Hi. I don't know if you help with finding fics, but I'm searching for a fic post movie, where Booker, during his exile finds a kid in a lab. Or was it he found the lab and informed the others about it. The kid is Joe and Nicky's, created from their tissue sample. I think Joe and Nicky left the group to raise the kid as a normal family, but I'm not sure because I never finished reading it. If anyone could help me find it? Thank you
Hi, and sorry for the delay on this - I did a quick "search within results" on AO3 for kidfic or similar search-and-filter iterations in an attempt to locate a fic of this sort, but I wasn't successful. If anyone following this blog has heard of the fic, please reach out to this asker!
a family that flies together (sticks together) by aglassfullofhappiness (mehmehs)
Joe officially meets Nicky when one of his infamous bludgers knocks Joe clean off his broom, breaking two ribs and making him blackout as he falls. He’s forty metres up.
A professional Quidditch AU with an auspicious beginning for a certain Beater and Seeker, a muggle-born Chaser finding her feet with(out) the dubious mentorship of a very tired Keeper, and an Italy versus France rivalry that apparently transcends even magic and every single sport.
Tags: Alternate Universe: Harry Potter setting, Alternate Universe: Modern-with-magic, quidditch AU, team as family, team bonding, friends to lovers, mutual pining, alcoholic booker, angst, fluff and angst
Joe/Nicky | 75,767 words | Mature
What I loved: I am a giant, and I mean GIANT, sucker for AUs. While I have so many issues with Rowling as a whole, I do have a large fondness for the universe and I love seeing what others do with select parts of it. This is such a great example of that - it takes the world of Quidditch and puts such a great twist on it. It feels like reading a soccer AU AND a Quidditch AU and I LOVE THAT. Setting aside, the care and joy that is written into this fic has stuck with me since I first read it a few months back. I love the way that they care about each other and how it develops from there. It’s such a great sports AU with The Old Guard as the main cast and I’ve recently reread it and had such a great time doing so.
There’s three other fics in the series that are also SUPER enjoyable!
The author has written other fics for The Old Guard and can be found on AO3 as shown above - I couldn’t find any mention of them being on Tumblr, so if you know them, please let them know they’ve been recced!
Nile briefly meets a friend of Joe’s, only to learn later that his life is far more complicated than she could’ve ever imagined.
Written for the prompt Booker/Nile + Modern Widower Booker.
Tags: Alternate Universe: Mortal, Canonical character death, implied/referenced character death, child death, developing relationship, POV Nile Freeman
Booker/Nile | 10,028 words | Gen - No Archive Warnings Apply
What I Loved: The only word I can ever think of for this fic is “Immersive”. It is such a fully realized little snapshot of grief and growth. Nile is VERY present and very much Nile in this and I love her characterization. The author does such a fantastic job of translating Booker’s backstory into this modern setting. The best thing I can say about this fic is that it feels like a short film. It’s melancholy but it just settled in right under my heart and I love this fic.
The author has written other fics for The Old Guard on AO3 and I believe you can find them at @takethisnight-wrapitaroundme here on tumblr!
Hi. Do you have any fic with Joe and Nicky as parents?
Hi there! Mod: CactusDragon517 here! I got really excited the other day when I saw your ask because I LOVE AUS so much and I had one that IMMEDIATELY came to mind.
As ever, please mind any and all author tags for any fic we recommend. I hope you like the ones I’ve linked here!
Nicky’s life is currently balanced like a house of cards. Sure, he’s a twenty five year old single dad, working fifty hours a week minimum wage to support his six year old son, and lives on a steady diet of coffee and day-old donuts, but he’s happy. He loves his life more than anything in the world and wouldn’t change a thing.
Until his hot new neighbor Joe moves in across the hall and it all comes crashing down.
Tags: Alternate Universe: Modern Setting, single dad Nicky, Artist Joe, friends to lovers, parental bonding, first kiss, emotional baggage, emotional hurt/comfort, found family, trust issues, happy ending
Pairings: Joe/Nicky, Andy/Quynh
Rating: Teen and Up
Word Count: 56,632
Why I Love It: OKAY, CONFESSION TIME: I haven’t finished reading this fic. I keep meaning to but real life really dealt me a sucker punch at the end of 2020 (and, y’know, a large part of winter 2021) and I lost track. HOWEVER. I read the first 5 or 6 chapters and was captivated because I cannot tell you how few times I have read and felt the struggle of being a single parent the way that goldheartedsky writes it. Nicky’s struggles are so real and so realized that it’s gorgeous. It feels...gritty, in a way. I’ve started rereading it and I love how the interplay between all the characters feels like a quilt just coming together. SO while I haven’t read the whole thing (imagine my delight to see it’s (A) finished and (B) THERE’S A SECOND ONE??!!), I do think that this is a gorgeous read, just from what I read of the beginning.
@goldheartedsky is on tumblr and has written other fics for The Old Guard!
Between Us Two by mehm
“This isn’t what it looks like,” Nicky says.
“Okay, sure,” Joe says, looking like he’s ready to bang his head against the wall. “Because it looks like you just kidnapped our neighbour’s babies, Nicolò.”
Tags: Angst, Fluff, Introspection, angst, Kidfic
Pairing: Joe/Nicky
Rating: Gen
Word Count: 4,820
Why I Love It: Okay, this isn’t strictly Joe and Nicky being parents, but I think that it counts because it shows what downtime for Joe and Nicky can look like at times. Nicky with his big heart and Joe with his vibrant soul deciding, we can make a difference here. It’s a sweet, sweet fic but it has some melancholy moments in the way that you would expect. My favorite way to think about this one, in particular, is thoughtful. It gives such care to how these men think about things and, in this instance, children.
I could not find anywhere if mehm was on tumblr or not, but mehm has written more for The Old Guard on AO3!
A Matter of Choice by Fadagasaki
"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice." - William Jennings Bryan.
When Paolo reaches out online for advice as a single father of his miraculous baby daughter, he receives a reply from a fellow single father living in the Netherlands.
Tags: Slow burn, single parents, Il Padre d’Italia, Hartenstraat
Pairing: Paolo/Daan
Rating: Teen and Up
Word Count: 46,992 (and still going!)
Why I Love It: Okay, okay, okay. Hear me out: I know that TECHNICALLY, this is not Joe and Nicky. I know that it may also not be what you’re looking for, but I feel like I HAVE to rec it. This fic is WONDERFUL. It’s wonderful and so well done that you don’t have to have seen either movie to understand it - single father Paolo reaches out and gets help from single father Daan. It’s incredibly slow burn but it’s so well done and I love that it feels like a facet of Joe and Nicky, to be honest. Fadagasaki does a great job of grounding it within the fandom at large and the movies themselves. My vote is to always give a chance and I hope you do!
I could not find anywhere if fadagasaki is on tumblr, but they have written more for The Old Guard on AO3!
A look of wonder flashes across the woman's face. It burns bright and consumes her wariness for a split second, and when he sees the curiosity glinting deep in her eyes, he relaxes a fraction, because that's understandable.
"A Lord of Time." She loosens her grip on the knife, then takes a step back which allows him to breathe out. "I've not heard that title before."
"Well…" He tilts his head to the side. "I've had a lot of names over the years."
Her response is as blunt as the rest of their conversation, but he can see the hint of a smile turning up the corner of her mouth. "So have I."
Tags: Doctor Who crossover, musings on the slow path, historic humble brags, Time Travel, Space Travel
Andy-Centric | 11,062 words | Gen
What I Loved: I have said it a million times before in my recs but I love a good crossover! I love Doctor Who and I love everything that rupzydaisy has done with this fic. The characterizations of each incarnation of The Doctor are SO spot on and so wonderfully done with each version of Andy that is seen. It’s such a great look on The Old Guard from an outside perspective. I have read this fic a million times over and I love it more each time.
The author has written more fics for The Old Guard which you can find on AO3 and Tumblr under the same username, @rupzydaisy
When Copley first learns of the God Killer, a new drug promising euphoria and invincibility, he doesn’t think much about it. The Old Guard isn’t in the business of catching drug traffickers, after all. But when he learns that people who shouldn’t have started dying of old age, the job suddenly seems more up their alley than he originally thought. With only what Copley’s been able to glean from his files, the Old Guard embarks on a journey to track down the warehouse manufacturing the new drug and to find out who’s behind the sudden deaths. What follows is intrigue, mystery, and more introspection than is required before Andy’s morning drink. Can the Old Guard stop the production of the God Killer before it’s too late? And who will they be when they come out on the other side?
No Archive Warnings Apply, canon-typical violence, unhealthy coping mechanisms, non-linear timeline, angst and feels, past relationships, background relationships, pov alternating, post-canon, mission fic, ensemble fic, communication, character study, families of choice.
Author Recommendation: I had a lot of fun planning and writing this fic, most especially because the fic went in a direction I hadn’t intended when I first wrote the prologue. I am particularly proud of the characters and the plot and in the end, this fic turned out to be mostly “found family goes on a mission and there’s action and mystery and intrigue with a little bit of dark humor.” Which, if I’m being honest, is my new type of fic to write.Â
[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[Subject:] Ad-hoc note from the editor
I have noticed an uncommon level of animosity in your responses to your reviewers (or rather, one reviewer in particular). I am writing to ask if you would please do your best to keep your interactions civil. In fairness, I have also sent a similar request to the reviewer you seem to have this friction with. I trust you will both try and remain more professional in the future.
Again, thank you for submitting your work to this journal.
Sincerely,
James Copley, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Medieval Studies
No archive warnings apply. AU- Academia, College/University, Modern Setting, No Powers. Humour, eventual romance, developing relationship, enemies to lovers, getting together, epistolary, mistaken identity, identity porn, research level: some effort to sound like I know what I’m talking about, actual scholarly accuracy: questionable!, snippy academics, academic diss-course.
Joe/Nicky | Gen | ~20,000 words
If you aren’t familiar with academia and scholarly peer-review processes, this fic makes it easy and enjoyable to understand! If you are or have been involved in publishing research… then this fic is hysterically funny. I had to keep catching myself to make sure the formatting wasn’t actually an email. The voices of each speaker and the presentation feel perfect to me. Some of the disses had me raising my eyebrows gleefully... and the only thing that can bring these two academics together are two other academics who are even more wrong. Always a sucker for epistolary, I cannot recommend this one enough!Â
The author has written other fics for the Old Guard!
What are your favourite hurt Joe /caring Nicky Fics.?
Hi! Thanks so much for your patience in this reply.
I have to be honest that I don’t have any faves along those themes (my co-mod might, and this post can be added onto!). If this kind of fic is still of interest to you, I ran a quick search with some different tag combinations and found the following that might be of interest to you.
Please note these haven’t been read thoroughly, only skimmed to see if they might be related to your request; your mileage may vary and please read the tags / use discretion!
If anyone else has recs, please feel few to add them to this post!
A burden halved - dana_norram - Mature, No Archive Warnings, ~2300 words. Shower sex, mild smut. “After Merrick, Joe is barely holding together. Nicky is there to lend his arms until he does.”
Hold me when I shatter - everything99 - Not Rated, Graphic Depictions of Violence, ~3300 words.  “Nicky feels his tension and holds him tighter, holds Joe together as he threatens to fall apart and does not allow the nightmare to pull him back into a world full of pain and agony. “We are in Malta and we ate apricots and pomegranates and dates and figs yesterday. You took my hand and laughed at how sticky it was and when we kissed, I could taste the sweet juice of the fruit, the sun and the salt of the sea on your lips.” During their healing time in Malta Joe's sleep is haunted by memories of the lab. But Nicky is there for him as he always was and always will be.”
call me home, beloved - nicolorinaldidigenova - Teen, No Archive Warnings Apply, ~3200 words. A month after Merrick Industries, Joe finds himself wanting to be alone with Nicolò, as he starts to feel himself unravel.  ***or a glimpse on what Joe means when he said: “he's the moon when I am lost in darkness”
In a Heartbeat - NamelesslyNightlock - Teen, Graphic Depictions of Violence, ~4000 words. When the sword sunk deep into Yusuf’s gut, it was Nicolò who screamed.
what wise men fear - itsmylifekay and velociraptorerin (Old Guard Mini Bang fic, features art). - Not rated, creator chose not to use archive warnings (and therefore any may apply including Graphic Depictions of Violence), ~10,000 words. Nile watches as Nicky reemerges, arm raised and already firing, before her gaze is pulled away, Andy shouting about incoming and taking shots of her own to keep the door secure. Between the two of them it doesn’t take long and as soon as the hall is clear, Nile turns back to watch Nicky’s march, mystified by his transformation. Joe gets hurt and Nicky snaps, told from Nile, Nicky, and Joe's POV. Feral Nicky. At a glance this fic features lots of violence.
lights with guide you home - screamingarrows - Not Rated, creator chose not to use archive warnings (and therefore any may apply), ~35000 words. In which Joe is hurting and Booker is hurting and the road to redemption is not easily paved. Angst with a happy ending, everyone is sad. Hurt Joe / Comforting Nicky appears to feature prominently although a main focus of this fic also seems to be on the friendship between Joe / Booker.Â
The “Hurt Joe | Yusuf al Kaysani” and “Joe | Yusuf al Kaysani Whump“ additional tags help filter fics down to a manageable amount, but it’s likely that there are a number under “hurt/comfort”. Other tags you might find helpful to search with include “Worried Nicky | Nicolo di Genova” or “Protective Nicky | Nicolo di Genova” and synonyms / canonized tags like BAMF!Nicky.
The sheer volume of Joe/Nicky fics is daunting, and I know that I’ve definitely missed a lot depending on what tags are or aren’t applied by authors, but I’m hopeful others might have some faves they can share!
He guys! Do you know any fic where we get to see Joe and Nicky's reactions to Andy's mortality, maybe have a talk about it with her, help her with her gun bound or just being protective of her after that??
Hello!! I am so sorry it took this long to reply; if this kind of fic is still of interest to you, I ran a quick search with some different tag combinations and found the following. Please note these haven’t been read thoroughly, only skimmed to see if they might be of interest to you; your mileage may vary and please read the tags / use discretion!
If anyone else has recs, please feel few to add them to this post!
On the Threshold of Eternity - Ailendolin - Complete, Teen, Graphic depictions of violence, ~17 000 words. 5 + 1 fic. “Andy’s mortality changes everything for the team.  Or: Five times Nile sees Nicky taking care of Andy after she becomes mortal, and one time she sees Andy returning the favor.”
just to keep you warm, just to bring you home - JuliaRose12 - (podfic available - recorded by perfectsymmetry18) - Complete, Gen, No archive warnings apply, ~12 000 words or 1-1.5 hours listening time. “In hindsight, Nile is almost surprised by how little Andy, Nicky, and Joe hide from her.Or, Nile learns, one person at a time, all the little ways that Andy, Nicky, and Joe comfort and care for each other when things fall apart. And as it turns out, the things she learns make becoming part of this family easier than she ever would have imagined.”
Progression (Years 25, 26) - Squintern - Complete, Gen, No archive warnings apply, ~6000 words. “Best case scenario, you keep running jobs with us for a few more years until you finally admit your failing stamina is too much of a hindrance in the field and gracefully live out the rest of your life waiting for us to come home -- Or, three conversations about acceptance.“ This one seems more about emotional processing
Old - WarriorOmen - Complete, Teen, no archive warnings apply, ~3000 words. Hospital fic. “Andy is just so goddamned old.. Maybe it's not as sad as it sounds.”
Good Old-Fashioned Healing - aravenwood - Complete, Teen, no archive warnings apply, ~1000 words. Field medicine, bullet wounds. “Andy’s not ok the first time she’s hurt after losing her immortality. None of them are.Written for the Whumptober 2020 prompt "field medicine".
stay, don’t leave me - demonicneonfishy - Complete, Teen, no archive warnings apply, ~1000 words. Febuwhump, concealing injury. “She’s not used to the constant pain, and at the same time it’s become an old friend in a matter of days.”Â
Some tags I found useful were the “Mortal Andy” or “Protective [character]” while searching, and hurt/comfort filters! The platonic Andy & Joe or Andy & Nicky tags also helped somewhat. I hope some of these might fit the bill or help you discover new fic!
The unexpected death of Robert Lovell, fifth Viscount Lovell, upends the lives of his siblings Andrea, Nicolas, and Nile.Â
None of the Lovell siblings had married, each for their own reasons, but it seemed that they wouldn’t have a choice now. As the sixth Viscount Lovell, Nicolas was duty-bound to father an heir. His sisters, Andrea and Nile, needed husbands to provide for them in the event of his untimely death, and so he felt it would also be his responsibility to see his sisters married well—and sooner rather than later.
No archive warnings apply
Mature
Joe/Nicky, Booker/Nile, Andy/Celeste
Novel-length (18 chapters & an epilogue)
Alternate Universe
Romance
Georgian Period
Aristocracy, Class differences
Fencing
Duelling
Horseback riding
Courtship
Marriage
Fake/Pretend Relationship
Bridgerton fusion
Author recommendation: This story reads like a Julia Quinn novel, with the political sensibilities of an eighteenth-century historian—because it is based on all the reading I’ve done to write a dissertation on eighteenth-century literature. Nile, whose story we follow in the first book, is armed with a healthy suspicion of marriage plots after reading Samuel Richardson’s epistolary novels and Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman at an impressionable age.
This work is a WIP: new chapters will be posted every other Monday.
This author is on Tumblr as @caldefrance and has written other fic for the Old Guard!
Quynh’s eyes snap up to meet a collision of phenomena so strong it nearly blinds her, brightly wild and loving for eternity and heartbreaking in its loveliness and endlessly forgiving and deathless inky black. The full force of it pulls her in, like gravity.
It is quê hương, the home of her heart, her soul.
More than anything, Quynh wants to reach out her fingers to trace the edges of Andromache’s face, but something raw and red and raging instead commands them to lie still, so there they sit, not touching, not breathing, barely even being. Call it cowardice. Call it the anxiety of being harmed. Call it heady memory that sticks in the now. Whatever it is, it seizes her whole against her will.
Quynh wishes she could do more, but that’s not in her nature right now.
(Or: Quynh and the intersection of her past and future)
Creator chose not to use archive warnings. Quynh-centric, character study, BAMF Quynh, PTSD, Flashbacks, she was under the ocean for centuries my dudes, her mind is fucked, Good!Quynh, angst with a happy ending, a bit of derogatory language, alcoholic Booker, Team as family, tons of Vietnamese language and culture, little bit of Latin for the boys, Love, Trauma, Tea, Acceptance
Quynh-centric, Andy/Quynh | ~15000 words | Mature
What I loved: This fic passes back and forth between Quynh's memories and the present moment (ie: reunited with the rest of the Guard and joining them on missions) - she's grounded by the actions of her loved ones (a tea ceremony, a coat, a trip to Vietnam, desire and love for Andy that she can’t quite express yet). They love her, and she's encircled by that care!
The imagery and sensory details are immersive and this fic doesn't skimp on the violence, so please heed the tags, but at the end of the day this fic is about rebuilding trust, Quynh starting a journey towards recovery, and a heck of a lot of tenderness - the ending caught my breath up and made me feel triumphant for her. This fic clearly has so much love and care and poetry put in, and it's a masterful character study for Quynh that’s complex in its treatment.
Slightly spoilery mod notes under the cut if you’d like additional details about the content:
Andy has lost her immortality and this fic stays in that space at times, dealing with the consequences of that – and with the possibility that Quynh may have lashed out and badly injured Andy on reuniting. There are mentions of a hospital stay. One of the core conflicts is Quynh being able to move past that act of violence, experiencing regret over it, and eventually forgiving herself long after Andy has, and I think this fic handles things so well and so compassionately. At the end of the day, this fic is so focused on care, love, trust, and healing and the ending was incredibly satisfying.
There is a particular gap in Nile's life experiences that shows up at the most inopportune moment.
No archive warnings apply. Genuary 2021, OG Crazy Horse Girl Andy
Nile-centric | ~3900 words | Gen
What I loved: Dunking! On! FRACKING!  Horse girl Andy!!! This fic evokes the feeling of riding a horse for the first time (and given that it’s been years since I was last on a horse with supervision, I was feeling it). Plus, Nile gets back on the horse when she falls off! I dunno, feels like a great metaphor for her learning to be immortal.
There’s no history to Nile’s hands, digging out the bullet, rubbing the rawness down.
Graphic depictions of violence. Tending wounds, sparring, cooking, found family, battle couple, Femslash February.
Andy/Nile | ~1500 words | Teen
What I loved: Oh this one feels like poetry to read, and captures so much of physicality and spark between them that felt so evident to me in the movie. The imagery is so sharp at the edges and crisp; you get lines like Nile kisses back like her name, a force of nature, one letter away from victory, and I scream! If you’re into the Andy/Nile dynamic I feel like this one won’t disappoint. Â
can the city forgive, I hear its sad song by chiuling
The world is violent, time is long, and Andy is tired.
No archive warnings apply. Character study, light angst, pre-canon. Mod tag: plane crash referenced.
Gen, Andy-centric | ~1700 words | Teen and up
What I loved: Oof. It feels like there are so few fics that delve into Andy’s burnout. This one does so with grace, and a tinge of hope, and it’s entirely believable as a lead-in to what we see at the start of the film.
Lost and found out there among the paths by TuskFM
The stars are bright, cold and unreachable, hung high in the firmament.
They haven’t changed in all of her centuries gone. The names are different but the same figures look down on her, the gaze of the Ursa and the Swan’s tail, the Crane hidden under the horizon in these parts of the world.
She isn’t ready to see her homelands yet, but this is enough. This is good. The Steppe hasn’t changed either, the same grass covering the earth everywhere she looks, the sun burning her skin as the winds surround her. It all feels so familiar, the sights, the animals, the long days of travel. Andromache, sitting by her side, walking by her side, sleeping by her side. Andromache, Andy, Andreas, Hadriana, Anath and so many other names forgotten by time. And still, she’s here, with her.
~
After reuniting, Andy and Quynh leave the family to have a trip through the Great Steppe and reconnect. They might get more out of this travel than they expect.
No archive warnings apply. POV Quynh, Good!Quynh, Â Hurt/Comfort, Andy regains immortality, happy ending, character study
Andy/Quynh | ~4450 words | Teen
What I loved: ohhhh the imagery of this one is so lovely - and the thought the author put into the names, the places, the motifs! This fic is calm, and lovely, and Andy regains her immortality. This, and their conversation, are lovely if you need something warm and comforting to sink into.
@salzundhonig is on Tumblr and has written other fic for the Old Guard!
The Old Guard finally has a location that will, hopefully, lead them to Quynh.
Andy dives down to find her
Podfic available here!
Creator chose not to use archive warnings. Canon-typical violence, temporary character death, drowning, post-canon, emotional hurt/comfort, saving Quynh, podfic available, Andy regains immortality
Andy/Quynh | 2113 | Teen
What I loved: This is a fic that gets into drowning - heed the tags! - but there’s something about the image of Andy helping Quynh swim up towards the light that’s very powerful in this piece!
@lilolilyr aka @lilolilyrae is on Tumblr and has written extensively for the Old Guard - particularly Andy/Quynh! Check out her works!
No archive warnings apply. Lesbian Nile Freeman, Nile Freeman-Centric, team as family, family bonding, internal conflict, developing relationship, awkward flirting, existential crisis, other additional tags to be added
Nile/Celeste | Incomplete | Teen
What I loved: Nile/Celeste!! What a galaxy-brained take! Celeste is so observant and so smitten at first sight - this is a fun read, and I hope the author continues this WIP. Go give this rarepair some love!
@aftermillennia is on Tumblr and has written other fic for the Old Guard!
