Juulna’s 2021 Multi-Fandom Fanfiction Rec List - Part Three
(Yes, I realize this is a year late, but this year's been a bit nuts. I still hope you enjoy these fics anyway!)
Based only on what I’ve read with my own eyes this year!
Follow me on my journey into what, at times, was…
…actually rather calming! Perhaps you can find some comfort and entertainment, fluff and angst and romance and friendship, smut and a distinct lack of it, space adventures and fantasy and modern adventures, serial killers and good guys, redemption and reconciliation and learning to become someone completely different — there is so much here I read that stuck with me over the past year, and the 2021 Fanfic Reading Challenge ( @fanfic-reading-challenge ) allowed me a new way to keep track of all of my favourites. So props to that event! Definitely participating again (considering I run the event, yeah, that's probably a given lol, but full disclosure).
Without further ado, here were my 2021 fic favourites!
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six
Fandom: Star Wars
Kylo Ren/Reader:
Love Is Blind by @elmidol
After having been temporarily blinded due to an injury, you learned new skills. These you continued to hone after you had healed, and so you took to wearing blindfolds.
Supreme Leader Snoke deemed these skills useful for the Knights of Ren, which led to your quarters changing to those beside Kylo Ren's. Slowly you came to understand him. And, in his own way, he came to know you as well.
Reylo:
Gambits by bitterbones
In which an attempt is made on the life of galactic senator Ben Organa-Solo, and Rey is assigned to be his personal bodyguard. Their biology makes them fast enemies, and Rey struggles to balance her duty as a Jedi with the rivalry forming between them. Perhaps they even hate one another. Until suddenly they don't.
*Then he was moving through the darkness, and for all the training she had endured, Rey froze when faced with his shadow. He caught her jaw in his hand, and Rey shivered at its breadth. His hands were soft, his grip firm. That confusing scent assaulted her again, stronger this time as its source breathed in her face.
“But understand this, little Jedi, you are a guest in my territory. Any omegas I bring back are mine . I am larger than you, I am stronger than you. You listen to me , are we clear? I am dominant, between the two of us. I am the alpha .”
With a few steadying breaths she managed to dampen her alpha response enough to speak, “Get out of my face.”
The Stormtrooper's Handguide On How To Handle An Insufferable Boss by riffraffes
“We... have a favor to ask,” one of the Stormtroopers says slowly, almost sheepishly. The blank white faces of the masks stare back at her, but Rey can feel waves of embarrassment and fear rolling off of them.
Rey doesn't have all day to pander to them, so she lets out a low growl, daring them to continue.
“Can you please fuck Kylo Ren, already?” comes out desperately, and it's got to be the absolute last thing that she had ever expected to hear.
The Escort by @grlie-girl
Rey, a college student living in Chicago, gets roped into the world of high-end escorting. It’s Thursday night and she is on her way to meet her newest client: a man named Kylo Ren.
Delicious Ambiguity by Juulna
Rey and Kylo Ren repeatedly encounter each other in battle over the years, fighting desperately for the causes that they believe in even as they both grow in strength - and fight off growing curiosity. Yet when Kylo tells Rey that she's pregnant via the Force, will that affect their interactions? And will it change Kylo irrevocably?
“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.” ― Gilda Radner
They say that only the dead have seen the end of war by Juulna and @cuthian
“He traded his life for mine,” Rey choked, stomping back and forth in front of him so fast he could barely keep track of her. “He died. He died so I didn’t have to—and it’s not—it’s—after everything he’s gone through—it’s not fair.”
Tears were running down her cheeks now, and Poe wanted to do nothing more than hug her, but there was nothing he could say—nothing she would want to hear. Poe remembered all the people he’d lost, all the times he had raged and screamed and cried about the unfairness of it all.
“Leia sacrificed herself to bring him back,” Rey declared suddenly, ceasing her constant pacing around the fire as she looked straight at him. “And he sacrificed himself for me—and now no one’s going to know. All he’ll be remembered as is Kylo Ren, but he was—he was so much more.” She exhaled with a shudder and whispered, “He was a part of me, and I—I don’t feel whole without him.”
A Force Ghost Ben/Rey love story, with a side of rebuilding the galaxy.
The Shadow Knight by six4au
There are worse things than being a ghost. Walking through walls is kind of fun, and eavesdropping on conversations is certainly convenient, but how do you get the attention of someone who can't see you? Ineptly, it turns out.
Fandom: The Witcher
Geraskefer:
A history of dragons in popular culture by @deputychairman
“I wanted a point of comparison,” she said. “Because he looks at me like he really – loves me, or something.”
“Yeah,” said Jaskier, resigned. “He does that sometimes. Isn’t it a bitch?”
They were half way through the second bottle by now, and their shoulders were touching. She could feel the hard line of Jaskier’s thigh against hers. She was very aware of the chest hair visible at the open neck of his shirt, and how he could probably see down her dress from here. She hadn’t moved to put any distance between them and neither had he.
“Why are we still talking about him? I don’t care about Geralt of Rivia any more,” lied Yennefer.
“Nor do I,” Jaskier lied back.
A Twist in Time by didoandis
When Jaskier looks over the witcher has his eyes shut tight, his whole body seeming pained. Jaskier realises he wants to soothe him, and the strength of feeling surprises him. He’s been too long without company.
“What happened?” the witcher says finally.
Jaskier blinks. “That’s quite a big question. I’m afraid you’ll need to be more specific.”
“With Nilfgaard,” the witcher clarifies, growling slightly. “It shouldn’t – it didn’t happen like this.”
In 1240, Jaskier the bard leaves Posada earlier than planned because of a devil in the mountains.
In 1263, three years after Nilfgaard conquers the north, Julian Pankratz, viscount of Lettenhove, hires a witcher and learns about the path his life should have taken.
This is not an AU.
Smother by @funkzpiel
The first time it happened, Geralt was alone. Not alone as he once had been. Not alone because he chose to be alone. Alone, because he drove them away. No one would have a man who used ill-gotten wishes and spewed nothing but poisonous barbs from their mouth when you tried to comfort him. Alone, in a tub of water to scald the ache from his muscles, he wondered why it did little to relieve the pain. Why still he ached. Why it coalesced around his lungs like a thorn bush.
And then the coughing started.
blood on the marble walls by @ghostinthelibrarywrites
After being ambushed during a hunt, Griffin witcher Yennefer wakes up in a cell with two other witchers— a Cat named Jaskier and a wolf named Geralt. Held captive by a mage who wants to use them to create more witchers, there seems to be no chance of escape. But as Yennefer grows closer to her cellmates, she realizes that she’ll do anything to get the three of them out of this alive.
Series: buttercup by bloomerie
Jaskier might run with witchers and witches, but she is, in the end, human.
Constellations by @penny-anna
"I know how soulmarks work. If a person has two names writ upon them by destiny, then one is to guide them to their true love and the other to their worst enemy. Everyone knows that." / "That’s an old wives’ tale."
When Jaskier was fourteen, two names appeared on his skin: 'Geralt' and 'Yennefer'.
Rumor Has It by @cardamomdaydream
The school staff can't help but wonder about Ciri's stupidly hot parents.
The Tale of Jaskier's Grudge Against Historians (and how they gave him his happy ending anyway) by notebooksandlaptops
[Text Sent From Ciri] Is there a reason why a love letter to Yen and Geralt is in the British Museum signed from you?? -C
[Text Sent to Ciri] Because Historians are nosey pricks. Do NOT tell your parents. -J
[Text Sent From Ciri] ;) – C
The winking face of a semicolon and a bracket stared up at him, composed of unforgiving pixels. She wouldn’t, would she? No. No. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
She wouldn’t.
-///-
Or, an exploration of the reason (immortal) Jaskier hates historians (hint: it's because they keep stealing his shit and putting it on display)
Geraskier:
The Witcher Soldier by @avoidingaverage
Geralt barely managed to slam the pommel of his sword up in a glancing blow that shattered the metal latch holding the Soldier’s mask in place. The Soldier rolled into the movement with a dancer’s grace and came to his full height just as easily. For a moment, his hands reached up to run over the exposed skin, before he slowly turned to face Geralt once more.
The Witcher froze in a mixture of horror and near-frantic hope.
He stared into the eyes of a dead man and whispered, “Jaskier?”
The Soldi--the bard frowned at him in confusion and spoke with a voice rough with disuse,
“Who the hell is Jaskier?” ___________________________
Or, the Winter Soldier AU.
Series: Meet Death Sitting by @bomberqueen17
"OK this series has been going on for 2 years now and I should summarize it better.
The first part is several decades of, largely, Geralt and Jaskier's interactions, as they both fumble together toward some kind of meaningful understanding. That section largely concludes with a Jaskier/Geralt/Yennefer endgame.
Then there's a time jump, and the series picks up after the events of the Witcher 3 games. I follow Lambert as he copes with grief, and Keira as she learns new things about herself, and the lives they make.
I decided to tell the story of how Ciri became Empress after W3, which intersects with Keira and Lambert's adventures; I read the books somewhere in this and got invested in some of the themes they brought up. And entangled with this, I got interested in the politics of the North, especially the Upper Aedirn Free State and the threads laid down in the Witcher 2 game that didn't exactly get resolved in Witcher 3, and so I have several stories dealing with that thread, which will intersect with the other stories in the same timeline."
Fandom: Hannibal (NBC)
Hannigram:
Philia by @gweezle
Getting into Jack Crawford's Forensic Psychology class was a dream come true for Will Graham, until he learns that his final assignment is to attend twelve interviews with the notorious serial killer, Hannibal the Cannibal, in order to unravel his mysterious past.
Even as he grows closer to the truth, he also grows closer to Dr. Lecter, and the doctor is very eager to get to know this young man who thinks like a murderer.
The Unknown Prince by HissyTheDangerNoodle
Will Graham has days to find an alpha or he's done for. As if his life could be any more like a tragic opera.
Dévorer by @tauuuriel
He's always intense, always focused, but this is different. He's looking at her, and not just at her skin or her dress or hair or face or even the necklace he so lavishly doled out to her - he's looking at her soul, and she knows, just as she knows that yesterday someone died at the hands of an abusive husband, that he sees the way she's opened up like a flower in the sunlight, chasing off the dark shadows and revealing her true self.
A Perfect Set-Up by purplesocrates
Hannibal leans in slightly now, apparently intrigued. 'Well, the killer attacks single omega’s usually after being seen with someone high profile, many of them psychiatrists, as I’m sure you’re aware, Doctor. That’s the MO.' Will feels a sudden, very strong desire to run out of the room, maybe even the building. 'You would like us to be bait,' Hannibal states with a ghost of a smile that Will decides to ignore. 'Yes, quite frankly. You’d both be wearing a wire, and we’d have eyes on you at all times,' Jack explains to Hannibal, who is now actually smiling. ‘I thought this would be a good move and also allows us to keep an eye on you Doctor, after all, he may escalate to hurting alpha’s,’ Jack reasons. ‘At this stage, all we’re asking is that you have dinner.’ 'I’m sure we can manage that,' Hannibal says, looking at Will with a smirk that makes Will blush bright red.
Bright Hair About the Bone by MissDisoriental
Trapped in a system where omegas are little more than trophies to be bought and sold, Will Graham has done the unthinkable by escaping a forced bonding. Already in high demand as a profiler, Will's determined to find freedom on his own terms.
For Hannibal Lecter the outlook is far more straightforward: a slow, systematic seduction of the most uniquely captivating omega he's ever encountered.
As the shadow of a new and terrifying serial killer falls over Baltimore, the stage is set to redefine all accepted meanings of passion, temptation, horror and beauty – and to discover the ecstasy of a genuine love crime.
Mark me not a Savage by @katherinekrawl
When Will opens Hannibal's letter, it wakes something primal locked inside of him. He doesn't understand it, but what he does know is that he has to go to Baltimore hospital for the criminally insane, and he has to go now.
Dear Will. He could still see the words, written in the curly elegance of Hannibal's hand, burning behind his eyelids. He breathed deeply through his nose to try and calm the unsteady flutter of his heart. A deep breath. One that clawed at his nose, one that penetrated his nostrils like a liquid, a smothering sting he felt intruding behind his eyes.
One. Deep. Breath.
And then it took him.
The Borderland State by @nekosmuse
Three years after Hannibal's arrest, Will Graham stands on the front porch of his Georgian seaside home and watches twin headlights navigate the winding stretch of his lane. There is only one reason Jack Crawford would travel all this way, in the rain: Hannibal Lecter has escaped from prison, and no one knows where he is.
Written for the Hannibal Kink Meme prompt: Will figured out Hannibal was the Chesapeake ripper, resulting Hannibal's imprisonment and a complete breakdown for Will. A few years later, Hannibal escapes from prison. Despite the risk, the first thing he does is go after his Mongoose. Give me obsessive, possessive, creepy as hell Hannibal who still wants Will for his own.
Series: When the Devil Smiles Back by @fancybedelia
Four years after his escape, Hannibal Lecter is once again imprisoned at the hospital in Baltimore. He's the same as ever, except that he refuses to discuss Will Graham, who there hasn't been a trace of in years. When the Buffalo Bill killings start, FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent to interview him, and Hannibal has his interest piqued. But it’s not for reasons anyone would suspect, and as usual, his motivations are all about Will. A remix of Silence of the Lambs, where Clarice finds herself occupied not only with catching Buffalo Bill, but with unraveling the mystery of what exactly happened to Will Graham. And Hannibal knows more than he’s letting on about both.
Molly & Freddie, background Hannigram:
TKO by @sidnihoudini
Molly deals with the aftermath.
Frowning, Molly turns to retrieve two mugs from the cupboard. As she slides them from the cupboard she asks, “You think they’ll come back?”
“It isn’t likely they’ve left,” Freddie explains, eyes trailing over Molly’s hands as she sets the mugs down and pours their coffee. “Jack Crawford is looking for them in Florence. Hannibal’s ex-psychiatrist turned up a week ago missing a leg. You tell me what continent they’re on.”
The mug Molly is holding clatters against the counter top loudly, and coffee sloshes everywhere.
“Excuse me?” Molly finds herself laughing, sharp voiced and flabbergasted. She turns again, enough to see Freddie, smirking and staring back at her from the kitchen table.
Fandom: Humans Are Weird
Humans are Weird: Shorts by @thewildwaffle
What if when we get to space and we find out that all our movies, stories, etc. where humans are weak and (honestly) pathetic compared to most of the species in the galaxy, were wrong. What if we are actually the strong ones? The crazy ones? The hard-to-kill ones? The dangerous ones? Or maybe even the adorably cute ones? The ones that will out-progress most other species because we take seemingly too big/stupid risks and it pays off? Or we are very good at looking at problems from different perspectives. etc. You get the point.
Humans are my favorite mythical creature by @xandurielx
Short stories about humans on the galactic scene, some from alien points of view and others about these mythical tiny juggernauts. Brought over from tumblr and added to when possible.
Boldly Go by @cheezygoddess
[this was originally written as a fanfiction for Ultimate Spider-Man, however after much consideration and input from readers I believe this reads better as an original work] (dedicated to Audio and WebKat for giving me the idea). --- Sehmal and his fellow 'guards' were hand selected. Mainly for their ability to be surprised or alarmed without going into shock and dying. Secondarily because they had no bonded partners to distress if they died anyways. And only lastly because they studied aliens.
He just wished he'd been told before volunteering for this expedition that it was for the study of humans.
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/SG-1
McShep:
Decade by canis_lupus
Ten years ago, an expedition left for Atlantis. They were never heard from again.
Decreasing Radii by @cathalins
An alien device forces John and Rodney to do something they wouldn't do otherwise. The aftermath is not easy. But sometimes, not-easy leads to good things.
Happy by crysothemis
"Wait," John said, because this had to be a joke, didn't it? "You know Ronon, but you don't know me? What the hell did that thing do to you?"
Weddings, Plural, and a Yak by @cesperanza
By the eighth time John Sheppard married Rodney McKay, they were old pros at the wedding thing, having weathered not only an Ouishan blood wedding, but also a twelve-hour Avalonian handfasting, a Malanese necklace exchange, and a Thurtu joining ceremony that invoked a fire god and featured seven kinds of cake.
Series: The History of Rome by @indygodusk
From Part One: When the IOA task General O’Neill to find a command staff for Atlantis, he delegates the selection to SG-1. On paper, they’re the best of the best. Unfortunately, the IOA won’t go for it because there’s one big problem: they’re all women.
Dr. R. Meredith Mckay is the leading expert on Ancient technology and a genius. Being a woman is merely incidental, or at least it should be. Major John Sheppard is a disgraced pilot. He doesn’t want any excitement in his life, but alien spaceships and hot scientists are hard to resist, especially when that scientist is Rome.
Written by the Victors by @cesperanza
Caroll, Franklin R. Atlantis Revisited. New York and London, Routledge, 2011. Chapman, Denise. Several Kinds of Genius: The Life of Rodney McKay. NY: Harper Perennial, 2015. Croft, Rosalind. City of Spires: A Memoir. Toronto: The Mercury Press, 2009. Dugan, Paul. A Political History of Atlantis. Oxford: OUP, 2012.
Fandom: Julie & the Phantoms
AlexReggieWillieLuke & Julynn endgame:
Series: An Anchor, a Port in the Storm by @cuthian
"Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love." Marvin J. Ashton
From Part One:
“How do you even know you wanna kiss a guy?”
And later, Alex wouldn’t be able to justify, even to himself, what made him say it, but the words that came out of his mouth were, “I don’t know. Just kiss me, see how that feels.”
Reggie’s eyes snapped open.
--Alex/Reggie prequel to Becoming a Memory, Becoming a Treasure OR How Two Himbos Explored Their Sexuality Together
