Hello friend

Trying to Just Be

[cherryhatter-deactivated2015072]

KICK THE CAN!

Let’s play the biggest game of kick the can on the internet.

To kick the can, reblog it. I wanna see how long this can go on for.

[visibun]

the oldest reblogs for this post that i can find are from january 2nd of 2013. this can has been getting kicked around tumblr for almost 13½ years now

[drtanner]

And yet somehow this is my first time kicking it!

[sadclowncentral]

i`m going to loose my mind i just burnt my toast and i am so tired that for some reason i completely forgot where i was. and with the instinct ingrained from years of living on a sailing boat as a child i just went to feed the fish.

only that i am not on a sailing boat. there are no fish to feed. i just fucking threw bread out of the window of a third story apartment in the middle of the city very much on land. what the fuck

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Meet Monsieur Plant. It is a robot equipped with artificial intelligence that stands before us, not as a cold, autonomous entity, but as a body traversed, inhabited, and transformed by nature. Its clothing subverts contemporary codes: Baggy pants and a loose-fitting sweatshirt, both made of plant-based foam. Clothing, a cultural and social symbol, becomes an extension of life.

I don't care what they say, this thing is creepy. At the heart, an opening reveals an unexpected interior: Not metallic circuits, but an intertwining of earth, roots, and organic matter. He explores the link between nature and technology, says artist Christophe Guinet.

Acting as a symbolic antenna, it captures not only satellite signals but also suggests another form of connection: Communication between Earth and the cosmos, between the biological and the digital. This is just weird. Can you imagine coming across this thing in the woods?

https://www.designboom.com/technology/monsieur-plant-ai-robots-mechanical-body-organic-plant-growth-nature-2-0/

[meow-67]

I choose the bear.

[ticklefighthockey]

sid/geno fic starter pack

all of these are excellent but the bolded ones are my 10 (okay, 11) desert island fics.

oneshots (under 20k):

room service by sevenfists (6.5k)

make yourself at home by snickfic (8.5k, BOWERBIRDS!!!!!!!)

3:30 by sevenfists (11k, maybe my all-time fave short sid/geno fic)

soaked by goodnightpuckbunny (12k)

wildest dreams by oflights (10.5k)

part of me, apart from me by cathedralhearts (10.5k)

one time too many, one step too far by ferritin (10.5k)

leave the lights on by coricomile (17k)

medium-length (20-60k):

the gentlest chains series by ladyjanelly (27k total)

the real thing by sevenfists (35k, my second fave long sid/geno fic)

fastening one heart to every falling thing by thefourthvine (51k)

where the mount meets the sea by goodnightpuckbunny (53k)

the biblical sense by sevenfists (58k, can you tell i have a fave author)

long fic (60k+)

this cold harbor now home by hapakitsune (60k)

in xanadu by sevenfists (74k, my fave geno character study)

all the way through by sevenfists (82k, my fave sid/geno ever i think)

a gradual act of arson by ladyblahblah (95k, slightly slow start but i loved the characterizations)

to be seen aright by deastar (110k, ive read this so many times and it’s still one of my all-time faves)

they say love heals all wounds by deastar (120k)

[ticklefightgeno]

someone was asking me for sidgeno starter fics—I made this list in 2020 (!!) so there’s been a ton of great stuff posted since then. I’ll do a roundup of more recent faves but maybe this will get you started! you really cannot go wrong with literally anything by sevenfists + the two long deastar fics as a starting point

[meow-67]

My best friend died in January 2020 (cardiac arrest) and I think about her a lot but especially on Easter because of a text conversation we had the Easter before she died. I had texted her to say that when people post “He is risen” on their social media, I always want to say “Time to punch him down and form him into a loaf”. She texted back to say she had earlier horrified her family by offering her dog a small piece of bacon while saying “This is the body of Christ”.

I miss her so much.

[yohjimuse]

[reptilerex]

Striptease 10 hour remix

[stargazermeadow]

yall should take this face blindness test and rb with what you got bc im curious

70-75

65-70

60-65

55-60

50-55

45-50

40-45

<40

Voting ended onMar 23

Interactive measure of face memory, free, 3-6 minutes.

[meow-67]

95%

[meow-67]

My outfit today is giving strong toddler vibes.

[oldbutchdanielmolloy]

i'm having a bad day. someone is going to die today (remembers suicide jokes are bad for my mental health) and it's not going to be me. (gets scared someone will report me to the police) people around the world die of natural causes every day. (remembers i want people to think i'm smart) and i know who it's going to be (remembers i want to retain an air of mystery) but i'm not telling.

[memewhore]

[collidedscope]

the “bad guys” in hallmark movies end up always being the most respectful men ever.

because they will find out their girlfriend of 3 years (that they were about to propose to) went off to a random farm in minnesota, hours away from were the two of them built a life together, and she decided to just… stay there without even consulting him.

and then he decides to take a trip to make sure she’s okay, because this is generally alarming behavior, and then sees that she literally fell in love with her ex within one (1) week- and he wasn’t there, but you can TELL that they’ve made out a couple times.

and then she just strings him along for a few days, until fucking christmas eve, when she just breaks up with him and is like “i know we used to have the same values, but i’ve never loved you. mark makes me happier than you ever did. and you ONLY care about work, whereas i like christmas and fun, like a Good Person.”

and then, after finding out his entire relationship was a lie and he had his life turned upside down in a week and he got dumped on christmas, this guy’s just like “ok yeah that makes sense. i only wish you the best of happiness with mark. i hope you guys build a great life together in christmastreefarmville. thank you for everything.”

[teashoesandhair]

An AU where two Hallmark Christmas Bad Guys are both getting flights back to New York after being dumped by their respective Smalltown Blonde Girlfriends, and they bond over their shared experiences and fall in love in the departures lounge

[ghostcasket]

@teashoesandhair your wish is my command :)

Probably, Levi should be more upset.

Probably he is still in shock. Right? He looks out of his taxi window (it's not technically a taxi, just some guy named Corey who offered him a ride to the airport, because Uber doesn't operate in fucking Tinyville, Bumfuck Middle-Of-Nowhere, Utah) and tracks water droplets racing each other down the glass, because of course it's raining, and his bad knee is killing him. 

Levi sniffs and rubs at his eyes and then pulls out his phone and books a ticket back to New York, wincing as four hundred and twenty-six dollars are deducted from his bank account. 

And, like, he should definitely be more upset.

He just got broken up with. He was engaged, for God's sake. A four-year relationship… over. Just like that. 

Corey says, "Ten minutes to the station." 

Probably he'll be more upset once he's home. When he starts packing up Anika's stuff into boxes so she can come collect them after New Year's. He'll have to do all that processing and he'll put away all the pictures that are up and probably he'll remember all the good times they had together and flashes of their relationship will play out in slow motion in his mind. Like a movie montage.

Levi catches his reflection in the passenger side window and starts, pulling his thumb out of his mouth. He hadn't even noticed he'd started biting the nail.

Corey drops him off at the train station and he books a ticket to Salt Lake City and Levi wants to tip him for the ride but when he turns back the car's gone, and it's started snowing again.

He re-wraps his scarf so it covers his ears and turns back. He has to jog—ow ow ow—to catch his train.

Once arrived at the airport, Levi's gotten over being baffled and has started being mildly pissed. 

You're obsessed with work, Anika told him. You barely make time for us anymore. Yeah, he'd had to pull some long hours for the last few months, but for good reason—he'd been working towards a huge promotion and a raise and he thought she'd be happy for him.

He'd gotten the promotion, by the way. Editor in chief. He'd tried calling her first, a whole bunch of times, and then she hadn't picked up, so he'd decided Well, fuck it, and flew out to Doodootown, Utah to break the news himself.

He thought it would be nice. Spend the few remaining days before Christmas with Anika and her family in their hometown, then flying back home for Christmas and New Year's and starting 2023 off with renewed vigour and excitement. 

Then, of course, Anika told him that she wouldn't be flying back with him for Christmas. Or at all. 

Which, well. Okay. 

She didn't even congratulate him.

He checks in, and the lady at the desk asks him whether he wants to drop off his carry-on luggage for free, since the plane is very full, and Levi shrugs and says okay and watches his suitcase disappear behind black rubber flaps.

His flight leaves in four hours. 

Levi decides to pay the extra fee so he can stay in the fancy lounge, because he thinks he probably deserves that at this point. It's quiet here, though, so he orders a tea and claims a table over by the window, stretching out his right leg with a contented sigh. 

There's an empty table in front of him, but at the next one sits a man who looks so miserable it's impressive.

The man is slouched in his chair, dark hair mussed and suit a little ruffled. The cuffs of his slacks are damp, and so are his knees. He's leaning his head against the window, eyes closed, holding a bloody tissue to his nose. A purple bruise is starting to form on his cheekbone.

Levi stares.

Damn. And he thought he was having a rough day. 

Should he say something? Probably not, right. Like, that would be weird, right? 

Then he notices the small, black velvet ring box the man is fiddling with and it's like all the air's punched right out of his lungs.

Damn. 

Levi looks down and takes a sip of his tea, then hisses and curses under his breath because it's still way too hot and he's an idiot. 

When he looks up again, the man is eyeing him with mild amusement.

And there are a hundred thousand ways that Levi could have handled the situation, but before he can think about ways to not embarrass himself further he hears himself say, "Ouch. Haha."

Somebody please shoot him. 

The man raises an eyebrow. Levi gives an awkward cough, then takes another sip of tea and somehow feels betrayed when it burns his tongue again.

"Maybe you should give it a second," the man says. 

"Maybe," Levi says, "I should." His ears are burning. 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas plays over the speakers. 

Levi desperately wants to ask about the ring box. And the bloody nose. And whether there's a correlation. But then again it is so definitely not his business, so he just stares down at his tea and watches steam rise. 

There's a sharp sigh from across the table. "She said no." 

Levi's head snaps up, ready to defend himself, because it's not like he actually asked, but then the guy looks so tired and bitter that he immediately deflates and feels both like an asshole and an idiot.

"I'm sorry," he offers, which still feels lame but better than whatever he had going on before.

The guy gives a wry smile. "Gonna, you know. Return this. She, uh, said no to the whole relationship. So."

Ah. 

"I'm sorry," he says, running a hand over his face, "I don't mean to dump all this on you."

"Oh, no, it's okay," Levi says quickly, and then before he can think about it too much, he adds, "I get it."

The other guy looks immediately doubtful. 

Levi bites the inside of his cheek. "Four years," he says with a shrug. "Engaged and everything." He gives a thumbs down and blows a raspberry. 

"Aw, shit, dude," he says, sitting up straight. He removes the tissue from his face, and seeing as he's no longer bleeding, stuffs it in his pocket. "That sucks."

Levi shrugs again, suddenly weirdly self-conscious. He traces the rim of his teacup with a finger. "Yeah, well. I didn't get beat up about it." There's a moment of silence, then he sneaks another glance. "Levi, by the way."

A corner of the guy's mouth twitches. "Xavier Ortega." 

Levi gives a half-hearted salute. "Fuckin', enchanté. Or whatever."

Again, Xavier almost smiles. Levi thinks—Levi thinks he'd like to see Xavier smile. Properly. 

And then he thinks, What. 

No, he's just—Xavier just looks like he could do with a cheer-up. That's it. And, well, so could he, really. They're both in similar boats. Although it looks like Xavier got the shorter end of the straw here, Levi thinks, considering his ruined suit and, you know, face. Still a nice face, though. Symmetrical. Strong cheekbones. Dark eyebrows over dark eyes and a straight nose and—whatever. 

Whatever.

He just got broken up with. 

God, why's he trying to justify this to himself? Why is he feeling weird about this? He's not even gay. And even if he—even if he was, it's not gay to acknowledge that a guy is good-looking. 

But, like, it's fine. He's not—whatever.

Xavier has a split lip, he notices now that the tissue's not hiding half his face. "Got you good, huh?" 

Xavier rolls his eyes. He looks away for a moment, hesitating, then stands up and pulls the chair from the table between them, spinning it around and flopping back down at Levi's table. 

Levi thinks he must look quite surprised, because Xavier says, "I mean, this is easier for conversation purposes. Unless you're fine with the yelling across tables situation—"

"No, no," Levi protests. "No, you're right, this is—easier." He clears his throat and says, "So, what was her name?" before mentally kicking himself, but Xavier just looks at him weird.

"Well, her name is Chloe. We just broke up, she didn't die."

Levi nods, puckering his lips. Right, yeah. Yes. "Is she… nice?"

"Well, she cheated on me."

"Ha," Levi says with no humour. "Samesies."

Xavier lets out a dry chuckle at this, then rubs at his eyes. "Wow. Happy Christmas to us, right?" 

Levi raises his teacup and gives a ghost toast. "Merry Christmas to us." He downs his tea, which is at a palatable temperature now, then says, "Do you want a drink?" 

-

So Chloe and Xavier had been together for almost five years. The whole story is… disturbingly similar to Levi's whole deal, actually. Chloe decides, two weeks before Christmas, to take a trip back to her hometown, gets pissed when Xavier can't just take ten days off work to come with her, goes anyway on her sister's advice, meets up with her childhood nemesis who turns out not to be so bad after all and also cleaned up unfair nice, and then when Xavier went after her because hey, she hadn't been answering his texts and he was planning to pop the question over the holidays, she decided to dump him.

"She looked me in the face," Xavier says, head in hands, "and told me she was happier there than she'd ever been with me." He looks up and runs his fingers through his hair. "And I mean, sure, we'd had our rough patches, but, you know. We were gonna work it out."

Levi hums. "Yeah, no. I get it."

"So I said, Are you fucking serious right now, and I guess I raised my voice a bit, and then Mr Goddamn Farm Guy comes storming out and squares up to me and I don't even know who this dude is, and I tell him to get out of my face, and he fucking decks me. Like, completely unprompted."

"Rough," Levi says solemnly. 

"Yeah," Xavier says, exasperated. "And he didn't even apologise."

Levi whistles low. It's quiet for a moment while they both nurse their drinks, then Xavier vaguely gestures at him and says, "So what's your Christmas Tragedy?"

Levi gives a lopsided grin. "Well. Anika goes home to Middle Of Nowhere, Utah, 'cause she said she wasn't feeling great. Wants me to go with her, I can't 'cause I'm pulling long hours for an upcoming promotion, she's pissed. When she gets back there she rekindles things with her ex—"

"Augh," Xavier says. "Brutal."

"—and last I heard the plan was for them to start a combination bakery and tearoom together. So." Levi grits his teeth. "Hope that works out for them."

Xavier looks at him over his glass, then, after a moment of careful silence, says, "You're allowed to be mad at her, you know."

"Fuck her," Levi says immediately. "Like, seriously. Why even get engaged to me if she was so miserable? Just break up with me instead of, fuckin', cheating, and then acting like I'm insane for going to check on her after she just ignores all my calls and texts and goddamn emails. We were going to get married in February, for fuck's sake. Fuck her." He presses the palms of his hands against his eyes til he sees stars. 

There it is. The upset. Figures that it's the saying it out loud that really drives home how betrayed Levi feels. Especially when he's talking to someone whom he doesn't have to explain it to, because Xavier gets it. Xavier gets it better than anyone ever will, probably. 

It's not quite the movie montage Levi had been preparing for. Rather, what Levi remembers now are all the moments that Anika said things that cut, or did things that bruised. How she'd roll her eyes when Levi got so excited he got the wiggles. How she refused to entertain the idea of getting a dog, even after he begged. How she'd get annoyed with him when his knee acted up and told him to suck it up and stop being such a crybaby. How she'd give him the cold shoulder when she was upset with him and he couldn't read her mind about it and let it build until she exploded out of nowhere. 

Little things that didn't seem like such a big deal in the time, but that added up to something like a balm for the sharp sting of betrayal.

Because that's what it is, at its core. That's why Levi is angry.

More betrayal than heartbreak.

And even though it will hurt for a while still, there's something that tastes oddly like relief at the centre of his chest, cool and welcome like a breeze on a suffocating July afternoon.

Xavier stays silent. After a moment Levi blinks hard and opens his eyes and finds Xavier looking at him strangely. 

"Yeah," he says quietly. "Fuck 'em." 

Levi's stomach squeezes.

He glances wildly around, trying to find anything to look at that isn't Xavier's face, and settles for the screen hanging from the ceiling that displays flight information. 

"Oh, look at that," he says. "I should get to my gate." 

"Right," Xavier agrees quickly. "Yeah, of course, so should I." He picks up his leather briefcase. "Where are you going, by the way?"

Levi laughs. "How wild would it be if we were on the same flight, huh?" He stands up and winces, ignoring Xavier's questioning look. "New York City. The 9:15. You?"

Xavier's eyebrows shoot up. Levi's jaw drops. "You're fucking kidding."

They make their way over to gate B9 mostly in silence, a general air of What the fuck is happening hanging between them. Not quite uncomfortable, but definitely baffled. 

"So this is weird, right," Levi says, dropping into a boarding zone chair. "Like, really weird."

"Right," Xavier says softly. Then, eyes trained on the huge Christmas tree and determinedly not looking at Levi, he adds, "Cool, though."

Levi is—Levi is a little speechless. "Yeah." He feels kind of floaty. He can't stop looking at Xavier's ears, because the tips have gone red. "Yeah. Pretty cool."

God. Fuck.

-

Their seats aren't next to each other, because that would have been crossing the line from freaky coincidence into absolutely fucking insane, but Levi pulls some strings and switches seats with the nice lady who’s next to Xavier, because it’s an exit row seat with more leg room and he has a bad knee. He tries not to look too pleased with himself as he sits down. 

Xavier gives him a look. “So do you actually have a bad knee, or…”

Levi slaps a scandalised hand to his chest. “I can’t believe you’d accuse me of such a thing. You think I’d lie about being disabled?” 

“I don’t know you that well.” 

“And here I thought we had something.” Levi sighs. “I broke my kneecap when I was a teenager. Never healed right.” 

“Ah. Sports? Don’t tell me you were a football kid.” 

Levi doesn’t know why he feels suddenly bashful. He always feels kind of stupid telling people how he got his injury; the reactions usually range somewhere between mild disapproval and straight up judgment. “Uh, no. Parkour. Actually.” 

Xavier’s eyebrows vanish into his hairline. 

After a moment of questioning silence, Levi shrugs. “I misjudged the distance between ledges. Fractured my kneecap. But I was stupid and an idiot, also, so I didn’t wait for it to fully heal before going back out, and now I am a human weather antennae.” 

“Huh.” Levi would say Xavier looks almost impressed. Mostly sort of exasperated, though. “You know what, now that you say it, I feel like that checks out.” 

Levi narrows his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“I don’t know, maybe you look like the type who would break his kneecap doing parkour.”

“And what kind of type is that?” Levi is halfway to miffed and sort of offended, but then Xavier grins wide and he forgets to be annoyed. 

“You tell me.” 

It sounds too much like an invitation to be a coincidence. 

Levi can’t remember the last time he spent so many hours talking uninterrupted. Or, well, talking to someone who was actually listening to him and actively engaging in conversation. Someone who was interested in him. 

Levi can’t remember the last time he enjoyed talking to someone this much. 

He cracks a joke that makes Xavier laugh softly, and the noise goes straight through his spinal cord like an electric shock, and then it becomes a game, a challenge, trying to make Xavier laugh like that again. 

Xavier shows him pictures of his dog, a wonderfully fluffy brown-and-grey mutt named Captain, and Levi thinks he might actually pass away over how cute he is. 

“I always wanted a dog,” he says after cooing over a picture of Captain showing his belly for ten minutes. “Like, really bad. I want a dog so bad. But Anika doesn’t, so it never happened.” 

“Well,” Xavier says loftily, “Nothing’s stopping you now, is there?” 

That is an excellent point. Levi tells him so. 

Then he starts thinking about how nice it will be to have the apartment to himself for a while, and then he feels guilty for being relieved about it, about Anika not being there, and then he ponders how weird it’ll be to be alone for Christmas. 

Levi's never been alone for Christmas before. 

His family lives in Alberta, and he can't really afford another short notice round flight, and anyway the plan this year had been just him and Anika, and they'd had a reservation for brunch on Christmas day, and Levi thinks he should probably cancel that, and that's just a fucking bummer.

After a moment of thinky silence, Levi quietly asks, "What are you gonna do for Christmas?" 

Xavier blows out a long breath. "I don't know. I think I'll try to see my sisters. They live a state over, though, and it's all very last minute, I—we—were supposed to spend it at Chloe's, and I'm not big on Christmas celebrations myself, you know, my family's culturally Jewish, so… I'm not sure."

Most of the rest of the flight is quiet, and a little sad, but also nice, and when the seatbelt light flicks on and the crew announces the imminent descent Levi can't help but feel a pang of disappointment.

The plane lands. Impatience in the cabin spikes; everyone wants to get home, it's the holidays, it's cold. Levi gets up and winces, catches Xavier's eye as he reaches for his bag and hands it to him. 

Xavier is gonna call a cab. Levi is as well. 

They're standing outside.

Levi shoves his hands in his pockets. 

"Well," Xavier says.

"Right."

"It was nice meeting you, Levi. The circumstances were… less than ideal, maybe, but…" 

Levi looks at him. A purple bruise is blossoming on his cheekbone, crawling up around his eye. The tip of his nose is red from the cold. His eyes are dark but if he pays very close attention he can tell where the iris ends and the pupil begins. 

And okay. Okay.

He might be a little gay.

"But nice," he whispers.

Xavier smiles, looks down. Is it—would it be totally weird to ask for his number?

But then Xavier's cab is there, and he tips an imaginary hat at Levi before turning away. He hands the driver his luggage.

The sharp stab of panic between his ribs takes Levi totally by surprise. As does the fact that when he blinks he's closed the distance between him and the cab and is holding onto the door.

Xavier looks at him, eyebrows raised.

Levi didn't plan this far ahead, or at all. He blinks, feeling rather sheepish, then when Xavier's eyebrows start disappearing into his hairline he blusters, all at once, "So I have a brunch reservation. On Christmas Day. I was, you know, supposed to go with Anika, but, you know. And it would suck to have to cancel. And it doesn't have to be weird, or anything, we're just two guys being dudes, getting brunch." He snaps his mouth shut, absolutely horrified. What the fuck was that?

Xavier's mouth parts a little. 

God. Shitballs. Fuck. Abort. "But that would be weird, right? You know what, never mind, it's fine, forget I said anything, it's—"

"Levi," Xavier says, exasperated. He covers his face with his hands. Then he says, muffled, "Yeah, okay. That sounds nice. I'd like that." 

Oh. 

"Are you—are you sure?" 

He must sound really incredulous, because Xavier snorts. "Yeah, I'm sure." 

Slowly, Levi grins. "Okay."

"Okay." They stand there for a moment, and then Xavier's eyes go wide and he says, "Wait, I should—hold on." He digs in his pocket and pulls out his wallet, hesitates, then pulls out a small rectangular object and holds it out.

Levi's grin goes lopsided. "Xavier Ortega. Are you handing me your business card right now?"

To his credit, Xavier looks away sheepishly. "My phone number's on there."

Levi accepts the card, hoping passionately that Xavier doesn't notice his hand is shaking. "Okay. I'll text you, then."

"Okay," Xavier says. Then, tentatively, "See you soon, then?"

Levi takes a deep breath and steps back, cheeks burning, and probably not just because of the bite of winter chill. Something in his stomach twinges, and he says, "Yeah. See you soon." 

[ghostcasket]

[fatmasc]

Hey i’m a fashion design student so i have tons and tons of pdfs and docs with basic sewing techniques, pattern how-tos, and resources for fabric and trims. I’ve compiled it all into a shareable folder for anyone who wants to look into sewing and making their own clothing. I’ll be adding to this folder whenever i come across new resources

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16uhmMb8kE4P_vOSycr6XSa9zpmDijZSd?usp=sharing

[fatmasc]

Updated just now with new hand sewing resources (mainly buttonholes) and textbook pdfs on fashion history, fashion illustration, and thinking through designs!

[bosstoaster]

OP I owe you my life

[whatchamacallitz]

OP you are the greatest person currently in my life. You beautiful, thoughtful creature.

[teapotofbees]

A true blessing

[meow-67]

This morning, to avoid my boyfriend hearing me ask Alexa to play Makeba for like the one millionth time, I whispered my request to her and holy fuck SHE WHISPERED BACK. Could someone please call the police

[darklynoon-deactivated20170407]

Reblog if you’re 30 or older

This is an experiment to see if there really are as few of us as people think.You can also use this to freak out your followers who think you’re 25 or something. Yay!

[meow-67]

Just saw this on Zillow and….it’s kind of bonkers, right? The condo is on a golf course (not a selling point for me) and if I lived here I could eat donuts and drink tea while watching people play? I’d rather be like that dude who lays down next to a ball and pretends it knocked him out.

[linskywords]

2025 HRPF Rec List

It's time once again for my annual rec list! This is not in any way a comprehensive list of the best HRPF in 2025, but it is the HRPF I happened to have read of this year's offerings that I enjoyed the most and thought others might, too. Organized by pairing for your convenience:

McDrai

Obligations by @helenish (McDrai, a/b/o, 21K) -- mm yes I'm starting obscure with a work by the multi-fandom legend and possibly best writer in hrpf right now, Helenish! Come for the biting, stay for the feels.

Ahead by a Century: Prelude by @demotu (mcdrai, the first segment of a decade-long getting-together journey, 34K) -- I was SO excited to see demotu return to HRPF this year after a decade-long hiatus. This is the first segment of what's apparently gonna be a several hundred K near-canon getting together story that spans a decade of their lives and includes some VERY long drawn-out UST, so obviously I am extremely sat.

General Dynamics by @demotu (mcdrai, BDSM AU with dom-for-hire Leon, 45K so far) -- gotta love a good BDSM AU, especially when it features Connor McDavid, deprived sub who thinks he isn't allowed to have what he wants. The dom-for-hire piece adds a really fun element to the dynamic that I haven't seen so far. It's a WIP, but invest now, it's worth it!

from the happy effort of a body by @notthequiettype (mcdrai, getting together, 12K) -- notthequiettype cannot miss. The one starts with the team looking at Leon's grindr profile and includes some variety of (imo) demisexual Connor and provides, as always, such real-feeling and complex characterizations and a rich sense of the friendship between the two of them. Plus some very hot smut.

halfway there by crispierchip (mcdrai, switch!Leon/dom!Connor, 50K) -- oh hell yes. Leon's a switch who's having trouble not subbing during the season so Connor offers to help him out and you can just guess where it goes from there. Super satisfying.

every lonely place by withfeathers @thelittlebirdthatkeptsomanywarm (mcdrai, getting together post trade, 70K) -- I feel like I don't have enough classic long getting-together stories in this list this year but here's an excellent one. Leon gets traded to Boston and it turns out a big part of why he's so bummed about it is that maybe what he wants from Connor isn't just friendship after all.

a hundred shades of gold by @notthequiettype and @winglavender (mcdrai, AU where Connor's older, 41K) -- the treat I've been waiting for ever since the first part came out last year! I'm not usually a huge age difference person, but this one handled it in a really lowkey and enjoyable way that felt true to their dynamic. So genuine-feeling and satisfying. The chatfic element also really worked for me.

Willmack

blush by countthestars @moondoggiestyle (willmack, panties, 10.5K) -- I maaaay already have been overly effusive on main about how much I love this fic, but it is a treasure. I can't reread it too often though or it makes me want to write willmack in panties (again) and I just don't have that kind of time. But I do want other people to write them in panties so you should all read it and get (hot and bothered and) inspired.

woke up like this by canary @bigdogenergy (willmack, woke up as a girl, 18K) -- Speaking of willmack feminization, how about Mack with a surprise pussy? As with everything by canary, impeccably written, love the relationship dynamics.

i got time, i can give you some (willmack, developing relationship ish, 6K), and anywhere but home (willmack go to Sid's training camp, 13.6K) by donderwolk @bliksemflitsenblog -- I'm pretty sure donderwolk is the preeminent willmack scholar of our times. If she doesn't have a PhD in them by the time they're done with their ELCs, it'll just be because universities haven't caught up with her level of expertise. It's an unparalleled delight to read stories infused with all that rich insight into their characters and the wonderful weirdness of their dynamics, in prose that never fails to make me hum with satisfaction. They're weird about each other; they're weird about themselves; they're weird about Sid; what more can you want?

Soldier Boy, Bleed by @ghostsinmachine (willmack, non-AU D/s, 38K) -- This fic might have the best Mack voice I've ever read. If (whennnn) I write a WYL installment for them it's going to be heavily indebted.

Always Comes First by toxotes @toxotesjc (willmack, 38K) -- I discovered toxotes this year and proceeded to read all of their work, gratefully. They're is super good at displaying hauntingly real internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity, so if you enjoy pressing that particular variety of angst button, you're gonna eat this and all their other works up with a spoon.

Every drop of rain singing I love you by @mcjesuswept (willmack, werewolves, 5K) -- mcjesuswept has written a ton of great stuff lately, and I chose this one because I can't resist me some werewolves, especially when they can't resist each other. Also there's piss kink. Which might not be my thing but is apparently also not NOT my thing.

the thing that gets attached to you by edmoil @stonemitts (willmack, internalized homophobia and jerking off, 10K) -- mmmm is there anything hotter than two guys who are trying not to be gay but jerking off together anyway? Delicious Will pov delicious internalized homophobia delicious smut.

Tom/Wyatt

Let Me Love You by sofrancesca @sofrancescasocleanclean (Tom/Wyatt, D/s, 10K so far) -- Ohhhh my god you guys this feels like another installment of Where You Lead except that I didn't have to write it, which is a GIFT. Sofrancesca does such an amazing job of inverting the dynamic so that Tom is just as much of a pest as we know him to be in real life except that what he really needs is to be held down by Wyatt, our scrumptious dominant mouse who no one believes is a dom (except for Tom, who knows right away). If only Tom knew himself to be a sub. Can't even tell you how excited I am to get the rest of this one!

million-mile august by @teethkick (Tom/Wyatt, getting together, 17K) -- Absolutely loved the growing feelings and tension in this one (and the previous one in the series, which is more pre-slash-y but also great). I wrote down that it gave me "stomach flutters galore," so, you know, if you like those. 😏

bury me here in your laundry pile by ribena (Tom/Wyatt, wingfic, 11K) -- mm the angst and the yearning and the internalized shame combined with such unusual worldbuilding (Tom's part cat! Wyatt's part bird!). And so sweet at the end.

TKNP

Living Things by makeit_takeit @makeit-takeit (TKNP, getting together post retirement, 303K) -- Living! Things!! This is a series and it isn't finished yet, but the main storyline was just resolved, so this is the perfect time to read it. This is, imo, the definitive take on how Travis and Nolan could end up together in the future in a way that feels realistic.

A True Place by @sofrancescasocleanclean (TKNP, historical whaling AU, 23K) -- the pininnnnng!! I'm probably biased because sofrancesca wrote this for me and specifically put in things that she thought I'd like, but boy howdy did it work. The homoerotic tension of listening to someone jerk off in the bunk next to yours in the crowded belly of a sailing ship 😍

Tread Carefully by @patrebka (TKNP, foot fetish, 7.6K) -- yes okay but hear me out! It's foot fetish fic with FEELINGS. You definitely don't need to be into feet, as long as you're into hockey boys being into stuff they'd rather not be into (and aren't we all).

(honey you're starting something) deep inside of me by ellen_shame @ln-shame (TKNP, TK is a nurse, 3K) -- Um. Nolan almost comes on a hospital table; that's all I'm gonna say.

Other

shotgun waiting to sound by @teethkick (Pierre-Luc Dubois/Ryan Leonard, non-AU BDSM, 13K) -- This one is a total rarepair and brings a different a rougher side of BDSM than you see in a lot of fics. Not something I write a lot of, but very delicious to read. For when your rookie just needs, as the tag says, to be broken like a wild horse, ideally by a very large and very solid man.

New Fevers by @teethkick (the Dewies struggle against comphet, 39K) -- oops all teethkick in this section! I had never read anything about these two, but almost 40K later I had so many feelings about these two and the internalized homophobia keeping them apart. Long pining epics full of denial, my beloved 🥰

That's all I've got for this year. So fun to group them all together like a little hoard of treasures 😍 I look forward to finding out about the many masterpieces I no doubt missed!

[ruinedchildhood]

[mag-agenttorture]

Not to be "Thing, but Japan!" but this is an incredibly satisfying way to see it done.

[froggiethelesbian]

I found a guide for a no tape, easy to unwrap wrapping tutorial to make Christmas a little more accessible, wish I just found it sooner

[dat-physics-gal]

Could i not have seen that before Christmas? Anyway, queueing this for next december to save a life.

[onceuponatimeinerebor]

This is how they wrap surgical sets before sterilizing them (in a cloth not paper...god I wosh the cloth is a pain in the ass) except when they tuck the last bit in, they fold it over so the end is poking out of the box (like a pull tab).