#the only one I’ve never re-read is my Magic Mistletoe fic (which also happens to be my most popular one go figure)

[incorrectcoldflashblog]

I swear every time I post a fic I thoroughly manage to convince myself it’s the worst thing anyone has ever written and then I go back to re-read it a few weeks later and without fail I’m like, “you know actually this is pretty okay, what was I on about.” Every. time.

[lovelylogans]

You seem to be the person that I follow who knows the most about fanfic, and I kinda want to get into reading it again. I used to read a lot of phan or supernatural stuff and now I read none, lol. Can you rec me LAMP or any pairing between the light sides or platonic fics with happy endings? Even if it's the most basic ones that everyone has read, I probably haven't. Thanks so much!

*cracks knuckles*

this is gonna be a long one. it’ll go title, pairing, then super basic plot summary, so. below the cut!

as far as self-promotion goes, i’ll get that out of the way first and rec you some of my most popular stuff in this fandom. these links will be to ao3, though you can also find them on my tumblr:

where you lead, i will follow (romantic moxiety, romantic logince): 150k of a gilmore girls au that absolutely no one asked me for, you do not need to have read the show to read this. it’s slowburn friends-to-lovers moxiety and childhood friends-to-lovers for logince, this fic follows patton, who was a pregnant trans teen who ran away to the tiny town of sideshire, his son, logan, who just got accepted into one of the most prestigious high schools in the state, patton’s parents, emily and richard, who clash often with their son, virgil, the owner of the local diner and reason all the locals have not developed scurvy, and roman, a teenage dancer/dance instructor who just so happens to have a crush on his best friend. this is a big personal favorite of mine, and i’m still writing in that verse, so. 

lavender for luck (romantic polyamlamp): the fae family has been cursed with magic dating back two hundred years. with great power, however, comes a great price; any man or woman who falls in love with a fae is doomed to die. virgil fae is trying his best to ensure that that does not happen. as is his uncle, dee. however, three of the friends he makes at college makes that increasingly difficult, for him.

my true love gave to me (romantic prinxiety, romantic logicality): a christmas-centric fic of four roommates, all of which are in love with each other in some way. follow these disaster gays being wooed or attempting to woo their crush in time to make out under some mistletoe. (this fic was nominated for best overall in the fander fic awards on tumblr.)

not you again (romantic prinxiety): inexplicably my most popular fic in terms of tumblr notes, this follows roman being a Gay Disaster Barista who is crushing hard on one of his regulars, who unfortunately has a boyfriend (or does he?) ft. remy (aka the sleep character from thomas’ short vids.)

dance partner (platonic royality): the popularity of this one is also due to the fanart made by the incredible sanderstribute, roman takes patton for a night of dancing on the town. 

okay, that’s enough of my stuff. this section is mostly “fandom essentials” in that most people have either read them or are familiar with them, in some way. a lot of these are kind of old-school fander fics, but they’re still really good and a good introduction to fandom! mostly the most kudos/bookmarked fics on ao3. also a pretty good starting point to a variety of popular fic-types in this fandom.

to build a home (romantic logicality) by avalorouschoice on ao3: patton and logan adopt virgil from an orphanage. this is a lot of found family, kid-growing-closer-to-the-family, and it’s just. i Like It A Lot and i’m definitely due for a re-read of it, it’s just very sweet

starved (polyamlamp, ft. thomas) by @randomslasher: honestly, it was tough to pick just one randomslasher fic to put on the list (if you’d like more fandom essentials, i’d argue that lj has written a toooon of them so just reading through their fics would be good!) but this one kind of had to win out. this fic boils down to “virgil needs hugs desperately and hides how desperately he needs them from the other sides, the other sides find out, the other sides give him hugs.” that’s... yeah. that’s the one. it’s Good Stuff.

of trying and towers (romantic prinxiety) by @parsnipit: similarly difficult to parse down any parsnipit fics! a lot of their stuff ranks among my personal favorites, so again, just reading down the list of what they’d got is a Good Call especially once upon a dream, which is similarly one of those “fandom essentials.” this fic in particular is about thomas in medieval times, stuff goes wrong, and all the sides split up and are turned into what they hate/fear, and it’s their journey of teaming up together again and defeating the evil ruler in place of the kingdom. there’s dragons. it’s Good Stuff.

it’s only logical (romantic logicality, romantic prinxiety) by @tinysidestrashcaptain: logan owns a flowershop and hires single dad patton, while his best friend virgil, who owns a coffee shop, and roman flirts with virgil a lot. very cute, very sweet, kid thomas is Great! again, tstrashcaptain has a lot of the stuff i’d call “fandom essentials,” so. those! all good stuff!

silence and duality (platonic lamp) by @xaandiir: one of the first takes on the whole “dark sides” aspect we had, back in the day, this fic follows along with the sort of psychology/mentality of the sides as children, as they grow up, and the potential of what could happen to one of the dark sides, especially if they were rejected. i’m trying not to spoil it too much, but! again! good stuff!!

insomnia (platonic lamp) by @xaandiir: virgil cannot sleep, attempts to hide it from the other sides, and the other sides find out. Good Stuff. let the boy take a nap

learning & loving verse (romantic prinxiety, romantic logicality) by @virgilsjourney: jenna’s just... yeah, lots of really good fics there! again! a college verse fic in which Pining Roommates feature; virgil helps roman through some stage fright (trying not to spoil it!) to eventually star as fiyero in wicked, and the realization of Feelings throughout. good stuff!

college verse (platonic lamp) by @princelogical: again! one of those Really Great Authors to just read a ton of their stuff! this one in particular is a college verse, in which all the sides have various emotional reckonings. really great character development, really great backstory. i will say read the warnings, just in case!

and now, for some of��my personal favorites. this is only a fraction of my favorite fics, and if you’d like more of my personal recommendations, i have a whole tag for fanfic! (if there’s an indent under, it just means ‘more by this author!’)

love and other fairytales (polyamlamp) by @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors: ohhh my fuckin god. worldbuilding a+, characterization a+, plot a+. have you ever wanted faerie!virgil and changeling!logan and witch!roman and a-little-cursed!patton??? you do! trust me you do! i have no idea how to describe it without spoiling any of the plot, however, i will say that this is basically just Straight Up a novel and has developed a little fandom of itself which is honestly so lovely to see, so!

faded with uncertainty (romantic prinxiety): in the aftermath of ‘dealing with intrusive thoughts,’ roman finds virgil crying in the midst of the mindscape and comforts him in the aftermath of That Reveal that virgil had in the video

blanket!verse (romantic prinxiety, romantic logicality): a few oneshots of varying topics, this deals with virgil and his anxiety in his new relatinoship, as well as patton’s tendency to hide emotions, with fluff involved in each. (canoodling especially it’s so soft and fluffy and just!!!)

track seven (romantic logicality): logan struggles with his emotions and snaps and blows up at everyone; patton tries his best to get to the bottom of it.

lovely, dark, and deep (romantic analogical) by @teacupfulofstarshine:  MERMAIDS!!!! virgil’s a doctoral student and thomas is his advisor, and logan, roman, and patton are all mermaids, of a sort. very good, very gay, the imagery is spectacular and it is Good! Stuff!!!

little and broken (but still good): moxiety as dads! logan, roman, and thomas are their kids! they’re all so good! so cute! really great family feels! i cry every single time! the domesticity! the FLUFF! it is a masterpiece!

the pattonella au (romantic analogical, romantic royality): oh my actual god, star, YOUR MIND, this au is just such a wonderful take on the cinderella fairytale and putting it within the context of the sides with its own little twists and turns, they are Cute and Good and the development of the relationship in the aftermath of a cinderella-type event is just chef’s kiss 

living in the real world (ain’t it fun): the sides coalesce into the real world, and thomas is KIND OF FREAKING OUT about it; they’re having trouble adjusting, at first, but since the work’s still in progress you can see them kind of slowly coming to terms with it and it’s just a take on the “sides become people” au that i’ve never really seen before so!!!!!!

stardust sleeper (and the college!verse in general): logan gets to take the nap He Deserves, there are Cute Accents in here, and it’s just a very cute, very good domestic slice-of-life in the midst of the chaos that is college. it’s Very Cute and Very Sweet and please just read it oh my god???? 

internal bleeding (past romantic logicality, romantic prinxiety) by @princelogical: virgil and roman come to visit patton at christmas, in the aftermath of patton’s husband’s death; his husband is very aware that he’s dead, but he hasn’t been able to leave yet. angst, hurt/comfort, Oh My Fuckin God

the queerplatonic logince verse: logan and roman are in a queerplatonic relationship, and the stuff that entails. i just really like it whenever someone focuses on aro or ace sides, and i think this is a really well-done portrayal of the fact that relationships absolutely do not need to be romantic in order to be significant.

i feel like it’s just me: patton is a professional cuddler, and the people he meets in the course of that job, ft. some patton angst and general thoughts about loneliness. to quote, “this is more of a concept piece,” but i very much like the concept

lists.: just a short, sweet lil thing about the other sides appreciating logan.

hold your breath until it’s okay by insertfandomjoke, @notafeeling on tumblr: a brooklyn 99 style au in which logan is the captain, and virgil, roman, and patton are the detectives—it’s a “Five Times They Closed a Case Without Anyone Getting Hurt and the One Time They Didn't” au. 

in which we are all virgil: in which virgil stares at elliott and thinks “oh no they cute!!!” and also presents elliott as joan’s anxiety and dr. picani as a fusion between patton and logan and it just. Good!

sweaters: patton makes his boyfriends all christmas sweaters and They Cute

habits (romantic logicality) by @astralbone: human au, slice-of-life kind of thing. the characterizations are Very Good and honestly i just really love to read it. both of them are hurting and their life may not be perfect but they’re fitting together and it’s just. it’s Very Good

sanders sides ficlets by @virgilsjourney: ranging a variety of topics/timespans in terms of the series, there is a ton here. you want movie night fluff? it’s here! you want hurt/comfort angst in which roman is locked away like in the snow queen? you got it! you want logan and patton mend up after moving on???? it’s here! just a lot of really good stuff!!!!!!

blink back to let me know (romantic moxiety, hinted romantic logince) by @virgilsanxiety and @shakespearesocks: virgil and patton are both pining, logan and roman don’t get paid enough for this, and they are Good Soft Boys who maybe need to improve a bit at communication

logic’s notebooks (romantic analogical) by @parsnipit: logan keeps notebooks about all the sides and feels bad about it; in the midst of all this, some Very Great domestic analogical

and you lied to all your selves (romantic prinxiety, romantic logicality) by penrosequartz: i haven’t read this in a minute, but it’s a prinxiety fic in which they get closer, and virgil is being, well, anxious, and i’d recommend you read the warnings but!!! loosely structured, good characterization, it’s just some! good! stuff!

migraine (analogical) by @theonlyjelly-iwillput-inmybelly (philosophicalrune on ao3): virgil is overworking himself through a migraine, logan helps him feel better, and tries his best to make virgil feel better. it’s cute and sweet and very good in terms of hurt/comfort, i tend to go back to it whenever school is stressing me out, so that should tell you something!

smile (platonic moxiety) by @doggo-fiends-on-a-spaceship: to steal their alternative title, “Alternatively titled: Virgil has a nightmare and wants a hug, but being emotionally constipated, Cannot Ask for one.” virgil has a nightmare and spends the night in patton’s room; the trouble is, patton did not know that he was doing that until he nearly trips over virgil. they are Good Boys and it’s just Real Nice

again, this is a tiny, miniscule fraction of really spectacular fics in this fandom—there’s a lot of talented people here, so happy reading!