#sylwritesstuff

what it says on the tin: Low angst (low conflict between Crowley and Aziraphale), high comfort (positive committed relationship), over 200k, fics with plenty of story. The first three are already complete. The fourth is the joy of my Sundays.

shotgun wedding by @charlottemadison42 it's much recommended for very good reasons. Some angst about relationship due to external constrictions. The conflict is sourced outside the relationship. If you are a self righteous health insurance exec or fascist fan of scandalized testing in education this might not suit you. Otherwise, it's a good 'un with a wonderful surprise at the end.

if he is your cleric ... By @noodlefrog-omens Crowley is hungry and thinks Aziraphale is dinner. Once they get over that small hurdle, and C realises A can provide both dinner and conversation there is an excellent quest. All your fav antiheros are dreadful and have satisfying and appropriate outcomes. The good people triumph and live happily (we hope). No d &d knowledge is required

You know I'll never be lonely by @sylwritesstuff and @ladydragona an omegaverse romance. Crowley is single parent for his nephew, Warlock. He meets Aziraphale in the course of his work and things do not end optimistically. After this start they meet again on a more positive note. Almost all the conflict in this fiction are social and the strength of A and C together is what allows them to triumph. I love the idea of being able to transform into a wolf. Both Crowley and Aziraphale are competent, skilled and wear clothes with pockets.

Finally, the king's dearest knight by @sylwritesstuff and @ladydragona is another omegaverse romance. There is magic, a quest, sword fighting, bad people, good people, so much fun. No transforming into wolves so far but I'm not ruling it out for the future :-). Although Aziraphale and Crowley both have secrets, this doesn't prevent from trusting each other and not letting others divide them. Again, both Crowley and Aziraphale are skilled, competent and no hampered by their clothes for the life they are living. Conflict comes from outside our beloved idiots. This fiction has been going for six months and has at least as far to go again I suspect.

Oh man so many! Anyone else want to leave some suggestions? Here’s a few that I can think of right now:

I have been working with @charlottemadison42 on formatting her amazing fic Shotgun Wedding, so that jumps to mind immediately. It is so good. Crowley isn’t struggling as a parent, exactly, because he’s an amazing guardian for Adam, but he struggles with enough that I need to recommend it first. 😉 Plus it’s one of my all time favorites.

It Was Always You by mltrefry is probably a bit more like what you’re looking for in your ask. Crowley and Aziraphale reconnect after years, they’re both single dads.

Going Overboard by Fyre @amuseoffyre is absolutely amazing. It’s one I downloaded/made a cover for already. Single dad Crowley and memory loss in this fun romcom.

The Stars Walk Backward by Beckers522 is also so good. It takes place in 1926, tutor Aziraphale and (married) dad Crowley. Highly recommend this one, it’s really well done.

Barriers, and the Breaking Thereof by Cardinal_Daughter is actually one of the early ones I downloaded and made a cover for, but it wasn’t very good (the cover, not the fic!) so I haven’t posted it here yet. I definitely should though, it’s amazing. Single dad Crowley comes into the library with a crying baby and asks Aziraphale for help.

Christmas is just the sort of holiday a demon has no business enjoying, even if one particular demon is entirely responsible for just such a holiday. After Armageddon’t, he finally has a chance to see what all the fuss is about and one particular angel is very eager to show him.

Alternatively,

Crowley deciding to stick around for the holidays for the first time ever but, instead of telling Aziraphale that Christmas overwhelms him because there’s so much angel aesthetic and he’s super duper in love with Aziraphale: “Hell is mean.” Aziraphale: “Then I shall show you all the Christmas cheer I possibly can!” Crowley: 🙃

Co-written by @syl-writes-stuff and @skimmingmilk

—

Chapter 2: The Tree & The Past

The problem with being a cold-blooded snake and a demon was that his vessel never quite knew what to do in the winter. He always wanted to curl up somewhere and conserve energy, but could flare natural enough warmth throughout his limbs. Remembering to do that consistently was the difficult bit, early nightfall not helping the situation any. He felt as bad as the humans, really, having to fight every yawn when his skin cooled again.

Of course, wearing some actual winter clothes would help but they weren't his style. He didn't think that argument would work with Aziraphale, following him into the lift to his flat. "I only fell asleep for a second. If that. I didn't even hit anything."

"Because I was there to miracle that elderly couple to safety on the other side of the street!" Aziraphale snapped, refusing to look at him, nerves still alight with the frantic energy that Crowley’s driving inspired on a normal basis, multiplied tenfold when he realized the demon had been, "Sleeping, Crowley! At the wheel of your car."

"Well, you be a snake staying up when it's barely eight degrees out. Forgot to warm up, that's all."

"Well, if you wore a coat- or a hat, or a proper scarf," he gestured to the mesh one looped around his neck, "then you wouldn’t have to worry about remembering."

"Right, but then I'd have to wear all that."

That got Aziraphale to look at him, but it was so he could frown disapprovingly at his ridiculousness. "I’d say it’s a small price to pay. You could’ve discorporated us! And what if I hadn’t been there? Who knows how long you would’ve stayed asleep and what would’ve happened."

"It's fine. You were there and all's well." There wasn't any use in dwelling on what ifs, in his mind. They were never good. "I'll pay better attention."

"And at least wear a pair of gloves," Aziraphale sighed, then tried to appear more accommodating. "They do have black leather ones, you know. Rather snazzy looking. Right up your alley."

"'Snazzy?'" he echoed, stepping off the lift. At least his flat was warm. "Really, angel."

"Well, it suits you more than ‘spiffy,’ I’d say." There was also a fireplace in the flat where there hadn’t been before, laden with large logs already burning cheerily away, a safe distance away from the other new addition. "Oh, our tree," Aziraphale cooed, his grievances with Crowley momentarily waylaid. "I knew it would suit your flat."

The demon eyed the fireplace before he did the tree. It wasn't unpleasant, but it had been unexpected. At least it blended into the wall properly. It was exasperating to realize that Aziraphale did, in fact, understand modernism. He just didn't like it in his own space. Ridiculous angel.

Falling over the wall...

Christmas is just the sort of holiday a demon has no business enjoying, even if one particular demon is entirely responsible for just such a holiday. After Armageddon’t, he finally has a chance to see what all the fuss is about and one particular angel is very eager to show him.

Alternatively,

Crowley deciding to stick around for the holidays for the first time ever but, instead of telling Aziraphale that Christmas overwhelms him because there’s so much angel aesthetic and he’s super duper in love with Aziraphale: “Hell is mean.” Aziraphale: “Then I shall show you all the Christmas cheer I possibly can!” Crowley: 🙃

Co-written by @syl-writes-stuff and @skimmingmilk

—

Chapter 4: The Garden & The Gifts

The big band performance was their only night with mixed results that month, the concert often featuring things that only one of them enjoyed at a time. After the first cacophonous song was very politely described as "interesting," Crowley had chuckled and offered an out. They didn't have to stay, after all, and it wasn't as if he knew the songs being played. He had enjoyed the sound, though, and the way it brought back smoky bars and illegal alcohol in cracked glass. The tension had been as intoxicating as the liquor, courtesy of humans with nerves high over the risks of being caught in an illegal speakeasy.

None of it was in the air at the Royal Albert Hall, though, decades of familiarity tempering the musical style. The only being who didn't consider it to be classic by this point was the angel, firmly insisting that they stay so Crowley could enjoy himself.

And it wasn't as though Aziraphale hadn't enjoyed bits of it, though Crowley had been far less fond of the guest singers than the angel. The lyrics seemed to change the way they played in a way they wouldn't have when the music was fresh and new. Crowley had leaned over to him, their hands clasped comfortably as holding hands became more and more commonplace for them, and teased him over only liking the boring bits and being teased right back for only enjoying the wild pieces.

But he'd also told Aziraphale what he remembered, why he liked it, and what he could tell just by watching their expressions about who was going to be doing a solo next. He could also tell who was nervous, though when he told Aziraphale, he felt an easy swell of a miracle. It made Crowley smile every time. It was different, being on a side which left his angel free to truly make the world he loved better. He'd gotten so used to the pout formed everytime Aziraphale looked at him and complained about not being able to perform "frivolous miracles" that he had to stop himself once from commenting on the number of miracles in concern.

So it was a mixed night, but still a good one. They were together and Aziraphale had learned about soft jazz, an acceptable edition to his shelves of records. Not a total loss at all and Crowley had every intention of slowly acclimating his angel to more jazz. He could probably get him up to the 1920s in another century or so, but they had all the time in the world for that.

The Nutcracker on the twenty-third had better results. Crowley had enjoyed the music as well as the battle against the rat king. He'd mostly enjoyed watching Aziraphale's face during moments clearly intended to be romantic, feeling the way his grip would shift and tighten on his hand. It was precious and had made Crowley think that maybe, just maybe, Aziraphale was ready for a little speed. Not much, he didn't want to overwhelm them and end up a few steps back, but that flutter of hope was still there.

For you, always 💖 But yeah, of course I'll take them. I never have a deadline with these kinds of things. People can send them whenever!

Y: What are your thoughts on your personal satisfaction with something you’ve written vs. the popularity of your stories?  Do you tend to be most satisfied with your most popular stories?

You know how I feel about this ;P I used to vent to you all the time about "Marshmallow" xD

I answered this in more detail here, but to sum it up: I have no idea what's going to be popular with readers and it usually never aligns with what I'm personally most satisfied with.

Like, with our Good Omens fics, I'm surprised Aristocats AU is more popular than Crowley's First Christmas xD But that could be due to the fact that I'm sure there are many more Christmas fics to choose from than there are Aristocats fics, lol. I just usually assume "canon" universe stuff would have more of an audience than a more niche, "who asked for this" AU.

Z: Is there a story you’ve written that doesn’t seem to get much love?

Literally all my solo (that are completed) Good Omens fics xD But I chalk that up to me just not being the kind of writer that really suits GO fandom, I guess. I think that's somewhat a part of why I fell out of love writing for it. I wanted to stand on my own (or at least feel like I could stand on my own) and I just couldn't do that there.

So I don't really count those. I guess I'm a little surprised "No Cracks in a Closed Loop" for Sonic doesn't seem to have as much love as I think it deserves. I'm pretty proud of how that fic came together! I love timey-wimey shenanigans and Tails getting to be a badass <3 Plus still some good brubber moments~ I don't know, it feels like the total package to me xD

But again, what I like most isn't always what ends up popular ;P

by @slywritesstuff and @ladydragona

This pair are hugely prolific and one could pick any of their output to highlight because it's consistently good. I'm picking this piece because its funny and i have a soft spot for tentacles.

Aziraphale is a reporter. On a mission he encounters a symbiotic being / parasite, Crawly. They work together to defeat the big bad. Lots of lovely world building. The Them, Dog, Anathema and Newt all feature strongly. And chocolate. It is very important, the chocolate.