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schneefinkWorld Ain't Ready by ![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
idiopathicsmile (Les Misérables)
Enjolras/Grantaire (background Courfeyrac/Jehan), 186k
Summary: Enjolras presses his lips together. He already looks pained, and Grantaire hasn't even opened his mouth yet. That's got to be a record, even for them.
"I need a favor," he says at last.
"With what?" says Grantaire. "Ooh, are you forming a cult? Can I join? I'd be awesome at cults, I just know it." He ticks off his qualifications on his fingers. "I love chanting, I look great in robes—"
(High school AU. Grantaire the disaffected stoner is pulled into a cause bigger than himself. Or: in which there are pretend boyfriends for great justice.)
Why I loved it: This is pretty much everything I love about the fake dating trope in one fic. I don't know the fandom, but that wasn't a problem: all the characters are very well written, and there's great character development. That's probably one reason why it worked so well for me: in addition to "pining until they find out they're in love with each other" the story also had a lot of "helping each other until they arrive at a point where they have an actual chance at a functioning relationship." The fic also didn't have one of my other major annoyances in fake dating fic, "obviously they would never want me so I will willfully ignore all the extremely obvious signs and never even consider the idea that they might also develop feelings for me" (though there is still plenty of room for misunderstandings.) In addition to the great main romance there are also well done B-plots and a great supporting cast, maybe even better for people familiar with canon.
Rein of Terror bytsukinofaerii (Teen Wolf)
Allison/Scott/Stiles,/Derek, 51k
Summary: The Hales are a werewolf pack of magical race horse ranchers who breed, raise, train and race every magical horse variety imaginable. While on one last hurrah before college, Scott, Stiles and Allison happen to be trespassing when one of the Hales' prized breeding stallions, Jeff Davis, gets out of containment and all hell breaks loose. Hell which, of course, is blamed entirely on them. As a result the threesome end up spending their summer shoveling rainbow unicorn glittershit under the gentle-yet-terrifying eyebrow of Derek Hale. As if that weren't bad enough, Jeff Davis is still on the loose, and he's on a mission: a mission of murder.
Why I loved it: Crack. Glorious, glorious crack. Jeff Davis is a murderous magical unicorn who shits glittery rainbow death threats. And is in love with Peter Hale. The murder mystery basically consists of nobody being willing to believe that a magical horse could be a serial killer – to be fair sometimes it is hard to believe Jeff Davis is that smart. (So many meta jokes!) The poly relationship is also very nice.
Something to Hold Onto byWildgoosery (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Jet/Zuko, 123k
Summary: Since the day the walls of Ba Sing Se fell, the Freedom Fighters have struggled to protect what remains of the city and its people. Jet and his second command, a mysterious boy named Li, have spent the summer piecing together an army, hoping for a chance to take the city back for good. But Li is also Zuko, and the time for that secret is quickly running out. Soon, he'll have to decide exactly who he is, what cause he's going to fight for and where his heart lies.
Why I loved it: Eventually Jet has to find out who Zuko is, and the fallout from that is everything I want in betrayal stories: painful and drawn-out, but ultimately worth it. In this story Jet, someone who hates the Fire Nation with a passion and has sworn to fight them, develops into a commander who can see past black and white and who learns that fighting against the whole Fire Nation for revenge is not the answer. I also really like his relationship with Zuko here and how they help and support each other.
Enjolras/Grantaire (background Courfeyrac/Jehan), 186k
Summary: Enjolras presses his lips together. He already looks pained, and Grantaire hasn't even opened his mouth yet. That's got to be a record, even for them.
"I need a favor," he says at last.
"With what?" says Grantaire. "Ooh, are you forming a cult? Can I join? I'd be awesome at cults, I just know it." He ticks off his qualifications on his fingers. "I love chanting, I look great in robes—"
(High school AU. Grantaire the disaffected stoner is pulled into a cause bigger than himself. Or: in which there are pretend boyfriends for great justice.)
Why I loved it: This is pretty much everything I love about the fake dating trope in one fic. I don't know the fandom, but that wasn't a problem: all the characters are very well written, and there's great character development. That's probably one reason why it worked so well for me: in addition to "pining until they find out they're in love with each other" the story also had a lot of "helping each other until they arrive at a point where they have an actual chance at a functioning relationship." The fic also didn't have one of my other major annoyances in fake dating fic, "obviously they would never want me so I will willfully ignore all the extremely obvious signs and never even consider the idea that they might also develop feelings for me" (though there is still plenty of room for misunderstandings.) In addition to the great main romance there are also well done B-plots and a great supporting cast, maybe even better for people familiar with canon.
Rein of Terror by
Allison/Scott/Stiles,/Derek, 51k
Summary: The Hales are a werewolf pack of magical race horse ranchers who breed, raise, train and race every magical horse variety imaginable. While on one last hurrah before college, Scott, Stiles and Allison happen to be trespassing when one of the Hales' prized breeding stallions, Jeff Davis, gets out of containment and all hell breaks loose. Hell which, of course, is blamed entirely on them. As a result the threesome end up spending their summer shoveling rainbow unicorn glittershit under the gentle-yet-terrifying eyebrow of Derek Hale. As if that weren't bad enough, Jeff Davis is still on the loose, and he's on a mission: a mission of murder.
Why I loved it: Crack. Glorious, glorious crack. Jeff Davis is a murderous magical unicorn who shits glittery rainbow death threats. And is in love with Peter Hale. The murder mystery basically consists of nobody being willing to believe that a magical horse could be a serial killer – to be fair sometimes it is hard to believe Jeff Davis is that smart. (So many meta jokes!) The poly relationship is also very nice.
Something to Hold Onto by
Jet/Zuko, 123k
Summary: Since the day the walls of Ba Sing Se fell, the Freedom Fighters have struggled to protect what remains of the city and its people. Jet and his second command, a mysterious boy named Li, have spent the summer piecing together an army, hoping for a chance to take the city back for good. But Li is also Zuko, and the time for that secret is quickly running out. Soon, he'll have to decide exactly who he is, what cause he's going to fight for and where his heart lies.
Why I loved it: Eventually Jet has to find out who Zuko is, and the fallout from that is everything I want in betrayal stories: painful and drawn-out, but ultimately worth it. In this story Jet, someone who hates the Fire Nation with a passion and has sworn to fight them, develops into a commander who can see past black and white and who learns that fighting against the whole Fire Nation for revenge is not the answer. I also really like his relationship with Zuko here and how they help and support each other.
