#why don't i bookmark all the good fluff fics I've read what's wrong with me 🤦‍♀️

[narcopharmacist]

Short Dramione fic review (and some spoilers too)

It's been a while since I finished a long fic/multi-chapter (The Binding by curly_kay). I've only read oneshots so far, because I just could not seem to have the courage to commit to another long fic yet.

Here are the oneshots that I read this week:

Evigilatio by darkcivet - I didn't read the tags so I was confused as to why Draco was suddenly transforming. Anyways cute story, loved the smut. 😉

Blink (dmhgchallenge drabbles) by blackestfaery - SEVERELY underrated. Despite having very short stories, they're fun to read. Lighthearted, fluff.

In All Honesty by darkcivet - this was hilarious 😂 Lighthearted, fluff, fun! Dumbledore was in it yall! He's a shipper!

Exposé (Ginny's Version) by undercoverdrxco - a fun read, implied smut. Loved it! Ginny is our detective, and she KNOWS for sure Hermione's got a man because guess what, she HEARD them 😂 Her first guesses were wrong though!

Marked as Mine by LilithShade - set in an omegaverse. Draco is A, Hermione is O. Smut was hot. Plot twist was good. We got implied NottPott in it too.

One Pleasant Memory by Musyc - my god. So this was set when Draco just got sectum sempra'd by Harry. He's in the hospital wing. Hermione, for whatever reason rushed to see him. They weren't even tgt at the time. Things get spicy later. And guess what, we have a v!Draco here! Hermione isn't 😉 The story ends when the trio are in the Malfoy manor, and Draco has to identify them in front of Bellatrix.

Most of these recommendations were published just a few years from the release of the last Harry Potter movie, because I have a tab that's set to filter Dramione stories from 2011 to 2015, because, as I have mentioned in my previous posts, I wanted to read fics that were fresh from the completion of the movies.

Additionally , here are the DNFs of my night.

On the Nature of Daylight byt ikorous

--> I think this is one of the highly recommended set-in-Hogwarts fics.

I bookmarked this a while back after reading the summary, and I decided to try reading the first chapters of it. I read the tags, dom Draco/sub Hermione (I could totally do that), but then here comes the toxic Draco train (it just popped into my head I swear). I looked this up on Reddit again to see the comments about this, and most said that this had amazing smut. I was definitely in for that. However when people asked for fics similar to this, the damned Water by kissherdraco was recommended. We know how that ended for me (I hated it), but I decided to continue on with this because the structure of the paragraphs was cohesive anyway.

The first 2 chapters I did not really find Draco to be immediately toxic at all (vs Water by Tyla- I mean kissherdraco). He was horny. But because I was dreading the ending after seeing that this fic had an "angst" tag, and I did not see a "happy ending or HEA" tag, I contemplated on skipping to the end of the story to figure out if I could spare my time reading this one. I'm glad I did skip to the end. I checked the comments first, and they were all heartbroken. So then I went to reading the last chapter before the epilogue. I found out that the ending was before the Deathly Hollows, or somewhere during, because it ended with Dumbledore getting killed, and before the war, or the war was just brewing.

Draco left. He was a Death Eater.

I read the chapter preceding the final chapter. Okay there was smut. The dirty talk, jfc. Draco's nicknames for Hermione. I cringed. I just saw insta posts where people shared nicknames that were icky, and it all began with "little." Bestie this was full of it. "Little kitten" 🫠🤢

The dirty talking... It just felt so OOC. Especially Draco. I just could not.

Anyways, I don't have to have my heart broken. I'm satisfied with the contents I read from this fic, even if they were select chapters.

I heard this had a sequel? But author mentioned in the notes/comments that it's gonna be darker, so F that.

A Dish Best Served Cold by MistessLynn

--> Smut, yet again. Of course I'm in here for the smut, but Hermione here was so OOC I had to stop 😂🙈

Set in Hogwarts 8th year. The buildup was really good, until Hermione did the thang 😭💀 I had to skip the entire part. Well, I skipped to the end.

You might be wondering, why on earth do I want to read smut but stop when they do all the weird things? Well I cannot imagine them being so OOC. I don't like it 😭 It does not feel natural for them, the characters, especially the ones in my head. I want them to stick to the original characterization.

This is basically all I can post about tonight.

I would love to reread The Binding.

I'm thinking of making another post about a fic I highly recommend. Though it may need trigger warnings.

Toodleloo!

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

i saw you liked kataang and was wondering if you have any fic recs? there seems to be such a lack of kataang fics in the world!

lmao oh do i!! i've been through the entire kataang tag on ao3 over the past month and a half i gotchu (although this list is nowhere near comprehensive; it's mostly just taken from my bookmarks 😂)

spicy (but rated T)

Insinuations by kuchi

Katara and Aang come across some ridiculous insinuations about their relationship in a tabloid.

Public Display of Affection by NerdChild644461217

She was torturous. A beautiful, dark-skinned water witch, and she had him completely under her spell. Aang decided a long time ago he was okay with that.

Fire Burns and Fire Warms by LightSage89

Katara is curious about Firebending. Who better to satisfy her curiosity than the only Firebender she trusts?

Desire and Will by The_Clockwork_Monk

With Aang still having trouble letting loose with his firebending, Zuko asks an alarming question:

"Have you ever kissed a girl?"

kataang family

Voices of Power by itsmoonpeaches

His mother let out another breath. “Please clean up and get ready, you two,” she added. “I can help you with your hair, Kya. Just come to the bedroom when you and your brother have put on the clothes I’ve laid out for you. Bumi will help you with your shoes.” She turned and walked through the gateway, intent on doing what she needed to do.

“Okay, mom!” shouted Kya.

Or, on the 20th anniversary of the end of the Hundred Year War, Bumi realizes just what his dad being the Avatar means.

Oral Traditions by itsmoonpeaches

“Are we gonna meet your family too, dad?” queried Bumi innocently. His pale blue eyes were wide.

“Yeah, daddy!” echoed Kya with a great yawn.

“You did meet my family,” Aang stated carefully. His back remained toward them as he gripped the reins atop Appa’s head. “You and your mother are my family. Your Gramp Gramp, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Suki, Mai…they’re my family.”

Bumi tilted his head. “No, they’re not,” he maintained.

Or, Aang and Katara bring their children to the second annual Glacier Spirits Festival in over one-hundred years.

Not The Last by binkabonkahankeydoo

And then she's crying too, her arms around them both, and he's so, so grateful for the little family that they'd created together, and the love that they'd found in each other.

heightened senses by peroxideprncss

in which Toph Beifong reveals a secret that nobody knew they were keeping

angst and hurt/comfort

The Warmth of Memory by purplecrescent

While Katara shaves him, Aang reflects on his childhood in the Southern Air Temple and the things that tether him back. In other words, time is an illusion.

Three Times by Silver Thunder

They happen to have kissed three times - but he's still just 'someone', and not a boyfriend.

To Take With Him by Roselightfairy

The kiss from the Day of Black Sun, in Aang's perspective.

Lightning by Roselightfairy

The fight in Crossroads of Destiny, from Katara's point of view. "Katara's hand leapt to her mouth and she prayed, prayed to whomever might be listening that he could deflect it, that he could defend himself, that he wouldn't get hurt – " In which Aang is struck by lightning.

Unbendable by cloudymagnolia

The human body doesn't stop functioning just because it's in a coma. A look at all that Katara went through to care for Aang, after the fall of Ba Sing Se.

Not Just an Airbender by The_Clockwork_Monk

Days before Sozin's Comet, Katara tries to reassure Aang about the task he now faces, and he tries to explain to her why he feels he can't go through with it.

The Price of Mastery by Stonehill

“I've always been taught,” she begins, voice slow and tired, “that water was life. Waterbending was a way to interact with our environment and bodies in a way that healed and created. Now it feels like death.”

In her infatuation with her craft, with her identity as a Waterbender, she’d forgotten that the ocean is a terrible presence full of storms and monsters; a volatile presence that, once it’s grasped hold of you, might never let you go.

Now she, too, has become one of those monsters of the deep.

you cut through all the noise by wanderinghooves

A year is such an excruciatingly long time.

Aang is sent abroad for a year of diplomacy while Katara helps to rebuild at home. Distance makes the heart grow lonely.

love is just a word (you give it meaning) by thriftedstars

He's falling and she's riding the wave, falling, falling, falling, and then he's in her arms and Spirits, he's so small. So small and burnt and quiet and still, and so, so young. His eyes are closed, his mouth gaping wide, and when she gives him the gentlest of shakes his head just flops, and she feels sick to her stomach because no, no, not Aang, not Aang.

or, a look into katara's thoughts immediately after aang is shot by azula.

Own Worst Enemy by ADCurtis

When Katara is… damaged – caught in the crossfires of men, spirits and the Avatar – Aang is forced to leave her. A choice made to protect her from their most terrifying foe – the monster within himself.

drabbles

Snapshots by RMarie124

This is all for Kataang week 2020, but finished a week late. A small collection of short drabbles that take place pre-, during-, and post-canon.

fluff/soft/humor

Staring by BetterThanCoffee

Katara finds Aang distracting. Post-The Blind Bandit

Can I Kiss You? by Marie

He’s smiling at her and she can’t help but smile back, the corner of her mouth quirking. She continues to stand, her fingers now worrying at the end of her still damp braid and she can see the confused tilt of his eyebrows as he stares at her.

These Moments by portable_tragedy

Aang waited a hundred years for his favorite worldly tether. This is their life. Vignettes. Fluff.

Overheard in Ba Sing Se by cloudymagnolia

At Zuko's seventeenth birthday party, Zuko dances with Katara, and Aang overhears some malicious gossip. The only thing that could make the evening worse for him? Toph trying to be comforting.

general recs

literally anything by itsmoonpeaches

Aang/Katara Missing Scenes by The_Clockwork_Monk

Kataang Raid by LightSage89

again this is not a comprehensive list!! especially bc there's so many good fics i read and then don't bookmark bc im just really bad. at remembering bookmarks exist for some reason. basically. if anyone else has some kataang recs, feel free to add on!! also i encourage y'all to rb this bc all these links mean this post probably won't show up in the tags 😂

[bigskydreaming]

Different anon.. precious things is one of the biggest Dick & Damian writers, mostly fluff and some heavy angst, not many other stuff.. She's Dawn'sEternalLight on ao3. Cdelphiki is Tim centric. Don't know about mother of darkness. I've only read one short Dick & Dami fic by cdelphiki but she is very popular. Anyways have you read anything on ao3 by Fido the finch? Saw an angsty fic during Dick & Damian week... Anyways x2, I understand that you dislike dickb*bs? May I know why? Simply curious.

Thanks for letting me know! I DO recognize the name Dawn’sEternalLight and have read a bunch of her stuff on Ao3 and liked a lot of her fluff! I’m not sure if I’ve bookmarked any of her fics yet on my bookmark recs list, but they’re all good, that I’ve read so far, and she’s got enough and I’m still working my way through a lot of the older fics on the site that like....I probably have just been waiting til I get to one of her fics that’s like “Yes, this one above all the others!” to bookmark, because like....I mostly like to just bookmark one or two fics by the same author, because its easy to find an author’s other works when looking to see if they’ve written anything else, and I try and keep my bookmarks page relatively short because once it gets too long it becomes intimidating to my ADHD brain and I don’t even use it anymore, and I tend to assume other people are like that too, lol.

I’m not sure about Fidothefinch....again, I feel like I recognize the name, but not in any specific context, like, it could have been on Ao3 or could have been I saw their name on a tumblr post somewhere....nothing specific is springing to mind for them, but I’ll check them out as well, thanks.

As for Dick/Babs......tbh, I wouldn’t say I dislike them, in the sense that I’m not totally opposed to them and could be lured in by the right fic or dynamics....its just that on their own, based just on their canon dynamics, that ship just....isn’t my favorite? Like, I don’t really have specific complaints or criticisms about it, its more just a general vibe where like, for whatever reason or likely multiple reasons, the general tone and feel of them in canon just doesn’t gel with what I look for or like most in Dick’s relationships specifically. I like Babs in and of herself, but Dick’s one of my Big Four all time fave characters and the one I project on to most, and thus am REALLY here for, so like, not gonna lie, he’s always my priority when reading fics and canon, and I feel like both tend to prioritize Babs in their relationship to a degree that’s just slightly uncomfortable to me? 

Like I freely admit there’s personal projection and bias at work here, but....I’ve always kinda implicitly read something somewhat patronizing from Babs to Dick in most of their canon relationship issues and fics of them. Its like there’s this idea that Babs can do no wrong, and she’s never at fault for any of the problems in their relationship, its always just Dick and his Issues, which she of course does not contribute to in any way....or at least that’s how it feels to me. 

I mean, people mention the age gap between them, and I don’t think its enough of a gap or one that in the right contexts can’t work, so its like not a dealbreaker in and of itself...theoretically...its just in practice, in how the relationship is most commonly executed in everything I’ve read.....the mention of the age gap tends to go hand in hand with this unspoken understanding that Babs is of course more mature than Dick and older and wiser, and that its ultimately his juvenile behavior that causes most of their commitment issues, and like....when you’re talking about a guy who has been engaged in adult heroics and life or death situations since he was ten years old....the ‘he’s too juvenile to really be her equal’ take to ANY degree just flat out doesn’t work for me, y’know?

So its not that I’m strictly opposed to it or anything, its just....I’ve yet to ever come across a definitive story that really SELLS it for me and brings it to life in a way that I’m like...yes, this....I had not considered this depiction before but now that I’ve seen it or thought about it I love it and want more.

Does that make sense?