Cringe is dead, let's do fic recs for our friends and our selves. I'll start.
DF Fics written by my friends (and me) that I still think about all the time:
By @oddeyesight ((Ao3 account))
Notha and Uaanta find an interesting object, digging around Notha's previous lab.
The song + the fic are simultaneously very sad and very sweet. The buildup to the ending in particular, the crescendo and then the quietness of it.
chiaroscuro (Teen and Up)
Hero talks about their adventures in HHD, and Notha is reminded of an unpleasant meeting that happened so long ago.
And on the complete other side of the spectrum: Fear! Terror! Orpheus and Eurydice themes! Still kind of about grief but in a distinctly more "I'm afraid to lose you" way. 10/10 I go feral every time.
By @valorousowl ((Ao3 Account))
Dive Deep (General Audiences)
Notha Ly'Ehr is determined to save her friend. Remthalas is determined to trick their friends into killing him. Whatever it takes, this time would be different.
I keep coming back to this because the emotions are very sharp and real in a way that I can't quite describe here; you really have to read it for yourself. Notha's entire characterization is tragic, but in a way that I find deeply compelling.
Aegis is well acquainted with Pandora. It isn't hard for him to suss out who Aspar actually is. He'll keep his mouth shut, for a price. Aspar may be desperate and lonely enough to pay it.
Overall lower stakes than my usual fare, but still packs a real whallop of emotional resonance, especially the part where Aegis tells Aspar that he's the one who should know better. I am physically incapable of being normal about Aspar and the softness and sadness of Aegis trying to be nice to him.
By @7yd1a ((Ao3 Account))
Return, Dear Light (Explicit)
This one is about Jaania living in the tower with the rest of the Villain Rehab Club, but really it's about her learning to feel again, and to forgive. Also she bones (haha) Alexander with an icicle; pretty fun use of healing ice magic I think! I don't know if there will ever be a continuation, but the characterization and the speed at which information about the characters is effectively conveyed is a lot of fun to watch unfold.
By @mismagireve ((Ao3 Account, though they are pretty much done with DF as a fandom.))
Somewhere Ages And Ages Hence (Mature)
According to Swordhaven's record systems, shortly after you fled into the forest, you were beset upon by wolves, and your remains were found hours later by a Rose researcher who had been on his way into the city for work that morning when he stumbled across the grisly scene of your demise.
You are, for all intents and purposes, free of everything that was plaguing you now that you're dead and gone.
You can't help but wonder if your new life hiding in the woods pretending to be dead and playing nanny to a Rose cultist's child could be counted as freedom.
I'm always up for stories about normal people in completely bonkers situations treated as, if not normal, then at least livable; I think this, even in its unfinished form, is one of the most fitting for that theme, and I really, really enjoy Syn's characterization of Lynn and Valen as people, and how the Reader-insert is most definitely their own person even while being, well, Reader-insert.
The Importance Of An "O" (General)
He got a letter from a faraway village.
This one isn't as immediately present in my mind as some other fics, but every time I see Galanoth (and tbh the word "dragoon") I do think of it, so it's definitely left an impression!
Words Spoken In Wormwood (Mature)
Among the bars in Swordhaven, there was an unspoken rule: if you serve Rose members, you don't let anything they say leave the building.
So when one night at the bar, a few Rose members were discussing some secrets regarding one of their own—
Well. Go ahead and ask anyone who was there that night.
That conversation never happened.
This inspired several headcanons about Valen/Amadeus himself of the "they'll never believe you" sort so this is as good as canon in my heart.
He was never good with people, and never made many friends, so whenever he lost one, it always hit hard. Tomix finds himself missing the hero.
This one gets a special mention even though I only read it today because I WILL be thinking about this for a long time.
So You Found Out You're A Masochist: A Beginner's Guide
or
Tomix gets injured and learns he has a kink.
It's got some gore, fair warning for that. But I keep thinking about it because of the uh, applications of intangible spirit hands, and also the nature of Tomix's unraveling.
A child's first brush with death.
This and the ask where I mention Ogenos Dessert Sausage are constantly on my mind because I'm stuck on thinking about lost cultural treasures and how they affect those who knew them and then lost them as time went by. I should post that ask on Ao3 maybe.
The Masochism Tango (Explicit)
"They feel like normal lungs. Spongy, surprisingly resilient, but so fragile at the same time..." She said, in a whispered, reverent tone he almost missed. She'd never sounded like that before, not that he knew. The silence stretched on a little longer than could really be accounted for, without the sound of her tools as she vivisected him. Notha's eyes went dilated and faintly mischievous above her mask.
What did you find?
~!~
There isn't a lot of existing documentation on abyssal elf biology, so if Notha's going to make clones for herself and Remthalas, she needs to take some notes.
I would be lying if I said this one didn't live rent free in my head. Notha kissing his heart, especially.
Feel free to reblog with your own fics or other fics from this fandom that you enjoy!
