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squgily · 2 years

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hi!! I was wandering if you have any thanzag fic to recommend? I'm new to the fandom and I would love to read some good works 🥰 thank you!

Boy do I!!

I am also baby to the Hades fandom (I'm running on--oh, maybe a month now), so this isn't as exhaustive as my previous Dragon Age rec lists. It's also worth noting that Hades is a much, much smaller fandom than Bioware's games, so the pool to pull from is smaller as well. Still, there are some beautiful gems in here, and hopefully you enjoy some of these as much as I have!

A couple notes: these are all ThanZag unless noted otherwise, and almost all of them are complete. I've marked any WIPs, works featuring ThanMegZag, and works which contain smut.

1. Orange Lilies | achillean | 17000 words | contains smut | Complete "Zagreus wondered how long the wedding would be, what sort of woman he would marry. Beautiful, no doubt. The Gods had said it was a pity that Hades was to choose his bride." An alternate universe where Zagreus is a classical Greek hero and his divine spouse ends up Thanatos in an arranged marriage situation.

Y'all, this is probably my favorite fic in the Hades fandom so far. The plot is just what you'd expect from the summary and so much more; the relationship is developed so well in so few words, and the characterization is impeccable. More than that, the prose is unspeakably beautiful. This is one of those writing styles that I spend half my reading time trying to deconstruct so I can steal from it later and the other half just luxuriating in its artistry. It's lyrical, poetic, vivid, and shockingly funny. More than that, there's a spectacular shipside battle in chapter two that made me giddy with jealousy. The ending is incredibly satisfying and very realistic for the two of them in this iteration. Love it.

2. match//cut | sighdotjpeg | 16,500 words | contains smut | Complete “Hey,” he says, wiping a crimson smear on his bottom lip away with his thumb.

Red blood. Redblood.

“Hey,” Thanatos says, and tears his gaze away from that crimson mouth before he can start thinking about what it tastes like.

I included this one for the worldbuilding. The relationship moves as fast as the neon in this cyberpunk AU, and Thanatos features as an android assassin accidentally falling in love with his target. I really, really love this author's transposition of Greek myth to the cyberpunk aesthetic, and the villain's takedown is great.

More under the cut!

3. in the half light | harukatenoh | 14,000 words | Complete You don't die over and over again without internalizing some shit, even if you are a god.

This author's Zagreus voice is amazing. I haven't attempted it yet because I'm a coward and it's such a specific good-natured cheer, but this is a beautiful example of it done perfectly. Zagreus struggles with nightmares, and both Meg & Than get a chance to help him out of it again. I really like the author's choice to give the entire second chapter to the Meg conversation, because she's shortchanged a lot in the Hades fandom and she deserves better. Thanatos is also described as a god of brattiness in this fic, which is funny every time I read it.

4. found a way to rise | renquise | 2909 words | Complete The river is high again. It laps up against the greaves of the statues in this chamber this time, the long grasses submerged and waving gently in the hazy waters. Last it took this chamber, it only rose to the top of the pedestals.

He's learned to see the signs of when the river is about to rush out of its banks to take the chambers: the river grows wilder and the ground becomes soft and damp, water rising up between his toes and hissing into steam where it meets his feet. He’ll be glad when the water recedes again.

As the author notes, this is the one with Lethe-induced amnesia. There's a tragic dearth of plotty hurt/comfort in this fandom, but this is one of the best of them. It's so, so tricky to write from the amnesiac's perspective without getting too precious with it, but this is written perfectly. I could read another ten thousand words of this without getting tired; still, it wraps up exactly as it should, and I've gone back to this one several times for the satisfaction.

5. Smooth Waters | mombasas | 1100 words | Complete It’s not Zag's fault that the temple’s in an extreme state of disrepair, or that its worshipers have such good aim. Unfortunately, high on satyr venom and half-buried in a pile of rubble is not the least dignified Than’s ever seen him.

“I bet Meg does this stuff recreationally,” he tells Than, squinting up at him.

A short, complete oneshot with another spectacular Zagreus voice. I laughed so many times reading this, and the perspective he takes on Thanatos is both hilarious and warmly bittersweet. Really nice character work on Thanatos and his place in the world/underworld as well.

6. Mark of Life | MeZaKi93 | 16,500 words | Complete Apollo decides to pay a visit to the God of Blood and Life to ask for a favor. To seek out someone he had loved and lost to the sudden clutches of Death.

As Zagreus strives to complete his newest task of reuniting people, he also learns some important things along the way that prompts him to re-define what his role really is in his newfound godhood.

I think classics Apollo is kind of a dick, but I really like this take on him. Again, there just aren't a ton of plot-heavy fics in this fandom (that I've yet found), and this really scratched the itch of one more story à la Achilles & Patroclus that could easily be contained within the game itself. There are some great explorations of the gods' relationships with mortals (especially Apollo & Achilles) and some reasonable and really interesting exapansions of Zagreus's powers as a god.

7. Scythe to the Harvest | JuniperCypress | 5700 words | Complete For a Prince of the Underworld, death is never a danger. Life is.

Zagreus doesn't come home.

So I gotta preface this one with a disclaimer. After my first warm-up entry to the Hades fandom, I started a plottier h/c fic along my regular lines, and about halfway through writing it I started wondering if anyone else had written anything like it in the fandom. Turns out lots of people! With various flavors of the hurt, of course, but this is one of my favorites of the genre. It's Thanatos POV and the villain's actions are both perfectly understandable and perfectly horrific. The hurt is delicious, and the resolution is vividly described and really well characterized. I personally would have loved to sit in the comfort just a touch more (because I have a very specific weakness for it), but one of Zagreus's lines at the very end makes me cackle every time.

8. the longing needs the leaving | waveridden | 4700 words | Complete An Inception AU, a portrait of Zagreus on the run, and five times he almost gets caught.

I LOVE this worldbuilding. I think the author is primarily an Inception writer, but it's translated beautifully to Hades and even I, who have seen Inception all of twice, had zero trouble following along. Zagreus's characterization is fabulous and the Thanatos relationship develops in perfect fits and starts just like it does in the game. The ending is very satisfying, and if the author ever comes back to close some of the loose ends, I'll be there in a heartbeat.

9. strange and beautiful (i'll put a spell on you) | 17000 words | Complete “Thanatos?” Zagreus’ brow furrows in confusion, and the worry on his face makes the butterflies in Thanatos’ stomach launch a violently militarised assault on his insides. Thanatos suddenly finds himself feeling quite strongly, and entirely against his will, that nothing should ever be permitted to make Zagreus unhappy; he wants to reach out and smooth the lines marring the otherwise flawless expanse of his forehead, wants to lay a soft kiss on the delicate curve of his perfect brow ridge, wants to cradle him gently in loving arms until his expression reverts to its contentedly gormless default.

“I wish I was mortal so that I could kill myself,” Thanatos says, fervently and with great feeling.

Thanatos is in love with Zagreus and is super mad about it. I really like this Thanatos voice--I think (at least, in my early perusing) there's a bit of a tendency to make him too suave and smoldering, especially for someone who trips over his own words like three consecutive times in his canon arc, and I think this piece nails a perfect balance. I also like some of the headcanons the author has come up with regarding Persephone's relationship with her son and how Thanatos fits with them both. I really enjoyed the prose of this piece as well.

10. Heart, in Twain | elemmacil | 25000 words | Complete Thanatos' heart lies outside his body.

Just a really beautiful, lyrical piece about what gods do with their hearts. It ought to be read as much to just bask in the prose as for the story; it's lush and firm, and the characterization through Thanatos's eyes is excellent. Meg also gets some nice moments of focus. The last line made me literally clutch my chest the first time I read it.

11. icarus, point to the sun | cassafrans | 11000 words | ThanZag with background MegZag | Complete In which Zagreus repeatedly fights his way into the underworld in search of his kidnapped mother, and Thanatos is sent to stop him.

WE GO BACKWARDS. Zagreus fights into the Underworld instead of out, and Thanatos is one of the regular bosses sent to stop him. I love this concept and this execution is so much fun. There's so many thoughtful little details about how this would actually affect in-game mechanics, and the ending is a delicious sweet treat guaranteed to make you grin. Thanatos's perspective is perfect for this conceit, and his developing thought process is delightful. I've gone back and reread this one several times, and I pick up new super-smart touches every time.

12. A Young God's Heartbeat | Luddleston | 25,600 words | Complete Zagreus' life in the most boring Midwestern town imaginable is decidedly ordinary. It becomes less so when he learns that nineteen years ago, his mother, who happens to be a goddess, escaped the Underword and moved so far away from home that none of his relatives there or on Olympus would ever find them.

And he's a god. Apparently.

Ridiculous and perfect. I don't want to spoil it, but every transition of the original to the USA's breadbasket makes me laugh. (Dionysus shows up on a throne made out of boxes of beer. I'm spoiling that one. It's amazing.) This author has also been prolific in the Hades fandom & has something like 45 fics to read if you enjoy this! I've really liked everything I've read, even if it's been spotty with my random clicking.

13. keepsakes hold power | dustandstatic | 15000 words | contains smut | Complete To the naked eye they look no different from ordinary trinkets, lucky charms perhaps, simple objects the dead often keep on them in the grave.

Maybe they are. Maybe it’s Zagreus that makes them hold power.

Each keepsake has a serious effect on Zagreus in his escape attempts, and Thanatos is left to worry about the changes he's going through. I really like this exploration of what it means to have the attention of the Olympians, and the way it concludes is immensely satisfying. Thanatos's POV is very strong, and I always love a Zagreus that's allowed to be competent in more than just battle.

14. weightless, breathless, restitute | theroyalsavage | 10000 words | Complete When Thanatos falls in love with the kingdom's trouble-making crown prince, he is not expecting it will amount to anything more than a passing infatuation. He is also not expecting to be made the prince's bodyguard, and he is certainly not expecting the prince will ever love him back.

Thanatos, it transpires, is wrong about many things.

Bodyguard AU! :D Y'all know how this one goes. It hits every note it needs to and a few more just for the flourish, and I love Zagreus in this piece. I love the details kept in the transposition of worlds, and the kingdom is fleshed out really well into a living place Zagreus can inhabit. Thanatos's POV is great, and I love the realism (such as it is) of the developing relationship.

I think that's plenty long; again, I hope you find something to enjoy here! I'll continue to save pieces I've liked, and if anyone has any interest, I'd be happy to do another post later down the road.

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