so i've read a lot of fanfiction bc frankly i don't do much with my time
i decided i should impart my knowledge aka share some of my top fics
today: malec. not the ship that got me into fanfics, but the one that kept me there (is that weird to say? i've read a lot of malec fics. i've gone through like a good 1000 pages of search results at this point.)
keep reading for the recs :)
so anyways here's the list
1. a cold night for good deeds, by theprophetlemonade. this one is definitely my all-time favourite fic, hands down. settle in for 500k words of neonoir superhero slowburn, i promise it's worth it. such a good story (like legitimately well written), it's exciting, it's intriguing, and all round a good read. i just started my fourth(?) reread. i cannot praise this fic enough.
rating: explicit, graphic depictions of violence.
my top tags: love square, identity crisis, moral ambiguity
2. Families of Choice, by MonPetitTresor. another one of my all-time favourites, this time featuring fluffy family time. canon divergent pre-canon, loosely based on shameless (as the tags informed me, i myself have not watched it), and featuring two characters from another show (the magicians? i think) as warlocks, who you will instantly fall in love with. the main draw of this one: a very awesome, super cool, totally thoughtful and accurate, queerplatonic relationship- arguably it takes more precedence than the actually shippy ship.
rating: explicit, creator chose not to use archive warnings.
my top tags: family feels, platonic cuddling, not every touch is sex!
3. the A Fine Institution series, by clottedcreamfudge. read the whole series, it is absolutely amazing. clottedcreamfudge is one of my favourite authors, the series also features a full compliment of podfics and a clean edition of the series. the basic premise sounds incredibly odd, but honestly it’s so good: the institute is sentient, and she likes alec. alec is like a son to her. and she is fed up with him and magnus not getting together, so she takes matters into her own... hands? metaphorically speaking.
rating: varies story to story, everything from gen to explicit (available entirely gen), no archive warnings apply.
my top tags: sleep deprivation, accidental baby acquisition, happy ending
4. The Lonely Hearts Hotline, by Fatale (femme). this is a funny one. in short, alec is a phone sex operator to afford living with his unpaid law internship (boo, capitalism). someone, *wink wink nudge nudge*, calls the phone line and just wants to talk about music. bonding ensues.
rating: explicit, no archive warnings apply.
my top tags: this fic only has two additional tags, and they are as follows- “phone sex, some other stuff”
5. Universally Acknowledged, by astudyinfic. a pride and prejudice fusion. (i have not read pride and prejudice). it’s historical-y, it has several balls, and almost nothing goes horribly terribly wrong. i’m pretty sure nothing on here will have an unhappy ending, so fear not. i am weak of spirit and dislike even bittersweet endings (not a fan of la la land, for comparison).
rating: explicit, no archive warnings apply (i swear i have ones that aren’t explicit somewhere).
my top tags: most of the women are awful, which i feel terrible about, internalised homophobia, supportive siblings
6. Names, by Oumy. in this fun twist on regular soulmates AUs, everyone has three soulmate names on their wrist- friendship, love, and an enemy. alec only has one. go figure. also he’s about to become emperor, which sounds like the perfect time to meet his one name. it’s pretty sweet, and has a good plot, and i’ve read it at least a couple of times. and it has assassins, and politics, if that’s your thing.
rating: teen (finally got one), no archive warnings apply.
my top tags: enemies to friends to lovers, political intrigue, assassins
7. Flawed Design, by GoldenDaydreams. another soulmates fic, this time with extra soulmarks for notable events. it begins with adorable baby alec, and stays that great. soulmate words, misunderstandings, and general saltiness abound. there is also a shorter companion fic focusing on heline in the same series, which can be read after or alongside (or before but possibly with some spoilers).
rating: mature, graphic depictions of violence.
my top tags: enemies to allies to lovers, sibling boding, pillow & blanket forts
8. One step ahead, by apathyinreverie. a different first meeting, almost pre-canon, changes a surprising number of things. in all honesty i haven’t read this one in a while, but i know it’s good (i download Really Good fics and it’s in my downloads so). from what i remember, it’s a nice, catch-all fix-it of show canon.
rating: teen, no archive warnings apply.
my top tags: fix-it, developing relationship; it’s in the collection “fics so good i want to throw my chair out the window”
9. and finally, Sixteenth Sunset, by Miss_Shiva_Adler + nhixxie. a short(er, still 29k) one to finish this post (there will probably be more, because there are several almost-entirely-smut fics i didn’t feel like fit in here). it’s astronauts and relationship development and mutual pining and cuteness. throw in some tasteful flashbacks and space things, and bam. sixteenth sunset.
rating: teen, creator chose not to use archive warnings.
my top tags: gays... IN SPACE, how do you cuddle in microgravity you ask? this fic has all the answers, NASA knows they’re pining
as i said just there i’ll probably do more posts like this but a) they’re long and hyper-specific and probably won’t interest most people (hence the keep reading button), and b) it took forever to curate this and i need to stop and go to sleep now but i’m still going to stay up reading a cold night for good deeds because it’s that good and you should all read it it is Good Literature (and i’m and english nerd).
