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criminalskies · 8 months

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The Aaron Hotchner Mega-masterlist. Part 1/?

Hi!! I wanted to make a sort of recommendation list for some Aaron Hotchner writers in this gorgeous community and what makes their work so special in my eyes. Please note this list is not exhaustive by any means. If you would like me to add you or your work to this list, please just fire me a message and I'll run through your masterlist or fics to see what you're all about <3

please note, this is a way to support writers on here. So play nice.

@honeypiehotchner - (K) an extensive masterlist, mixing fluff, smut and angst or hurt/comfort, they use the most stunning imagery and descriptions to really make you understand how reader's feeling in each moment. She never writes hotch out-of-character, able to make him sound exactly like himself, no matter how far off-canon the story takes place. The dialogue always feels like real chemistry between real people. I also adore how they write hotch x autistic!reader. Such a beautiful understanding and patience and love between them. I really enjoy K's ability to show how thoughtful & considerate he is of his lover's needs. mostly fem!reader fics, some gn!reader. K's masterlist.

@show-your-fangs - (A) does an amazing job of writing Aaron's mental battles with himself as he moves outside of his comfort zones. She can orchestrate such a sea of emotions in every scene I read, and I can never pick out even one word in the entire fic that seems out of place. Not only can she beautifully capture every shift in emotion or thought process throughout these fics, but jesus christ can she make Aaron Hotchner the sexiest motherfucker on earth. The scenes feel so natural and just ooze raw sex appeal. Marvellous work, not every piece is linked in this masterlist but i highly recommend giving her blog a good old search.

@hotchs-big-hands - (A) doesn't have many works currently released, but oh boy do we get quality over quantity. Her three part series 'what did you call me?' is stunning. She takes her time to really make me feel what the reader is feeling and it's so easy to step into reader's shoes. Not to mention that she manages to infuse suave and sexy into every hair on Aaron's head. Every step this man takes seems to leave me breathless because he is just so smooth and sure of himself, but simultaneously we get a glimpse of the war going on in his head. Most works are plus!size!reader (female reader) but some gn!reader works as well. A's masterlist.

@greg-montgomery - (Fay) can make a splinter in your thumb feel like a warm cozy blanket, every domestic or blissful or lovestruck situation you can dream of with Hotch has been written, and made to feel like hot cocoa on a rainy day. She does a gorgeous job of writing a brief, fleeting moment with him like it's something you'll remember forever. Fay's masterlist.

@ssahotchnerr - (Katie) has a beautiful way of melting readers hearts with the softest little moments that can be shared between two people. Whether Aaron's changing your tyre or building your a bookshelf, the tiny little details can make it feel like the most heartwarming thing a man can do. She really captures that certain unplaceable Hotch quality in every single scenario Katie's masterlists.

@reidersspencer - (Miso) is always a breath of fresh air, her fic ideas are creative and fun, she is very active, always working on several hotch fics/blurbs at once. Miso responds to every request within days, having produced something sweet enough to make you prediabetic, she does a fantastic job of keeping hotch, well, hotch, with just that extra sparkle in his eye as he looks at reader. Miso's masterlist.

@slutforsilverfoxes - (she/her), I truly think sf2 could find inspiration in a glass of water. Her fics are so original, and she has a way of making sure the dialogue never feels forced or unnatural, and the chemistry is thick in the air between her characters. You can always see just how reader and aaron became drawn to one another, she's always able to make me envy just how much our star-crossed-lovers have in common. She's able to make every character's actions seem deliberate and measured, and the imagery adds so much depth to her scenes. slutforsilverfoxes' masterlist.

@canuck-eh - (she/her), wrote some of the most beautiful, delicate, authentic, raw hotch fics I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Some of her works are as long as 20k words, but not even one of those words is wasted. The most beautiful characterisations and imagery. Hotch never feels out-of-character and these fics deconstruct him so well, giving you a beautiful look inside his mind. Please note, this account no longer writes for hotch, as of right now. So please do not run to her inbox asking for more. But I promise you, her masterlist is enough to sustain you for a lifetime. Canuck’s masterlist.

@montyfandomlove - (Mon) does a gorgeous job of making your wildest fantasies come true. Her response to every request will both melt your heart and make your pussy throb. Mon writes Aaron as both smooth and sure of himself, but also sensitive and self-conscious. She can use any situation to bring that old man to life, making him feel younger and more carefree in the process. Mon's version of Hotch feels so true to himself, and don't we all love him that way? Mon's masterlist.

@hotchs-bitch - (T) does such a beautiful job of breaking my heart. She has a real talent for building angst until my eyes well up. She writes so realistically about Hotch's struggles and triumphs with love, but also the happy little moments in his life with you that make it worth living. Lovely characterisation of the man himself. T's masterlist.

@chateauhotchner - (Andi) also loves to break my heart and make me cry. But, the angst is so beautifully tragic. Wonderful imagery and she's even been capable of making me want to smack my favourite man in the world. Andi's masterlist.

@hotchs-babygirl - (Zeina) can always capture the thoughtfulness and gentleness of our Aaron Hotchner. Makes me want to squish his silly little cheeks and stare into his big shiny doe eyes forever. Zeina's masterlist.

@alluring-andrayav - (Andraya) this girl likes to not only have Hotch break my heart but also stomp it into smithereens and spit on it in the process. Levels of angst I can never quite recover from but it's done so well I can't bring myself to hate her for it. Andraya's masterlist.

@whiskey-bumblebee - (Hannah) loves to give me cavities by making our man so sweet and beautifully himself. Hotch-in-love is a different beast, and one that Hannah captures really well. Also, some sweat-inducing smut here and there that I cannot fail to mention. Hannah's masterlist

@honeybrowne - (she/her) manages to write the very best and worst parts of dating aaron hotchner, having the most attentive, thoughtful, considerate boyfriend is of course a pleasure greater than words can say, but at the same time, he can only ever give you half his time and he tends to eat away at himself for it. A great cross-section of this man. honeybrowne's masterlist.

@hotchscvm - (Neens) writes some of the most carefree, caution-to-the-wind, sexy aaron we all need sometimes. But she also doesn't miss when she writes the soft moments between you two, the little things that make you fall in love with him (and get butterflies). Neens' masterlist.

@dudeitiskarev - (Cat) does such a fantastic job of creating whole worlds in each of her stories. She paints the most beautiful pictures of her scenes with each word, I never have trouble getting a crystal clear mental image of what's taking place. That's not to even mention how well she sees right through the many layers of Aaron. note that I believe cat is retiring from writing for Aaron but please cherish all of her works, they are gorgeous. Cat's Masterlist.

@masterwords - (Angela) has written hundreds of thousands of words about our Hotch, although most of her works are for hotchgan (hotch x derek morgan). In the years she's spent writing for these two, it is clear she knows both of their minds even better than her own. Every single romantic situation/scenario I can cook up in my imagination has already been written in completion by Ang and it is just amazing. Even if she breaks your heart, she'll usually put it back together even better than before. Angela's masterlist. (this is the hotch-only masterlist, the hotchgan list is here)

@ssahoodrathotchner - (Andi) writes the most feel-good fluff, if you just want to hold aaron in your arms or have him look at you oh-so-longingly, snuggle up nice and warm and read some of Andi's work. Mostly gn!reader <;3 Andi's masterlist.

@angelhotchner - (Marl) I do NOT see enough people freaking out on the daily about these works. An awesome range of gn!reader & fem!reader both sfw & nsfw. Like, reading the titles of these fics alone should clue you into just how stunning most of these works are to read. I highly highly recommend a deep dive. Marl's masterlist.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Again. There is definitely still two hundred blogs I want to add to this list, and I will as time goes on add to this because the talent and love and passion being poured into loving on this man is so staggering to me. I hope you've found at least one blog on this list that you maybe didn't know of before, or that it's a reminder for you to check out some writers you already know of.

If your name made it on this list, please know I adore you. If your name didn't make it on this list, please know I probably still adore you, and I will almost certainly get there in time. <3 I really just want an excuse to tell a bunch of writers why I fell in love with their work, so! if you have another writer in mind, please just drop their username or info in my inbox and I will get to work.

#Rome's recs #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotch hotchner #fanfiction #aaron hotchner fanfiction #TALENT #RAW TALENT #come and see 'em!

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dark-elf-writes · 8 months

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Round Four! I think? Either way! Excited! Let's gooo! Chapter Twelve and Thirteen!!

-(“Cub, your homework isn’t stupid just because you don’t understand it,”

“No! It’s stupid! Why do I need to know this?”)

As a grad student, this is such a fucking mood, Jesus Howard Christ is this a mood!

-(“I’m sorry, daddy. I was bad.” )

NOOOO BABY YOU WEREN'T!!!! Hugs! That baby needs cuddles, forever! It makes me so sad when kiddos say things like that.

-(They absolutely did not have a thing for dark haired antisocial disasters of men, )

Oh so we're just lying to ourselves now🤣🤣gotcha! Hizashi is already half in love!!!

-(Harry nearly collapsed as soon as the kids turned the corner like a puppet with the strings cut, pressing a hand to his lips to muffle the sob that threatened to break free. )

OOOOF the world is really crashing down emotionally here. Beautifully written, absolutely heartbreaking to read!

-(They coughed, not having expected the taste. “Is that pumpkin ?”)

Not gonna lie, pumpkin juice sounds absolutely disgusting! I don't like pumpkin anyway and that's just 🤢

-(“You don’t even know what he looks like.”

“Your siblings would tell me. If they didn’t I just have to see who they’re trying to murder and I’ll have my answer either way.” )

Accurate! Brilliant! Part of me hopes we get to see it!!!

-(He snorted. “And you call me a disaster.”

“You proposed to me by throwing a half filled out marriage certificate at my head. You are a disaster.”

“You’re the one that signed it.” )

HAHAHAHAHAH todignareuidmkdsajlhg To this day, this is one of my favorite EraserMic moments. I've read a LOT of EraserMic and this is top three moment for me!!! They are both disaster gays and I love it!!!

-So I love the breakfast scene so much. I'm a total sucker for soft family moments and this is just 👩‍🍳💋. Like the image of Harry holding a sleepy Eri is absolutely precious and couple that with Teddy making himself into a baby EraserMic jdkgahfnjkjdlsagh. Mind meltingly adorable. And it's beautifully paired with the harder moments.

-FLEUR HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING GENTLELADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND GENTLETHEMS!!!! Love her character here! The overprotective sister vibes are strong and perfect! Shovel talks are always so fun! Especially when there is the chance of actual fire and the full capability to make them disappear.

-Yuuga is so heartbreaking here. And the moment they just break when they see their cousin, who truly loved them and wants them. ♾️/10 You have written this such a smooth way and you get so much character development.

-(Maybe family didn’t have to be something painful after all. )

jkegalkngfdjckagh7ruiaghjodlag😭😭😭😭😭 Oh sweet child!

-THE ENTIRE END NOT OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Especially the gay panic!!! OH MY GOD Actively cackled at it!!

I'm still loving this as long as you're okay with it! I LOVE THIS FIC and want to continue screaming about it!!!! More tomorrow ❤️❤️❤️

I’m so glad that a quick throw away joke about the Erasermic wedding was so widely liked because it was the funniest and most fitting thing I have ever thought of for them. Just shouta fill sending a partially filled out marriage license into Hizashi’s face is incredibly Them Energy.

#the elf talks #mha #bnha #harry potter #who saves the savior #wsts #I’m loving this #forgive if I am incoherent I’m like half alseep

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vvatchword · 2 months

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In Which I Get Zooted (and Talk about Paradise Lost for some reason)

I am reading Paradise Lost again. Jesus christ it is so good. The first time I read it I had to get used to Ye Olde Englifh Poetic Conventionf and didn’t do very well. Fortunately, I read lots of early modern English in the distant past—it’s like a language I’ve mostly forgotten. That means that repeated exposure has reopened the prose to me. Eventually, I’m going to have to pick up a book about John Milton himself, because there are definitely some alien theological and historical points whizzing right over my head.

I don’t know what it is about Paradise Lost. Reading Dante was painful outside the Hell part… Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress makes me want to kick him in the pants. or die (Dante’s cuntiness goes a long way, that said)

But like every time Milton writes a Satan speech you just wanna do a fistpump. Just the most conniving, fascinating character. Every other fucker in the “good” section pales by comparison. Hell—I’ll just say it: all of the devils are beautifully written. They feel like real people. Half of the time, you’re nodding along with them, and there’s a point where you have to kinda look over your shoulder at Milton, like… buddy do you have any idea what you are SAYING.

The way that everyone talks about Paradise Lost, you’d think the whole goddamn text was about Satan. It’s not. Three of the ten books focus on Satan. All the others are about the war in heaven, Adam and Eve, or the Fall. Look here: if all we had were the books about Adam and Eve and God’s tried-and-true, this would still be great literature, but it’s greater because the stilted, proper characters clash against what are supposed to be our villains. We are literally being forced to ask the question: WHY do the devil and his minions sound like the people we’d rather know? If Milton’s God were real, I’d be straight-up scared of him, okay. I’d be in the “shit shit shit I hope he doesn’t see or think of me ever” camp.

Fun fact about Paradise Lost: people got mad at it for presenting the devil so well. They assumed that Milton was pro-devil somehow. This is because people have been bad readers since the beginning of time.

Milton is not pro-devil. He’s fallen into the problem that everyone has with writing God, which is: we have to explain why life, an extremely chaotic dumpster fire, is actually according to Divine Plan by a Big Guy Who Loves You! (Really!), but the more you try to explain the Plan the more you have to explain why God isn’t doing X or Y, until finally you have so many asterisks that essentially your religion is *teleports behind you*

So not only can no one read, no one can admit the real problem: how fucking shitty god and the angels are by comparison, and how they are, by all rights, being written correctly.

See, how ELSE could Milton have written God et al, that’s really the question. He does his best, and he’s very, very good at it. Look, I’ve read a LOT of religious texts over my life—and across the board, God is represented this way. CS Lewis wrote some wildly enjoyable fiction, but every time Jesus or God has to show up without the handy-dandy Aslan mask, everything stutters to a halt.

There are even points in the story where Milton has to tell you why what a devil is suggesting is sinful. For example, here’s the devil Belial giving his suggestions for how to deal with God now that all the devils are in Hell. So far, he has suggested not acting at all: God’s power is not only great in strength, it is great in cunning. He cannot be tricked; he cannot be beaten. So why not just wait it out? Don’t poke the tiger. Maybe the tiger will show mercy someday, if the devils don’t get used to the pain eventually:

“This horror will grow mild, this darkness light, Besides what hope the never-ending flight Of future days may bring, what chance, what change Worth waiting, since our present lot appears For happy though but ill, for ill not worst, If we procure not to ourselves more woe.”

Uniquely among the other devils—Moloch, Mammon, Beelzebub, and Satan all speak in this Book—Belial gets an addendum.

Thus Belial with words cloth’d in reason’s garb Counsel’d ignoble ease, and peaceful sloth, Not peace.

I can just imagine Milton reading it out loud to a friend and then that friend saying, “Hey, that Belial guy has the right idea!” and it’s like the tenth time that Milton has read this to someone only for them to look at him like, “Yeah, why not?” so Milton grumpily flops down at his rustic table with a quill and he’s grumbling about how everyone is a fucking idiot since he most clearly counsel’d IGNOBLE ease, and peaceful SLOTH, not PEACE, fuck thee, Thomas, thou slipshod bastard

In sharp contrast to Belial, Moloch—the first speaker—suggested fighting God until he just erased the devils from existence. Which is, you know, a mood.

It’s like the only way that you can represent god in fiction is as a one-dimensional cardboard cutout. The religious are terrified of judgment even while writing him and every time he shows up he’s boring and constipated. Of course we like the devil better: he’s more likely to give us a fair shake. God would fucking crush you like a beetle in slow-motion, ensuring you felt every pang, and he’d talk about how great he was the entire time he did it, and how he loves you, actually. Oh he loves you so much. There went your liver! Juiced. with love

So well are the devils written—so sensible, so motivated, so grounded—that the final devil to speak comes out of left field. Let me set the stage:

So far we had Moloch—future child-eater—suggest eternal war, with the aim of dissolution; Belial, who’s just like, why not chill and let the future bring what it may; and Mammon, who expands on that with “let’s actively seek ways to enjoy ourselves, altering everything around us until we form a world that meets our needs.” All of these devils focus on the pain of Hell, the loss of “bliss” (which I’m assuming is meant to imply both feeling and place: painlessness and Heaven, specifically), and the disgusting idea of returning to God, who they abhor.

Beelzebub brings up the idea of finding Earth, one tiny little planet that God made with a special creature called Man, and fucking around with it.

I had gotten so into the devils’ speeches—I was very zooted—that I had to do a double-take and then run back to re-read them.

“Bub, baby,” Belial should have said, “what the actual fuck are you talking about.”

Perhaps this is only me, but I couldn’t help but think of the vastness of creation, and the absolutely miniscule goal that the devils chose for themselves. The devils fell for nine whole days and nights, and Earth supposedly lies past dangerous voids and environments past understanding. It’s a big step down: go from fucking with the Creator to the Created, and not just any Created: some dumb human babies.

It’s the first break with the devils’ characters, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

to be CONTINUED.....

#vvatchword #paradise lost #vv zootin #reading #literature

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daylander1000 · 1 year

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Thank you so much for posting these chapters. I have no idea what you were talking about when you said we should keep our expectations low. This was absolute perfection and surpassed any expectations I ever had. Rhaena and Beala’s Picknick was so beautifully written, you wrote Beala perfectly and I loved her spontaneous haircut moment which will explain whatever that was that she had on her hair in the last dinner episode. You created such chemistry between them and really brought across the feel of how they have grown estranged yet are still familiar with each other. I loved everything they said about Deamon, that was such an accurate portrayal of his motivations. My favorite part of their dialogue was Rheana roasting the Strong boys like grilled chickpeas like Jesus Christ that was so satisfying to read thank you for including that. On another note their conversation made me cry when they talked about Leana and again, you really understood the assignment. Her letters were so heartbreaking to read and everything the twins went through because of the blacks made me so angry. Them plotting together was awesome and the plans they came up with seemed very logical and plausible. I officially became a Beala fan the moment she said she planned on killing Daemon. I would pay so much money to see that.

Maegora the cat was so cool and Rheana’s take on how the blacks younger dragons are stunted was so good.

And oh my god AEMOND!!! Adult Aemond is so amazing and I loved how you showed how different he is from Daemon through Beala’s eyes ( I hate it when people compare them ). I swear, your take on Aemonds character is better than any other I have ever seen. Your Aemond is canon now. I love him. He seems to human and I just love him and Rheana together. He’s such a sweetie and you actually give him a personality unlike most fanfic writers. Him telling Beala what helps Helaena with her moonblood was so sweet I love love love him. He would be such a good husband to Rhaena, please let them marry and band together with Beala, Veamond and Leanor and the greens against Deamon and the blacks.

Honestly, I will probably reread these chapters a dozen times over, if this were a book these chapters would be the ones I’d annotate with with five different colors because they’re brilliant in so many different ways. There were so many phrases that made me giggle or want to cry and they were all so wonderful.

You absolutely DESTROYED team black in these chapters. My brain is now filled with Aemond and Rhaena and all I want is to see them talk and be happy together. Thank you so much 💚💚💚

Thank you!!!

Idk, I kinda hate it still, but it's there. Lol thank you (and everyone) for reading! It is zero fun to just have chapters in draft mode that no one's read. Idk, it's like, I get ambitious sometimes and start things on impulse, and then I have Editor Me who's just like "This is shit!!! Delete!!!" so yeah, the feedback is really nice. Thanks for staying with it after a 3-month wait and for reading a 20k conversation with no complaints 😹

Team Black is fine! I have destroyed no one. Lololol. 😅 I didn't want to make Rhaena a "hater," but they went out of their way to have Rhaena voice that she felt neglected. Are we assuming that her relationship with Daemon improved with the addition of a stepmother and five boys? They went out of their way to have Laena say out loud that she was a placeholder wife, that she was unhappy in Pentos, and they sat down and agreed that "kill this bitch with fire and have celebratory funeral sex on her grave while the ashes are warm" was how they were going to treat Laena. It's too in-your-face to ignore, and in light of that, I just couldn't write Baela as "Yay, lemme go risk my life fighting for my stepmother. Marrying Jace is peak goals." I was literally unable to write that. I want to do happy shipping, but it's also a fix-it fic.

Daenerys, Sansa, Arya, Brienne, Asha, Cersei, Catelyn, Margaery and Olenna didn't exist and do schemes and burn shit down just for Rhaena and Baela to stand in the background like invisible elevator bellboy people saying “Wine, my queen," while being married off to randos. Nope.

I just want them to be on the same page when it comes to destroying their enemies. If their in-canon enemies happen to be the bulk of the characters on Team Black then 🤷🏾‍♀️ 😂 Rhaena's just sort of giving Baela the hard sales pitch to join a side that's not Team Black or Team Green but a third, secret two-woman operation like

Thank you for liking my version of Aemond!😊 He's a ton of fun to write.

To be fair, he doesn't have a ton of personality in the show. He and Aegon have a little bit more meat on them than the other kids, but they're mostly just there. Like 90% of these hotd characters are just 1-d stick figures with wigs on imo. It took me three months to figure out a personality for Baela that made sense. 😭 Like, on one hand, you're doing a fanfic and anything goes, but on the other hand, like I'm always worrying about what's ooc?

I'm going with "Teenage boy who was raised by a knight templar and his sister-mother. Used to be a nerd. Had a glow-up but is still a nerd. Wants to be a jock but doesn't really like sports. Is considering his career options."

I have no idea why the Daemon comparisons are so popular. All the Targaryen men have the same "Draco in leather pants" look. Daemon's been living his life one 10-year exile at a time and Aemond's a post time-skip baby. The first time he's even meeting his uncle is during his eye-gouging incident.

I mean, is this the face of someone looking for a role model to emulate or someone making a kill list?

Daemon actually did very little during that scene. He's really just standing there spectating for the most part. And then he and Rhaenyra exile themselves to Dragonstone for 6+ more years. Why would Aemond care about Daemon?

I honestly just think Martin and the writers (and half of the fandom, I guess) believe that Daemon is so cool that all the young kids in Westeros have Morally Grey Rogue Prince™ collectible action figures, (dead wives sold separately).

I sort of assume it's just a thing from F&B where Daemon wasn't banished from King's Landing and was around doing a ton of cool shit while Aemond was growing up???

In swhhw, Aemond's only interest in Daemon is killing him.

I wanted Rhaena to sort of just have a hypersensitive "I'm allergic to Targ bullshit" reaction to Aemond because she's been on Dragonstone for years and needs time to decompress, while Baela has the more objective stance, while Aemond's mostly just sort of offended that she's comparing him to her deadbeat hobo dad.

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amrv-5 · 5 months

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T R H for ask prompt :))) happy holiday <3

HELLO LIVV and HAPPY HOLIDAY!! wishing you continuing safe travels...!!!! Also this is so fucking long I'm so sorry. It was the writers question. It got me................

T: Any fandom tropes you can't stand?

Heh. I have a distaste for anything that -- this isn't a wildly common trope, notably, just one I see on occasion -- anything that portrays Hawk as helpless / passive. I think he gets fandom-ified sometimes into somebody who Needs Saving (and given some canon events, like, I Get It), but part of why I love him as a character so terribly much is his ridiculous scrappiness. He really doesn't take mistreatment / his situation / even his own negative emotions lying down. Guy's a fighter, even when he wishes he wasn't, and I don't really gel with fanon takes that leave him without some degree of agency in action (with the notable exception of him being literally drafted).

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

[sickos voice] YES!!!! HAHAHA!!! YES!!!! I'm sure I've said some of these before, so sorry for repeats, but addition of fanwriters makes this particularly exciting yaaaay okay.

Non-fanfic: Well. God. Sorry for the particularly cancellable white-male-loquaciousness double-whammy of Thomas Wolfe and David Foster Wallace. Always chasing Wolfe's sort of deeply poetic, emotional, very sensitive way of writing--how reflective he is, his insane force / presence on the page, and some other intangible quality that just makes me go "jesus fucking christ I have felt exactly this, how did he put it into words" every other page. Makes me insane. As for DFW, well, sorry again -- get a lot out of that sort of grounded intellectualism-feel in his writing (we can argue about its value / veracity forever, but push to shove it really works for me as a reader).

Uhhh Vonnegut obviously, so much so that I almost feel like I don't need to say it 'cause I'm always transparently in writing trying to be even 1/100 as funny, sensitive, and useful in my cynicism as him.

Virginia Woolf!!! Man to render somebody's internal state of being so so vividly. I think I clearly ripped her off in S2G2 ch4, but my god how can you Not she's brilliant. Following from that Alison Bechdel because, talk about your intellectual prose. Man. Can I say fucking Voltaire without anybody getting mad at me. Sorry. Candide novella ever and probably the only thing that will get me through learning French.

Now. Fanfic authors --

First and foremost, cleanwhiteroom, wherever they are. I got into Pacific Rim late, but Designations Congruent with Things is genuinely one of the most meaningful texts I have in my life, fanfic or no. Insane. Brilliant, intellectual, warm, approachable, funny, wildly original. Also, Parker lore, 80% of the reason I was a physicist until I wasn't.

Uhh I can't possibly list everyone in MASH right now, but a quick skim -- Granspn (brilliantly written and beautifully imagined), yukiawison for skillful inventiveness and tackling exactly the themes I always want to see, yaroantheo for the just. MAN!!! the so-well-rendered warmth and depth of feeling and kindness in Homecoming, Remyfire's grasp of physicality and vivid tangibility, gayfranzkafka for really effective formatting play, raven/singlecrow for a Hawk I'll never forget. I am CERTAIN there are others, these are just top of the head.

And, maybe a surprise contender given that I don't talk a ton about BCS -- jimmymcgools does things with landscape and light that make me fucking nuts. I've gone back and just stared at their descriptions of place, light shape and quality, land, etc. -- master at work fr.

H: How would you describe your style?

I do not think there is a single question I could possibly be less objective or accurate on LMAO. My first thoughts in order were: Bad (nonspecific and too mean to Parkers Past), Sprawling (this seems accurate), Concerned With Realism (not actively ATTEMPTING it, notably, but -- concerned. I am Concerned with Realism. Feels true). Melodramatic but maybe not with as much pejorative sentiment as the word usually carries. Verbose. I try to gesture in the direction of comedy? In general summary: Freakin' weird, dude.

#THANK YOU LIVV these were fun!!!!!!!#love writer questions.... yes... yes...#ask game

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arainmorn-art · 1 year

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Do you like ciphers? I love a good hidden message and mysterious paintings, i really like how you set it up in deciphering, it's partially what drew me in to the comic, aside from your gorg art and funny&heartwrenching dialogue so. I was wondering if you liked mystery stories in general, what would be your favorite ones? Owo

Are you that mysterious person from DeviantArt who tried to decipher the canvas and Morse code sketches? If not, hi anyway! If yes, hello, dear!

The name of a last code type you asked about was really hard to track down because of some translation issue. I thought it was a cipher of the Knights of the Rose Croix, but Google was so confused it couldn't give me anything besides this next to the actual Rose Croix cipher, apparently.

And now I'm confused too, so let's make it easier and I'll show you the decoder. What is SPRC cipher Google doesn't know either.

And yes, I like ciphers, but before writing Deciphering I couldn't thought where I can use them. Now I know I can implement them into drawings x)

It's a little bit funny how I found out about ciphers outside of adventure and mystery movies. It may not look like this now, but in 2012-2014 I was pretty devoted fan of My Little Pony G4. I was 20 and went to Czech Republic to attend the pony convention Czequestria 2014. There was a quest, we split into teams and a part of it was to decipher little texts. It looked some gibberish and I couldn't thought what to do with it, until my teammate, a local guy Vojtech, took the paper sheet - and god damn recognised every type of coding was used. He was mumbling under his nose: "Ah, it's Caesar's one. Alright, rotate 4?.. No, it's rotate the alphabet 3 times". I was mesmerized. And you know what? We were the only team who finished this part and got the first place winning the quest - and all thanks to Vojtech! :)

Only a year after I've watched Gravity Falls - and still haven't figured that out how and where could I use ciphers.

And oh hell yeah, I love detective and mystery stories! As much as I love good romance stories, mysteries are my favourite genre. Isn't that the first reason a lot of us played Ace Attorney? It was mine for sure, besides being bored and wanting to play something silly. I didn't know ANYTHING about gay lawyers until I've launched the game last year.

What are my favourites, uf, that's a tough question.

I absolutely loved Endeavour TV series, watched 3 seasons in a row, and I should return to it. The main character is also so sweet, his large translucent blue eyes inspired me to paint Pheenie's eyes that way.

I also love The Silence of the lambs movie.

In terms of books I really love Alan Bradley's series about Flavia de Luce, the first part is called The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Flavia is a 12 years old genius chemist and the youngest daughter living in a manor with her father, two older sisters and several servants - and around her always happen murders. I like Flavia so much, I called my cat after her. She is so charming, funny and quick-witted, cynical and in love with chemistry, interested in poisons, graveyards, decomposition and, well, solving mysteries. It's really funny moments when adults are trying to hide her from corpses, but she leans in to investigate no matter what. She reminds me of Wednesday Addams, but still in a very fresh and entertaining way. I love a combination of sweet and jesus-fking-christ in one story, but it's mostly really sweet and wholesome. And, gosh, it's written so beautifully!

I also can recommend Daniel Pennac's La Saga Malaussene, first part is The Scapegoat. It might be not my favourite, but it is unforgettable experience for sure. The main character is an older brother of 10+ little siblings and the only adult, every one of his little ones are just a tiny bit magical, which makes the story a bit with magical realism. It also contains a combination of sweet and brutal, like Flavia, but here the contrast is even stronger. And the brutal murders, ouf, make the wholesomeness shine even brighter.

Woah, I feel like I should stop for now. Such topics make me really talkative, and I should go back to work. We can continue later, my inbox anywhere is open ;)

#ask #my post #detective #book recommendations #mystery

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thelastofustvficrecs · 11 months

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Summary: "Jesus fucking Christ, Joel," he said.

The man twitched. Blood spurted so far and so hard that it hit the ceiling.

Joel sighed. "Bastard deserved it."

Something burned in his eyes, distant and furious. It was probably the seventh circle of hell that they were going to.

(Or: Tommy and Joel, and the Boston years.)

—TW: violence

Favorite line(s): Joel who was stood in the maelstrom of his own grief, who was so hard and so brittle that Tommy felt like he might splinter if he dared to reach out and touch him. Until he wasn't: until someone pulled a face or said his name funny, and suddenly he was burning. That was Joel, at least back in Texas. The razor edge between cautious and careless; turning the fruit over and over to check for bruises, pressing so hard he created them.

Why I love it: Gorgeously written, this fic explores the way Sarah’s death impacted (better verbs are ruined, twisted) Joel with aching, unflinching honesty and depth. Truly a great read if you’re looking for a medium length character study on Joel and Tommy that’s more gritty and realistic in tone.

Summary: In the aftermath of leaving St. Mary's Hospital, Ellie trusts Joel. She gets one of the biggest surprises of a lifetime.

—TW: none

Favorite line(s): "Joel, Joel—you're being serious, right? You're not fucking with me?" Ellie questions, wide-eyed with awe. "I'm really going up into… the sky?" His hand gently lands on the top of Ellie's cap smushing her ponytail. "You might not be able to go into space like you wanted…" Joel fondly looks her over, "but you'll be closer to the clouds than you have ever been."

Why I love it: This fic is a wonderful depiction of a soft moment in Joel and Ellie’s relationship that feels grounded and possible and easy to imagine. Truly a great read if you’re looking for a short story that is pure, happy fluff.

Summary: “He is worried about you, but he didn’t ask me to watch you. I wanted to.”

“Why?” Ellie asks bluntly.

He shrugs. “Joel’s not so good at, this stuff.”

“What stuff?”

Upon returning home, Tommy finds out he shares a past with Ellie. It’s unfortunate, how the past is never really dead.

—TW: discussions of David and SA in Tommy’s past.

Favorite line(s): Ellie’s head is tipped like a puppy’s, waiting on him to make the next move. Her brows are pinched, eyes small, glaring at him in the bright light. Her sense of betrayal feels like acid when it hits him. Joel told him not to, and he only got barely an hour with her before he did.“It was for a reason. It was… He told me… Because—” He can’t. His words stumble and he can’t express himself, even though he has to or else her face will be stuck like that, forever mistrusting and afraid.

Why I love it: Beautifully written, this is an entirely heartbreaking yet hopeful, and respectful, foray into discussing Ellie and Tommy’s experiences with assault. Truly a great read if you’re looking for a short story that centers Tommy and Ellie’s relationship and packs a punch.

Summary: She gapes at him like a fish. If he had a camera, he would take a picture.

“You think I’m pregnant?” she asks, horror increasing in her voice. “I just had my period last week! You got me chocolate!”

“No, dumbass,” Joel replies. “I don’t think you’re pregnant.”

Ellie falters. “Then why…”

Jesus, he can’t help but think, taking a deep breath. “… Do you know how someone becomes pregnant?”

Or: Joel tries to teach Ellie about the birds and the bees.

—TW: none

Favorite line(s): “I’m not an idiot, Joel,” she pipes up. “I don’t think Tommy kissed Maria and a baby blasted out of her vagina through the power of love.”

Why I love it: Genuinely sweet but also thoughtful, this is a wonderful look at how the birds-and-the-bees talk might go down between Joel and Ellie. Truly a great read if you’re looking for a short story that’ll make you laugh.

Summary: Joel hasn't walked this much in years.

He ignores the pain until it catches up with him.

—TW: none

Favorite line(s): Ellie’s trying on stoicism for size, but it doesn't quite fit. Joel can still see their memory haunting her, more often than not. The glazed-over look she sometimes gets that she shakes off when she catches him looking. It never works as well as she thinks it does. Joel's too familiar with it not to recognize the signs of a memory eating you from the inside out.

Why I love it: Beautifully written, this story is set after episode 5 and features the burgeoning relationship between Joel and Ellie in a way that is touching and grounded in pitch perfect characterization. Truly a great read if you’re looking for a short story that deals with Ellie taking care of Joel despite his best attempts to push her away.

#the last of us #fanfic rec #fanfiction #fic rec #the last of us hbo #tlou fanfiction #tlou fic #fanfiction rec list #the last of us fanfiction #tlou fic rec #fanfiction recommendation #weekly fic rec

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morikotto · 1 year

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initial thots on pickman's model (cabinet of curiosities ep 5)

the dialogue is REALLY stilted and unnatural. mister art teacher infodumps all this shit about the competition on the art students who should have already known about this as a medium for the audience at the very first chance

i don't know how much of this is ripped straight from lovecraft's story and how much is new stuff the writers put in and i'm not interested in subjecting myself to lovecraft's godawful writing to find out. i adore the cosmic horror genre that's built up around his writings but the stories themselves are actually fucking awful and poorly written

every single conversation involving the other art students is so unnatural and stiff it's actually painful. the actors aren't very good and the dialogue itself isn't all that coherent. it's honestly giving me 'high school play' vibes.

is ben barnes trying to do an accent???? he should stop immediately

we cannaht let sympathywywywwy... or altrwuyisym... shieyld us from finding the truths of this weyeld....

this is bouncing between 'decently unsettling atmosphere' and 'campy gothic horror parody' so fast i can't get a read on anything

i would buy the art prints though. those are the only thing i like about this episode so far and i ADORE them

pickman's actor is chewing the scenery like it's his last day on earth and he's determined to go out with a bang

ben barnes' character is incomprehensible so far and not in a good way. he's got no clearly delineated characteristics or archetype; one minute he's a pretentious artist, the next he's a wide-eyed student, and the next he's a smarmy asshole. if there was any indication that this was a deliberate character choice i might have been into it, but it's coming across as just really muddled and difficult to parse

like art is subjective and all but the pieces we saw as set dressing are a hell of a lot more impactful than the last supper parody

beautifully shot and lit as always... love ya work del toro

as always, the dramatic silhouette leadups are so gorgeous and unsettling and then the reveals are super anticlimactic Zombie Woman What Hasn't Cut Her Nails type shit. can we PLEASE get a cosmic horror movie monster that looks like something OTHER than a zombie for once in this fucking lifetime jesus fucking christ i don't want to be stuck with spanish-english b-movie DAGON as the only decent cosmic horror for the rest of my mortal existence

the way we got one scene of will in his gf's room and then she isn't mentioned again until he shows up and has a freakout at her party halfway through the episode and ONLY THEN is it revealed that it was some important meet-the-family type deal and she was actually his gf and not a fling??? lmao please develop your character relationships more this is actually sad to see. if it was important it should have been mentioned before, potentially in one of the scenes where all the art students sit around and talk at each other like an AI training other AIs to recognise human speech. also the way she immediately recognises that something is off about him and then after he starts having a serious freakout just, like, decides that actually he's a drunken asshole and berates him for it? this isn't normal human behaviour?

'i don't even recognise you anymore' will's gf says, to her pretentious artist bf after he turns up exactly once to a party having a freakout

?????????????????

the writer of this episode is an alien who has only learnt human behaviour through dogblood soap operas

i wanted to like this episode so bad because i kept hearing about how good it was and how creepy and lovecraftian it was but it appears that it's only lovecraftian in that it showcases all of lovecraft's failings (aside from the obvious); namely, the parts where he had no idea what 'reasonable human behaviour' looked like and the parts where he was interminably boring and insisted on over-explaining everything

GOD THE PACING IS SO BAD

the snippets of conversations about art movements we keep getting are more akin to 'so there i was, bbq sauce on my titties' than any actual normal human speech

also they all seem to start with 'xyz says abc movement is worthless!!! what say you, ben barnes?' as if ben barnes giving his opinion on art movements makes for interesting cinema and doesn't sound like the writer has no earthly idea about art movements and is just making grandiose statements about movements they looked up on wikipedia

[pretentious yet horrifyingly general statement about art movements that can be related back to social commentary] im smart like jordan peele

i cannot hear these new joysey accents without having war flashbacks to abridged dartz and his 'we gonna DO heem... we gonna do heem REAL good...'

somebody get takahashi101 out of retirement i want an abridged pickman's model IMMEDIATELY

ugh, the sets in this are delicious

is his wife the gf who got mad at him for turning up to her party and being weird???? what the fuck happened???? i know she's just an Insignificant Female who's Only There To Create Drama but it would be nice if the writers fleshed out the character relationships more. or... at all, really.

UGH THESE SET PIECES ARE DELICIOUS

lmfao is that the sanity loss effect from amnesia? bro...

'you were rude' says will's wife. 'you treat pickman poorly'. will has, at most, only been shown to a) have a quiet word with someone about not showing his work and b) was a bit quiet when pickman came over for dinner and then called it a night early. unless there's some deleted scene where he goes nutso and starts shouting at pickman, this particular argument - like every other interaction in this episode - is completely incoherent

'you're home late, you're barely home anyway and when you are home you're barely there' will's wife goes on to accuse him. this has not been shown in the episode. none of the things she is complaining about are shown in the episode. we have so far seen about five seconds of will's later life and as such every single time anyone complains about will it is COMPLETELY INCOHERENT

SHOW, DON'T FUCKING TELL. I HAVE NO SENSE OF WHO WILL IS AS A CHARACTER, BECAUSE YOU WON'T FUCKING SHOW ME

as fun as ben barnes' head getting sawn off was, i feel like that scene could have been drawn out way longer and been way more unsettling than it was

i LOVE the scene in pickman's basement and the next one in the art gallery, especially the bit with joe. wish we didn't have to sit through the better part of an hour's worth of absolute shit garbage to get there, but silver linings i guess

the wife's reveal was really anticlimactic but the son's reveal was GREAT

the fear of the unknowable and cosmic horror as a whole is really about leaving parts of the worldbuilding and story obscured to represent the main/POV character's inability to comprehend them. it's NOT about leaving important parts of the POV character's development and characterisation out and going 'tee hee i guess it's just unknowable!!!!' or not explaining plot or character aspects that are very important to the coherency of the story as a whole. it's also not about infodumping half the worldbuilding/characterisation on us through exposition

as much as i enjoyed some of the horror aspects of this episode and most of the other episodes so far, they've all really missed the mark on the unsettling aspect of cosmic horror they're all clearly trying to recreate and it's honestly just exhausting to see

edited to add that we never ever ever get a resolution to the party disaster where ben barnes sees his gf's dad and runs away screaming. we just fast forward to like 50 years later or some shit and they're married with no explanation and the fact that ben barnes saw his gf's dad sucking on some woman's titties in a carriage with a gaping head wound the night before the party never comes up again.

#i critique this series more than any given shitty 80s slasher because it's got del toro's name on it and i expect more from him #it's also hyped as a really intellectual sort of 'elevated horror' series and i'm a lot less willing to let things slide #when you're marketing yourself as this slick high-art visual feast with cosmic horror undertones #cosmic horror is also VERY finicky so if you don't hit the nail on the head #which is almost impossible imo #you end up with a pile of absolute garbage #there's no middle ground to be had here

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oviids · 3 years

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pls share some of your spn fic recs 🥺🥺

ok, a few things first:

followers and mutuals who do not have supernatural brainworms, kindly avert your eyes

i don’t normally rec or even read much fanfic any more but this is a CRISIS ok (cont.)

there is so. much. content for deancas out there and i have incredibly high standards, several ancient ao3 bookmarks, can speedread, and want to spare you guys the experience of wading through it all.

i also have a section for spn femslash since I was pretty into that back in the day (sadly a lot less fan content for this :/)

I don’t really like au’s or pure smut (I honestly usually just skim or skip those scenes) so if you’re mainly looking for that kind of thing this probably won’t be very helpful to you. jsyk.

i’m not great at describing stuff but i’ll do my best, i’ll also try and add tw’s when neccesary.

i wil try and keep updating this with any other decent fics i find, feel free to rec stuff too since i’m like 7 years behind.(edit 1/25/21) this is getting looooong so i’m going to start making another list on my spn blog rather than update this one

(edit 1/3/21) since this has gotten pretty long i’ve added rating/approximate word counts and marked my particular favorites with an asterisk.

Dean/Cas fic:

So Says The Sword*** - explicit/85k. FUCK its good...au/time travel where dean is not pulled out of hell by cas and says yes to becoming the michael sword. honestly could serve as an alternative to actually watching the show, if you want to get into dean/cas without actually doing that to yourself.

Fata morgana.* - teen/6k, pst s9 finale. very bela centric and i love it, she finds cas looking for dean in hell.

Redemption Road -misc/600+k. an incredibly long fic from a collaborative writing group back in the day. canon divergent from the end of s6 on, has a cool take on godstiel and the leviathans, as well as the lovecratian mythos connection. ngl when i reread it i only made it about 28% in but imo the casual reader can actually stop around there, the rest concerns a lovecraftian apocalypse that is still good (i think i don’t remember it very well) but not required to enjoy the first half. if you prefer i have an ebook version i can send you on gdrive.

Someone Who's Feeling For Me* - mature/45k, s12. they run into lisa braeden and dean thinks cas is into her while cas thinks dean still likes her. treats lisa way better than the show ever did and the miscommunication is pretty funny rather than annoying.

a turn of the earth - mature/95k. time travel fic where cas from s10 keeps showing up in deans life from a few years before s1 to right before the hellhounds take his soul. slow burn, good character study, and at one point cas punches the dad in the face and it rules.

On the Wings of War - teen/85k, canon divergent s5. dean accidentally becomes the Horseman of War. plays fun, fast and loose with biblical lore, michael has some rights.

Named - mature/95k, alternate s5. EXTREMELY blasphemous in a fun sexy way. manages to predict metatron almost to a T. there’s one major character death and its literally jesus christ, everyone is very sad about it and it sets the rest of the story rolling. an alternate interpretation of cas’ mission to raise dean from hell which had me on the floor. ngl its kind of misogynistic at points, but its from 2010 and tracks with late oughts-2010 spn (sorry anna the author did you dirty here:/).

The Girlfriend Experience - explicit/15k. uhhh i don’t normally rec or even read smutty stuff unless someone i know is specifically asking for it but this has stuff like sam trying to be a good ally and dean thinking holding hands with cas is ‘kinda gay :/’ minutes after having gay sex with him.

i crippled your heart a hundred times - explicit/19k, s8. cas confesses his feelings and dean spends a long time getting his head out of his ass about it. truly hits different after the actual confession, despite being written six years early it feels like its actually what could have gone down more or less if the writers weren’t talentless demons who hate us.

My Roots Take Flight** - mature/125k. reverse au where cas is a hunter and dean’s an angel...OR IS IT???? an alternate retelling of s4. tw for briefly being set in a psychiatric hospital/the hospital being mentioned somewhat frequently throughout the fic, plus more references to torture in hell and heaven than usual.

The One Thing You Can't Lose* - teen/4k.you know those posts about how cas is a super-strong super-tough ancient warrior but he just lets dean tug him around because he likes it? thats it thats the fic.

Hands, From Which All Things Are Built - teen/14k, post s8′s ‘goodbye stranger.’ cas is on the run with the angel tablet but keeps in touch with sam and dean by text, he and dean still manage to be terrible at Actual communication.

Autrement, Danger - or, The Account of an Exceedingly Long Day - mature/30k, post s11. a monster that takes the appearance of your soulmate leads to some wild miscommunications and dealing with years of repression, also dean gets to see cas’ true form which is always cool. tw for non-graphic mentions of underage sexual assault/sex work.

Down to Agincourt - mature/explicit/900++++k, endverse continuation. endverse!cas survives his encounter with lucifer and discovers another time-displaced dean from s7. i’ve only read the two of four parts but its really good, veeeeery slow burn, has a lot of fun oc’s and takes a rather surprising but (imo) entertaining and intriguing turn into Hellenic history and mythology. usual tw’s for endverse/endverse!cas but nothing graphic, it’s actually pretty light-hearted (relatively speaking of course).

Nothing Equals the Splendor** - explicit/8k, THEE finale fix it fic you’ve been waiting for! posits that the entire final episode was just a (very bad and lame) djinn’s vision.

like moses and batman and james dean - explicit/31k, post s8. explores dean’s trauma and internalized homophoba from his technically canon experience with sex work and its impact on his relationship with cas. the sex work itself isn’t really shown in any detail but it’s still a relatively heavy fic.

Crazy Diamonds - explicit/25k, s4/alternate s14. fresh-out-of-hell dean and dean from 10 years in the future are displaced from time and sent to each other’s present.

where the weeds take root - explicit/30k. au where the men of letters kick them out of the bunker and they accidentally move out into the country, get over their codependence and semi retire. featuring chicken coop building, sam volunteering at a dog shelter, gardening, and blissfully mundane domesticity.

No Resting Place - teen/6k. djinn dream fic, switches back and forth between cas’ dream of being married to dean and retired from hunting to the aftermath when he wakes up. tw for brief mention of suicide since, y’know, djinn dream.

any port in a storm - mature/52k. post s8 finale. cas and dean have to pose as a couple going through a rough patch for a case and actually deal with their emotional baggage, cas struggles with being human and metatron is up to stuff.

all this and heaven too* - explicit/7k. in the author’s own words ‘...a love letter to every trans person who ever projected onto Dean Winchester.’ absolutely unzipped me emotionally and theologically, its just. so good. tw for very brief mentions of internalized transphobia/dysphoria.

Because it is* - mature/6k, finale fix it. killing chuck does not bring back anyone back and the winchesters spend a very long time dealing with what they’ve lost, cas and dean SOMEHOW still manage to have signifigant communication issues even after the confession. tw for suicidal thoughts/brief attempt.

Vena Amoris and Other Old-Fashioned Bullshit* - teen/4k, s6. when cas fell for dean it automatically soulbonded/angel married them, shenanigans ensue when dean finds out during the angel’s civil war. funny and actually written back when s6 was airing so cas is still (or at least pretending to be) kind of an OP asshole which is fun.

Rinse, Repeat - teen/3k, s8. angsty character study of cas as he’s reprogrammed and trained to kill dean. not really dean/cas since its just cas’ pov of canon events but its beautifully written and ends with him snapping out of it through the power of love (also now a canon event!).

Emergence - explicit/59k, canon divergent after s11. dean meets a hunter he only recognizes as their friend claire novak’s missing father, but soon realizes he might be the answer behind the mysterious void in his memories and feelings (aka everyone’s memories of cas are completely wiped away for three years).

Cuckoo And Nest - explicit/10k, early established relationship/character study, cas tries to figure out how he fits into dean’s life and space in the bunker.

Build a Home* - teen/20k, canon divergent s12. sam and eileen are cute and turn the bunker into men of letters/hunters hq and everyone but cas moves in, mutual miscommunication issues and pining ensues.

Down in the River - teen/5k, early s8, cas prays to dean in purgatory while sam and dean try to figure out a way to get him out.

Teaching Poetry to Fish* - mature/52k, ?? BC through the entire series/canon divergent s14 and 15. retelling of crucial scenes throughout the shows timeline from cas’ pov, feat. actual fish and poetry.

the minor fall, the major lift - gen/4k, post confession/finale fixit. dean goes into the empty to save cas and runs into several old friends (and enemies).

With the Kisses of His Mouth* - teen/3k, gen later seasons. dean and cas keep kissing by accident.

Remaining Grace - explicit/109k, alternate s6. au where cas asks dean for help with raphael and dean, of course, does. tw for temporary major character death/semi-graphic depictions of alcohol withdrawal.

The face of heaven.* - teen/10k, au, dean is a regular guy and cas is a fallen star (think ‘stardust’, kinda).

Stories Are Made of Mistakes* - teen/5k. newly human cas has trouble getting used to a human body and humanity in general, but still figures out that he and dean are A Thing before dean does.

Hurry Up And Wait - mature/21k, canon divergent s12. a fairyland and quite possibly LOTR related case comes up and dean goes full fanboy, mary is introduced to the wonders of the peter jackson adaptions, many references and comparisons (including between cas and dean’s ‘friendship’ and arwen/aragon). also charle is still alive and has just been doing fairy stuff this whole time.

There Are Many Things - explicit/28k, s9. cas is extremely lonely/touch-starved and trying to figure out this whole human thing, as well as where he and dean stand after being kicked out of the bunker.

It's A Long Life to Always Be Longing - teen/40k, post s11 finale. amara helps dean by putting him in a magical coma so he can finally get some much needed rest and show him possible futures for him, sam and cas. meanwhile sam and cas go on a roadtrip (or several) to find componets for a spell to wake dean up. really good sam and cas friendship, they actually talk about their shared lucifer trauma and stuff.

Non-Photo Blue - gen/2k, s4/5/alternate s5. fifty moments from cas’ memories of dean.

Tall Grass - explicit/57k, canon divergent post series. cas becomes the ultimate plant dad. feat the wayward sisters gang, cathartic character growth, fun oc’s, domesticity, and lots of actual botanical info-dumping.

on vessels - no rating/gen/2k. established dean/cas, cas tells dean about how he used to imagine what it would be like to have him as his vessel.

search for tomorrow on every shore* - teen/11k, post-finale (extremely derogatory). some angels in jack’s new heaven act out and dean gets temporarily resurrected in 2003 and runs into his younger self.

Architecture of the Minotaur’s Heart - explicit/45k, very canon divergent post s1. dean’s new house seems to have a life and mind of its own, while in his dreams he sees glimpses of a world and apocalypse that never came to be and an angel that looks strangely like his mysterious neighbor, cas. loosely inspired by the book house of leaves (which i highly recommend for fans of weird horror).

The Distance Of The Setting Sun - explicit/17k, post s5. established dean/cas relationship, team free will finally takes advantage of cas’ abilities to go on vacation around the world.

diamond star halo - teen/5k, s11. dean lets cas use him as a temporary vessel while he recovers from rowena’s spell, sam is a long-suffering third-wheel.

Make Known** - teen/16k, s6/7. dean struggles to understand how cas could have become his enemy and whether he ever truly knew him in the first place.

blunt little instrument* - mature/1.4k, post finale. dean finally confronts his father in heaven, very cathartic.

my heart a compass*** - teen/10k, post confession. the empty forces cas to re-experience his most regretted moments while dean tries to snap him out of it and bring him home.

A Crash Course in Someone Else's History - teen/11k, s6. cas from the very start of s4 is brought forward in time by s6!cas to distract the brothers from his and crowley’s plans.

The Cuckoo Father - mature/8k, s7 au. the woman who found cas in the river post-leviathans does not marry him bc he was sent to her by god or whatever, but actually identifies him as jimmy novak and sends him back to claire and amelia.

The Dead Dean Clause* - teen/5k, post alt s5 ending. team free will celebrates surviving taking down lucifer by getting blitzed, cas lies to a cop and gets an impromptu driving lesson. title/description sound dark i know but it’s actually very funny and light.

Suck It, Judy Garland - mature/20k, s12 (after the ‘i love you...i love all of you’ episode). cas and sam have to pretend to be a couple for a case and dean is NOT happy about it.

By Daylight and In Dream - teen/16k, s5. pre-dean/cas, dean invites cas to use his dreams to hide from the other angels. tw for very brief mention of a memory/dream of alastair sexually assaulting dean.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven - mature/22k, post-canon. an actually happy (if sometimes bittersweet) heaven endgame written several years ago, though some details are rather eerily similar to the show’s ending.

heaven is a place on earth* - teen/2k. dean’s pov of some of the times cas left him behind throughout the show, and one alternate ending where he finally gets to stay.

I Cleanse The Mirror - teen/20k, alternate s6. dean’s body is stolen by an ancient elemental and his soul has to hitch a ride in cas’ vessel.

an exploration of gender; angelic*** - mature/4k. *oscar isaac voice* lets get into angel gender politics!! aka cas is trans.

Zenith - explicit/33k, s9. after 9x06 an angry witch curses cas with the ability to see supernatural beings and human souls.

La cucina. - gen/3k, alt s9. dean goes wild helping a newly-human cas find out what kinds of food he likes, or the early s9 domesticity we deserved!

Dean Winchester, Cocksucker at Rest***** - teen/7k, post-finale. john and mary finally come over for dinner and john reacts to dean/cas in a rather predictable fashion. SOOOOOOOOO good omg, its so funny and a little sad and very very cathartic. part of a series that has a few other really good short fics.

The Way You Didn't Go - teen/5k, s15. coda to 15.09, dean has nightmares about the moc!cas timeline.

On Drowning - teen/28k. dean saves cas after he nearly drowns, they both try and deal with the physical/mental fallout (aka the fic where thee iconic “you only touch me when you think I’m dead or dying” originates). tw for realistic depictions of drowning/triage/misc medical information.

The Thirty-Six Questions That Lead to Love* - mature/13k. claire has dean and cas pretend to be her gay dads for a case and they play the titular 36 question game, get mistaken for swingers, and birdwatch, among other things.

Assorted F/F stuff:

Deep Breaths* - mary/ellen, au where mary said no to azazel’s deal and let john stay dead, still becomes a milf.

Like Rebel Diamonds - krissy/claire, they become hunter gf’s on the hunt for cas to kick his ass for taking jimmy. not-so-stealth dean/cas as well.

To Ash and Bone - anna/ruby, same author as the previous fic (p much all of her stuff is good from what i recall). au where ruby is a witch and helps anna when she’s cursed.

Holy Clockwork Angels - jo/ruby, STEAMPUNK au with very cool worldbuiilding.

At Day's End - jo/anna (my fucking KINGDOM for more jo/anna content, the dean/cas parallels are allllll there), au where they are both at the camp in the endverse and gfs.

these posts - ok so not actually a fic but i’m now obsessed with this hannah/meg dynamic.

Tagelied - mary/ellen, the true story of how ellen got into hunting before angels interfered.

Hell's Bells** - meg/abaddon, alternate s8/9 where meg survives crowley’s attack with sam’s help and teams up with abaddon (who she has a sk year old crush on) to take back hell.

The Ecstasy of the Rose - anna/ruby, anna travels back in time to escape heaven and becomes a signifigant part of ruby’s old human life.

Angel Underground - anna/jo, kind of an urban fantasy au with a very intriguing premise (sadly its very short, i’d love to see more if this ‘verse).

Clover, Flame - billie/mary, billie was always the reaper that showed up to take mary after her death(s) over the years.

Drag Me To Heaven - anna/ruby, a variant on the ‘last night on earth’ thing with dean.

Come Home* - jo/anna, canon-divergent au where anna is the new waitress at the roadhouse and helps jo set up a (probably not really) haunted house for halloween.

#if you told me i'd be doing this in 2020 three weeks ago i'd have laughed in your face :/#deancas #supernatural #fic recs #spn femslash #destiel #fic #the alie tag #spn posting

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sundaysundaes · 3 years

Text

My Words, Your Thoughts (Teaser)

Lee Donghyuck/Haechan X Reader | Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Smut | Soulmate AU, Friends-to-Lovers AU

Part of the beautiful ‘Aubade’ collaboration hosted by @hyucksie

Synopsis: As an introvert, you are familiar with the silence. Drowning yourself deep in your thoughts has been a habit you’ve become addicted to. Your life begins to change, however, ever since the day you turned twenty. Suddenly, there’s this song that’s stuck in your head, and no matter how much you yearn to hear your thoughts or be comforted by the silence, it keeps on playing. You only get to find the answer to your problem when a young, cute barista hands you a cup of coffee one day, with that song’s lyrics written on the side. And you realize that you’re not the only one who’s been hearing voices in your head.

Warnings: explicit sex, expletives, mentions of physical abuse and astraphobia (not for the main characters)

WC (Teaser): 4k

Release Date: June 27, 2021, 10 AM KST

It’s weird. It’s so weird.

It’s weird that you’ve been hearing this song replaying over and over again in your head when you’re sure you’ve never listened to it before. It’s also weird because sometimes the song sounds like the ones you often hear about on the radio—complete with instrumental accompaniment and everything—but most of the time, it just sounds like someone is humming to it. Sometimes quietly, but more often than not, vehemently like they’re having a concert in the shower, not caring if the neighbors might hear.

As someone who rarely listens to mainstream music, you don’t keep up with the trend these days but the tunes are catchy enough that you think, maybe, it’s one of those Justin Bieber’s songs people always talk about. You’re not fond of it, though, so even if you’ve heard it somewhere in a cafe or a mall, there’s very little chance you’ll be humming it in your head.

And yet, it keeps on playing.

It gets worse when it goes on for a whole day—a whole fucking day—that your brain feels like it’s seconds away from bursting into pieces. It doesn’t even sound like your voice. It seems like it belongs to a male, a bit light and a pitch higher than most. Though it sounds pleasant, the voice is unfamiliar to your ears and that’s what bothers you the most.

Trying your best to escape, you plug in your AirPods to your earholes, choosing one of the most beloved tracks from your playlist—today, it’s Bloom by The Paper Kites—to help you relax as you lie down on your bed. But no matter how many times you turn up the volume—it’s practically turning you deaf, ironically—you can still hear that one goddamn song playing.

“Oh my God,” you groan, projecting a murderous glare at the ceiling of your room before you shriek all of your heart’s content to your pillow. “Make it stop!”

This has been going on ever since your twentieth birthday and it’s been three months since then—three months of suffering, to be exact. Fortunately for you, you haven’t been listening to the same song for those amount of time—God, you would’ve killed yourself if that was the case. The song changes without warning. It can change ten times within a day, or stay the same for ten days. You have never heard of these songs except for the popular ones, and even then, you only ever listened to snippets as they don’t suit your taste.

So… It doesn’t make sense that you could recite the whole lyrics, does it?

And yet, you can.

Somehow, you already know every word, every tune, even every ad-lib in these songs and it both amazes and creeps you out. It’s as if somebody else is singing about it in their mind, and you, somehow, are mentally connected to them.

But that’s surely not the case, right?

With more days passing by, as your brain deteriorates little by little, you start to think that maybe that is the case.

Or maybe you’re just going crazy.

It’s nine in the morning and your eyes are bleary from how you involuntarily skipped sleep last night. With the loudest sigh and your half-charged MacBook sitting still in your backpack, you let your wobbly legs carry you to the nearest coffee shop. There’s a new Starbucks store opening just a couple of blocks away from your apartment and it’s perfect since you’re going to pass it every day on your way to college.

You’re not excited though, not when you have Michael Jackson’s Man in The Mirror playing in your head for the, approximately, thirty-fifth time that day. And it’s only nine in the fucking morning.

When you enter the coffee shop, greeted by a cute Christmas tree and festive decorations spreading all over the place even when it’s still three weeks away from the holiday, you almost weep in joy when the song stops playing in your head. It does happen from time-to-time, sometimes it stops for a few hours before it starts again with the same song or an entirely different one. But in most cases, it only pauses for a few minutes which just doubles the torture whenever you’re trying to concentrate on your paperwork.

“Hi.” You display a timid smile at a female barista, slightly wincing when the song in your head starts blaring again, as expected. It’s still the same song this time—so that thirty-sixth by now, Jesus Christ—but instead of someone humming it, it’s the original version that plays. You’re having trouble focusing on her greeting when the sound of a synthesizer echoes through your ear, stridently so. “I would like a tall skinny latte with a double shot, please.”

“Would you like anything else to accompany your drink?”

Perhaps a gun to blow my head off? “No, thanks. That’d be all for me.”

“Is that for here or to go?”

You take a quick scan of your surroundings. You still have an hour before your first class starts and since the place isn’t that crowded, you figure you might as well just spend some time here. “For here.”

You tell her your name and slide down your card to complete the payment. “All right. We will call your name once your order is ready.”

“Fantastic. Thanks.” As the female barista takes an order from another customer, you drag yourself to an empty seat in the corner of the room, next to the glassy window where you can glance at passersby. You lay your head down on the table, cheek pressed against the wooden surface, lower lip jutting out in weariness. You’re drowsy and you want to think about the snow that’s probably gonna fall sometimes near Christmas’ Day and maybe the sight of a warm fireplace where you can cozy up with your imaginary boyfriend (also known as Jung Jaehyun—that one perfect boy who lives just across of your hallway), but no, unfortunately for you, you no longer have any space left in your brain since Michael Jackson is performing a damn concert and it doesn’t seem like he’s gonna stop anytime soon.

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror…” Great, now you’re singing it. “I’m asking him to change his ways…”

The music in your head abruptly stops again but before you can close your eyes to finally enjoy your silence, a familiar voice chimes in.

“It’s a great song, isn’t it?”

Shocked, you quickly lift your head to identify a male barista placing down a cup of your ordered latte on your table. You swear you recognize his voice but his face doesn’t ring a bell.

“Hi,” he greets, smiling a bit sheepishly. “I don’t usually bring orders directly to the table but I think I misheard your name so I couldn’t call you out from there.”

“That’s, umm, that’s okay…” You hide the bottom half of your face behind your scarf as you’re not used to talking to a stranger, especially one that looks overwhelmingly pretty. “What did you think my name was?”

“Umm…” He rubs the back of his nape awkwardly. “I don’t think you want to know. It was a bit… inappropriate.”

“R-right…” You glance at the cup. “It says ‘Michael.’”

He chuckles but with only a slight hint of amusement in it. “Yeah, sorry about that. I had to come up with something and it was the first thing that came to mind.”

“And it has…” Your eyes widen when you notice the words he’s written on the side of your cup. It’s not a greeting, it’s not a motivational sentence, it’s the fucking lyrics to Michael Jackson’s Man in The Mirror.

“Yeah, okay, so—” Noticing the appalled look on your face, he hurriedly tries to reason out. “I’ve had this song stuck in my head all day long—I just listened to it a minute ago while making your order—and the lyrics are just so inspirational so I decided to write that down. I hope that’s not too weird.” Then he laughs a little, a tad more genuinely this time. “But I heard you singing that song just now. What are the chances, right?”

You swallow hard. He’s been thinking about that song too? Listened to it a minute ago? What are the chances of this is happening? Is he the one whose voices I’ve been hearing in my head—

The male barista abruptly takes a step back, his tray nearly slipping out of his hold. He has a hand pressed against his ear, eyes blinking several times in disbelief. “Holy shit.”

“Excuse me?”

“You—” He splutters, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “I can’t believe it’s real.”

“What?” The way he seems like he’s looking at a ghost sends goosebumps all over your skin. “What is it?”

“Think about something.”

“Umm—” What is he talking about?

This time he gapes, his jaw dropping low. “Holy shit, I can really hear you. Think about something else—think about me.”

“Look, I don’t know you and you’re being weird.” The sudden change of conversation baffles you but when his words sink in, you can’t stop yourself from thinking about him as he orders. He’s cute, his entire features are cute—you’ve noticed that from the first second you laid your eyes on him, but what catches your eyes the most is his lips—the way they’re shaped so beautifully, like a cupid’s bow—

“You’re thinking about my lips? Seriously?” He asks, but might as well splash cold water to your face. “If you said something about my eyes, sure, I mean, they are attractive. One might even say that God Himself took the stars from the sky and put them in my eyes—but my lips? Huh, that’s new.”

You loudly gasp when you’re finally aware of the situation, hands flying to your face to cover your gaping mouth. “You can hear my thoughts!”

“And you can hear mine too!” He points out, and as startled as you are from the previous realization, you instantly frown upon his words.

“I don’t think so,” you reply. “I can only hear—”

“Donghyuck-ah!” Another barista comes to interrupt from the other side of the room. “We didn’t pay you to flirt, come back here!”

“I wasn’t flirting!” He shouts back, tips of his ears reddening. When he turns to you again, he has a prominent scowl on his face which makes you squirm on your feet. “We need to talk about this. My break is in an hour, do you think you can wait?”

It sounds more like an order than a request. “B-but I have a class in an hour.”

“Skip it.”

It takes all the strength in your body to be brave enough to retort back with, “Why don’t you skip your work?”

“I’m already half-done with my work, I can’t bail out now.” He rolls his eyes. Suddenly, his courteousness just vanishes without a trace. “Look, I’ve been hearing your thoughts for months now and I have a lot to complain to you about.”

You grimace. “It’s not like I can control my thoughts—”

“I know, I’m not blaming you.” He picks up the tray, his gaze softening but only slightly. “I just want to complain. You’ve been driving me crazy these past few months.”

You glance away, pouting. Wow, he surely knows how to befriend a stranger.

“I can hear you, you know.” He sighs as if talking to you is exhausting, when it should be the other way around. “Look, I’m sure you’ve been going through the same thing. Don’t you want this to stop?”

You’re not wasting any second. “Yes, please.”

“Then wait for me. We’ll talk this through.” He pivots on his heels, his tray glued to his side. When you can finally breathe properly, exhausted from the social interaction as you sink back to your seat, the barista—Donghyuck—adds, “Oh, as you wait. Can you please stop thinking about my lips? Or just how cute I am in general? It’s sweet but I gotta concentrate so I won’t write another Michael on my next order.”

You slam your forehead down the table, face aflame. “I-I’ll try.”

“Thanks.”

***

“You just can’t stop thinking about my lips, can you?” Is the first thing Donghyuck states out as soon as he’s approached your table. He runs a hand through his brown hair, which looks out-worldly fluffy that you begin to wonder what kind of hair product he’s been using. “Or my hair.”

Mortified, you mumble out, “I’m sorry,” with half of your face covered by your hands. The more I try not to think about his lips, the more I do—shit, is he hearing this too—

“Yes,” Donghyuck says, but this time with an amused smile. “Man, I didn’t know my lips were that appealing to ladies. You’re gonna make me blush.”

Well, he’s making you blush for sure. “Would it be too much to ask for you to stop listening to my thoughts?”

“Believe me, woman, I’ve tried.” He groans, taking his apron off before he sits in front of you. He loosens up his collar, unbuttoning two buttons of his white shirt—which is two more than necessary to your liking—and you have to gaze away before another thought forms inside your head about a certain part of his body.

“Sorry if I came on too strong before. I’m Lee Donghyuck,” he introduces formally, offering you his hand. You reply with your name but you’re reluctant to shake his hand since you’re sure you’re breaking into a cold sweat, and an overly sweaty palm doesn’t really scream attractive—

“It’s literally just a handshake,” he says, stifling down a laugh. “I’m not gonna start judging you about it. You’re cute, sweaty palms or not.”

You nearly choke. “If I can’t ask you to stop listening to my thoughts, can you please be quiet about them?”

“That’s also impossible since talking is an integral part of my charm.” He leans back to his chair. “I’m pretty good with my mouth.”

That was… a poor choice of words, you think, as you stare at his lips and can’t help but wonder what can that mouth do other than talking. You take a bite of the bagel you just ordered, desperately trying to avert your attention.

“It wasn’t a poor choice of words.” He winks. “I did mean that in every way possible.”

This time, you really are choking.

“Okay, so what’s happening to us?” Donghyuck questions, after you manage to shed a tear or two during your attempt in relieving your throat. “Why have I been hearing your thoughts? I don’t even know you.”

“Same here.” You’re still going through a hard time keeping eye contact with him, but with more seconds passing by—and him pronouncing every bit of your thoughts out in the open—the knots inside your chest begin to loosen. “Ever since I turned twenty, I’ve been hearing these songs playing in my head that I’d never even heard of.”

“Never heard of?” Donghyuck snorts. “What, you never listen to Billboard’s top forty?”

You weakly shrug. “I prefer indie music better. Or instrumentals.”

“I would say that you have a soul of an old lady but the way you’ve been thinking about my lips reminds me of my sister who’s going through puberty.”

“Okay, this isn’t fair.” You shake your head, ashamed and tired of being humiliated over something you can’t fix. “Why can you hear my thoughts but I can’t hear yours?”

“Believe me, you’re much better off this way.” His face contorts in pain which makes you feel somewhat sorry if he’s not constantly being an ass about it. Hearing your insult, he notes, “Also, I’d prefer to be called with terms of endearment in the future, if that’s okay with you. Something like Babe or Darling.” The way he raises his eyebrow is just strictly illegal. “And in return, I’ll call you Sweetheart.” But before you can say anything—or run toward a running bus to put an end to this endless humiliation—he questions, “Wait, when you hear the songs I’ve been thinking in my head, does it sound like the original version of the song, or like me singing it?”

Finally, a proper conversation. “If you’re listening to the actual music, I can hear the original song as if I’m hearing it through my headphones. But when you’re just thinking about it, well, I‘ve never heard you sing, but,” you decide to tease him back—which startles you from how blatant you’re being. “From how amateur and pitchy this voice sounded in my head, I think I’ve been hearing yours.”

“Cute.” He scrunches up his nose. “Okay, let’s try again. Can you hear what song running through my head now?”

You stiffen, sitting in silence. After a few seconds pass by with only you exchanging stern stares at each other, your eyes gleam with a spark of hope. “Wait, I can’t hear you. Does this mean it stops? Because we’ve met in person?”

“Sadly no, because I was just thinking about how silly you looked when you choked over your food earlier.” He chuckles to himself and sends you another wink when you degrade him in your head. “Okay, let’s try again.”

“For real this time?”

“For real this time, Sweetheart.” He closes his eyes, holding back a smile when he catches how you flinch a little at his pet name for you. This time, you really do hear him humming inside your mind. “Don’t tell me by words,” he immediately adds, “Just think about them.”

Heaving a sigh, you close your eyes too. I’ve heard this song somewhere.

“If you’ve never heard about this song, I will literally cry and apologize to the world on your behalf.”

Be quiet, please, I’m trying to concentrate.

“Worried that you’d be thinking about my lips again?”

You almost fall from your seat. Almost. Okay, you’re singing to… You knit your eyebrows together as you provide your best effort to remember the tunes. You’re singing to Super Mario Bros theme song?

“Correct.” He taps his fingers to the table, simpering. “This is actually pretty cool. We can be, like, partners in crime or something.”

You shudder. “Please don’t tell me you’re an actual criminal.”

“If looking this handsome is a crime then I am, yes. Guilty as charged.” He makes a kissy face when you think about throwing the rest of your bagel to his head. “You look like someone who writes fan-fiction about their idols having sappy first kisses in your spare time but you’re actually pretty wild in your head, aren’t you?” He loves seeing your reactions, you know that, so you give your all in trying to act nonchalant. “Now, let’s try again. Did you bring your headphones with you?”

You check your coat’s pocket. “I got my AirPods.”

“Perfect. Put them on and play something from your phone.” As someone who’s pretty carefree, he can get serious at times. “Play as loud as you can until you feel like you’re going deaf.”

“I’ve tried that many times.” You nearly wail at the memory. “But it’s hard to drown your voice since it comes from inside my head.”

“Yeah, I know that. I’ve been hearing your thoughts too, remember? Don’t you think I would at least try something like that?” You narrow your eyes menacingly at him but he simply waves you off. “Anyway, that’s not what I’m trying to do. Put them on and you’ll see.”

He’s ordering you around. He just met you and he’s ordering you around. Socializing with people in general already zaps your energy pretty quickly, so socializing with a brat—

“I’ll grow on you, don’t worry.” He smirks and you take a mental note to really learn how to control your thoughts this time.

You follow his lead, as requested, connecting your AirPods to your phone and play something relaxing—because God knows how desperately you need it—as loudly as you can bear. Okay, go try… whatever it is that you want to try.

He smiles and shifts slightly on his seat, facing the window. His eyes glimmer under the light when he parts his lips, mouthing some words—no, singing something that you can’t hear.

Wait. I can’t hear?

Donghyuck glances at you, a grin breaking further on his lips upon hearing your thought. He gestures to you to take your AirPods away and you nod. Vacation Manor’s You promptly fades as his voice enters, and it’s weird because you’ve heard him sing in your head so many times yet it doesn’t do justice to how beautiful he sounds in real life.

It’s almost angelic, the sound he makes, which is kind of ironic for a little devil that he is. His honeyed voice is soothing, almost like the patter of rain on your window at dawn, lulling you back to sleep. You’re no expert in music but to you, he sounds impeccable that you run out of words to describe how pleasant his voice is to your ears. It’s so distinct, soulful—

Donghyuck giggles. “Thanks.”

—and annoying. “Okay, so what happened?” You try to divert the topic. “I can’t hear you when you’re singing out loud, but I can hear it when you’re thinking about a song?”

“I guess so.” He furrows his eyebrows, deep within his thoughts. “I figured it out when I couldn’t hear your thoughts whenever you spoke out loud. I think we can work from this?”

“So instead of thinking about what I have to say, I should focus more on saying what I want to say?” You shake in horror. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“What, you don’t like talking?”

“I’m…” You swallow your breath. “I’m not really good at that.”

“You’re talking to me just fine now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, because you make it so easy.”

“Aaw,” he purrs, a lopsided smile painting his face. “Thanks, Sweetheart.”

“No.” You hold up a hand. “I mean, since you can hear my thoughts, I have no other choice but to speak. Also, you seem like you’re the type who just says whatever that comes to mind without worrying too much about my feelings—”

“Hey, now you’re just making me sound rude—”

“You are rude,” You emphasize. “But it works well with me because then I don’t have to hold myself back and pretend to be somebody else.”

“Why do you have to pretend?” He frowns. “Because you’re afraid people are gonna hate you? Judge you on your words?”

“It’s…” You look away, nibbling on your bottom lip. “I just… I’m trying to be a good person so people will like me—”

“I like you,” he says casually as if he was talking about having a cute Pomeranian as a pet, and there you are, almost fainting in your seat. “I mean, in the last forty minutes I’ve known you, I think you’re great the way you are. You don’t have to be good, you just have to be you.” He shifts closer, crossing his arms on the table, and lays his chin on them, gazing up at you with a soft smile that doesn’t match well with his previous attitude. “Don’t you think it’s great if people accept you the way you are?”

You hurriedly take a sip of your coffee, pretending to swallow even if it’s already empty. “You’re… not so bad yourself.”

“What was that?”

“Okay, well I think I should go.” There’s no way you’re gonna repeat that. Donghyuck titters, taking a hold of your wrist when you’re about to stand up from your seat.

“We still have loads to talk about.” You observe the way his fingers linger around your arm, his sun-kissed skin feels silky smooth against your own. “Why don’t we have lunch together? My treat?”

“D-don’t you have work to do?”

“I’ll make an excuse.”

A barista with the word Jeno written on his name tag walks by and slaps Donghyuck on the back of his head as if it’s something he’s done on a daily basis—probably is. “You’re not going anywhere, asswipe, get back to work.”

When the brunette boy turns to you, he winces. “Or maybe you can give me your number so we can meet up later?”

***

A/N: I’m both nervous and excited for this as this is my first collaboration. Thank you so much, Denise, for having me on this wonderful collab!

#haechan smut #haechan fluff #haechan angst #haechan x reader #haechan collab #haechan scenarios #haechan imagines #nct smut #nct fluff #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct angst #nct 127 #nct dream #haechan drabbles

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fanfic-corner · 3 years

Text

Destiel

It’s my birthday tomorrow, and to celebrate, I’ve compiled a list of my favourite fics! I’ve read a lot of Destiel fics over the past year, but these are the ones that have stuck with me the most. I’ve not put as much detail in as I usually do because otherwise we would be here forever, but I am begging you to read these fics. They’re all amazing.

Kiss You When It’s Dangerous by zoemathemata (@zoemathemata) on AO3. (57,593 words).

It’s adorable. The plot is fabulous. It’s my all time favourite fic. Please, I am begging you, just read it.

Stand By Me by whelvenwings (@whelvenwings) on AO3. (31,252 words).

The first Destiel fic I ever read, and it’s managed to stay with me this whole time.

Angel’s Wild by LimonadeGaby and riseoftefallenone on AO3. (389,271 words).

The pining is unbearable but it’s all worth it in the end. The ultimate slow burn.

The Tea is Decaf by mnwood (@tomhardysteeth) on AO3. (3,673 words).

Cas is adorable. Eileen is adorable. Everyone is adorable.

a turn of the earth by microcomets on AO3. (95,274 words).

Of course I’ll rec the ultimate John Winchester bashing fic. The plot is so amazing and it is written excellently.

the inexhaustible silence of houses by Askance on AO3. (31,820 words).

This was beautifully written, made me cry, and the ending haunts me to this day.

Forget-Me-Not Blues by noangelsinthegarrison (@aaziraphales) on AO3. (68,689 words).

Jesus Christ, I have not read another fic where these two are such blatant idiots. That being said... I love it. Everything about it is amazing.

the cost of a thing by quiettewandering (@wanderingcas) on AO3. (74,198 words).

So cute! All the angst! My all time favourite trope and absolutely the best take on it!

In All Your Borrowed Finery by vanishingact (@vanishingactblog) on AO3. (67,950 words).

Okay this is adorable and you can’t convince me otherwise. Every time I read a fic with Gabriel in, I miss him just a bit more.

Down Like Water by museaway (@museaway) on AO3. (14,512 words).

I reread this occasionally just to feel something. I literally had to check if I misread the tags like 3 times and I cry every. single. time.

Partnered by K_K_TiBal (@thebloggerbloggerfun) on AO3. (28,112 words).

This is so fucking cute. The artwork is gorgeous. And, now I ship Jody and Donna. All round win.

Black Swans by omphalos and Wolfling on AO3. (66,455 words).

Okay so maybe this is more Sabriel than Destiel, but it was written amazingly and the plot was phenomenal!

this is a good thing, dean (prayer is a sign of faith) by cascountsdeansfreckles on AO3. (529 words).

The one time Cas can’t hear his prayers... I had to include a 15x18 fic in here somewhere, and this one set me off.

Purgatory, director’s cut by runsinthefamily on AO3. (23,722 words).

This was beautiful. It felt hypnotic, almost like poetry, and I absolutely cried at the end.

The House on the Ocean Road by coffeeandcas (@coffeeandcas) on AO3. (111,351 words).

This was gorgeous! Dean and Cas as parents was adorable, and Jimmy was such a fucking icon I don’t even know where to start. Also, not the weirdest past Cas ship I’ve ever seen (but it’s up there).

Broadway Musical by Griftings on AO3. (12,453 words).

The King and Queen of the crack fics. I adore the ‘did you fuck the Michael sword’ vibes and the formatting just makes everything so much funnier.

How Many Slams In An Old Screen Door [podfic] by Tenoko1 (@tenoko1) on AO3. (1hr 50mins).

Before we were shoved back into lockdown, I used to listen to podfics on the way to/from school, and this has to be my all time favourite so far. The asexual representation was fantastic, the plot was hilarious, and (as always) it was read beautifully.

When Charlie Met Cas by riseofthefallenone on AO3. (24,666 words).

This has to be thee funniest fic ever written. I don’t make the rules.

Boneless Wings by PallasPerilous (@pallasperilous) on AO3. (4,333 words).

The art is gorgeous (I’d literally just finished watching Pan’s Labyrinth which was terrifying) and it was such a brilliant parody of all the other wing fics out there (not that I don’t love them too!)

Grace by july_19th_club (@july-19th-club) on AO3. (5,164 words).

This was gorgeous and now I really want to see it filmed! It is so much better than the ending we got. I would say the author should work for them, but... frankly, they deserve better.

It Started With a Fanfic Competition by Tenoko1 (@tenoko1) on AO3. (124,487 words).

This was written beautifully. It was so wholesome, not afraid to call the characters out on their usual bullshit, and has genuinely more character development than the entire 15 year long show.

Serendipity by whelvenwings (@whelvenwings) on AO3. (23,891 words).

I absolutely adored every character in this (and thoroughly enjoyed guessing who was going to show up next!) and the plot was fabulous!

The Mute!Cas ‘verse by Princess_Aleera on AO3. (148,656 words).

Oh man. I wasn’t sure at first, but this is now maybe my favourite universe out there. The fluff was unbelievably fluffy, the angst was quality pain, and that’s without mentioning the fact the end had me ugly sobbing. On Christmas Eve.

When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth by Mishafied on AO3. (68,926 words).

Oh my lord, what about this isn’t amazing? The casting was fabulous, the amount of research was obvious and really paid off, and I mean... Jurassic Park AU! It made me desperate to rewatch the films, too.

The Passion of the Christ (and his angelic ex-boyfriend) by Bzzee (@clarafordahwin) on AO3. (4,972 words).

I am going straight to Hell, and it is because of this fic right here. That being said, this is top quality crack and I’ve sent it to everyone I know just for the trip (two of them had never watched SPN. One asked me if Jesus was actually in it).

You Can Keep Holding On by NorthernSparrow on AO3. (352,388 words).

I won’t spoil it, but one of the best plot twists of all time! The exploration of Dean & Cas’ relationship, the detail put into the lore, the foreshadowing... amazing.

Apres by imogenbynight (@imogenbynight) on AO3. (24,045 words).

This was so adorable - Cas and Dean deserved a holiday in France!

I hope you enjoyed them! I’ve really been struck - especially over quarantine - with appreciation for all the writers out there who are giving us this professional quality content for free. I genuinely don’t know what I’d do without you, which is why I’ve done my best to hunt you down and tag you so you can take my love! There are a hundred other fics that I could have included on here as well, or ones that I’ve read since making this list. Thank you all so much for giving us these wonderful stories!

#fic rec #favourite fics #destiel #supernatural #sabriel #spn #fave

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river-bottom-nightmare · 3 years

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hi, I was wondering if you had any fic recs for dc? i dont mind what ship/character they might include so you can just go wild. also, I love your blog and writing!! thanks in advance if you answer this <3

oh but of course, babe! i’ve got so many fic recs dear lord. hopefully the ones on here will be ones that i haven’t already recced before. and also ahhhh thank you so so much!!

a heart just cant contain all of this empty space by TheMermaidLord (if anyone knows their tumblr, please let me know!) ~27k. the young justice universe, except after season 1, the canon events of the batfamily get woven in. you get to see dick leaving robin, jason joining then dying, how tim first meets the team, how they react to learning jason’s alive again all through the eyes of the yj team (mainly artemis, wally, and dick, but there are others.) this fic is beautiful and heartbreaking and oh so satisfying.

Candle Light and Plastic Bats by @jackdaw-kraai 10k. you know all those hc and concept fics about the relationship batman has with the city of gotham? well this fic is an absolutely gorgeous homage to that. told from the pov of the people of lower gotham, it goes through their relationship with this demon that seemed to haunt their city, going from mistrust and fear to acceptance and kinship. just a really really beautiful fic.

Detective Work by @bekkoni ~8k. i don’t actually ship superbat for a multitude of reasons, but this fic was so goddamn hilarious and cute that i can’t not love it. set in the jlu universe, wally discovers that superman and batman are acting a little ~odd.~ then he does a little more snooping and dear god the consequences are hilarious. featuring identity porn by the bucket-load.

It’s Your Right to Hurt Me Baby (If You Wanted To) by @pluckyredhead 8k. granted, jayroy doesn’t make much sense outside of specific rhato runs, but inside those runs its an actually beautiful ship, and this fic is just one of many testaments to that. smut with feelings, and jason gets the love and affection he sorely needs.

Little Talks by @theo-ography 26k. who here doesn’t love dumb boys in love finally talking about their feelings?? because i love it more than words, but this author somehow did the impossible and managed to put it in words. in this series, dick and wally have some important conversations, do some cuddling, and finally get together. gosh, i love birdflash so. fucking. much.

The Maybe Man by @dustorange ~48k. this is me, screaming about dustorange’s works again because i am such a fangirl for her writing oh my god. after dick leaves bruce and while jason is robin, dick gets abducted and tortured by the court of owls, and then is sent to kill bruce. and bruce fights with every fiber of his being to get his son back. also, jason and bruce’s relationship is so good in this jesus christ. i love reading fics that show just how close jason and bruce were before jason was killed, and this fic had that and more.

Those Who Wait by @last01standing 11k. in a reverse robins fic done beautifully well, this entire fic is written from jon’s pov, and explores damian and jon’s relationship over the years. (basically, jon just falling more and more hopelessly in love with damian.) also, everyone ships it because jon is basically all of the kids’ “uncle jon” and it’s hilarious and i love it. one of my favourite damijon fics, and the p i n i n g is just AHHHH.

un haeng il chi by @danishsweethearts 17k. i can’t actually put into words how much i love this fic, so everyone needs to just go and read it right now so you feel what i feel when finishing this fic. a cass centric fic, this piece of art has the literal best characterizations and metaphors for those characterizations i’ve ever read in my entire life. cass’ relationship with each member of the batfam is unique and beautiful and dear god i could reread this fic a thousand times over without ever getting tired of it.

Watch This by snackbaskets (again, if anyone knows their tumblr, please let me know!) ~2k. this fic is just a oneshot of pure adorableness. the league meets little baby robin!dick for the first time. hal and barry are, at first, terrified for the kid’s life, and then terrified of the devious little mastermind in bright green hotpants. this is just humor and fluff and i love it.

Yesterday’s Voices by @lemonadegarden 49k. oh god i cannot scream my love for this fic enough. bruce, in a time with most of the batfam (including up to steph, damian, cass), gets de-aged to a time where jason was robin and dick was barely speaking to him. and it’s absolutely heartbreaking, because the rest of the batfam get to see how open, kind, and less jaded bruce used to be. if you want a good cry but a happy ending, this fic is wonderful.

if it were deemed socially acceptable, i would build a shrine to all of these wonderful authors in the middle of the street, but unfortunately i have neither the time nor the resources to do that, so i guess screaming about how talented and brilliant they are will have to do instead. hope you enjoy reading these babe!

#fic recs #dc fic recs #batfam fic recs

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ladyfeldspar · 3 years

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21x02: Put It Down

I've wanted to do a watch/writeup of this episode for a while now. Tweek has been my favorite character since Gnomes aired, when I was still in elementary school and secretly watching South Park with my dad at night. Craig, while I enjoyed him as a character before, absolutely won my heart in the Pandemics and gets third favorite. (My second favorite is Clyde but that doesn't matter right now.)

And when I got into SP fanfiction, and discovered that Creek was a thing, I hopped right on that train and have never looked back. Tweek x Craig made my life when I first saw it and this episode... Well, you'll see.

Disclaimer: I have A LOT of feelings about this episode. Sorry not sorry about how long this is.

"...a performance by one of our students who has written a song..." Raise your hand if the first time you watched, you also figured it was Cartman, the most musical one of the kids.

Raise your other hand if you also got unreasonably excited when it was Tweek.

Tweek "playing" piano is both exactly what I would have expected, and nothing at all what I expected.

I really, really just want to give this poor kid a hug, Jesus Christ.

Everyone just looks so shocked, but I feel like Kyle and Stan might actually care?

"He's your boyfriend, dude." Ugh, my HEART. They are legit and adorable and that's not the last time I'm going to say that.

Shut up, Cartman. I mean it's great you don't care if someone's gay or straight or whatever but shut the hell up.

Tweek being scared of his locker slamming, oh my gosh.

Okay. Jesus Christ. This. We've known Craig for almost 21 seasons at this point and he has been incredibly well-established as not caring about a whole hell of a lot. So when he comes up to Tweek actively trying to help him and chill him out it melts my icy heart SO MUCH more than a cool island song ever could.

I generally hate the terms "babe" and "honey" (I'm honestly just not one for pet names) but Craig calling Tweek those things is fucking adorable.

Side thought: I want another episode just about the two of them, and I want Tweek to be wearing Craig's hat.

"Cuuupcaaaaakes!?" Kills me every time.

Heidi is too sweet for Cartman.

Stan you're such a douche but I love you anyway.

Tweek's cupcakes are frosted 1000% better than mine ever are.

But his kitchen looks just like mine after a day of baking.

Fuck you Garrison for ruining Tweek's happy little moment. He deserves all the happiness in the world.

Craig just calmly walking into the kitchen, like, was he there the whole time? Just hanging out letting Tweek do what he had to do and destroy the kitchen? More proof that they're legit - find me anyone else that Craig has supported this much.

Like he went out and bought Tweek a fidget spinner how fucking cute is that?!

Okay. "Go ahead and bomb us, Kim Jong Dong," also makes me laugh for like twenty minutes.

Why is this song so catchy?! Why are Cartman's songs always so fucking catchy?? Like Minorities which I constantly have to stop myself from absentmindedly singing in public.

Logic!Cartman is remarkably inclusive.

Mic drop.

Poor Tweek, like Jesus, his dad is infuriating and so stupid. Not Randy level stupid but like, quit shoving a fidget spinner in your kid's face and actually talk to him for Christ's sake.

But I mean, this is also the parent who pointed a gun at Tweek's head while teaching him how to avoid being abducted, so I don't know what I expect of him honestly.

That poor kid getting run over. And yet it's that part of the story that pushes this episode into feeling like a older episode and is half the reason I love it so much. There's a really good point to be made, but the constant killing of kids by distracted drivers gives it the fucked up South Park edge.

I love PC Principal in this episode too, and how he just doesn't really care what the hell Cartman wants.

Open door, turn on light, close door. "Waaaaaagghhhh!" "Hey, Tweek."

You have to wonder how often this has happened. And AGAIN, more proof that Craig really legitimately cares about Tweek. Imagine if anyone else woke Craig up like this. I really don't think he'd be so calm.

But it's Tweek, so he just yawns and deals with it because that's what you do when you care about someone.

Also, Craig sleeps with his hat on and that's adorable.

I love how they edited Tweek's picture into real photos.

I feel so bad for Craig here. And through most of the episode actually. He's doing all he knows to do, because this is the kind of stuff that helps him. He's really trying, and Tweek's just wired differently.

And he has a stuffed astronaut monkey, because long live Spaceman Craig.

Again, shut up Cartman.

He brought him to an AMUSEMENT PARK, Craig has pink cotton candy, and they're holding hands. It's this kind of stuff that makes my brain explode from cuteness.

"THE FERRIS WHEEL!!!"

Of all Tweek's twitch noises, I for some reason find the, "rrrrgh" he does on the Ferris Wheel one of the cutest ones.

This fight breaks my heart a little because again, Craig is trying. He has put so much effort into doing his best to help Tweek and finally, finally gets frustrated. It shows how much patience he has for Tweek that it took him so long to get to this point.

I just want to hug them both during this fight. God knows they need it. It's just such a realistic argument, ugh.

And then this moment. This moment where everything clicks, both for us (the parallels of Logic!Cartman/logical Craig vs emotional kids needing to grieve/emotional Tweek needing to freak out) and for Craig, who finally realizes that everyone handles stress differently and you have to adapt to their coping mechanisms to be able to help them. And as soon as he puts that together, he's off to go find Tweek because he's worth it to him. And my heart melts again.

And he does so well, too, despite being completely out of his element. Their little smiles after Tweek calms down, Jesus Christ.

This song. THIS SONG. I don't know what it is about this song but it just hits me SO hard every time. Tweek actually being able to play the piano beautifully (I will argue that it's because Craig is there with him and that makes Tweek feel so much better), CRAIG SINGING even though he clearly isn't the most comfortable with it and is obviously doing it for Tweek (ANOTHER point of proof for the realness of their relationship), the chorus, the Cartman rap (!!!!), the memorial of distracted driving victims (Kenny)...

And this moment, right here. When it goes back to the two of them there, and the spotlight focuses on them and they smile at each other, just oh my gosh. I get really weepy almost every time I watch this. They're adorable. They support each other. They're willing to grow and adapt for each other. They have a real connection with each other. They're happy together. Like look at Craig's smile. How can you not love that?!

Thanks for reading my rambling disjointed nonsense. This episode is always going to be one of my favorites. Tweek and Craig forever. The end. 💜

#south park #southpark #sp #sp tweek #sp craig #south park tweek tweak #south park tweek #tweek tweak #craig tucker #south park craig #south park creek #south park Craig Tucker #South park put it down #sp creek #tweek and craig

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mayonnaisetoffees · 3 years

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Mayo's Fic Recs

List of my favourite fics below the cut; this list is a WIP and completely personal taste; a mix of fandom classics and lesser knowns

Please remember to leave comments and kudos for the authors and podficcers!

*shows particular favourites

Fandoms currently included: Spn, Merlin, Les Mis, BatFam

Fics That Changed Me Fundamentally

Loaded March*** by Footloose. Merlin | E | 1.26M(Series)/ 35k (First part) | 188k hits (First part)

The reason SAS Captain Arthur Pendragon can’t keep a communications specialist in Team Excalibur because none of them are good enough. And then Lieutenant Merlin Emrys gets assigned to his squad, and Arthur does everything he can to prove that Merlin isn’t good enough, either. Except he is.

You can read all about my thoughts on Loaded March here, here, and here. Basically this fic series is beautifully written, has absolutely delicious UST, has found family, magic, and high stakes. It’s been part of my life for almost a decade now, I made friends through LM that I still have to this day, and it genuinely changed me as a person. Plus there are 78k of Extras to itch that I Finished Now What scratch. Parts 1-5 have been podficced and you can find them in works inspired by this one in each part.

Down to Agincourt*** by Seperis. Supernatural | E | 1.12M(Series)/ 154k (First part) | 73k hits (First part)

The world’s already over and they’re already dead. All they’re doing now is marking time until the end.

S7!Dean is transported back to the aftermath of where 5x04 The End left off. Much like LM, DtA was one that I avoided for a while. I didn’t think it would be my thing. I’m not usually into End!verse, it sounded so bleak from the summary, and it sounded so long for something I wasn’t sure about. If you’re reading this and nodding along? You are as much a fool as I was. Yes, it’s the end of the world. But it’s not over yet. This is a beautiful journey in what it means to be yourself, how to survive the end of the world, a How-To for Coups, and a study in food as a love language. I only read this fic this year, but like LM, it has genuinely changed me. Map of the World has been podficced.

Supernatural

Let’s start with the current hyperfixation. All of these are at least passively Dean/Cas unless otherwise stated. I've split into ones from my first time around in the SPN fandom and more recent ones because the vibes are actually really different and it took me some time to adjust (Not in a bad way! In a time has passed they have grown as characters way)

Old-School SPN (AKA the Classics my first time around)

Canon-Compliant or Divergent

Home in Motion* by nomdeplume13 M | 232k | 48k hits

Castiel swore he was done with spur of the moment decisions that permanently changed Dean Winchester's life. A year after the angel's most disastrous, his newest may present the largest challenge of dean's life: Fatherhood.

Did someone say kid!fic in canonverse? This is perfect. Canon divergence from the end of S6. Cas saves a baby from a neglectful mother and gives him to Dean to raise. They all move in with Bobby. Great OCs. Bobby considers Cas his son. Listen everything I say here will not be able to begin to encompass how much I love this fic. Just trust me on this one.

Named* by RC_McLachlan M | 95k | 95k hits

Jesus Christ is dead. Somehow, that isn't the worst part of Dean's week.

With a summary like that, need I say more? No but I'm gonna. This is one of the funniest fics I've ever read, but it doesn't take any emotion from the serious moments, if anything it heightens them. There are so many quotes from this I think about all the time. It was written in 2010 and so there's a bit of misogyny/character assassination of Anna in places.

Second Childhood by CloudyJenn (read by exmanhater) G | 16k (1h30) | 10k hits

"Dude, I can't do this whole thing by myself," Dean said with far more desperation leaking into his tone than he liked. It would just be too much to make it through hell and death and Lucifer only to have Castiel bail on him because of a frigging baby.

They beat the Apocalypse (OG-S5) and then Sam gets de-aged by a spell. I've listened to this so many times I know it by heart, it's an ultimate comfort fic to me.

Defy Any and All Expectation* by Tenoko1 (read by Tenoko1) M | 138k (14hrs) | 37k hits

Chuck's newly released books tell of another war between Heaven and Hell. Team Free Will sets out to try to defy prophecy, only to realize there is a lot more at stake and amiss than the not-quite-accurate words of one Prophet of the Lord. Along the way, Dean and Cas' relationship continues to evolve into something neither expected or were prepared for, all of their lives transforming in ways no one could have expected. But with no shortage of cases, monsters, and mayhem, it's going to require the help of new friends and old enemies if they're to have a hope of saving the world one more time. Alternate Season Six.

So this is a re-written version of Tenoko1's The Path We Choose which I don't think is around anymore. By the time I was reading the re-write as each chapter came out, I knew every single line of TPWC and it wasn't all that much shorter. It's such a perfect canon divergence because they are all 100% in-character. If you're into podfic, you already know what an absolute gift 14 hours is, but if you have never tried podfic before, Tenoko1 is a fantastic place to start. Her voice is soothing and energetic and her Cas sometimes comes to mind when I'm reading fic in Misha's place (sorry Misha)

His Fucking Kids 'Verse by 8sword M | 96k(Series)/ 3k (first part) | 26k hits (first part)

Jesus, the school should just have a parking spot labeled, “Reserved for the Novak-Winchesters,” because Dean’s getting sick of having to cruise around the parking lot looking for a spot every time he gets a call from the principal about Emma.

Emma survives and Dean and Cas are raising her and Claire. This fic series will make you laugh, make you cry, and (nowadays) make you wish Emma had survived to be a part of Wayward Sisters.

One Species Too Many by wallmakerrelict E | 22k | 37k hits

While Dean is laid up for a month after breaking his leg on a hunt, Cas decides that it's a perfect time to adopt a litter of kittens. But even though he's gotten better since Purgatory, Cas still isn't quite the same as he was before fixing Sam's head, and being trapped in a cabin with him for weeks on end is making that all the more obvious to Dean. When Sam takes off on a hunt, Dean has to figure out on his own how to navigate his new relationship with Cas while also helping to raise a bunch of fuzzballs that aren't even cute. Not even a little bit. (Well, maybe a little bit.)

Dean breaks his legs, and honey!Cas brings home some kittens to foster. It's achingly sweet and also painful because you know Dean wants to fix Cas but there's nothing to fix. It is tagged for ableism for this.

Tripping* by Hatteress E | 49k | 78k hits

That time the universe decided Dean belonged with Cas and wasn't afraid to pull out the big guns to make it so. Big guns in this case being obsessive fangirls, archangels turned tricksters and overly enthusiastic cupids. Welcome to Dean's life.

Alt!S5 and it is beautiful. Also any fic with Missouri is an automatic win.

Broadway Musical by Grifitings M | 12k | 79k hits

This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle. The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at. Or, the romantic comedy where Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle are destined to get married, Castiel is given the task of playing matchmaker and fails terribly, the entire Heavenly Host becomes a sitcom audience, God warns against male pregnancy, and Jimmy Novak is incredibly unimpressed with angels in general.

Jimmy deserves a sainthood and frankly I don't even want to hear about crack if it's not on the level of the Host yelling at Cas not to touch the butt.

Classic AUs (AKA AUs from my first time around)

Try Something Tuesday by almaasi E | 48k | 144k hits

Dean Winchester teaches a third-grade class. He's new to this whole ‘bisexual’ thing - but by pure happenstance, he meets Castiel: a particularly dapper male librarian who moonlights as a substitute teacher. Dean's curious and Castiel is willing, so why the hell not? Except, fate never intended it to be one-time-only...

This was one of the first spn fics to really really stay with me and it never really left.

Rock 'n' Roll Queer Bar by ChasingRabbits E | 127k(Series)/ 8k (Part1) | 29k hits (Part1)

Ellen and Jo Harvelle run Harvelle's Roadhouse, a bar that unintentionally becomes a beacon for wayward queer souls. Her employees: Dean, the smartass runaway with a big heart and bigger mouth; Castiel, the college drop-out turned hippie; his (surprisingly heterosexual) trouble-making brother Gabriel; and Charlie, who has been told several times that the back room is not to be used for after-hours Dungeons & Dragons games. But there's a lot of love in this place, and a new family for anyone who may otherwise be without.

This series. If you've ever felt unsure or out of place or anxious or just really felt like no-one understood you, this fic is for you. I first found this series when I was coming to terms with my queerness and I genuinely think it was invaluable. Also I am a sucker for the go for a dinner at Cas's family and end up storming out trope.

Play It All Night Long by janie_tangerine (read by Tenoko1) NC17 | 43k (4hrs)

The rom-com-ish one where Dean hosts a late night radio show, Castiel is a regular listener of his who starts calling one day and ends up calling more often than not and Dean finds himself liking it. This, until one day Castiel calls for not exactly petty reasons (just before Dean's brother Sam is visiting with his girlfriend for spring break) and things get very, very crowdy at his place. He also doesn't know it's just the beginning of it. Also features Gabriel, Chuck, Andy, the Roadhouse crew and a huge amount of music quoted. Especially Bob Dylan.

Again, this podfic has got me through many a night of insomnia. Cas calls in after a particularly shitty day and it all goes from there.

New-School SPN (AKA post-2014)

Canon-Compliant or Divergent

Tall Grass by aeli_kindara E | 57k | 28k hits

“I think we should have a garden,” Cas says. Dean looks up from his beer. He hasn’t had that much to drink, but Cas still has a vague look of unreality about him, a splash of living color that doesn’t fit in the bunker’s echoing stillness. Dean didn’t hear him coming. A lot of the time, Cas is so unobtrusive it feels like Dean has the bunker to himself, with Sam away. Dean shakes his head to clear it. “A — garden?” he repeats.

There is a reason you will see this recced time and time again. It healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing.

So Says the Sword* by komodobits E | 85k | 73k hits

The briefing was simple: ‘Stand guard over the Michael Sword until the battle is ready to commence. Await further instructions.’ Castiel doesn’t mind working security duty; he was briefed shortly after the initial salvation of the Sword from the pit, and again before taking up his position. He knows what to do. However, it’s easy to forget that the green room isn’t real. Time moves differently there, the space ever-changing to make a prison of mountains, cathedrals, salt flats, orchards, and whatever Castiel was led to believe about Heaven’s greatest weapon—Dean Winchester is something entirely unexpected

I saw ssts mentioned in like every single If you're getting back into the fandom READ THIS rec list. For good reason. It's described as "canon-adjacent in that seasons one to three happened exactly the same, but when Dean goes to Hell, he is not raised by Castiel". It's one of the most interesting concepts I've read and it's one of those fics where the writing style will stick with you. Castiel POV in a way you've never read before.

Aching in the Absence of You* by sobsicles E | 95k | 9k hits (in 5 days)

Brittle and battle-worn, Cas looks at him over coffee one morning and says, "I need to go," and Dean instantly knows that he's not coming back. He's not really sure how he knows it, but he does. It settles into the pit of his stomach, curling hot and tight like something he instinctively wants to tear out with his bare hands. He takes a breath, and it gets stuck in his throat, hitching there. It hurts, hurts, hurts when he finally exhales. "Yeah," Dean says, "of course you do," and he nods jerkily as he looks down at his phone. He doesn't say goodbye. He doesn't look up from the screen when Cas gets up and leaves the room. He doesn't finish his coffee, or move for a long time. By nightfall, Cas is gone.

If you don't already know sobsicles, I am delighted to introduce you to the person who will smash you to pieces with a hammer to put you back together Kintsugi-style. This one is post-finale but without 15x18 (it'll make sense as it goes). Cas says he's going to leave again and again Dean doesn't ask him to stay. Full of lines so beautiful they'd make Shakespeare weep, Sobsicles has this way of writing that is so evocative and paints such a clear picture. Fair warning, if you're Dean-coded, this might be A Lot.

dumbassery, denial, doing (the three d's to the destination)** by sobsicles E | 108k | 25k hits

Freedom is just one adjustment after the next. ~~~ Cas hums again. "I think you already have. It's been months since everything settled. All that's left to do is...get used to it, and perhaps—" His voice stalls out, uncharacteristically, and his gaze roams Dean's face with intensity. When he speaks next, his tone is a little raw. "Perhaps what one does with peace is...whatever they want." "What if I don't even know what that is?" Dean grumbles, arching an eyebrow in challenge. "'Cause I know damn well you don't just mean good food and a good bed and time in Baby, not simple wants like that. You mean—ya know, the big things, the wants we didn't get to have before." "Yes," Cas agrees. "If you're not sure, figure it out." "Easier said than done."

Yes, two sobsicles recs back to back. This one I read first and it still holds such a special place in my heart. A sign of a good fic is being able to picture it perfectly. The sign of an amazing fic is that when reading this I was so in Dean's shoes I could feel a pool cue between my hands and Baby behind my back. And I sobbed like a baby in this. It has probably my favourite ending ever. It's genuinely beautiful. If you don't read another on this list, read this one.

Teaching Poetry to Fish by aeli_kindara M | 52k | 14k hits

In which Castiel teaches poetry to fish. Also, himself. Also, eventually, Dean. (A series-long story, diverging slightly from canon after S14.)

The ultimate Cas character study and interwoven with poetry.

So There It Is, I've Said It All by PorcupineGirl (read by Ceewelsh) G | 4k | 13k hits

"Why, do you have something you need to say to me that you don't think I'll like?" I think I'm in love with you. "Yeah. I guess so."

Dean figures out he's in love with Cas then can't stop thinking it. This is genuinely beautiful and if you've ever had trouble actually saying the thing you're thinking, you'll relate to Dean here. I recently did the podfic for this.

you won't find this place alone by amidsizedfrog G | 9.5k |

When Claire said she was dropping out of college to pursue hunting full time, Dean said, “right,” and left the room. Or, the cross-generation conversation about formal education, choosing your own path and figuring out what it looks like to find a family. Or, in other words: "But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell-attitude, and I'll figure it out." - Dean Winchester

This is a beautiful look at education in the hunter world, and I love anything that looks at Dean and Bobby's relationship and this does it perfectly. Also best cameo ever.

Seek to Know You Better by ahurston E | 33k | 23k hits

Dean and Cas, a long stretch of highway, and 36 questions empirically designed to make two people fall in love. As if they weren't already.

This is perfect. It has a lovely slow pace like it has the vibes of an indie film if that makes sense? Like it's two guys going from place to place talking. It was an instant favourite.

Newer AUs (AKA more recent AUs)

And This, Your Living Kiss* by opal_bullets M | 57k | 69k hits

Only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet Jack Allen is just Kansas mechanic Dean Winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. Not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen. Until, that is, a string of coincidences leads Dean to auditing a poetry course with one Dr. Castiel Novak. The professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia's foremost expert on the poetry of Jack Allen.

When I asked which fics were absolute must-reads for someone who'd been out of the fandom a few years, this was said repeatedly. But what really got me to read it was everyone actually told me more about what it meant to them than just the summary. It's a study in poetry, a study in learning who you are and who you used to be, and a reminder that it's never too late.

The Graveyard Shift* by riseofthefallenone, PurgatoryJar E | 620k | 175k hits

Dean’s favourite coffee shop, The Graveyard Shift, is only open after the sun goes down. Which is perfect for him, because that’s exactly when he craves coffee the most while doing the overnight at the fire hall. The coffee shop’s owner is pretty perfect too, but it’s kind of a bummer that Dean never gets to see Cas during the day. In a world where the supernatural live more or less in peace with the rest of humanity, it’s a little impolite to ask Cas just what he really is - or what his dark past entails.

A fantastic magical realism fic - magical creatures live and work with humans. Gabe and Cas run a coffee shop, Dean is a fireman, and the burn is slow and delicious and the intrigue kept me reading for like a week every single spare minute.

Painted Angels by WinJennster E | 106k | 162k hits

Author Castiel Novak has finally hit the big time, with a book based on his failed college relationship with a brilliant painter. He's put all his pain behind him, but at a book signing, he comes face to face with Dean Winchester for the first time in twelve years, and the reunion doesn't go like Cas hoped. Dean's a broken man, with a lot of scars and secrets, shoulders weighed down by his demons and self loathing. Cas sees a second chance with the man he's never stopped loving, but Dean's moved on, and is about to get married. Sam launches a "brilliant" plan to reunite his brother and his best friend, but Cas is worried it will all blow up in their faces, and he'll go through the agony of losing Dean a second time.

The first part of this I actually saved back when I was first in the fandom but I never got around to reading it (I had a To Read folder of 100+ fics that I absolutely dove into when I got back into spn) and the rest of the series finished in 2016 so I'm counting it in this section not the other. On the one hand, I wish I'd read this when it first came out. It's beautiful and heartbreaking, and so visual. On the other hand, I think I appreciated it a lot more now than I would have seven years ago. The parallel of me coming back to the old fandom that I loved dearly with Cas coming back to see someone and places he loved so much really hit. (Although coming back to the spn fandom was much easier and much less heartbreak!)

Finale Fix-Its (yeah fuck you Dabb that this has to be a whole category)

The Goldenrod Revisions by aethylas M | 66k | 15k hits

A rewrite of Supernatural’s final two episodes, expanded into a five episode arc - in which Chuck needs to be defeated, Castiel deserves to be saved, and the characters in this story get a very different ending.

Script format re-write of 15x19 and 15x20 into a 5-episode finale fix-it. As far as I'm concerned, this and chocolatecakecas's American Pie fanvid are the Supernatural finale.

break the skin (to break the barriers)* by sobsicles M | 30k | 9k hits

The first time she meets him, he's nothing more than an almost-missed appointment. ~~~ Dean is silent for a long, tense moment, then he gruffly says, "It's not for banishing the angels. It's to summon them. So, it doesn't—it's not to get rid of 'em, but to draw 'em in." Mitzi can't help but glance up at him at that. His voice is so heavy with so much unexplained pain, and she doesn't understand why, or what angels have to do with it. She knows religion can impact people. She's very aware that it can get complicated, and that it can be a huge source of pain for someone, but Dean sounds grievously wronged, somehow, as if it's a truly personal thing. She pushes through, focusing back on her job, clearing her throat before murmuring, "Well, I guess we all want angels to visit us sometimes." "Just the one," Dean mumbles. "Your guardian angel?" Mitzi asks. Dean breathes out, "Something like that. As close to one as an angel will ever get."

Therapy through getting tattoos and telling your life story to someone who obviously doesn't think it's real. Outsider!POV not just done well, but done literally the best.

Kingdom Come by ahurston E | 17k | 10k hits

Cas wakes up on the coast of Maine. He makes his way home.

I don't know if this counts as finale fix-it as it's more fuck the finale we're ignoring that. There's just so much love and care in this fic.

The Family Business by chai_lattes M | 16k | 5.5k hits

It's all over. It's been weeks since Chuck's defeat and Cas' return from the Empty. There are no threats on the horizon, no apocalypses to stop, but there's something that keeps the Winchesters from being happy. Something that's maybe always been there. On their way back from a hunt, they find John Winchester, back from the dead.

If you're anything like me, you start rubbing your grubby little hands together at the tag John Winchester's A+ Parenting like yes let's address this! This is one of the best examples of John coming back and how it jars with the life that they have built. Also Claire and Jack getting to share screentime!

Merlin

If I have a forever fandom, it's Merlin. I've always kept one foot in this fandom, and it introduced me to fandom, and most importantly to podfic which kinda had an impact. All Merthur unless stated.

Canon-Verse

Seven Magpies by syllic (read by lunchee) E | 33k (3hr15) | 58k hits

Arthur opened his eyes a minute later to the sight of seven magpies streaking across the top of the clearing, their shapes dark against the white clouds and the muted grey of the sky. He tried to remember what it was that seven magpies meant—he'd had a nurse who had sung the rhyme to him as a child—but couldn't. Arthur wakes up somewhere he doesn't recognise, but where he clearly belongs.

Okay so this is an AU but it's Canon-AU so it's going here. Fantastic role reversal fic that you will be thinking about for weeks.

and from your grace, i fell by TheDragon (read by Ceewelsh) T | 4.6k (41mins) | 13k hits

“Where’s Merlin?” he asks the maid. “Where’s that idiot of a Court Sorcerer?!” “Begging your pardon, Your Majesty. I thought you knew,” the maid replies, not daring to look him in the eyes. “He’s taken ill.” “And he couldn’t be bothered to tell me himself that he would be unable to attend today’s council meeting?” Arthur questions, voice full of acid. “He hasn’t woken since he collapsed two days ago, Sire,” the maidservant says, blissfully unaware that what she’s saying the power to stop Arthur’s heart in its tracks.

When I first read this, it had me completely transfixed. I could not stop reading. It was so raw and so full of emotion. I was then lucky enough to get TheDragon in our exchange, so I did a podfic for it and it's probably the most proud I've been of one.

Modern AU

The Student Prince* by FayJay (read by FayJay) M | 145k (15hrs) | 696k hits

A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love...

A classic is a classic for a reason. I'm also pretty sure this introduced me to podfics so like special place in my heart x2. Did you know if you filter AO3 by hits on Merlin, this has 426k more hits than the second result? Now that is a Fandom Classic.

Drastically Redefining Protocol* by rageprufrock (read by lunchee) E | 46k (5hr30) | 269k hits

In which Prince Arthur meets Merlin and all hell promptly breaks loose.

As I always say, if this can happen to me and I still love the fic, nothing is going to change that. Arthur hides from his duties in a cupboard and gets stuck in there with a chainsmoking med student.

Fundamental Imperfections by Starlingthefool (read by bravenclawsome) M | 12k (1hr35) | 123k hits

In which an argument about Dickens leads to a Twitter scandal, broken bones, midnight conversations, and transatlantic longing. (Or, an AU with Arthur and Merlin as moderately famous authors.)

This fic has everything: Charles Dickens, long distance texting, Morgana choking a Sherlock cosplayer with his own scarf. This is the ultimate comfort fic and I compare all fics to this even when they're incomparable. I never read the sequel because it was WIP and I was waiting for it to complete, it hasn't been updated since 2015 and apparently ends on an unhappy note, so if you're going to read the sequel you have been warned.

Les Mis

Modern!AU

Overzealous Oddities by YassHomo e/R, Courf/Cosette/Marius, Comb/Ép | G | 6.4k | 4k hits

Courfeyrac: Remember when I smashed our tv and we laughed about it? Enjolras: No. Courfeyrac: Let me rephrase Courfeyrac: I've smashed our tv, lets laugh about it.

I love me a text fic and this is in my opinion the best one around. Just look at that summary. I have quoted that so many times.

But Paris was a very old city and we were young* by GingerNinjaAbi E/R, Courf/Jehan | M | 99k | 42k hits

Perhaps somewhere in between all the cups of coffee, shots of tequila, sunny March days, terrible lumpy jumpers, love, cigarettes, drunken nights and the desire to change the world they'll all leave Paris with a degree in something. Or not. Grantaire's money is on no. But he's a pessimist who's hopelessly in love, so perhaps his opinion shouldn't count.

The ULTIMATE modern!AU tbh.

Tagged by Salomonderiel E/R, Courf/Jehan | E | 155k | 28k hits

So there's this artist. He could probably be compared to Banksy, but he's a lot more... cynical. He shares rooms with a poet who braids his hair with flowers, in a flat near Covent Garden they rent from a short-tempered shop keeper with a penchant for fans and who'd do anything if you mentioned Poland. Sometimes, the three of them will go and deface public buildings in London whilst completely smashed off their heads. And then there's this, shall we say, 'revolutionary'. He has a band of other revolutionaries, who all meet at this cafe by Borough Market. He shares rooms with his best mate, a philosophy student, spends too much time with a flirty guy who has a thing for poets, goes boxing with a guy in a red vest, wants to punch the wet sop who drools on the blonde waitress and is getting tired of this guy who keep breaking his laptops through sheer dumb luck. Thank god the hypochondriac's there to keep an (slightly too) attentive eye on their stress levels. The revolutionary thinks the graffiti artist's work is a waste of space. The artist thinks the revolutionary's campaigns are a waste of time. And all the while, the poet and the flirt drool over each other in the background...

This is perfect and it's funny and it's beautiful and it rips my heart out multiple times.

Canon

To Be Free by kjack89 (read by Ceewelsh) Gen, Cosette/Marius | T | 3.8k (32mins) | 375 hits

Three blows from a bayonet had transfixed Combeferre’s breast, followed by a fall from the barricade as he rapidly lost first blood and then consciousness. But neither of these, it seemed, was enough to kill him, as much as later he might perhaps wish that they were.

I read this because it was on a list kjack89 did of their favourite fics which don't necessarily have the same hits traffic. It's nothing I would have usually read (canon era, not e/R, MCD) but I am so glad I gave it a go. It's a study on what if Combeferre had survived the barricades too and the guilt. This stayed with me for days afterwards until I eventually messaged kjack89 to get permission to podfic it.

BatFam

Canonish (I don't know differences between canons but these are all they're superheros fics)

Robins United by laceymcbain (read by reena_jenkins) Gen | T | 49k (6h15)/ 19k (2h25) (First part) | 103k hits

Bullets, knives, a three story fall, even a fucking crowbar hadn't managed to keep Jason down permanently, but Dick Grayson (and the rest of his "family") was going to kill him with kindness.

The ultimate batbros series. Also if you haven't heard reena_jenkins' podfics before, you are welcome. Pre-pandemic I took a lot of public transport and reena_jenkins kept me sane.

batcoons by drakefeathers (read by reena_jenkins) Gen | G | 6k (49mins) | 14k hits

Jason and raccoons have a lot in common. (Additionally: his so-called family are much bigger pests than the stray animals hanging around his safehouse.)

This is funny, it's heartwarming, and it's a really good character study.

Here Comes the Sun by batsy_rocks Clark/Bruce | T | 19k | 20k hits

Clark Kent is a kind-hearted reporter working in the big city. Bruce Wayne is a stressed dad of four with no idea of what he's doing. Then they meet.

Bruce Wayne is a Tired Single Dad™. It's genuinely such a sweet fic.

#fic rec #spn fic rec #merlin fic rec #les mis fic rec

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