Like last year, I’m back with another post of fanfiction recommendations! As much as I love writing fanfiction, I also read a whole a lot, and I often find ones I really enjoy. Here’s a list of various ones I particularly enjoyed reading:
1. Every “Escape The Night” fanfic by canufeelthemagictonight!
As you all may know through following my Tumblr in particular, I got heavily involved in the “Escape The Night” fandom this year, including writing a couple fics of my own that you can find on Archive Of Our Own! However, canufeelthemagictonight wrote the most fanfics I’ve found for this fandom so far, and all of them are amazingly written—including novelized versions of the show’s seasons! All of her fanfics for this fandom are so well-written that I can’t choose which one is the best, so check out her page and choose one for yourself to read!
2. “Lazarus Rising” by Cinder_Scoria.
Like with all the fanfics I just recommended by canufeelthemagictonight, “Lazarus Rising” is another “Escape The Night” fanfic, and it’s basically a take on what happened when (SPOILER ALERT FOR SEASON 3) Matpat got revived (SPOILER ALERT NOW ENDED). It’s incredibly well-written, and I can actually imagine all this happening in the show’s canon (and though the SPOILER ALERT revival did actually happen, exactly HOW it happened was different than as portrayed in the fic).
3. “The Sex Education of Edea Lee” by sanctum_c.
This fic can be found on not just Archive Of Our Own, but also Fanfiction.net! It’s a Bravely Default fanfic, taking place before the events of Default, and what it’s about is quite self-explanatory by the title alone. I meant to mention this fic in the recommendations post last year, but I completely forgot to, so I’m putting it here for good measure!
For those concerned about the rating of the fic due to the title alone, I assure you that it’s safe to read without the fear of someone looking over your shoulder and being scarred for life. Nothing graphic is described, but the whole issue of Braev Lee, Nobutsuna Kamiizumi, and Alternis Dim trying to figure out how to explain the “birds and the bees” to Edea is pretty hilarious. This fic is now basically a staple classic must-read for this fandom, especially if you’re getting into Bravely Default/Second and want to read some fics!
4. “Dealing With The Devil” by SingingInTheRaiin
For those who also may not know, I also started getting into the “Hannibal” fandom this year! This fanfic was the first one I came across in the fandom when I started actually searching up fanfics in addition to reading the actual scripts of the show, because I was curious about others’ takes on the two main protagonists. This fic is an AU where Will gets into a deal with a literal devil to find his true love/soulmate or else suffer the consequences. I thought this was a pretty interesting AU to read overall, and I love the plot twist involved in this one (which I won’t spill here or else I’ll spoil the whole fic).
Before I get to the last recommendation I have for this year, a special Honourable Mention has to go to “Curtain Call” by ra_bbit, which was previously found on Archive Of Our Own. This fic was a brilliantly-written Bravely Default Ballet Academy AU fanfic that explored themes of sexuality, the competitive world of dance, and a whole lot of other issues that I would list here but won’t because that would spoil the whole fic. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this post, the author has deleted their fanfic and so I cannot leave a link for you all to read it. Had it not been deleted, I would have officially put it on this list because it was that good.
And now, the last one:
5. “Welcome Beauty, Banish Fear” by bubblesodatea!
This is a Beauty and the Beast AU take on Bravely Default, with Alternis Dim as our Beast and Edea Lee being the Beauty, and can be found on both Fanfiction.net and Archive Of Our Own. If you’ve followed my book reviews enough, you all probably know that I do gravitate towards reading fairytale retellings no matter how bad or good they are, so I was pleasantly surprised to find some among the Bravely Default fanfics in particular! It’s not complete as of writing this post yet, as Fanfiction.net has only the first chapter while Archive Of Our Own has the first two chapters. I love how the author uses this AU to show different sides of canon characters we don’t generally see (like Braev’s more caring side for his family for instance in chapter 2).
I hope you all enjoy reading these fanfics! One more question: What were your favourite fanfics to read this year? Let me know in the comments! Perhaps I’ll try reading them myself if I’m interested.
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