boo boo keys

Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters/Pairings: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Rose Landry, numerous Reddit OCs.
Rating: Teen
Length: 20,175
Content Notes: No AO3 warnings apply. Some of the Reddit comments contain terrible advice!
Creator Links: OpalApparition on AO3
Themes: Inept in love, Canon LGBTQ+ characters, Humor, Unusual format & style, Epistolary, Outsider POV, Angst with a happy ending

Summary: I (26M) want to invite man I sleep with (26M) to my house to spend the weekend. Help me not ruin it.

Or: Ilya Rozanov goes to the internet for dating advice

Reccer's Notes: This is a long (9 chapters) social media epistolary fic based on Reddit, where Ilya asks the internet for advice before the tuna melt hookup. It's funny, very cleverly done, and the responses from Reddit users are often hilarious. We start with Ilya's post (he's orangespyder617 - his sports car name & Boston area code), and later, Shane (gingerale_MTL) also separately posts after he's bolted in panic and is dating Rose, and has realized he's really messed things up. There's some fun for the Reddit users in speculating about who these two rich, inept in love guys might be, and also later after Shane posts as Ilya has wiped his former thread by then but some users remember it and join the dots. Rose herself (kidnapped4times) also posts wanting advice about how to tactfully tell her boyfriend he's gay, and finally Ilya posts again. It reads exactly like Reddit, although I suspect with way fewer trolls, and the users often post memes and links to vids which work, and add to the realism. Throughout, Ilya and Shane amply demonstrate their ineptitude in love, starting with POSTING TO REDDIT ABOUT IT AT ALL! I grinned a lot.

Fanwork Links: Tuna Melts and Longitudinal Studies

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Rating: Teen
Length: 2492
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: dedkake on AO3
Themes: Inept in love, Pining, Five things, Friends to lovers

Summary: The thing is, he hadn’t really meant to say it. Not then. Not there. He hadn’t really ever even thought about it before, not in such specific terms. So, it’s as much of a shock to him as it is to anyone else.

or, Rodney's trying so hard and John just doesn't get it.

Reccer's Notes: This is a fun read that makes you want to hit them both upside the head just a little. Rodney keeps telling John how he feels (or trying to), and John keeps missing the point each time, so they're both inept in different ways. Until they aren't!

Fanwork Links: on purpose