My Archive of Our Own Wrap-up
I wanted to put together a thank you to all the fanfic writers who have gotten me through this year.
This wrap-up is me going through my history month by month to see which fics I’d visited the most (because you can be damn sure I read through them over several days, again and again).
So this is a celebration of the wide variety of fics I’ve read and/or bookmarked and/or subscribed to. Thank you to every writer on this list for keeping me entertained.
To every fanfic writer I've had the pleasure of reading the words of, and there are so many more of you than just this list of people, I want to thank you so very much of trusting your creativity to us readers. You are my rock, my joy, my comfort, and so many other supporting adjectives that I just want to give you all hugs and money for the holidays.
My first fic of 2024: dismantle the sun by StarryCleric
Summary:
Beau shudders and holds Caleb's hand, which he squeezes back tentatively. She can feel how it shakes in her grip. She does her best to steady him, despite the fact that she wants to shake apart herself and completely fall to pieces. “I am going to hazard a guess here,” Caleb says softly, “that we may have been drugged.” --- Tonight was supposed to be a fun night off. Unfortunately for Beau and Caleb, the universe has other plans.
2024 fics I kept returning to
January
Winter Song by @proantagonista
Yuri!!! on Ice, rated E. Completed 2018-03-25.
The set of Yuuri’s mouth softened into a private smile as Victor squeezed his knee beneath the table. His hands were bare, free from the gloves he so often wore when they were together on the rink, and the heat of his palm burned straight through the denim of Yuuri’s jeans. He slipped his own hand beneath the table and found Victor’s. Hidden from sight, their fingers began to flirt and play. A secret conversation all their own that needed no words. Yuuri was aware that at some point—a moment in time he couldn’t quite place—Victor had become his boyfriend. There wasn’t a single instant when it happened. It was a slow awareness, as if Victor had silently been asking the question for months now, and Yuuri had been giving him the answer a little more with each passing day.
February
blink by @frockbot
Persona 5, rated M. Completed 2020-11-13.
Summary:
Do you want kids? Ren asked Akechi two years ago, the night they decided to get married. Yes. He did. They do. So when they’re given the chance to adopt a pair of sisters, ten-year-old Maya and two-year-old Sai, they take it. They’re prepared for a rough transition: for arguments, and upset, and struggle. That, they can handle, or find ways to handle. They are not prepared for the resurgence of an old and familiar evil that threatens to destroy the tenuous family they’ve built. They probably should have expected it, though. After all, this always happens to them. [Takes place 17 years post-game and 16 years post-Doomsday. You don't have to have read my other fics to start here, but maybe you should?]
March
In Calm Waters by @dracosollicitus
Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, rated E. Completed 2024-03-04.
Summary:
Rey Smith, an Omega who presented late, meets Poe Dameron, an Alpha unlike anyone she's ever met. Sparks fly, they fall in love — and fight against societal expectations. The two work together to build a relationship built on mutual trust and respect in a world that claims they should be nothing more than their biologies.
April
Investigation Check by @percivalium
Critical Role (Vox Machina), rated E. Completed 2022-10-09.
Summary:
She’s hot. She’s not usually hot. Blankets can be kicked off, but not this time. She’s also sore. She’s not usually sore, either. Muscles can be tender after battle, but not this time. Vex prys one bleary eye open, attempting to take in her surroundings. It’s her bed: check. Her room: check. Her blanket: check. A warm body next to her: check? A heavy arm draped over her belly: check?! Both eyes open now (literally and figuratively), she slowly rotates her head on the pillow to look at the foreign body next to her, smiling when she sees a floof of light-colored hair tucked carefully next to her shoulder. She can’t help herself and sighs contently, making some strands of his unruly tufts wave and ruffle. Her Percy: BIG check with a heart drawn around it.
May
Nightmares by @roninreverie
Star Wars Rebels, rated G. Completed 2016-01-01.
Summary:
After the events of the planet Gorse, Kanan and Hera adapt to living together as a crew, but things get off to a bumpy start.
June
three years, three rules by @akihmorn
Persona 5, rated E. Completed 2020-11-18.
“The truth is, I hate all alphas,” he stares at Akira coldly. “And that includes you.” Three years after getting married, Akira and Goro face an unexpected challenge. shuake week day 3: comfort
July
The Mind and The Maladay by @saltytothecore
Critical Role (The Mighty Nein), rated T. Completed 2022-04-06.
Of all the ways Essek thought he might find himself staring down mortality, his magic making a cancer of his lonely heart never even entered his consideration. But then, his calculus has never been able to account for the Mighty Nein. There is a remedy for his illness, of course. There is always a way to unwind magic, but there is always a price. The cost of Essek’s life, now that he’s contracted Hanahaki’s disease, can be paid two ways—one is higher than Essek can bear and the other, well. The other can only be paid by someone else. And if Essek could ask that, then he wouldn’t be sick at all, would he?
August
Witch Ways by @aliquistis
Baldur's Gate, rated M. Last Updated 2024-02-16.
Echo has lived her life tucked away in the forests of Tethir, learning magic through the pulse of nature and the songs of creation. She's good with magic, but not people, which isn't really a problem until she's scooped up by mind flayers and has to get along with six strangers lest they all share a tentacle-y doom. And she manages to get along with most of them -- but then there's Gale of Waterdeep. Despite a terrible first impression, she finds he is actually much kinder than all the mansplaining would suggest. This is a series of relationship scenes about my weird little mushroom hermit, a wizard who shows compassion and arrogance really can coexist, and how academic rivalry is like first base for wizards. Spoilers up to Act 2 for main plot and Gale's romance.
(image source)
September
Pacts and Bargains at Night by @feynwiddershins
Critical Role (Vox Machina), rated E. Completed 2023-03-04.
What passes while the sun is set is often the most revealing.
October
Filling the Hourglass by makkachincrossing
Critical Role (Mighty Nein), rated E. Last Updated 2021-10-27.
Every 25 years, omega Drows enter their period of fertility. The time is rapidly approaching for Essek as summer only grows hotter, and his husband grows older with no way to stop it. But he hopes Caleb can leave a piece of himself behind.
November
Learning to Listen by @fivedayslater
One Piece, rated T. Completed 2018-08-14.
For as long as Zoro's felt his soulmate echoes he's hated them. He doesn't know why Sanji, or the rest of his crew mates, care so damn much.
I'm finishing the year with
and on toward the edge of night by @j-plash
Critical Role (Bells Hells), rated E. Last Updated 2024-11-26.
Ashton would love every fucking alpha in Jrusar to take a long walk off a fucking cliff. Orym just knows it's not right that Dorian has to be so careful walking down the street at night. ("There you go, sweetheart, keep breathing for me.” Ashton doesn’t think he could stop breathing that in if he tried.)
Bookmarks (and notes) of 2024
These are the fics I've bookmarked (saved), and the summaries I add for my own understanding of what each one is, so I can come back it it faster.
even darkness must pass by dare_to_do_our_duty
The one where Caleb has a fever and Caduceus is tired.
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart) by @notaficwriter
The one where Vex and Percy don't start of as soulmates.
come morning light (you and i'll be safe and sound) by @chaseyesterdays
The one where Percy is a dad. Good wholesome cure for depression.
the mist upon the hill by BucketofWater
The one where Mollymauk's blood hunter skills are actively harming his soulmate, but Caleb is too frightened to admit it to him.
The Courage Or The Fall by Rowyndodendron
The one where Caleb should huddle with Mollymauk for warmth.
feverish, burning up inside by @ivelostmyspectacles
The one where Caleb goes into heat in the back of their wagon and Mollymauk assists.
burning out, helpless by @ivelostmyspectacles
The one where Mollymauk is forced into a heat and Caleb does his best to assist.
Ship to Wreck by Snailsnol
The one where Gale courts a prickly Drow.
The Wonderful Life of Caleb de Rolo by @historia-gloria
The one where Percy and Vex adopt the kid tortured with Whitestone residuum.
Strong Enough to Bend by @catgirlthecrazy
The one where Essek doesn't really have the drive for sex he expects himself to.
Blackbird by @okadiah
The one where Kanan's weapon possesses him in an AU where he's not exactly a Jedi.
Exit Wounds by @seti-fan
The one where Percy has bullets left over under the skin.
Feathers and Smoke by @feynwiddershins
The one where it's a canon character study of Percy and Vex and it's fucking amazing how detailed it is.
From a Swell in the Ocean by @goose-smoothie
The one where Vox Machina is a pirate ship and Percy was rescued by "privateer" Captain Vex'ahlia.
In Bloom, With You by @nekosd43
The one where Caduceus has a season and Fjord offers to assist.
Perceived Impressions by @acinonyx1
The one where Astarion shares a cell with a bear and angst happens.
As I end 2024, thank you again to the writers who've provided me with much comfort in a ridiculously tumultuous year.
It would have been a very low year without each and every one of you.