Good Omens Fic Rec: Choose Your Princes Wisely by ZehWulf

Title: Choose Your Princes Wisely 

Author: ZehWulf

Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley

URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24484123

Wordcount: 67,195

Summary:

“There’s an enchanted castle West in the Hellian slopes, and apparently it comes with a prince looking for a bride or bridegroom to free him from a dark fae’s curse.”

“I see,” Aziraphale says finally, when he realizes both Gabriel and Uriel are staring at him expectantly. “You want me to marry a beast?”

Gabriel’s mouth flattens. “I want you to take this gods’ blessed opportunity to secure your family’s future for good.”

OR

Aziraphale is a professional quest hero who just wants to sit by the fire and read a book, if his overbearing family will ever let him; Crowley is a serpent demon who needs a gullible hero he can con into gathering some critical ingredients for a human corporation spell. Hijinks and a lot of terribly inconvenient feelings ensue.

Why this fic is awesome:

Okay so it’s a fantasy fairy AU and it somehow manages to hit all of those key tropes we love: A quest, Magic Shoes, Challenges, Working together and transformation of the questers- it just isn’t solely the literal transformation Crowley was expecting. Absolutely loved this as Aziraphale as the seventh son of a seventh son, with the other angels as his older nefarious brothers sending him out over and over again for ‘the family fortune’. Just some really delightful fun here with a great depiction of the characters.

Good Omens Fic Rec: keep on building on the ground by Stratisphyre

Title: keep on building on the ground 

Author: Stratisphyre

Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley

URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21017030/chapters/49985360

Wordcount: 34,126

Summary:

Having kidnapped the infant Antichrist, Crowley finds himself hunted by both sides eager for their war. Desperate, he turns to the only being on Earth who might be able to help him: a Fallen angel playing vintner in Provence.

“I… suppose… you could stay,” he finally murmured. He scraped his teeth over his tongue, as though he’d tasted something nasty. It stuck in his cheeks, even. “This is not a kindness,” he growled at the baby. “This is pure, unadulterated self-interest! I’m going to raise you to lo—” He choked. “Lo— lov— fucking like the world enough not to destroy it.”

Why this fic is awesome:

Ohh this is lovely, I honestly thought I’d recced it before. In this story we see a Crowley who has continued on much the same, except that after Eden he never met Aziraphale again. Floriel, the angel stationed on earth as Crowley’s counterpart is a sickle-wielding punchable wanker of the first order. So, Crowley – although the same in many ways- has continued in the world, loving much of the world, but lonely and distrustful of all occult and ethereal beings.

Aziraphale, as the proprietor of Château de l’Ange Abandonné was exiled to Earth and lives an equaly Aziraphale-esque, but lonely life of his own. (Apart from the heartwrenching memorial room he keeps with green carnations in and a calling card of “Sebastian Melmoth” ohhh Oscar). Until Crowley, on the run from heaven and hell with a baby antichrist shows up on his doorstep.

Bloody, bloody, lovely.

Good Omens Fic Rec: Petrichor & Parchment by MrsNoggin

Title: Petrichor & Parchment 

Author MrsNoggin

URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21121583

Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley

Wordcount: 33,059

Summary: “Mr. Crowley, I presume?” Aziraphale asked in lieu of an introduction, which was not forthcoming. The guy hadn’t even removed his sunglasses. Oh God, he had a tattoo on his face. Aziraphale wasn’t one to judge, but… what kind of gardener had a snake tattoo on his face?

Why this fic is awesome:

It’s that time of the year where I just want to bury myself in the duvet and read fluffy, gorgeous stuff and this AU fits the bill with a solid whiff of D H Laurence in the contrasts between Aziraphale (well dressed book restorer moving to the country) and Crowley (sexy af gardener with a heart of gold and fiiiine rangy muscles and pretty tattoos for Aziraphale to ogle at). It’s sweet, it’s got a whiff of the comfortable countryside tales about it and it is also smokingly hot, includes sexy!wet!thunderstorm snogging and sweet, cosy, cuddling.

Good Omens Fic Rec:The Lady Gardener by jessthereckless

Title: The Lady Gardener

Author: jessthereckless

Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley

URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21519955/chapters/51296005

Wordcount: 80,912

Summary:

What if Crowley had known in advance about Aziraphale’s ‘Brother Francis’ disguise and talked him out of it?

And what if Aziraphale had followed Crowley’s example and also gone undercover as a woman?

It’s an Undercover At The Ambassador’s Residence AU! (The porn starts in chapter three.)

 

 

NSFW: Lots of, to quote Aziraphale and Crowley in the fic, ‘Rampant Lesbianism’ (soo much smut).

Why this fic is awesome:

This fic is fundamentally, completely, beautifully, glorious. As the summary says Aziraphale arrives at the Dowling Household as Miss Frances Fell, the gardener and Crowley- who has of course always been in love with Aziraphale in any and all forms- is totally bewitched by an Aziraphale who discovers a new sense of liberation and freedom in this female corporation.

The descriptions of both characters, from each others’ eyes, are lush, lustful and intensley beautiful (because of course rather than learn how to garden to get into the role, Aziraphale went around buying a lot of luxurious underwear instead). The fic also contains some wonderful portraits of the Dowling household, Warlock and Harriet Dowling and Nanny’s friendship (and a Nanny who suggests she was in MI5 because Crowley really really does think she could be James Bond, okay?)

This is not normally my jam which is why I love it so much that the author has completely convinced me into this tale- and there are some wonderful humorous moments which I won’t spoil, but also terrific little asides and details that just work, like:

“It had clicked for Crowley in the strangest way, when one day Aziraphale had been humming around the rose garden and regaling the teacup climbers with snatches of West Side Story. When you heard a being like Aziraphale announce in song that she felt pretty and witty and gay, you tended to believe it. Especially the gay part. It seemed that no matter what her presentation or corporation, her essence remained the same – gay as a rainbow flag and camper than a row of pink tents.”

 

And

“Like most angels, Aziraphale sang, but in true Aziraphale fashion she didn’t quite get it right. In her regular corporation she was a powerful light baritone. Too powerful, in fact, and she’d been shunted discreetly out of the Heavenly Choir for sounding a bit too Gilbert and Sullivan.”

IT JUST MAKES IT WORK SO WELL.

The descriptions are so lush and beautiful you will want to devour this in one sitting, but also equisitely agonisingly you want to make it last!

Good Omens fic rec: Slow Show by mia_ugly

Title: Slow Show

Author: mia_ugly

Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley

URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395261/chapters/48375457

Wordcount: 95,505

Summary: In which temptations are accomplished, grand romantic gestures are made, and two ineffable co-stars only take four seasons of an award-winning television program to realize they’re on their own side (at last, at last.)

Why this fic is awesome:

The minute I entered this fandom I kept seeing odd references to Slow Show and there’s a damn good reason for that. Human AU in which Az Fell and Anthony Crowley are cast in the same show Warlock. Crowley, troubled star with some bad shit under his belt and Az who has kept himself so well-hidden in his personal life as well as on stage doesn’t know anything about falling in love. Heartbreaking, wonderful, clever and totally addictive. I loved this so much.

Good Omens fic rec: Shifting Heaven and Earth by BuggreAlleThis

Title: Shifting Heaven and Earth

Author: BuggreAlleThis

Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley

URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20070352/chapters/47533399

Wordcount: 77,334

Summary: For most of history, since he narrowly avoiding Falling from Heaven with Lucifer, Crowley has been working for the Angelic Corruption Unit. This ended up being far more boring than he hoped it would be, but things change when he is assigned to go undercover on Earth. His mission is to investigate Aziraphale, an infamous angel who has been on Earth since its Creation, and whom Heaven is sure is guilty of corruption or dereliction of duty. He soon discovers that life on Earth is far more complicated than he’d been led to imagine, especially when Aziraphale’s demonic counterpart, Hastur, arrives on the scene.

Why this fic is awesome: It is written by a genius, for a start. The characters are so well-fleshed and you really follow the journey Crowley takes from undercover!angel to coming to understand Aziraphale though and because of learning to understand and love Earth. And Omg! Hastur with the bombs and running poor Aziraphale ragged because of course he would do shit like that. It takes through heartbreaking angst to fantastic heights, questions authority in a good solid way and also features AziraphaleSoho’sSaintOfQueers which is a fandom trope I am loving far too much.

 

Avengers fic rec: So This Is Love by amethystkrystal

Title: So This Is Love

Author;  amethystkrystal

Ship: Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter/Bucky Barnes; Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes; Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter

Wordcount: 18,122

URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21297884

Summary:

After Bucky was presumed killed in action, Steve left Brooklyn and became an animator at Stark Pictures in Los Angeles. There, he fell in love with and married Peggy Carter, founder of SHIELD.

They’ve built a happy life together, but things suddenly become complicated after an attempt is made on Peggy’s life and the would-be assassin has a very familiar face.

Why this fic is awesome: Still!Smol Steve as an ANIMATOR (well, I’m a sucker for Artist Steve) – the atmosphere and the placing, including descriptions of Steve’s motion picture plans…it’s all so good The whole thing is just So Much Good Jam.

Genuinely just a lovely Alternate. BAMF! SSR! Peggy, Artist! Steve, Sad! Coming in from the cold! Bucky.

 

Avengers fic rec: Underground by Margo_ Kim

Title: Underground

Author: Margo_Kim

URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/835768

Wordcount: 60,101

Ship: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark (among others)

Summary: Five years ago, Thor’s Chitauri army decimated the Earth. Now what’s left of humanity lives in bases under the Earth’s surface, safe from the toxic atmosphere. Tony likes to think that humanity’s adapted pretty well. After all, they have movie nights and dances; they’re doing better than could be expected. But when he learns that the little world of safety and stability they’ve carved out is about to be slowly but surely destroyed, the New York Underground is left with only two options–fight or flight. Tony knows which one he wants. If only Steve weren’t on the exact opposite side. Meanwhile, Natasha wants whatever option will save Clint, Pepper wants whatever option will save the base, Maria Hill wants whatever option will save everybody, and nobody’s exactly sure who Loki’s trying to save, but everyone’s hoping it’s more than just himself.

Why this fic is awesome:

WELCOME to an alternate version in which the chitauri invaded, colonised the early and for five years Tony, Steve, Pepper, Natasha, Hill, Loki and what’s left of Clint are living in the New York bunker trying to keep their people safe whilst looking for a way to do the impossible and save the earth. This fic is awesome because of clever, clever world and society building, the way it addresses what living underground in such a scenario does to people, Tony’s inherent desire and optimism, human ingenuity in the face of impossible odds and basically keeps you hooked into the story continuously. You will not be able to put this down once you start.

Avengers Fic Rec: The Necrofloranomicon leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)

Title: The Necrofloranomicon

Author: leveragehunters (Monkeygreen) 

Ship: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes

Wordcount: 47,569

URL:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/13640571

Summary:

Bucky didn’t want much. Just to keep his head down, to sell his scavenged flowers in peace, and to stay off Shield’s radar. His life would have been a lot easier if his flowers weren’t dead and if being a necromancer wasn’t illegal, but easy or not, he was getting by. Steve didn’t want much, either. He was happy working for Shield, he had good friends, and overall his life was going just about the way he wanted it. Problem was, being happy with your life was generally an invitation for fate to throw a spanner in the works—and in Steve’s specific case, it was going to be a spanner named Bucky.

(A love story about flowers, trust, and magic and the choices we make about doing what’s right.)

Why this fic is awesome:

Urban Fantasy With Cool Ideas. Shield Agent Steve meets a dumpster-diving necromancer who only want to bring flowers back to life. Features the delightful joy of a fucked up relationship, an incredibly sweet and well-meaning Bucky and an incredibly IC Steve Rogers who follows his own ethical code and is more concerned with if a thing is right than what laws or protocols dictate.

 

Avengers Rec: Lessons are so cold by herecomesbucktofuckshitup – No Longer Available

Title: Lessons Are So Cold

Author:  herecomesbucktofuckshitup

Ship: Steve Roges/Bucky Barnes

Wordcount: 57,575

URL:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/13446453/chapters/30819957 DEAD LINK- Sorry folks

Summary: Steve knows that he’s small. He knows that someone has to go undercover at the local high school, and he knows that he was the right person for the job. He just wishes he wasn’t.
And Steve really really wishes that the cute boy he’d hooked up with the night before his mission hadn’t turned out to one of his teachers.

Why this fic is awesome: So I know AUs can be a really flood a fandom but this one is really really good. As it says on the tin, cop!Tiny!Steve goes undercover to try and find out who has been selling poisoned drugs to teenagers. Featuring messed up!Bucky and guilty af!Steve trying to hold out just as the undercover mission starts uncovering way more than the team anticipated.

(Bonus X-Men crossover cuteness but if I spoiled it I’d have to kill you)

No powers AU.

EDIT: So sorry folks I dropped the ball on this one because I’m not as frequently in the fandom. I’ve no idea when but this has been removed from Ao3 by March 2024. The waybackmachine does not offer any comfort. As ever, it’s a real blow especially nowadays when Ao3 offer the ability to orphan works. 

I always take these things as a timely reminder to download and pdf your faves dammit (do I listen to myself? Rarely. But as I type this I am creating a new folder on my external harddrive for ‘ultimate GO faves I would break apart if I lost’.