fancake | Entries tagged with theme: courtship

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi; Chen Qing Ling
Pairings/Characters: M/M; Song Lan | Song Zichen/Xiao Zingchen; Song Lan | Song Zichen, Xiao Xingchen
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 3,632 words
Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply, determinedly Taiwanese cuisine, Food Porn because the author inexplicably omitted that tag, racist microaggression (a character recounts getting renamed by his exchange host family.)
Creator Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, Taiwan, Street food, chinese diaspora feelings and food as love language, SongXiao Feast
Creator Links: (AO3)

Irrelevancy; (Tumblr)

touchmycoat
Theme: Food & Cooking, Cultural Differences, Fluff, Going Home, Identity, Modern AU, Slice of Life

Summary: Flirting and cultural reclamation via Taiwanese street food. Songxiao modern meet-cute.

Author’s Notes:
For the #songxiaofeast on twitter, thanks for organizing the event~!!!! There's so much great art in the hashtag *~* love me some food love....

Chinese glossary at end lolol, and is this all a shameless marketing ploy for Taiwan night markets? yes.

…The menu (a twitter thread w pictures) (Unfortunately no longer accessible—FMO.)

大腸包小腸 (dà cháng bāo xiǎo cháng): "little sausage wrapped around a big sausage" lol
蚵仔煎 (ó-à-tsiān): oyster pancake. I'm using the Taiwanese romanization here because it better captures that Hokkien pronunciation. Ningxia Night Market seriously has the best ones.
臭豆腐 (chò dò fǔ): stinky tofu!! I think it smells delicious; don't be like SL eat it normally without that crazy amount of sauce nkfsjdfds
肉圓麵線 (bà wán miàn xiàn): meatball & rice noodles. Two separate things but they're typically sold together. Meatball is always pronounced in Hokkien and sometimes rice noodle is too (mǐ suǎ)
豆花 (dòu huā): tofu pudding. It's not too sweet and it's sooooo refreshing to have on a hot taiwan evening with ice!
雞蛋糕 (jī dàn gāo): egg cake! They're seriously very good but a hit-or-miss from street vendors lmfao.

Drop a comment~! Happy feastings!!!!!!!

Reccer’s Notes: Taiwanese bartender Song Zichen, taking both pity on and a fancy to diasporic American tourist Xiao Xingchen, proceeds to initiate him into the ways of local street food (as both a welcome into his heritage and a courtship overture.) This fic, stuffed with delicious Unresolved Sexual Tension, serves as a reminder that the Sinosphere is a very big and diverse place, and brought an outpouring of nostalgic yearning for the Taste Of Home from diasporic commenters.

(And Ningxia Night Market needs to hire Irrelevancy as a publicist, dammit; I was fervently wishing my neighborhood had something like that up the alley!)

Fanwork links: Comfort Food / 有可能的夜晚 (AO3-locked.)

kingstoken

Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (tagged as both books and Granada)
Pairings/Characters: Holmes/Watson
Rating: E
Length: 13,317 words
Creator Links: rudbeckia
Theme: Angst with a Happy Ending, courting

Summary: Watson, finally pushed away by Holmes’s lack of regard for his feelings, has left 221B Baker Street and moved into his practice. Holmes is confused—he did nothing wrong! But when Holmes realises (because everyone who gives him advice tells him so) that he is to blame, he knows he has to do something meaningful to win Watson back.

Reccer's Notes: Watson gets tried of Holmes' mistreatment and decides to leave Baker St. Much angst in the beginning, but also a Holmes determined to get his Watson back, cue the wooing! I enjoyed the inclusion of side characters like Mrs Hudson, Mycroft and Lestrade, and there was also an original character, a woman doctor who works with Watson, that I greatly enjoyed. It is tagged as both books and Granada, but I pictured the Granada lads when reading it.

Fanwork Links: AO3

beatrice_otter

Fandom: TOS
Pairings/Characters: Spock/OMC
Rating: Mature
Length: 31k
Creator Links:

WerewolvesAreReal
Theme: trauma and recovery, worldbuilding, going home, family, courtship,

Summary: At Starbase 17 Spock becomes the victim of a shocking attack. He tries to remain unaffected, but the consequences are far-reaching.

Reccer's Notes: WerewolvesAreReal always has such an interesting take on Spock and his family and the crew of the Enterprise. She handles the heavy subject matter with a light touch that lets the consequences unfold naturally throughout the story.

Content Notes: Rape

Fanwork Links: Breakdown

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Enola Holmes
Pairings/Characters: Edith Grayston/Sherlock Holmes
Rating: teen
Length: 2k
Creator Links:

hazel
Theme: black characters, female characters, competence, courtship, characters of color, minor characters, small fandoms, women being awesome

Summary: “I’m fine,” Edith says. “I wish I’d kicked him harder.”

“Understandable,” Sherlock Holmes says. “Can I escort you anywhere?”

Reccer's Notes: Edith didn't have a large part of either Enola Holmes movie, but she was delightful, and she and Sherlock had great chemistry, and I love the way he listened to her and got over himself. This story is delightful and gives her a chance to shine.

Fanwork Links: a cup of tea and a slice of cake

Mods, can I get an Enola Holmes Movies tag?

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Star Wars
Pairings/Characters: Luke/Lando
Rating: Explicit
Length: 11k
Creator Links:

penknife
Theme: black characters, character development, characters of color, first time, going home, friends to lovers, courtship

Summary: Lando is constructing plans to take back Cloud City and get the galaxy's only Jedi Knight into his bed. One of these things may be harder than the other.

Reccer's Notes: I love the way this fic explores both Lando and Luke's characters, separately and together.

Fanwork Links: My Fabulous Adventures In Seducing a Jedi Knight, by Lando Calrissian

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Big Eden
Pairings/Characters: Pike Dexter/Henry Hart
Rating: Gen
Length: 48 seconds
Creator Links:

bironic
Theme: Native American characters, characters of color, fanvid, small fandoms, old fandoms, domestic, courtship, canon lgbtq+ characters

Summary: Because you can't make a set of Big Eden vids without one that celebrates Pike, shyness, and winning someone's heart through good cooking.

Reccer's Notes: Big Eden is a delightful romantic comedy of a shy Native American man trying to win the man of his dreams through cooking. And it works! The vid is by bironic so you know it's well-made and the song choice is perfect.

Fanwork Links: Cooking Breakfast

quailfence

Fandom: Star Trek
Pairings/Characters: Zefram/Solkar
Rating: Teen
Length: 3 minutes
Creator Links: Marlin:

marlinspirkhall

SongTrek

marlinspirkhall
Yel-Halansu:

yel-halansu
Theme: Science Fiction, Old Fandoms, Interspecies pairings, Interspecies stories, backstory, just plain fun, fanvid, music, amnesty, marriage (technically), rare pairings, courtship, humor, languages & linguistics, accidental marriage
Summary: While many of his crewmates would meditate a while, he went to Zefram's quarters... and was gone for many hours.
Reccer’s Notes An extremely fun and silly song about first contact between Vulcans and Humans. Contains a few vague allusions to sex

Fanwork links
The Tumblr thread that started it all
Lyrics and guitar chords on AO3
Original version
Guitar only version
Vulcan cover

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Pride and Prejudice
Pairings/Characters: Kitty Bennet
Rating: Gen
Length: 75k
Creator Links:

Shem
Theme: fun, novel-length, AU, fork-in-the-road, minor characters, fixit, book fandoms, courtship, family, historical setting, old fandom, slow burn, rare pairings,

Summary: Kitty's chance to go to Brighton with Lydia may just change everyone's fate

Reccer's Notes: This is such an interesting AU, and I love the way it gives Kitty a chance to shine. The author really knows the setting, the period, and the characters, and that allows them to play around with it in interesting ways.

Fanwork Links: The Brighton Effect

mlravenwrites

Fandom: Tortall by Tamora Pierce
Pairings/Characters: Primarily Alanna of Trebond and Olau/Delia of Eldorne, with lots of Thom of Trebond, Myles of Olau, Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, Thayet jian Wilima, Jonathan of Conte, George Cooper, Eleni Cooper, and many more
Rating: mostly G and T, work 4 is M
Length: 8 works, 132,670 words total
Creator Links:

rain_sleet_snow
Theme: Series, Alternative Professions, AU: Fork in the Road, Book Fandoms, Character Development, Competence, Courtship, Families of Choice, Female Characters, Femslash, Rare Pairings

Summary: From the author:
In which Jon's forcing Squire Alan to dance attendance on Lady Delia has a number of unintended consequences.

Lesbians, mostly. Lesbians and hitherto unforeseen careers in espionage.

Reccer's Notes: A favorite re-read. Heartwarming alternative to canon centered on an excellent (if unexpected) femslash pairing. Goes from the Alanna quartet through to the Trickster's Duo. Fanwork Links: the twelfth night au by rain_sleet_snow on AO3

panisdead

Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV)
Pairings/Characters: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, background Allison Argent/Scott McCall
Rating: General Audiences through Teen, labeled by story
Length: 52,917 words, 12 stories
Creator Links:

entanglednow
Theme: Series; previously recced for Hurt/Comfort, First Time, and Courtship

Summary: This is like the pre-credits sequence of every horror movie, he's probably going to be eaten before the main character is even introduced.

Reccer's Notes: Stiles gets rescued from the woods, then strong-armed into an unwitting date with Derek Hale, and then they just keep on making it work. This series digs into what it might actually be like to date the strong, silent, hot-but-deeply-uncommunicative type, or the wildly awkward insecure type, and why the characters might still find it worth trying. I love how hard the author leans into Derek and Stiles's halting attempts at relationship negotiation while still allowing the characters to display occasionally surprising levels of emotional complexity. The themes are serious, but style is fast-paced with sly humor, and I laugh out loud at their first movie date (in Part 5) every single time I read it.

Content notes: dating, underaged alcohol consumption, werewolves and references to magic, many awkward/uncomfortable conversations, discussions of boundaries, semi-graphic description of blood and injuries, a non-explicit romantic/sexual relationship between an adult and a sixteen/seventeen-year-old. Derek's past relationship with Kate Argent is referred to largely obliquely, but there is some discussion of consent, lack of consent, and sexual coercion/abuse.

Fanwork Links: Milkshakes and Matchsticks series

stepps

Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairings/Characters: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, The Hale Family
Rating: T
Length: 28,959
Creator Links:

ShanaStoryteller
Theme: Comfortfic

Summary:

Stiles is ten when he saves the Hales from their burning home and Derek from a wolfsbane bullet, and this establishes a pattern that seem to continue indefinitely.

"Then he's facing a burning home, and he wraps the hood of his sweatshirt around his mouth before he pushes the door open and steps inside. There's Mr. Hale asleep - he hopes asleep - on the couch, next to - Stiles thinks that's his brother but there are so many Hales, who can keep track. He rushes over and starts shaking him, can see the rise and fall of the man's chest so he knows he's alive, but he's not waking up.
He shoves away his hood so he can shout, "Mr. Hale! You have to get up, there's a fire! Mr. Hale, get up!" Nothing, he's not even twitching, both of them taking in deep even breaths like they're having the most peaceful of rests, and Stiles is going to cry. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"
There's a moment, where all Stiles can hear is the blood rushing in his ears and not the roar of the flames or the creak of wood, then with a violent, silent pop it's all back and both of the men are gasping awake, eyes open and jumping to their feet. "

Reccer's Notes: Last rec of the month and this is a good one! This fic involves some of my all time favourite Teen Wolf troupes: Magic!Stiles, BAMF!Stiles, and alive Hale Family AU. Stiles' growth is wonderful, how he becomes part of the Hale family, and his developing relationship with Derek are just perfect. I've reread this fic several times and will continue to go back to it when I need things to feel good and happy at the end. And this is another one that is the start of a great series of fic!

Fanwork Links: hope is the thing with feathers

pedanther

Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (original Arthur Conan Doyle flavour)
Pairings/Characters: Frances Carfax/Mary Brackenstall
Rating: Teen
Length: 5,914 words
Creator Links:

sanguinity
Theme: Never Met in Canon, book fandoms, courtship, female characters, femslash, post-canon

Summary:
‘Lady Frances Carfax’—as she is not called—has already lost years of her life to her ordeal. She has no intention of losing anything more.

Reccer's Notes:
Two one-off characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories, Lady Frances Carfax from "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" and Lady Mary Brackenstall from "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange", meet and find in each other a friend, and, perhaps, more.

Neither initially knows who the other is; the fic assumes that "Frances Carfax" and "Mary Brackenstall" are names Watson invented when he wrote up their cases, because otherwise it would be a shocking invasion of privacy. (I thought about tagging the fic for 'identity porn' and 'secret identity reveal' as well, but I wasn't sure if it was too far from how those are usually used.) The fic has some other things to say about Watson's shortcomings as a chronicler and Holmes's blind spots as well; "Frances" and "Mary" are fleshed out more here than they were in Doyle's original stories, and the fic has some things to say about Doyle's assumptions.

The versions of them who appear in this fic are charming and interesting people, and the fic gives them a satisfying happy ending.

Author's content notes: "Non-explicit references to cognitive injuries, stalking, kidnapping, imprisonment, and domestic abuse."

Fanwork Links:
Setting the Sail on AO3

22degreehalo

Fandom: Pride & Prejudice
Pairings/Characters: Charles Bingley/George Wickham
Rating: T
Length: 3,526
Creator Links:

greygerbil
Theme: Never Met In Canon, Book Fandoms, Courtship, Historical Settings

Summary: After the seduction of Miss Darcy didn't go quite as planned, George Wickham turns his charms back on Charles Bingley, who already thinks them husbands. A trip to Brighton is supposed to get George back on Bingley's good side before his new friend Darcy can tell him the truth about his lover. However, things don't go quite as planned.

Reccer's Notes: This is a really subtly written fic which covers a lot of ground in not a lot of words. Despite being entirely unaware of Wickham's scheming, Bingley is so genuinely earnest he doesn't come across as oblivious, especially when the relationship escalates to effectively being that of two lovers. Wickham, meanwhile, manages to really sell his genuine feelings for Bingley without ever making it unclear to the audience that money is his highest priority and that he just is not a very good person. The atmosphere is so wistful - of course it will end badly, but they'll both be changed by the experience, and is was strangely worthy while it lasted. All around, a very fascinating 'what if'!

Fanwork Links: Brighton Summer

mlravenwrites

Fandom: The Mandalorian (TV)
Pairings/Characters: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, minor Finn at the end, background The Armorer/Cara Dune
Rating: E
Length: Original fic is 80,919, series is 99,921
Creator Links: PepperPrints on AO3
Theme: Competence, Courtship, Enemies to Friends (to lovers), Kidfic: has/with kids, Loyalty Kink, Marriage, Mutual Pining, Novel-length Fic, Slow Burn

Summary: With Moff Gideon defeated and the Darksaber reclaimed, the rumours of newly named Mand'alor Din Djarin spread through the galaxy... along with the stories of the Child he carries with him. Determined to meet him, Luke Skywalker arrives on Mandalore -- but before he can get any closer, he has to prove himself worthy of Mandalorian standards.

Reccer's Notes: Pretty much what it says on the tin. Gotta love some slow burn, mutual pining/courtship, Din/Luke with tons of Grogu. I love love love reading about them building a found family together, and about Luke and Grogu growing a garden in Din's backyard (in uninhabitable Mandalore soil), and ahhhh just many <333 Very recommend, much wow.

Fanwork Links: Separate Ways (original fic) on AO3
Separate Ways (series) on AO3

jerakeen

Fandom: The Hobbit
Characters/Pairings: Female!Bilbo/Thorin
Rating: Teen
Length: 85,320 words
Creator Links:

linelen
Theme: Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies, Genderfuck, Families of Choice, Courtship

Summary: Fíli lived his life by an old dwarven proverb: when a fool drops a treasure, a wise man picks it up (it sounded better in the original khuzdul).

Bella Baggins never quite fit in the Shire. Perhaps she was made for the mountains, instead.

Reccer's Notes: I reread this story on a whim and once again found it very satisfying. Fili and Kili are adorable in it, and Bella is wonderful. Everybody lives, Bella becomes their sister, Thorin is surprisingly good at courting a hobbit. Wonderful and happymaking, with just enough angst to give you feels.

Fanwork Links: @ AO3

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Doctor Who/Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: Donna Nobel/Rodney McKay
Length: ~23,800
Author Links: [Bad username or unknown identity:  ]
Theme: crossover/fusion, female characters, competence, amnesia, fixit, courtship, marriage, crossover pairing

Summary: Another day, another "science conference" gone horribly wrong. For once, Dr. Rodney McKay gets help saving the world... but then Donna Noble remembers.

Reccer's Notes: Donna Noble deserved better, and this story does right by her. It also captures the feel of the characters; it feels like it could be an episode, if DW and SGA ever crossed over. I love it and have re-read it often.

Story Links: Displacement (The Longest Three-Week Day)

mlravenwrites

Fandom: Black Panther (2018)
Characters/Pairings: Shuri/M'Baku Rating: T
Length: 16,251 words
Creator Links:

runswithstars
Theme: Diplomatic Marriage, Arranged Marriage, Characters of Color, Courtship
Summary: "Why do you care what I think of you?”
“Because,” she blurted out in frustration, “you make me feel…confused.”

After a snowstorm brings M'Baku and Shuri together, both must learn how to deal with the feelings that arise in the aftermath, while navigating a society that clings to a traditional past.

Reccer's Notes: Definitely not a ship I left the movie with, but this fic was so beautiful and complex and fabulous that it 100% convinced me.

Fanwork Links: All We Are and Will Ever Be on AO3

mlravenwrites

Fandom: Kingsman (Movies) Characters/Pairings: Harry Hart | Galahad/Gary "Eggsy" Unwin
Rating: E
Length: 92,158 words
Creator Links:

Kyele
Theme: Diplomatic Marriage, Arranged Marriage, AU: Complete AU: A/B/O, AU: Complete AU: Royalty, Courtship
Summary: The V-Day virus has devastated Regency England, but its cost comes not in lives, but fertility. Faced with the possibility of being wiped out within a single generation, Parliament takes drastic action. New laws restrict inheritance, from land to noble titles to the throne itself, to those who can reproduce. More, the newly crowned Henry IX - formerly Lord Harry Hart - must provide the kingdom with an heir as soon as possible. To do so, he must work his way down a Register of Fertile Omegas, spending a year with each in the hopes of securing the succession as soon as possible.

Eggsy Unwin is next on the Register...

Reccer's Notes: Genuinely the only fic over 90k words that I've ever wanted to reread. Fabulous characterization and a wholly lovely AU.

Fanwork Links: A Royal Arrangement at AO3

runpunkrun

Fandom: Parks and Recreation
Characters/Pairings: Ann Perkins/Ron Swanson
Rating: Teen
Length: 1,322 words
Creator Link:

weatheredlaw
Theme: Courtship, Amnesty

Summary: Ann Perkins says, "Wicker is for pussies," and Ron falls a tiny bit in love.

Reccer's Notes: I wanted this and didn't even know it. Terrific Ron voice. Also, Ann's list.

Fanwork Link: somebody alert the authorities there's too much red meat in this romance

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Ghostbusters (2016)
Characters/Pairings: Jillian Holtzmann/Patty Tolan
Rating: teen
Length: 3074 words
Creator Links:

aomame
Theme: domestic, small fandoms, female characters, femslash

Summary:

Holtzmann offered casually, “You know, I could build you some new bookshelves if you wanted. For your place.”
Patty frowned. “I’m not some kind of fixer upper project.”
“No no, I… I was interested in branching out. Practicing some literal physics.” Holtzmann winked. “Help you feather your nest, so to speak."
“Well, okay.” Patty was dubious, but what was the worst that could happen?

Reccer's Notes: This is such a sweet fic, and Patty and Jillian are so delightfully themselves. I love it.

Fanwork Links: don't know what a slide rule is for

jainas

Fandom: Hannibal
Characters/Pairings: Hannibal Lecter / Will Graham
Rating: PG
Length: 8,210
Creator Links: lovetincture
Theme: Alternative Professions, AU, Courtship, au: fork in the road

Summary: Will Graham is a professional mourner. He attends strangers' funerals and grieves their loss, for a fee.

Hannibal is a serial killer. He visits the funerals of people he's killed.

They notice each other immediately. Like recognizes like, and neither of them truly belong at the funerals they attend. Hannibal is fascinated by Will's terrible empathy, and Will knows immediately that Hannibal is a serial killer. None of that stops them from wanting to get closer.

Reccer's Notes: The alternative professions here is very imaginative and yet totally fitting with Will's brand of fucked-up empathy, and Hannibal's fascinated POV is as much a delight as his frustration at finding himself so drawn toward an other human being.

Fanwork Links: Every Day a Dying Day

runpunkrun

Fandom: Star Trek RPF
Characters/Pairings: Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto
Rating: G
Length: 5,707 words
Creator Link:

SuedeScripture
Theme: Alternative Professions, AU, Courtship

Summary: Modern civilization would collapse without them, FYI. Respect.

Reccer's Notes: A sweet romance about falling for your trash man, five minutes at a time.

Fanwork Link: Trash Man

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Greek Mythology
Characters: Odysseus/Penelope
Rating: Teen
Length: 1192 words
Author Links:

athousandwinds
Theme: old fandoms, folklore, female characters, courtship, competence,

Summary: Odysseus thinks that it was all his own idea. Penelope knows better.

Reccer's Notes: Really lovely exploration of Odysseus and Penelope's relationship.

Story Link: Spider's Web

wendelah1

Fandom: The X-Files
Characters/Pairings: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Rating: Teen (for adult language and situations)
Length: 19,782 words
Creator Links: Author Page at Gossamer
Theme: pre-AO3, courtship, female characters

Summary: Uh."Withheld at author's request." Here's

amyhit's summary from

xf_book_club: There’s formal wear, there’s dancing, there’s UST, there’s miscommunication, there’s jealousy, there may or may not be intoxication (I can’t remember, but there probably is), the lone gunmen get involved, heck, even Phoebe Green makes an appearance! C’mon, try it. You might like it.

Reccer's Notes: Back in 2012 when

amyhit posted "Hardball" to

xf_book_club, I wrote a 500 word essay, in comments, complete with illustrations, defending Special Agent Dana Scully's right to wear a sexy dress without being slut-shamed, and purchase a pair of $500 red Manolo Blahniks without being labeled an out-of-character spendthrift. The shopping trip is the best part of this cute MSR fic.

Fanwork Links: Hardball

jainas

Fandom: White Collar
Characters/Pairings: Peter/Neal/Elizabeth, Mozzie
Rating: M
Length: 21 989
Creator Links: lightgetsin
Theme: (five) things, au: fork in the road, bdsm, competence, cops & crime, casefic, courtship, m/m/f threesomes, marriage, polyamory, threesome

Summary: "You, upstairs," El said to Neal. He beamed, twirled on one foot, and trotted out. "And you need to stop making it so fun to mess with you," she added to Peter.

She surprised a look of such melting fondness on his face as he looked after Neal that her breath caught. "No," he said quietly. "I really don't."

Reccer's Notes: This fic is such an absolute delight... The characterisation, plot and character developpement are pitch perfect, and I love the depiction of how the relationship between the three of them could come to be, the dynamics of how it would work, the playfullness of Neal and Peter half-courting/half-outmatching each other dance, El's involvement... And the sex is perfectly written as well, this is a pleasure to (re)read.

Fanwork Links: Figure It Out

meretricula

Fandom: Venom
Characters/Pairings: Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote
Rating: Teen
Length: 12591
Creator Links:

pepperfield
Theme: Amnesty, Courtship, Interspecies Pairings, Interspecies Stories

Summary: Venom is well aware that they live in a romantic comedy. Eddie isn’t, but he’ll get the picture eventually.

Reccer's Notes: Look, I know we're all shameless monsterfuckers in the Venom fandom and something rated merely Teen is bush league by comparison, but this is the cutest thing I have ever read. The symbiote gets some ideas about romance from movies and sets out to woo Eddie by doing things like telling him how squishy his body is and taking over his hands to pull out his chair for him: tell me that isn't adorable. Also, Annie and Dan give their blessing to the symbiote taking over the care and feeding of everyone's favorite trainwreck of a journalist, and my heart grew three sizes in a single scene. Bet you never thought you'd hear someone describe the Venom romance as wholesome, but that's exactly what it is, and it's great.

Fanwork Links: that blessed arrangement

jainas

Fandom: Hannibal
Characters/Pairings: Hannibal/Will
Rating: PG-13
Length: 2687
Creator Links: Randstad
Theme: secret identities, courtship, friends to lovers,

Summary: Hannibal starts to show up at Will's house at the crack of dawn to make him breakfast, killing two birds with one stone: cooking is one of his many passions, and, honestly, Will Graham is climbing up the list.

Reccer's Notes: This is a wonderful S1 fic, atmospheric and evocative, a seduction through breakfasts from Hannibal's point of view, with gorgeous writing and a rich imagery made all the more striking by the casuals reminders of Hannibal true nature, and the fact that there is no reveal.

Fanwork Links: La Maison Rouge

meretricula

Fandom: Jupiter Ascending
Characters/Pairings: Jupiter Jones/Caine Wise
Rating: Teen & Up
Length: 7k
Creator Links:

miss_pryss
Theme: Amnesty, Courtship, Marriage, Interspecies Stories, Interspecies Pairings, Humor

Summary: Jupiter discovers that the one thing Caine Wise wants most in life is to be a pretty pretty bride on his wedding day. And she sets out to make that happen.

Reccer's Notes: A story about cute hipster dates, cross-cultural expectations, and Jupiter doing everything in her power to make sure Caine has the wedding of his dreams. (There are some perks to being queen of the entire planet.) There is such a wonderful gentle sense of humor to this story -- yes, the joke is that Caine is the one who wants the perfect white wedding instead of Jupiter, but it's never a mean joke. Caine wants a perfect wedding and Jupiter wants to give it to him and that's it, that's the fic. (Also every scene involving the wedding planner is a gift straight from the hands of the almighty and I wish I could see the Ocean's franchise-level shenanigans that were going on in the background.) A beautiful confection of a story.

Fanwork Links: Something Borrowed

meretricula

Fandom: Thou and You
Characters/Pairings: Evgeni Malkin/Sidney Crosby
Rating: Explicit
Length: 61k
Creator Links:

twentysomething
Theme: Spells & Curses, Courtship, AU: Complete AU: Fantasy/Magic, AU: Complete AU: Regency, AU: Complete AU: Royalty, Pining

Summary: There's no way to tell just by looking at someone whether or not they are a magician. Some are more obvious than others, but Evgeni has been introduced to thousands of people since coming to London and he has never been absolutely certain before.

But when Lady Everly says, "Oh, Your Highness, this is Mr. Crosby," Evgeni knows the man in front of him is a magician.

Reccer's Notes: Sometimes you just want to read sixty thousand words of wish fulfillment fic in which Geno Malkin is a Russian prince who falls in love at first spell with a Canadian wizard named Sidney Crosby and proceeds to woo him with flowers, expensive desserts, and a ton of magic, okay? Sometimes you don't want conflict or "plot" or any of that good for you stuff, you just want a toothrottingly sweet tale of ludicrous mutual pining in which Geno -- who is, I repeat, A LEGIT PRINCE IN LINE TO INHERIT THE THRONE OF RUSSIA -- sits around sighing to all of his friends about how sweet and handsome and wonderful Mr Crosby is and thinks dark thoughts about everyone who has ever said a mean word about Sid and worries that he is ruining Sid's reputation because he just wants to be around him all the time and he has -- gasp! Been in Sid's room, unchaperoned!!! Also I love Regency-but-magic settings with a deep abiding passion and have since I read Sorcery & Cecelia as an impressionable young girl, so I'm very into this AU concept. Mainly, though, I gotta stress how very much this is the fic equivalent of cotton candy. You know when you're in the mood for it -- save this story for that moment.

Fanwork Links: Thou and You

meretricula

Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Rating: Explicit
Length: 27k
Creator Links:

astolat
Theme: Spells & Curses, Enemies to Lovers, Enemies Working Together, Book Fandoms, Courtship, Forced Proximity, Family

Summary: Draco found the nest down in the Manor’s cellars, while he was clearing them out.

Reccer's Notes: In b4 the deluge of Harry Potter recs for the Spells & Curses theme because I wanted to make sure my favorite went first! Oh my god, this fic. It's a hellish frankensteining together of a bunch of disparate tropes (postwar cleanup as the most extreme possible variant on curtainfic, redemption through the pure love of a pet, FASHUN, forced proximity/enemies working together, extended sidetrip into worldbuilding marriage and courtship rituals in the wizarding world???, seduction shenanigans, the further redemptive power of familial love... and they all lived happily ever after) but IT WORKS SO WELL. Every time this fic took a sharp right turn it got even better than before. Also some of the lines in this story are so funny that they are permanently inscribed on my memory in letters of fire. Put "I am something out fairy tales! I'm a fucking wizard!" on my tombstone please and thank you.

Fanwork Links: Slithering

meretricula

Fandom: Devil's Cub - Georgette Heyer
Characters/Pairings: Dominic Alastair/Mary Challoner
Rating: Explicit
Length: 19.9k
Creator Links:

hazel
Theme: Amnesty, AU: Complete AU: Modern, Book Fandoms, Courtship

Summary:

It’s 8am on a Sunday morning and Mary Challoner is desperately afraid her sister is going to make a fool of herself.

Meanwhile, Dominic Alastair doesn’t believe that the social hierarchy defines anyone, which is why he’s always careful to smile and say thanks whenever someone does anything for him.

Reccer's Notes: If you've ever read Devil's Cub, you'll know that the scene where Dominic finally grovels to Mary and apologizes for ever being a less than ideal boyfriend and begs her to allow him to marry her, he swears he'll be a perfect husband (that is a STEAMING PILE OF HORSESHIT, Mary responds, you wouldn't stop making jealous scenes for a single day; yes, okay, but I would try, he pleads) is one of the most satisfying in all of Western literature. So when I say that this fic doesn't quite match that, but it comes pretty damn close, you'll understand that I mean it as a tremendous compliment. I would never have imagined that Heyer could be transposed to a modern setting, but it works -- on some level I understand Mary's anxiety about being dragged off to France better when she's upset that it'll ruin her career than when it'll ruin her reputation.

Fanwork Links: a thing with feathers

meretricula

Fandom: Transformers: Prime
Characters/Pairings: OC/OC
Rating: Explicit
Length: 4.5k
Creator Links: zuzeca
Theme: Robots, Androids & AI; Courtship; First Time; Interspecies Pairing;

Summary: A most peculiar courtship occurs aboard the Nemesis.

Reccer's Notes: Sliding in under the wire with one more fic about these dumb fictional robots that I am way too invested in! I went looking for more Transformers fic after I finished running through Astolat's stuff and while on the whole I was somewhat disappointed, I really enjoyed discovering zuzeca! I'm not familiar at all with this form of canon but it's a really sweet courtship fic that also features... uh, some interesting sexual exploration between an evil robot whose body is modeled on a car and another evil robot whose body is modeled on a bug. So if you're not ready for that jelly perhaps this is a good one to skip. If you're still down, it's super cute!

Fanwork Links: By Nature Winged

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Star Trek Voyager
Characters/Pairings: Janeway/Tuvok
Rating: teen
Length: 8,870 words
Creator Links:
Theme: interspecies pairing, friends to lovers, rare pairing, older characters, old fandoms, first time, female characters, courtship, character of color,

Summary: After Voyager's return, Janeway and Tuvok build a future together.

Reccer's Notes: disclaimer, I betaed this fic, but there really wasn't anything to improve on because it's so well done. Janeway is frustrated on Earth as an Admiral, and Tuvok's wife remarried while everyone thought Voyager was destroyed. Both are adrift, recovering from the accumulated stresses of the Delta Quadrant, and trying to figure out what comes next in their lives, both professionally and personally. And they find it together, in a very sweet way.

Fanwork Links: Forward Momentum

jainas

Fandom: Supernatural
Characters/Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, ensemble
Rating: M
Length: 181,619
Creator Links: bendingsignpost
Theme: epic works, interspecies pairings, interspecies stories, action/adventure, complete au: fairytales, courtship, identity porn, mutual pining, mytical creatures: angels/demons, novel-length fic, plotty fic, secret identity reveal, slow burn, worldbuilding

Summary: Under the cover of a masquerade ball, Castiel has five nights to recover the key to his people's freedom. The world has changed greatly in the six centuries since their banishment into the void, but the task isn't impossible. Unfortunately for Castiel, this is going to involve talking to people - especially the Knight Prince who has taken an interest in Castiel and his "costume" wings.

Reccer's Notes: The whole month I have been dying to rec this delight of a monster fic and couldn't because it was still in progress... But no more, and just in time before the end of the theme!
From the Cinderella AU premise, this fic build an incredible slow burn romance laced with growing tension, intricate worldbuilding and wonderful characterization.
I loved the way the story unfold, all the things it does: an angel undercover as an human at the masquerade, with a crucial mission and almost no idea of what he is doing, but also how who he shines through for Dean to see, the growing attraction and falling in love for both of them and the great identity porn it implies, the way Bendingsignpost handled the looming reveal of Castiel's true nature as the five nights come to a close; all the details of the cultural differences both before and after.
The story has some incredibly tense chapters and the plot had me at the edge of my seat more than once! A must-read! :)

Fanwork Links: Cinderwings

jainas

Fandom: The Lord of the Rings
Characters/Pairings: Legolas/Gimli, Glóin, Dwalin
Rating: PG
Length: 14 220
Creator Links: Lisafer
Theme: Interspecies Stories, Interspecies Pairing, courtship, in vino veritas, mutual pining, pining, slow burn

Summary: Legolas is sent to Erebor after the War of the Ring, where he's given the chance to meet up with Gimli again.
Predominantly book-verse.

Reccer's Notes: Does it show I'm on a LotR roll?^^ I liked the slow burn and the care this fic has for the characters and the setting: Legolas seeing his friend after so long, all the details of the dwarvish life in Erebor, the image of the bare-chested dwarves singing at the forge, the discussions and uneasiness... Very nice fic!

Fanwork Links: The Secrets of the Lonely Mountain

imogeneherdman

Fandom: Spirited Away
Characters/Pairings: Haku/Ogino Chihiro
Rating: R
Length: 2,022
Creator Links:

canis_m
Theme: Dragons, Small Fandoms, Courtship, Fork in the Road

Summary: If Chihiro's family had never moved, and Haku had never lost his river.

Reccer's Notes: A nice, sweet, slightly creepy courted-by-a-god fic. Who doesn't love those?

Fanwork Links: White Wedding

jerakeen

Fandom: Hobbit
Characters/Pairings: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Rating: Explicit
Length: 19,750 words
Creator Links:

littleblackdog
Theme: Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Courtship

Summary: In a Middle Earth where dwarves dream of Heartsongs and hobbits carry the name of their fated partner as private Mark, Bilbo Baggins had never been able to properly translate the strange rows of runes inscribed on his wrist.

And likewise, Thorin Oakenshield had never imagined he would hear the voice of his Heartsong from a fussy little gentlehobbit.

Reccer's Notes: Adorable courtship fic. But I mean, like, ADORABLE. (I haven't read the sequels, but just fyi, it has two.)

Fanwork Links: @ AO3

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Peter Wimsey
Characters/Pairings: Harriet Vane, the Dowager Duchess, Peter Wimsey, Mary Wimsey
Rating: teen
Length: 11,485
Creator Links: x_los
Theme: Soul-marks, AU, book fandom, courtship, female friendship, old fandoms,

Summary: At twenty-one, Harriet Vane gets her Name. It's rather longer than she expected.

Reccer's Notes: This is a delightful gem of a soulmark AU. Given the whole idea of soulmarks, obviously Harriet would never set up with that jerk she was with in Strong Poison. While the name "Harriet Vane" is rather normal, Peter's name is rather more unusual and thus he is easy to find, once she gets her mark. So there's none of the angst and soul-searching and recovery required in canon before they get together, and on the whole it's a fairly light story. But

x_los captures all of the characters perfectly, and especially Harriet's self-reliance and self-sufficiency, and deals a bit more specifically with the issues of class difference and age that kind of got swept underfoot by the drama of their canonical meeting.

Fanwork Links: Gentle Antidote

jainas

Fandom: Rivers of London, The Great British Bake Off
Characters/Pairings: Peter Grant/Thomas Nightingale, Lesley May, Beverley Brook, Abigail Kamara, et al.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 34,303
Creator Links: stardust_rain (AO3)
Theme: mutual pining, complete au: celebrities-fame, complete au: reality tv, complete au: modern, characters of color, courtship, crossovers/fusions,

Summary: Peter Grant is a contestant on The Great British Bake Off 2016, Thomas Nightingale is its famously stoic, poker-faced judge. The nation’s running commentary is their background soundtrack as they flirt onscreen. It’s gonna be a very long ten weeks.

Reccer's Notes: I have never watched one episode of the Great British Bake-Off, and reality TV fics aren't usually my thing, but it didn't stop me for enjoying this fic immensely. The fusion works very well, and the media recounting of the season is fascinating. The focus is on Peter and Nightingale slowly growing tension and pining and the ensuing scandal and media storm, but all the other characters get plenty of screentime and time in the spotlight as well and are very well written.
I actually think this is a fic one could enjoy without knowing any of the fandoms, even if of course all the clever bits of characterization would be lost.

Fanwork Links: four and twenty lovebirds (baked in a pie) (A03)

jainas

Fandom: Yuri On Ice
Characters/Pairings: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Yuri Plisetsky, Mila Babicheva, Christophe Giacometti, Yakov Feltsman
Rating: M
Length: 43682
Creator Links: Feelslikefire (AO3)
Theme: time loop, AU: fork in the road, courtship,

Summary: Victor Nikiforov is poised to win gold in his fifth consecutive Grand Prix Final. He has the world at his feet, is unparalleled in the sport--right up until a snowstorm blows into Sochi, and he finds himself repeating the same day over and over and over. He stumbles over Yuuri Katsuki, and everything changes.

Reccer's Notes: A nice take on the tropes, where Victor drinks a lot to cope, get to know people, find himself seduced anew each times he sees Yuuri and fall more and more in love... but also does a lot of growing-up and learns not to be so selfish and that he can help people.

Fanwork Links: Maelstrom

thady

Fandom: The Hobbit (Movies)
Characters/Pairings: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Rating: R
Length: ~ 150,000 words
Creator Links:

Erinye
Theme: amnesty, au, au: fork in the road, courtship, first time, novel-length fic, pining, plotty fic, slow burn, worldbuilding

Summary: Take a dragon and get rid of it, take a Kingdom under the Mountain and let it thrive under Thráin’s rule, take the King’s eldest son - as proud and arrogant as you can picture him - and then send him to the Shire in order to refine his diplomatic skills. Or, as his sister puts it: to grow them at last. Now, throw in the Master of Bag End playing host for the dwarf prince: you’ll get a clash of cultures, an ill-advised bet about educating a certain hobbit in the dwarf-lore, and all the pride and prejudice business you could hope for, plus Khuzdul.
A retelling inspired by My Fair Lady.

Reccer's Notes: I've read this story when it was still a WiP, and I cheered every time a new chapter was put up. I like the emotional tension in this story, and how the characters grow and learn.

Fanwork Links: My Fair Hobbit.

jerakeen

Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Harry/Draco
Rating: Explicit
Length: 27,350 words
Creator Links:

astolat
Theme: Courtship, Friends with Benefits, Marriage (Amnesty!)

Summary: Draco found the nest down in the Manor’s cellars, while he was clearing them out.

Reccer's Notes: Everything about this is soooo good. Seriously. Draco's characterization, the house, the snake, the mystery, the relationship... read it! It'll make you feel things!

Fanwork Links: @ AO3

jerakeen

Fandom: Teen Wolf
Characters/Pairings: Derek/Stiles
Rating: Teen and Up
Length: 13,660 words
Creator Links:

molly
Theme: (Something) Made Them Do It, Courtship

Summary: In which the Alpha pack wants to take something important away from the Hale pack, and there's only one sure way to keep Stiles safe. Negotiations of a personal nature ensue.

Reccer's Notes: Stiles needs to be screwed into the pack. Except somehow it turns into dating.

Fanwork Links: @ AO3

jerakeen

Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Harry/Draco
Rating: Explicit
Length: 11,350 words
Creator Links:

femmequixotic //

noe
Theme: Friends with Benefits, Kidfic, Courtship

Summary: Draco's been shagging the Head Auror for months now, and he's sure it's just a fling. Until Harry asks him to a Quidditch match, that is, and things go horribly wrong.

Reccer's Notes: Precious and fluffy.

Fanwork Links: @ AO3 // @ LJ

jerakeen

Fandom: Jupiter Ascending
Characters/Pairings: Jupiter/Caine
Rating: Explicit
Length: 5,160 words
Creator Links:

novembersmith
Theme: Courtship, Small Fandoms

Summary: Jupiter’s trying not to take it personally, but being inexplicably flinched away from is getting really, really old.

Reccer's Notes: Perfect porny epilogue!

Fanwork Links: @ AO3

dirty_diana

Fandom: Star Trek AOS
Characters/Pairings: James T Kirk/Spock
Rating: not rated by author but approximately teen
Length: 22 000 words
Creator Links:

walkandtalk
Theme: Friands to Lovers, First Time, Courtship

Summary: The elders of New Vulcan decide to resurrect an ancient custom, and suddenly Jim must help find his First Officer an honorable Vulcan husband.

Reccer's Notes: In which the courtship isn't actually between Jim and Spock, that's just how things end up. Of course. Fun ride and Jim is the most endearing intergalactic wingman ever.

Bones’s eyebrows shot up. “Jim Kirk, trying not to accidentally die,” he said amazed, reaching for a PADD to bring up the terraquad of data he gathered on Jim's allergies. “Thought I’d never see the day. I heard a rumor that you were enlisted to help the hobgoblin get hitched on New Vulcan."

Jim smiled sheepishly. "Trying to, anyway. I have had all this reading homework, and Mnah has all these tradition foods that are served, and with my luck I would ruin Spock's first date with an allergic reaction."

Fanwork Links: A Logical Match

beatrice_otter

Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Severus Snape, Hermione Granger
Rating: M
Length: 182k
Creator Links:

Aurette
Theme: historical AU, novel-length, regency AU, courtship, kidfic (has kids),

Summary: A witch struggles to conform in a society that restricts her. A wizard thinks he has nothing to offer anyone but his duty and, ultimately, his life. An SS/HG Regency Tale. As AU as you get. M for later chapters.

Reccer's Notes: Sometimes, it is painfully obvious that the author of a Regency AU knows nothing about the Regency period in general and nothing about Regency Romance conventions in particular. This is not that fic. The author knows how to adapt both Hermione and Severus' backgrounds to their Regency equivalents, and how to use Regency romance tropes to their best effect. (Penniless ladies dependent on evil relations! Governesses! Scandal! Unexpected inheritances!) At the same time,

Aurette also knows the Harry Potter universe, and has done an excellent job of extrapolating a late-Regency version of them.

Aurette describes the fic as "an amalgamation of Jane Austen, Anne Bronte, Charles Dickens, and Elizabeth Gaskell, with a smidgeon of Wm. M Thackeray and a very healthy dose of J.K. Rowling." All in all, a wonderful fic that is one of the very best Regency AUs that I know.

Fanwork Links: Of Muggles and Magic

cest_what

Fandom: K-pop (VIXX)
Characters/Pairings: N (Cha Hakyeon)/Ken (Lee Jaehwan)
Rating: G
Length: 1900 words
Creator Links: gunwoo
Theme: Courtship

Summary: A love confession, Ken-style.

Reccer's Notes: Essentially, in which Ken is prowling around N like he thinks he's a lion cornering its prey, and Ken doing weird things is nothing new but this has been going on for a week. The title is terrible but also exactly a joke that Ken would make and therefore perfect. The whole fic is completely delightful and makes me really happy.

Fanwork Links: This is My 'Ken-Fession' @ AO3

eevilalice

Fandom: Labyrinth
Characters/Pairings: Sarah/Jareth
Rating: T
Length: 7,143
Creator Links:

startraveller776
Theme: future fic, humor, courtship, female characters, hurt/comfort, small fandoms

Summary: Five times Sarah drunk-called Jareth. One time he sobered her up.

Reccer's Notes: I can't overstate the charm of this story. The premise seems crack-ish but is made to feel totally feasible in-universe. Sarah's disastrous post-Labyrinth love life leads to an unexpected, slow and somehow endearing courtship by Jareth.

Fanwork Links: Drunk Dial

magician113

Fandom: The Sentinel
Characters/Pairings: Blair Sandburg/Jim Ellison
Rating: Explicit
Length: 4K words
Creator Links: at AO3
Theme: pining, courtship, first time

Summary: The guys are secretly pining for each other but both keep mum for the same reason: each thinks the other is straight and admitting their feelings would ruin their good friendship. While Blair is away, Jim finds a letter to a friend that reveals Blair's secret. Jim decides to take the first step.

Reccer's Notes: Something a bit shorter and lighter than the last one. Stacy wrote this originally for a print zine. Enjoy.

Fanwork Links: My Beautiful Love