Lilo's fanfic year in review:
My 10 favorite fics of the year 2025
I'm also making some fandom specific rec lists with more fics, but these were the ones that really stuck with me this year!
Holby City / Berena:
Open When Series by @madam-wakefield
75k, rated T-M, love letters
"When Bernie is asked to go back to the army, Serena isn't sure how she's going to get through nine months without her girlfriend. What she doesn't expect is for it to be her girlfriend who has the perfect set of surprises to get her through both the best and the worst days."
The first part of the series consists of 27 chapters, each with a letter from Bernie to Serena as well as the situation Serena reads it in. I'm slowly making my way through the fic one chapter at a time much like Serena makes her way through the letters, and I'm enjoying it immensely! It's really sweet, hopeful and emotional.
More Berena fic recs
MCU / Stucky:
Operation: Gros Michel by Squadofcats @norelationtoatticus
300k E, post CATWS, social justice
"In which Steve learns to surf, Bucky becomes a gardener, and they both begin to heal."
This fic made me cry so much, it's a brilliant mix of shippy feels and current real world issues in politics and human rights, and how these characters from the 40s might react to them. I still haven't finished reading it because it's the kind of fic where I just have to stop from time to time to be able to breathe again, but I very much mean that as a compliment!
an irrevocable condition by spinawren @wrenaspun
13k T, post CATWS, recovery, OCs
"Maria Elena Popescu’s apartment building might be a faceless grey dump, but it’s hers, and she’s proud of it. Nobody was allowed to come in here and make it worse, not even tall dark and good-looking foreigners."
Similar to Gros Michel in that both fics are about trauma recovery and getting used to the, 21st century, this fic is more Bucky centric and I really love the outsider POV and all of the original characters! Reading it really made me wish for more fics where Bucky just goes off and lives in a random apartment building away from superheroes and villains and everything that comes with that.
More Stucky fic recs
Poirot:
The Real Captain Hastings by Sue The Android
48k, rated M, internalized homophobia
"An Argentinian visitor to London is found murdered, reminding detective Hercule Poirot and his assistant Captain Arthur Hastings that although life is short there is no reason that it must always be lonely. TV Poirot universe, and it's permanently 1936."
I enjoyed this fic so much, I printed it out to keep as a shelf trophy (which is saying something, I've only done this to one other fic apart from fics I wrote myself). The story beautifully combines a murder case with the developing relationship between Hastings and Poirot, and feels very believable for the time period it is set in.
Pride and Prejudice:
The Cat's Guide to Compromise by pearlyeverlasting
32k T, canon-divergence with canon pairings
"Elizabeth Bennet refuses to be compromised. Elizabeth Bennet suspects that Fitzwilliam Darcy is actually a feral cat in a human body. This all works surprisingly well."
Basically, what if Lizzy had adopted a cat and grown closer to Mary than to Jane... I loved reading it, it's confusing at times but in a good way because Elizabeth is also so very confused, you can really emphasize!
Star Wars:
Knives and Spices by Argentee, Mikaiyawa, BairnSidhe, Hollowsarchivist, Leetuce, NittuSidhe micky_likes_stuff_01, Nymphie_Wolf, Sylph_Writes, SharlHarmakhis and Wayfinder1314 @jehanneargentee @mikaiyawa @bairnsidhe @mickylikesstuff
412+k, rated T-E, graphic violence
"A cargo hold of humans are captured by Aliens: Zygerrian slavers. Turns out that Star Wars is real, George Lucas had visions, and it's the middle of the Clone Wars."
I know this is already on last year's list but it just bears repeating how amazing it is. Also, the series is still updating, so there's new content to be read! I really adore all of the original characters, especially Ca'senaar is my favorite at the moment, and I cried so much reading about the songs the Terrans bring to the GFFA in 'Echoes in Coruscant' <3 just made a podfic of one of those chapters btw!
do or do not by itsthechocopuf
~100+k, G-T, many different POVs
"When Obi-Wan opens his eyes again, all of thirteen but with forty extra years of experience, not even the dust, dread, and death on Melidaan can stand in his way. Enter one Jedi Master Yan Dooku, the lynchpin to so many of the galaxy's darkest turns in the future-that-was. Everything changes."
I love time travel fix-its, and this one is so good! It shows how the changes start to affect other people and their stories, and is really wonderful to read.
Note that the first part of the series is a compilation of other parts but doesn't include all of them, so I'd recommend reading the individual parts instead!
More star wars fic recs here!
Twilight:
A fable penned in ink and blood by Mended_With_Gold @occams-painting-knife
fOC/Jasper, 400+k WIP, M, sioc/transmigration
"A 27-year-old woman wakes up in Bella Swan’s body, and the rest is history. Or is it...?"
When I started reading this story, I was just instantly hooked. The OC is so likeable and her struggles as she finds herself in the twilight universe as well as her backstory as we learn more about her are super interesting to read. The fic also changed twilight canon vampire worldbuilding and the backstories for some of the canon, for the better in my opinion! I'm probably going to make a podfic of this soon - lmk if you're interested in listening to it once I start posting!
More Twilight fic recs :)
Warehouse 13:
Thank you for the music by @lavendelhummel
26k, T, creator chose not to use warnings
"Helena likes singing ABBA lovesongs to Myka. This calls for a Mamma Mia movie night. But they are still associated to the Warehouse… and the Warehouse tries its hand at ABBA-meddling!"
I had the pleasure of reading a chapter of the podfic for this, and I really enjoyed the story of th entire fic, both when I first read it and listening to it later. It's a case fic, a fix-it, a Musical, and full of Warehousey artifact shenanigans!
More Warehouse fic recs
The Witcher:
The Accidental Warlord by @inexplicifics
geraskier later ot3 with Eskel, Lambert/fOC, 600k E, action/adventure & found family
"Jaskier arrives at Kaer Morhen knowing his family gave him up without a second thought, and sure that the Warlord of the North will value him even less. But the White Wolf and his pack are not what he expected..."
I can't believe it's been less than a year since I've first read this! It's so good - the worldbuilding, the story, the characters, all of it! I like the AWAU world much better than canon, it's its own Witcher world, canon-divergent at max divergent, and it just makes much more sense!
I actually made a moodboard for it here, and wrote a summary of the first parts so I can check what happened when the series updates! And I've recently joined the discord server for the series, which is very fun ;)
More Witcher fic recs here!
More year in review 2025 • more fic recs
My fandoms • my fics on Ao3 • bookmark-recs
