Candy Hearts 2024 Recs

[embraidery]

I have truly been feasting this year! What a wonderful collection, and I'm not even done yet. Nonetheless, here are 15 recs in 14 fandoms (2 crossovers), including some for fandoms I'm not familiar with:


One Piece (Live Action)

a touch of color - Kaya/Nami, E, 3k.

"Just because you've never done anything with Usopp doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared for what could happen." Nami leans in, crowding Kaya so that she falls back against her pillows, silky hair fanning out across the fine embroidery. "I can teach you a bit of what I know. Friend to friend. As a birthday present. What do you think?"

Hot and a lot of fun!

How Far We Sail Together - Kaya/Nami, T, 1.9k.

Nami hasn't done a lot of things that people her age have, and neither has Kaya. Together with their friends, they manage to try out a few of them.

Lovely, sweet and introspective.


The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien), The Untamed (TV)

the light upon the leaves of trees, the voice of water - Boromir/Lan Xichen, not rated, <1k.

Lan Xichen turned his head so he could brandish his smile directly at Boromir. "I was thinking of our first meeting."

A beautiful and peaceful description of their first meeting in the forest. I have not watched The Untamed. :)

Temeraire - Naomi Novik

Contentedness - William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay, G, <1k.

Laurence reads in the Lotus Garden.

A sweet and funny moment. I have never read Temeraire!

Saltburn (2023)

choking on your alibi - Felix Catton/Oliver Quick, Felix Catton/India, E, 2.5k.

Olly comes on so innocent, so doe-eyed, but those antlers strapped to his head say hart, not hind. Far from a prey animal, Oliver Quick is the lurking, skulking persistence predator Felix has spent the entire evening pretending not to see.

Anyone else would go away in the face of Felix’s disapproval.

 

Everyone else always has.

An excellent alternate take on That hedge maze scene.

Wrong to Be Right - Felix Catton/Oliver Quick, M, 1k.

He'd never got to kiss Felix in life.

A funny and chilling Felix-comes-back-wrong AU.

Hunger Games Series - AMT

rubble in the aftermath - Peeta Mellark/Finnick Odair, T, 2.7k.

Death is better for them. Trust me, is the third thing Finnick Odair says to him, right after Hi, I'm-- and That's right.

 

 

Or: At the end of the 74th Hunger Games, Peeta Mellark finds Finnick Odair.

A wonderfully bittersweet Victor!Peeta au.

home is where the heart is - Haymitch Abernathy/Effie Trinket, T, <1k.

Haymitch surprises Effie with flowers.

A gorgeous, more sweet than bitter, little moment between the two of them post-canon.

Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery

storytelling - Matthew Cuthbert & Anne Shirley, G, <1k.

When Matthew pulled the buggy around into the lane, he was a bit surprised to catch sight of Anne's bright hair through the pale blossoms of the trees ahead.

A pitch-perfect moment of Anne daydreaming and Matthew doing what he can to supplement her dreams.

Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater

a little honesty - Richard Gansey III/Ronan Lynch (pre-relationship), G, <1k.

With visible effort, Ronan pulled himself back, sorted himself out. None of the Lynch brothers liked to appear anything other than intentional, even if it was intentionally cruel. Instead of answering, he asked, “Do you not want me to come?”
Something stuck in Gansey’s chest. “I would take all of you anywhere with me.”
– The Raven Boys

Ronan manages to answer Gansey's question. Some of it, anyway.

It's been a while since I read TRC, but this voice feels so right for canon. Complicated and adoring with so much left in the space between words.

Ted Lasso (TV)

Diamond Dogs Assemble - Roy Kent & Ted Lasso, Roy Kent & Jamie Tartt, Coach Beard & Roy Kent, G, <1k

Roy needs advice before the first match of the season, so it’s the Diamond Dogs— and long-distance Ted— to the rescue.

Delightful, funny and sweet.

Uprooted - Naomi Novik

River Water - Agnieszka/Kasia, G, <1k.

The next time Kasia wrote from Gidna to ask for a jug of water from the Spindle, I brought it to her myself.

A beautiful little moment post-canon.

Critical Role

Continuing Professional Development - Fjord/Mollymauk Tealeaf, T, 1.6k.

Activities, behaviours and values that contribute towards the effective running of a team: agility, leadership, resilience, empathy, and candour.

Fjord and Molly enjoy the learning curve.

Fjord & Beau, Molly & Beau, and Fjord/Molly are my fave M9 relationships, and they weave together so beautifully in this training montage.

 

And my gifts!


Chronicles of Narnia - Lewis, Shadow and Bone (TV)

The Morning Sun - The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Edmund Pevensie, E, 9k.

Edmund stumbles into a dark forest and an unprecedented power—but Narnia’s troubles are not his, and his sunlight belongs to himself.

In a different universe, Lucy never returned to Narnia, and Edmund kept it to himself. He grows up into a different kind of man and creates a different life for himself with a taciturn woodsman. I loved how perfect Edmund's brattier thoughts and feelings were, particularly at the beginning, as a boy. I also loved the way their relationship teetered between comforting and ominous.

Bridgerton (TV)

For her own satisfaction alone - Simon Basset/Anthony Bridgerton (genderswapped to F/F), M, 1.5k.

No, the truth of the matter was that ever since Simone returned from her scandalous Grand Tour, everything she did these days seemed deliberately calculated to get Antonia to quarrel with her, as though she chafed at Antonia's practiced composure and wished her to be consistently unsettled.

I loved how thoughtfully the author adjusted their backstories and circumstances while keeping their dialogue perfectly in character and, in particular, keeping Simon's sharp edges. A delight.