#gnomes-rec-lists

absolutely, anon! in fact, I have several!

to be buried alive by FromStarstuff - oh my GOD this fic makes me insane. Cass and Dick share Batman after Bruce dies -- does a truly EXCELLENT job contrasting their opposing views on what it means to be Batman and their contrasting relationships with Bruce

You Know What You Want, You Know What You Need by @the-blue-phantom - Cass and Steph get fake IDs and go to a gay bar. AMAZINGLY cute -- I go back and reread this one all the time whenever I need a pick-me-up <3

one plus one, easy math and two plus two, it's not that complicated and by @vibrantstarfire - Kon and Cass are each other's fake dates to fancy events and work out their sexualities along the way -- legitimately some of my favorite fics for both of them

what it means to be alone but not lonely by the riveroflight - canon-compliant character study about Cass and her experience with romantic love. I'm always a sucker for some good aromantic!Cass, I shan't lie

tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine and you do not have to be good by @luvo27 - ohmygodddd these are THE cass depression fics of all time. genuinely some of the most in-character angst I've ever read in my entire life -- it's essentially cass digging herself out of her passive-suicidal tendencies one step at a time, featuring her relationships with Babs, Tim, Steph, and the art of knitting

thawed out my freezerburnt feelings by theriveroflight - Cass tags along on Rose Wilson's solo quest after she quits the Teen Titans. something about theriveroflight's writing style is so crunchy to me, and I love seeing the rosecass dynamic explored!

let's not talk about it by procrastinationfairy - another Cass figuring out her relationship with romance, but this time it's all wrapped up in her complicated feelings surrounding Steph and vigilante-ism and the inability to find the right words. SUCH a good character study

my body lies facing the sky in the backyard by Luvo - another Luvo fic! this one features a similarly wet and sad Cass -- this time she and Tim take a road trip to go visit the house she grew up in. augh the way Luvo writes their friendship makes me want to eat the moon

Reading and Literacy by Betty - this one is a case fic/character study from all the way back in 2005 that I just have a real soft spot for -- I don't know what it is about Cass and Tim's time in Bludhaven post-War Games, but something about it just clicks for me. POV Tim, but the focus is definitely on Cass

Terms of Use by @kiragecko - this is a fun spin on alternative forms of communication for Cass! I'm always a sucker for a fic that explores Cass's complex relationship with language, and I love the way the author writes her dynamic with Tim in this!

Because @clarenceislazy requested it on my last fic rec compilation, here's a list of my favorite DCU time travel fics! They're all pretty Batfam-centric, but eh niche is niche what can you do

Damian fics:

A Good Place by LemonadeGarden - Damian gets sent back in time to a Batman who's never had a Robin. Very sweet, very fun.

The Rule Stands by Engineerd - After Dick's death, Damian has to deal with a time-displaced ten-year-old Dick Grayson. Love a good Dick and Damian bonding moment, PLUS this gets a happy ending <3

to stay in one place by Jezebunny - Injustice!Universe Nightwing!Damian time-travels/dimension-jumps to a timeline where Dick Grayson is still alive and his counterpart is still Robin. Ugh this is so angsty -- I have an unreasonable amount of love for Injustice Damian

looking for the shapes in the silence by popsunner - In a world where Dick died on the job, Damian falls through a hole in reality where Dick is still alive and finds that some things don't fit the way they used to. SUCH an amazing representation of complex grief -- literally every time I read it, I cry

Steph fics:

time slip by almondrose - A mistake in time leads to six Robins meeting. Honestly, this one is kinda cracky, and only barely qualifies as Steph-centric, but I still like it a lot

and we'll never be the same by almondrose - Steph and Tim go on a road trip to figure out the post-universal-reboot anomalies. This is more of a post timey-wimey-bullshit fic than a real time travel fic, BUT I think it's real cute regardless

Tim fics:

Tractors by lieu42 - Ooh this one is honestly so so fun! In a reimagined universe where DC's heroes operate out of the UK, Red Robin Tim finds himself right back in the year before everything went to hell. He has a duty to get back to his correct timeline so he can find Bruce, but with Bart and Kon still alive, there's a part of him that doesn't want to leave. Literally SO well written and trippy as hell -- this fic deals a lot with addiction, drug use, and grief, so definitely go into it forewarned. TimKon

not for very much longer by CreamOfTomatoSoup - ugh what CAN'T I say about this fic, apart from the fact that it's one of my favorite time loop fics of all time. Post Cult of Dionysus Bernard Dowd finds himself reliving the worst day of his life -- the day Darla got shot. Featuring identity porn, Steph as Robin, Original-Personality!Bernard, the grief of a childhood you can never return to, and the weirdness of having to interact with your significant other when he's currently a sixteen year old who doesn't know he likes dudes. Don't look at the incomplete warning -- it's not abandoned, just a wip, and I legitimately cannot recommend this fic enough. This fic made me read War Games. This fic made me a Darla Aquista stan. This fic made me ship timbern. Please read this fic.

Jason fics:

The View From Jade by lowflyingfruit - Jason Todd accidentally travels back to before Bruce took Dick in. I feel like this is on every time travel rec list, but what can I say: I'm a basic bitch

Two Dead Birds by InsaneTrollLogic - Jason Todd wakes up in the middle of his Mob Boss Era and immediately decides to rewrite his own history. This is very funky fresh of him, just in my personal opinion.

Dick fics:

So It Goes by 60sec400 - Bruce from Dick's Robin era receives a troubling call from Nightwing. Be warned -- this fic is angsty as hell. Implied major character death. Don't look at the incomplete warning -- it's a lie (the author has specified they intended it to work as a oneshot)

In This Or Any Other Universe by wildsofmarch - Dick-as-Batman ends up in Battinson-era Gotham. Again, I think this counts more towards the Dimension Travel pile than the strict Time Travel variety, but I'm still putting it here because I enjoy the hell out of it

a million dreams by CaptainOzone - In the seconds between the trapeze line snapping and their bodies hitting the ground, John and Mary Grayson find themselves transported twenty years into the future. SO GOOD I honestly can't stand it.

ohoho my friend, do I!

NON-SHIPPY:

Orpheus Rising by ClockStrikesThree - Tim dies and Cassie goes to the Underworld to bring him back. I love the amount of Amazon lore in this one

Token of Appreciation by @everythingandthekitchensink - ADORABLE slice-of-life fic set during Cassie's training period where Artemis takes Cassie to the store -- their dynamic is everything to me

hits me like lightning by cissiecassie - Cassie and Kon go to a concert and Cassie has some thoughts about her sexuality and gender presentation. Technically koncassie, but it's not the focus. I love how this author writes Cassie

you and I, we are more than just this armor by suzukiblu - Cassie and Kon get genderweird with it, and Cassie gets a haircut. VERY angsty on Cassie's end -- I love this one

Love, Not Loved series by popsunner - I am once again plugging the Love, Not Loved series by popsunner. It's basically Cassie and Tim dealing with the deaths of Bart and Kon. Technically veers more Tim and Cassie-focused more than straight Cassie focused, but the last couple are more Cassie-centric, so I'm choosing to include it anyway :D

SHIPPY:

can't fight the moonlight by @loisinherlane - ADORABLE cissiecassie fic where Cassie realizes her feelings for Cissie after seeing her character be gay on Wendy the Werewolf stalker. a dash of internalized homophobia + some nonbinary Cissie = winning combination every time

Chains of Gold by @froldgapp - AMAZING timcassie fic from Cassie's POV set when they're both adults. froldgapp gets their characters so well and I'm obsessed with how they write their dynamic

Sleepless Nights by Morning66 - funky little toxic yuri fic featuring rosecassie and underage drinking :3

Fire at my Feet Again by @angel-gidget - more timcassie because I'm predictable <3 an older Cassie and Tim cope with being asked to mentor a new team of young heroes. I love the dynamic between them here -- they're both young adults by this point, but gidge captures the dynamic between Cassie and Tim so well, and I love how they write Cassie's voice

fireflies by @mintchocochipsposts - honorary cissiecassie mention. this one is technically more Cissie-focused than it is Cassie-focused, but it is still extremely cute (and angsty) and I like it a WHOLE lot, so I'm including it anyways <3

Hi!! Sorry this took me so long to do -- holiday season has me swamped

your ghost i will gladly bear by @mamawasatesttube - Comic book alternate universe logic leads to Tim and Kon reuniting after living through the other's deaths. UGH obsessed with this fic -- the implications of Elseworlds Kon taking on the Robin mantle after Tim's death vs Canon Tim changing his colors to reflect Kon's after Kon's have me seeing shrimp colors

Scandals Stick Together by @traya-sutton - With his mother dead, his father in a coma, and everybody convinced he's going to run his family company into the ground, Tim has to go to a Luthor gala. Unparalleled mental stress + public emotional breakdowns + no capes AU TimKon -- this one hits like nobody's business man

i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time by @popsunner - I've recced this series before, but this one fic (which works as a standalone btw) legitimately gets me every time. Cassie Sandsmark POV on dealing with Bart and Kon's sudden return from the dead. The only issue? It's been two days since she went to Tim's funeral, and nobody's told them he's dead yet. I read this fic whenever I need to cry for real -- Cassie gets put through the wringer in this series

A Long Fall with a Sudden Stop by @eggmacmuffin - Dick gets fear gassed. Tim has to deal with it. This not only has Tim comforting Dick through a fear gas incident (obvious H/C setup) but also it has a SUPER well-done and interesting take on fear gas that I haven't seen elsewhere

Oil and Watercolor by @dedicatedfollower467 - A Damian-centric platonic soulmate AU where you leave colors on each other's skin the first time you touch. SUCH a good relationship between Dick and Damian -- not technically tagged as H/C but I'm calling it that anyways because it gave me similar vibes

tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you about mine and its sequel you do not have to be good by @luvo27 are some of the most absolutely gut wrenching Cassandra Cain-centric fics I've read probably ever. Dealing with Cass's passive (and sometimes not-so-passive) suicidal thoughts pre and post Steph's death, these two fics focus heavily on her road to recovery, leaning on Steph, Tim, and Babs. Legitimately made me cry multiple times, and I actually held off on making this rec list until the author posted the last chapter so I could include it. Hands down two of my favorites of all time -- though heavy content warning on self harming behaviors and attempted suicide

if you don’t, do you have any yj98 girls’ rec lists (specifically greta’s if possible)?

sorry to bother you!! i really like your other fic recs so i figured id try and ask haha

(also i apologize if you got multiple of the same ask - this didn’t seem to send a few times)

hi anon! you're not bothering me at all -- I love doing rec lists!

unfortunately, I don't think I've read any jesse chambers fics :( but I can absolutely give you a couple for greta hayes! fair warning though: most of these skew kind of angsty

going back (again and again) by readwritedelight - augh I'm gonna be real, I'm always a sucker for characters dealing with DC's universal reboots, and this one's no exception. short and sweet, but definitely packs a punch, and it's so fun to see how the author weaves in all the jarring little differences between continuities! it feels like a fix-it for all the characterization rollbacks we've been seeing recently

Angst by Diana_Raven (@youngjustusorbust) - this one is a dreamlike character study focusing on Greta's connection to the Abyss/her powers after she becomes human! I'm gonna be real, I really vibe with human!Greta stories, and it was fascinating how the author writes her powers now that she's no longer technically dead. also, no spoilers, but I really love how the author writes her dynamic with Slobo in this

superboy and the invisible girl by ommlett (@ommlett) - Greta grieves Kon's death by binging his favorite TV show! really fun formatting that plays with the whole "processing through television" theme, and the author's depiction of "grieving wrong" and how it interacts with Greta's own complicated feelings around friendship and her own "evil-ness" hit real hard

A Switchblade of Empty by sepia_stained_sunset - ooof the dynamic between Greta and Steph Brown genuinely does make me so so so insane, and sticking them together on a rooftop as jaded adults only adds to the quiet, character-study vibe they have going on. tagged as Future State, but you don't need to have read that comic to understand what's happening -- it's mostly just setting for Vibes Purposes

and then not to self-plug, but I've actually got an ongoing Greta and Cassie enemies-to-friends fic set in an alternate universe where Greta stayed with Darkseid on Apokalips, and personally, I think it's pretty neat

not a ton of Greta-centric stuff out there, but of what I've read, these are definitely some of my favorites! however, this should by no means be taken as a be-all-end-all list -- so if anyone has any fics they've read/written for Greta (or Jesse Chambers, for that matter!), please don't hesitate to drop a link! I'm always looking for new reading material!

Hi! I think tumblr might've eaten the second half of your ask, but I'm so glad you liked the TAU dash sim post! I had a ton of fun making it :-) To answer your question, I only ever did the one -- you might be thinking of the @baelhunters tumblr account? I know that whole blog was basically a huge meta roleplay where they went deep into the Mizar the Magnificent analysis, though I don't think they've posted in a while

What is something in the Transcendence AU that's a must read?

Omg hi! I don't really ship much for GF but here's some of my favorite fics!

Changing Tides by Ariasune: Gravity Falls but with daemons! Honestly the character work in this one is just superb. It's really interesting to see how much the AU changes and how much stays the same.

Hive by MaryPSue: EXCELLENT plotty monster-of-the-week style fic. The tension goes so hard, the mystery is super well done, and the monster is genuinely scary.

putting the dog to sleep by parsnipit: A really well done character study of the Stan twins, complete with baby Stans and Old Yeller required readings. It's hard to describe this one, so I'm just gonna say it honestly made me cry.

And finally! My Transcendence AU must read:

Return, Rewind, Rewrite by MaryPSue: This one's an oldie but a goodie -- if you read nothing else from TAU, you should read this one. It's got worldbuilding, it's got intrigue, it's got demonic skeletons in the closet. I'm gonna paste the official summary below because I can't do it justice.