Metastatic Headcanon

Something like Breaking Bad, for example, has low squiggability (that’s what I’m calling this quality). It’s tightly written, the characters are consistent, there’s little left to interpolate or extrapolate. Obviously, people DO write fanfic of Breaking Bad, but it still has a low squiggability score. Whereas something like Supernatural has a high squiggability score. Fantasy and science fiction often have high squiggability scores. This suggests squiggability could also be related to worldbuilding and potential for people to borrow a premise or setting.

We’re here

We’re Queer

Get Used To It!

And I say this as someone who first came out in the early 90’s, who marched in many dyke marches, who lost a friend to AIDS, who has been to so many dyke softball games it isn’t funny… I could go on all day.

The Lesbian Avengers were a political action group, and one of their actions was to literally eat fire while chanting

“The fire will not consume us. We take it and make it our own”

it was a message that not only said that we were reclaiming and therefore defusing the things that can harm us but that the fire was also a fuel.

Oh and their slogan? “We Recruit” This was a partly tongue and cheek and partly defiant statement referencing a strong homophobic view at the time that we were sexual deviants that were preying on and recruiting vulnerable people.

consume us. We take it and

make it our own”

The duality of Jmart as shown in @prairiedawn amazing fic Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

want to get back into making rec lists bc i read so much fic. i have a huge backlog to figure out sharing, but for now here's a list of excellent stuff i've read in the past week. all TMA, pairing is jonmartin unless specified. lots of post-canon stuff. check ao3 for warnings/tags, and make sure to leave kudos/comments for the authors!

TO START, here's some active wips i've started following. most of my fic reading is dedicated to catching up on years-worth of wonderful fanworks, but i'm trying to also become more engaged with the authors who are very actively writing stuff! so here's some shout-outs since they all deserve love:

Third Time's the Charm by LRadiata / @morganmnemonic NR, 123k, 18/27 chapters [updated 5/4/26] keywords: post-canon, time-travel fix-it, time loops, angst

super creative take on the time loop/time-travel trope where the canon timeline is the SECOND loop that martin's been through, and the fic simultaneously follows the events of both the first and the third loops. SUPER intriguing, i'm loving building theories on what the hell is going on!! really good character work across the board, and martin's POV in both timelines is spot-on. having a blast with this.

The Final Ritual by MirrorandImage NR, 225k, 26/55 [updated 5/23/26] keywords: post-canon, alternate dimensions, time-travel fix-it, angst

jon's memories get sent to another timeline, but AU jon can't properly access any of them beyond flashes. really fleshed out "redoing" of canon with a lot of thought put into how the institute operates and how the little changes all add up. the angst is delicious and the office drama is great too. excited to follow along and see how this develops; i have no idea where it's going in the best way!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by PrairieDawn / @prairiedawn E, 108k, 25/40 [updated 5/24/26] keywords: post-canon, somewhere else, omegaverse, hurt/comfort, smut

been keeping up with this for a few weeks now and i'm obsessed!!! jmart end up in a particularly dystopian version of the omegaverse (adapted from not_poignant's original series Underline the Rainbow) and it is NOT an easy transition. there's so much good angst and drama, jmart really trying their fucking best and going through it while loving each other so so much. these updates are a highlight of my week!

AND NOW for the completed works! listed in ascending order by word count.

Lie down with me, my dear by greevianguy T, 7k keywords: post-canon, somewhere else, sickfic, disability, fluff

very sweet one-shot that shows a glimpse into a future, settled version of their life somewhere else! i love when the aftermath of the eyepocalypse leaves jon disabled, i love hurt/comfort around disability flare-ups, and i love all the banter and bickering and how soft they are with each other.

Ashes by PitViperOfDoom / @pitviperofdoom T, 10k pairing: jon & gerry keywords: post-canon, time-travel fix-it, angst

poor jon is sent back to 2011 without martin and has to figure out how to proceed. the result is something bittersweet and hopeful, a little taste of a possible fix-it scenario that starts where we all want a good fix-it to start: saving gerry keay.

These words that make a home in my chest by arthureameslove / @arthureameslove T, 16k keywords: mid-canon, safehouse, hurt/comfort, lonely recovery

classic premise with a twist: martin can't speak at all after leaving the lonely. featuring vivid descriptions of his post-lonely state, lots of good martin angst, lovely hurt/comfort with jon being the sweetest, and a resolution that doesn't imply that the only happy ending is martin being "cured".

Trapped Memories by Skull_Bearer / @skull-bearer T, 25k keywords: post-canon, somewhere else, amnesia, hurt/comfort

super fun take on the post-canon amnesia trope! i love the concept that only jmart's memories are trapped in the protocol computer, and their actual beings are left start anew in this universe. the author incorporates a lot of realism and little details about london, and they handle the experience of homelessness compassionately without romanticizing it. the new/old bond between "archie and kay" is so so heartfelt.

strings between the stars by writevale / @writevale M, 70k keywords: AU - science fiction, AI!jon, horror, space travel

everything i could want out of a space travel AU. don't be put off by the word "AI" - this is classic sci-fi AI, with jon as a sapient computer in charge of operating a spaceship. love the way canon elements have been adapted to this setting, and the worldbuilding is really well done. the horror is also AMAZINGLY creepy, the plot is super exciting, and the romance between jon and martin is so so soft. jon as a grouchy computer program is amazingly believable and the way he copes with his newfound baffling feelings is VERY fun.

TMA Kittens and Kink [series] by Phynoma / @phynoma E, 73k, 9 works pairings: jon/martin, queerplatonic jon/oliver, jon/martin/oliver keywords: post-canon, somewhere else, polyamory, kink exploration, nonsexual kink, petplay, some smut

i think this series is technically ongoing but each installment is pretty much a standalone so it doesn't leave you hanging! i love how oliver is characterized here (what a dreamboat, honestly) and his developing dynamic with jmart is great. the smut is HOT and all the kink is super well done. i love the way they use kink to work some stuff out about jon's ongoing "monsterhood." he makes a very good (if not always well-behaved) kitty, and his asexuality is an important and respected part of the story.

Stitching Up The Seams by Kahnah / @kahnah23 M, 89k pairings: jon/martin with various past/future combos keywords: post-canon, time-travel fix-it, hurt/comfort, polyamory

filed under fics i couldn't put down!! what a blast. an original take on the time-travel trope with lots of surprises! i love when time-travel doesn't just retread canon events but offers some new stuff too -- there's some great new fear encounters in here. future!martin gets to be a badass. i love that he doesn't take any shit from s1 jon. the relationship he develops with past!jon is so so sweet and unique.

The Sea Calls Me Home by Cowboyselkie / @selkiewizard T, 94k keywords: AU - historical (1910s), mer!jon, angst, pining

really effective and fresh combo of a mer/human romance with a historical setting. ww1 is such a rich setting for angst and yearning, and that's without the added complications of interspecies love! and as much as it can be a nice break to have a historical AU without period-typical homophobia, this fic makes great and thoughtful use of that element. a beautiful story about how love can persist despite a lot of suffering and nearly insurmountable obstacles.

The Crow's Funeral by yellow_caballero / @yellowocaballero T, 108k pairings: jon & daisy, jon & sasha, jon/martin keywords: canon-divergence - post-160, urban fantasy, amnesia, ensemble, mystery, comedy

yellow_caballero is one of my favorite TMA fic authors, and i've put off reading this one for a while just bc i knew i was going to love it so much. finally read it this week and had even more fun than i thought i would. it strikes a lovely balance between the ridiculous and the heartfelt, and reads as both a zany romp and as an insightful love letter to humanity and human tenacity. jon's normal stupidity and cluelessness is hilariously amplified by his mysterious amnesia. all the characters in this fic are so vibrant and funny, and i loved watching all their interactions, shenanigans, and schemes play out. this fic now lives on my tablet permanently in the "faves" folder!

The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns

Men in Black

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Pacific Rim

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

the intro shot of rick o'connell in the mummy is one of the best and most efficient camera work in an action movie. the way pacific rim utilizes space when showing the kaijus is literally taught in art school. they're not just blockbusters they're also iconic movies on a technical point of view!

We had free healthcare including dental, mind you, my parents just couldn't be bothered. When my brother, as a teenager, asked our mother if she could take him to his orthodontist appointments (which he'd already arranged for on his own) she basically told him she didn't feel like it and he had to take the bus.

Did that, plus the free healthcare, translate into them actually parenting and caring for us properly? It did not. They only ever did any of that reluctantly when not doing it would make them look bad, and most of the time they did a shitty job because they could never resist the urge to boost their egos by means of bullying literal children.

We are at a point in humanity where there is no meaningful reason why we shouldn’t be structuring our societies around wellbeing for all instead of wellbeing for the “deserving”.

But also, and this is really important to keep in mind regarding bigotry that still causes in many ways larger problems, that the structural problems are not actually fixed.

If you go to any computer lab or public library, the mice will be on the right side of the computer. Sometimes they can be moved. Sometimes they can't. Many computer mice are curved to only fit in right hands.

It is impossible to find lefthanded scissors without going to a specialty store, because most scissor makers don't even make them. And it's not just a matter of grip; the slicing side of the blades is obscured if you use righty scissors in your left hand, so your cut is off.

All those signing pads with the little chained styluses? Almost always on the right side, often not even long enough to stretch to the left. Makes signing for lefties extremely difficult.

I caused actual muscular problems in college having to twist around in order to write at right-handed desks in college when there weren't enough lefty desks--and there never were. Some classrooms didn't even have a single one.

I could go on.