i didn’t read as many fics as i wanted in 2024, but i did manage to put together a list of 25 so here they are, separated by fandom !! the dair fics i've read helped give me sm inspo -- enough to start brainstorming again for my cult leader louis fic AND start my first dair fic, so big s/o to the dair fandom -- we were so robbed & somehow y'all still continue to give !! anyway, big thank you to all writers for continuing to bless us all w your creativity — readers, please remember to leave kudos & comments on fics you enjoy !! as always, fics are in alphabetical order <3
(also a moment of silence for @harruandlou who introduced me to dair & therefore had to listen to me talk abt nothing besides them for the last ~3 months)
dair fics:
an utter lack of self-preservation instincts by nevertothethird / @scabopolis
There are many things Blair Waldorf needs: the new sustainable division of Waldorf Designs to be successful, a fresh manicure, and maybe a weekend away with her best-friend.
What she doesn't need is a pretentious Brooklynite with no experience working in the fashion design industry to make her life harder. Or to bring her dinner. Or to look at her like she might be the best thing he's ever seen.
checking it twice by womanaction / @womanaction
Blair creates a checklist for her "perfect man", but someone surprising happens to match up to her demands.
flappers and philosophers by bookishandbossy / @bookishandbossy
Dan Humphrey first meets Blair Waldorf at a party he's not invited to. He doesn't mean to write a story that's all about her, but somehow it happens. Blair Waldorf has every intention of giving an aspiring writer a sharp talking-to about the character he's based on her. She doesn't mean to get fond of him, but somehow it happens. (1920's AU)
god help the girl by secondaudrina / @firstaudrina
At nearly three a.m., the idea of murdering one's neighbor starts to get just a little too appealing.
good night bad morning by secondaudrina / @firstaudrina
Blair refuses to be so hard up that she's giving Dan Humphrey the eye.
hang up and run to me by mysteriesofloves / @mysteriesofloves
“Keep talking,” she says. “I like your voice.”
“Oh,” he says, then, brighter: “oh. Okay. Well. Ha. That’s funny—not that, that’s not funny, that’s…nice, it’s just funny that I can’t stop talking until you ask me to not stop talking, then I can’t think of anything to say.”
“Would you like a prompt?”
“Sure. Yeah. Give me a prompt, Waldorf.”
“What would you do if you were here?”
His breath over the line is like static. “Um. What?”
i knew you’d come back to me by communitys
“Okay,” Dan says. He looks to the side, to Alessandra and the people bathed in the cold bright glow of the party, and feels so removed from them that his conversation with Blair might as well be happening in a different universe. “Okay. So, you’ve been hung up on me all this time”—he ignores her eye roll, like she doesn’t know what she’s doing—”and you’re divorcing your husband, who you only ever married for practical reasons, and what, exactly, do you want from me?”
or, dan writes a book about his relationship with blair, she shows up at the signing, and no one else is in the room for a while after that
just like in the movies by stapler_stealer / @anevildictatoroftaste
“I have five words for you, Mr Humphrey—,” Blair leans in with both palms laid flat on the counter, a triumphant smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “—The future…is online streaming.”
“And I have four words for you, Miss Waldorf,” Humphrey replies, with a mocking smile. “Get. The. Fuck. Out!”
Or, Blair Waldorf is a ruthless media executive looking to acquire an indie video rental store, seal that damn deal and score that sweet, sweet promotion.
There’s just one teensy little problem that stands in her way — a stubborn, curly-haired store manager by the name of Dan freaking Humphrey.
returning the favour by thestartofnothing / @mrs-nate-humphrey
After Georgina takes Milo away, Dan isn't expecting is Blair Waldorf at his doorstep with a plan to make him feel better.
He certainly isn't expecting her "plan" to involve having kinky sex, for fun.
somewhere you feel free by lizwas / @terrainofheartfelt
Four years ago, Blair had gotten married and fallen off the face of the earth. Dan had already fallen the year before.
Dan keeps Milo. Blair marries Louis. Years later, she returns to New York, divorced and determined to start a new life, beginning with finishing her degree at Columbia. Also a Columbia student? Single parent Dan Humphrey.
sweet comic valentine by mysteriesofloves / @mysteriesofloves
She hates Dan Humphrey. She really does. Any gut punch of a reaction to seeing him calmly wrangle rowdy children is purely biological.
the kind of opposites who do not attract by stapler_stealer / @anevildictatoroftaste
Blair Waldorf doesn’t like being reminded of Dan Humphrey. But that gap-toothed, curly haired man certainly had a knack for being completely unavoidable.
Firstly, the man was her best friend’s husband.
Secondly, he was a journalist, so she was bombarded by constant reminders of him.
That insufferable social climber was everywhere. She couldn’t even check her phone without scrolling past his selfies with Nate Archibald on her Instagram feed. Talk about the ghost of boyfriends past, haunting her ad infinitum.
In other words, Blair Waldorf doesn’t like being reminded of Dan Humphrey, because it's like being reminded of a life she could have had with him.
the pretentious classical music au that no one asked for series by lizwas / @terrainofheartfelt
Her first gig directing at a summer festival, and she gets stuck with Greenwood Lake’s Benedict Arnold.
this city screams your name by illicitaffair / @eyescllsed
The fact that her first audition with Humphrey was an accident would make great PR for the studio. Blair can see it already: headlines boasting Waldorf and Humphrey: Accidental Match of the Century! An Academy Award winner unknowingly instigating a fight with an up and coming actor that a casting director just happened to see, proving their “undeniable” onscreen chemistry? It was the stuff of legends.
Unfortunately, Blair doesn’t see it that way.
alternatively; dan and blair star in a film. it goes about as well as expected.
the milk and honey extended universe by mysteriesofloves / @mysteriesofloves
She wishes Dan Humphrey had never taken a seat across from her their first week here. She wishes she didn’t have to contemplate the way she feels about him at all.
[or, Yale AU].
write this down by mysteriesofloves / @mysteriesofloves
“I am so going to regret asking, but—what exactly are you getting at, Blair?”
Blair takes a deep breath, sitting up straight, and lets it all come out in a rush: “Come with me to Paris and pretend to be my boyfriend.”
you could call me “babe” for the weekend by pentaghastly / @kendallroynsfw
B. WALDORF, the card says, embossed in silver print, and Dan commits that to memory. He’ll probably never see her again, but even so, B. WALDORF etches a space in his brain ten times larger than any five-foot-two socialite should be able to.
He’s surprisingly okay with that.
(or,
Dan is a bartender and Blair is the obnoxiously rich customer who keeps coming in to see him and it's casual, okay, it definitely doesn't mean she's in love.)
Harry has been told all his life how grateful he should be for being born as a male omega, and how blessed their people were because the heir to the throne would be carried by The King.
What they neglected to tell Harry was what would happen if he failed to become pregnant.
OR
Where omega Crown Prince Harry Styles is trying and failing to get pregnant for four years, but all that is about to change when courtesan alpha Louis Tomlinson comes into the equation.
howls like a beast (you flower, you feast) by indiaalphawhiskey / @indiaalphawhiskey
France, 1754.
Château de Versailles.
“You don’t love me,” Louis had said, utterly blasé as he callously fractured the heart of a Harry that was just barely eighteen.
“I do,” Harry had insisted pleadingly, green eyes already watering.
Louis had rolled his eyes, exasperated and flippant in the way only beautiful, young boys could be when faced with the affections of a baby prince. He had run his finger down Harry’s cheek then, had forced him to look into his eyes as he delivered the final blow.
“You’ll change your mind once you’ve seen more of the world,” Louis had teased, pressing a brutally delicate kiss onto Harry’s lovely, pure cheek. “Once you’ve been properly defiled.” He had whispered filthily, delighted by the gasp he heard, the frantic pink blush that had rested high on Harry’s cheeks, the power he had felt at knowing he could make the Crown Prince squirm.
groupie love by cuckootrooke / @larrydoinglaundry
"Now, Louis is only a human. He'd be lying if he said he has never considered his fans attractive but it's not something that happens regularly. Many of them are a little too young for him to look at and those who aren’t so young are rarely squished at the barricade for him to admire. So, seeing a woman like her right at the front is a rare and remarkable surprise for him.
And God does he want to keep looking at her."
In other words, Louis is a rock star on a world tour and Harry is a regular attendee. They could never work.
kitten’s first client by anonymous
Harry settles on his knees, legs together and hands resting gently on his thighs. He looks up at Louis through his lashes, his eyes big and innocent.
"Please, Sir," he says, in a sweet little voice. "May I have permission to suck your cock?"
~
Harry is a kitten hybrid who just started working in a whorehouse. Louis is his client.
pure, pretty, obedient by anonymous
Louis' hand settles on Harry's hip, making him draw in a sharp breath. No alpha has ever touched him there before.
"Aren't you just a lovely little thing," Louis murmurs. "Gonna be so good for me, aren't you, darling?"
~
It's time for Louis and Harry to consummate their marriage. Harry doesn't know much about what's meant to happen on his wedding night. Lucky for him, his new alpha doesn't seem to mind.
ride my sleigh tonight by kingsofeverything / @kingsofeverything
In exchange for free food and drinks at Liam’s office holiday party, Harry pretends to be his boyfriend.
But this is not that story.
staring at the blank page before you by livelaughlovelarry / @loveislarryislove
“Can I ask you a favour?”
Harry blinked. “Um. Depends?”
“It’s nothing weird,” Louis said quickly. “Well. It’s a little weird.”
“Very illuminating,” Harry deadpanned. He had no idea what Louis was going to ask, but he had a pretty good idea that he was going to say yes regardless. Louis had that effect on people.
Louis chuckled. “It’s just – God, bodies are fucking stupid and I can’t visualize the physicality of this fight scene, so I was wondering if I could. Well. Use your body.”
Or, Louis is trying to write his book, but he sometimes has trouble with deciding how the characters should move. Fortunately, his roommate Harry is willing to help him act scenes out. Unfortunately, the line between acting and reality is getting very blurry. Or maybe that's fortunate too.
3) what is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)
OH MAN OKAY i’ve had this scene in my drafts for ages, like at least 3 years probably, where Bodhi (from Rogue One) is allowed to be way more jaded and bitter and traumatized & he’s super critical of Galen (who i think was so fucking manipulative to him and wish there was more content addressing that) and the Rebellion’s use of actual fucking child soldiers while still deciding to do the right thing. here’s the part i actually got around to writing for anyone interested:
Bodhi swallows and rubs the back of his neck. “Okay then. So, uh, I'm not really used to doing this, do I just say it? Is there some sort of code-word protocol? God, I feel so stupid. Okay. I'm the pilot.”
Cassian stares at him. “The what?”
Bodhi swears. “Seriously? What kind of secret anti-government resistance are you, can't even keep up with a few goddamn code names.” He runs his hands over his face, tipping his head to the ceiling in silent frustration, and mutters something that includes “Galen Erso” and “resistance,” both prefaced by several forms of the word fuck.
“Okay,” he says after a second. “Okay. Humiliate me from beyond the grave, whatever, shouldn't have expected any less.” He sighs and looks at Cassian. “I worked with Erso. Sort of. And he said in the event of his death, people like you come poking around, I tell you I'm the pilot and they'll know what it means.” He rolls his eyes. “I am going to completely disregard the custom of not speaking ill of the dead. Anyway. These people aren't quite the cradle robbers your resistance folk are, but I've been here a while, I can help you.”
“I volunteered.”
Bodhi doesn't appear thrown by Cassian focusing on that facet of the conversation. “You were indoctrinated. Based on what Erso said, you were, what, seven? Six?” He seems to read an answer in Cassian’s silence. “Okay. Six years old. Running missions for an organization whose purpose you couldn't possibly understand, risking your life without knowing it—”
“I was aware of the risks.”
“They let you play at being a hero. And now they call you one, so you still can't see how fucked up it is.”
It’s almost bizarrely hilarious that they’re still whispering all of this. That someone has dissected his worst fears in a matter of minutes when the psychologist back on base has never come close. He really hopes Bodhi actually is trying to help them, with a mind like that.
6) what character do you have the most fun writing?
ooohh it depends honestly! when i need to release some of my anger into the world i love writing hermann gottlieb from pacific rim because he’s one of very few disabled characters with, like, a personality, and since he’s also involved in scientific research it’s easy to translate my experiences into his context and rant about microaggressions lol. just in general i’ve also really enjoyed writing dylan piper from disney’s halloweentown which is 100% the special interest talking but i do think he’s a cool character, this guy who is really ostracized in the human world but still chooses to essentially ignore his own magic. not many people who found out they had magic powers as a kid would do that lol
we will put the lonesome on the shelf {alexis + 1st autumn reunited with ted in NYC}
i snagged some of the fall prompts that @dollsome-does-tumblr reblogged: pumpkIn spice, sweater weather, stormy days. for the forever fabulous @firstaudrina [just because ... HAPPY FRIDAY, FRIEND!]
your silence, simple, as a ring by arriviste
It was an accident. Enjolras certainly put no thought into it; one moment he was standing nose-to-nose with Grantaire, and the next he had his hands on Grantaire's wrists, and their long bones were flexing within the circle of his fingers.
Enjolras/Grantaire, 4k, T
Note: my favourite fic ever, if that counts for anything
lélio & ophelia by firstaudrina
Find me, Lestat is saying in a thousand different ways, find me find me find me.
Lestat/Louis, 4k, T
Desert Sand by VillaKulla
The origin story of Goodnight Robicheaux and Billy Rocks
Billy/Goody, 34k, M
there’s probably a word for it in unmodified sumerian by ghostsoldier
It’s weirdly flattering, in a way, that Cecil can wax rhapsodic about his very cells. Carlos can empathize: every single one of his tests has shown that Cecil is just as human as he is, and yet he’s also absolutely not. Carlos knows he’s not, with the sort of bone-deep certainty he usually reserves for universal constants. Cecil’s not human, but he is, and Carlos finds he wants to shout it from the top of the radio tower. How wonderful this makes Cecil. How beautiful. How imperfectly and uniquely perfect.
Carlos/Cecil, 1k, T
my whole trajectory’s toward you, and it’s not losing momentum by theappleppielifestyle
14 year old Eddie gets a glimpse into what's coming.
Richie/Eddie, 8k, G
An Invitation You Can’t Decline by thehoyden
“I have standards,” Aziraphale huffed.
“Don’t I know it,” Crowley sighed. And then, like he’d done it a hundred times before, he covered Aziraphale’s hand with his.
Aziraphale/Crowley, 1k, E
Love Hath Made Thee a Tame Snake by thehoyden
He was the bloody Serpent of Eden, and he wasn’t going to stand for this kind of flagrant trespassing.
Aziraphale/Crowley, 3k, E
all of this then back again by firstaudrina
Magnus is joking when he says, "You," but Alec says, "Okay."
Magnus/Alec, 2k, M
Believe Me if You Can (The House at Pooh Corner) by gyzym
In a world where Arthur is Rabbit, Eames is Tigger, Cobb is Pooh, Yusuf is Eeyore, Ariadne is Piglet and Saito is Owl, nothing makes sense anymore.
Arthur/Eames, 11k, T
not so different, you and i by theappleppielifestyle
Three years ago, the idea that Tony Stark being one of her best friends would have been something she’d laugh at.
Not even laugh- she’d have given whoever suggested it a dry look and changed the subject.
Nat & Tony, 15k, G
unintended results by theappleppielifestyle
Tony stares at the ceiling, white-knuckling his pockets. I will not get off to Steve jerking it. I will not get off to Steve jerking it. I will not-
That thought is put on hold as something starts to buzz, and Tony has to bite down forcefully on his tongue to stop himself from groaning out loud when he realizes what it is.
Steve/Tony, 2k, E
Left Side Advantage by susiecarter
Post-MoS AU: A year after Black Zero, the Metropolis city government decides to hold a commemorative gala, with Superman as a guest of honor. And after a year of trying to gather intelligence on Superman without all that much success to speak of, Bruce Wayne is definitely going to attend. Except it turns out he may not be the only one with plans for Superman, and there might be a few other pieces of the puzzle that he's been missing.
Clark/Bruce, 61k, T
Enemies to Lovers by susiecarter
Then: Bruce and Clark argued, fucked, kissed, and didn't talk about any of it until the day they stopped. Now: they're living together in the lake house, trying to figure out how to be around each other day in and day out without stepping on each other's toes or crossing any lines. Which might be easier if Clark weren't pregnant. Or if Bruce weren't being so weird about it. Or if the mother box hadn't rearranged Clark's insides on a whim in the first place—
There's a lot that could have made this easier, basically. But then Bruce and Clark always did do things the hard way.
Clark/Bruce, 28k, E
dear friend by firstaudrina
Jo might have said, “I left something for you in the old mailbox and I think that you should read it.”
Jo & Laurie, 1k, G
le coup de foudre by firstaudrina
three vignettes about desire.
Lestat/Louis, <1k, G
Circuit by thingswithwings
Post-movie. Watson finds a reason to go back to the flat on Baker Street.
Holmes/Watson, 1k, E
2 become 1, or: these are totally normal roommate shenanigans by dollsome
Chloe decides to fake-seduce June in an act of vengeance. Naturally, June strikes back.
Chloe/June, 3k, T
un oubli profond by arriviste
Three (in)glorious days.
Enjolras/Grantaire, 6k, M
How to Tame a God by theorytale
Loki is unstable. Tony is a genius. Together, they fight crime still don't like each other very much. There might be some benefit in alternative tactics.
Loki & Tony, 5k, T
Ready, Fire, Aim by gyzym
There's no "I" in "Avenger."
Steve/Tony, 21k, M
it should follow, you know this (like the panels of a comic strip) by gyzym
Four, eleven, fifteen, twenty-one, thirty-six, forty, as old as he's always been, too young, and everyone knows Tony Stark.
Steve/Tony, 1k, T
music to watch girls to by firstaudrina
They're both laughing, helpless and stupid with it. Izzy doesn't remember half as much of this before Clary came here. She remembers smirks and side-eye and the occasional chuckle but never gasping laughing over something that isn't even that funny, when you think about it.
Clary/Isabelle, 1k, G
let me lay waste to thee by postcardmystery
Ink stained fingers and ale left untouched. The cheapest paper left to rot and cuffs stained with little spots of black. A life shared but never quite lived together. A boy who wanted to be a poet, remembered as a playwright, and a boy who wanted to stage, remembered for his blood on a dagger held by no one.
Marlowe/Shakespeare, 4k, M
Crash Landers by gyzym
In which Stiles learns to Stalk That Stalk. (Or, how to accidentally woo your unfriendly neighborhood alpha in roughly five hundred handwritten steps.)
Derek/Stiles, 31k, T
Note: i’ve never watched teen wolf i just think this fic is neat
N: Anything you were planning to write that never got written?
I’ve talked a lot about the Unending WIP List of Doom, but that’s mostly stuff I started & never finished... if we’re talking stuff I wanted to work on but never got anywhere at all
Probably the sequel to out of some dreaming tree. I love the setting, the Forest and Demons and Guardians, everything just a little sideways from canon, from folklore, Alec & Magnus choosing each other, seeing echoes of themselves in other worlds with other choices, and I wanted to write more, but I never quite found a thread to grab, an idea to use as an anchor, never really got going at all.
(It’s odd, because normally I can’t do titles, and in this case I had a title but no story: this dream was climbing sky.)
U: Any stories that took a abrupt u-turn from where you thought they were going?
Hmmm. My first instinct is to say no? I mostly wrote short-fic this year, ficlets and snapshots that don’t have enough heft to go sideways... I did have a couple with severe scope creep, but they didn’t so much turn around on me as keep going.
I did finally write the end of a series of ficlets that started from a prompt for Sebastian Fan Week back in oh.... 2011 or 2012, iirc? So that’s... it’s not at all what I would’ve pictured eight years ago, but that’s more a question of degree and tone than a 180.
(I do have a WIP that originally was going to be a sex farce and then turned into some pining & slightly odd power dynamics and is now edging towards a Mafia-style AU with maybe a serial killer in it, so uh. That one definitely qualifies, but I still don’t know where it’s going, so it may spin and spiral around a bit more yet, if I ever get back to it.)
thank you for bringing the dair renaissance of 2020!! do you have any good d&b fic recs?
Thank you, it’s my pleasure! I just still love them so much. My favorite author for fic in general has always been and will always be @firstaudrina
She stopped writing Gossip Girl fics a while ago, but you can still read her work on AO3 and older works on livejournal. My current favorites are crash and burn girl and crossed out and someone, somewhere but I haven’t read her older stuff in quite a while and it’s really good and worth it too.
