beatle. I love the symmetry of it—and I love the beginning. :-)

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[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: bashert

by @backbenttulips

Link to fic

Summary:

Brian helps John and Paul realize they are in love with each other.

Why I like this fic:

I love outsider POV, and this one? Exactly. The glimpses of John and Paul's young love through Brian's sympathetic eyes are so good.

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[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: Formby Sands

by: Naraht

Link to fic

Summary:

An early moment between John and Brian by the sea.

Why I like this fic:

That John takes care of Brian. And because I could feel the closeness between them—in age, as people. And I always love to read stories that take place by the sea.

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[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: crawling to the car

by @dailyhowl

Link to fic

Summary:

Paris 1966. Paul and John and Brian and Maggie McGivern in an ethereal poetic story of linked vignettes.

Why I like this fic:

Because it captures elusive things: the terrifying intimacy between John and Paul, and how different it is from the love between John and Brian. The fleeting-yet-timeless beauty of their fame. How their universe is expanding and they are drifting apart. How the first meeting between Paul and John is still the core of it all, but it might be out of reach. How the whole story is much more subtle and less in-your-face than this summary.

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[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: On our way back home

by kathleenishereagain (no tumblr that i know of

Summary:

Here's the short version from ao3: Summer 2019, 77-year-old Paul wakes up feeling surprisingly good. One tiny problem: he is back in December 1965.

Why I like this fic:

This fic is SUPER popular, I wanted to be the first one to recommend it on here because it is genuinely my favorite beatles fic Ever. Paul somehow time travels back to 1965 and gets to be a beatle all over again. Most importantly, he gets to see John again, and say the things he never got to say :) It ripped my heart out the first time I read it and sewed it all back together again. I laughed, I cried, I aww'd, I got angry, everything! It is a Very long read (over 360k.. in like sixty some chapters) but ALL of it is worth it. The world building, characterization, the smut, all of it is a 10/10 across the board. Every beatles fan that hasn't tackled this monster yet deserves to read it!

@purechocolade

[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: kissing the blarney

by tikk

Link to fic

Summary:

In which the band make a joke about kissing the blarney stone for luck. And Paul is the blarney stone.

Then the joke becomes a game, which turns into something more important, a ritual, a lifeline, a superstition. And it's not like they believe in it, but it's not like they don't. It becomes an emotional connection, threading them together. Something to hold on to within the fame and the noise. Something warm and loving. But delicate...

Why I like this fic: It's genuinely so enjoyable, and makes you feel so many things! I really enjoy is personally because I can relate to the creation of a bit that changes the way a group of people share affection.

It's silly, it's fun, and I always love when there is a "mclennon" fic that doesn't function as one, or that includes George and Ringo in a way that acknowledges how they fit into that dynamic differently!

@zilabee

[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: wouldn't it be nice?

by @pauls1967moustache

Link to fic

Summary:

John gets married to Cynthia. Paul worries how this will change things between them.

Why I like this fic:

Because tenderness for John, including his determination to be happy for him, comes through so beautifully. Because it shows a world of love in a single, chaste touch. And because it has two weddings...kind of.

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[beatlesficrecs]

Title: You Didn't Run

Author: @adriennefrombrooklyn (carolynhidthecake on AO3)

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59193949

Summary: "The U.S. '66 tour looms ahead, and John is shaken by an aggressive reporter at the airport. If it's a portent of what the tour has in store for them, then Paul won't let him face it alone."

Why i like it:

The prose. "As far as he was concerned, a crowd was a mob, and a mob by any other name was still out for blood." And "for a stretch of time everyone had refused to go gentle into that shit night."

Their connection. "Paul was right beside him, pushing between him and the microphone and all the hostile bodies. And as quickly as it had come, the panic was gone . . . . And there would always be another bastard with a microphone. A constant. But there was also Paul, settling into his seat and giving John a half-smile. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay."

The dialogue. "John, only if you want to…” Paul’s words melted into another sigh, rougher, shakier this time, like he was fighting it. [] "I always want to,” John said, as sure of his words as he’d ever been. Maybe I shouldn’t talk unless it’s to Paul. That might do the trick.

The smut. "Paul, John’s prick fully in his mouth and going deeper, eyes closed and watering at the corners, hand on his own cock and pumping so slowly it seemed to pain him. The thought that Paul could reach this level of desperation so soon after getting off just from having John in his mouth"

Link to fic

[beatlesficrecs]

title: your lucky break

author: @forthlin

link

summary:

When Paul was nine years old, he watched John Lennon sing Twist and Shout on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

Where Paul is a rising singer in the 1970s who grew up idolizing performer-turned-producer John Lennon.

why I like this fic:

absolutely stunning fic that i could talk about for probably 10 years. i read this 3 times in two days. what i love about it is it captures the absolute obsession between these two. that magnetic pull between them, regardless of circumstances, that makes them so wonderfully them. even with the changes in their timelines and ages, you can so easily read their dynamic into it. not only that, but it has the feel of so many 1970s post-breakup fics without being that, which i think is really unique!

[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: Blue Christmas

by @theoldmixer

Link to fic

Summary:

Christmas 1968. Brian is a alive, and decides to make John and Paul talk to each other. Whatever it takes.

Why I like this fic:

The fact that Brian is alive in 1968 is enough to make me love this, but he is so very much their *manager* here...!

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[beatlesficrecs]

Feeding Frenzy

By Selena

Summary

Sometimes, you just need the right kind of nourishment.

Why I like this fic

Liverpudlians using food to show the intimacy and care for each other .What's not to like . I especially love the John and Paul bit here . Generally this work is such a good snapshot of the fab 4's relationship at various stages in life.

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[beatlesficrecs]

Fic: I Do

by AhmedAo1 (I don’t think they’re on tumblr)

Link

Summary:

‘A collection of stories about John and Paul’s developing relationship, with weddings as the theme for the day.’

Why I like this fic:

This is a gorgeous fic that follows John & Paul over the years, with lots of canon details… but a canon-compliant ending! Perfect for those who like John & Paul as a tragic love story

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