↳ fic writers week | day 7 • spread the word
readers and writers: fic recs / self recs
all of my bad ideas were always my best by blastellanos (james mccann/josé iglesias, explicit)
It’s José’s name and picture that pops up– a small round circle of his smiling face and ‘Iggy’ at the top of the screen. Unlike other teammates, there’s no other conversation– this, the first time they’ve ever spoken this way. James squints at the screen.
alternate spellings accepted by americanleaguer (jon lester/josh beckett, mature)
Once, when Lester was a very small child, he had looked directly into the sun.
Like I Do by actualite (ian kinsler/jarrod saltalamacchia, explicit)
Ian’s never been brave enough to say what he feels.
Lovely Lost Cause by candle_beck (barry zito/noah lowry, mature)
By the time they started letting him throw again, Lowry had learned how to pitch through all kinds of pain.
maybe as his skies are wide by blastellanos (nick castellanos, castellanos family, explicit)
They camp by the Grand Sable Falls later that night, building a campfire and listening to the rush of the waterfall nearby, and toasting marshmallows as Liam tells Nick a made-up ghost story that he swore was true but Nick’s sure is an episode of Scooby-Doo. Nick doesn’t tell one back.
They go and lay out under the stars, on a sleeping bag outside of their tent, and look up at the stars. Nick points out different constellations he remembers from an astronomy class in high school.
“I see it! I see it!” Liam says in delight as Nick points out Draco and Scorpius.
Nick gets ate up by mosquitos as they look at the sky and he eventually takes Liam into the tent and tucks him in and curls up on the other sleeping bag and closes his eyes. This is what life was all about, wasn’t it?
Meet Me On the Way Down by fadeastride (max scherzer/dan haren, mature)
Four years is a long time. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The Rest of Your Life by candle_beck (eric chavez/eric munson, explicit)
Two boys grow up.
Run the Field You Play Alone by actualite (josh hamilton/c.j. wilson, mature)
Set in February 2009. C.J. Wilson has been asked to get Josh Hamilton to Surprise for Spring Training. C.J. is more excited about this than he probably should be.
Taking a Breath by atlanticslide (bryce harper/katie ledecky, not rated)
“Yeah, well, I was thinking - would this be weird or hilarious? One of you guys maybe holding these things for me when I throw?” She hadn’t been sheepish or shy as she asked, looked him right in the eye and gave him a grin that made him want to sit down for a moment, made him want to take a breath.
too late, expired lover by onakissgodknows (kris bryant/bryce harper, implied kris bryant/anthony rizzo, mature/explicit)
Kris doesn’t know what it is about Bryce that always draws him back in. Maybe it’s the familiarity – there are only a few constants in his life and Bryce is one of them. Bryce and baseball, and the two are intrinsically intertwined, so as long as Kris loves one, maybe – well. He doesn’t think he loves Bryce. Half the time he doesn’t even think he likes Bryce. When Kris leaves he always tells himself he’s done, there won’t be a next time, and yet he always ends up back here.
What Doesn’t Kill You by van-norrison (daniel norris/ian kinsler, explicit)
Daniel has always been different. The odd one out, but this time was a new start. A trade was sending him to Detroit and what was waiting for him would come as a surprise to even one of the strangest men in baseball.
Circuity (justin verlander/vance wilson, explicit)
Rookie assholes and backup catchers! Oh my!
The Comeback Kid (rick porcello/ryan perry, ryan perry/original female character(s), justin verlander/emily yuen, explicit)
He’d learned how to balance a checkbook, handle autograph requests and gracefully duck out of interviews—just to name a few—at the league’s Rookie Development program, but there was no section in the manual about dealing with Ryan Perry.
Domine Deus (justin verlander, mike mussina, emily yuen, joel zumaya, ben verlander, teen and up audiences)
When Justin Verlander is fourteen, he breaks an opponent’s hand with an 80-mile-per-hour fastball.
Five Times Jordan Tata Crushed on Rick Porcello and the One Time He Actually Did Something About It (jordan tata/rick porcello, jordan tata/lauren tata, rick porcello & ryan perry)
Five times Jordan Tata crushed on Rick Porcello and the one time he actually did something about it, though this is more a Jordan Tata story, with some incidental Rick Porcello.
i keep my feet on the ground (james mccann/josé iglesias, james mccann/jessica mccann, explicit)
“Feelings’re feelings, man. They don’t always gotta make sense[.]”
Just How You Looked in the Light (justin verlander/rick porcello, mature)
The kid surprises Justin the first time he sets his eyes on him.
Must Be a Different View (unrequited/one-sided phil coke/max scherzer, teen and up audiences)
This is going to be his best season yet.
next time will be better, i guess (ian kinsler/jarrod saltalamacchia, teen and up audiences)
They’re a wounded animal that just won’t stay down, that doesn’t have the good sense to just die.
our bruises are coming but we will never fold (james mccann/josé iglesias, explicit)
James wants—
This is Not Your Year (brandon inge/pudge rodriguez, pudge rodriguez/others, mature)
Brandon climbed onto the diving board and looked down. His reflection stared back up at him, shimmering and abstracted, like pieces of broken glass stuck back together in a bad fit.
Under the Influence (dan haren/matt morris, matt morris/heather morris, dan haren/jessica haren, mature)
Matt Morris is a Major League veteran who has gone through things that would completely break a lesser man. Dan Haren is a rookie hot-shot who’s flown through the St. Louis organization’s minor league system at breakneck speed. Turns out one of them still has a little left to learn. And it’s not the rookie.
When I was younger, handsomer and stronger (justin verlander, joel zumaya, emily yuen, teen and up audiences)
Joel doesn’t show up for batting practice one afternoon before an important game against the Twins.
won’t ever be your cornerstone (josh hamilton/c.j. wilson, josh hamilton/katie hamilton, explicit)
CJ isn’t sure who he’d been expecting when he opens the front door, but Josh Hamilton is definitely not on the list of teammates he thought might visit him during the offseason.
You Are Here (james mccann/josé iglesias, explicit)
José waggles his bat over his shoulder and waits for the pitch.
It’s a slower-than-sin fastball and José still whiffs wildly at it, spinning out of the batter’s box. The laughter grows louder and when he lifts his head to see if Kinsler is still watching, he catches James’s eye instead.
José’s used to being on his own but when Ian Kinsler is traded to the Detroit Tigers, he hopes maybe things will change. (They do change, but not quite how he expected.)
you’re the only spirit that i crave (james mccann/josé iglesias, explicit)
José makes it so hard for James to be good.
