#yousana fics

[tailsbeth-writes]

Saw the open tag from @taste-thewaste on this! This took me down memory lane a bit 🥲

How many works do you have on ao3?

61

What's your total ao3 word count?

138,797

What fandoms do you write for?

Red, White & Royal Blue mostly but I'm happy to write Heartstopper and og Skam.

I've written for Riverdale, Teen Wolf, Skam France, Wtfock, Druck, Skam Italia & Shadowhunters in the past.

Top five fics by kudos:

Digital Love Letters (RWRB)

i try hard to get back inside your arms alive (RWRB) - and particularly insane as I posted this last week! 🥰)

Right Kind of Wrong (Riverdale)

your heart is your masterpiece (RWRB)

a frightening magic I cling to (RWRB)

Do you respond to comments?

Yes! They make my day, I screenshot my faves. I also love when someone finds a fic that has lots of chapters & I get a flurry of comments 🤌🏻

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Tricky, I don't usually finish on angst. Echo (Wtfock) follows on from a very horrendous part of the show or Season 5 - Magnus (Skam) never got finished so it's been left in the midst of angst.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of them end on a happy note but Love, Henry (RWRB) is probably the happiest.

Do you get hate on fics?

I think there was a little back when I started in Riverdale but I think it more anger on their part for a topic I could have written more sensibly I suppose? I've had critique on fics now but never hate.

Do you write smut?

I've written it one time years ago & it felt weird. I loooove writing foreplay though! But I've not ventured into smut in my current fandoms. That might be something I do though, my bigender Alex fic might go into that if there's sequel.

Craziest crossover:

I've only done one and it was a Riverdale meets Teen Wolf, it was a Christmas special and they had to help reunite Santa with his reindeer. While I haven't watched Riverdale for ages, I'm still really proud of that fic!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, thankfully!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, I'd love that though 😄

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No but I'd absolutely love to collab this year, in the RWRB fandom in particular y'all are so talented 🥲

All time favorite ship?

Firstprince (RWRB) probably. Wilmon (Young Royals) is a close second atm, I'd love to write some YR fics soon. I'm still a massive Yousana (Skam) and Davenzi (Druck) shipper too. Oh and Nathan/Annalise/Gabriel (TBSATDH) - can't remember the ship name! That show got cancelled too soon & it was basically like a fix it for the books.

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a Teen Wolf reader insert fic with a pregnancy story line that I left on a huge cliffhanger but frustrates me but not enough to motivate to finish it. I also have my Skam season 5 - Magnus fic that I'd love to finish one day but I haven't found the plan I made for it originally.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and character voice I think?

What are your writing weaknesses?

Plotting? I'm good at writing scenes but writing a longer storyline in fanfic is something I struggle with.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

If you can do it, go for it! I wish I could incorporate more Spanish in my RWRB fics but alas I only got French or German at my school, I only stuck with French. Maybe I'll brush up & add some in for Henry (RWRB) or Nick (Heartstopper).

First fandom you wrote in?

Riverdale, I haven't seen it in years 😅

Favorite fic you've written?

i try hard to get back inside your arms alive is the probably the one I'm proudest of and while it isn't finished yet Her Royal Highness is up there cause it combines so many of my favourite things, I'm getting to explore darker topics in some scenes while also putting Henry in drag - fanfic catnip for me quite frankly!

I'm not sure who has done this already but I'll tag folks I want to see answer this: @heysweetheart-writes @candyspandemonium @firenati0n @onthewaytosomewhere @callumsmitchells & of course, open tag 💛

[evakfanficsrecs]

YOUSEF/SANA FANFICTION RECS MASTERPOST

Hello! I know you’re probably confused as to why an Evak fics recs blog is posting a Yousana masterpost right now... At first I only meant to reply to an anon’s request for a few fics, but then it kinda turned into this, so I hope y’all don’t mind. I think we all are in the need for some kind of glimmer of hope and light in the form of fluffy fics right now anyway. 

The list is divided into oneshots and chaptered fics and will be updated over time, so make sure to like/bookmark it. My personal favorites are tagged with a “ ★ ”. Completed chaptered fics are tagged with a “ ✓ ” 

All the fics can be found under the cut. Have fun.

*

Besides all of the ao3 fics bellow, I wanna quickly mention the lovely Anna and her writing tag, where you can find some of her answered Yousana prompts. Her writing is beautiful and she was one of the people to start writing Yousana, so give her some love!

*

ONESHOTS:

plain black coffee (with a side of sugar) by meridianline Summary: He's Elias' cool friend, the one who gets all the girls. There's no way he's interested and Sana's not a girl for pipe dreams. So why can't he just leave her alone? Or, Yousef catches Sana, after the Facebook add.

All you have to do is stay by minttobe_treehill Summary: And there it was again. The feeling of his eyes on her. Or, the girl squad + the balloon squad go to a party together.

Captain of the Football Team by mango22 Summary: Yousef holds his daughter in his arms for the first time.

Mutual by sterekwonders Summary: Sana had known from the moment that she started liking Yousef that the attraction was one sided. But sometimes, life isn't always what it seems.

just a little longer by kingsandqueensofthebarrel Summary: Sana and Yousef aren't dating. But they are in love.

sana x yousef | beginning forever by WritenStuff ★ Summary: Excitement and nerves run through Sana and Yousef as they begin this new chapter of their lives together. So many firsts to savour and enjoy. Well, if Sana can brave leaving the bathroom that is. Forever starts here.

Chicken by nusmag Summary: Sana’s pretty sure it’s Vilde who orchestrated for her brother and his friends to play a game of chicken with them. Yes, she’s with Magnus, but as she sagely elaborates, the game isn’t about kissing — it’s about exactly the opposite. Sana agrees to this game about non-kissing, determined to come out on top whomever she plays with. Only it turns out Yousef is quite determined to win, too.

When Did You Fall For Me? by mango22 Summary: Sana asks Yousef when he knew he loved her.

I want you and I always will by nicospenguin Summary: Girls and balloon squad decided to organise a horror movie marathon. Sana is not happy.

sana x yousef | jealous by WritenStuff Summary: When the balloon squad interrupt our study buddies, Sana and Isak, Yousef is hit with the green beast.

Eid Mubarak by mango22 Summary: Yousef spots Sana outside the mosque after the Eid prayer and for a moment forgets how to breathe.

I don't wanna say that love is a waiting game by minttobe_treehill Summary: Sana smiled, both dimples on full display, and looked down, not really knowing what to say or what to do. And Yousef lingered his gaze on her, softening his features in an instant. If Isak hadn’t been standing right behind Sana, nobody would’ve seen it. Or, Isak and Sana are biology partners. Isak meets Yousef. What could go wrong?

a ghost made flesh by thefudge ★ Summary: He wants to raise his eyes and catch her looking, like he did before. He wants to see the deep pool in her eyes, the desire for a beginning.

Jealousy by mango22 Summary: Yousef is Jealous™ of Isak of all people and Sana finds it funny (and maybe even likes it a little bit). 

floating (like balloons) by OHfairytales Summary: Yousef's eyes found her immediately when she passed the living room. He was caught staring at her, his fingers pushing away his dark hair from his eyes. He smiled hesitantly at her and her heart broke one more time. He was so beautiful. Lower your gaze. Or – Sana tries to reflect and find back her inner peace after Yousef’s devastating text message.

i might be okay, but i'm not fine at all by meridianline Summary:  It's been a week but Yousef still messages.

It's all going to be okay by Nothesc Summary: “Does this have something to do with my sister?” Elias said making Yousef stop dead on his tracks. Or, Elias notices that something is going on with Yousef and decides to ask him. Set after 4x03.

Text messages by Nothesc Summary: Text messages on Saturday, Sunday and Monday between Sana and Yousef. Set after 4x03.

sana x yousef | add friend by WritenStuff Summary: Send failed. You don’t have permission to chat with this person. // It takes a moment for Yousef to realise what's happened. It must be a mistake, surely. 

Are you ignoring me? by b43b3n Summary: She unfriended Yousef and immediately regretted it, but the website about getting over ex boyfriends told her that she had made the right move.

faithless by thefudge Summary: Post 1x03. You can't part if the air between you is always an arrival. 

Is it just me or do you feel it too by HALLElujahaha Summary: Yousef is malfunctioning and becoming very poetic when he sees Sana, as per usual. 

it changes everything, by kingsandqueensofthebarrel Summary: By the time she put the cup back on the table and the smile back on her face the others had already approached. Her heart stuttered painfully in her chest and if this was heartbreak she never wanted to feel it again. 

Even On A Bad Day by sterekwonders Summary: Sana was having a bad day but not all bad things have to stay that way. 

jeg dømmer ingen (wallaahi) by Fandine Summary: On the way back home from school–-elementary school, she’s either in second or third grade–-baba tells her about Yawm al-Qiyāmah. About how the ground will crack and flaming lava will erupt. About how lightning will strike and everyone will collapse, will fall dead. About how everyone, those who die that day and those who died million years ago, those who were already buried, will rise, their bones lifting and their skulls turning so they face the sky. Yeah, them, us, we will all go to Allah for judgement. She doesn’t know what judgement means, but Sana knows she’s afraid. 

Sunshine, Freedom, And A Little Blue Flower by mango22 ★ Summary: Sana asks Yousef what he wanted to say at the end of the night? And he replies in typical Yousef fashion. 

How Lucky You Are Sana by mango22 Summary: Yousef visits Sana at school after the seventh message is left on read. 

Dying to try by Nothesc Summary: “What was I going to say?” Yousef said with a shy smiled. Or, what would've happened if Sana and Yousef hadn't been interrupted at the end of 4x04. 

in the rain, give you sunshine by cynical_optimist Summary: “Do you ever worry?” Isak asks. “Because I haven’t seen it.” Sana smiles, shakes her head. “Never,” she replies, and she isn’t sure whether she’s joking or outright lying. - Sana tries to repair something.

still, like dust, i'll rise by meridianline Summary:  Sana, after she sees Yousef and Noora (at the end of 4x05)... 

Every Saturday. by Thesuncameout Summary: Set after S04E5 Clip 5.

Two sides to every story by neomaxizoomdweebie Summary: Sana had always had a lot of self control. Her homework always got done, no matter how boring the assignment. She always went to basketball practice, no matter how tired she was. She never yelled at Vilde, no matter how infuriating she was being. But as it turns out, even she has her limits.

What We Could've Been by mango22 Summary: Post 4x05. Sana and Yousef have an honest conversation. 

Who I am by HeWhisperedBrave Summary: Sana is left numb and in shock when she sees the boy she's in love with kissing her best friend. 

I didn't ask for it. by surrealdelicacy Summary: Sana - after she saw Yousef and Noora kiss. 

Saturday May 13th 2017 by Minkefreak Summary: Sana goes to the last place she expected to go and finds some comfort. 

Let me explain by Nothesc Summary: Yousef kissed Noora back but he stopped it, because he realized he couldn't do it. 

I'm Sorry by Thesuncameout Summary: Sana and Yousef resolve (some) of their issues, Sana actually opens up to someone for once, and finally, finally she can pray. 

Bliss by narratrice Summary: In which Sana and Yousef's alternating points of view recount their shared experience the night of their heart to heart by the basketball court. Nevermind these precious gumdrops' lack of communication in the past few episodes and let's just reminisce for a moment.

Basketball by Nothesc Summary: 5 times Yousef made Sana smile with basketball and the one time Sana did.

something just like this by deansfallenangel Summary: Noora never had a thing with Willhell and started dating Eva instead. She also never kissed Yousef who's in a happy relationship with Sana. Or in which Nooreva and Yousana go on double dates, at least 50% of what happens in canon isn't acknowledged and everyone is happy.

sana x yousef | beautiful, intimate, odd thing by WritenStuff Summary: Kissing was an odd thing. A beautiful, intimate, odd thing. 

goosebumps by vacant Summary: “Fuck. Is this really happening, Sana?” He asks with a laugh, warm against her cheek. 

Used To This by omgbellamy Summary: Sana and Yousef finally have a talk regarding the texts Noora showed Sana in the latest clip. They lay everything out on the table.

paper thin in love with you by idontshaveforsher_yesyoudo  Summary: Their first date is to the movies. 

Colors by mango22 Summary: A soulmate au where whenever your soulmate touches your skin, the part they touched turns a different color. And not faded colors, but like bright rainbow colors. 

communication by vacant ★ Summary: A novel concept: Sana and Yousef talk.

The Daycare. by Thesuncameout Summary: When Sana has to enter the battlefield that Yousef calls his workplace, aka the daycare. 

Oh, I Think that I Found Myself a Cheerleader by ifwallscouldspeak ★ Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Elias Bakkoush wasn’t clueless when it came to Yousef and Sana’s feelings for each other. If anyone was clueless about this whole thing, it was Sana and Yousef. And Elias? Elias was fucking fed up. (Or, five times Elias tried to set up his best friend and his sister, and the one time they finally get together.) 

Not enough by Angelinee Summary: Carrots are thrown. 

to open the world and send it reeling by Odestaholyship Summary: What would have happened if Mama Bakkoush hadn't interrupted Yousana's goodbye?

Truth or dare by Nothesc Summary: All the squads get together to play a game of truth or dare and well, things get interesting.

Don't You Let Me Go Tonight by SEHale Summary: Loosely based on the prompt: "Sure, I used to be a regular, but I literally haven’t been to this coffee shop in two years. How do you still remember my order?" Or, an AU where Sana leaves for university having never resolved or confronted her feelings for Yousef, who is not only her brother Elias's best friend but also the local barista at her favorite coffee shop.

Months by Angelinee Summary: Yousef comes home from Turkey and is met with Sana and the balloon squad. 

A Lazy Saturday by Thesuncameout Summary: Lazy days are Sana's favourite.  

I'm A Little Bit Lost Without You by SEHale Summary: Based on the prompt: “I’m a new hire and you’re trying to show me how to use the espresso machine. I actually already know how to use it, but I’m pretending to be incompetent so that you’ll keep talking to me. Please don’t fire me.” Or, an AU where Sana works part time at a coffee shop to earn money while studying at university, and new hire Yousef is taking up another barista job for the summer while kindergarten is out.

CHAPTERED:

Red Velvet by mango22 ✓ Summary: Sana tells Yousef about her "Russe Bus Money" dilemma and he comes up with a plan to help her. A plan which involves a lot of kitchen shenanigans and one perfect red velvet cupcake.

Science Buddies by Bellakitse ★ ✓ Summary: Sana opens her mouth when she hears the front door open followed by the laughter. She picks out one voice in particular. “Crap, it’s him,” she whispers as she quickly smooths out her clothes, running a finger under her bottom lip to check her lipstick isn’t feathering. Isak’s eyes widen and mouths ‘the boy’ to which Sana nods furiously too, she doesn’t get to do anything else as Elias and Yousef enter the living room, stopping short when they spot Sana and Isak.* Isak and Sana study at her place, she tells him what’s been bothering her. Isak meets Yousef.

✓ read at 21:30 by asteriaria Summary: Yousef spends an unnecessary amount of time on texts.

evak & yousana | the hot baristas by WritenStuff Summary: When Isak finds perfection works in the local coffee shop, he can't resist dragging Sana there for their biology study date.

The Chronicles of Texts by Ms.Bakkoush and Mr.Acar by Thesuncameout Summary: A series of messages between Sana and Yousef.

A kid's play by Nothesc ✓ Summary: Monday is Yousef's free day, he has Sana's number now and the kids from his kindergarten are performing today. Sounds like a good plan. Basically, Yousana being cute and going out on a ¿date?

erasing myself from the narrative by asteriaria Summary: The crash, the tumble, and the burning of the girl she once was. Or, what happens to Sana after the disastrous, fiasco of a party in S4E5.

The Opening by Rumaan ✓ Summary: With his mind in chaos, Yousef can't forget Sana's words about prayer.

Possibilities by Nothesc ✓ Summary: Two endings based on yesterday's clip (clip 2 4x09).

I'll Be Coming Home, Wait For Me by dahlstrom ★ ✓ Summary: dinner!au; Even and Yousef open a 1950s American-style restaurant together - Even is the creative genius in the kitchen, Yousef keeps the trains running on time, and Isak, Chris B, and Magnus are all along for the ride. Falling in love over food while Elvis serenades from the jukebox. Welcome to the Throwback Diner. 

Find My Way Back by mango22 Summary: The story of Yousef and Sana's relationship and how it progresses after season 4 ends. 

Turkey by Thesuncameout ★ Summary: When university student Sana Bakkoush goes on a trip to Turkey with her best friends, she meets a certain tour guide who's warm brown eyes, and floppy hair, captivate her. And suddenly her three week trip becomes something much much more.

We met in a kindergarten by Nothesc Summary: Sana has to pick up her niece from her kindergarten and there she meets a very interesting teacher.

Raindrops and Sunshine by Rumaan ✓ Summary: Sana rushes to the airport to tell Yousef how she feels.

[skamlessly]

Okay, so what if Sana has liked Yousef from season 1 of Skam? Since she started at Nissen. Like I have a feeling that the balloon squad knows that Sana was bullied at her old school. Why? Well it seems like Elias and Sana tell each other what’s on their mind often. I say this because the clip of Sana and Elias on the swings leads me to believe that the siblings do have a close enough relationship to tell each other certain things. And since Elias knows I have a feeling the rest of the boys found out as well. Saying that and knowing what type of person Yousef is, I think he tried to help Sana or tried to make Sana feel better about herself and also boost her confidence up again. In doing that Sana fell for him or at least started liking him. And as she found friends at Nissen and started breaking more out of her shell and became comfortable with being herself she started accepting her feelings for Yousef.

I say all this because I really don’t think Sana just started like Yousef since the start of S4 this crush has definitely been brewing for a longer time.

Also if this is the case the betrayal of ep 5 would hurt SOOO much more.

[thesuncameouttoday]

SOME GENIUS WROTE THIS FIC. IT’S ADORABLE, FLUFFY AND EVERYTHING GREAT IN THIS WORLD COMBINED INTO AN 8K STORY. JUST...READ IT. 

[livinonaflyingcarpet]

Yousana Exchange 2020 gift for @koedder-du​ (pt. 3):

An AU where Yousef attended Sana’s Eid party

Yousef: WOW ❤️ Yousef: I have a surprise for you

---

Sana frowned at the cryptic text. She was about to write a response when she heard a commotion and some excited squeals that sounded like Eva and Vilde. She wanted to check what's going on, and as she neared the entrance to the garden she saw Yousef, in flesh, standing by the gate and sheepishly grinning at her.

"How... what are you doing here?"

"My sister failed a uni exam so she is staying in Oslo for a couple extra days, and I talked my parents into letting me stay with her." Yousef’s grin spread all the way to his eyes before he continued. "I heard there's quite an Eid party going on, with someone extra special throwing it. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Yes, there is." Sana giggled, and realized she must've been staring at him like an idiot. Thank God she isn't maintaining her ice cold reputation anymore, because she's absolutely sure it wouldn't survive tonight. She tried to at least control her wide smile a bit.

"What a wonderful surprise. You don't look like you're dressed for an Eid party, but I'm sure the hostess will let you join anyway," she added in a playful tone.

"Come on in."

Sana took two steps towards the rest of party, pointedly ignoring the entire Los Losers nearby eavesdropping and throwing her meaningful looks, but Yousef stood still.

"You... you look even more beautiful in person."

Sana's face matched Yousef's shy grin.

"Thank you."

[under-the-skam-fic-radar]

Hello SKAMily. 

We are four fanfiction enthusiasts who have had enough of great authors not being recognised for their amazing work. So this blog is entirely dedicated to underrated works of SKAM Fanfic. The focus of this blog will be on fics with less than 200 kudos on ao3, but if you really really like one that has more, please submit it anyway. 

We will also do what we call "Moodboard Mondays", where we either post our own moodboard for one of the fics we're recommending, or we'll post a moodboard/GIFset/Photoset/video made by an artist for an underrated fic. Please feel free to suggest your favourite artists, whether they've already made art for an underrated fic or not ...We can always ask. 

Our goal is to help you all find new, great fic to read that you may not have found simply because it doesn't have many kudos. And of course, we also want to give lesser known authors the love they deserve, and if this works, hopefully soon we'll have more awesome fic with the kudos they deserve on AO3.

So are you ready to help us make that happen? 

Here's the team of "Under the SKAM Fic radar:

Mod Julia: 19, she/her, american. i have been part of the skam fandom since mid s3 and i am watching all of the remakes. i’m a huge multishipper and i love rarepairs. you can find me on tumblr at @chloevlntine and on ao3 at Jules1398.

Mod Noah: 20, he/him, canadian. i started watching skam near the end of season three, and finally decided to start writing fic a whole year later. however, i have been active in the tags for almost close to two years now (lmao), and i absolutely love reading different contributions! i love writing angst and weird au’s, and i am more than happy to discuss any of those with you! i’m @unendeligtid on tumblr and @twinklylightseverywhere on ao3!

Mod Wyo: 24, she/her, german. i joined the skam fandom in december 16, just after s3 ended (rip) and have been reading fic ever since - my friends know me for live reacting/freaking out about my favourite fics. i’m @julian-dahl on tumblr and wyoheartsmusic on ao3.

Mod Sue: 29, she/her, swiss. I stumbled into the Skam Fandom in December 16, about two weeks before s3 came to an end. I started reading fic right then, I mean we all needed it after ep8 right? Ever since, Skam fanfic has been both medicine and comic relief for me in any given situation. I’m @julieseven on tumblr and Julieseven on ao3.

[brionbroadway]

Chapters: 7/9 Fandom: SKAM (Norway) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Even Bech Næsheim/Isak Valtersen, Yousef Acar/Sana Bakkoush Characters: Eva Kviig Mohn, Isak Valtersen, Even Bech Næsheim, Jonas Noah Vasquez, Yousef Acar, Sana Bakkoush, Sonja (SKAM), Vilde Lien Hellerud, Mikael Øverlie Boukhal Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, has that always been a tag how have i never used it, but yes we're doing this again!, Unreliable Narrator, POV Multiple Summary: Eight players are competing to add money to a winner's pot. However, one of them has been hired by production to be the mole, actively sabotaging their efforts. To win, the players will have to determine who it is.

(Or: In which a bunch of people play my version of The Mole).

[celiastjames]

it’s sana’s birthday

[greathalesonfire]

(lesser known) Fic Rec

 Hello, my darlings! I’m so sorry for the delay, but here it finally is, the masterpost of fics that were recommended to me! I’m dividing them up in specific fics that were recommended and just author names, if I found an author’s tumblr I’m linking that too (if you happen to know the tumblr of an unlinked author, be sure to let me know!)

Lastly, if you have any more recommendations, send them my way, I promise I won’t take as long as I did now!

Authors

Perfectsonnet r0nj4 / @a-station-on-your-way dvorahbee

Fics

Minutt for Minutt by Enochianess / @enochianess

Teen/General  Words:13,814 Works:37 Complete:No series Isak and Even's story continued

let’s not waste it feeling wrong by prettyisak / @prettyisak

Not rated Words:6907

Isak has always been skeptical of the soulmark. Instead of your soulmate's first words to you written on your skin, it's the last words you ever hear them say, so you don't know who your soulmate is until you lose them.

sleepover by daigina / @sana-halla 

General  Words:2443 Eva/Vilde

I don’t wanna talk about it, I don’t wanna think about, I just feel alone, feel alone

4 times Eva and Vilde have a sleepover and nothing happens +1 time it does.

/Happy international Women’s Day!

the other side of paradise by peachbombs

Mature Words:35588 Chapters:10/10

The first and only time Isak Valtersen says those three words, it’s to Even Bech Næsheim, a boy who broke his heart once and now, here Isak is, giving him every liberty to do it again. 

kiss it better by Treehouse / @modestytreehouse

Explicit Words:2201

Even has had a shit day, but Isak is making it all better. Spoiler: they fuck.

I can only give you everything - champagneleftie / @champagneleftie

Teen and up  Words:17847 Chapters:4/4  Yousef/Sana

Yousef is 21, in his first semester of university, the most recent member of Kollektivet - and ridiculously, embarrassingly, stupidly in love with Sana.

Or: a university AU where Yousef pines, Sana is oblivious, and the lack of communication threatens to ruin everything.

A soundtrack to a life by @rumpelsnorcack

Teen and up  Words:7664

Films, Even thought, were easy. They did what you told them, and if you didn’t like something you could tweak it. Change it. Control it. The one thing Even didn’t pay much attention to, though, was the soundtrack. It never seemed important, not having had much of an impact on the movies he’d started avidly watching. But that all changed the day he watched Romeo + Juliet for the first time.

som i ett isolerat system by @vesperthine

Mature Words:6710 Swedish

“Generellt eller typ i helgen?”

Evens blick glider över hans ansikte medan han väntar på svar. Det är på ett sätt frestande att skjuta upp det; göra det till något abstrakt som de båda kan glömma bort och lämna till sina framtida jag. Men å andra sidan, så vill han. Trots att det är en enda stor röra inombords, så vill han.

Det går inte att komma ifrån nu.

Eventyr - imminentinertia / @skamskada

Teen and up Words:5545

Once upon a time, humans knew about and feared the wights in the forest. Now the wights are all forgotten, and perhaps they have left their hills and trees and ponds.

Perhaps some are still there.

all senses awake by @toneelspeler

General Words:1207

a love in the five senses.

Cathedrals of Light, Salt and Snow by shoulderbone / @odeto-psyche

Explicit Words:35284 Chapters:3/3

What he wants to say, and cannot bring himself to admit: Before you there was no real me. Only a person pretending to be. Or, alternatively: Isak comes back to face death, and in the meantime, finds rebirth.

Kosmisk kjærlighet- TheGirlNoOneKnows5 / @thegirlnooneknows5

Mature Words:17437 Chapters:4/4

'You are my stars tonight'

In a world where universe hopping is possible, Isak and Even discover a parallel version of themselves that never meet. They travel through dimensions to make sure they find each other in every universe.

Let me know (I'll listen) by alijan

General Words:4396

"The first time Jonas sees Even, he is sporting his own snapback that Isak has stolen and which also surprisingly fails to ruin the guy's gelled hairstyle as he takes it off. The third year walks up to their group with sure confidence, his eyes trained only on Isak."

Or, the third season's (and later) events, Isak's struggle and Even himself from Jonas' eyes.

The best Christmas you've ever had by hannakin

Not Rated Words:3707

“I don’t hate Christmas,” Isak sighed. “I just don’t like it.”

Isak doesn't really like Christmas but Even does and he wants Isak to do too.

“I’m going to make this Christmas the best Christmas you have ever had.” he whispered.

Love him like a son by skamshit

Not Rated Words:1927

Eskild and Even meet. Eskild gives Even a talk.

[rumaan]

As the Winter Olympics come to a close, I also wrap up my Winter Olympics AUs with figure skating!Yousana.

If anyone had asked Sana when she was younger what the hardest part of being a world class international figure skater would be, she probably would have said the competition. It was never easy getting to the top of a sport discipline and anything involving ice was always perilous. Nothing was guaranteed in sport and it was something all athletes had to come to terms with whatever sport they played.

Public scrutiny was not something she’d really considered when she was younger. Well not public scrutiny of her love life anyway.

There had always been the scrutiny regarding her background and her religion, which she had never been too happy about. She wanted to be accepted as a sportswoman in her own right and not constantly be answering questions about her faith and wearing hijab and what that meant for both the sport and other Muslim women. It wasn’t that she resented being a role model for other Muslim women. No, it was that questions regarding her sporting ability always came after questions about Islam. That didn’t happen with any of her peers. They were always asked about their performance or the competition or injuries. But for Sana, she had to navigate a minefield of questions that she hadn’t gone into figure skating to answer. She couldn’t deny that she resented those questions.

Read the rest on AO3

[evaksbinder]

Friday Fic Recs - Week 5

Hey friends, it’s Sarah! Yes yes i know it’s not Friday anymore anywhere in the world but like time is a construct and nothing is real so what does it REALLY matter

Anyway, i’m here with a handful of fics I love with all my heart! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did - and if you do, be sure to show them some kudos/comments love! <3

snow and dirty rain - grinsekaetzchen / @hotchocolatenthusiast (Even/Isak; 23k words; book club AU)

First of all i just have such a soft spot for the premise, where instead of kosegruppa Vilde decides to host a book club and that’s where Even and Isak meet

Really spot on characterization of Isak and Even, with a lot of attention paid to Isak’s headspace and the complexity of their interactions

I like that the plot has a similar structure to canon but still feels very much its own thing thanks to the richness that the texts they read in the book club adds to the fic

Speaking of which that’s one of my favorite things of this fic, how well-integrated all the literary references are! They’re very present and important to the text and the boys’ relationship, permeating throughout the fic, but not in a heavy-handed way, it just feels like a natural part of the narrative, plus you don’t have to have read them to understand their significance

Also i like that a lot of characterization is drawn out of the characters’ relationships to these texts; for example Even and Isak have important relationships with Richard Siken’s work, but they’re quite different and what those relationships are tells us a lot about these characters

Builds to a really sweet and heartfelt payoff of an ending; will probably leave your insides feeling all soft and warm and gross

in the rain, give you sunshine - cynical_optimist / @boxesfullofthoughts (Yousef/Sana; 6k words; missing moment/fix it)

The premise of this fic is that Sana helps Yousef and Even reconcile, and it’s done in a way that feels so emotional and real

Sana’s headspace is stunningly well drawn, capturing all her complexities from the strength of her character to her vulnerabilities

i love the relationship between Sana and Elias here, it feels so true to them while providing us with a more emotional side of their relationship that we saw maybe only briefly in canon

And the relationship between Sana and Yousef is so nice too! I love how easy-going their dynamic is and the quickness of their banter

The reconciliation between Yousef and Even is really, really well done. I especially like that this moment in the fic, their conversation, is a thing that happens solely between them; no one else is going to know what they talked about, and that’s okay, that’s the point

Keep in mind this was written just a few episodes into S4 so a lot of it is no longer canon compliant, but overall it’s a really touching look into what it might have looked like if the story had taken a different direction with regards to Even repairing his relationship with Balloon Squad

Come and paint the world with me tonight - LostInAdmiration / @call-this-a-mask (Even/Isak; 11k words; Isak crashes a wedding/fake dating)

Isak is dared by boy squad to crash a random wedding and in the process meets Even; Even helps establish his cover at the wedding by pretending to be his boyfriend

This is such a sweet and adorable read, if you’re anything like me you’ll probably be smiling the whole time you’re reading it

Extremely well paced; even though the boys’ relationship develops over the course of just a few hours, it feels entirely natural and not rushed at all, and the payoff the story develops to is just so well-earned

Isak’s characterization is so well done; i love that his backstory is used to explain his reactions to the wedding he crashes, and his development is really well done despite again only happening over the span of a few hours

Even and balloon squad are also really well characterized in this fic!! Even’s quirky charm especially, and even though balloon squad appears somewhat briefly everyone still manages to feel like their own characters, which is super impressive, plus their friendships with each other is just such a delight to read

[chaoswillcalmusdown]

Title: runnin’ on my mind, boy Pairing: Sana/Yousef Summary: Sana gets a part time job in a café, has to face Yousef Acar once again and then ends up as his date to a wedding. Rating: T

 Written for the lovely @stressedoutteenager as my @yousanaexchange gift. I hope you like it!

THURSDAY 23 NOVEMBER: ISAK AND EVEN'S APARTMENT

It really starts in November when Sana sits down with all the Russ budget calculations - because even though their bus is small, it's still a Russebuss - and her list of things she needs to do and buy in the next few months. She and her family only do a small christmas celebration, which started when Sana and her siblings were little and jealous that everyone else got presents but they didn't and has since just become a nice winter tradition, and she usually ends up taking part in a few parties that have a secret santa concept, which also means that she'll want something new to wear, maybe a cute christmassy sweater. Sana had expected to be able to save up money from the summer, but she doesn't have nearly as much saved as she'd like. While Sana is sure her parents would be willing to help her out, she really doesn't want to have to ask her parents for anything. Instead, she applies to every job she can find that she could possibly do. A few weeks down the line, she's gotten zero replies. She complains to Isak about it, about how she really doesn't want to ask her parents for more money. Isak is really unsympathetic because he's not going to be part of any Russebuss so he doesn't understand the stress. They're sacked out on his sofa, trying to revise for chemistry. Or, Isak has begged Sana to help explain something that he missed so he doesn't fail. Still, Sana counts it as revision.

Isak pauses, strangely thoughtful, then calls out, "Hey, babe, didn't you need extra staff at KB?"

Even leans out of the kitchen, soapy gloves and all, "Yeah, we kind of always do," he sighs, "why, what's up?"

"I've been applying for part time jobs, but I'm not getting anywhere," Sana sighs.

Even's face lights up. "Sanasol, come work with me! It'll be amazing!"

Isak looks purposely over at Sana, "You're welcome."

SATURDAY 2 DECEMBER: KAFFEBRENNERIET

Even ends up getting both Sana and Chris interviews, and the boss seems to trust Even's judgement, or they just really make a great impression because they both get hired.The introduction at KB is pretty basic, but the coffee machine looks intimidating. Even assures them that it looks scarier than it really is, and that he has every faith in them.

"But, it's easier if you really get to practice with it so I think we nominate one of you to get the hang of it first."

Christ immediately backs into the back, saying "I'll go wash some more cups," while Sana glares at the door swinging shut behind her.

Even pats her on the head. "You're gonna be a surgeon, Sanasol. Don't let the espresso maker beat you."

Even is a surprisingly good teacher, though he claims that Sana is just a brilliant student, and she picks it up pretty quickly. She doesn't burn herself nearly as much as Chris, and she's pretty good at handling pressure and multitasking, so she prefers making drinks while Chris takes the orders. And Chris, being the social butterfly that she is, also prefers it that way. She chats up literally every customer, and flirts cheerfully all day long. But it keeps the customers from getting grumpy when Sana takes too long or has to redo something, so it's all good.

Of course, once their friends and Elias find out about their new jobs, they suddenly get a lot of customers that they know. Elias tries to get family discounts, which Chris finds hilarious, while Sana just wishes she could escape through the wooden floor. But then Mutta steps up to order, which shockingly stuns Chris into silence for a hot second, before she turns the flirting up a whole lot, leaning over the counter and fluttering her eyelashes. Sana can't help but snort and look over at Elias, only to lock eyes with Yousef friggin Acar. He's smiling like he can't really help it but he's also flicking his eyes between Sana and the Chris-and-Mutta thing like he can't look away, even though he wants to. Thankfully, Mutta doesn't look intimated at all, instead he's leaning into it, heart eyes focused on Chris with a giant smile and just the slightest blush visible high on his cheeks. When it's Yousef's turn, they're still flirting so Sana sidles up to the register to take his order before she makes both drinks.

After Sana has greeted him normally, Yousef smirks, tilting his head, "So, I guess everyone doesn't get that special treatment in here, huh?" He gestures to the side.

Sana laughs, feeling her cheeks flush slightly, "Flirting is more Chris' job, to be fair. Or Even's." Chris finally snaps out of her flirting enough to at least take Adam's order, though he's laughing too hard to really be bothered about the wait.

"That's a shame," Yousef says, still smiling wide. Sana's brain goes into a panic mode and she turns away and grabs two mugs in auto mode, stumped as to how to even respond to that comment without embarrassing herself completely. She hasn't seen much of her brother's friends since she started her last year of high school. To be fair, she hasn't seen much of Yousef since he came back from Turkey and their flirting fizzled out. Seeing him up close like this brings back all the nice memories and the realization that she is no longer desensitized to Yousef Acar and his ridiculously lovely smile.

She finishes his and Adam's coffees, and once she hands them over, she makes eye contact and tries really hard to not react to his warm hands or that smile. "I know you're busy with university applications and all that," he says, "but it's really nice to see you," and Sana thinks she's gonna explode. After all the time she spent convincing herself that they wouldn't work, and that Yousef wasn't the right guy for her, she's still putty in is palm. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembers her mother's advice about marrying a non-muslim, and even without that, it's been over a year and there's no way Yousef could actually still like her in that way if he ever had. It's just been too long, and surely he's moved on at this point.  She sighs, moving back to the espresso machine to start the next order. When the boys have all sat down in the corner, Sana turns her back to the cafe and blows out a loud breath, planning to get Chris to take over so she can escape to the bathroom for a while. When she looks up, Chris is grinning like the cheshire cat.

"What?!" Sana snaps, defensive as always when people see her showing emotion or weakness.

Chris' face softens. "It's just nice to see you smile at someone who isn't the girls. Or your brother. You're cute when you prove that you're actually a human and not just the 'perfect hijabi robot'."

It's sweet and at the same time way too perceptive for comfort, but they're in public so Sana rolls her eyes, but bumps Chris' shoulder and then there's another customer approaching and Sana forgot all about her desperate need to escape Yousef's perfect face.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON 09 DECEMBER: YOUSEF'S HOUSE

Yousef has always regularly frequented this specific KB, though not really until he and Even made up, but he'd be a liar if he said he didn't go in more often to see Sana. One Saturday afternoon, a few weeks before Christmas, Yousef's chatting to his cousin Metin, who is the same age and is about to get married, while he tries to figure out a plan for his exam revision. He's stressed and tired and when Metin starts asking about Sana - because Metin was one of the few people Yousef could tell about his feelings for Sana - and how Yousef needs to get a move on with the relationship before she loses interest and the teasing just ramps up until Yousef accidentally says that he's fine on the relationship front, thank you very much. He's never been able to keep his cool when he and Metin end up competing over something, but this is definitely the dumbest thing he has ever said. Even worse is the fact that his aunt overhears him - he may have yelled a little - and comes over to gush at him, then runs out to call her mom probably, which means that everyone in the entire family will know. His grandparents, all his aunts and uncles, just everyone. And they'll all be expecting him to bring someone to Metin's wedding - because that's what his family does to everyone over the age of 15 at weddings - but specifically they're going to be expecting to meet his long time girlfriend. In less than a month's time. Shit. Yousef's left blinking at the screen while Metin laughs at his expression for a long while, and then Yousef just hangs up.

SUNDAY 10 DECEMBER: KAFFEBRENNERIET

As the most reasonable out of the boys - and because Even is busy - Yousef tracks down Elias at KB and recruits him to listen to the entire shitty situation - though he leaves out all the details about him still pining over Sana because Elias is her big brother after all. He rants at Elias for at least half an hour, while Elias sips at his frappe, laptops and textbooks pushed aside. When he's done Elias looks at him for a while, eyebrows furrowed.

"Why the hell did you tell him you were dating someone?" is what Elias has to say. Yousef sighs, dropping his head onto the table. "No, seriously. This situation was so unavoidable."

"Yes, thank you, Elias, I realize that. I didn't mean to do that. Can you help me fix it? Literally my entire family knows. My mom asked me about my girlfriend this morning and why I didn't tell her already, and was that the girl I brought soup that one time, and will she meet her before the wedding and blah blah blah."

Elias looks at him like he's dumb. "I truly don't understand how you could accidentally say you've got a serious girlfriend when you so clearly do not." Then shrugs. "The only real solution is telling everyone you lied, but that makes you look kinda crazy. And showing up to the wedding alone after would make them all pity you so hard. So, I think you should bring a fake girlfriend."

Because Yousef's life is a soap opera, Sana appears at the end of the table to clear some empty plates, and asks, with that slightly condescending, but still playful smirk she has, "what's this about a fake girlfriend?"

If Yousef hadn't mashed his face against the table, he'd have seen the way Sana's smirk faltered a little like she actually cared.

Elias sighed, "Yousef accidentally told his family that he's seeing someone, and doesn't want to tell them the truth because that would expose how truly embarrassing his life is and then everyone would spend his cousins wedding pitying him. So I said he should bring a fake girlfriend to the wedding."

"Wow, Elias, thanks for that." He chances a look at Sana, sighing and running his fingers anxiously through his hair before he looks back at Elias. "I don't know any girls, and I can't ask some stranger to go to a wedding with my entire crazy family. I'm just gonna have to admit that I lied and I'm pathetic."

When he looks back up at Sana, she's looking at him with a slightly tilted head, then inexplicably says, "I'll do it."

Yousef just gapes at her. "Really?"

She shrugs, smiling. "Wouldn't want your whole family to know you're a mess."

He profusely thanks her and promises to make it up to her. Sana rolls her eyes but she's smiling. "Oh, you'll owe me."

Yousef has never been more in love. She turns and walks away, literally taking his breath with her.

"You're welcome," says Elias, smug as anything.

Yousef chokes on his latte. "What? That's crazy, Elias, I can't fake date Sana!"

Surprisingly, Elias laughs. "Okay, so we're pretending you guys haven't been flirting with each other for years? Do you remember that time you threw grass in her face? Or all the times you go to 'get a drink' when Sana happens to be in the kitchen and then you don't come back until we drag you back."

"Oh my god," Yousef buries his face in his hands. "I can't believe you knew."

"Yousef, buddy, pal, friend," Elias huffs, "I can't believe you thought you were subtle."

Yousef's still convinced that Elias doesn't realize that he and Sana might have been going somewhere serious with their relationship, and he doesn't really think that it would be a good idea to tell him.

MONDAY 11 DECEMBER: KOLLEKTIVET

Sana and the girls are making gingerbread after school, Vilde and Chris had prepared the dough over the weekend and they'd all brought in some cute cookie cutters. When Sana gets there Noora is fiddling with the christmas playlist while Vilde wipes the kitchen counter and Chris is stood to the side, sneaking little bits of dough into her mouth. Sana catches her eye and Chris winks while Sana gives her a disgusted look. She's about to say something when her phone chimes and she pulls it up to see that Yousef has been dragged into wedding preparations and he's sent her a frowny selfie of him surrounded by ribbons and dry flowers and other random wedding things. Sana can't help but send a selfie back, followed by a line of crying laughing emojis, and then brag about her free afternoon. Yousef replies with a crying Jordan meme which makes Sana laugh out loud.

"Well, well, well," Noora says, making Sana look up. The girls are all watching her, smirking.

"Who's got you so smiley this afternoon?"

Sana clears her throat, trying to appear unfazed, "It's nothing," she says, shaking her head.

Chris, the traitor, goes "Are you texting Yossi?" causing Noora and Vilde to gasp loudly. Noora had bugged Sana for a while about Yousef, and what had happened.

"You have to tell us everything," Vilde demands, crossing her arms.

Sana sighs, and almost refuses on principle. But she knows that she needs to share more things. So she takes a deep breath and bargains, "I'll tell you while we start baking." Vilde purses her lips as she thinks it over but then agrees and hands Chris a rolling pin, grumbling at her to stop eating their beautiful creations. While Chris is rolling out the dough, Sana gets handed a mug of tea by a winking Noora and she decides it's better to get this over with. So she starts talking about how Yousef's come into the shop a few times and then ends up telling the girls the whole story.

"Wait," Noora interrupts after a while. "You're going to a wedding with him?"

Sana nods.

"But it's not a date?" Vilde asks. "Like, you're his date to this wedding but it's not a date date."

"Right."

"What?! Why would he ask you to go to a wedding if it's not a real date? You don't take a friend to a wedding. Weddings are super romantic."

Sana's phone chimed again and Noora laughed. "Yousef again?"

Sana looked down. "Yeah, he has to get fitted for a lilac suit because he's in the wedding party, and he's not happy about it." When she looks up, the girls are all smiling at her and she realizes she has a dopey smile on her face. She coughs, trying to change the subject.

"I really hope he's not leading you on, Sana," Vilde says. "That's not okay."

--

Yousef agonizes for a while, and then decides he has to try and come clean with someone. He goes to tell his mom that his girlfriend is actually fake because he feels guilty about how she keeps smiling at him and ruffling his hair. It goes like this:

Yousef walks into the kitchen while she's putting away clean dishes and clears his throat gently. "Hey, mom, I just wanted to say something, you know about um my girlfriend-"

"Oh, honey, you know I'm just so happy for you. I wasn't going to tell you but I think you've been different lately, less stressed maybe and I'm just so happy that you've found someone who you feel so comfortable with that you're bringing her to a family event." She looks over at him with slightly teary eyes and Yousef just opens and closes his mouth a few times, before giving up. "Sorry, sweetie, what did you want to say?"

Resigned, he says "Um. Just, that I'm excited to introduce everyone properly." Then he walks back into his room and drops, face down into his pillow.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON 13 DECEMBER: KAFFEBRENNERIET

Somehow Yousef gets Sana to agree to help Yousef shop for a new dress shirt, and he needs to go to the wedding suit place to check that his lilac suit fits properly. The fact that they're making plans to hang out on an afternoon feels like a date, even though Yousef knows in his heart that it really isn't. He waits for Sana at KB, having a sandwich and chatting with Even who is wearing a Lucia crown in honour of the day. Even gives him a lot of strange looks, and wiggles his eyebrows a lot during their conversation, but Yousef doesn't understand why, or what it's supposed to mean. He buys himself and Sana some drinks, and when Sana shows up they head out into the snow.

They start with his fitting, and then head toward a fancy-ish department store. Yousef gives Sana control over his shirt and tie choices, and she seems to immediately know what she wants and picks out both items within 15 minutes. It's all very impressive. Sana then drifts over to the jewellry section while Yousef pays, and he can't help but notice which necklaces and bracelets she lingers over. Once they've picked up everything they'll need they go for dinner and then Yousef walks Sana home. All without ever touching on the elephant in the room. Or any hint of awkwardness because of said elephant. A part of Yousef wants to ask why Sana was so quick to agree to pretend to be his girlfriend when she seemed to give up on them as a couple a few months earlier. Maybe her mom really didn't approve of him. Or maybe his struggle with his religion was just too much for her. But he doesn't know if he wants to hear the answer.

FRIDAY 15 DECEMBER: SANA'S PLACE

When Sana gets home from school, texting her mom for help with a hijab style she thinks she wants to try out for the wedding, Even appears and demands details. When she looks at him questioningly, he whispers "Details, from your date with Yousef. I need all the deets, Sanasol."

Sana blinks at him for a while, and can't help but sigh. "There are no details, Even. It wasn't a date."

Even frowns, "But.."

Sana shrugged.

"What the hell," Even exclaims.

Sana's mom calls for her from the kitchen, and Even pats her on the head before going back into the living room.

Sana heads into her room and pulls out her prayer mat. She's starting to feel nervous about spending a whole evening pretending to be his girlfriend so she prays, revelling in the habit and the normalcy, and hopes that she'll gain clarity. She's nervous both because it might be really awkward, but also because they've gone back to kind of flirting with each other so easily that it might not be awkward at all. She doesn't really know which would be worse or what each possibility might mean.

Her mom comes in as she's securing the hijab, fiddling with the back, even though she can't see it, and sits on her bed, looking at her with a thoughtful expression. "So, you and Yousef are going to a wedding.." she starts, and Sana sighs. She'd had to explain the whole thing, but her mom hadn't believed that it wasn't a real date. "Sana, you remember the conversation we had-"

For some reason, even though she doesn't think that she and Yousef are ever going to be together like that, Sana decides that she needs to just ask her mom to trust her in this. She doesn't want to hear a repeat of that conversation they'd had. "I remember, mom, you don't want me to be lonely in a relationship so you think that it would be harder if I marry someone who doesn't have the same kind of faith as me. And I've thought a lot about that, really a lot, and I don't think that's true for me. Whenever Yousef and I have talked about Islam, I don't feel like I'm having to explain myself like how I feel with the girls sometimes. I know he understands me, even if he believes differently or expresses his faith differently. He gets me. You know, what is important to me is marrying someone who has the same values as me, who respects Isak and Even and who respects me, and not just someone who says he believes." Sana stops for a moment and realizes how she'd just blurted out what she wanted to say to her mom those months ago when she should have. Now, there's nothing going on with her and Yousef at all. Trying to backpedal, she says, "I mean. It doesn't matter, nothing is going to happen-"

While she's talking, or ranting really, she realizes that maybe she needs to muster up the courage to actually tell Yousef how she felt and still, apparently, feels. To see if he feels the same, officially. So she can properly move on if he doesn't feel anything. Even though her stomach turns at the thought, she knows she can't just keep flirting with him and pulling back, and then flirt more, and pull back again.

"Sana, sweetheart, I was going to say that I think I was too rash in my advice. I think that your faith is so strong, and you are so strong in yourself, that whoever you deem worthy will be the right person. I would never have married someone I liked at 18 but I know you are mature and I shouldn't dismiss your feelings."

Sana goes into the kitchen for some air, and of course there is Yousef, making tea. He makes her a cup, smiling sweetly at her. Adam comes in to help, and Sana realizes when he keeps looking between her and Yousef that they're completely silent. For once they're kind of awkward around each other, and she doesn't know what that means. She mumbled out a thanks for the tea and then runs back to her room and hangs up the hijab, pulling on a big hoodie.

After the boys have left, Elias begins to worry that something's wrong. Sana's fidgeting on the other side of the sofa, something she never does. Then, suddenly Sana starts talking, more like ranting, and Elias' stomach drops.

"That was really weird, Elias. Was that not weird? It's like. He flirts with me on and off, he sent me all these cute memes on facebook. And then he lied about the vodka to protect me. And -" she doesn't really want to go into further detail. "And now I'm going as his fake date to a wedding. What does he want? What am I doing?"

Elias just looks at her for a moment. "You really like him, don't you? Like, you genuinely like him."

Sana looks away. "I don't know. I guess. I- I shouldn't. There's no point, anyway. He doesn't like me like that. Not after all this time. And we're too different, that's-"

Elias sighs. "I thought he was more into you than you were into him. I didn't realize, or I would've stopped this whole thing."

Elias is woken up at 7 the next morning by text messages from Yousef in increasing levels of panic, which end with "she's literally my soulmate and I just asked her to pretend to be my girlfriend and i messed up our friendship but she's my soulmate. your little sister. what is life. what do i do now? how do i fix us??? how do i ever impress a girl who was my pretend girlfriend bc i'm a mess and a coward??" Elias sighs and texts back a supportive "just tell her the truth, idiot. just ask her out for real" text before he turns over and pulls the sheets over his head. He's not awake enough for this yet.

SUNDAY 17 DECEMBER: METIN AND AMELIA'S WEDDING

Before the ceremony, Sana is introduced to a bunch of Yousef's relatives and she chats with his mom for a while, because she hasn't seen her in awhile. During the ceremony she sits behind Yousef's family, while Yousef stands next to Metin.

When Yousef walks up to her after the ceremony, Sana brings up how lovely the wedding was and Yousef agrees which makes her wonder how he sees his future wedding. So she asks.

"I'd definitely want something like this," Yousef says, shrugging. "As long as the person I'm marrying wouldn't think it was blasphemy, you know. I might not feel totally comfortable saying I believe, like I did when I was 13, but I'm realizing that's partly me being too much in my head you know? Even helped me a lot with that, we've talked a lot about religion and stuff since we started talking again. And I've started going to the mosque, I don't know if Elias told you? I realized that I can question some things within my religion without fully rejecting it. After all, I grew up muslim and it's felt strange to just completely back away. I don't know, maybe it doesn't make sense to you."

Sana's looking off at the other end of the room where the bride and groom are talking to their parents. "No, I get that. Maybe you wouldn't expect it from me, but I do question things, too."

"So how do you fully accept that?"

Sana sighed, looking over at Yousef. "You're asking me like I have all the answers."

Yousef shrugs. "Sometimes I think you do."

Sana laughs. "Wow, Yousef. I really don't have any answers. But the way I know islam is as a religion that thinks every single person is worth the same. So, therefore it doesn't matter if you're gay or if you're a man or a woman. It just matters that you're a good person. That you try to be good to others."

Yousef nods, smiling. He doesn't say anything, just looks into Sana's eyes for a long moment, which both unnerves Sana and gives her massive butterflies. Sana slips away to the bathroom, and once in there she stares at herself in the mirror for a while. She had expected some awkwardness, or for her or Yousef to slip up and say something that showed they weren't actually dating, but the whole night had gone by without any awkwardness. They've laughed with his relatives and danced and laughed. When Yousef's aunt asked how they got together, Sana smirked at Yousef and told the story of how he flirted by criticising her carrot peeling skills and the whole table laughed as he blushed. In the end, it's awful because it's not awful at all. It feels normal to be at this wedding with Yousef, and everyone seems to believe that they're actually dating. Sana even feels like she did in the spring, when she genuinely felt like she could go on to marry Yousef. But now she really doesn't know what to do. She rejected him for what she felt were the right reasons, but she's realizing that she was probably just scared to fully commit.

THURSDAY 21 DECEMBER: KOLLEKTIVET

Because Sana's turning 18, and this is going to mean a giant family affair, the girls plan a nice, chill party for her a few nights earlier, gathering the balloon squad, Jamilla, and Jonas and the boys in the Kollektiv for some food and celebrations. They tell Sana to come over for dinner, and maybe neglect to mention the fact that it's going to be a party. The look of joy on Sana's face when she comes in and sees Jamilla and Elias joking with Eskild and Isak, and Mutta flirting with Chris in a corner, is totally worth the secrecy. They've put on a vegetarian feast with only non-alcoholic drink options and a dessert table, with a Tupac cake as the main attraction, but they hide it in the fridge until they sing happy birthday.

As the party is winding down, Yousef walks over to Sana who is talking to Chris and Mutta, and asks to talk to her for a second. Sana hasn't really talked to Yousef since the wedding, apart from a few texts. They head outside, because there's nowhere else to get away from their curious friends. So, they're standing in the snow, and Yousef steels himself before he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a little box.

"Happy birthday," he says, looking nervous.

Sana opens the box and inside is the rose necklace she'd seen when they went shopping the other day. She looks up at him, brows furrowed. "Yousef, this is way too much."

He rolls his eyes. "It's really not. I wanted to get it for you. And I wanted to apologize for the whole wedding date thing.I- Honestly, I just jumped at the chance to spend more time with you. Because I think you're amazing, and extremely out of my league and I think you know by now that I can't flirt like a normal person when I'm around you. Still, I shouldn't have asked you to be my fake girlfriend when I want you to be my real girlfriend. That's not cool"

He looks over at Sana who's gaping at him, with slightly watery eyes which seems like a terrible sign. Sana swallows. "You shouldn't apologize. I- I think, even before, if you had asked me to be your girlfriend I would've said yes. I've been scared of our differences and what that means but my feelings haven't changed, Yousef. I do like you. Too much, probably."

Yousef kind of feels like crying himself but he looks away for a second instead, thinking and gathering his courage. "I never said anything, because it felt like a lot but. You really make me feel like I'm a strong, capable person. I never thought for a second that we would fight about our differences because we had deep conversations about islam from the beginning and I never felt judged."

Sana hums and takes a sip of her coffee. "I think I kind of got that, but maybe we just weren't ready. We're older and more mature now. At least I am." She smirks at him, then looks away. Yousef bursts out laughing, mostly because the relief he's feeling has him floating.

"But it's. Elias once asked me if it's better to have a guy who says he's muslim and believes in Allah or if it's better to have one that acts like a muslim, and I think the answer is pretty obvious."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Yousef can't help but grin and Sana grins back, the two of them stood on a street in the middle of Oslo in the freezing cold, snow swirling around them, just smiling at each other like idiots.

[iamacolor]

Welcome back to Norway, Acar

This is for the wonderful @savedbythespell for the @yousanaexchange secret santa! This is a Persuasion AU (the jane austen book) that I've wanted to do for a while and decided to finally start for you Anisha! Turns out it was a bad idea because it ended up being 26 pages and 5 chapters long which isn't easy to write when you have a lot of school work. So it it feels a little clumsy and rushed at times, I apologise. I'm a bit sick as I'm posting this so I also apologise for any spelling mistakes or mistakes of any kind. I love Persuasion and Yousana so I just hope I did right by them in a way. It can be read as a continuation of canon rather than an AU.

I’m so happy I got Anisha as my giftee and it was so much fun sto send you questions and I just hope you’re going to love this as much as I love the idea of it!! <333

- Sana ? Sana ? Can you come please ? With a sigh, Sana stands up from the sofa where she has been trying to read for the last hour to go check on her nephew. As her parents have moved out to the country to take a break while their apartment is being renovated, Sana is staying at her big brother's house with Jamilla which is why she is baby sitting now while they are out for dinner. Because although she does have a job -hence why she couldn’t leave Oslo-, she still lives with her parents. She never thought she’d stay with them for so long, she never thought that, at 27 years old, she would be a grown-up living with her parents while everyone else that she knows is independent. But Sana is the first one to know that dreams don’t always come true and that you have to accept what life gives you and make the best of it . She’s past the time when she thought that fighting and complaining could make any change in her life.

She opens the door to the bedroom to find her nephew sitting in his bed, eyes wide opened with furrowed brows. - What is it, sweetheart ? It’s really late now, you should be sleeping. - Something is troubling me and I can’t rest ! She chuckles at the way her nephew speaks. He loves to read and has started to speak in a more « grown-up manner » to make himself more  « likely to become a hero ». « What’s troubling you ? », she asks. -Well, he replies, you know that dinner that Mama and Papa went to ? I think I know why they didn’t bring me and I feel bad about it.

Although Sana would very much appreciate it if no mention of this dinner were made ever again, she answers « Uh uh, what is this reason then ? ». Her nephew looks up at her as she sits on the side of the bed « You know that the neighbours invited Mama and Papa because their cousin has come to live with them ? » Oh, she knows ! She knows with every fibre of her being that Maria’s cousin is in the apartment on the other side of the entrance door. She’s painfully aware of it. « Well, I think that maybe they didn’t bring me because yesterday I broke a vase, remember ? And so they didn’t want me to meet the cousin and make a bad impression because I don’t behave well when they are too many people around me because I get excited and also Maria said she was making a chocolate cake and I love chocolate cake ! I just wished I could have told them how well I was going to behave and how the cousin would have loved me ! Don’t you think he would have loved me ? »

« Who wouldn’t love you ? You’re the best little boy on the planet ! » And the cousin loved kids anyway so of course he would have loved her nephew, he was so good with kids she remembers. « The real reason why they didn’t bring you is because they’re going to be out until late which is not good for a little boy so don’t you worry any more and go to sleep now. »

She closes the door behind her as she leaves his room, wondering how it was possible that the sound of her heartbeat didn’t put him off sleep even more as it seems to be banging as loud as a drum in her ears. Sana leans on the wall repeating to herself that it’s no good to be so affected by the simple mention of him-without even his name said out loud !-, that it’s all in the past now and that there’s no point in her being emotionally compromised by something that happened so long ago and probably means nothing to anyone (especially him) any more. She goes back to reading her book, focusing on getting her mind off of the dinner happening on the other side of the building. She scolds herself for reading the same sentence ten times as she was picturing the laughter and conversation around the dinner table, as she was picturing him, smiling, laughing, talking...She tosses her book aside and turns on the television, getting lost in a random episode of a random tv show where people’s life are at stakes and much more complicated than her own plain one.

It happens the next day. The thing she’s been dreading and - although she would never admit it to herself- expecting for years.

It’s around four in the afternoon when Sana , who is playing with her nephew in his room , having picked him from school after work, hears voices in the living room. The unexpected voices, one of whom is her brother’s, peak her nephew’s interest and he drags her into the living room. She barely manages to grab her scarf and wrap it quickly around her head with her free hand before they find her brother and two men standing in the living room. She hears the man on her brother’s left greeting her warmly but she barely manages to answer anything else than a weak hello without even looking in his direction. The man on the right is taking up all her attention . He hasn’t changed much, she thinks. Different haircut, different outfit but same eyes and face and height and hands and stance and everything else. She suddenly feels smaller face to face with him. It seems surreal that he could be here, in her brother’s living room. Handsome and wonderful as ever. Standing in front of her, looking at her as though he had never met her before.

Yousef. Her first love . The one whose heart she broke. 

Read the whole story (yes the whole 5 chapters mess of it) on AO3

Side-note: the girls squad isn't in this fic because it was too complicated for me to make them fit into the persuasion story so let's just imagine that they're away for work or something but still very much great friends. 

also realistic timeline? don’t know her? 

lots of details not explained properly? I know her.

[skamlessly]

Since carrots have become an over arching theme in this season, I had a head cannon pop up and it goes something like this:

(set during Skam hiatus week)

Sana ends up walking home a different path than she usually does because she doesn’t want to take a the chance that she might run into Yousef on her way back home. Sana ends up walking straight into a dead end street that houses a garden full of vegetables. She’s lost because she’s never seen this street or this garden before. Sana notices that there are a lot of carrots growing in this garden and walks into the garden and towards where the carrots are. Then what she does next is stomp on the carrots taking all her anger out on the poor plants. She ends up yelling all the things she wants to yell at Yousef at the plants while she stomps the life out of them. When she’s finally done and has let everything out she feels a bit ashamed. She looks around to make sure no one saw her outburst. She knows what she did was wrong and makes a promise to herself to comeback tomorrow and plant new carrot seeds because she now feels guilty.

(maybe she’ll comeback with Yousef to plant them **winkwink**)

I just thought of this because of all the carrots we’ve been seeing this season and thought it would be a funny scene to see Sana beat the shit out of some carrots. And now because of the last clip I honestly think something like this could have happened.

If anyone wants to actually wants to write this out feel free to do so just link it to me so I can read it as well.

[salengedusmiler-blog]

Watch your favourite Skam characters open their advent calendars together with their friends. 24 days of more or less Christmassy friendship and couple fluff!

[stressedoutteenager]

Happens Every Time

A Yousana AU in which they grow up together and are friends. However, the older they get the more complicated their friendship gets. 

(inspired by this music video)

Part 1 also on ao3.

There was always one constant in Sana’s life.

Her brother Elias.

Of course her family in general was always there but with Elias it was different. It might be because he’s not much older than her; it might be because he somehow always just knows how Sana feels.

And with her brother there comes another person into the picture that is almost always by Elias’ side.

Yousef Acar. Her brother’s best friend since kindergarten.

Wherever Elias is, Yousef will be there too.

And that place happens to be the Bakkoush’s house on most days.

This way Sana didn’t just grow up with her siblings, but also with Yousef.

-

When Yousef met Elias for the first time on the first day of kindergarten, he couldn’t have known that Elias will become his best friend. He couldn’t have known that he’d spend most of his days with him at his friend’s house.

He also couldn’t have known that he’d spend a lot of time not only with Elias but additionally with his sister, Sana.

-

On Sana’s 6th birthday she was surprised by Elias with a basketball as a gift. She was so happy about it that she almost cried. While Elias prided himself because he had saved up a bit of money he got from his grandparents to buy his little sister a present, Sana was really grateful but she also knew that he didn’t come up with it all by himself.

Sana knows that because a month before her birthday Sana, Elias and Yousef were in the living room watching a cartoon show and when there was a commercial break, Elias went to ask the oldest Bakkoush sibling if he wants to join them. That left Sana and Yousef alone and they attentively watched the commercials. One of them showing a kids basketball team for some kind of detergent advertisement. Suddenly Sana’s eyes had lit up and she sat up straight. Without talking to anyone in particular, rather talking to herself, she had said: When I’m older I’m going to play that.

-

On Sana’s 6th birthday Yousef was invited to her birthday party. Her whole family was there, all of them that lived close enough and Yousef and his family.

His mother had bought and packed a present for Sana before he could even suggest something. It was funny to Yousef, he didn’t even see Sana for the first half hour he was there because her family was all around her. Only in the hallway, when they both wanted to go to the bathroom at the same time, they met and Yousef said Happy Birthday.

Sana thanked him with a toothy grin and seeing her like that made him insanely happy. Yousef couldn’t really say why that made him so happy but he didn’t think about it much either. The chocolate cake waiting for him in the living room with his mother concerned him more.

Until the doorbell rang and Sana left him standing there to go run to the door and open it. He watched as Sana’s face lit up and she jumped up a little, making her hair bounce, as a boy and his parents came through the door. Sana’s mother arrived at the door seconds later. While Mama Bakkoush was greeting the neighbours, Sana had already gripped the neighbour-boy’s arm to drag him to the living room excitedly.

Yousef found himself frowning for a second but since he didn’t really understand why, he had shrugged and walked into the bathroom with the thought of chocolate cake that awaits him in a bit.

-

“Are you going to join us?”, Elias asks Sana while eating breakfast.

“What are you up to?”, their father asks, looking from his younger son to his daughter.  Sana looks at him wide-eyed because she has no idea what her brother is talking about.

Elias doesn’t mind though, he looks at his dad and explains: “Yousef and I wanted to meet up at the park to play football.”

14- year old Elias likes to think he is really mature and almost an adult anyway so he can take care of his sister when they are out together. Even if it’s just the park around the corner.

Sana tilts her head slightly and scrunches her nose up in thought. She wants to go to the park but she doesn’t feel like playing football.

“I’d rather play basketball.”, Sana answers.

Their parents just watch as their kids communicate silently. Sana just looks at her older brother, letting him know that she would come anyway and Elias nods, understanding.

They end up taking a football and a basketball with them, promising to their mother not to play on the street until they get to the park.

“Don’t be too late. Be home for lunch.”, they are reminded by their dad from the window, who is watching them walk down the street.

Once they arrive at the park they see Yousef sitting on a bench close by. He is rolling a football up and down with his foot and seems preoccupied until Elias shouts his name.

Yousef’s head snaps up and a full-blown grin breaks out on his face when he sees his friends. It’s Sunday and since he was at a football-tournament all day on the previous day, he hadn’t seen either of them.

“Hey!”, Elias says at the same time Sana says, “Hi.”

“Hi, guys. We should get going. Two boys are already at one of the goals, we have to get the other one at least.”, Yousef rambles quickly, picking up the ball and holding it with both his hands. The last couple of minutes he tried to make sure nobody got their usual spot but he also wanted to wait for Elias.

Elias is quick to start running towards the football field, if it can be called that, but Sana stays behind. She dribbles her ball once and twice and looks around for someone that could play basketball with her. Before she finds anyone, she hears Yousef shout out her name.

Turning to where his voice comes from, Sana sees him walking back towards her, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“Aren’t you playing with us?”

“I want to play basketball.”, Sana answers with a small smile.

Yousef’s own smile falters for a moment. Not for long. He gets distracted when Elias calls out to him. Sana and Yousef both turn to look at Elias. He’s waving them over and when he understands Sana won’t come he shouts that she shouldn’t go far. Yousef nods in agreement and then turns to Sana once more.

“See you later.”

“Have fun!”, Sana calls after him. In that moment Yousef is glad he’s not facing Sana and instead is walking away because he’s smiling like an idiot.

They spend a lot of time at the park. It’s a sunny day and they’re having fun. That’s why they almost forget that lunch is a thing they need to have and that at home. When Elias notices he tells Yousef and they stop the match they’ve been playing against the two other boys there. After that the two best friends walk a few meters behind each other, throwing the balls to each other back and forth.

“I’m so hungry!”, Elias grumbles and misses the ball, almost getting hit right at the head. “Where’s Sana? Mom said we have to be home for lunch.”

Yousef is a tiny bit taller than Elias and tries to use that height to find Sana faster. He knows she has to be somewhere close.

“There!”, Elias says, pointing into her direction.

Yousef is not a hundred percent sure but she seems to be playing with a familiar boy. A boy that is around a lot.

“Elias, is that your neighbour?”, Yousef asks, pointing in the direction where Sana is dribbling past the boy. An uncomfortable feeling spreads in Yousef’s stomach. It only gets worse when he sees Sana smile broadly when she scores and turns to the boy to tell him.

“Yeah, Harun. He’s at our school too.”, Elias answers. “Good that Sana wasn’t playing alone.”

Yousef can’t seem to look anywhere but at the two playing basketball. That uncomfortable feeling doesn’t go away but he figures that he’s just hungry.

-

Yousef ended up staying at the Bakkoush house after lunch and since Elias’ mother called his mother there was nothing to worry about.

“Listen to me, I know I’m right.”

Sana is facing Elias and Yousef who have built a front against her. Both boys with their arms crossed over their chest. Sana feels like rolling her eyes. Just because they are a bit older and taller than her, they think they know everything.

“But we’re older.”, Yousef says with a smile he can’t push back.

“Yousef, I know that I’m right.”, Sana argues, now also crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Sana, you’re not.”, the boys say at the same time and proceed to high-five each other for that.

It doesn’t even matter what they are arguing about. To neither of the three. Small banter like this is just part of their friendship. All three of them have been spending a lot of time together and are comfortable around each other by now. It just feels like Yousef is a part of their lives, as if he always has been.

That uncomfortable feeling in Yousef’s stomach from earlier that day? Vanished.

-

“Where’s Yousef?”

Elias doesn’t even look up from his Gameboy he loves more than most things. “Went home.”

Sana just nods, knowing her brother doesn’t see it. Yousef almost never goes home before saying bye to her. He’s her friend, after all. She suddenly feels very exhausted. But she was at the park for a lot of time today, she thinks.

Closing the door of her brother’s room Sana goes into her own room and immediately goes to bed.