#who knew my chosen career path would have a lot of fic potential

[buildoblivion]

the fun thing about my job is it gives me whole new ways of projecting on my best boy klaus - for example, i’ve spent 20 minutes formulating a headcannon that reggie used to take him to funeral homes too and now as an adult he knows a worrying amount about how to prepare, embalm and/or get rid of a body

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: Indelible

AU-gust Day Twenty-Nine: Tattoo Parlour AU Fandom: Stargate Universe Pairing: Nicholas Rush x Gloria Rush

Rated: T

Summary: Tattoo artist Rush’s latest customer isn’t at all the type he’d expect to be getting a tattoo, and the two of them discuss the paths fate has led them down to meeting in these unusual circumstances.

Content warning: Cancer mention.

Indelible

During his time as a tattoo artist, Rush had long since learned that whilst most of his customers could be fitted into one of several boxes, there were always a few that completely defied convention.

Ostensibly, he knew that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Or a person wanting to get a tattoo by their outward appearance.

All the same, that didn’t stop him from doing a double take when he saw her walk into the shop. 

She was absolutely not the kind of person that he would expect to be getting a tattoo. She seemed too… He didn’t know how to describe her, but she looked completely out of place in her raincoat and sensible boots, with her violin case over her shoulder. For several seconds after she came in, all he could do was stare at her as she looked around at the intricate designs displayed on the walls, built up over years and years of artwork. 

Rush had never thought of himself as particularly artistic. In fact, when he’d first been hired, his boss had been confident in the fact that he’d last less than a day before packing it in. He hadn’t been let loose on skin for much longer than all of the other apprentices, but now, here he was, running the shop whilst still wondering what life would have been like if he’d had enough ready money to finish university and become an astrophysicist as planned. 

Having stared at his latest customer for a good five minutes, during which time she had stopped looking around and fixed her gaze on him, Rush realised that he should probably say something. 

“Can I help you?”

“I hope so.” She came up to the counter and placed a piece of paper down. “I want this tattooed here.” She tapped her left arm, just above the elbow. “Not in that handwriting,” she added quickly. “Something a bit neater and more artistic. Hopefully.”

Learning neater and more artistic handwriting had been one of the hardest challenges of Rush’s career so far, and he had to suppress a laugh at the notion. Still, she was here, and she was a potential customer with a very fixed idea of what she wanted, so despite her appearance seeming out of place in his shop, he would nonetheless help her.

He picked up the piece of paper. It was just a date, three months ago. It should be easy enough. He grabbed the folder of writing samples from under the counter and passed it over to her.

“Take a look through there and see if anything takes your fancy. If not I’m sure we can work up something freehand. In the meantime, I’ll get you booked in.”

Her name, it transpired, as he was getting her details into the computer, was Gloria Miller, and it was once he came to the medical questions that he realised the significance of that date, and why she wanted it imprinted on her skin forever.

“I’ve had cancer and chemotherapy,” she explained. “This is the date I got my all clear.”

Although he had always prided himself on his cynicism, Rush couldn’t help the smallest quirk of a smile as he continued to put her details in.

“Would you be able to do this?” She pointed to a neat script sample in the folder, small and not too elaborate, the individual figures clear and elegant. Rush breathed an inward sigh of relief that she hadn’t chosen one of the fancier scripts. Although numbers were definitely something he had a lot of experience with writing, normally it didn’t matter how neat they were.

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.” He grabbed a pencil and spare sheet of paper and began to sketch out the design to scale. It would come out pretty small, but Gloria didn’t look to be the type who would want anything too ostentatious. She smiled when he finished, slipping off her coat so that she could hold it against her arm in the correct place.

“That’s perfect, thank you.”

The appointment was set for the following week, and as Gloria left, Rush found that he was looking forward to seeing her again. There was something about her and the way that she’d suddenly dropped into his life from nowhere, at odds at first but soon fitting into place. He shook his head crossly. This was not the time to be getting into ideas of fate and destiny. He was a scientist at heart, for crying out loud, and that meant that everything had to have a logical explanation – no matter how weird and wonderful that explanation might be in the long run.

Still… Maybe there was a logical explanation for Gloria, and the fact that of all the places she could have chosen to commemorate her triumphant recovery, his was the one she had picked.

X

Gloria arrived as expected on the appointed day at the appointed time, and Rush led her through to the back room, getting her set up in the chair and cleaning her arm ready for the ink.

“No second thoughts?”

“None. I’ve been anticipating this moment for five years and even then, I left it another few months to be absolutely sure.”

With her firm conviction and with waivers fully signed, Rush began to get to work. Gloria gave a little gasp at the first scratch but otherwise stayed quiet and completely still as he continued to etch the date onto her arm. Some people looked away whilst their tattoos were being done, not wanting to see the needles or the beading blood, but Gloria watched in fascination as he drew.

“You’re a scientist as well as an artist then,” she said presently.

Rush glanced down at the ink on his own forearms, equations snaking around his skin.

“I was. Well, I still am at heart.”

“What made you change your career? It’s a bit drastic.”

Rush laughed behind his mask. “Money. I couldn’t afford to keep learning.”

“That’s a shame. Do you think you’d go back to it one day, if you could?”

Rush thought about it for a moment as he changed needles. They did say that it didn’t do to teach an old dog new tricks, but physics had always been his first love, and he’d only got into his current line of work by an accident that had kept on giving long after it had first occurred.

“Yes.”

They fell into silence for a while as Rush continued to work on the date.

“What do they mean?”

“What?”

“Your equations. What do they mean?”

“They’re all astrophysical mostly. The speed of light, calculating the distance between Earth and alpha centurai. That kind of thing.”

“All right, now I know you’re actually a scientist and not an artist at heart.” Gloria was grinning when Rush looked up at her. “If you were an artist at heart you’d have constellations, not maths showing how to get there.”

Rush didn’t reply, but he smiled unseen. She’d certainly managed to get a good read on him in the short time that they’d spent together.

At length, the tattoo was finished and Gloria had given it her seal of approval before Rush had wrapped her arm in plastic. He’d just finished reiterating the usual aftercare notes when he realised that he probably wouldn’t see her again after today, and for some reason, the thought saddened him.

“You know, if you have any problems with it, or if you want any more work done, feel free to come back any time.”

Gloria smiled. “I will.”

X

It was about two weeks after Gloria’s appointment that Rush saw her again. She still looked just as out of place standing in the shop as she had done on her first visit, but now he was used to it.

“Hello again.”

It took him a moment to remember that he had a tongue in his head.

“Erm, hi. How can I help? How’s the tattoo?”

“It’s fine. Still scabby, but not infected. It’s going to look great.”

“Right.” There was a long and somewhat awkward pause. “So… What can I do for you?”

“I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to get a drink some time.”

Rush was knocked a little off balance by her question. They’d certainly make a fine pair, her with her sensible raincoat and boots and violin, and he with his equations inked up his arms.

But she was so different, and so out of place, and she’d seemed so genuinely interested in those same equations and the origins behind them.

He nodded.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

Maybe they could find a place to be out of place together.

[dr-dean]

ABO Fic Rec List

In honor of ABO Appreciation day I am doing a NEW ABO Fic Rec List! You can check out the Original ABO Fic Rec List here. So if it was included in that one, it won't be on this one.

Just a disclaimer for all my reader insert buddies: I have been having some “issues” with reader inserts as of late so this list will be ships only. (Again, Destiel is my OTP so the list is 100% that this time) Sometimes I like some pretty ‘weird’ shit and YMMV, so always heed the tags on these. But they all have happy endings as that's what I like in a fic! (The show gives us enough unhappy endings and cliffhangers, I just want my boys to be happy! Is that too much to ask?)

It's my list so I can start with me! Check out my new fic Bringing Home the Bacon with art by @vinnie-cha for @deancastielbigbang

Omega Dean was doing just fine. He had an apartment, a good job, and a great family. But he didn’t have an alpha. When Castiel starts as his company’s new CEO everything changes. Alpha Cas becomes family, and Dean takes care of his family.

ABO office AU with Fluff, Smut and a happy ending

Also check out my short fic The Billionaire's Pregnant Mistress for @destielharlequinchallenge

Lingerie Model Dean is pregnant with his Billionaire's Alpha's pup and he doesn't know what to do. They just broke up and he doesn't want to be where he's not wanted. Spoiler Alert: Happy Ending and minimal angst.

Gravity vs Velocity by PaperAnn @paperannxo

Newton's law of universal gravitation states that any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two bodies.

Dean swears he feels an honest-to-goodness gravity (not any scent-true-mates-bullshit) pulling him to a mysterious omega and makes the worst mistake of his career... he only has one thing to say...

Fuck science.

Dean is a detective and Cas is part of a mob family. They get in and out of a lot of trouble together. A must read!

A Story for Every Corner by thepinupchemist  @scarlettshazam

Dean's a late bloomer. When he presents as an omega, everyone is surprised, and everything changes. Only a few months into omegahood, Dean decides to book it. A couple of truck rides and a state later, Dean's in Apple Springs, Colorado at a bed & breakfast called The Snoozing Squirrel. The off-beat omega owner is just the beginning.

The hard part is the offbeat brother of the offbeat omega, an alpha named Castiel.

Gabe is the best, and I really love him in this fic.

For Science! by pm_lo

Selected transcripts and supporting materials from Dr. Castiel Williams and Dean Winchester’s seminal study on physiological and psychological sexual response by gender designation.

This is a crossover of Supernatural and Masters of Sex, it doesn’t use any characters from Masters of Sex, just the plot and the whole set up so you don’t need to know anything about Masters of Sex to enjoy it. It is written very differently than most fanfic (it's not lying when it says “transcripts”) but it's totally worth a read! (And go watch Masters of Sex! It's important sexual history!)

Arranged by Miss_Lv @the-miss-lv

Dean Winchester is the omega chosen to marry Castiel's son. The arranged marriage is as awkward and lackluster has Castiel expected it would be.

What he didn't expect was what would develop between himself and his new son-in-law.

So I think this one qualifies as ‘weird’ but I’ve read it at least 4 times and love it. Don’t let the infidelity bother you as (*SPOILER*) Dean never has a relationship with Castiel’s son and only has a sexual relationship with Cas.

Obsession by Miss_Lv

SPN kink meme: Castiel is John's friend and becomes fixated with his son Dean. The main thing is that as Castiel spirals into obsession Dean isn't scared but rather likes it and encourages it.

Big age difference, but Dean knows what he wants and that is Cas. Very different way of mating.

A Hole in the World by AnnelieseMichel

Dean Winchester never wanted to go home again. Going back to Lawrence meant people who knew what he was, who didn't buy into the lie. But with a tragic accident, he's back and dealing with the death of his father, the social stigma and objectification of being an out Omega, and the lingering aftermath of a long-ago crime.

This is a super long fic with lots of sexual violence against omegas. About halfway through the tone really changes and it gets super political. So if you like you ABO with a good helping of civil rights, this is the fic for you!

Take On Me by Powerfulweak

Alpha Dean Winchester figured the closest he’d get to the apple pie life and fatherhood was a one-shot, “wham-bam-thank-you-mam” trip to a sperm bank. That is, until he comes face-to-face with the omega carrying his pup on a fateful trip to the grocery store. When the the omega runs off without a word, though, Dean learns the situation is far more complicated than he expected. Can an anonymous sperm donation and the favor of a lifetime help two complete strangers find everything their life was missing?

Super cute hijinks and happy ending. What more can you want?

Violator by MooseFeels

Dean's fifteen, and his knot doesn't pop. Part 1 of Revelation

You need to read the entire series, not just the first one. It starts out dark (and Dean has a lot of issues to work through) but it has a happy ending.

No Righteous Path by jupiter_james @jupiterjames​

On his 40th birthday, Dean Winchester suddenly begins to worry that he may have lost his chance for a real mate. He's been so focused on his business as a 24-hour roofing and repairman, that he's never taken the time to date properly, or even make any lasting friendships outside of his family. Beginning in their late 30's, alphas and omegas start to lose their mating and bonding hormones, making it more difficult - and often impossible - to mate or bond with anyone past a certain age. But as a modern Alpha, Dean would be content with a companion, at least. Blood bonds aren't the be-all, end-all. However, after a late night emergency roofing repair call from Castiel Novak, Omega, Dean starts to hope. Yearn. The only hangup is that Castiel admits to being as old-fashioned as the books he teaches. Nervous to go against his religious upbringing by being with someone who he can't bond properly, as alphas and omegas are intended to do. But he can't deny his attraction to Dean, and despite his sensibilities, he thinks that, just maybe, he can change for the man he's falling in love with.

Totally LOVE this fic! Super fluffy and has a happy ending!! All the (totally necessary for plot) angst gets resolved. Its everything you (ok fine, *I*) could want in a fic. (GIVE ME ALL THE FLUFFY ABO SMUT LONG FICS!!!)

Mulder and Scully by teller_of_tales_and_hero_of_songs

Castiel Novak is an undercover FBI agent working to take down a white collar criminal named Azazel, but Castiel finds himself way out of his depths when the case takes a dangerous turn and Azazel gets involved in an omega trafficking deal. With the help of an OPA agent named Dean, the Bureau and the Omega Protection Agency take down Azazel and his seller, Dick Roman.

As it turns out, that case wasn't the last Castiel would see of Dean Winchester, and it isn't long at all before Castiel finds himself falling in love with the fiery, strong-willed omega.

Dean is quite the kickass Omega. This story is really good, and it has THE BEST first “I love you”s that I have ever read in any fic. I still laugh thinking about it!

Best Laid Plans by Persephoneshadow @ibelieveinthelittletreetopper

Things are going well for Dean: he's landed the biggest design job of his architectural career and is about to get final approval on the project despite how difficult the development company, personified by Castiel Novak, has made it. It's not bad for a moody omega...except things are also going terribly for Dean because he has to get in a plane and fly to a meeting, and course ends up in heat a few hours before. Luckily, Castiel is there to help and both men discover the good that can come when nothing goes quite as intended.

This fic is great! Dean and Cas work together but don’t meet in person until Dean has to travel for a meeting.

Get Knocked Down, Get Back Up by Unforth @unforth-ninawaters​

With an over-sensitive sense of smell, omega Dean Winchester finds the scent of most potential mates to be, frankly, nauseating. Enter alpha Castiel, who smells fracken *perfect* but has problems of his own.

As someone who in general finds most fake scents awful instead of pleasing I kinda relate to this. If my sense of smell was as good as most ABO fics I could totally see Dean being me. I love how unforth plays with sexuality and gender expectations in her fics.

Like Cats and Dogs by sweetdean

Dean Winchester, Alpha, lead Hunter for the Pack, is in need of a mate. His wolf is out of control, he's on edge, and nothing seems to be doing the trick. Dean is convinced that he'll never find a mate, but when the Pack's Council forces him to figure it out before he ends up going rogue, Dean doesn't have much of a choice. Problem is, Dean isn't interested in what the members of his pack have to offer; and that means looking elsewhere.

Dean knew his mate would have to be different. He just didn't know what "different" would really mean, and how "different" would bring his whole world crashing down on top of him.

I love werewolves! And this has a lot of weres in it!

Caribbean Wonderland by LittleAngelCassie

Dean Winchester has spent his life working towards his dream: to teach and care for omega students. But a genetic mutation from birth has kept him from his field of choice. After years of hiding under the protection of his Uncle Bobby and his younger brother Sam, Dean has finally been given a chance.

He accepts the position to care for a young orphan who needs more than just a teacher but also a fellow omega to help her traverse the changes ahead. There is always a hitch, however, and in Dean’s case it’s a hot billionaire alpha with piercing blue eyes. This remote island paradise has the opportunity to give Dean everything he’s wanted, but will he be able to rise above his own fears and the stigmas associated with his unique biological designation?

Throw away what you know about alpha/ beta/ omega dynamics because this is a brand new adventure in wonderland.

So this one is really great and it has a “new” gender designation within ABO. Super original and I totally love it.

Gray Matter by PaperAnn

It should have been a night like any other night, but for Dean Winchester this evening was different.

Tonight was his last on Earth.

The omega finally snapped; the weight of his kills moonlighting as an assassin were too heavy to carry. So he decided to set out to numb the pain with whiskey and the white noise of whatever seedy bar he randomly ambled into. Although he’d intended to drown his sorrows alone, a bold alpha (who introduced himself as Castiel) wormed his way into his party-for-one, but more importantly: his story.

After brazenly announcing that Dean’s plan to shoot himself in the head was “unoriginal,” the alpha lured him out into the bar to prove there are much more interesting and creative ways to go.

A bizarre, deranged game turns into a night of passion, and leads Dean into introspective questions he never would've asked before. Maybe everything wasn’t as black and white as he thought, maybe there’s more to his own story that he, himself, didn’t even know. The stupid fucking alpha had transformed his world into shades of gray and made him doubt everything.

You need a dark sense of humor for this one, but if you have that, this is fantastic!

[violetemerald]

Rory Gilmore

Ah this character, thank you!! XD I wish I knew who was asking me… but yes. :D

This is in response to this ask: http://luvtheheaven.tumblr.com/post/158297453337/send-me-a-character-ill-answer-the-following

general opinion: “actual love of my life” is the highest category but really, it’s not that I’m “in love” with her, in a romantic or platonic kind of way, it’s… Ah how do I even phrase this?? She’s everything to me, she’s one of my favorite characters of all time if not my #1 favorite, the character I’ve most felt like I’ve identified with on a deep personality level actually… she’s not me exactly, but at the same time she is me. Huge parts of her are me and vice versa.

hotness level: “gorgeous” I suppose, but in a totally different way than when I said it about Naya Rivera & Santana Lopez from Glee here: http://luvtheheaven.tumblr.com/post/158321955692/santana-lopez because idk, Alexis Bledel is certainly pretty, and some people find her “hot”, but…

…it’s a totally different type of hotness, and also Rory in particular is unique in this way. This takes me back to this conversation: http://asexandthecity.tumblr.com/post/142010956526/ace-rant-on-feeling-attractive-vs-feeling and when I wrote about a year and a half ago a blog post Exploration of Not Wanting to Be Sexy, and of never Feeling Sexy. Talking about Rory Gilmore’s “hotness” level makes me fairly uncomfortable for a number of reasons. A quick Google search or two will find you a dozen articles and YouTube videos on her “natural” makeup looks, her simple brown hair color and generally conservative hairstyles making her “not stand out”, her modest yet fashionable sense of style. She doesn’t choose to show off cleavage even when she could, instead wearing camisoles under those types of shirts, that kind of thing. She is attractive but doesn’t wish to flaunt it at all and just wants to look good, not look sexy, in most contexts. Even when she’s dressing up for dates she has an innocent, trying to impress, not trying to “seduce”, look to her? So idk if this is at all the point of the question… since the ultimate answer choice is that you have sexual desire for her I’m pretty sure I’ve skirted off topic a bit, but my aro-spec 100% asexual self is not going to be going there with any character of any gender or any hotness level, so…. But this is what I am currently thinking.

hogwarts house: This is probably my own biases because I’m a Hufflepuff showing through, but I’m leaning right now toward hufflepuff. Like many characters, she has aspects of a lot of houses in her. “Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses; valuing hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members.” Rory is so dedicated and hardworking in her life, so loyal to so many people, so much a stickler to the rules and fairness. Her chosen career path of journalism… ultimately she wanted to get information out there to everyone, she wanted to help the world, it wasn’t about her personal learning more or knowledge. Even in her decisions at the end of A Year in the Life, whenever she talks about Odette or when she asks Christopher how he felt at 16 when Lorelai made her choices… she prioritizes everyone else’s feelings so much. She lacks a lot of ambition at times, and despite her reaching a lot of the same goals that the most ambitious people around her like Paris might have, she doesn’t care in that kind of way. She seems to lack bravery in a lot of aspects of her life too, especially in romantic relationships.

best quality: I think… it’s the way she cares about others despite herself, such a hufflepuff thing too but like… the way she cares about Paris even when Paris is driving her crazy, or how after all of her breakups she still is wishing the guy well (like on the phone call where Jess says nothing in the s3 finale she says “I hope you’re good, I want you to be good” despite her heartbreak, but she does it with everyone.)

worst quality: Probably her lack of ability to adapt to new situations life throws at her, her lack of a back-up plan to failing, how she “puts all her eggs in one basket”… it cripples her so strongly throughout the series, her entire identity starts to crack too easily? XD I don’t know…

ship them with: Jess. Lately I’ve been feeling Paris/Rory a lot more too. But I’m Literati for life. Not necessarily shipping Rory/Jess in a post-revival kind of “everything can be canon and I still want them to end up together after it all” kind of way though, the way it was written… I probably  would prefer Rory end up with someone new over Jess at that point.

brotp them with: Well… can I just say Lorelai? Lol I don’t know. I hate the term brotp. But my favorite non-romantic pairing for Rory is probably Rory/Lorelai. I think Rory/Lane are a nice friendship to watch, I just said I have been feeling Paris/Rory as a ship a lot more lately but also as friends I can adore that, or after that one Boston Marriage fic turned podfic I listened to I love thinking of them as potential queerplatonic partners, etc etc. I like the nuance of the Luke/Rory dynamic and how much Luke and Rory have in common personality wise… but yeah Lorelai/Rory are the relationship I’ll go with as my answer here.

needs to stay away from: I was gonna say Shane, because Rory was horrible to her? Lol but I think Rory could do with a nice heart-to-heart with such a different girl than herself. Maybe Lindsay’s mother and Mitchum. There’s no real good that could come from Rory being around those folks from what I can imagine right this moment…

misc. thoughts: I’ve been really wanting to make a depressing post-AYITL Rory vid or write a depressing post-AYITL Rory fanfic lately, a long one not the recent 100 word drabble I wrote for her. :P But maybe one day soon I can write or vid happier things too… Idk I like the idea right now of embracing her mindset in AYITL and rather than being betrayed and angry at the writers, just… trying to understand how Rory got to where she was and why she was acting the way she was, and thaat leads me to some darkish fannish ideas, just sad and gloomy ideas… I lose some of my initial Anger I had at the end of November and beginning of December and feel mainly just… pity? for her.