Fanfiction Recommendation Month
In the US, August is known as the month of celebration. If there’s a unique festival to be had, someone, somewhere will have it. Of course we have Austin’s birthday, and celebrate it we will, but what better way to honor Austin than to celebrate the people who celebrate him.
I tried to come up with a clever name for this celebration of fans, but I can’t - yet. So instead, I’m just going to call it fanfic recommendation month. Who knows what I’ll recommend, that’s the joy of surprises, but each fic will be a completed work or a one shot. Please don’t be offended if you’re not included. I read slowly, I digest what I read, and I have a chaotic life so it takes time for me to get to things.
My hope is that other people will join in this celebration. Let the writers you love know that you love them. Even better, let them know why you love them. They work hard to feed you.
My first recommendation is going to be @thefloatingpickles DDofAB for August 4, 2025, “CHEAP TATTOOS: Benny Cross x FemOC.” Full disclosure, I just love @thefloatingpickle because of who she is. She made me feel welcome in this fandom and brought me out of my shell and encouraged me to actually start speaking to people. But what I love about this fic is two things - one, there’s no smut, and two, she breaks your heart without the drama.
There’s nothing wrong with smut, it’s what this fandom is built on, and I’m not shaming any one who reads and writes it - I’m one of those people. But I sometimes feel like we’ve left no place in the fandom for writers who don’t write smut. We’re losing people because of it. They feel left out because they don’t get the love. This fandom is big enough to include writing of any rating and any subject. A post reviewing Austin’s movies should get as much love as a fanfic fantasizing about loving him. So, I’m taking a step in trying to normalize that.
Likewise, heartbreak comes in many forms. It can be a thunderstorm tearing lovers apart or a gentle breeze creating a longing for something more. Sometimes people love each other, but they know they just aren’t going to work. The storm comes after the separation. This is what @thefloatingpickle has captured in her version of Cheap Tattoos. In another life, under different circumstances, Benny and the FemOC would have rode off happily into the sunset together. But this is not that world. It’s a gentle longing and letting go of what you want, knowing you will never have it, but having to move on with life without it. Read it, absorb it, let it sink in.
“CHEAP TATTOOS: Benny Cross x FemOC” by @thefloatingpickle