Nopeferatu's Top 11 (ish) Favorite Fics of All Time
because....i cant sleep, and i wanted to keep this sorted out for my reference as well as for anyone else who may want a fic recc or two (or 11 1/2)
11. American in America by Ferrero13
America, being America, says something he should've known better than to say in his own airport, whereupon he is taken in for questioning and finds it very difficult to explain why this particular nineteen-year-old seems to be as politically active as the President himself.
Starting this list off with a silly canonverse oneshot. What more can I say about it? Its got Alfred at an aiport dealing with TSA and reminiscing on his life with Arthur Kirkland. What more can you want?
10. Lovely as You Are by SadLesbianPrincess...
Alfred 'The Hero' Jones is a young American MMA fighter who has his sights set on the UFC championship. But when he challenges the current champion, Ivan Braginsky, a Russian fighter who goes by the title Ivan the Terrible, things don't go quite as planned, and he finds himself in the hospital. After a few weeks alone in his hospital room, another patient is brought in to Alfred's room: a British model named Arthur Kirkland, whose bad habits have caught up with him. In that room, broken together, they learn their little secrets, see their little beauties, and put each other back together again. Running from the past as it tries to catch up with them.
“You’re like a painting,” Alfred whispered against his lips. “You move like watercolor. You breathe out colors of the sunset, you blink in shades of grass and emerald green. You touch me the way an artist touches brush to canvas, you mark my skin and bleed your paint onto me. Sometimes you’re saturated and bright, sometimes you speak in gray and black hues. Everything about you is beautiful.”
This one is ouchies. Very ouchies. Lucky for me, I love angst! I read this at the beginning of quarantine when it seemed like every usuk fan on IG was reading it alongside me and man. We all had very public emotional reactions to it.
10. ...And Hidden Verse, Hidden Heart by ChampagneSly
University AU with Alfred and Arthur as professors. In which Arthur woos a man who doesn’t know any better with poetry.
Poetry, mathematics, and star crossed lovers? Who knows—a school year holds many possibilities….
Who doesn't love a good professor au?? Plus Arthur being a lit geek and Alfred being a math nerd is always so fun to read!
9. We'll Meet Again by George deVailer
Londoner Arthur Kirkland’s pub, the Emerald Lion, is overrun by American servicemen on leave. One in particular is driving him to distraction - loud, brash fighter pilot Alfred Jones. Unable to stop it, Arthur finds himself falling for Alfred’s charms - just as the pilot is preparing to leave for war.
I know the fandom at large doesn't like George, but I hold this fic near and dear to my heart since it was one of the first pieces of transformative Heta fic that I remember ever reading when I first entered the fandom. For all the Versaverse's faults, I still find this one stands up to the test of time.
8. Pointblank by worldaccordingtofangirls
Arthur is a gifted volunteer doctor. Alfred is a bomber pilot. Love strikes us pointblank, right between the eyes, in the most inconvenient of places. The battlefield is no exception.
I finished this one recently and while it hits a lot of the same plot beats as We'll Meet Again does (even down to some small details like Alfred giving Arthur some chocolate in the midst of Britain's rationing), its definitely its own story, and a fantastic one at that. I loved it all so much.
7. Am I the Best You've Ever Had by dozefallsdownthestairs
Arthur Kirkland was a menace to society by all appearances. Even the McDonalds uniform could do nothing to soften him up. Alfred knew he shouldn't care, but he did anyway. [Unfinished]
I haven't read this since 2018 so I don't remember all of it too clearly, but I will definitely say that even tho I haven't reread it in so long, Arthur's characterization has really stuck with me all this time. I really hate reading abandoned fics...but I think I'll give this another read sometime soon because I remember it being so deliciously angsty and enjoyable that I don't mind the heartbreak that will inevitably come when I get to the last, cliffhanging chapter again.
6. Breathless by OrangePlum
Arthur Kirkland never thought that golden boy Alfred Jones would ever have a reason to attempt suicide. Then again, how much did he really know about the oh so popular blonde? The rumor mill would surely chew him up and spit him out.
This isn't necessarily romantic USUK, but if you want to read its definitely-romantic USUK sequel below, then you have to read this one first. Trigger warning for some pretty heavy topics. Like AItBYEH, I havent read this one in awhile but I really like more unconventional ways of portraying Alfred, and I found that OrangePlum managed to do that really well in a lot of their old writings and heta fancontent.
5. Static by OrangePlum
Arthur always thought that the incident with Alfred's arms would forever be the biggest hurdle their friendship would face. But as the looks change and the touches linger, it becomes frightfully clear that he was dead wrong about that. [Unfinished]
Again I REALLY HATE reading unfinished fics, but man I'm planning on rereading this series again soon, just to get to the last installment of this sequel fic. The build up is just SO SO good.
4. In Loving Memory by a_forgotten_note
Arthur Kirkland is a successful author living happily with his husband, Alfred Jones. The couple has endured many hardships throughout their relationship, but now that they're settled and comfortable, they assume those hardships are over.
That is... until Arthur and his brother are in a car accident.
Now Arthur is lost in his own life, trying to remember who he is and why he's with Alfred.
The race is on for Arthur to regain his memory, but when he can't even remember why he loved his own husband, how can he be expected to trust him?
Okay here we go, getting into top 4 territory. So I just finished this fic maybe four or five days ago and man I gotta tell you...so, I put reading this fic off since I got back into the fandom in 2018. Themes revolving around memory loss and car crashes really strike an uncomfortable chord with me due to some personal events in my life, so when I first tried picking it up two years ago, I couldn't make it past the first chapter. During quaratine a few friends ranted and raved about it at me and so I decided to try and cowboy up and get through it. Best decision I've made all quarantine. What started as a fic that I didn't even read the entirety of the first chapter of has become one of my TOP FOUR FAVORITE FICS OF ALL TIME. I really, truly got absolutely lost in their world and was so sucked in by the nature of getting to discover the story of Arthur's life alongside Arthur that I lost all sense of time when I was reading the fic. Plus, this has got to be one of, if not then it is, my favorite portrayals of Arthur in a fanfic EVER. He's witty and sarcastic but not in that way that makes him seem cold and like he hates Alfred, and he's so loving and pensive and so deeply, deeply insecure. My God. I could rave about this fic forever. TLDR; I love it. Go read it if you haven't yet.
3. He's a Keeper by Zo One
Alfred's had his pen pal, Arthur, since the second grade. But now he's becoming a man and he wants to meet his best friend, hidden behind paper and emails. What he didn't expect was the longing long distance brought.
Ahhh. He's a Keeper. Listen folks, my fic tastes are really basic. I like angsty, believable slice-of-life type fics and this is exactly that. When I first read it back in 2018, I knew I loved it a ton, but when I picked it up again back in June/July I think thats when it was really cemented as one of my top 3 faves. This year I was supposed to hop on a plane and meet my best friend (who shall remain untagged but if you know me then you likely already know who it is) for the first time IRL since we first met back in 2018, but ofc 2020 had entirely DIFFERENT plans for us. Well, long story short, rereading it again under these circumstances hit really close to home to say the least. It deals in depth with the trials and tribulations of maintaining very close long distance relationships, something I have a LOT of experience with, and it also just...generally provided a really nice mental escape for me as I got to imagine leaving quarantine and getting on a plane alongside Alfred and Arthur to begin an adventure in an unfamiliar, refreshing new territory. If you love country boy x city boy dynamics and the drama that comes from ldrs, give this fic a read!
2. Scarecrow's Lullaby by OrangePlum
His name is Arthur Kirkland, and he is in love with his best friend.
This fic. Man...don't even get me started on this fic. Despite the fact that its a one shot, this definitely is one of my favorite fictional works I have ever read, period. I have a super longstanding attatchment to this fic because I actually read it back in 2013 or so, and I still remember how much it broke me that night when I was laying under the covers at 2am and trying to stifle my crying, because I couldn't let my mom know that I was still awake when I had to get ready for middle school just a few hours after that. I have since probably reread this fic about like. I dunno, maybe a quarter of a million times? Theres just...something so achingly lonely about this fic. The prose is so good its almost poetic, and because its written in second person perspective, there is no way to escape the fact that you really are forced to sit and feel every. single. wonderful, fantastic, awful, heart-wrenching, gut-churning thing that Arthur is going through throughout the story. Really what I'm trying to say is that I've read it a million times before and I'll read it a million more. If you've ever loved and lost in any capacity and you just want to ~feel something again~, then this is the fic for you. Make sure to have a box of tissues at your side and good luck diving into the sad, sad life of the man who's in love with his best friend.
1. American Dreams in an English Village by Butterfish
Alfred and his family move to an English village and become neighbours to Arthur and his family. Arthur doesn't like the American, but they befriend each other, and slowly friendship becomes love. But that's not good in a little township!
So we're at my number one favorite fic of all time. God...where do I even begin. I started this back in 2012/2013, before I left the fandom for the duration of my hs life, however I don't remember ever actually finishing it back then. When I came back to the fandom in 2018, it was the first fic I decided to reread because I remember how much of an impact it had had on me when I was just a middle schooler. In doing that, I kinda mamaged to grow up alongside the characters, as I had greeted them when they were both just young middle schoolers like me and I finished the story when they were finishing high school like I had just done. It holds a very special place in my heart for that reason, but also just...the journey that they both go through is so, so compelling. You see as Arthur and Alfred have to navigate what it means to fall in love w your same-gendered best friend in a very closed-minded, pre-internet world. Its just...a classic queer coming of age story, so good that to me it could stand to be its own novel and get a movie adaptation, to boot.
