Fandom:  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

Characters: Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Daisy/Skye, Andrew Garner, mentioned:  Nick Fury, Clint Barton, Maria Hill, Natasha Romanov

Pairing:  Phil Coulson/Melinda May, past:  Melinda May/Andrew Garner, Daisy Johnson&Melinda May

Title from gif by @agentromanoffsir

Length:  1200 words

Warnings:  No Archive Warnings

Summary:  If Clint got her laughter and Natasha got the red in her ledger, Andrew got her heart.  But that only left her soul and Phil never wanted to take that.  Until the little girl in the desert took everything and Melinda had nothing left to give. (OR:  All Phil wants is to bring May home after her vacation.)

He felt bile at the back of his throat as he watched her board a helicopter in the middle of the navy base.  She carried nothing but a military backpack, black and shadowy against her old leather jacket.  He always liked that jacket.

His phone felt heavy in his one good hand as he turned off the screen.  He couldn’t track the helicopter through the desert and she knew that.  She knew that and that was why she was using it to move to her next location.

He didn’t want to take her away.  

He just wanted to bring her home.

“Have you heard from her?”

The briefing on the inhuman task force had ended several minutes ago, but still Skye—Daisy—hadn’t moved from in front of his desk.  She looked so different from the girl that had stepped out of the van and onto their plane.  And every time he went to say her name, he missed the little pieces of bright Skye and the memories of her and May training in the basement were now somehow tainted by what had gone down in afterlife.

“Her?”

Her mouth dipped down into a frown at his choice of question and the way his voice cracked at the word.

“May.”

Thank you @marvelelle for tagging me!

5 fanfictions you enjoy

Partners by @ddagent. This is my favorite academy-era story. Kelly does a great job showing their developing relationship.

all you never say, all i already know by @marvelelle. I cry every time I read this story. elle does a great job weaving together things that are happening at different times and showing how their relationship develops.

A Funny Thing Happened at a Stark Tower Gala by @oparu. This is my favorite undercover-as-married fic. It’s romantic, sexy, and full of awesome spy shenanigans.

Won’t you come see about me by @kitlee625. It’s a Philinda/Skimmons/Huntingbird Pitch Perfect AU, and it’s awesome.

we used to be on fire by @stickthisbig. Fun and sexy, and I love how it goes back and forth between the past and the present.

5 headcanons that you have

They’re both good at ice skating, but in Coulson’s case it’s because he played ice hockey. They like to tease each other about hockey vs figure skating.

When they first met they found each other annoying, but over the years they eventually became friends. But even after they became friends, they argued a lot and were very competitive with each other.

Their first post-mission drink together was the first step towards them becoming friends, and it’s still their favorite way to hang out.

Coulson had a little crush on May when they were younger, but it never escalated into serious pining. When she told him that she and Andrew were serious, he was happy for her and put any thoughts of the two of them aside.

Initially May was more of a workaholic than Coulson, but she softened a lot when she met Andrew and started to care more about having a life outside of SHIELD. As Coulson got older, he just started focusing more and more on his work until SHIELD became his whole life.

5 authors that you love

@kitlee625

@ddagent

@marvelelle

@righteousnerd

@stickthisbig

5 tropes that you adore

friends to lovers

undercover as a couple

academy-era

UST

AUs

5 alternate universes that you live for

high school AU

college AU

medieval AU

doctors AU

sci-fi AUs (BSG, Star Trek, etc... I haven’t seen many of these but I think it would be awesome)

5 things you hate about fic

Be warned, some of these might be unpopular opinions.

Pining and jealousy. People can love more than one person in their life and have more than one meaningful relationship in their life. Your OTP don’t have to have lost their virginities together for their connection to be important. Also romantically obsessing about someone who you are not in a relationship with for years is creepy. I like friends-to-lovers stories, but not if the friends part involves a lot of pining and jealousy.

Really fluffy and schmoopy fics. It’s just not my thing.

Fics where relationships don’t seem realistic. This includes both romantic relationships and family relationships.

Fics where the characters seem OOC.

Fics where the author tells the reader too much rather than showing it through actions, description, or dialogue.

5 things you’d like to see written

Agents of SHIELD/Leverage crossover fic

Agents of SHIELD/Whedonverse crossover 

more casefics

more high school/college AUs

The X-Files AU

5 fics you wish happened in canon

I can’t think of any.

thank you to @agentsphilinda and @non-stopjess for the tag :)

5 fanfictions you enjoy

canvas by @agentsphilinda

partners by @ddagent

subtract the distance by @melliecoulson

the ox and the tiger by @valanthaliadon

she’s got a way by @nessnessquik

5 headcanons that you have 

melinda likes the taste of coffee but only on phil’s lips

they’ve kissed before, not for missions but not in a romantic context either

they grew apart before melinda’s marriage to andrew

phil has little things he’s kept as mementos from their early missions

neither of them can sing, but it doesn’t stop phil from trying

5 authors that you love 

@ddagent

@philinda

@melliecoulson​

@nessnessquik​

@sunshine-and-the-catsuit

5 tropes that you adore

fake relationship

arranged marriage

undercover lovers

mistaken identity

love at first fight

5 alternate universes that you live for

medieval au

celebrity au

royalty au

superpowers au

coffeeshop au

5 things you hate about fic

bad grammar/poor spelling/continuity errors. as i say this, i realise that none of what i’m typing right now has capital letters, but this is a stylistic choice :)

original characters as main characters

everyone being out of character

baby fics, i’m allergic to babies. also kid fics where it’s like the author has never met a kid before or something.

authors that don’t read other peoples stories

5 things you’d like to see written

shapeshifter au

lord of the rings au

olympic athletes au

rival spies au

bahrain au where philinda get together after bahrain

5 fics you wish happened in canon

shadows and shapes by @katalizi

guardians verse by @ddagent

forgiveness by @b00k-freak

amenities included by @stickthisbig

like water by @oparu

thanks to @marvelelle for the tag!

five fanfictions you enjoy:

notes played out of order by addisonrules on fanfiction is the most important fic in the world to me

partners by @ddagent

under the star light by @oparu

what makes her tick by @indilwenofmirkwood

may’s anatomy by @marvelelle

five headcanons you have:

while they were openly rivals at the academy, they had a few softer, quiet moments over the course of their schooling that made their partnership inevitable

melinda asked phil to be her witness at her elopement, but he begged fury to give him a mission so he had an excuse not to go- he couldn’t bear to be there

phil has met lian and william a multitude of times- he gets along with william better, but he has an understanding with lian that he’s supposed to look out for melinda, even though she’s more than capable of doing it herself

while melinda likes to brag she gets him on his back on the mats pretty often, phil can hold his own when they spar and has gotten her to tap out a few times more than she’d like to admit

melinda is the bigger cuddler of the two, a fact phil is delighted to learn once they’re together

five authors you love:

@ddagent

@nessnessquik

@oparu

@marvelelle

@b00k-freak

five troupes you adore:

fake dating/married

forced into watching a kid that isn’t their’s

arranged marriage

married-in-vegas

not first love but last love

five alternate universe you live for:

single parent/teacher

co-stars

best friend’s sibling/sibling’s best friend

soulmates

period drama

five things you hate about fic:

when there are no paragraphs and it’s one giant section of writing with no separation of proper punctuation or formatting

little to no dialogue, or all dialogue, and no description or scene setting

fic that’s entirely out of character- even aus should have a semblance of the characters to them

poorly written, unrealistic smut

this is just a personal thing, but fics with no sight or hint of a possible happy ending are hard for me to read because canon is already heartbreaking enough, fic is meant as an escape from that

five things you’d like to see written (i’m making this fic i’d personally like to write that are on my list):

philinda as westallen au

philinda as castle/beckett au

scream au

the adjustment bureau au

pride and prejudice au

five fics you wish happened in canon:

NOTES PLAYED OUT OF ORDER

what makes her tick

any fic that involves melinda calling daisy her daughter

under the star light

trail of hearts

5 fanfictions you enjoy

“drive time” by @ddagent  

Former CIA Agent Melinda May is having trouble adjusting to the real world. But she finds help in the form of radio DJ Phil Coulson.

“he lied about death”  by  @paperclipbitch

She doesn’t say don’t, because May will take every single punch you want to land on her and then a few more that you can’t land because your hands are broken from the strain. - Grief, and other aphrodisiacs.

“the storm in his wake” by @daisyqiaolianmay

Even good men, and Rosalind truly believed Phil to be a good man, could have terrible secrets… and S.H.I.E.L.D, they’d kept enough terrible secrets from the world already. She just wasn't expecting this one.

“ i never know” by @axolotl7 

A fic set at the beginning of series three - May returns but not everything can be forgiven with a simple apology on either side.

“handkerchief” by @ussjellyfish 

May rushes in to grab Fitz, Phil deals with the consequences and the team helps. It's what they do.

5 headcanons that you have

phil’s crush began when they met their first day in hand to hand combat but knew for sure he would marry her when he saw may and her supervising officer (peggy carter!) together training in an empty classroom at the academy

phil and may’s rivalry ended when may graduated valedictorian at the academy, but Phil wrote her speech

phil told audrey that his partner died during a mission after may transferred to administration because had no way to explain the overwhelming guilt and sorrow he was dealing with

phil’s mom loves, I mean loves, may after they met on her first visit to DC

phil is the only one may told about the baby she miscarried in the tiny military hospital post-mission in bahrain

5 authors that you love

@ddagent

@ussjellyfish

@suallenparker

@nessnessquik

@axolotlz7

5 tropes that you adore

undercover lovers

au

geeky boy and the hot badass girl

angst...lots of angst

hurt and comfort

5 alternate universes that you live for

coffee shop au

cooking au

royalty au

civilian/agent au

war au

5 things you hate about fic

terrible grammar, poor spelling, lack of continuity in stylistic choices

original characters as main characters

fics where people don’t use double spacing

terribly out of character characters

lack of good story telling devices, plot, diction, etc

5 things you’d like to see written

rivial spies au

in-depth phil’s POV of may and andrew’s marriage

olympic athletes au

ptsd treatment of may after bahrain and phil’s support 

resolution to the may/coulson/daisy bahrain reveal

5 fics you wish happened in canon

"breaking the rules/saving melinda may” by @axolotl7

“ i never know” by @axolotl7

“ghosts that broke my heart before i met you” by @zauberer_sirin

“under the star light” by @oparu

“story gets bigger every year” by @aliassmith

fill this out and tag it with #thephilindalibrary so we can spread the fic around the fandom :) 

(I’m leli1013 on ao3)

Your favorite fic you’ve written: So far it’s said you’d give me light because it makes me think of me and my mom when I was little. 

Your least favorite fic you’ve written: Apparently people aren’t all that into By your side for some reason.

Your most popular fic: a fine and safe harbour. I think it’s because Mama May is in it.

The fic you wish more people would read: By your side

The fic you most enjoyed writing: forever was never till now. It was much needed therapy for my poor shipper heart.

Your funniest fic: By your side

Your hottest fic: I might be writing it right now.

Your saddest fic: said you’d give me light isn’t exactly sad, but it seems to be the one that gets the most emotional response. I’m not into writing sad things. 

The fic you’d like to be remembered for: I don’t think I’ve written it yet.

from thephilindalibrary

Your favorite fic you’ve written: The Darkest Timeline series. Most of it is set in an AU where Phil and Melinda left SHIELD to get married and have a family, and the last part is a crossover between that timeline and the canon timeline.

Your least favorite fic you’ve written: Doctors of SHIELD. We started writing it in Season 1 when the show was more of a case-of-the-week format, and we had to abandon it when the show became more about the overarching mysteries. It just never really went anywhere. The main thing we like about it is the shippy backstory for Coulson and May.

The hardest to write has been The Chosen Ones, hence why it’s still unfinished. It’s a combination of being frustrated by the show and the fandom, and being busy with other things. Also writing all those action scenes is hard. But I really like what we’ve written.

Your most popular fic: Merry Happy. It’s the first shippy backstory we wrote for them. It’s very much not canon now, but we still love it.

The fic you wish more people would read: The Chosen Ones. Even though it’s been hard to write, we really like it and we feel like there’s a lot of cool stuff in it.

The fic you most enjoyed writing: The Darkest Timeline series. For some reason it was pretty easy to write, and we got a lot of great feedback from readers, especially leonardsnimoy, which helped us stay motivated.

Your funniest fic: Our funniest story overall is Unusual Suspects, but it’s not a Philinda story. It’s an Agents of SHIELD/Brooklyn Nine-Nine crossover. I’m not sure any of our Philinda stories are especially funny.

Your hottest fic: Undercover Lovers. Coulson and May are undercover as a married couple. Spy stuff and sexy times ensue.

Your saddest fic: Persons of Interest. It’s the second fic in The Darkest Timeline series, and it’s pretty dark.

The fic you’d like to be remembered for: Either The Darkest Timeline or the Slayerverse.

Your favorite fic you’ve written:  The Heart Shaped Rock . Had written it for an AU challenge. I just really like it a lot. I keep reading it again and again :P I do plan to make it multi chapter some day.

Your least favorite fic you’ve written:  Written In The Stars - A Philinda AU . I think both Phil and May were really OOC in this :P

Your most popular fic:  Ghosts That We Knew . It’s got the most Kudos and Hits since it’s a multi chapter fic but otherwise I think it’s  Daddy and Miss May . I have received the best comments for this.

The fic you wish more people would read:  Do You Trust Me ? It is another AU and was quite different from what I write. It’s not that amazing but it has a special place in my heart

The fic you most enjoyed writing:  Ghosts That We Knew . My first multi chapter Nanowrimo fic, so yeah :P

Your funniest fic:  I'm growing old .. Not exactly funny but yeah it’s fluffy and sorta funny.

Your hottest fic: None I guess :P Maybe Do You Trust Me ? because they I usually end with a kiss at the most and in this they go into one room together :P that’s the hottest my fics can get LOL

Your saddest fic:  Remember Me This Way . Halloween AU challenge, Casper movie AU. It’s sad. Yeah. Sad. I’ve been scolded for making it sad :P

The fic you’d like to be remembered for: I think that’s yet to come. Maybe my upcoming AoS-BSG AU will be that. Or maybe whatever I’ll write when Philinda becomes canon.