I’m pretty sure I’ve made a post like this before, probably with some of the same fics, but I can’t find it for the life of me.
First, the classics
Passerine
Completed, 7 chapters, major character death, royalty AU, God AU, SBI-centric, has a prequel and a couple of sequels which I haven’t personally read. Niki, Puffy and Tubbo also make appearances as well as Dream and Sapnap
If you haven’t read passerine you’re either new to the fandom or you live under a rock. Even SAD-ist has read passerine. Even Niki read it.
DO NOT read this without taking a good look at the tags and the warnings. It’s a very, very heavy fic
I don’t really need to say much - it’s a beautiful, tragic masterpiece that I read across two days, but if you tried hard enough you could finish it in one. The characters are simultaneously so different and so similar to their canon ones. It had me sobbing at 2 am and I haven’t recovered but this fic made me feel very seen, despite never having reallly experienced the things the characters went through I found each one relatable and found many quotes applicable to my own life.
It’s hard to pinpoint a favourite part because taking any single bit out of the perfectly sewn together story feels almost like a disservice. But one of my favourite quotes has to be: “Wilbur couldn’t remember it happening, but somewhere along the way of studying warfare and politics, of staring up at the throne that would one day be his, of learning how to be a prince, he’d forgotten how to be a son.” From chapter two.
TommyInnit’s Clinic for Supervillains
Completed, has a prequel and a couple of other bits in the extended universe of it that I haven’t read, 26 chapters, hero/villain/vigilante au, mainly crime boys centric, but features the rest of SBI as well as bench trio and the Dream Team
Warning for derealisation/unreality in one chapter and general warning for violence throughout.
I’ve read a few vigilante aus and I’ve loved each and everyone one of them but this one stood out as it kept me hooked the whole way through, even waiting between updates I still was able to remember what had happened which has been a struggle for me with other vigilante aus for some reason.
It’s a great balance of light-hearted and heaviness that makes it incredibly fun to read. The characters and their morals are so fascinating, as is trademark for any AU like this. Tommy has a lot of internal conflict.
The relationships between each character are really interesting to me so that’s one thing I really like about this fic especially.
“Tommy’s jaw clenched as he thought back to eating McDonald’s on the roof with Siren only a few weeks before. Obviously he couldn’t tell Wilbur about that. It would just raise too many questions.”
Now, my personal favourites
Still Life
Completed, one chapter containing over 30000 words. Tommy centric but features SBI and Niki pretty heavily too. Fundy, Eret, George and Jack also make appearances. Runaway AU set in a small town in the early 80s of America.
Reread this fic last night and it’s really interesting how Meridies is able to cultivate such a rich story in a oneshot. It’s by no means short but it’s also nowhere near as long as anything else on this list. I dunno, it’s the perfect length. It says everything it needed to say.
Once again the characters in this are stunning. The entire town kind of takes Tommy under their wing and it’s a lovely read. It gives me a certain kind of nostalgia for a home I don’t have, and it made me long for that kind of community.
It explores the idea of childhood in a really nice way too. Tommy’s a kid and he gets treated like a kid, which gets on his nerves until it doesn’t. And every now and again the other characters treat him like his age affects his intelligence, and then they realise it doesn’t. But he’s always reminded that he is allowed to act his age. B
This fic tells you nothing and everything about Tommy’s childhood at the same time. The ins and outs of what it’s like aren’t explained but the little he does say explains everything you need to know and even Techno remarks on that. That scene is actually a little jarring because Techno asks Tommy why he doesn’t talk anymore, but since the reader is getting Tommy’s internal monologue it feels like he’s saying more than he is in truth. I love that - you as a person can feel like you’re saying everything you need to say but so much of it never reaches the people around you.
I love the way it explores human attachment and the sacrifices we make for people. The way that leaving a place sounds so easy but it can be the hardest thing in the world.
This is another fic that speaks to me. This Tommy is a kid who’s been bashed for being young and when he stopped acting like a child he couldn’t grow into himself. Now, he’s lost and doesn’t know who he even is.
“Then Techno was saying I can’t do this anymore out loud, and Tommy was struck with the sudden realization that the three of them were caught in a tangled web of their own creation. They were tangled so tightly they could not see which way would loosen the knot and which would pull the knot tighter. Tommy needed one of them to let go.”
Post-Mortal
Completed, 4 chapters. Crime boys centric but also features bee duo very heavily. Tommy’s actually dead in this one. Canon divergence set right before the prison arc.
This fanfic is one of those ones that I’ve only read once but certain parts have stuck with me. Wilbur makes slow progress toward recovery and relearns how to live.
Tommy is in this fic, through flashbacks and a disembodied ghost who is in a much happier place than his canon limbo was. This is probably the least Tommy-centric of the Tommy-centric fics but I’m counting it anyway.
One of my favourite Tommy related parts is from one of the many, many flashbacks. “Tommy held him on the forest floor. That was the most he could have done, and yet his most was not nearly enough to keep Wilbur from shattering.” This is from chapter two.
