Can I trouble you for some Fruk (I suppose we should be calling that Freng now) recommendations, or any Ned ship which takes your fancy~?
Anything for you darling! I couldn't decide so you get two for both:
1) Fruk
All Tied Up, by @rainbowfruitpastilles
France accidentally becomes a bit too acquainted with a pair of handcuffs. England may or may not be at fault.
This one is pure fun and bickering with a pinch of sweet comfort and deep love. It's an absolute comfort fic for me and it has everything I like about them, two old men being gentle and silly around each other <3
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Paris and London, by @shachaai
Paris by night and London by day, and Francis and Arthur vexingly side by side in both of them.
This one, along with Character Study by Rainbow, are fics that really explore the quieter moments, the unspoken understandings, the duality of them. It's so rich in soul, in ambience, in mood, it has all these little details, the placement of the hands, where their eyes go.
This is fruk (freng XD) to me, this centuries old relationship beautifully encapsulated in these little moments that speak volumes of how much they actually care <3
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NOW
You have to know that most of my fic recs for Ned are your fics, so I had to dig a little deeper for this one:
2) Ned + ?
Fire and Ice, by Ludwiggle73
In the land of ice, an abandoned baby is found and adopted. He isn’t like his family and friends: his appearance is strange, his thoughts are even stranger, and his powers are enough to alienate him from everyone he loves.
In the land of fire, a bounty is put on a monster believed to be the cause of their drought and famine. Two brothers set sail: one yearning to avenge their parents, the other hoping to prevent another needless death.
In the end, they will find out once and for all if opposites really do attract, or if fire and ice are doomed to clash until they are both destroyed.
This one is a bit of cheat because it's more of an ensemble cast fic (with engport as the main ship I'm sorry I'm such a one note kind of girl XD), BUT this fic is amazing and definitely worth the read! It's a fantasy AU and a soft omegaverse where Arthur was cast to the sea as a baby because of a prophecy that foresaw that he would be the one to destroy their land. Su and Fin find him and raise him as their own, but he's always seen as a pariah in their vaguely Scandinavian island. Cue Port shipwrecking on their beach with the grace of an elephant in a china shop and turning his world upside down.
Ned shows up as the captain of their escape ship and Port's friend. Things progress and he sorta has a thing going with Iceland, but more interesting than the ship itself is how his character is explored throughout the story. He is very much one of the main characters and it's so cool to see him as the responsible adult for this bunch!
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And this one, which I'm 100% sure you have already read but I can't miss the opportunity to sing praises for:
Killer's Ridge, by @helian-skies
Arthur's plan for date night gets off to a good start, but when he takes Antonio up to an infamous lookout point, the night starts to veer entirely off-course.
I've said it before but it bears repeating, Helia is a Queen of Horror and her fics are so incredible, so amazingly detailed, SO SCARY!! She builds this amazing tension all around and gives so much background to each character, everything is so beautifully crafted and so vivid!!! Her writing is truly brilliant!! And the smut is glorious XD
