#somehow gets it back under control without losing speed. and upon doing so just. politely merges back into traffic on the road

[shadowsfascination]

Shadamy swordland AU - part 4

The air was knocked out of Amy’s lungs by his statement and her skin paled, drawing long shadows over her usually cheerful face. Her head began to ache and she rubbed her forehead as if to rub to swirl of emotions inside her away. Shadow on the other hand crossed his arms and legs, a hint of sorrow playing his ruby eyes.

Amy hunched her back and leaned on her hands, eyed Shadow and drew a breath. She intended to speak, but found no words. Instead she watched the light of the flickering candle cast constantly changing shadows on him, the warm tones of its’ flame contrasting with the now chilly atmosphere between them.

Unaware of it Shadow gritted his teeth in distress. At a total loss for words or the slightest idea how to behave in this situation, he chewed his lip and mildly pinched his arms. He couldn’t talk anymore. It was somehow beyond his control and he despised powerless it made him feel. His body froze and the longer the silence lasted, the further the words drifted away from him. Meanwhile his mind became a cacophony of tangled, blurry thoughts.

I have to snap out of this!

Shadow took a deep breath and closed his eyes, tracing the source of the messed up chaos energy in his body and changing it into a state of tranquillity again.

“Amy.”

The sudden renewed confidence in him broke not only the silence, but the seal between them as well. She couldn’t somehow deny his gaze and locked eyes with him, her eyes full of questions and expectations. He took her hands to cover them in his own. They were warmer than she’d expected.

“I cannot explain any of this to you.”

Amy frowned at him in annoyance and backed off to escape his hold, her eyes starting to blaze. A series of angry growls escaped her lips and she clenched fists. Her knuckles made a cracking sound from it.   “Please, oh please tell me you’re joking!”

He blinked twice, innocence and incomprehension written all over his face.

“I’m not. It would be a poor jest.” “You can’t just drop this bomb on me, fall quiet and then not explain any of it!”

She was prepared for a whole lot of it, but this? – she thought to herself. As soon as the thought landed in the conscious part of her mind she labelled herself a fool, questioning what she did expect from him. She knew Shadow… Why did she keep getting so thrown off by his untactile behaviour?

Blood rushed through her veins at high speed, causing a rustle in her ears. There it was again: the unwanted announcement of her bad temper. He’d soon have to deal with it if he didn’t make haste with properly explaining this… mess! At this rate, she still had control over her temper, but that could change in the blink of an eye. “You’re not saying anything yourself either. Although, knowing you, I hardly believe you don’t have any questions. I’m not throwing that in your face, am I?” “Well, can you blame me?!” “A little, yeah. You carry your heart on your tongue. You always know what to say.” “I don’t right now!” “I don’t believe you. I think you’re trying to spare my feelings and I don’t care for it.”

“Oh no, Shadow. You’re NOT shifting YOUR responsibility to explain who you actually are to me.” “I’m not.” The pink female whirled around and caught his attention with her fierce turquoise orbs. The warm, yellowish tones of the dancing flame were fighting for precedence with the luminary aqua in her eyes. He could see her hands gesturing, signalling him her upset internal state in the blurry background of his view.

“Then talk.”

“I can’t.” “Blast, Shadow! I can’t believe how incredibly rude you are to me! I’m your girlfriend! You’re keeping so many important things from me…I wonder how you in 300 darn years still achieve to be totally oblivious about how to act polite and chivalrous around a woman!”

“You should know me better than to mistake me for a soft, gooey fool who drops every aspect of his personality when with a woman. I might be a knight, but surely I’m not going to be your imaginary heroic boyfriend. Or always treat you like a queen when you’re being a huge pain in the ass, Amy. If that’s what you want, than better rethink your choices…”

Another of her romantic bubbles burst by another blunt statement, one he made her aware of she had it in the first place. Amy shifted her headstrong gaze to the red, green and blue-checked woolen blankets on the bed. Ignoring him, she distracted herself to follow the lines from the wrinkles on them with her fingers. The raw texture of the wool prickled through her gloves. It was a unpleasant feeling and she wondered how he was able to sleep under them.

“… Besides: I’m sharing my deepest secrets with you! Do you think that’s easy for me? What more could you possibly want?” “I want you to explain who on Mobius you are!” she shouted. “I want you to explain how it’s even possible to be that old? I wanna know what you are. A ghost? Some divine creature? And what about your strange, dark powers and the stone?! Did you have kids in the past? What does this all make you?!” Both their ears fell back, the awkward silence became deafening on them. Amy’s eyes reddened from the upcoming tears and anger. She bit her lip and bravely fought against the waterworks. A few salty tears quietly dripped down her cheeks though. Amy battled the strong tendency to cry once more. She felt so hideous whenever she cried- and she did see herself cry before. She felt she looked awful and so she did her uttermost best to hide it- in comparison to when she was a young girl. “What’s it make us? Just tell me.. something! ANYTHING will do!”

Her loud, hoarse voice cracked and she sniffed. Shadow’s hand squeezed and crinkled the blanket with force. He cursed under his breath.

“I KNOW, OKAY?! I know ANY words will do, but there are no words! NONE! They’re stuck! I don’t mean to be rude or inconsiderate of your feelings. Plagues! If anything, that’s what’s making me freeze up. I have no idea at all how to handle this!”

An upcoming sense of guilt sent a series of shivers down her spine. Her stupid pride and temper pushed him too far. A lump in her throat now accompanied the already present stress-related stomach aches.

“I don’t either… It’s scaring me.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Shadow, I don’t want to be the reason you’re holding back. And don’t tell me I’m not, because I know I am. Sorry about that. Just spill. I’ll learn to deal with it.”

“It’s not just that. I can’t verbalize all this.”

He concentrated on the chaos energy in his body once more, shards of them whirling around like a hive of bees. They seemed impossible to catch. His focus shifted to his irregular, high paced breathing and he breathed out some of the stress in his body. The shards immediately lowered their impossible-to-follow rhythm and he was finally able to catch some of them.

I never lose my confidence.

With a certain determination Shadow grasped her gloved hands. They were tensely folded into fists. Their touch revealed the quivers they were both trying to control. Shadow suddenly scooped her onto his lap and then rose to carry her bridal style, all much to Amy’s confusion.

“However, I can show you.”

His signature self-sufficient smile now curved his lips.

“Come on, I’ll carry you. I know how much you love this romance-stuff and I am a knight after all.” He blew out the candle, letting the darkness swallow them entirely before calling out the ‘Chaos control’. With this single chant he overcame the barrier of space and time. The darkness around them swiftly faded into a serene surrounding, filled with flowy, intertwining ruby, royal blue, shiny silver and regal gold ribbons of light.

They weightlessly soared through the pacifying, outstretching void. A sea of glowing orbs laid ahead of them and with confidence. Shadow commanded some of them to come closer, each carrying a memory. He let some fragments play out before her eyes to see for herself what happened in his past, for he was unable to tell her.

It was all there, right before Amy’s eyes: the mystery of what he was, his unknown origin and lonesome existence by surviving everyone he’d ever cared for in the past. He had roamed around the planet for years and years in order to keep his immortality a secret.

There was also a set of painful memories in which he was fighting, on the run or hiding for the many different faces of danger. They were a tad blurry and she couldn’t quite capture the meaning of it. The memory of the unknown hero neared and she witnessed his amazing powers, bravery and strength. It replaced her unsettling state of being with much softer feelings, easing her temper away. Amy smiled when concluded to herself that neither his physics or personality had seemed to change. The Shadow she knew now was as stubborn, blunt, socially awkward, dedicated, loyal and brave as in his past. Without having to verbalize he answered everything she wanted to know and more. Amy’s sweet, caring nature calmed her temper and she empathized with Shadow. She felt for the challenges his long life had brought upon him and pulled him into a deep, consoling hug.

“Shadow, I’m sorry I pushed you. I misjudged and jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

The scenery of his bedroom slowly faded in again and Shadow gently put her down. He lit the candle again. A shameful blush coloured his cheeks and played his eyes. His ears drooped backwards. Shadow felt like he was stripped to the bone. “I know everyone thinks I excel in many things, but communicating my inner state isn’t one of them. It heaves me down whenever I… feel strongly about something. Actions speak louder than a thousand words to me.”

“Thank you for being honest with me, for showing me all this. I imagine it must’ve been hard on you. You seemed so lonesome all these years.”

Hiding his face in his hands, he stared without focal point in his gaze. Shadow broke down internally, forcefully biting the insides of his lips to prevent him from crying like an infant.

“You’ve seen it for yourself now. You’ve seen me fight…My past…It’s the most private thing that I carry with me.”

“You don’t have to carry this burden all by yourself.” “You’re the very first to learn about it.”

“I already assumed I was, given your struggle to share it with me. I’m glad you told me.”

Amy smiled, trying to lighten up the mood again. “It’s awful and humiliating to share. I even killed in the past. I can’t help but feel like a monster sometimes. It haunts me.”

“You’re a knight. There’s times where you’re left no other choice than to eliminate your enemies. If anything, you’re a hero, Shadow.”

“I’m not! You weren’t there! Y-you d-d-don’t…You don’t know…”

He whimpered almost inaudibly while his shaking body sank into her embrace. Amy petted his back and caressed his quills while he hid his face in her chest. She cupped his tear-stained muzzle and made him look her in the eye. When his red, bloodshot eyes met her aqua ones they showed the strong-minded, yet hopelessly emotional Amy Rose Shadow had fallen for.

“There’s still so much that I don’t understand, but my emotional compass tells me you’re reliable and trustworthy. I’d like to believe you must’ve had your reasons… Tell me whenever you’re ready.”

She let herself fall back on the bed and pulled Shadow onto her, snuggling up to him under the prickly woolen blankets. On any other night the knight would’ve protested and let his self-discipline never allow her to stay over, but they were exhausted. Shadow and Amy couldn’t battle their minds anymore and forgot about the possible consequences they’d have to deal with in the morning. It didn’t seem to matter anymore. None of it. Even though their minds were loaded with troubles, which usually would’ve kept them awake, it somehow did not tonight.

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I struggled with this chapter. I’ll try to make the next one more uplifting (: Sometimes it seems to me that neither of these two dorks know a single thing about relationships, yet they have so much love to give to one another. 

I’d appreciate if you share your thoughts and send me a message if you find any annoying typo’s or grammar mishaps. 

@shadamyheadcanons, here you go!

[abyssal-hoonter]

Evie walked to the table and examined the papers laying on the wooden surface. She had spent years working on the research of the Pieces of Eden but this was the first time she had seen so much about the topic that she put all her mind and heart to care for. Her fingers glid slowly on the documents as she narrowed her eyes to focus on reading with the assistance of the Eagle vision.

There was nothing hidden here, on the lines, yet it could be the other person who was carrying something unclear and mysterious within her rib-cage. Evie turned and saw the woman got up on her feet by gripping the cane in her hand. The assassin felt pity, somehow, though she didn't know why she got that feelings for her enemy.

"Is it true that you want me to help?" Evie raised a question, and was responded by a simple nod. Of course, she hadn't found it enough to believe in, as she continued, "How could I know this is not a set up?"

The woman started to pace toward Evie and came a halt just at a dozen centimeters between them. She lifted her face to look at the young girl by an eye of pain and also, a small piece of disdain. She smiled. A smile that made Evie shiver.

"Were I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be standing here, staring at me like a hungry bullet awaiting to pierce through my body once again, Miss Frye." Lucy stated coldly and confidently with her voice lowered since tired and bored. Evie felt that. A voice that contained a fire of angry and disgust not toward Frye, but to the man that had used her for a very long time and now he was waiting to take over what was rightfully hers and keep those as his own possession. Crawford Starrick, a hypocrite who seemed to be promising and sophisticated upon his outlook, was really a too ambitious, power-hungry and ungrateful son of a bitch.

"You read the letter he sent me, didn't you? Didn't know how long he took to think of a way to comfort me for what he would do, but, I think that was quite enough." Lucy added, waving her hand into the air and walked to the table, "All these years working, bleeding myself dry to uphold the principles of our Order and all that for which we stand, without a thinking of betraying. Wow, Miss Frye, it had led me to this. What a miracle, isn't it?"

"You should have known it would come someday, sooner or later. Society and politics sometimes run by that way as well as people could live by cheating and robbing. You're in a higher place, I wonder why you didn't come to realize that, Miss Thorne." Evie shook her head in frustration.

Lucy took a manuscript on the table, showing it in the middle of the documents so that both women could observe it clearly under the light in Thorne's chamber.

"I thought about what you said. But still, there are hope and faith, victory and achievements we have. So I kept trying and fighting... At least it took him 10 years to cut down this partnership. This manuscript, it's mine, I got it in the auction where I met him for the first time. That was quite a long time, I suppose."

Lucy paused for a few seconds, thinking, and finally let out a chuckle, "Hm, I've been through a lot of things in my life, Miss Frye. Vengeance, well, vengeance is kind of a bad game that we shouldn't play it... But, it's fun, in my way." She narrowed her eyes and glared at the younger one as a mean of both evilness and pleasure. "Care to join me?"

"I'd rather not, Miss Thorne. I'm..."

"A coward, who stabs from behind and runs when face-to-face." Thorne laughed, for the first time in front of Evie and the assassin saw that redhead was pretty attractive and beautiful even when that was her archenemy who was supposed to be eliminated.

"I mean... I'm not sure about your method and your honesty. Even you can see how a Templar brings you disgust and hatred. We have observed for a very long time and see the way The Order treats the lives of people under their control. You say good but that's not what you bring. From oppression, corruption, exploitation and death they suffer." Evie shrugged, "I can't trust you, Miss Thorne... For now, at least... I still can't trust you immediately."

"I understand. I understand." Lucy blinked and nodded. "Everything and everyone has their own reasons. I'm sorry, Miss Frye. I took your time." The redhdead moved to sit down on a dark brown chair while Evie went to the opened window to flee from the manor. All of sudden, she turned back to look at Thorne. She didn't know why she did that but she had already done what she found hard to understand. Why does that older woman seem poor and lonely like that? Perhaps it is because she was still weak and pale after getting a big ass attack that had nearly taken her life? Or maybe it is something else the young girl hadn't figure out?

And she saw Lucy smoking at the table, coughing and breathing hard but still, the woman didn't stop. She smoked fast at a speed of completely consume a cigarette in half of a minute and continued to the point she coughed out her saliva. Evie couldn't stand that as she felt like each time Lucy made sound was a time her heart got punch. Eventually, she jumped back into the room, rushed to the table side and snatched the cigarette out of Lucy's hand in her surprise.

"You've honestly lost your mind!" The brunette's eyes wide opened and glared at Thorne angrily. "I didn't kill you but this one might." She threw the cigarette to the floor and stubbed it out by her heel.

Lucy watched the younger woman did that as she leaned backward and inhaled.

"I know you wouldn't trust me. Since our paths are crossed, we meet and fight, die and survive, not to share our stories nor listen to what the other say. For the first time, Miss Frye, may I ask what drove you to be an assassin?"

Evie looked at Lucy, face-to-face, and none of them blinked or a second until the Frye twin broke the silence.

"I was raised to be what I am now."

"You didn't choose to start it?" Lucy asked, and there was no answer.

.

Miss Thorne sighed, "Have you ever lost someone you really love, Miss Frye?"

Evie didn't know whether she should answer or not but finally, she swallowed hard, "Yes, I did. Why did you ask?"

"Because losing my daughter put an entrance for me to find the Shroud."

"Really? I'm sorry for your lost." Evie replied.

"Not your fault, Frye. To be honest, that's a long story if you're willing to spend time listening." Lucy released a soft smile.

"Alright then." Evie pulled the chair and sat down opposite to the woman, "This is strange. I could never believe I'll spend such a good time chatting with you, Miss Thorne. Especially..." She wasn't able to fill the sentence when she saw Lucy was staring at the floor, motionless like a statue showing its non-verbal sorrow.

"When I was 18, I saw a family in which the wife had a bad illness. The husband took a loan from some people and put the money into curing for his wife. Once she recovered, he worked his ass off to pay the debt, well, funds and profit, until he passed away for overexertion, leaving half of the debt to his poor family. His wife became a courtesan to earn living for both her and the daughter as well as paying the money. It wasn't long after that, the mother got killed by a robber, only for a few pounds, leaving the child totally alone then without any care or protection." Lucy paused as she poured the tea to the cups and gave one to Evie.

"What then?" Evie asked.

"I raised her on my own. And finally, ha, she left me 5 years ago. Tuberculosis. I watched the kid breathed her last."

Lucy stood up, looking outside the town, "I collected all of those memories and events only to have a question: Is there anyway I could do to make things less bitter? And I think... The Shroud's going to be one of the solutions."

Evie kept listening without saying a word. Perhaps she was opening her mind to digest something new and big.

"I see, that was quite a story."

"Uhm hum, so next time if you think all Templar are the same, then remember me. I might be fool enough to be stabbed on my back, but I have my sense to pursue what is necessary for the betterment of humanity. And... There's no good way for the future that contains no weakness, no pain, no sacrifice, no any negative points. Remember that... At least, we'll try and I'll prove what you want me to."

Evie crossed her arms across her chest and frowned, "Are you serious? Can't we just move on and focus on finding The Shroud instead of revenge?"

Lucy chuckled at that, "Maybe, we can do stuff as you pleased. That's a way to prove I'm not playing an upper-hand." Then she walked closer to Frye, whispering into her left ear, "But save that Crawford for me."

"And no more cigar, okay?" Evie raised her eyebrows as her eyes followed Lucy's steps.

"If that's what you like... Sugar."

[thedanceronthestreets]

If I could see in your eyes the truth

Thomas doesn't know, why he finds Richard's eyes so captivating. He doesn't see them nearly as much as he'd like to - distance be damned. But he's witnessed their reaction in different situations by now, causing them to be tinted by different emotions. And the palette of Richard's irises is probably his favourite study he's ever conducted.

1. Mischief

Thomas sees the mischievous sparkle Richard's eyes can produce for the first time after the phone call. After Richard hangs up the receiver, his glance meets Thomas', the mirth in his eyes causing them to shine. It's got something childish and adventurous and makes Thomas want to run away, keep running, until he's out of breath and feels alive with the cold air rushing through his lungs. That's exactly what it feels like - the view briefly knocks the air out of his lungs. It makes him forget the boundaries in his life, the rules of a game he never signed up to play. Richard's shine is invigorating. And all of that with a simple blink in Thomas' direction.

2. Joy

Richard's loud laugh slowly ebbs away after Thomas tells a joke that really wasn't that funny at all. But the butler isn't going to complain, adoring the melodious waves of the other man's voice. As Richard composes himself, with laughing creases adorning his eyes, leaning forward on his elbows once more, he looks at Thomas from across the table, just a few yards away. Yet, to Thomas it seems like miles on end, when his eyes meet the deep blue of Richard's. The dark current with strikes of light blue in them reminds Thomas of a summer day in his childhood years: it had been the first time he'd seen the sea. It had been drizzling, the temperature rather low for a June day, but it hadn't mattered. The billows of the ocean, sea spray dancing in frothy chunks on top, had raised a sense of longing in him. A yearning to go, where the waves came from; out into the world, wherever the wind would take his little sailboat.

Tuning back in to the present, Thomas feels the same tugging at his heart now. But not for the great wide openness of the ocean. This time, he longs for nothing more than to draw closer to the little bit of wild sea Richard Ellis carries in his eyes. A piece of the swirling, dark blue freedom of the Atlantic, just not on the other side of the country, but right here with the man he so dearly loves.

3. Rage

Thomas admits that he hates having seen this colour of emotion in Richard's eyes. He also hates that he holds no power, as to make it go away instantly. They are walking through York - Richard is officially visiting his parents, not so officially spending most of his stay with the butler. It's past dusk, the fading moon, the weak street lamps and the windows with partly drawn curtains illuminating the cobble stone streets. Few people cross their path along the way, but enough to remind them that they are under constant surveillance. No funny business allowed. Circumspection.

The two of them are walking up to the car, it's time to head back to the Abbey. They stop in front of the bonnet though, not being able to stop talking and staring at each other. Richard leans against the front of the car, crossing his ankles smoothly. A warm grin spreads across his face in response to their light-hearted bickering. Richard's pupils are hugely dilated in the darkness of the night, as if someone dripped poisonous drops of belladonna in them. Only the moonlight is reflected in the almost-blackness of them. Thomas finds it frighteningly beautiful.

Thomas loses all control of his limbs. It isn't him, who raises his hand to Richard's cheek, it must be some other divine force, one his human self is subservient to. The flesh of his face is warm against the cold fabric of his leather glove. The tips of his fingers react to the feeling like to the jolt of an electric shock. A tingling sensation spreads through them, crawling up along his arm, right to his torso.

A shout makes Thomas drop the hand with the speed of lightning.

"Fuck off, you fags!"

Both their heads snap to the source of the slurred call. A single drunk staggers along the pavement, hatefully spitting on the concrete slabs in their direction. The short man is too hammered to impose a real threat, Thomas and Richard's trained physique would easily allow them to take him down. Thomas feels feeble and sick anyhow.

The abuse doesn't trigger the same reaction in Richard though. When Thomas turns his head back to his face, he can see the muscles in his jaw clenching, the fists in his coat pockets balling. The gentleness of the dark in his eyes has fully disappeared, giving way to a flaming, savage black. The hot anger seeps through his irises like hot coals, ready to annihilate anything they settle upon.

For a short moment, Thomas thinks he is going to act on animalistic instinct, commit a stupidity he'll regret as soon as it happens. Therefore, before anything can happen, Thomas swiftly moves to the door of the vehicle, climbing in to the driver's seat. The abrupt action is enough to startle Richard, and after some internal wringing, he follows suit. Thomas ignites the engine, wishing for nothing else but to drive away as quickly and quietly as possible. The drive home is silent.

4. Wistfulness

Thomas knows this one too well. He sees the subtle hue of pain whenever they say their good-byes. At train stations, in his office, at the threshold of Richard's parents' front door - he would recognise it in a swarm of eyes. Richard always lowers his eye lids a bit, like he's trying to tune out everything else and solely focus on Thomas' features. His eyes flicker across them, attempting to map the butler's face in detail in the last remaining seconds of company. It's also the look Thomas remembers at night, having been the last thing he sees of Richard before he leaves, once again. Thomas analyses it in his head, over and over, when he feels awefully cold in his bed without strong arms wrapped around him. The memory of his sweetheart's eyelashes fluttering closed as Thomas places a peck on his cheek is enough to get him through those sleepless hours.

5. Insencerity

This one is actually quite tricky to spot, it took Thomas some time to decipher when Richard is lying. He's fairly good at it; like an instantaneous polite mask that shields him whenever he pushes the right button. A grey veil clouds the blue of his irises then, dimming the brightness that is normally so enticing to anybody who crosses Richard's path. He uses it whenever other people are around and asking personal questions, in London more than at Downton, perhaps out of fear of being exposed. But one time, he plays the trick in the beginning of their relationship on Thomas himself. It's just a simple question the butler asks, nothing he thinks would result in tension. Only wanting to know, how he was doing down at the palace. Nothing more, nothing less. Richard shifts in his seat, his index finger tapping the surface of the desk in Thomas' office. He looks him in the eye, and before he even says anything, Thomas knows he's lying.

"Fine."

Four letters, carrying the exact opposite meaning of what the word they form actually mean. Thomas recoils at the insencerity, it stinging like the bite of a bumblebee.

"Sure?"

Richard raises the cup of tea in front of him to his lips.

"Yes."

The 's' is a little too sharp in his intonation, his jaw line too visible. Thomas doesn't want to be responsible for further discomfort during the limited time they have together, so he pretends to buy it. But in his mind, he files away the dull light a lie projects on to Richard's countenance.

6. Lust

It's a similar wide-blown, penetrative stare like when Richard is angry, the belladonna effect kicking in. When they stand this close, almost touching but not quite, Thomas can see the positive hunger in Richard's eyes. Like they're already devouring him, even before their lips can taste each other. Thomas cannot bloody resist it. It makes him go weak in the knees and hot in the face - restraint being a word in a foreign language. It takes both of their brains to come up with a coherent excuse to retract themselves from the servants' hall and drive each other crazy in the darkness of the broom cupboard up the three flights of stairs. Hot breaths and rough touches, tugging of hair and broiling feelings in the pit of their stomachs. Somehow the air seems warmer and thicker here, causing Thomas having to inhale deeper to satisfy his body's need for oxygen. Eventually, he needs to pull back completely though, his lungs giving in. Richard notices and leans back too, but his eyes still stick to Thomas' like the hungry stare of a lion waiting on its prey. The possessiveness of it makes Thomas shiver; he'd never have thought to like belonging to someone, but with Richard he doesn't mind one bit.

7. Something Thomas isn't sure he can place

The first time it happens is when Thomas jogs up towards Richard, who is standing on the path next to the lawn. During the motion, Thomas' open jacket flops at his sides, Master George and Lady Sybbie's high-pitched laughter in the background. Thomas outwitted the children in a short game of football, his nimble feet always kicking the ball just out of their reach. In the end, George just latched on to Thomas from behind, the butler thereby dragging the boy along the grass. Thomas gave in at the effort of it - he isn't 25 anymore after all. The youngsters having stolen the ball, Thomas returns back to his company beside the mown field. Richard stands on the gravel, watching Thomas with a bemused smile. Yet, when Thomas finally arrives and halts right in front of him, he senses another new layer of fondness in Richard's eyes. It's something that causes the familiar dark blue to seem even deeper, a sky you could fall in to, an ocean you could drown in. And they sparkle, oh so lovely, in the rays of the setting sun. Thomas is unable to name the emotion that tints Richard's eyes in that moment. But he knows that he'd move mountains and valleys to keep it there.

[achtung-attitude]

CHAPTER 32: Hotel California - Part 4

Moya, in horror, watches as Marsellus rises from apparent death, muttering something under his breath. She takes a step back, nearly stepping right into one of the open mouths, which snaps at her, flicking a red tongue. She scowls, and stamps her foot down onto the mouth, shattering its teeth. “Fuck this,” she decides, and turns for the door.

But the door is changed as well, savage teeth sprouting out of the edges and snapping aggressively. There is no longer any escape, it seems. Moya looks all around, and shudders at the sickly sound of the elevators DING open. But rather than people emerging through the door, instead a cascade of blood, several hundred gallons, spills into the lobby, advancing on her with frightening speed.

Before it hits, a clawed hand appears in her periphery. SATURN BARZ, struggling through the distortion affecting its body, swipes upward, and the blood explodes into red mist. “The stairwell! Go, quick!!” Moya heeds him, dashing for the emergency stairwell. WITCH MOUNTAIN stoops, pulling Jerome along with it. Moya slams the door behind her and leaves the lobby of horrors behind. 

“What the FUCK was that?!” Moya exclaims after WITCH MOUNTAIN destroys the lock on the emergency exit, locking it shut.

“Keep moving,” Kilo answers, gradually regaining functionality in his limbs, but still carried by Moya’s Stand. “The whole building’s an enemy, and the bellboy won’t stop coming for us.”

She scowls, but follows his advice. She readjusts Shizuka in her arms, and WITCH MOUNTAIN lifts Jerome up by his waistband, holding both him and Kilo like heavy luggage. “What do you mean, the building is an enemy?” She asks, beginning to run up the stairs.

“I don’t get it myself, but somehow, the hotel itself has a Stand ability. It gets you high on all this good shit, makes you comfy, then it gets inside your head and sucks the soul right out of you. Or, it makes you a slave. Even if we kill the bellboy, we’ll still be trapped here. And then we’ll become just like him. We need to demolish the entire building.”

“Brainwashes you with comfort, huh? Explains why these two succumbed to it,” she gestures to Shizuka and Jerome.

“... Yeah. That habit of taking things at face value, it’ll be the death of her one day.” he agrees wearily.

With her shoulder, she opens the stairwell door to the second floor and walks in. “Taking a building down is a tall order, even between the two of our Stands. And since it looks like the bellboy can neutralize Stands with his ability, we’re gonna have to get creative. Can you walk yet?”

“Yeah, put me down,” he says, and WITCH MOUNTAIN does, allowing him to stand shakily on his own two feet. They stand facing each other, each breathless.

“It makes sense that you’d be immune, too,” Moya declares.

“What?”

“You’re so mistrustful. I bet you’ve never had a good thing to say about anything in your life.”

“... Is that your idea of a compliment, officer?”

“No it’s not, punkass.”

They smirk at each other, then turn at the sound of creaking floorboards. Like an image out of a dream, Paul Mann emerges from around the corridor. “Y-you--!!” he sputters upon seeing Kilo.

“... That’s Paul Mann. I know him, he’s some big shot real estate mogul,” Moya says.

“He’s the Congregation’s secret political backer. Dust hid him here after Phantasma died,” Kilo explains.

“... He’s fucking what?”

Mann begins to jog in the opposite direction. Moya drops Shizuka and Jerome to the floor. After a moment of shellshock, she sprints after him and dive-tackles him to the floor. “Is that true?!” she screeches, holding him in an arm bar “Are you really working with Brother Dust?!!”

“Who are you people?!!”

“Is it fucking true?!!”

“Gaagh, ok, yes! He approached me with an offer, he’d help me get out of a little legal trouble, even assist in my political campaign! In return, I’d look the other way on his more sketchy affairs! It was necessary, I-- I have a vision for this country! Sometimes men have to make hard choices for the good of th- AAOWW!” He wails as his shoulders cracks, nearly falling out of place.

“Do we have time for this? Right now?” Kilo says, observing. Moya reluctantly holds off from breaking Mann’s arm, and releases him.

“You stay right where you are, got it?!” she shouts. Mann responds by raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. “What’s the plan?”

“I’m working on it… I need to get outside. I can’t do anything while I’m inside the building. The hotel’s got control over everything inside it.”

“Then we gotta get our asses up to the roof.”

“Not us,” Kilo says, shaking his head, “There’s at least a dozen people in this building. You need to get them outta here. I have an idea, but it won’t leave any survivors. I won’t have innocent people dying because of me… What?”

“Ah, nothing,” she says, shaking herself out of staring at him. She turns her face away, trying to hide her surprise as she retrieves Shizuka and Jerome from off the floor., “Are you sure we should seperate? What are you going to do while I’m evacuating?”

“I’m gonna be killing a god,” he says, then turns without another word, leaving Moya aghast. She hesitates momentarily, then moves. 

His insistence on preserving innocent life took her by surprise. Never had she imagined that the furious man she met on the beach could say something so righteous. “I’ll trust you, Kilo Staples,” she thinks, preparing her search for afflicted guests, “because you chose to trust me.”

                                                             ***

Halfway up the stairs to the seventh floor, Kilo watches the 7 at the top of the stairs split in two. The wall cracks and bulges, opening to reveal a mouth full of dirty teeth and drool. Marsellus emerges out of this opening, covered in saliva. The smell of the hotel’s insides hangs off of him, reaching Kilo even meters away. The bellboy’s face twitches between a smile and a scowl, his movements are jerky and strange. “D-d-d-did you think you had lost me, s-s-sir?” he asks, CALIFORNICATION emerging next to him, crackling electricity.

“Nah, I didn’t,” Kilo responds. CALIFORNICATION moves, dashing down the stairs. SATURN BARZ waves its hands, but this proves to be a feint, as it delivers a sharp kick to the stairs in front of it. Instantly, the surface of the stairs turns to liquid, reaching up to where Marsellus stands. 

The bellboy yelps as he loses all traction with the ground. CALIFORNICATION disappears, and its master slides down the stairs like an impromptu water-park. SATURN BARZ strikes the stairs again, and they solidify back into solid concrete. It crackles and traps Marsellus on his back, halfway down.

“Damn you!! E-even if you immobilize me, my Stand is faster than yours! It has a wider range than yours! You cannot defeat me!”

Kilo answers him with a kick to the face, before he climbs onto the guard rail and leaps straight up off of it, clambering up to reach the fire escape door to the roof.

Marsellus struggles and curses out, as CALIFORNICATION reactivates within him, generating electricity from the inside out.  Water drips from the ends of his concrete prison, and he struggles, inching forward until the stone finally cracks enough that he can break free.

Kilo is about to touch the metal door handle. In the instant before he can, CALIFORNICATION slams its fist into the wall, directing arcs of static electricity to travel through the metal and electronics, up the stairs and infusing into the doorknob. Once his fingers close around it, the power moves up his arm and shoots him backwards into the guard rail.

“AAH!” he shouts, as much in frustration as pain. “SATURN BARZ!!” He summons his Stand, and it evaporates the door with an “URAAH!!” Clutching his quickly numbing arm, he runs through the doorway, stepping out onto the roof. He stumbles and falls, and sits up on his knees. The night sky is above him. He breathes the outside air. 

“Enough,” comes the voice from the stairwell, “t-t-there is no longer anywhere to run! Your stay at the Hotel California will never end!” Marsellus steps into the door frame and leans against it. He is damaged, his skin blistered and cut, his left eye bloodshot. Yet he keeps going, driven by mad devotion for the sinister building that possesses him. 

Kilo turns, digging his fingernails into his right arm, trying to awaken feeling in it. “You know what?” he declares, “I been thinking about what you said earlier.” SATURN BARZ emerges, sans a right arm. Nevertheless, it stands tall, beginning to stamp its foot rhythmically. It raises its one arm into the night air, reddish-brown vapor building in its palm. Marsellus summons CALIFORNICATION, but cautiously remains where he is. 

“You said giving into the hotel frees you from struggle. What a load of shit. I heard you squealing for Dust to come save you earlier. You know what?” Kilo continues, “I think all this is, is that you was too much of a pussy to fight for the life you wanted.” SATURN BARZ swipes downward, and the vapor expands, rising into the air. With each swipe of its claw, the vapor builds into a great cloud, which rises into the air.

“A smokescreen?” Marsellus says, shaking out of his daze, “Did you not hear me? There is nowhere to r-r-run!! It doesn’t matter what you do to me or this Hotel, you’re DOOMED!!!” 

“I’m not aiming to bring you down, ya little bitch. You ain’t worth it…” He says with a smirk, as the cloud of vapor ascends into the air. “You ain’t nothing but a puppet… the idea is… to cut off the hand holding the strings…!”

Marsellus bares his teeth and seethes, ready to unleash a torrent of electricity at Kilo. But, just then, he feels small drops of water hit the back of his outstretched hand. “ What the?…” he murmurs. He looks up, and the droplets fall from the cloud created by SATURN BARZ, hanging overhead.

“Rain…? Is this it?” he asks snidely, as further raindrops begin to fall on the roof around them, “Make it rain a tad, and then… what? Make the pipes rust?”

“You’re a native, right, aren’t you?” Kilo retorts, “Then you outta know, one of the worst parts of living here is all the fucking smog. Some days you can barely breathe…! And every so often, all that exhaust builds up, gets high enough, and it comes back down…” He winces as a raindrop lands on his cheek, and quickly wipes it off. He watches with satisfaction as Marsellus recoils, then grimaces in pain.

In horror, Marsellus stares at a hole that has formed in his hand, the flesh burned and blistered. It has been burned straight through, an injury replicated in his Stand’s hand. In the very spot where the raindrop landed.

“When all those fumes built up over weeks of traffic get high enough, sometimes they come back down! As acid rain!” SATURN BARZ manifests and shields its user from the raindrops, as all around him, they burn holes straight through the roof of the Hotel California

A bass moaning sound can be heard. The ground beneath them contorts, pelted on all sides by burning rain. The acidic cloud grows ever larger, and the clean concrete and brick architecture morphs into slick, organic flesh. 

“N-no! NOO!!” Marsellus cries, apparently ignorant to his own flesh being gradually destroyed by the rain, his uniform falling in pieces off of him. CALIFORNICATION, too, degrades, its wrought metal body melting into useless scrap.

                                                       ***

Downstairs, Shizuka bolts upright, leaping out of Moya’s arms and rolling, suddenly wide awake. “What happened?!” she cries, looking all around.

Jerome wakes at the same moment. “Oh, finally!” Moya exclaims, patting him on the back as he grasps his bearings.

“W-What’s going on? Wh… You! The cop!”

“Moya?! What are you doing here?” Shizuka exclaims, noticing her for the first time.

“No time to explain! Let’s get moving!” she shouts, shoving a man in front of her hard on the shoulder.

“I-I’m going, I’m going!” the man protests, revealing himself to be the lawyer from the room across from Kilo’s. He pulls his son along by the hand, desperately trying to keep him calm. A full procession of such people, all guests and prisoners of Hotel California, trail after Moya. 

Paul Mann remains reluctantly by her side, his hands held behind his back by WITCH MOUNTAIN, a force that he cannot see. Many of them appear to shake their heads at the same moment, as if waking from a dream.

“Where’s Kilo?” Shizuka asks, following Moya, “What happened with the old man in the hallway?”

“I don’t know anything about that, but Staples is taking care of things. Looks like whatever he did worked…” she replies, then pauses, spreading her hands wide and bringing everyone to a halt. 

A bulge forms in the ceiling in front of them, as if a load of water has been spilled and is deforming the plaster. After a moment, the bulge bursts and liquid spills out of it onto the carpet. There is a chemical scent of burning where the fluid interacts with the fabric.

“What in the world?” exclaims Paul Mann, and similar murmurs of confusion go up among the gathering. From all but Shizuka, who stares at the acid with terrible understanding.

“We- We need to get out of here… Now!” she implores Moya, who herself begins to understand upon seeing Shizuka’s face.

“Move! Move, move, move!” she yells, and the guests follow her commands as similar bulges form all over the ceiling, spilling deadly acid all over the floor, eating away at the hotel.

[captainjellyroll]

Yes, Please, and Thank You

{I’m sorry for being gone for 8349800 years because I lost steam over that Pacific Rim fic ;; so I wrote this as an apology <3}

Arthur was a smart man. His mind could analyze all of the data he encountered and automatically classify and integrate it into his mind. Actually, to be precise, Arthur was something like a genius. He followed a methodical pattern that he thought was right. Everything had its own place and its own category. It was easier that way.

He really was a genius. So why was he seated at Alfred’s dining table waiting for that man to grace him with his insufferable presence?

Last time they saw each other there was alcohol involved. Never a good thing. Alfred may not remember but Arthur knew it so clearly. They were always in a cat-and-mouse game of discreetly flirting with each other. But this was beyond a contest to make one fall for the other, though Arthur lost that contest long ago, but this was beyond any boundary they set. He kissed Alfred. It was certainly not delicate. No. Arthur had slanted his lips daringly, passionately, with such semi-drunken intent.

Arthur rarely indulged in humor, but the corner of his mouth turned up slightly when he recalled how Alfred froze and struggled to recollect his composure. There was a sort of trill of satisfaction from the way he felt Alfred’s heart rate speed slightly when their bodies pressed against each other.

But the sudden change in perspective from trying to avoid Alfred and his annoying pestering to seeking it out still came as a mystery to Arthur. He wasn’t supposed to be here. This sort of thing never happened. There was an answer. There always was a clean cut answer. Arthur was here to confront Alfred and properly apologize for any misconduct that night and to make clear that it wasn’t on purpose. Yes. Yes, that’s precisely why he was here.

He knew that was lie.

Three weeks had passed since Arthur kissed him and Alfred brought up nothing about it. Alfred had not interrogated him. He had not humiliated him. Arthur wasn’t even sure if he knew or not. Alfred was just the same as before. He was still loud and uncouth, still unaware of personal space, still smiling all the goddamned time, and still called him “Artie”. Absolutely nothing had changed. Arthur, to be honest, wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or offended. But the apprehension of any sort of response was eating away at him and he needed to put an end to it before it even began.

“Artie,” Alfred greeted cheerfully, bursting through the doors and pulling Arthur away from his thoughts, “Sorry for being late. I forgot that I invited you.” He paused for a moment and waited for a response. Arthur didn’t take the bait so he continued, “But I guess you already made yourself comfortable.” Alfred dropped his coat on the sofa before attending to his house guest, “It’s been a while since we’ve talked, huh? You were really wild three weeks ago. You should probably take a break from drinking-.”

“This is about that night.” Alfred sighed wearily and stood, massaging the bridge of his nose, “I’ve come to apologize for my… inappropriate behavior several weeks ago. I’m not even sure if you remember but… I’ve been unsuccessful at putting it from my mind.”

A breath’s length passed.

“I.. remember,” Alfred said quietly shifting his gaze down seemingly as quickly as Arthur’s sinking heart. “I know what you’re talking about. It was… different.”

“I see,” Arthur swallowed. This was a mistake. What was his plan if Alfred did remember? Was he going to have to confess his romantic fantasies to him? No, that was a bad plan. “I apologize but… if you remembered, why didn’t you say anything? I expected… something.”

Alfred tilted his head and looked up at Arthur but he wasn’t staring at his eyes, rather, his mouth, “I get why you’d be worried about me doing something probably stupid but I hadn’t really thought about it. Believe it or not, Artie, you don’t control me.”

Alfred still spoke with the same jovial lilt but his eyes and his words told a different story. Arthur felt like it was hard to breathe. He didn’t want to start another argument with him like the spat they had years ago. “Never mind then. I see I’ve wasted both our time.”

Calloused fingers closed around his wrist as he stepped towards the door, “But now that you’re mentioning it, I probably should do something to get back at you, huh?” His voice softened with an unmistakable deviltry edging its way into his words.

“What?” Arthur looked back at him, the word sounding harsher than intended. He tried to ignore the unexpected brush of Alfred’s thumb on his wrist, drawing affectionately teasing circles. “What do you want?”

“It’d be fun to do what you did to me.”

Arthur’s face flushed despite his vain efforts to quiet his heart rate, “Absolutely not. That’s impossible.” He jerked his hand away and felt betrayed by the traces of disappointment that flared in the pit of his stomach.

“But you wanted me to do something, right?” Alfred raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with mirth and mischief. “That’s why you’re here, right? I might as well.”

Arthur swallowed slowly as his eyes dropped down to Alfred’s lips before wrenching himself away. “Fine. But I want your hands where I can see them. I don’t want you getting any funny ideas.”

“Aw, I wouldn’t dream of putting my hands on someone as important as you in such a rude way. You’re the one who taught me how to be a gentleman, after all.” Alfred laughed at the memories. He lifted his hands up to display them to Arthur before lightly settling them on Arthur’s hips and walking him backwards towards the living room.

“Alfred-.” his voice wavered with concealed desire and warning.

“Where you can see them.” Alfred murmured as Arthur’s back came into contact with the wall.

They were so close. Arthur was afraid Alfred could hear his heart beating out of his chest. He could smell the hint of cologne Alfred got for Christmas and the light, sharp scent of sweat. Alfred’s eyes glimmered with delight. Alfred gradually closed the distance between them, causing Arthur to warily settle his hands low on his chest.

Arthur stiffened at contact, shoulders rising tensely and refusing to look at Alfred’s eyes for more than a second. Alfred leaned past him and whispered, “Relax.” A small laugh sent a shiver down Arthur’s spine with the soft rush of air tingling across his suddenly flushed skin. Softer lips trailed down Arthur’s neck, “I don’t bite, Artie.” But just as he said that, he took the lobe of Arthur’s ear in his teeth and nipped at it once. “Not a lot, anyway.”

Arthur gasped involuntarily, blood rushing in his ears and a blush working its way along his skin. Since when did Alfred learn how to be that provocative? It was getting hot. He managed, somehow, to retain a bit of composure. “Our deal was for a-.”

“A kiss. Yeah, I know.” Alfred pulled away and trained his gaze on him, indulging himself in the view of the pink spreading across Arthur’s cheeks. “Sorry. I couldn’t help it. You’re so… cute.” The playfulness from his voice was gone. Instead, there was hunger. Arthur knew that emotions were hard to categorize but he knew it instantly.

“Just get it over with,” he countered crossly, aware that thing had spiraled out of control. The sooner they did this, the sooner he left and he could try to forget that this whole intimate ordeal happened.

Alfred claimed all but a few millimeters of space between them and stilled, seemingly deciding whether or not to collect his due. The ghost of the taste of his mouth was on Arthur’s tongue. Unthinkingly, or perhaps overthinking, Arthur leaned in without any further prompting. Their lips brushed just barely before Alfred smiled, “Checkmate.” Alfred withdrew, beaming victoriously as if this was… It was a game.

Fury flooded Arthur’s vision. He was furious equally with himself for the moment of weakness and Alfred for treating this unbelievably serious matter as a game that would undoubtedly serve as fodder for teasing. “You…” he grit his teeth before smacking Alfred’s hands away, “I know you hate to lose, you inconsiderate, spoiled little child, but even I can’t believe that you would even think that this-.”

Alfred’s grin disappeared after Arthur’s voice broke.

Good. He should feel bad.

Arthur collected his things in silence, feeling Alfred’s gaze on him. This was tiresome. No more games. A hand closed around his wrist for what felt like the thousandth time. “Let me go, Alfred. We’re finished here.” He was finished. This was too much to handle. Alfred won his game and Arthur felt like if he stayed any longer, the feelings he had buried would resurface.

“I’m not finished, Artie.” Alfred slipped his arms around him and pulled him closer. “I’m sorry.” Arthur opened his mouth in protest, an artillery of curses waiting to unleash upon him, only for them to be crushed against determined and pleading lips. He struggled and thought about kneeing Alfred in the groin but the thought dissipated when his hands slipped under his shirt and started to explore the curve of his back. Arthur subconsciously leaned into that touch despite it all. It was over anyway. Alfred murmured, his fingers feeling like fire against Arthur’s back, “Stay.”

“No.”

Alfred licked Arthur’s lips, clearly hoping to coax them open again but remained unsuccessful. “Stay,” he repeated, his voice mixed with apology and such lust. Arthur wasn’t susceptible to such sweet words or pretty poisons.

“No. I’m done playing this game.”

“I’m not playing.” His lips settled against Arthur’s mouth, no longer bent with a playful grin or quirked with wryness. “I’m asking you,” Alfred breathed, slipping his fingers through Arthur’s hair. “Will you spend the night with me, Arthur?”

He said Arthur. Not ‘Artie’ or ‘eyebrows’. No sarcastic politeness, no pretentious and careless remarks. No blatant avoidance or fake obnoxious laughter. It was just Arthur. He was talking to him. And if having Alfred whisper his name like that… if that wasn’t enough to effect his surrender then no amount of temptation would.

So Arthur stayed.

Q////////Q WOW!! I LOVE THIS!!! i’ve been re-reading this ever since this was submitted to me, so thank you so so so much!! i love ittttttt ;;///////;; <333

[hella-ubiquitous]

Clexa Fic Rec

(Because we don’t have enough of them already)

Okay clexakru, I know we already have a whole master list and everything but I decided to make one because I noticed that some other fic recs are full of ones that I’ve already read. There are A LOT of recommendations so be prepared. I’ve rated them from one * to five ***** and added the author’s summary below the title. The rating of the fic is in brackets, the status of the story is in parenthesis, and the amount of chapters is also in brackets. I’ve added trigger warnings if they are needed. Some are very recent and some are not, the word count is not always correct and neither is the status due to the fact that there are so many. You can check them out under the cut : )

CANON/ ROLE REVERSAL

The Taste of War and Heartache by thefooliam [Mature] (Ongoing- 36,723 Words) {4 Chapters} ****

After saving the world for the last time, Clarke Griffin finds herself bitter and angry and grieving for more than just the woman she lost.That’s until she finds a map that might possibly lead her to the answers she’s been looking for.It’s a suicide mission. A fool’s errand. She’s almost certainly going to lose her life in the process.Except Clarke has nothing left to lose and, even if she did, she doesn’t care anyway. (TW: Alcohol addiction) 

what the ground grows by coldmackeral [Mature] (Complete- 25,656 Words) {5/5 Chapters} ****

There is nothing a little bedrest and irony can’t cure. Lexa is sure the only thing that heals Clarke’s mind and keeps her heart thumping against her ribs is an ill-advised amount of the first and a frustrating amount of the second. But Clarke has never been anything less than ill-advised and frustrating. If anybody will survive a hole in their brain, Lexa is sure it will be Clarke. (At Heda’s expense, of course.)

Beneath the Betrayal by talentedgemx [Mature] (Ongoing- 212,332 Words) {20 Chapters} *****

Beneath the Betrayal is set right after the end of series two this explores the relationship between Clarke and Lexa and whether anything could possibly be salvaged in the aftermath of the mountain. Lots of angst, darkness and soul searching for both characters as well as the drama and danger that awaits them in leading their people against new threats. Budding romance & interactions with other characters. Very NSFW in later chapters. This doesn’t follow s3 at all guys except for how Polis looks and it has the Nightbloods, and Titus doesn’t exist. This is going to be long and I hope to deliver a story worthy of how Clexa should have been.

Before Words, Beyond Silence by natkate [Mature] (Complete- 173,287 Words) {24/24 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing Before Words, Beyond Silence series] ****

Clarke Griffin is rudely taken from her cell in the middle of the night only to be forced into a room with the man she hates the most - the man who floated her father - Thelonius Jaha.He then informs her that she will be sent to Earth almost immediately to determine whether or not the ground is survivable again in the hopes of saving their people from certain doom. Alone.On top of it all, the fate of 98 other adolescent prisoners rests on her succeeding in this mission. In other words: she’s screwed. Before she knows it, she’s hurtling towards the planet at top speed with no control over the contraption that’s presumably carrying her to her death.After she somehow manages to survive the crash landing, she finds herself alone in unknown lands struggling to fight through the pain of her extensive injuries.Only, she’s not alone. Far from it, in fact.Who are these strange inhabitants whose language is so different from her own? Why does she get the feeling she’s just walked into a much bigger problem than the one she left behind on the Ark? More importantly: how is she going to survive? (TW: Torture) 

The Girl Who Kissed Saturn by Puntrest [Explicit] (Complete- 61,601 Words) {13/13 Chapters} ****

AU where a long lost space station originally located near the edge of the solar system floats back into Earth’s orbit after 97 years of total isolation. The Ark attempts to absorb this self-sustaining station, along with its invaluable resources and its strange people. The two societies quickly find themselves on the brink of war as both refuse to give up their political authority. On Clarke Griffin’s eighteenth birthday, she is released from juvenile lockup and is finally able to meet the descendants of the forgotten Trikru Research Outpost.

Knife Edge by crazywisdom [Mature] (Complete- 114,669 Words) {15/15 Chapters}****

Post 3x07. Lexa’s stuck between the world of the living and the world of the dead, where Anya wallows. As Clarke and Aden struggle to contain Arkadia’s internal battles and the external threat of Ontari’s Ice Nation, Lexa fights her past and the what-ifs to unravel the truth of the Flame and reclaim the Commander’s throne.

In the Shallows by blindwire [Teen] (Ongoing- 87,992 Words) {8 Chapters} ****

Raised for war and forged in fire, Clarke has vowed to be a leader for her people, to protect them and to make sacrifices so that they do not have to. This is what it means to be Commander and the spirit has chosen her for a reason.

(my) Destruction Within Your Mouth by KL_Morgan [Mature] (Ongoing- 114,162 Words) {18 Chapters} *****

Clarke loses: her head, her voice, her heart. (TW: Torture) 

this heart, fossilized and silent (once was tender and once was violent) by Chrmdpoet [Mature] (Complete- 171,154 Words) {35/35 Chapters} ******

Clarke is only three days into being a runaway when she realizes that she did not fully think this through. When she walked away from Camp Jaha, she took only herself, a handgun with limited ammunition, and the gnawing guilt inside her. Three days without food, water, fresh clothing, or bedding of any kind, however, and she is painfully aware of how foolish that decision had been. (One you really need to read if you haven’t) 

ark enemies, or something by BSnows [Teen] (Ongoing- 9,195 Words) {4 Chapters} **

“No,” Lexa calmly says, her eyes closed and her nostrils opening wide. She really doesn’t like to be disturbed when she’s meditating. “I’m totally not here, I’m walking around the Ark like the non-delinquent person I am. Please leave a message after the beep.” Lexa takes a deep breath and enjoys as she has a few seconds of peace.

“There wasn’t a beep,” Clarke says. Lexa breathes out.

 "Exactly.“

or Your typical Clexa AU where they despise each other and have sex in the end. Plus they’re in the Ark and they’re cell neighbors.

The World Has No Right to My Heart by usuallyproperlyhydrated [Teen] (Complete- 43,885 Words) {15/15 Chapters} ****

"Be careful with that one, love–she will do what it takes to survive.”

(Quote and title from “Burn” from Hamilton)

Lexa has been watching Clarke since the fall of the mountain and does everything in her power to convince her to come to Polis.

Four Walls // Clexa AU by perpetual_gayness [Teen] (Ongoing- 24,398 Words) {10 Chapters} ***

There are very few things one can do within the confines of the same four walls… turns out falling in love is one of them.

Through the Looking Glass by RhinoMouse [Mature] (Ongoing- 114,303 Words) {19/22 Chapters} *****

Clarke was born the youngest of her class of night bloods. No one expected her to win her conclave. Lexa is a guard cadet and the daughter of Marcus and Abby Kane. After taking the fall for a crime she didn't commit she's sent to the ground as part of a group of a hundred prisoners. Or our version of the role reversal fic.

Waking in Winter by natkate [Unrated] (Ongoing- 20,757 Words) {3 Chapters} *****

In the wake of Clarke Griffin finally coming of age in Queen Nia's army, she is chosen to accompany the queen's caravan on an unprecedented visit to the capitol city of Polis - upon the whisper of rumor or yet another mind game, Clarke can't be sure.

Regardless, Clarke is met with a number of unexpected twists as the very city, itself, threatens to challenge everything she'd ever known about the world around her.

OR

AU where Clarke is an Ice Nation warrior in Nia's army who stumbles into a pre-Coalition Polis and causes trouble, as usual. Oh, and Skaikru isn't a thing in this story.

Grounded by AndiLand (AndiMarquette) [Mature] (Complete- 511,076 Words) {75/75 Chapters} ***

Clarke Griffin has been on her own for three months after pulling the lever at Mt. Weather. Battling ghosts and the pain from Lexa's betrayal at the mountain, she nevertheless has to return to Arkadia to warn Sky Crew of a threat from Ice Nation and the power-hungry Nia, who maneuvers on several fronts to install herself as Commander and rule all Grounder clans. But a new danger presents itself--one that will force a reckoning with an old foe--and Clarke and Lexa will have to work together to forge a stronger alliance as the winds of war swirl from Polis to Arkadia. Both understand the growing dangers and the peril hidden in alliances, but neither counted on the depth of the connection between them.

when my heart is at war by mopeytropey (scriptmanip) [Mature] (Complete- 55,297 Words) {4/4 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing when my heart is at war series] ***

Lexa is primed for great leadership and will not be deviated from her agenda.

Clarke is driven by her insatiable curiosity and is not easily deterred.

There is plenty at work to drive them apart, but the strength of their combined determination will change the course of an entire civilization.

The Shadow by Clexa1205 [Mature] (Ongoing- 121,822 Words) {23 Chapters} **** [TW: Torture, Gore]

Clarke has been on her own for three weeks after Mount Weather when she is captured and brought to Queen Nia. She is forced to serve the Ice Queen and spends almost two years training to become one of the coalitions top assassins before she is brought to Polis, as a member of Azgeda, to take part in the annual Summit. Nia tries to use Clarke's skills as an assassin, and her relationship with Lexa to give herself the opportunity to take control of the coalition. Clarke tries to find a way to break free of Nia's control. She tries to navigate her relationships with everyone she cares about while trying to break free from Nia, but until then, she serves the Ice Queen and is as ruthless as she needs to be. Nia uses everything she's got to make Lexa suffer, and uses Clarke's status as Wanheda to her advantage over the other clans. Nia will do whatever it takes for power, and Clarke and her friends will do whatever it takes to stop her.

Ice’s Champion by dragonfruity [Teen] (Ongoing- 22,924 Words) {4 Chapters} ***

When the Dropship lands, it becomes painfully obvious that there has been a slight mishap.

Slight mishap (noun): a rather unfortunate scenario in which the corrupt idiots on the Ark send the Delinquents 50 miles north of their target, into the heart of cold, barren, miserable Azgeda territory, rather than the lush forest overflowing with unicorns and rainbows they were promised. Whoops.

General Clarke and the Delinquents - those remaining after five years of toil and hardship climbing Azgeda's ranks - are tasked with appeasing the Commander in Polis on the eve of what could very quickly dissolve into an inter-Coalition civil war between their two clans. As she struggles to navigate the murky waters between Azgeda and the Commander's fiery rage, Clarke must hide her true goal: Dethrone Nia and reclaim Azgeda. But now, the Commander is an unknown variable. Will she aid Clarke in her coup, or remain loyal to the Coalition... and Nia?

AKA

The badass version of Romeo and Juliet, minus the sad ending, plus a whole lot of gay.

Lightning Only Strikes Once by fiona_249 [Mature] (Complete- 307,941 Words) {134/134 Chapters} *****

Consumed by grief, Clarke climbs Lexa's tower, not really thinking through what she plans to do. But any plans get taken away when she's struck by lightning, mysteriously transporting her back to before any of it happens.

Back in her cell on the Ark, Clarke remembers exactly what went wrong - and mysteriously, so does Lexa among her people on the ground. Between the two of them, can they get back to each other? Can they find a way to save both of their people and themselves? Or is the hatred surrounding them too strong?

[Be sure to keep an eye out for the comic!]

MODERN 

Into the Storm by anddirtyrain and mmeister911 [Mature] (Ongoing- 63,856 Words) {9 Chapters}**

This is ‘Into The Storm’ with Lexa Forrest, welcome and hold on.

Lexa is a stormchaser (though she prefers the term ‘researcher’) and her Discovery Channel show just keeps getting bigger and bigger. She grew up dreaming about studying the sky, and at 28 she’s at the cusp of her career, reporting to her adoring fanbase all about the indomitable forces of nature. There’s no time for anything -or anyone- else.Clarke is a stormchaser (she has as much tattooed over her ribs) for the local Action News. Whip smart and committed to her research, she lives for the thrill every time the sky thunders. But breaking thru at 26 in the industry has her constantly trying to push the envelope, running straight into danger to get that perfect shot.Their field of work is small, and their clashing rivalry inevitable and fierce. But Clarke and Lexa are about to realize what they feel for each other can be just as strong and unpredictable as the storms they chase.

Earned It by assassinslover [Mature] (Ongoing- 21,177 Words) {12 Chapters} **

Lexa’s too enraptured by the paint splattered girl before her to care that said paint is also all over her favourite – formerly white – shirt. So enraptured, even, that it takes her way too long to notice the distraught look on the other girl’s face and the ruined canvas in her hands.Lexa, a dancer and a business major, offers to help Clarke re-do her ruined final project.

your hand in mine by geralehane [Mature] (Complete- 59,989 Words) {14/14 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing gdau series] *****

Clarke’s father is put on life support, and becoming Lexa Woods’s girlfriend is her last chance at paying his bills. It was supposed to be about money. Insensitive, immoral, impersonal. She was never supposed to fall in love with her.

Online Lifeline by ToriWritesStories [Mature] (Complete- 96,149 Words) {26/26 Chapters} ****

For Clarke, the universe of Twitter is a home, a place where she can be herself without the expectations of her friends and parents, and she keeps it secret for that reason. However, she isn’t expecting to meet a couple of people whom she begins to become pretty good friends with, and she definitely doesn’t expect to meet Lexa. And Lexa, who is on Twitter really only because her best friend Raven demands it be so, isn’t even interested in online friendships at all. That is, until she starts talking to Raven’s new friend “C” on Twitter, and finds herself captivated.

A Series of Avoidable Events by toolateintheday [Mature] (Ongoing- 165,213  Words) {22 Chapters} ****

Clarke Griffin works for renowned advertising company, Trikru Incorporated. She’s coasting through life, unsure of what she truly wants to do and settling for mediocrity. Its not her dream job but it pays the bills. It’s comfortable, familiar and what she needs. All that changes when the company bring in Lexa Woods, a new visionary, with the aim to shake things up. Clarke finds her entire existence unsettled by the arrival of her new boss who is as intriguing as she is intimidating. Can they put aside their differences and work together?

Something’s Electric In Your Blood by orangeyouglad8 [Mature] (Ongoing- 40,923 Words) {21 Chapters} ***

“You know, if you keep shocking me I might regret running off the train and giving you back your scarf.” It’s teasingly light and Clarke wonders if this girl can see the humor in her eyes and the smirk on her lips.

“Who says you’re not the one shocking me?” The slightest tilt of pouty lips.Clarke’s heart skips a beat, her lips already moving to continue the game. The banter. “I guess we’ll never know.”

The 300 by Bucklethorpe [Mature] (Complete- 66,305 Words) {16/16 Chapters} *****

Clarke just managed to burn 300 of Lexa's finest spruces.

Head Over Boots by cornchipmeteor [Mature] (Complete- 143,569 Words) {11/11 Chapters} *****

Clarke knew she had a lot to learn when she agreed to work on Woods Ranch. What she didn’t know was that, in addition to horseback riding and cattle corralling, she’d be learning about love.Lexa had zero tolerance for her new, inexperienced ranch hand Clarke, but she soon discovered that maybe life should be about more than just running the ranch. There’s humor! There’s conflict! There’s cute, fluffy cows! There’s even a happy ending!! Dual POV, because I can never choose just one.

Bend For Me by heyjayyay [Mature] (Complete- 123,746 Words) {23/23 Chapters} *****

Sloppy, Fratboy!Clarke lives with Octavia, who drags her to her yoga class one day. Clarke is the shit. She knows it. She’s cocky and doesn’t take crap from anyone, doesn’t bend for anybody, and refuses to break. Until now. AKA the one where Clarke thinks she’s smooth, but Lexa is smoother. Yoga AU (TW: Non-consensual touching/kissing)  

Be the Lightning in Me by proudlyyours [Mature] (Ongoing- 121,904 Words) {11/14 Chapters} *****

Clarke Griffin was probably one of the most annoying people that Lexa had ever met. Something about her irritated Lexa as soon as she first laid eyes on her. Perhaps it was the fact that she’d only appeared at Arkadia University two months ago but she’d already made friends with more people than Lexa had spoken to in her entire school career. Maybe it was that she laughed a little too loudly while their professor was talking, drawing more eyes to her, Lexa’s included. Perhaps it was because that laugh was actually one of the prettiest things Lexa had ever heard.

When Clarke showed up for her first shift at the bar that Lexa had been enjoying working at since the beginning of the semester, Lexa wasn’t happy. She’d spent months being distracted by Clarke in their shared class but Clarke didn’t even recognise Lexa stood in the bar in front of her.

Of course she didn’t.

i built a home for you, for me (held on as tightly as you held onto me) by coat [Teen] (Complete- 37,627 Words) {4/4 Chapters} ***

As Lexa walks past, giving the dog a wide berth, she spots a figure beside it. A girl with braided blonde hair stretches out on the park bench, fingers tangled in the dog’s thick fur. She frowns softly. Usually the homeless people Lexa sees are older males with scruffy beards, tugging shopping carts filled with cans. But this girl on the bench, her golden hair streaming over her back, looks so out of place that Lexa almost stops. Most homeless tend to stay near the city, yet here she is, in the middle of the forest.

You See the Smile That’s On My Mouth (it’s hiding the words that don’t come out) by heartshapedcandy [Teen] (Complete- 48,677 Words) {4/4 Chapters} ****

It takes Clarke and Lexa about five seconds to fall in love, but it takes them way too long to realize it. This is that way-too-long.ora story in which Clarke and Lexa kiss too much and communicate too little. 

still home by solinasolina [Unrated] (Complete- 49,338 Words) {8/8 Chapters} ***

Abby placed the package on the ground and took a step forward. There was a strong sense of familiarity coming from the young woman in front of her, but she just couldn’t quite figure out where from. She raised an eyebrow, “Have we met before?”

Lexa nodded immediately. “I use to live next door.” She points to her childhood home, “My parents–”Abby goes wide-eyed as she realised who was standing in front of her, 

“Alexandria Woodson?!” she cut in.

“It’s just Lexa Woods now,” she smiled. “But yeah…”

You’re Fired (So Yeah You Win) by LaFlashdrive [Explicit] (Complete- 108,333 Words) {14/14 Chapters} ***

The one where Clarke draws Lexa’s name for the office Secret Santa, not knowing Lexa is the President of the company she works for. The gag gift she gets her is a bit… unconventional. A dildo. It’s a dildo.

Lover In Low Light by Chrmdpoet [Mature] (Complete- 85,157 Words) {? Chapters} *****

“You’re never going to love anyone the way you loved her. That kind of love, it only happens once in a lifetime, so if you’re waiting to feel that way again, I think you’re always going to be waiting.“or Five years after their relationship’s end, college sweethearts Lexa and Clarke find themselves in the same city again. Now, they are different people with different lovers and different lives, but neither ever fully let the other go. Will what they once had still be all they are looking for, or is it finally time to truly let go and move on? 

[DELETED: It was publicated] 

Southern Constellations by Themickeysays [Mature] (Complete- 55,549 Words) {12/12 Chapters} **

After they stop laughing Clarke blurts out, “It must be fate. It’s written in the stars somewhere for us to meet.”

Lexa just raises an eyebrow at her.

“What you don’t believe in fate? Or look to the stars?,” she asks in what’s supposed to be an ominous voice. 

OR Lexa needs a ride home and Clarke needs some company to put off going home. What happens when these two strangers decide to ride down to the south from NYU? Hint: Gay Things™ OR The clexa roadtrip au where they are so extra making a 13 hour trip last 10 days, and manage to change their lives forever.

something broke by lexasforehead [Mature] (Incomplete- 63,457 Words) {21/22 Chapters} ****

“Ready to lose butt chin?” taunted Lexa.

“I’m actually saving that spot for you, forehead.” Clarke retorted.

You’ve Got Mail (She Loves Me) by orangeyouglad8 [Teen] (Complete- 50,210 Words) {30/30 Chapters} ****

What happens when big, bad, Fox Books opens up around the corner from the small, hipster, Arkadia Books? A Clexa spin on the classic You’ve Got Mail. Business rivals turned…?

The Three Truths by transientpermanence [Teen] (Complete- 74,485 Words) {17/17 Chapters} *****

It was always easy, until it wasn’t. [DELETED, but was reposted somewhere else, and it was not posted by the author but credit was given.]

In Our Own World by bouj525 [Mature] (Complete- 124,555 Words) {13/13 Chapters} [TW: Mentions of self-harm and attempted suicide] **

Lexa missed Clarke like one missed their favorite song after becoming deaf. Clarke missed Lexa like one missed their favorite color after becoming blind. Or The travel-the-world, online meeting, somehow long distance relationship AU.

Pie In the Sky by Lingering Lilies [Mature] (Complete- 46,874 Words) {13/13 Chapters} [TW: Domestic abuse] **

Trapped in a small town, dead-end waitressing job, and a loveless marriage, Clarke Griffin finds herself faced with an unwanted pregnancy. She finds solace only in her gift for baking pies and the company of a young doctor named Lexa Woodward.

Turning Down and Turning On Clarke Griffin by proseoflife [Teen] (Complete- 18,628 Words) {13/13 Chapters} ***

Clarke gets set up on a blind date. What she didn’t expect was to fall in love that same night. How many times can Clarke Griffin get turned down, and turned on, before she says ‘fuck it’ and walks away?

Artists Love Better by cissarego [Explicit] (Complete- 58,894 Words) {17/17 Chapters} ***

Modern AU - Clarke is an artist and Lexa, a photographer. After a not so friendly first encounter, they find themselves intrigued with each other. A timid friendship starts to grow into something more. Are they ready for this? A bit of fluff, hints of angst and a lot of Clexa! :)

It’s For Your Own Good by trying [Mature] (Ongoing- 43,596 Words) {9 Chapters} [TW: Homophobia and abuse] ***

Clarke’s hands were trembling slightly and she wrung them anxiously in front of her as she entered the main room. Plastic chairs were set up in a loose semi-circle in the centre of the room, most of them already occupied by the other campers.

Gay campers. Some of them attractive gay girl campers.

Fuck. When Clarke gets sent to conversion therapy camp, she thought everything she knew was over. Turns out, life is just beginning.

Come With Me by ToriWritesStories [Mature] (Complete- 89,319 Words) {24/24 Chapters} [Part of the complete With Me series] *****

Clarke Griffin spontaneously decides to go to London for a few days, with the hope that she can escape the problems happening in her life, and by chance meets a nice temporary companion, Lexa. A photographer on a commission that’ll take her across north and central Europe, Lexa is adventurous and stunning and fills Clarke with an adrenaline that she hasn’t felt in a long time.

And well… things happen.

blood rush in the hazy glow by firetestsgold [Mature] (Complete- 65,052 Words) {10/10 Chapters} ****

“The locals aren’t fans of college kids. This is their neighborhood bar. They can get…territorial.” Clarke studies the girl who stopped the fight before it began. Leaning back in her chair in the back of the bar, she’s all dark hair and dark eyeliner and dark alcohol. Clarke can see what he’s saying: the glare etched into her face is a clear warning for anyone who might step forward to her.But the vodka has thinned Clarke’s blood; she’s always been brazen and right now she can’t take that warning as anything less than a challenge.She grabs Octavia’s wrist and pulls her forward. “C’mon.”

Chemistry by class [Teen] (Ongoing one-shot collection- 17,227 Words) {7 Chapters} ****

"I’m going to set everything on fire."

A collection of Clexa one shots.

and we grow. by aos_skimmons [Teen] (Ongoing- 40,500 Words) {6/7 Chapters} ***

“I’m a mess,” Clarke says. You’re perfect, Lexa wants to say back. But instead, “No you’re not.” Clarke looks up then, giving Lexa a pointed look, as best as she can with already watery eyes.

“I’m pregnant, Lexa.”

This is the story of how two best friends raise a child together, and some how fall in love along the way.

Always You, Only You by zroe [Unrated] (Complete- 81,472 Words) {46/46 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing Imperfect series] **

Clarke and Lexa have been the best of friends for years, perhaps the closest of all in their group of friends. The connection, chemistry and comfort that they share is unmatched by any of their other friends. Everyone knows that when they’re both single things tend to happen between them. It’s a comfort thing. A no strings attached thing. A thing that they both silently understand. But do they really? They’re best friends who have the power to lift each other up, but also the power to tear each other down. What could possibly go wrong? There is one thing that will always be true - The one that brings out the best in you, will always be the one that can bring out the worst in you.

Note: If you’re looking for a quick Clexa fix, this might not be the story for you. These two dummies, will probably make you crazy.

After You by Chrmdpoet [Unrated] (Ongoing- 27,301 Words) {5 Chapters} ****

They grew up together in pieces, scattered here and there, like an unfinished puzzle. In moments, sometimes tender and sometimes turbulent. In both careful and careless connection.

They collided as two roads converging, two paths always intended to meet. [TW: Child abuse]

Cheap Thrills by ToriWritesStories [Mature] (Ongoing- 43,352 Words) {13 Chapters} ***

Clarke’s life is a mess: she hates her job, she’s always broke, she has a bad habit of having one night stands, and sometimes she drinks a little too much. Her best friends Octavia and Raven are getting all of their stuff together, and she’s being left behind. Somehow, she can’t manage to pull herself together, until she meets Raven’s new coworker Lexa, who happens to be everything she’s been missing.

a pleasant undoing by mopeytropey (scriptmanip) [Mature] (Complete- 104,225 Words) {12/12 Chapters} ****

Clarke is in denial. Octavia is grumpy. Lincoln is in love. Raven is awesome. Lexa is conflicted. 

And everyone is potentially too invested in good beer.

Conscious Lover by notreallystraight [Mature] (Complete- 40,797 Words) {11/11 Chapters} **

Clarke and Finn have been dating for eleven years now and she no longer knows the difference between loving and being in love.

OR

Clarke meets Lexa and her world gets twist-turned upside-down.

she’s got a way with words by commanderofraccoons [Teen] (Incomplete- 20,021 Words) {5/10 Chapters} **

“Excuse me,” a frustrated voice sighed into Clarke’s ear, “I need to get back to my place.”

Clarke turned around suddenly, feeling her cheeks redden as she took in the girl in front of her. Her brown hair was lazily tossed up in a bun, though no hairs seemed to be trying to escape the black elastic band. She was wearing a dark green shirt with Polis Park printed across it, and her matching shorts were high up her legs. 

Christ, her thigh muscles. 

or 

The “Clarke visits a nearby amusement park with her friends, and she ends up thirsting over the cute girl who works there” AU

A Flower’s Dare by Bee_Charmer [Mature] (Complete- 54,440 Words) {19/19 Chapters} ***

The day of her wedding, Clarke Griffin expected a great number of things. She expected to love her dress, to love being surrounded by those she cared about most. More than anything, Clarke expected her best friend so smile his brightest when he saw her coming down the aisle.

What she did not expect was to lock eyes with the beautiful florist who would completely change her life.

OR

The (loosely based) Imagine Me & You AU I couldn’t get out of my head.

And the rest is just typewritten by GoG (tarsbrain) [Teen] (7,679 Words) {Oneshot} **

A small sign hangs from the folding table reading ‘Stoic Poetry’ and Clarke can’t help but smile at the stranger’s presence at the market.

Or the one where Clarke is an artist with a booth at the downtown market, and Lexa and her typewriter make people cry with words.

It Takes As Long As It Takes by OForion4 [Teen] (Incomplete- 94,964 Words) {25 Chapters} *****

“Can you please just tell her this for me then? This one thing, and I’ll leave you alone. Please, Anya. Tell her I’ll wait for her every Sunday at 10 AM where we first met. Rain or shine, I’ll be there. Until she comes. To forgive me, or to tell me to stop because she’s moved on and found someone else and I’ve lost the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Please tell her that for me. Please.”

or

Modern AU where Clarke messes up and breaks Lexa’s heart. Clarke patiently waits for her every Sunday at the place they met, for 2 years, hoping to see those green eyes again. Will she come?

Astuary Queen by morningsound15 [Mature] (Ongoing- 17,748 Words) {2 Chapters} ****

Clarke snorted. “We get new doctors like every other month, O. This guy’s not gonna be any different.”

Octavia glared. “First of all, internalized misogyny, the new attending is a woman, not a man. Women can be doctors too,Clarke.” Clarke rolled her eyes, but Octavia soldiered on. “And secondly, did I already mention that she’s smoking hot? Because she is smoking hot. I heard Murphy talking about her with—”

Clarke scoffed. “Murphy’s a pig. He thinks everyone is hot.”

“I mean…” Octavia trailed off. “Well… yeah, duh, but I Googled her this morning and—” Octavia whistled under her breath, her eyes gleaming with teasing mirth. “I cannot state this enough, Princess. Doctor Woods is a fucking fox.”

Lion’s Roar by smallburrito [Mature] (Ongoing- 9,744 Words) {6 Chapters} **

Confronted with shocking truths about her past, Clarke Griffin has no choice but to run away. It just so happens she chooses the one week the circus is in town - and the rest is up to fate.

you’re my sunshine in the rain when it’s pouring (won’t you give yourself to me) by bearer_of_light [General Audiences] (Ongoing- 24,864 Words) {11 Chapters} ***

Clarke and Lexa are friends and have been friends for a very long time. What happens when one of them realizes they have feelings for the other?

Breathe For Me, Love by NightHeda [Mature] (Ongoing- 14,688 Words) {11 Chapters} *** [TW: Depression, Self-Harm, Mention of Self-Harm, Mention of Suicide Attempt, Mention of Suicide, Mental Health Issues]

Clarke is a patient in a psychiatric hospital and never in a million years would she have expected to meet the famous rockstar Lexa Woods there. And she isn't excited, either.

Or so she thought.

(Rated M, just in case.)

bang shui by AndiLand (AndiMarquette) [Unrated] (Complete- 215,743 Words) {30/30 Chapters} ****

Clarke Griffin is a med student at Polis University. She and Raven Reyes are roommates who just moved into an apartment closer to campus, but their neighbors have extremely loud marathon sexy times and Clarke is just not getting the rest she needs. She runs into one of the neighbors -- Lexa Woods, a grad/law student -- and tells her to please move her bed away from the wall. Which is embarrassing, yes, but anything could result from that type of conversation...

FAKE DATING/ ARRANGED MARRIAGE

i’ll try my best (how much do i invest?) by babytobin_horse [Unrated] (Complete- 26,007 Words) {6/6 Chapters} ****

Lexa can never say no to Clarke, and that’s the problem. (or: fake dating au)

We Were Pretending, and Then We Weren’t by aos_skimmons (Complete- 20,451 Words) {2/2 Chapters} **

Who knew a one-night stand could lead to a free trip to Alaska and a girlfriend.

Our Hearts (Have Minds of Their Own) by EffortlesslyOpulent [Mature](Complete- 103,319 Words) {15/15 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing Our Hearts series] *****

Clarke is NOT going back to another family reunion without a fake girlfriend to shut everyone up. Lexa, her neighbor and best friend, needs powerful clients like the Griffins for her up and coming business.How inconvenient that they accidentally fall head-over-heels for each other in the process. It’s a fake dating Rom-Com.

Cold Case by crazywisdom [Mature] (Complete- 38,409 Words) {8/8 Chapters} ***

Undercover cop AU: Once Wells Jaha is ratted out by a mole within the police force, DCI Anya decides it’s time to send two out in the field – Detectives Clarke Griffin and newcomer Detective Lexa Woods – to end this RED, Cage Wallace and Dr. Tsing business once and for all. Their covers? A loved-up lesbian couple.

the break upper by 100hearteyes [Mature] (Ongoing- 91,242 Words) {21/24 Chapters} ***

Clarke Griffin doesn’t have the most honourable job ever: she makes couples break up for a living. She unmasks the liars, the cheaters, and the deceivers. Marital justice, one might wishfully call it — and she gets paid for it. Clarke’s only rule: don’t fall in love with the target.alsoLexa Woods has the perfect life, with the perfect job, the perfect friends, and the perfect fiancé. Problem? Said fiancé is a man — and Lexa is kind of sort of totally a lesbian.

Bated Breath by thedeadflag [General Audiences] (Complete- 22,293 Words) {4/4 Chapters} ***

Clarke was counting down the hours until she’d achieved a hard-won month-long reprieve of driving Octavia to Lincoln’s, having been her best friend’s designated driver for months. But then she meets Lexa, manages to get them both into a mess, and ends up owing the woman a favor. Yet, Clarke still wouldn’t mind time slowing down a little bit for as long as Lexa’s with her A modern ‘Fake dating’ AU. 

Till Death Do Us Part by Stubborn_Teen [Mature] (Incomplete- 191,716 Words) {14 Chapters}  *****

“So you’re my bride to be? Not what I expected at all.” Clarke comments and Lexa didn’t know whether to be offended or flattered since Clarke was giving her a pretty curious look - nothing too sinister. 

“Alexandria was it? What kind of name is that?” Okay, Lexa was offended.

“You’re one to talk, Clarke.”

How To Lose Someone In 10 Days by Jaansche [Mature] (Complete- 103,268 Words) {16/16 Chapters} ***

Clarke Griffin is an artist and player who, to win against her best friend Raven, bets that she can make anyone fall in love with her in 10 days. Lexa Woods has been assigned to write an article on “How to Lose Someone in 10 days.”

My Heart For A Minute by MsDorisDaisy [Mature] (Complete- 166,909 Words) {22/22 Chapters} ****

Nine years after Jake’s tragic but heroic death, Clarke and Abby have finally gotten their lives back on track thanks to the unconditional love and support of family matriarch, Lillian Walters. As unfortunate as it seems for Clarke, she soon finds herself on the business end of her grandmother’s meddling when the aging woman adds a pre-death condition to her living will: Clarke will be gifted enough money to buy her own art gallery when she gets married to one Miss Alexandria Abigail Woods, the one girl in the world whom Clarke actually legitimately cannot stand.

a crown seldom enjoyed by onemilliongoldstars [Mature] (Ongoing- 29,373 Words) {5/25 Chapters} ***

To maintain the fragile peace between north and south, Clarke of House Tyrell is sent to live in Winterfell as an act of faith between the two kingdoms. There, she is put under the protection of the first queen in the north, Queen Lexa of House Stark, Daughter of Wolves. A woman draped in steel and silver, wolves at her heels and rumoured to be a manifestation of the fury of the old gods; Clarke refuses to be awed be her quiet violence and cold smile. Instead of fostering unity, the meeting of the wolf and the rose lights a spark that spreads through the rest of Westeros, threatening to burn it to the ground.

HIGH SCHOOL 

Catch Me, I’m Falling by effortlesslyoppulent and samkomtrashkru [Mature] (Complete- 288,841 Words) {24/24 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing catch me series] ******

Lexa Woods is Arkadia High’s brand new varsity quarterback star, badass and adored by all. Clarke Griffin is a model student who dreams of getting an art scholarship. With Lexa’s arrogance and Clarke’s stubborn tendencies, they never thought they’d be compatible, much less soul mates. But as fate would have it, Clarke becomes Aden’s tutor, and she and Lexa fall infuriatingly, helplessly in love with each passing day.

OR: The HSAU where Aden plays cupid with Clarke, Lexa, and all of their friends, and ends up watching practically all of them fall for each other. (Another one that if you haven’t read, seriously, just read it)

Dynamite With A Laser Beam by TDD [Teen] (Ongoing- 129,636 Words) {16 Chapters} ****

When Clarke’s high school, Arkadia High, merges with Polis Secondary School, Clarke and her friends are faced with old enemies and the opportunity of new friendships. Clarke needs to figure out how to fit in with the soccer team and its captain while trying to win over the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen. It’s not easy being Clarke Griffin, especially when she has a tendency to make life harder for herself. Despite all of that, there’s no stopping her as long as she has her friends by her side- who are just as reckless as she is.

All That You Got (Skin to Skin, Oh My God) by Dreamsaremywords [Mature] (Ongoing- 68,659 Words) {14/15 Chapters} ***

Anya burst into laughter. “Wait, wait, wait a minute. You and Clarke grew up together, Clarke is oblivious but you’re totally aware of your feelings- super GAY feelings-and your dad being a pastor complicates things, but you guys are like magnets and you can’t stay away from each other, even though you have no idea what the hell you’re doing, and then you don’t even talk about it. You spend way too much time thirsting and not enough actually being honest with each other and with yourselves. So, to get this straight- you’re not.”

Lexa deadpanned her. “Clearly.”

I Meant to Ask You by fairytaleslayer [Teen] (Complete- 41,914 Words) {15/15 Chapters} ***

Clarke Griffin and Lexa Woods have been best friends since Clarke’s mom moved three doors down from Lexa and her father. They’ve also been in love with each other since before they knew what it meant.

Down Came the Rain by almostfantasia [Teen] (Complete- 30,958 Words) {3/3 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing Down Came the Rain series] ****

Their paths have no reason to cross. That is, until a torrential downpour leaves them both caught at a bus stop with only one umbrella between them, forcing their lives together. Lexa, the private school student from a sheltered family. Clarke, the teenage runaway with no home to call her own. They make an unlikely pair. Friendship doesn’t come easily, but when it does, is that ever going to be enough for either of them?

The Days of Our Love [series] by MsDorisDaisy ****

Lift Me, Catch Me by ToriWritesStories [Mature] (Complete- 104,598 Words) {20/20 Chapters} [Part of the completed Lift Me, Catch Me series] ****

Settling into a small town in Florida, and living with an uncle she barely knows, is hard enough for Clarke even when she’s dating who she believes to be one of the greatest guys at school. It gets immensely harder when a New Year’s Eve party reveals what kind of guy her now ex-boyfriend really is. Now almost entirely alone, Clarke falls into a new friend group, a group of girls who couldn’t care less about her past, her sexuality, anything. One of those girls in particular catches Clarke’s attention quite well, and as Clarke gets to know her, it’s like pieces of herself are being lifted and pieced back together into a version of herself stronger than the way she was even before her life got so messed up.

Something Tragic by heyjayyay [Mature] (Complete- 112,823 Words) {25/25 Chapters} ***

When they met, it was not of their own accord. In fact, they probably never would have crossed paths if it wasn’t for the project. They were juniors and Lexa was the quiet, new girl. Having to move in with her uncle, Gustus, after the fire was probably one of the most difficult things she had to ever endure. Tragic, really. Life always seemed to turn out that way for the brunette.

L’arirvée des papillons by TheWorldAndTheEmpress [Explicit] (Incomplete- 51,495 Words) {13/14 Chapters} *****

Clarke Griffin is on top of the world, admired by the entire school. Everyone, that is, except for outsider Lexa Woods. Lexa’s indifference to her is the one thing that Clarke cannot stand, and she makes it her life’s mission to torment the other girl. But when Clarke takes it one step too far, she’s forced to partner up with Lexa for a project. Soon, she’ll realize just how little she really knows about Lexa, and about herself, as it turns out all she really wants is for Lexa to notice her. or Clarke falls head over heels for the last person whe would expect.

Molihua by BrittzandTana (ToriWritesStories) [Mature] (Complete- 118,421 Words) {38/38 Chapters} ****

Clarke has been through a lot through the summer before her junior year, and when she comes back to school, she’s changed. As she begins to feel like a billion pieces falling apart, she finds a special person to hold her together and treat her like the beautiful flower of a girl that she is. (Jasmine Flower - Mo Li Hua).

WAR/ VETERAN/ SPY/ ASSASSIN

Friend or Foe by icherishpotatoes [Explicit] (Ongoing- 20,472 Words) {9 Chapters} ** [TW: Violence, drug addiction, PTSD, mentions of rape]

Clarke Griffin gets kidnapped in one of her doctors without borders visits to South America. A ransom is demanded in return for her safety by a rebel army known as Azgeda. Lexa Woods is an undercover agent in the rebel army whose job just got a lot worse. Or Lexa spent a year infiltrating Azgeda and gaining their trust only for her mission status to change: Protect Senator Abigail Griffin’s daughter Clarke Griffin while maintaining your cover. Rescue mission pending upon failed negotiations.

Mrs. & Mrs. Woods by knich94 [Mature] (Complete- 95,958 Words) {39/39 Chapters} ****

After five (or six) years of happiness together, ordinary couple Clarke and Lexa Woods find themselves stuck in a rut. However, unknown to each other, they are both deadly, highly paid assassins working for rival companies. After a hit gone wrong, they discover that they are each other’s next target. Their secret lives (and they) collide explosively.

Or… The Mr. and Mrs. Smith AU featuring all your favorite characters, humor, fluff, angst, and references to canon and the crazy ideas this awesome fandom developed. Clexa centered and Clexa endgame! The first few chapters are a little slow but the action quickly picks up :D (TW: Violence and Torture)

Good Morning, Afghanistan by cornchipmeteor [Mature] (Complete- 113,461 Words) {18/18 Chapters} *****

Staff Sergeant Clarke Griffin, US Air Force. Sergeant Lexa Carey, US Marine Corps. Afghanistan is already dangerous enough without their feelings getting in the way. But let’s be real, these ladies are experts at falling in love in a war zone. (TW: Violence, PTSD)

The Long Walk by Diaph [Mature] (Ongoing- 57,578 Words) {22/25 Chapters} ***

Lt. Lexa Woods finally makes it home for Thanksgiving in far worse state than she left after doing the very thing she warns all her men never to do, be a hero. She finds herself in the hands of Dr. Clarke Griffin, the young and high-achieving Neurology specialist who is determined to get the soldier to walk and talk again with a new surgical procedure.

It’s during the mind-numbing nights spent in the hospital far away from home that the sarcastic soldier charms her way into more than just the doctor’s medical observations. (TW: PTSD) 

Prisoner 319 by ur_the_puppy [Teen] (Ongoing- 141,468 Words) [Part of the Ongoing The Others series] {8/10 Chapters} *****

After being a prisoner in Azgeda Tower for over a year, Clarke Griffin is suddenly transferred to a new prison - Polis. Commanded by Lexa, the youngest and most ruthless Head of Polis Prison in decades, Clarke finds herself in a completely new environment - with no friend's or clue of what's going on Clarke must navigate her way through an unknown world. All the while holding her secrets close to her chest. It wouldn't help to have people know that she was a highly trained assassin who was supposed to be dead.

or

a prison au with a supernatural twist. raven is sarcastic, octavia is a human fireball, clarke is a deadly mess and lexa is, well, very gay

(TW: Violence, Torture) 

Lancelot by almostafantasia [Mature] (Ongoing- 11,399 Words) {3/14 Chapters}

Lexa Woods, an impeccably dressed British secret agent for the covert Kingsman organisation, whose latest mission sees her sneaking through the corridors of the White House in the middle of the night, finds herself having to seduce the daughter of the newly elected President of the United States in a bid to save the world. It’s a surprise to Lexa when she ends up falling for her target as fast as she does, meanwhile Clarke doesn’t expect her gorgeous date for an international political gala dinner to drag her into a world of thrill and danger where one wrong move could cause a global disaster.

PAST/ ROYALTY/KNIGHT

The Queen Consort by MadeInSpace [Mature] (Ongoing- 13,391 Words) {3 Chapters} *** 

As the music swelled around them to announce the festivities ahead, Clarke only noticed how quickly the Queen dropped her hand.

What heart’s ease must queens neglect by thrace [Mature] (Complete- 83,285 Words) {8/8 Chapters} *****

Lexa is going to drag her country into the modern age kicking and screaming if she has to. Enter Clarke Griffin, United Nations election observer.

most ardently by onemillliongoldstars [Teen] (Ongoing- 32,074 Words) {5 Chapters} *****

Clarke Griffin has been forced to abandon her name and her family. She is desperately hiding in her new role as lady’s maid to Lady Lexa, fumbling through her duties and hoping to become invisible, when she realises that her heiress mistress is caught firmly under the thumb of her overbearing uncle. As Lexa suffocates under the expectations of her remaining family, she and Clarke slowly realise that they may be each other’s safe haven.

or: Clarke is hiding a secret while struggling to seem like an experienced lady’s maid for Lexa, who is painfully glad for a friend.

Suffragette by William89 [Mature] (Complete- 37,553 Words) {10/10 Chapters} **

Historical AU – London, 1913. After bombing the Prime Minister’s house, suffragette Lexa is being chased by the police. Lady Abby Griffin offers her a way out: she needs a maid to accompany her sick daughter Clarke to their estate in Lancashire, where she is supposed to live for a year. Even though she hates everything about the aristocratic life, Lexa has no choice but to pretend she’s Lady Clarke Griffin’s new maid, which proves to be a hard task when she finally meets the temperamental girl.

Suffrage by stringingwords [Mature] (Complete- 102,370 Words) {27/27 Chapters} ****

The 20th century has just begun. London is bustling with budding inventions, grand soirees, rumors of war, and inequality. Growing tired of being considered property, women are rallying across the country in favor of their right to vote.Clarke, Raven, and Octavia are scrappy suffragists determined to make the change happen. They find an unexpected ally in Lady Alexandra Woolcott, a noblewoman in the enemies’ camp.

Or the fic about Clexa taking down the patriarchy you may have known you needed.

Cigarettes In the Theatre by natshana [Mature] (Ongoing- 70,728 Words) {14 Chapters} *****

They close at eight but the small, pouty frown which adorns the girl’s lips and the gentle crease that forms between her brows makes the late hours seem all the more worth it. Of course that’s what she tells herself anyway, nevermind the dwindling night sky which casts the shop in a soft glow and makes the girl’s vibrant eyes dance like a forest under stars. 

or the 1983 movie store AU where Lexa is a small gay nerd who loves video games and Clarke is a smitten cashier for the awkward girl in wire frame glasses. (cause what’s better than 80’s wlw and video games)

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum by jaimeajamais [Mature] (Ongoing- 117,755 Words) {18 Chapters} *** [TW: violence, slavery]

Lexa is the Empress of Rome. Clarke is an Amazon, the new leader of a conquered people. When Clarke is captured and taken back to Rome as the Empress’s slave, she and Lexa form a complicated relationship. And as always, much more than the fate of their own hearts is at stake.

The Hunters Chosen by unicyclehippo [Unrated] (Complete- 192,881 Words) {12/12 Chapters} [part of the ongoing In The Hands Of Gods series] *****

tortall au: Lexa of Haryse only wants to be a knight and, though a handful of girls have followed Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan's example in the last five years, many challenges remain for a girl page. Especially one who has the hand of a God upon her.

SPORTS/ DANCE

Individual Medley by nutalexfanfic [Mature] (Ongoing- 87,699 Words) {13 Chapters} ****

Clarke meets 3x Olympic gold medalist in swimming, Lexa Woods, at a celebration party for USA after the conclusion of the Games. It’s supposed to be just sex, but then they accidentally fall in love. (TW: PTSD)

Ain’t That A Kick In The Head by greyscalerainbows [Mature] (Incomplete- 90,210 Words) {20/21 Chapters} ***

On an abrupt, ill-advised vacation from Los Angeles, Clarke trips right into Lexa Woods, a local shop owner in faded red shorts. It starts with surfboards and a jellyfish sting.

Dance In the Lion’s Den by Tanagariel [Mature] (Complete- 132,301 Words) {20/20 Chapters} *****

Lexa Woods, young entrepreneur, has forged herself of steel. She sees life as something that has to be survived. Closing off her feelings she fights to be the best, even when she feels so alone. Moving through life without hope and a relationship that is not enough, Lexa will find herself attracted to a woman who will turn her world upside down. Clarke Griffin, a professional dancer, who has lost so much yet hopes that dance won’t ever leave her behind, keeps fighting to live her life to the fullest, even in her loneliness. She will find that sometimes looks deceive and that she shouldn’t be so quick to judge a book by its cover. Particularly when it’s someone as aloof and cold as Lexa.The businesswoman and the dancer will clash in a battle of wits and stubbornness, fighting the other until there is only one left. Except that on their dance journey, their feelings will begin to change and their life won’t ever be the same; now the only thing left is to see if they can dance in the lion’s den.

Finding Purpose by Derivative [Explicit] (Ongoing- 36,837 Words) {12 Chapters} **

Clarke has been dealing with a depression for quite some time, and Raven keeps suggesting she should join her to one of her kickbox classes. Clarke has refused on multiple occassions, but since several months of therapy, going out getting blatantly drunk and fucking random strangers hasn’t exactly helped, she reluctantly decides to give in.

Raven’s instructor is… intriguing.

Trigger warning: depression is a fucking dungeon, isn’t it? The story is going to take off lightly, but please mind the tags. It’s going to be a heady mix of humor, fluff(, smut) and pret-ty heavy shit. Consider yourselves warned, and please, take care of yourselves.

Touch or Carry by paint_the_brain [Mature] (Ongoing- 42,671 Words) {29 Chapters} ***

An Olympic Beach Volleyball AU

The shots we didn’t take by TheFrenchWriter [Mature] (Ongoing- 51,577 Words) {9/25 Chapters} ****

It’s been ten years since the Arkadia Strikers have hoisted the Jaha Cup. Clarke Griffin knew it when she was drafted, kept it in mind as she ascended to the starting goalie position and used it to fuel her will as a key player of the team, supporting her teammates until the second round of the playoffs last season, where they faced a grueling loss to the TonDC Shockwave after only five games. The team is now in desperate need of a player that will light a spark in the offensive line, a player that will restore the long-lost identity of the team and prove that it still deserves the famous nickname “power strikers”. Alexandria Woods, first line center and hockey extraordinaire, might be just the player. The twist: anyone who has seen her play knows that Lexa Woods has an ego bigger than her head and a superstar, cocky attitude that, although did well with her previous team, has brought her quite the reputation across the league.

holy ground. by lordvoldyfarts [Mature] (17,120 Words) {Oneshot} ***

Clarke comes back into the room, her face still red, but no longer looking angry. “One more time,” she says and Lexa doesn’t respond. She just gets into position. She stands in front of the mirror and Clarke comes up behind her. Her hands on her hips, similar to the way they had been that night, and Lexa feels the same rush of attraction flow through her that she did then. She tries to push it down, to pretend it’s not there, but Clarke’s grip is tight and impossible to ignore. She feels her muscles tense. “Relax,” Clarke whispers in her ear and there’s a chill that goes down her spine. She’s surprised when she feels her shoulders loosen. “Don’t think so much, Lexa,” Clarke continues and Lexa takes a deep breath.

or the one where lexa is a principal dancer with the boston ballet who lives life with her eyes closed and clarke, a new dancer from anaheim, opens them. dancer!au.

Pas de Deux by onemilliongoldstars [Explicit] (Ongoing- 51,540 Words) {9 Chapters} ***

Lexa, the country’s most sought after young dancer, keeps away from the cameras, focussing on her art form. She is single minded in her determination to be the best, until a clumsy, out of place girl wanders into her dance class and shatters her perfectly ordered life with snarky remarks and sloppy insteps. Unfortunately, Clarke is not all she seems and everything she knows could come crumbling down around her thanks to hot hands guiding positions and lies whispered between cotton sheets.orBallet dancer Lexa meets young journalist Clarke Griffin and everything starts spinning faster.

black ribbons by CareyElizabeth [Mature] (Ongoing- 65,940 Words) {11/12 Chapters} [Part 1 of the Ongoing Series two’s company] ***

‘You hit me in the face. So not only am I the best choreographer in the world, you owe me. And I need you to chill out.’ Anya came to crouch beside Lexa and squeezed her shoulder bracingly. ‘You’re the best. We all know it. And if you dance like you’re scared all the time, you’ll lose that. You have a gift. Don’t screw it up, not now, not like this.’

(Lexa is a ballerina back from injury. Clarke is a fashion designer commissioned to do the costumes. Anya is a choreographer who thrives on awkward interactions.)

dance like nobody’s watching by Homosexy [Mature] (Ongoing- 20,441 Words) {5/10 Chapters} ***

Lexa stuffed her phone, ID and some money into her pockets. Gave her hair a quick ruffle and took a deep breath.

-

Lexa is a gymnast who's starting to get successful at the international level. The problem? She's also very, very gay. One day, the night after Worlds, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, Lexa decides to take a chance at going out to a club. And it all starts there.

CELEBRITY/ PRESIDENT 

Like an Open Wound by Tanagariel [Mature] (Ongoing- 97,825 Words) {15/25 Chapters} ***

Famous musician Clarke Griffin, known in the industry as Wanheda, is in the process of relaunching her career with a new image, to leave behind the negativity and bad press surrounding her. She’s going on tour very soon, so her manager decided to hire a team, to Clarke’s dismay, with the sole intent to keep Clarke safe from her extremely ravenous fanbase.Enter Lexa Woods, who has been tasked to watch over the very wild rock star. Finding a stubborn woman who was free-spirited had been nothing but a challenge for the disciplined security expert. Suffice to say that they were going to clash.Clarke and Lexa will spend the whole tour together and in the process learning that they aren’t so different after all. That maybe, they can find a common ground between being in the spotlight and the shadows, leaving both their hearts exposed, like an open wound.

oh, dear, you look so lost by Jax (jacquienicole105) [Mature] (Ongoing- 44,649 Words) {8 Chapters} ****

Clarke is running home to Boston from an abusive marriage and an unhappy life. Lexa is the first female in the MLB, out to break barriers and prove the sports world wrong. Neither are looking for a relationship but could a chance encounter change that? (TW: Mentions of domestic abuse) 

You’re The Only Love I Found (and I’m Hoping That You’ll Stay) by awkwardrainbow [Mature] (Ongoing- 215,139 Words) {13/14 Chapters} ****

Clarke is the “straight” pretty girl that Lexa ends up working with on the set of their new television show. Their characters are meant to play a long slow burn romance and because Clarke Griffin is not only straight, but also has never played a roll like this before, she seeks guidance from Lexa whom is an open lesbian. The brunette willingly takes the girl under her wing and they begin a fast moving friendship. What Clarke doesn’t realize is how easy she is to fall in love with, or how easy it is to fall in love with Lexa.

Commander In Chief by steklir (SilentStars) [Teen] (Complete- 26,430 Words) {4/4 Chapters} ***

Christmas, 2020:

United States President Lexa Woods has recently been re-elected for her second term, has three Nobel Peace Prizes under her belt, and a 97% public approval rating. None of this, in any way, prepares her for the pretty girl her sister brings home to the White House for Christmas.

Quality Ingredients by HurricaneJane [Mature] (Ongoing- 199,180 Words) {26 Chapters} *****

Executive Chef Lexa “The Commander” Woods is working in her latest establishment in her home town of Portland, Maine. She is about to start conceptualizing her next restaurant and only has one rule for herself during the process: No more girls. When an accident at the restaurant lands her in Dr. Clarke Griffin’s ER, she second guesses why she ever had that rule in the first place. Lexa’s head bartender, Lincoln, is obsessed with a divey restaurant on the other side of town run by Octavia. It doesn’t take long for the small town to get even smaller when Lexa starts running into Clarke everywhere. Maybe rules were meant to be broken.

Clexa Goes to Hollywood by ivywoman63 [Mature] (Complete- 113,797 Words) {21/21 Chapters} ***

Modern AU Clexa. Clarke is an Emmy winning actress starring in a cable scifi series, who’s fictional character just lost her lesbian love interest to an untimely death. Lexa is a landscaper by day fan fic/scifi writer by night. Fun, funny, bantering, lighthearted, Rom Com

Love Letters and Coffee Grounds by JLaw1105 [Mature] (Complete- 67,674 Words) {8/8 Chapters} ****

Lexa wasn’t sure what it was that drew her into the little coffee shop on the corner. Maybe it was because it was less than a block away from the front door of her new building. Maybe it was because it wasn’t a Starbucks or some other large chain coffee front that cared more about profit than the flavor of their beans. Maybe it was the warm air filled with the soft scent of coffee, chocolate and cinnamon. But likely, definitely, it was the defiant little corner of the store that loudly rebelled against the norm.It was early November and everything around Lexa was filled with red and greens or whites and blues. It screamed of Christmas and Hanukkah. Of buying gifts and consumer driven profit. But the back corner of the coffee shop was filled with oranges and reds and browns with a rather large sign written in an angry scrawl that said

“It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, assholes!”

There was just something about it that, to Lexa, felt poetically beautiful.

Player Two Has Entered the Game by billet_doux [Mature] (Complete- 86,015 Words) {15/15 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing Clexa YouTube AU series] ***

Alexandria Woods, an up and coming YouTube star, novelist, and public figure for LGBT+ rights, is watching her career skyrocket before her eyes. Clarke Griffin, a broke college student, is falling in love with the pretty girl behind the screen. OR; the one where Lexa is a dork who plays video games and vlogs for money, Clarke’s thirst has no chill, Bellamy is a protective brother bear, and Octavia Blake is the matchmaker sent from heaven for everyone but herself.

in love war and politics by centuriesofexistence [Mature] (Ongoing- 131,819 Words) {16 Chapters} ****

It’s the most watched Senate race around the country, and Clarke Griffin is running one hell of an underdog campaign against the favored Cage Wallace. But she has a secret weapon that might save the campaign–and a secret that might ruin it. And both are named Lexa Ward.

Floor It by smttnpegasus (butwhowouldbuythecupcakes) [Mature] (Complete- 53,261 Words) {20/20 Chapters} ***

 Lexa is a world class gymnast, or at least she used to be before she shockingly walked out before her floor performance at Worlds knocking Team USA completely out of medal contention. When she gets on the wrong side of the law she is forced back into a world she had run from for over a year.

The Blind Side of Love by lexawillrise [Mature] (Complete- 188,410 Words) {26/26 Chapters} *****

celeb/artist au aka Lexa is a famous actress who - using a fake name - emails Clarke after falling in love with one of her drawings, and accidentally befriends her. Only, Clarke has no idea who this ‘Alexandria Nicole’ really is. *This is a book-conversion originally written by Ingrid Díaz.*

easier to be by solinasolina [Unrated] (Complete- 149,220 Words) {24/24 Chapters} ***

Lexa Woods made history as the youngest secret service agent to be appointed to the president’s security detail. Alongside Special Agents Anya Carson, Lincoln Black and Gustus Hollows, their duty was to protect Madam President Abby Griffin on a day-to-day basis. Lexa was good at her job. She loved what she did – or at least she learned to. So when she’s reassigned to Clarke’s security detail you can understand her reservations. But she figures it’s just six weeks. Six weeks and things will go back to normal. or the president’s daughter au

Royal Viridian by ayokidd [Mature] (Ongoing- 87,824 Words) {8 Chapters} ***

Lexa is an Australian actress cast for her role of Alycia Taylor in the new LGTBQ series Royal Viridian.Clarke is the illustrator of the project and they’re in pre-production of the show. Indra, the art director of Heda Production Co. makes Clarke attend the preliminary read through, where she finds herself a little unprepared. Clarke is a confident woman who is sure of herself but that all falls to the wayside when Lexa causes her internal wiring to short circuit.

Exception to the Rule by CorvusCorvidae [Mature] (Ongoing- 23,622 Words) {5 Chapters} **

Lexa’s only been working at the White House a week, but already she’s found herself on Clarke Griffin’s radar; and now she’s on it, she’s not sure she wants off it.

Or, White House staffer meets President’s daughter

OMEGAVERSE/ WEREWOLVES

Imprint (I Was Made For Loving You) by Jude81 and Kendrene [Explicit] (Ongoing- 12,101 Words) {4 Chapters} ***

The one where after the betrayal at the Mountain Clarke has the mating bite removed and the link to Lexa severed. Things of course don’t go as planned.

Young Gods by N1ghtWr1ter [Explicit] (Complete- 233,284 Words) {33/33 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing Badlands series] ****

They will go to war tomorrow with fresh mating bites on their necks; tonight they find solace in each other’s arms, and in the knowledge that the only thing that can part them now is death.Everyone knows that Commander Lexa betrayed Wanheda and the Skaikru at the Mountain. Only she and Clarke know that she also abandoned her mate. Following the events of the Mountain, Clarke has disappeared into the wilderness, seeking what peace she can find in solitude. But war is brewing, and soon she will have no choice but to face her mate, and the consequences of their decisions before and after.

Above and Below by DaniJayNel [Mature] (Complete- 100,065 Words) {43/43 Chapters} ****

Clarke Griffin is known as the Slayer. When the Organization discover that the werewolves have an Alpha, and that they have traveled to the front-lines of Mount Weather, they are quick to send Clarke with a squad to assassinate it. Clarke is eager to claim more werewolf blood. But things don’t go according to plan, and Clarke realizes too late that the werecreatures had set a trap. The Alpha has revealed themself but for one reason only: to capture the human’s most formidable weapon, Clarke.

Monsters That We Hide by KM47044 [Mature] (Ongoing- 53,240 Words) {15 Chapters} ***

“I have a solution to your mating issue.”

“So I’ve gathered, but at what price?”

Lexa leans onto the table with her elbows. It reminds Clarke of that moment in a movie where the super villain makes a diabolical offer and the superhero has no choice but to agree. “Mate me instead.” ----

Or Lexa offers Clarke a deal, but making a deal with the devil always comes back to bite those in the ass. Lexa is known for losing control; for going feral when in wolf form. Clarke knows from experience that is something not to take lightly. But looking at Lexa… she has to be lesser of the two evils.

Right?

Of Wolves and Men by ur_the_puppy [Teen] (Ongoing- 149,603 Words) {6 Chapters} ****

All it can take is a single moment, a single second, and with it everything you've ever known can be destroyed. After being bitten three years ago, Clarke has had to adjust to a complete derailing of her life. Abandoning her dreams of becoming a doctor in fear of what she could do, she hides away in the small town of Polis with her best friend Raven. It's a humans only town. That is, until a girl is killed, and Clarke suddenly realises she's not the only werewolf that exists.

or

werewolf au where clarke has no idea the extent of what she is and lexa really shouldn't be falling for a mutt.

UNIVERSITY/ COLLEGE/ BOARDING SCHOOL/ ROOMMATE/ TEACHER

Don’t Walk on Ice (No Matter How Nice) by lecksa [Unrated] (Ongoing- 68,895 Words) {13 Chapters}** 

Clarke begins to question her decisions as she finds herself strolling across campus in the middle of the night. She just needed some space and time to clear her head. However, a brunette armed with an acoustic guitar and a contagious smile tops the list of things she never expected to find this evening. Now her mind is anything but clear.

She by the fooliam [Mature] (Complete- 65,983 Words) {8/8 Chapters} *****

Her roommate looks at her sometimes and Clarke is never sure if they’re going to kill or kiss each other.

When Clarke Griffin forgets to complete her sophomore year residency application, she returns to college to find that they’ve paired her with the last roommate she ever expected to get.

The Dewey Decimal System is Not That Hard by MusicLurv [Teen] (Ongoing- 226,258 Words) {57 Chapters} ***

Lexa was just doing her job, trying to write a book at the same time. Clarke was just trying to get through school and become a doctor. They had probably crossed paths hundreds of times. But two papers, a thesis proposal, and lab work brings them together.

Open Windows, Open Hearts by Sheisme [Mature] (Complete- 89,258 Words) {22/22 Chapters} [Part of the Open Windows series] ***

Clarke comes home after her sophomore year of college to find she has a new neighbor, Lexa. Her interest in Lexa begins to grow. What makes things worse is that Clarke realizes her bedroom window looks directly into Lexa’s bedroom window. Eventually Lexa realizes the same thing. After some initial embarrassment, they decide to have some fun with it. Maybe a little too much fun.

Where There Is A Flame by eternaleponine [Mature] (Complete- 429,777 Words)  {175/175 Chapters} [Part of the completed Where There Is A Flame series] *****

A modern/college AU for The 100, told in alternating chapters from Clarke and Lexa’s points of view.This is a slow build. VERY slow. But hey, at least they’ve finally met!n Updates on Sundays (Clarke) and Wednesdays (Lexa).Ratings, tags, and warnings subject to change as the story progresses. (TW: Non-consenual touching) 

Run On Gasoline by eskimpertush [Explicit] (Complete- 115,579 Words) {35/35 Chapters}  [Part of the Run On Gasoline series] *****

Clarke and Lexa did not meet under the best of circumstances. It also didn’t help that they’re both stubborn as hell and, given the chance, would never back down from a fight. But fate has a funny way of bringing people together. So they find themselves on the road, running away from their problems, hoping to get somewhere while heading nowhere in particular. Starts off as a sort of modern college AU but is really a road trip fic. Somewhat inspired by a novel called “Invisible Monsters” and a bunch of other random shit. This is a G!p Lexa fic because everybody is apparently doing one, and I happen to really like ‘em. (TW: Mentions of abuse) 

do you feel us falling? (cause i feel us falling) by babytobin_horse [Unrated] (Complete- 34,924 Words) {6/6 Chapters}  ****

Lexa looks down into her drink, attempting to hide a bashful smile. Her cheeks are slightly flushed and Clarke suddenly finds the whole sight helplessly endearing. How could this girl go from formal and proper and in control to shy and slightly reserved so quickly? Or: Clarke is pre-med and an artist while Lexa is somewhat of a college soccer superstar with a secret love for poetry (They’re both dumb and clueless, but they like each other anyway.)

Butterflies by Tabitha Craft [Mature] (Complete- 26,123 Words) {5/5 Chapters} ****

Clarke is constantly annoyed by Lexa Woods, the know-it-all who is always waving her hand in the air and correcting professors. Lexa is unimpressed with Clarke. They don’t like each other but somehow end up spending time together, and things change, progress, evolve. They’ll never be more than what they are because Lexa wants butterflies and Clarke doesn’t give her them. Clexa without instant attraction and unfathomable lust, with expectation versus reality. A different kind of love story.

Pristine by ToriWritesStories [Mature] (Complete- 92,843 Words) {28/28 Chapters} [Part of the completed Ameliorate series) ****

Clarke’s twenty-one, about to get her associates degree in art, and she and her friends just pitched their cash together to pay for an old, nearly abandoned warehouse to be their ultimate hangout zone. She’s comfortable with herself, pretty sure she’s more than a little gay, though not entirely, and ready for this next stage of her life. Lexa, on the other hand, is seventeen, starting her last year of high school and feeling not so comfortable with herself. She’s not sure if she likes boys, she’s not sure who she wants to be… Sure, she’s smart and her future is pretty set, but where’s the fun in that? When Lexa nearly hooks up with an older guy during what everyone seems to be calling her “rebellious phase”, she finds herself swept up in the life she’d rather be living, with a girl she’d very much like to be with. (Don’t worry fam, Lexa is gay AF)

Wanna Bet? by 100hearteyes [Mature] (Complete- 129,680 Words) {20/20 Chapters} ****

Lexa and Clarke don’t really fancy each other much. One of them is cold and rude, the other is sarcastic and imposing.Throw in a group assignment, two very different reactions to break-ups and Raven and Octavia’s terrible advice, and you got yourself a recipe for disaster. Or maybe something else entirely?

break your plans by pizzaoctavia [Mature] (Incomplete- 92,587 Words) {14 Chapters}  **

Clexa college!AU: in which Clarke grows tired of hearing Octavia and Lincoln’s escapades in the next room, so Lincoln offers her his apartment for study. He fails to mention his heavily tattooed hockey player roommate in the process.

bathroom stalls and late night calls by unicyclehippo [Unrated] (Complete- 63,072 Words) {29/29 Chapters}  [Part of the incomplete clexa texting au series]  ****

Clexa Texting au on tumblr

the business of caring by coldmackerel [Mature] (Complete- 71,956 Words) {15/15 Chapters} *****

a public service announcement: the campus police would like to politely remind all students, well-wishers, and supporters of the university during this time of serial vandalism that painting on buildings without permission is still illegal. this has not changed no matter how ‘cool’ you think it is. vandalism has never been nor will it ever be ‘radical’, ‘sick’, or any version thereof.

-supervisor lexa woods

More Women Than Warriors by steklir (SilentStars) [Mature] (Complete-172,201 Words) {26/26 Chapters} ******

The first time Clarke sees the Head Girl she’s sitting on a throne, presiding over her dominion with a piercing stare and a crown of braids in her hair. Her warriors are spread at her feet, a multitude of them, all long-haired and wild and clad in identical brown regalia. There’s something of the sacred about her, like the crimson cloak draped across her shoulders and her divinity are one and the same. Or at least it feels that way. British girls’ boarding school AU. Obviously. (Another must read) 

don’t wanna be your girl by faithtastic [Explicit] (Ongoing- 90,619 Words) {10/11 Chapters} ****

Lexa’s interning on a skin flick. She meets Clarke on set. Or: The adult movie AU/college AU no one asked for.

A Practiced Craft by StormFelt [Explicit] (Complete- 20,305 Words) {14/14 Chapters} ***

Set in a modern day alternate universe at Arkadia University, Dr. Lexa Woods, accomplished practiced lawyer, young up and coming head of the political science department seems to have her life together…until the new young art professor Clarke Griffin flips her world upside down.

Ending the (Prank) War by M_E_Scribbles [Mature] (Complete- 187,555 Words) {58/58 Chapters} **

The centuries old feud between the University of Polis and nearby Arkadia College has gone on long enough. When Clarke’s friends take the prank war too far she takes it upon herself to end it. She seeks out the illusive Heda, the president of the student body at Polis.

Before she has a chance to fully explain her side of things and propose an end to the pranks another nearby university takes aim at Arkadia, hoping to bring the school into its fold.

HOGWARTS/ WIZARDING WORLD

pills n potions (we’re overdosin’) by indragram [General Audiences] (Complete- 33,884 Words) {14/14 Chapters} ***

Clarke hates a lot of things, but most of all, she hates how she just had to be paired with such a stupid Ravenclaw know-it-all for every damn piece of work in this godforsaken dungeon.

The Magician’s Assistant by rhinomouse [Teen] (Complete- 107,653 Words) {26/26 Chapters} [Part of the ongoing Muggle Magic Tricks series] *****

Clarke Griffin was not going to let the fight against pureblood prejudice her Father believed in die with him. No she was about to pull a true muggle magic trick that the wizarding world won’t soon forget and like the best muggle magic the most interesting part is beneath the surface. Now you see it now you don’t. (First one does not introduce Lexa, second one does: VERY SLOW BURN)

the sky itself will carry me (back to you) by alyciaclebnam [Teen] (Complete- 38,798 Words) {7/7 Chapters} *****

“By the way, how does that work? You coming here when I call. Do you just… pop in and out of existence, or something?”

“It’s like a magical tether,” Lexa explains, ostensibly hesitant. “When you say my name, I feel a pull - right here, in my chest,” she says, drawing a circle around the skin over her heart. “Which is strange in itself, seeing as I no longer possess a beating heart. I can’t explain it, but I feel compelled to be wherever you are.”

“So it’s not just me,” Clarke says slowly, a hopeful expression taking over her previous frown. “There’s something more to you and I, isn’t there?” (or: Clarke is a seventh year student. Lexa is one of the Hogwarts ghosts. There’s a connection between them that Clarke doesn’t understand, but she is determined to figure it out.)

Those Icy Fingers Up and Down My Spine (That same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine) by DreamsAreMyWords [Mature] (Ongoing- 359,419 Words) {20/22 Chapters} *****

“Okay, well, the way I see it, you have two options. You can turn around and face the dragon again, or you can put on your big girl panties and go tell Blondie you’re in love with her. Your choice.” Lexa swallowed, wondering if the static crackling down her limbs and burning her fingertips was a lingering effect from riding the thestral or the feel of Clarke’s lips pressed to her own. She cleared her throat, staring back into Raven’s defiant gaze. “I think I will take the dragon,” she said firmly. Or: The Clexa Triwizard AU.

Spelling It Out by Geyranger [Mature] (Ongoing- 110,772 Words) {37/41 Chapters} ****

Clarke studied the twigs Lexa handed her for a second, holding them up to the light. Then she looked back up at Lexa. Earnest turned to mischief in her eyes.

“Thanks, Lexa. You’re a star.”

Then she disapparated with a loud bang, and Lexa was left staring into open air without a single twig. Or The HP AU where Clarke and Lexa are apprentices of competing wand makers, and are sent around the world to fetch materials for wand cores and somehow always manage to run into one another.

I wish I knew you before by toolateintheday [Mature] (Complete- 123,968 Words) {19/19 Chapters} *****

Clexa Hogwarts AU featuring all your favourite characters! Rated M for some language and possible sex in later chapters. Clarke is a Gryffindor and Lexa is a Slytherin, neither girl really likes the other but they are reluctantly thrown together in their fifth year at Hogwarts.

Forest green eyes pierced sky-blue ones and Clarke felt as though her stomach had dropped through the floor. If the braided hair and starch posture hadn’t given it away before now, those eyes were all the confirmation Clarke needed. Lexa Woods.

Fuck.

FANTASY/ MAGIC/ SUPERHERO/SUPERNATURAL

Princess of the Sky by fairytaleslayer [Teen] (Ongoing- 67,731 Words) {17 Chapters}  ****

The Riders disappeared over a century ago, and with them, their dragons. But Clarke is thrust into the middle of a political war she didn’t know existed when she comes across a strange blue stone in the middle of the forest and bonds with the first dragon to hatch in a hundred years.

After tragedy strikes, she’s bent on revenge, but even with her mission, Clarke can’t get the mysterious, imprisoned Elf woman she sees in her dreams out of her mind. Clarke knows everything depends on rescuing her, she just doesn’t know why. (TW: Mention of torture) 

do the stars gaze back by cassiniregio [Teen] (Complete- 36,721 Words) {5/5 Chapters}  [Part of the just a handful of stardust series] ***

If Lexa is to win the heart of her true love, she must bring back a fallen star. But she’s wholly unprepared for the star to be a beautiful girl named Clarke, or for the host of dangerous people out for star blood. In less than a day Clarke falls from the sky, gets run over by a pretty girl, almost gets her heart cut out and maybe gets accidentally kidnapped by pirates, and that’s just the start of her problems.

The Last Lyrian by TrikruCommander [Mature] (Ongoing- 48,747 Words) {19 Chapters} **

Lexa is the Last Lyrian, after her planet is destroyed.Clarke is the Hyadean entrusted with keeping Lexa safe.The problem is Lexa doesn’t know she’s not human, and she doesn’t know Clarke even exists.Can Clarke keep the girl she loves safe?

the tonic of wildness by KL_Morgan [General Audiences] (Complete- 4,103 Words) {Oneshot}  [Part of the incomplete the tonic of wildness series] *****

“Oh, I thought – because of the antlers –”

“Anuael is female.” Lexa lifts her hand and her daemon fits her head beneath it, carefully. Her fingers brush up against the velvety softness at each branch’s root, the sensitive spot where the antlers curl out of Anuael’s skull up into a proud six points. “The Commander’s daemon is always a hart.”

Silly Blue Costume by orphan_account [Teen] (Complete- 21,114 Words) {5/5 Chapters} ***

Clarke moves to Polis to work at the Daily Planet, a huge step up from the Ark Gazette. What she doesn’t expect is to fall for her partner, famous Investigative Reporter Lexa Woods, and to get caught up in a conspiracy involving one of the wealthiest citizens of Polis: the elusive Cage Wallace.

Mystic Coffee by blindwire [Mature] (Complete- 46,243 Words) {6/6 Chapters} *****

Lexa is 95% certain that the girl that comes into her coffee shop each morning is a witch. Whether it’s the tattoos that she swears move when she sees them out of the corner of her eye or the way the girl’s hair changes color if she looks long enough (not that she’s staring), Lexa is positive something strange is going on.

Skylark by RunawayMarbles [Mature] (Complete- 115,948 Words) {28/28 Chapters} ***

“And they don’t have superpowers. They are semi-successful experiments. Your people will not take any action against Sky Crew without my order: their code names are bad enough. I will not have Polis turn into some Gotham-esque battleground. Dismissed.”

“Uh, actually, Metropolis had more superpowers—”

“Dismissed.”

I Am Heda by Alexis_Payton [Mature] (Complete- 124,439 Words) {19/19 Chapters} *****

Clarke had expected to see many new and wonderful things on Earth. But nothing could’ve possibly prepared her for meeting the Heda of the Twelve Clans. A creature so powerful, so strange, so beautiful, that just the sight of her stole Clarke’s breath away.

My Soul Alight by AnonBeMe [Unrated] (Ongoing- 64,556 Words) {20 Chapters} **

“Am I in danger?” Clarke asks, feeling her heart in her throat.

“Not if you forget.” Lexa gives Clarke a greeting nod, a goodbye, before disappearing from the doorway.

OR

The AU in which Clarke, a doctor, treats a strange patient one night, and soon finds herself caught in a web of unexplainable events. The word magic seems implausible, but Clarke doesn’t know what else to call it. All Clarke wants is answers, damn it, and to reverse whatever is happening to her, so she stubbornly seeks out the strange woman – a leader of a land beyond invisible borders – who insists that the less Clarke knows the better. Clarke, however, is relentless and it comes with a price…

You, the Ocean, and Me by billet_doux [Mature] (Ongoing- 32,931 Words) {4 Chapters} ***

Clarke Griffin is dealing with the repercussions of the accident that took her father’s life. Octavia Blake is trying to find where in the world she fits in. Raven Reyes is trying to win the heart of an older woman. Lexa Woods is trying to help her friends when a mysterious event changes their lives forever.

Or;

Three girls, all in the wrong (right) place at the wrong (right) time, are bound together with a shared secret. They can only rely on one girl, an aspiring scientist, to help them figure out what has happened to them–and possibly find a way to turn them back.

Cobweb Hearts by DreamsAreMyWords [Mature] (Complete- 23,330 Words) {7/7 Chapters} ***

Lexa is a grumpy vampire, and Clarke's a mischievous fairy who loves getting under her skin. They're forced to become roommates for a month and they expect it's only going to end in fucking each other, killing each other, or both. They certainly don't expect to fall in love.

Hold Me Till the Stars Dim by ur_the_puppy [Teen] (Complete- 86,420 Words) {4/4 Chapters} [part of the ongoing Fallen series] ***

After Costia's tragic death, Lexa Woods still hasn't recovered. It has been months now, and though her friend's have let Lexa do what she wants for most of that time, they can't let her ignore them any more. The answer? A camping trip. And though seemingly innocent, things go bad. Violently bad. Fast.

or

a slightly different take on grounder clarke

home is wherever i'm with you by merricats_sugarbowl [Teen] (Complete- 65,737 Words) {19/19 Chapters} ***

It’s one thing to know that humans are adaptable. It’s another to see it happen, or to have it happen to you.

The thing is, when the dead rise from their graves, you get pretty damn good at adapting.

It's been months since the dead rose from their graves and society went to hell, and it's finally starting to take its toll on Clarke. When a radio broadcast reveals that there's safety at Mount Weather, she and her group immediately fix on it as the next step in their plan for survival.

Meanwhile, Lexa's carved out a good life for herself and her group at Camp Polis, but their safety is threatened by a rival group that constantly steals their supplies. Bringing Nia and her people to justice is Lexa's number one priority; that, and the ever-growing number of missing people who've sought help at Mount Weather and failed to return.

When Clarke and Lexa meet by chance, everything changes.

Atlantis by coeurastronaute [Mature] (Ongoing- 10,832 Words) {3 Chapters} ***

Lexa is the heir to the throne of Atlantis, forced to live her life by her father's rules. All of that changes when she finally has contact with land.

frostbite (and heartsickness) by hedahawkeye [Mature] (Ongoing- 40,626 Words) {17 Chapters} ****

The first time Clarke sees Lexa after she surrenders to SHIELD, she realizes that she can't distinctly remember Lexa before the war. Lexa before HYDRA, Lexa before Tsing, Lexa before injections and torture and hurt. The girl she knew in Washington, with scraped knees and bird-like limbs, with a grin on her face and a kid sister on her hip, blends in with recollections tainted by blood and ashes, by a soldier falling to her death and a berserker throwing a fist at her head.

[Winter Soldier AU]

SUMMER CAMP

Legends by aos_skimmons [Teen] (Complete- 63,546 Words) {5/5 Chapters} ****

“Who’s that?” Clarke asked.Octavia glanced in Clarke’s line of sight. 

“That is Lexa Woods.”

“Is she a daughter of Aphrodite too?”Octavia barked out a laugh and shook her head. Clarke felt her cheeks flush. 

“No. She’s a daughter of Athena.”

“Oh.” Clarke said, still blushing furiously.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about your crush on the devil.”A demi god au.

String Bracelets by rochke11 [Mature] (Complete- 36,013 Words) {13/13 Chapters}  ***

Growing up, Clarke, Lexa and Costia spent their summers as best friends at Camp Rothenberg, from when they were seven until they were fifteen. Now 19, Clarke and Lexa have returned to Camp Rothenberg as camp counselors, but it’s been three years since they last saw or spoke to each other. Both girls are haunted by the last summer they spent at camp together four years earlier and by the death of the girl who brought their trio together.Forced to spend the summer as counselors of rival cabins: The Grounders and Arkers, will Clarke and Lexa finally be able to reconcile, and will they finally forgive themselves and each other for what happened that summer four years earlier?

carousel of time. by vulpixgrrl [Unrated] (Complete- 21,745 Words) {4/4 Chapters} ***

they’ve hated each other every summer they can remember, rivals since first session. But they’re finally camp counselors and it’s a whole new battle field.

Cross-Rilvalry Romances - Summer Camp Style by ToriWritesStories [Mature] (Complete- 73,704 Words) {24/24 Chapters}  ***

Clarke Griffin, Octavia and Bellamy Blake, Raven Reyes, Lexa Woods and many others are all at Camp Unite - a supposedly better-than-average summer camp where kids from different extra curriculars and interests all come together and… do summer camp stuff? Nevertheless, they’re there. The twist? None of them know each other, and turns out, this camp that’s all about uniting and forming a better community is pretty divided. Pretty easy to get caught up in divisions that have been around for years - until a certain couple of people start forming crushes that cross the line of division. Mostly a Clexa fic, with some lovely little secondary character romances popping up as well.

SOULMATE

Almost Three by fairytaleslayer [Teen] (Complete- 23,797 Words) {6/6 Chapters} ***

People age until they’re eighteen, and are then frozen in time until they meet their soul mate. After that, they grow old together. Plain and simple. That’s the deal. Only, in Clarke’s case, the universe doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo. Or Waiting over a century for your soul mate really fucking sucks.

Pinch Me by LeNoLifeLoser [Unrated] (Ongoing- 59,552 Words) {19 Chapters} ***

Abby inspected the girl, but nothing was there. No irritation, no bumps or bruises, there was no reason for pain. “Does it feel like you got hit?” Clarke nodded, letting out a whimper. Abby sighed, but then Clarke let out another yelp, hands flying to her cheek as tears streamed down anew. Then Abby understood. “That’s your soulmate.” She cooed, pulling her daughter into a hug. “Soulmate?” Wells piped up from beside her. Abby nodded, setting down again and letting Clarke curl into her lap. Wells hopped up beside them and turned to her expectantly. “You see, every person has someone very special out there in the world. This person is the person you’re meant for. They can be your best friend or your spouse or anyone, really. But there’s a connection between you and your special person. Every ounce of pain you feel, your special person feels too, and vice versa. It seems Clarke’s soulmate is a little clumsy huh?” Abby tried to goad Clarke into laughing. But the little girl was focused very hard, eyebrows scrunched together and pouting adorably. She stared off into the distance, completely still, except for the occasional hiccup. “I wanna help them.” She whispered stubbornly.

Look. Don’t Touch (for this will destroy us) by Naojinxd [Mature] (Complete- 108,445 Words) {10/10 Chapters} **

Clarke Griffin has held a secret for her entire life: whenever she looks at her reflection she doesn’t see her blonde, wavy hair or her deep blue eyes. She stares at a woman with long chestnut hair and cold, piercing green eyes. She never knew what it meant when she saw this woman looking back at her, until one day the woman in the mirror steps into her life and everything changes.

Or in a world where your reflection does not show you but your soulmate.

Your Heart On My Sleeve by aredpen [General Audiences] (Ongoing- 34,756 Words) {9 Chapters} ***

Carefully, Clarke managed an only slightly shaky 'C’, seeing the color settle brightly against her pale skin, before the teacher was calling for the class to put away the coloring supplies and Clarke quickly hid her wrist and looked up guiltily. No one said anything, though, and Clarke shoved the markers in the bin before holding her wrist gently against her stomach.

She tried not to look at everyone else’s wrists for the rest of the day. Tried not to see that no one had any green there. Not even the next day, or two days later, until finally she forgot to keep her wrist out of the water when she was washing and it faded away, just like the idea that her soulmate could be here somewhere.

Soulmates are rare. Even more so now that ink is being rationed on the Ark and permanent identifying tattoos are no longer allowed. Distance has never been an obstacle before, though. Not even between the ground and the sky.

[knightfury1895]

Fatigue and Anguish

There is the sound of a bird scolding somewhere nearby - the alarm-call immediately alerts me in my hiding place and I tense, preparing myself for another long run should Moran appear. Already I am weary, having received more exercise in two days than would usually be forced upon me in a year, but if I am to live long enough to return home to London I must endure still more. All is silent around me now, bringing a sense of foreboding and for a moment all that I can hear is my own heartbeat and the blood roaring in my ears. Then I become aware of another sound - there is but a faint sound that is similar to the rustle of fabric, coming from behind me and I turn my head slowly. The red eyes of a gigantic adder gleam at me from beneath a nearby fallen tree and I almost give a cry of terror as I scramble backward from my place of concealment, all thoughts of Moran and his gun dashed from my mind at the sight of this new foe.

Exhausted as I am, running proves to be futile - I feel as if I am doing little more than jogging on the spot, while the monstrous serpent glides after me in a manner that seems effortless. I leap over obstacles, bound through streams and across ditches as I become increasingly desperate to escape, but the snake remains forever at my heels. My chest is burning, my vision dimming, every part of me aches with fatigue and there is now an unpleasant, fear-induced discomfort in my lower abdomen. I know that I cannot go on! In one final attempt to increase my speed I try to drag myself up a steep incline on all fours but I am badly winded and shaking. My strength is beginning to tell and the adder would seem to know it. I am lost.

I jerk awake, still being chased by the giant adder of my dream, and attempt to bring my racing heart and breathing under control as I realise that the vision, though vivid, was not real.

Every last part of me is aching, paining and protesting. My head, my eyes, my jaw, my arms, legs… I have more discomforts than I could possibly catalogue. Should I attempt to stretch or remain still? Would it make a jot of difference? Even my hair and fingernails seem to hurt, so most probably not. I very much doubt that I have been in slumber for long.

Whilst trying not to move, I study my surroundings to the best of my ability, doing my utmost to forget that dream. By the fading daylight and the glow of the fire I can see that I have been moved to the settee. Watson is stretched out in his armchair and I can dimly see that the poor fellow’s face is streaked with tears and creased with worry. What have I done to him?

Further inspection of my surroundings informs me that there is a bucket on the floor, close to my head, I have been covered with rugs and there is a pitcher of water on the coffee table. Oh. Just the sight of that pitcher is enough to send me into a state of near-panic. Whether it is indeed due to the horribly vivid nightmare or the amount of water that I have been plied with I am not sure, but I have to move myself somehow or else Mrs. Hudson is going to be rather angry with me.

Carefully, I force myself into an upright position. I must not move too quickly or else I might faint. That, in my current condition, would no doubt be disastrous. Just keep calm Holmes, for Heaven’s sake! You can wait. Slowly… Gently… Oh God! This is simply not normal; my bladder does not feel as if it is full in the slightest and yet my wretched body is threatening me, warning me that I am moments away from making a frightful mess on the floor! What is happening to me?

I had not realised that I had made a sound, but I have somehow alerted Watson. The fellow chooses the most inconvenient moments to be damned observant.

“What is wrong Holmes?” he asks as he approaches me. “I can see that you are in distress.”

I groan and gesture in the direction of the washroom with a less than steady hand. I cannot wait! I can feel my wretched body rebelling.

“I am going to urinate!” That was nice… I could have at least attempted to remain polite. An outburst like that would have earned me a sound beating from my nanny when I was a child and if I was expected to control myself then I should be able to do so now.

“Do not panic,” he advises me in an annoyingly calm tone. “If you keep calm it will be easier to control yourself. Now, lean on me. Yes, that is it. The lavatory is only a few steps away; you will be all right.”

I heed his advice to the best of my ability but I am too desperate to remain calm. I am shaking with effort as much as the urgency of the situation and still I can feel myself losing control. I want to run, but that would only increase the difficulty that I am having. What is happening to me? Why is it so hard for me to wait? This should not be difficult!

“Watson…”

He nods and gives me a reassuring smile as he coaxes me ever onward. “Nearly there Holmes. Nearly there. You are doing very well.”

No I am not. I fear that I am about to disappoint him terribly! My body is rebelling horribly and it is taking all of my strength to counter it. I should not be in this situation! Even when ill, I can wait for hours on end without difficulty - regardless of the level of my discomfort - as cases will sometimes dictate. The thought of losing control of myself here in my sitting room in front of Watson, like a helpless infant, is ridiculous to the extreme!

Despite my best efforts, one of my careful steps causes my wretched brain’s appendix to gain the upper hand for a moment and I hasten to squeeze my legs together. I can only be thankful that the nightgown that I am wearing should conceal it and hope that my friend is unaware of what has just happened. With a groan I press on, keeping my steps measured and trying not to breathe.

As we step inside the washroom, I almost lose the battle with my wretched body completely. I know not whether it is due to the chill in the room and the cold tiles beneath my bare feet or simply the knowledge that I am in such close proximity to the lavatory. Whilst avoiding my Boswell’s gaze I begin to step awkwardly from foot to foot in a final effort to control myself.

“Excuse me please Doctor,” I snap at him as I resist the urge to relieve myself while he is still in the room. “I can manage now.”

“Oh. Yes, of course,” he retreats hastily, for which I am grateful, though he leaves the door ajar. “It is not shameful to sit, rather than to stand, when one is unwell,” he reminds me quietly from behind the door, as if he fears that I might collapse were I to attempt remaining on my feet.

Hum. Perhaps I should not maintain my upright position simply to be contrary… I am feeling far worse than I ever remember feeling before. I might actually consider never partaking of cocaine again!

As I tend to myself and attempt to bring the trembling in my limbs back under control, I wonder again why this has happened. Why did I almost make a puddle in the sitting room, when I should not have even felt a strong need to visit the lavatory? Is there something wrong with me? Should I inform Watson?

I hear Watson tap at the door when I am washing my hands. “Are you all right Holmes?”

I nod without so much as turning to meet his gaze.

“Come on then, we should get you back to the sofa. Um… do you want to change your clothes?”

I freeze at the question. What is he implying? Does he know that I was not altogether successful in waiting until the right moment?

“I noticed that you were perspiring Holmes,” my Boswell clarifies patiently. “Do you want to wash and change into a fresh nightshirt? I imagine you are feeling somewhat uncomfortable.”

I confess that I am. I should like to know why I am sweating so profusely while I am so cold though. Does cocaine usage usually affect me in such a manner?

“I truly am dreadfully sorry Holmes,” my friend tells me as he escorts me from the washroom and sits me upon the settee once more, having assisted me in washing and dressing. “I shall not let this happen again.”

“What is happening to me?” I ask of him, still feeling rather unnerved by the recent incident.

“You are ill old fellow! Things like this happen sometimes. You were simply too weary to be aware of nature’s calling to you until it was almost too late, that is all. You did very well under the circumstances - I have seen far worse, you know.”

Is the knowledge that he has seen worse truly supposed to reassure me? I avoid meeting his gaze. I should tell him that there is something wrong, but it is embarrassing and I am not quite sure how to articulate the problem in any case. Not knowing what else to do or say, I again begin to apologise.

“Please don’t,” he begs of me. “I know that you would not do this deliberately old fellow; you can stop apologising. Besides, you did warn me that you were in a hurry - and I shall be more inclined to listen in future.”

“Thank you.”

He nods and pats my knee with a compassionate smile.

“Should I feel like that again…” I shudder at the thought.

“If you become as desperate as that again I shall give you something to use,” he informs me firmly. “That is precisely what I should have done this time, when I saw the level of your distress. I should know you well enough to realise that you would not make such a fuss unless you truly doubted your own ability to control yourself - and I should be apologising to you!”

I would rather not be treated as an invalid, but if it is that or a repeat performance of what could easily have transpired in our sitting room moments ago I suppose I have no choice in the matter. At least my companion is still treating me with as much dignity as he can.

“Is there anything that I can do for you?” my companion asks once I have been made comfortable and the fire has been tended. “You must be terribly bored… I could read to you, if you would like.”

Watson often read to me when I was ill and weary before my hiatus. I missed that terribly - much more than I would have expected - on the last occasion that I was unwell. I missed him more than I could ever have imagined! I smile at him.

“Yes please,” I mumble as I pull the rugs closer to me. I want to tell him how I have missed his narratives, but after the harm that my proposition caused this morning I am afraid to speak a word.

He nods and addresses me with a small smile. “Poetry? Shakespeare?”

“Shakespeare.” I would have to be ill indeed to want to hear poetry! Though, I must confess, I did read some Browning and a little Keats and Wordsworth during my hiatus, when I was feeling particularly homesick, and imagined that it was Watson who was reading it. It worked for a week or two, but soon wore off with overuse.

His smile broadens. “Of course. Do you have a preference?”

“Surprise me.”

He drags his medical bag closer to his chair and rummages in it. Then, with a nod, he withdraws a book from it.

“Do you always carry books with you?”

“Ever since I found that it helps you to settle,” he responds as he stands to sit at my ankles on the settee, bringing with him his bag and the book that he has already taken from it. “I carry a little poetry and one or two stories; they often help to soothe a troubled patient. Particularly fretful women and children. I should thank you.”

“Thank you Watson. I am not behaving like a fretful woman or child!”

His face flushes under my annoyed stare. “No, of course not. I was not suggesting that you were. I only meant that reading to a fretful patient has proved to be beneficial and that I only tried it because I had already discovered that it would seem to be of comfort to you.”

Ah. I try to dismiss the irrational irritation, but it is still present and no doubt brought about by the narcotic more than anything else. “I would not have thought that you would have time for such things during your rounds.” I am not put out, merely surprised by this revelation that this is not special treatment which is reserved just for me; after all, I am Watson’s closest friend!

“I am sometimes the only fellow at hand who is able to read and write Holmes. Under those circumstances, I read something and then advise a family member to make up stories or to perhaps sing quietly.”

I nod and settle back. Now I understand; it is simply a case of when needs must. That makes perfect sense.

“Now, shall I begin?” he asks as he makes himself comfortable.

I frown at him. “Why are you sitting there? Would you not be better off in your chair?” I do not wish to be seen in the throes of a nightmare - I feel that I have endured quite enough humiliation for one day! Besides, I might lash out and injure the dear chap.

“I want to be close if you need me. I do not want you to vex yourself needlessly old fellow. Now, shall I begin?”

I nod and close my eyes with a quiet sigh. I suppose the doctor knows what he is doing better than I do.

With closed eyes and my heightened imagination (courtesy of the cocaine still coursing through my veins) I can easily picture the scenes depicted in the tale. It takes the briefest of moments for me to become calmer.

When the story reaches its conclusion and I am still awake, my companion asks whether I am in any discomfort. I could easily snap at him - after all, I am aching terribly with fatigue so the answer is quite obvious - but I refrain. Watson did not have to return to care for me any more than he has to stay; if I become difficult, he has every right to send for a different doctor and abandon me in favour of his less ungrateful and stubborn patients.

“No more so than I have been since before you returned,” I respond in what I hope to be an airy manner.

He grimaces. “Poor fellow! I wish I could do more for you. I could give you something for your pain, but it would have to be mild and would most likely do no good.”

I nod in understanding and sneeze loudly.

“Bless you. I hope that you have not caught a cold, on top of everything else.”

If I have, it is my own fault and I tell him as much. “If I become unwell it will due to the many sleepless nights, missed meals and cold and dirty rooms in which I have stayed.”

“Hum, and quite probably the upset and overuse of cocaine that I have caused with my fit of temper as well.”

I sniff. “That was my fault.”

“According to you, everything is!” he shakes his head and rubs a hand across his eyes. “Let us just agree that we were both at fault, that we are both sorry and that, should such a dispute begin again between us, we shall discuss our differences like civilised adults as opposed to storming out without resolving the matter first.”

I nod my agreement. “Very wise.”

“And now you should rest,” the doctor advises me with a pat to my ankle. “Even if you cannot sleep, you should at least attempt to stay quiet, still and relaxed.”

That is easier said than done. I am feeling as restless as I am fatigued. All the same, my Boswell is near and I know that I am safe while I lower my guard. I could always rely on Watson.

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Revenge is Not So Great Acktually

by Wardog

Monday, 06 July 2009

Wardog gets typically epic and ambivalent on Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold.~

Damn you, Joe Abercrombie, damn you. I was fully intending to wait until Best Served Cold came out in paperback but I made the mistake of “perusing” it in Borders coffee shop while waiting for a friend. Well, one thing led to another and, what can I say, less than an hour later I'd bought the thing. My attitude to Joe Abercrombie is probably best described as ambiguous; I found The First Law trilogy

exciting

but also

frustrating

and ultimately, I ditheringly concluded,

unsatisfying.

As with The First Law trilogy, I started Best Served Cold in a paroxysm of wild enthusiasm that got more and more complicated as the book progressed. By the end I wasn’t entirely sure what I thought, although the fact I got there at the speed I did proves one thing at least: the man can write a gripping story. And, even though I have yet to fully establish whether I actually like what he writes, I’m still hopelessly intrigued by his books.

Best Served Cold is one of those rare, under-appreciated jewels: a fantasy one shot. It’s also, as the title indicates, a revenge-tale, with all the attendant heritage. The heroine is a member of a deadly assassin squad but when she tries to leave the group, their leader finds her and shoots her. But she doesn’t die, she just goes into a coma and when she wakes up she vows to get even on all the people who tried to murder her … oh wait that’s something else. Let me try again. The heroine is the leader of a mercenary army but when she gets too powerful, the man she is working for arranges to have her murdered. But she doesn’t die, she just horribly scarred and broken and when she wakes up she vows to get even on all the people who tried to murder her.

Okay, my plot summary is now unhelpfully crap because I wanted to make a cheap point about revenge stories. The heroine is called Monzcarro (Monza) Murcatto. Her nemesis is Grand Duke Orso, although her hit list totals an ambitious seven, all of whom were in some way involved in the brutal attempt on her life that led to the death of her beloved brother. Along way to vengeance she assembles the expected motley crew, a distinctly unmagnificent seven. What starts out a relatively simple slaughterfest soon spirals out of control in a way that cannot fail to affect not only those caught up its immediate vicinity but a battle-torn kingdom. The cast encompasses some familiar faces from the First Law trilogy, the Northman Caul Shivers, Glokta’s assistant Vitari, and, of course, the famed soldier of fortune, Nicomo Cosca, but they’re joined by an array of new and original misfits, including Morveer the self-proclaimed master poisoner, his pretty assistant Day and Friendly, the number-obsessed, borderline autistic murderer.

The main problem with revenge stories is that you have to suspend your disbelief over the premise itself. So you have this Duke, right. Who’s so totally ruthless he spent the last eight years subduing Styria so he can be King on’t. Who’s so totally ruthless he’s willing to murder his Captain General for fear of betrayal. Who’s so totally ruthless he gets five guys to carry it out while he and a random banker look on. But who’s not quite ruthless enough to ensure he’s done the deed probably before flinging the body down a cliff.

As Dan would say, that’s a very specific level of ruthlessness.

If that doesn’t bug the crap out of you from the get go, I suspect you’ll do all right with Best Served Cold.

It should go without saying but: there’s gonna be spoilers okay but nothing too catastrophic

Like The First Law trilogy, there’s an extent to which Best Served Cold is an act of deconstruction, aimed both at the fantasy genre and at the tropes of the revenge plot as well. One of Abercrombie’s strengths was a writer is the way he constantly forces his reader to evaluate her own expectations by refusing to fulfill them. Best Served Cold, which is presented in a rather episodic way, is a succession of misdirections and wrong-turnings. This is reflected in the chaotic way the events unfold, repeatedly defying even the most meticulous planning, and in the flawed, inadequate interactions of the characters, for example the spiraling tension between Morveer and his assistant, and the abortive love affair between Monza and Shivers. Revenge piles upon revenge, betrayal upon betrayal, and the personal and the political become hopelessly entangled. The problem, however, with the revenge story is that, deconstructed or not, Abercrombie doesn’t seem to have much to say on the subject beyond “is not so great acktually.”

Although I did it primarily for laughs, the comparison between Kill Bill and Best Served Cold has slightly more thought behind it than I initially indicated. If I was feeling particularly glib I might be inclined to say Joe Abercrombie is the Quentin Tarantino of fantasy fiction. He’s obsessed with genre conventions, he’s extremely stylish, violent and action-orientated, but when you stop and think about it for a moment it’s all just a little bit shallow. Here’s one of Monza’s victims on the subject of revenge:

"If you could get even what good would it do you? All this expenditure of effort, pain, treasure, blood for what. Who is ever left better off for it ... not the avenged dead, certainly. They rot on regardless. Not those who are avenged upon, of course. Corpses all. And what of the those who take vengeance what of them? Do they sleep easier, do you suppose, once they have heaped murder on murder, sown the bloody seeds of a hundred other retributions?”

It’s all been said, and shown, a thousand times before. What Abercrombie does accomplish, however, alongside standard meditations on the futility of revenge, is its diminution to something banal. Everyone’s got something against someone, and the nested sequences of betrayals and retributions are very effective. Ultimately, Best Served Cold is well worth a read. If you’re a supporter of stand-alone fantasy, you enjoyed The First Law trilogy or you like your fantasy low and nasty, I’d heartily recommend it. Abercrombie writes well, especially his action sequences. He’s one of the few fantasy authors I’ve encountered whose battle scenes I can read without glazing over. I don’t know how he does it but not only do I understand what’s going on in them, I’m actually interested:

“The Baolish were breaking through in earnest, boiling out of the widening gaps in Rogont's shattered right wing like the rising tide through a wall of sand. Monza could hear their shrill cries as they streamed up the slope, see their tattered banners waving, the glitter of metal on the move. The lines of archers above them dissolved all at once, men tossing away their bows and running for the city...”

He’s also very funny, in a grim kind of way. Here’s Nicomo Cosca (famed soldier of fortune) hiring some violent scumbags who claim to be entertainers:

Their eyes darted about, narrow and suspicious, dirty hands clutching a set of stained instruments. They shuffled up in front of the table, one of them scratching his groin, another prodding at a nostril with his drumstick “And you are,” asked Cosca. “We're a band,” the nearest said. “And has your band a name?” They looked at each other. “No, why would it?” “Your own names then, if you please and your specialities, both as entertainer and fighter.” “My name's Solter, I play the drum and the mace.” Flicking his greasy coat back to show the dull glint of iron. “I'm better with the mace if I'm honest.” “I'm Morc,” said the next in line, “pipe and cutlass.” “Olopin. Horn and hammer.” “Olopin as well.” Jerking a thumb sideways. “Brother to this article. Fiddle and blades.” Whipping a pair of long knives from his sleeves and spinning 'em round his fingers The last one had the most broken nose Shivers had ever seen and he'd seen some bad ones. “Gurpie. Lute and lute.” “You fight with your lute?” asked Cosca “I hits 'em with it just so.” The man showed off a sideways swipe, then flashed two rows of shit coloured teeth. “There's a great axe hidden in the body.”

The other big advantage of reading Abercrombie is that he ruthlessly cuts through all the crap I hate about fantasy fiction. I still remember the dizzy joy I felt when, after a small amount of build up regarding the invasion of the Gurkish in Before They Are Hanged, the Gurkish did, in fact, invade. Instead of waiting obligingly until the climax of book three. In Best Served Cold, the first vengeance-killing occurs within the 50 pages, and the next about 50 pages after that. Words cannot express how much I adore the way Abercrombie has things happen in his books. And it’s refreshing to see the usual conventions of fantasy get torn down around you – people break under torture and the damage is permanent, love and sex aren’t redemptive, if you go up against a superior swordsman you will lose.

The characters are your usual Abercrombie Bag of irredeemable, flawed but somehow weirdly sympathetic arseholes. Because there’s a significantly larger major cast than in The First Law Trilogy, I found Abercrombie’s handle on them a little less assured. Unlike The First Law trilogy in which changes of perspective were, for the most part, limited to chapters, the POV jumps around quite a lot and it’s easy to lose track of whose head you’re supposed to be in. They mostly have distinctive voices – Shivers says ain’t and ‘em, Friendly thinks in numbers, Morveer is florid – but it feels like linguistic frosting. Possibly I’m just wearing my Nostalgia Glasses but to read the First Law trilogy is to be completely saturated in the thoughts and worldview of Glokta, Jezel and Logen, whereas Best Served Cold seems to offer only the tourist highlights of personality. Furthermore, juggling such a large cast means there are some characters who barely register – Vitari, doting mother and torturer, is sidelined (again) and I have no idea what Abercrombie was trying to do with Morveer’s assistant, Day.

I had trouble with Monza, as well. She’s not designed to be a sympathetic character but, I suspect, she’s meant to be understandable and even attractive. She’s certainly a more successful attempt at a strong woman than Ferro was. I usually find there’s a point in vengeance narratives in which I lose all ability to empathise with the main character, the moment when Dantes becomes Monte Cristo; a deliberate device, on the part of authors, I’m sure, to show the de-humanising affects of an obsession with revenge. However, I never lost touch with Monza in that way, which, again, contributed to the way revenge functions in the text: not as something alien and outlandish, but as something common to all. The problem was, I didn’t really manage to invest her in the first place. One of the main reasons Monza retains her humanity is that her revenge is as much for her brother as for herself. This taps into yet another convention of the genre: the idea that vengeance for others has an inherent nobility, compared to vengeance for oneself. As the story unfolds, we learn that Monza’s brother is a traitorous, avaricious waste of space, which, I suspect, is meant to problematise Monza’s crusade, and undermine any nobility we might have attributed to her. Unfortunately, since her brother is practically introduced as Bastard McBastard of the Principality of Bastardry and everyone, I mean everyone, is constantly going on about what a bastard he was, the overall effect of this is to make Monza look like a total idiot. And I can’t imagine that was deliberate.

On the other hand I did really like the way her relationship with Shivers developed and then fell apart. At first it seems that Shivers, clinging to his vow to be a better man and characterised by by an innate sense of decency, might serve as a redemptive influence upon her. And there’s a nice gender-reversal to it at as well: he is both materially dependent upon and emotionally vulnerable to her. Shivers, in his way, wants to find hope in the world. Monza believes there is none. Watching them ruin and break each other, each at times denying the other salvation, and Shivers’ eventual transformation into Monza’s creature entirely (albeit not in any way she would want) is deeply unpleasant but also strangely satisfying. It is a tale not so often told, and rarely done well.

The other stand-out character of Best Served Cold (I’m deliberately not mentioning Nicomo Cosca, famed solider of fortune, of whom Abercrombie is blatantly far too fond) is Castor Morveer, master poisoner. Again, he is deconstructed over the course of the novel from leet poisoner stereotype to self-deluding fool whose dedication to science and maxims of caution offer no protection against the cruel whimsicality of the world in which he lives.

He was beyond doubt the greatest poisoner ever and had become, indisputably, a great man of history. How it galled him that he could never truly share his grand achievement with the world, never enjoy the adulation his triumph undoubtedly deserved. Oh, if the doubting headmaster of the orphanage could have only witnessed this happy day, he would have been forced to concede that Castor Morveer was indeed prize-winning material. If his wife could have seen it, she would have finally understood him and never complained about his unusual habits!

Yes, he’s a messed up little bunny and so utterly broken, hopeless and thwarted it’s hard not to feel a certain pity for him although he’s also a masterpiece of irritation. Although they have little in common on the surface, he reminded me a great deal of Jezel in the sense that both are characters who exist to have their illusions of themselves utterly shattered. As with Jezel, the presentation of Morveer made me faintly uncomfortable, not so much because of who he was or what happened to him, but because of an ill-defined extra-textual element. I remember finding Jezel as much as the victim of authorial malice as anything and, again, I rather felt that Abercrombie wanted to condemn Morveer for his hypocrisy. This is pure speculation of the kind that would get me thrown out of any lit class in the land, but I think one of Abercrombie’s personal bugbears (and one he shares with Dan, actually) is “people who are more shit than they think they are” and that he takes a grim pleasure in having such people come face to face with irrefutable evidence of their own shitness (there’s even a brief cameo from Jezel, suitably cowed). Unfortunately it’s very difficult to communicate the subtleties of that effectively, and the result is characters like Jezel and Morveer, who come face to face with their own shitness primarily because the author wants to show it to them.

They are presented as characters whose self-perceptions are flawed but they are flawed primarily insofar as they differ from the author’s. The result of this is to highlight their artificiality in that you’re always aware of them as an authorial creations, and the only possible perspective you can take is the one prescribed by the author. I didn’t like Jezel but I did sympathise with him greatly (I think, perhaps, his shitness resonated with my shitness), but I felt there was no room for that within the text, because the author had nothing but contempt for him. Essentially, when constructing self-deluding characters, there must be a distinction drawn between “this character thinks they’re great but they’re not necessarily as great as they think they are” and “this character thinks he’s awesome, I (the author) think they’re a dick, therefore they’re a dick.” And that, for me, is the problem with Abercrombie’s Jezel/Morveer archetypes.

There’s something Chaucerian about Abercrombie’s work, not just in a shared relish of jokes about poo, but in the sense that the primary virtue espoused by both writers is not necessarily moral good but a kind of animalistic cleverness. Rewards, such as they are, come to those who are smart enough to know when they are beaten (Glokta) and those with the wit to see themselves as they truly are (Cosca). For everybody else, there is merely destruction, self-destruction and death, as they become helpless slaves to the cruelty of others, their own needs and the vagaries of fate.

There’s a lot to like about Best Served Cold. A well designed world, snappy dialogue, some great writing, colourful characters and lashings of ultraviolence. It bogs down a little about 3/5s of the way through but finishes nicely. But there’s also a certain sense that Abercrombie may be a one-trick pony. It’s set in the same world, it has a similar approach, similar characters and, hell, even the same damn cover. It has the comparable strengths and weaknesses of The First Law Trilogy, except the weaknesses bothered me less and the strengths seemed more pronounced. In short, if Joe Abercrombie is a one trick pony, it’ll be a fucking stallion by the time he’s done.Themes:

Books

,

Joe Abercrombie

,

Sci-fi / Fantasy

~

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http://fintinobrien.livejournal.com/

at 21:32 on 2009-07-07I've always had a certain fondness for fantasy settings, despite hating most fantasy tropes with a passion, so it sounds like I should like Abercrombie. Would you recommend starting with this or the First Law trilogy?

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Wardog

at 23:05 on 2009-07-07Oh gosh, that's a rather difficult question actually. Given what you've said about your attitude fantasy, I think you might really dig Abercrombie - I know I do, when I'm not feeling ambivalent :) This has the benefit of being a one-shot so it's less of an investment but ... it's set in the same world as The First Trilogy and it does have characters and settings in common. I don't think it would necessarily interfere with your enjoyment of the book but it might be slightly bewildered.

I'd actually start with The Blade Itself - firstly it's in paperback (hehe) but I remember thinking it was one of the most interesting, exciting fantasy books I'd ever read when I began it. And even thought I'm personally not sure the second and third books live up to the potential of the first, at least you'll know whether his style grabs you. Also I think his grip on his characters is better in The First Law trilogy, maybe just because he has more time to establish them.

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http://fintinobrien.livejournal.com/

at 20:51 on 2009-07-08I was thinking I could just flip a coin, but you make a good case for The Blade Itself. (Actually, you had me at "it's in paperback.") :)

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Michal

at 03:10 on 2011-07-30I'll always remember this book as "that one with the most disappointing sword fight ever." (I'm sure you remember the one)

Not to say that I didn't like the book as a whole, but I also disliked a good many things about it, and it hasn't convinced me to pick up any more Abercrombie.