A fic rec list - Incredibly tense fics

[sakura_no_miko]

This is a short list of unbearably tense fics. Fic that kept me glued to my screen, made my heart race, and left me really, really worried about the health and/or mental wellness of the lead characters.

Click on my reviews for more detailed warnings if you need. Apparently murder mysteries tend to make me tense, so they are a little over-represented here.

Cut for length:

• My Hero Academia - Conversations with a Cryptid by AMournfulHowlInTheNight

The man was over a century old. There had to be more to it. In hindsight, it hadn’t been one of Izuku’s better ideas.

(My review) (complete, with WIP sequels) (gen) (warnings: mostly violence, including torture and kidnapping, discussion of child death, human experimentation)

 

• Death Note - Noel by TzviaAriella

Almost two years after the arrest of Kira, Near has finally succeeded L, but his reign hasn't gone unchallenged. Faced with an unsolvable string of murders threatening both his position and his life, the third L must seek help from an unlikely (and unlikable) source: his imprisoned predecessor, Light Yagami.

(My review) (complete, with sequels) (gen) (warnings: mostly violence, child death, discussion of rape in the sequel)

 

• Hannibal - Ravenous by rageprufrock

Clarice Starling meets Hannibal Lecter armed with a copy of the Buffalo Bill file.

(My review) (complete) (mostly gen, background Will/Hannibal)(warnings: mostly violence, cannibalism, serial killers, sexism)

 

• Hannibal - When The Devil Smiles Back by GoldenUsagi

Four years after his escape, Hannibal Lecter is once again imprisoned at the hospital in Baltimore. He's the same as ever, except that he refuses to discuss Will Graham, who there hasn't been a trace of in years. When the Buffalo Bill killings start, FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent to interview him, and Hannibal has his interest piqued. But it’s not for reasons anyone would suspect, and as usual, his motivations are all about Will. A remix of Silence of the Lambs, where Clarice finds herself occupied not only with catching Buffalo Bill, but with unraveling the mystery of what exactly happened to Will Graham. And Hannibal knows more than he’s letting on about both.

(My review) (complete) (mostly gen, background Will/Hannibal)(warnings: mostly violence, cannibalism, serial killers, sexism, nonconsensual drug use)

 

• Avengers: Infinity War / Thor - The Price by Ark

“I did not come here to argue,” Loki says, his hands slipping down around Thor’s neck. “I came here to tell you that there is no world where I do not love you, Thor. There is no timeline where I do not choose you. There is no universe that will be wide enough to keep us apart.”

(My review) (complete)(Thor/Loki) (warnings: mostly sex, pseudo-incest, canon character death)

 

• X-Men - The Winter of Banked Fires by Yahtzee

Charles Xavier has returned from the dead -- but is lost within his own mind. Rogue has cast aside her own power and doesn't know where she fits in the world any longer. The production of synthetic Cure means mutantkind itself is newly at risk. And Magneto, turned human against his will, is in despair until the day he feels a familiar consciousness tugging at his own --

Set after X-3 (with much desperate fix-it applied), during XMFC, and every time in between.

(My review) (complete) (Erik/Charles, Logan/Rogue, Hank/Mystique) (warnings: sex, terrorism, racism, body dysphoria, child endangerment)

 

• Kingsman - Lagavulin and Guinness by Snarfle

Plenty of people had looked down on Eggsy throughout his life. He had gotten fairly used to it. Didn't mean it was fair, but he knew how these things worked. What really sucked was that the new Arthur was worse than the old one.

(My review) (complete) (Eggsy/Harry) (warnings: extreme violence, including torture, PTSD, homophobia, abuse, alcoholism, nonconsensual drug use, partner betrayal )

 

• Tokyo Babylon / X/1999 - Nukume Dori by Leareth

After the Final Day, Subaru finds himself sixteen again and reliving the last few months of the Bet, this time with the knowledge of all that is to come. He knows that Seishirou is the Sakurazukamori, he knows that they are playing a deadly game of love and death - and he knows that Hokuto's life is at stake if he loses.

(My review) (WIP) (Subaru/Seishirou, Hokuto/Kakyou)(warnings: canon underage pairing, sex, dubcon, canon-typical violence, suicidal ideation, period-typical homphobia, character injury, family betrayal, partner betrayal, minor character death, mind control, background discussion of rape, forced abortion, animal death, suicide)

 

• Voltron - slowly dying to make it through by sepia_cigarettes

But Shiro doesn’t bring the sun, because that’s Keith. Keith is the one who brings warmth, hidden in the gentleness of his eyes and the curve of his cheekbones. The slope of his smile sets Shiro on fire.

Shiro doesn’t do that. Shiro brings clouds and shadows and rain that’s so fucking cold it seeps into his bones every day and turns them to ice, and it feels like he’s always just one misstep away from shattering against the ground.

God, how he wants to shatter.

In which Shiro and Keith come home from the war and help each other rebuild. Picks up right after Season 7.

My review (complete) (Shiro/Keith, Allura/Lance, Kolivan/Krolia, Hunk/Pidge)(warnings: PTSD, panic attacks, injury recovery, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, background character death, sex)

 

• Voltron - Complacent by tagteamme

Keith sees the agitation in the way Shiro holds himself. He sees how Shiro's rigid, more reserved, how his anger flares a little more than normal and the sharp edge to his orders. Keith's pretty sure that if he looks in the mirror, he'll see some of the same irritation reflected back.

(My review) (complete) (Shiro/Keith) (warnings: sex, BDSM themes)

 

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Originally posted on pillowfort on 03/11/19