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xueyang · 18 hours

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it's been years since i made a reclist from my bookmarks, and i've trimmed down what i had and added some new things to my bookmarks, so here's a reclist, from oldest to newest bookmarks! fics beneath the cut with the original summary and my recollections/comments after. (please note that for any fics with smut, i can't comment on how the smut is, because i skip those portions.)

Tony Stark Meets an Extremely Unimpressed Time Traveler, or, Thomas Barrow Makes a Surprisingly Good 21st Century Butler by Alex51324 (87k, t, no warnings)

In which Tony Stark ditches a boring party, makes an addition to the household staff, throws a much better party, and tries not to sexually harass his new butler. Or,In which Thomas Barrow has a little trouble getting home from the pub, is generally unimpressed with many aspects of the 21st century, never thought of himself as a conservative dresser before, and may or may not be falling in lust with his new employer. tl:dr: Thanks to time travel, Thomas Barrow becomes the Avengers' butler.

my commentary: this is actually one of the earliest fics i bookmarked! i haven't been into the mcu in...........a long, long time, but i distinctly remember pulling an all-nighter to read the entire thing when i first ran across it. i'll be honest, i had clicked into it assuming it was crack, but it's not—it's played entirely earnest, and, in my recollection, does so well. and, well, what can i say; thomas was my favourite character back when downton abbey was airing (for reasons that i did not realise until much later). largely free of angst or action conflict; the issues stem largely from the conflict between thomas' biases and (mis)assumptions and the modern (well, 2010s) world.

Ain’t No Nancy Kerrigan by cleverqueen (t, 13k, no warnings)

It's 1994, and young Lisa Snart's jumps aren't strong enough for an Olympic singles skater. Thankfully, her older brother has an athletic friend who can match her in pairs. Mick Rory is hopelessly in love with Leonard Snart, though he'd never say anything about it, so he jumps at a chance to do Len's little sister a favor. If he's patient and works hard, maybe he'll even get to skate with her older brother.

my commentary: as i remember it, this fic was an absolute delight! i don't remember a lot of mick-pov fics, though i haven't............been in the dc tags in ages, let alone the cw dc tags, but it's really well-written! it's canon setting, but takes place pre-canon, and the dynamics are very well-written and enjoyable. it's even tagged "pining", which, as i remember it, applies very much so, and, well, what can i say; i have tropes i love.

and who shall wear the starry crown by consumptive_sphinx (2k, t, major character death)

Blackfoot serves Shadowclan, first and always. That is not, in fact, the same thing as serving Tigerstar.

my commentary: i think this is the only wc fanfic i have bookmarked on ao3? and deservedly so! it's a human au, and while it's short, it's so well thought out. the worldbuilding and lore that's hinted at, everything you can feel beneath the surface—so good!

The Nationwide Network of Oz by ErinPtah (3k, t, no warnings)

It's long past time Oz upgraded from the wireless telegraph.

my commentary: it's such a shame there's not a lot of oz novel fics—i truly think the series doesn't get the attention it deserves. a fun little short dorothy/ozma fic, with a dash of magitech and blogging.

Spaceships, Private Jets, and Minivans: How to Start a Global Incident in 5 Minutes Flat by Scientia_Fantasia (49k, t, no warnings)

One early summer morning in Riverside, Iowa, a spacecraft crash lands into the backyard of a highschooler by the name of James T. Kirk. Earth history is changed forever.

my commentary: i actually lost this fic for a long time and only tracked it down after a year of searching; it's a fun, teenaged star trek au—i'm usually not too fond of aus where characters are teens, but this one pulled it off very well! and it's rather funny, and the way the characters run into each other and get involved in the plot is very fun!

we make our friends, we make our enemies by ORiley42 (52k, t, no warnings)

Benji finds out he has a new neighbor. This new neighbor happens to be off-the-charts hot. Hijinks, friendship, more-than-friendship, and secret agent drama ensue.

my commentary: i actually read this from start to finish as it was updating! the author, ORiley42, is a fabulous writer, and this fic? so good. i've fallen away from the mi fandom, but i have fond memories of it, so this fic has a warm place in my heart. also, the trope of a civilian getting involved in spy bullshit? so good. and the pining. the drama.

The Long Con by harleygirl2648 (19k, t, no warnings)

There are two kinds of cons: long and short. Short cons mean short-term gain, with smaller rewards, mostly just everything you have in your pocket at that moment. Long cons mean lots of time, effort, costumes, masks, props, sets, and other characters all looking to set up the downfall of the mark and take them for all that they've got. Con Artist/Thieves AU: Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter are both interested in acquiring a Botticelli, but both of them are quite fond of each other's short games. For both of them, it's the deception and thrill of the game that's worth more than the payout. And well, after all, aren't the easiest people to scam are those who think they are smart enough to not get scammed?

my commentary: it's an art heist au, what more can i say? it's funny, well-written, and, crucially, fun.

deus ex machina by coloredink (26k, t, creator chose not to use archive warnings)

"What the hell?" said Katz. "Is that--" "Yeah, I know, it's kinda flashy." Will shut the car door behind him and patted his pockets for the little fob to lock the car. "Isn't that Hannibal Lecter's car?" The car beeped to indicate it was locked. "Yeah, I guess so." Will walked away, toward the field, Katz on his heels. "I needed a new car." "So you bought the cannibal car?" ----- You asked for it: the one where Hannibal is a murderous self-driving car.

my commentary: every time i talk about this fic, people are like. [newt geiszler voice] w—wh—whhhhattttt? and, yeah, okay, i get it, i do, but i swear to you, will graham x the luxury car possessed by hannibal lecter the cannibal's soul is, in fact, a fantastic fic. it's so well written, so funny, so novel. it's the cannibal car!

The Man Who Invented Sherlock Holmes by Calais_Reno (15k, t, no warnings)

John Watson, struggling young doctor, doomed to live an ordinary life, dreams of writing detective fiction. If he can just figure out his hero's name, the story will practically write itself.

my commentary: look. i am, at my core, a lover of experimental, weird concepts. and "john watson accidentally brings a fictional character into being and they fall in love" is, in fact, precisely something i would like. and, and, and! it's acd canon, and written in such a charming style! it is truly one of my favourite fics.

A Really Private Person by astolat (18k, m, no warnings)

The end of the world started on a Wednesday in March.

my commentary: i don't have many poi fics bookmarked, but this one is absolutely the best out of all of them. the emotions i will always associate with reading it are that of being half lucid and experiencing something just so utterly satisfying it makes you smile like a cat.

I've Got Nothing To Do Today But Smile (The Only Living Boy in New York) by gyzym (19k, t, creator chose not to use archive warnings)

Arthur's a corporate lawyer, Eames owns the coffee shop across the street, and all good love stories start with a quadruple shot latte.

my commentary: an ode to struggling out of sunk cost fallacy, finding people who love you, and slowly, slowly building a better life. also the cafe food all sound so so good i would love to eat there.

Atonement by acedott (9k, t, no warnings)

I know how lonely you must be. All by yourself in that room. Morgana’s words stuck with Gwen long after the enchantment was broken. She recognized the veiled vulnerability in her tone from years as her servant. She hadn’t sounded like that in so long; she’d trusted Gwen with her every thought since they had both come of age. But when she first arrived in Camelot, when they were brought together as mistress and servant, Morgana had not known how much to trust her. Gwen, in turn, had not known how much to trust her new mistress.

my commentary: written by the fabulous lovely wonderful @owengrose, this fic makes me feel So Many Emotions. it's written with such care and purpose, and made me cry when i first read it. read it!!!

On the Risks and Rewards of Being Seen by acedott (8k, g, no warnings)

The year is 1815. Karla Gottlieb, the lady of the Gottlieb estate, rekindles an old friendship with Vanessa Haile, the groundskeeper’s daughter.

my commentary: yes i am putting another one of my friend's fics on here, but listen: risks and rewards is just so, so good. i can't even give further commentary beyond "it's so good" because it's just that good. it's historical, it's carefully-crafted, it's lesbians! what more could you want? go forth and comment.

Of Madness and Mammals by Briarwitched (series, four works, 619k, t-m, no warnings)

this series doesn't have a summary, but more or less: alex, suffering from horrific hallucinations and trauma, is discarded by mi6 and tossed into prison—where he meets yassen once more, and, once again, yassen tries to look out for hunter's son.

my commentary: this is, in my opinion, the best set of works i've read in the alex rider fandom. it's one of the best series i've read period. it is so well-crafted, well-plotted, and well-executed. it's a shame that the fandom isn't larger, because the series deserves more attention.

Beginning Where You Are by TF Grognon (gloss) (15k, t, no warnings)

"There's no such thing as magic," Dove-Gray said. Min snorted and flexed her fingers. "Tell that to the magic bloodthirsty soulsucking sword that lives in my hand."

A disgraced scholar and well-meaning mercenary forge an unlikely partnership.

my commentary: i found this while trawling the sci-fi tag, and honestly, i'm so glad i did, because it's just so good. the worldbuilding and lore and character dynamics and every other bit of it is just. god. so good. also, one of them literally has a bloodthirsty soul-sucking sword in her hand.

You're Dead (and Outta This World) by TheOceanIsMyInkwell (10k, t, no warnings)

“Holy shit!” shouts the EMT at his side. His partner on the other side of the gurney--the other side of the body bag--follows up with a well-deserved holy fuck and stumbles backward over her boots to sag against the back of the open ambulance. “I’m fine, I’m fine, oh God, I’m sorry,” Guillermo babbles. His knees are trembling. He wriggles out of the body bag and hops to his feet, feeling like his legs are a cross between jello and underbaked macaroons, and he repeats his litany of apologies as he bounces from one foot to another to restore circulation. Pain shoots through his joints from the roots of his toes. He ignores it, instead pivoting his head from side to side wildly seeking the detritus of his phone and groceries. “Sir! Sir! You were--sir, please get back here! You were dead!” “Not today, sorry!” -- Or: 3 times Guillermo came back from the dead, and 1 time Nandor was there to see it.

my commentary: this fic preserves the horror-comedy of the show so well, and you can see poor guillermo having a longform breakdown across the fic. it's so fun.

and yet we still bloom by gdgdbaby (110k, e, graphic depictions of violence)

When the Crown Princess of Xian Le, Her Highness Xie Lian, saved a tiny street urchin from falling to her death during the nation's biggest parade, she could never have predicted that same street urchin would eventually become her greatest spymaster. Xie Lian hadn't anticipated the heavens-upending events that followed the drought either, but sometimes these things just happen. OR: Xie Lian and Hua Cheng save their country and save the world.

my commentary: i would say this is easily one of the best tgcf fics, and it fulfils so many of my desires: lesbians, fix its, slow burn, and woldbuilding/lore! i cannot recommend this enough.

rare as the glimmer by Euphorion (24k, e, no warnings)

“Do you—” Quan Yizhen started, and then on the other side of the room Pei Ming started up his jackhammer, so he waited, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and then said all in a rush, “doyouknowHuaCheng?” Xie Lian blinked. “You know—him?” she asked, in case 'San Lang' was some kind of private name, a secret code just for her. She liked the thought of that. Quan Yizhen shook his head vigorously, his curls bouncing. “No!” he said. “But Yin-ge said you were with him at Home Depot and you left together!” Xie Lian stared at him. One of the employees that had helped her a few weeks ago had been called Yin something, she was pretty sure, but that’s about as far as she could follow what was happening here. “Yizhen, if you don’t know Hua Cheng, why is this… notable?” “He’s famous. Or like. The bad one. Infamous. I thought—” His eyes gleamed. “I thought maybe you fought him.” + Retired (read: disgraced) famous boxer Xie Lian meets a helpful stranger while at Home Depot attempting to fix her collapsing roof.

commentary: lesbians! modern aus! butch!xie lian! everything about this fic is just *chef's kiss* it makes me lose it every time. the dynamics and writing feels so true to canon, and reading it is just. so so good. i'm trying to come up with more comments and i can't, it's just. so good.

We Stan Scrap Gege! by PaidSubscription (31k, m, no warnings)

“San Lang…are you sure about this? Life on the road, storage units…it’s not glamorous. There’s junk and there’s gross fluids and roaches and raccoons and meth labs, and one time I got lead poisoning and- oh! Another time I accidentally got locked inside a unit with five families and loaded on a truck and then I think technically we were human trafficked-?” “Gege. I’m in this, all the way.”

Scrap Collector’s cancellation is inevitable. Once, Xie Lian was the most popular face in reality TV. After the...incident, Xie Lian is banished to 2am cable, and turns to making a different kind of show: storage hunting. But in his final season, he suddenly acquires a new producer: a Youtube star named San Lang. And San Lang- along with his legion of fans- is determined to save the show. 📺🎥💕

my commentary: this concept is both utterly batshit, and weirdly sensible for the characters? i loved the interspersing of social media format between the prose, and the dynamics between all the characters, especially hualian, are so on-point!

Knowing Only This by CatMouse (dioscuridevotio) (31k, m, no warnings)

Bai Yutong is handling it. Ever since he was fifteen years old and realized that the horrible, sickening, aching feeling he got in his chest whenever he looked at his best friend wasn't a sign of early heart failure but instead a warning of something much worse, he's been handling it perfectly fine. With full maturity and dignity. He's the head of SCI. He's the best cop of his generation. He's the pinnacle of self-control and an expert at compartmentalization. But sometimes—Sometimes Zhan Yao doesn't make it easy. In fact, it's times like these he's convinced Zhan Yao is determined to make his life as difficult as humanly possible.

my commentary: a wild sci fic emerges! poor bai yutong is going through trials and tribulations of being in love, and it's so so fun to read. i laughed and gasped and was on the edge of my seat while reading (well, metaphorically; i was laying in bed). it's just very very good.

codify my wasted youth by lungache (6k, t, no warnings)

“We're way too caught up in the race with time It's getting hard to take it in We're tryin hard to be the first in line Just wanna be a kid again, a kid again”

An Origin Story “We should start a band!” “Holy shit, we should totally start a band!”

my commentary: the fabulous @lungache wrote a marvelous band!au, and i wish i could eat it like a fine dessert. why does it only have ten comments. it deserves so much more. read it. comment on it. now. that is not a suggestion.

The Tiniest Heipaoshi by tehfanglyfish (6k, t, no warnings)

Jiajia was already handling a good number of Professor Shen's lectures and labs, fielding office hour questions, and all of his online correspondence. Why not add a few more responsibilities into the mix? It wasn’t like she needed to sleep. OR The one where Jiajia impersonates the Envoy.

my commentary: i'll admit, i don't go here, so i can't give a fully accurate commentary, but i stumbled across this somehow (perhaps someone else's rec list? who knows) and the few chapters of the novel plus the episode or two of the show i watched gave me just enough knowledge to enjoy this fic. and, anyway, the concept of "exhausted TA pretends to be a terrifying non-human political entity" is, in my opinion, universally appreciable.

I Love You (I Want Us Both To Eat Well) by freakesque (6k, m, creator chose not to use archive warnings)

In which Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan take it upon themselves to make sure Xue Yang eats regularly, and Xue Yang finds out he’s actually not a twink.

my commentary: @xueyang's fanfic which i got to cheer them through writing and then read; it's so so good. it will make you Feel Things and Have Emotions. read it. now.

And the gentleness that comes, not from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it by lucientelrunya (39k, m, graphic depictions of violence)

It's him. It’s really him. For a moment Zhang Rishan looks up from his phone again, letting his gaze wander over the pool and then the shoreline behind it. There is still no trace of the merperson, but he had come to save Zhang Rishan. Again. He smiles to himself. So he is still here, still saving drowning people. That means Zhang Rishan can start step two of his plan. To the humans who hire him, Zhang Rishan is a proficient hunter, one of the best to hunt the rare magical creatures, the yaoren. To Ba Ye, Zhang Rishan is a stranger, a poor human he saves from drowning, not a hunter that has been tasked with catching him. Their meeting will change them both and alter the course of both of their lives drastically.

my commentary: am i using this rec list to recommend my friends' writing? perhaps. but also, this fic is just so good! the worldbuilding and dynamics.................so so fun. and it gave me the perfect excuse to dabble in conlangs again. also i regularly think about the mer lore, so. @lucientelrunya did a fabulous job here and i WILL make you hear about it.

Confidence Trick by duty_free (21k, e, creator chose not to use archive warnings)

"Your umma was going to die instead of you," Jae Ho said as one of his guys dragged Hyun Soo out of bed. Another guy stood waiting by the door, his back to them, looking down the corridor and smoking silently. "But it's smarter to kill you." He gestured at Hyun Soo. "So here we are."

my commentary: yes, i'll admit it, i watched the film and then immediately went looking for fics because the ending killed me. this one soothes those wounds at least partly; i like how it keeps the fucked up elements of their relationship while also still having them, well, fall in love trust. and it's such an interesting canon divergence concept, one that i think is executed excellently.

alright, that's everything, for now, anyway! i hope you can find something on this list you're interested in!

#omg me mention… <3 #yayyy

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