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The Old Guard Fic Recs

@theoldguard-recs / theoldguard-recs.tumblr.com

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a family that flies together (sticks together) by aglassfullofhappiness (mehmehs)

Joe officially meets Nicky when one of his infamous bludgers knocks Joe clean off his broom, breaking two ribs and making him blackout as he falls. He’s forty metres up.
A professional Quidditch AU with an auspicious beginning for a certain Beater and Seeker, a muggle-born Chaser finding her feet with(out) the dubious mentorship of a very tired Keeper, and an Italy versus France rivalry that apparently transcends even magic and every single sport.

Tags: Alternate Universe: Harry Potter setting, Alternate Universe: Modern-with-magic, quidditch AU, team as family, team bonding, friends to lovers, mutual pining, alcoholic booker, angst, fluff and angst Joe/Nicky | 75,767 words | Mature What I loved: I am a giant, and I mean GIANT, sucker for AUs. While I have so many issues with Rowling as a whole, I do have a large fondness for the universe and I love seeing what others do with select parts of it. This is such a great example of that - it takes the world of Quidditch and puts such a great twist on it. It feels like reading a soccer AU AND a Quidditch AU and I LOVE THAT. Setting aside, the care and joy that is written into this fic has stuck with me since I first read it a few months back. I love the way that they care about each other and how it develops from there. It’s such a great sports AU with The Old Guard as the main cast and I’ve recently reread it and had such a great time doing so. There’s three other fics in the series that are also SUPER enjoyable! The author has written other fics for The Old Guard and can be found on AO3 as shown above - I couldn’t find any mention of them being on Tumblr, so if you know them, please let them know they’ve been recced!

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#Joe#Nicky#Nile#Andy#Booker#No Archive Warnings Apply#angst#fluff#angst and fluff#mutual pining#Joe/Nicky#mod: cactusdragon517
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Shades of Blue by takethisnight_wrapitaroundme

Nile briefly meets a friend of Joe’s, only to learn later that his life is far more complicated than she could’ve ever imagined.
Written for the prompt Booker/Nile + Modern Widower Booker.

Tags: Alternate Universe: Mortal, Canonical character death, implied/referenced character death, child death, developing relationship, POV Nile Freeman Booker/Nile | 10,028 words | Gen - No Archive Warnings Apply What I Loved: The only word I can ever think of for this fic is “Immersive”. It is such a fully realized little snapshot of grief and growth. Nile is VERY present and very much Nile in this and I love her characterization. The author does such a fantastic job of translating Booker’s backstory into this modern setting. The best thing I can say about this fic is that it feels like a short film. It’s melancholy but it just settled in right under my heart and I love this fic. The author has written other fics for The Old Guard on AO3 and I believe you can find them at @takethisnight-wrapitaroundme here on tumblr!

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#Nile#Booker#Joe#Nicky#No Archive Warnings Apply#Booker/Nile#<15k#mod: cactusdragon517
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TOG fic rec, Joe & Booker reconciliation story

By A Time to Rise And A Time to Fall by BecauseWhateverAtAll  (Your Fave Friday)

Forgiveness takes time. Any wise man could tell you that. But maybe sometimes it’s different. Maybe sometimes Booker and Joe aren’t particularly wise. And maybe sometimes it takes a disastrous bit of kidnapping for two brothers to forgive each other and themselves.

Graphic depictions of Violence

Booker & Joe platonic, Hurt/Comfort, Group bonding, 16k words, rated Mature

Things I liked:

  • Joe and Booker having a chance to talk about the betrayal and come to terms with it in an emotionally authentic way
  • That the bad guys from Merrick didn’t just disappear. There is nice continuity from the movie.
  • That there are things out there that can threaten the characters in meaningful ways
  • Quynh is scary and barely features, but she’s still hella scary the way she should be
  • A Booker reconciliation with the group that feels very real and not like he was let off the hook

Mod Notes: Both mods discussed this fic at length during our review! The story focuses on Booker and his relationship with the team; specifically his and Joe’s friendship, and on Booker’s redemption. Neither of us typically seek out fic where Quynh seeks revenge on the Old Guard, but this fic felt like it explored the impact such a role would have on other others. As the submitter noted: Quynh is a background character of this fic and the antagonist! As such, reader discretion is advised.

Other tags: Kidnapping, medical experimentation, non-consensual drug use, forgiveness, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, protective team

Submitted by gamebird
#Your Fave Friday#submission#The Old Guard#The Old Guard Fic#reviewed#mod: cactusdragon517#Joe#Booker#<50k#Mature#graphic depictions of death#kidnapping#hurt/comfort#forgiveness
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sail your sea, meet your storm by astahfrith (registered users only)

“I want to go to the ocean,” Quynh says one morning, out of the blue.
--
Quynh wants to face her demons. Booker stands watch and witness.

No archive warnings apply. Trauma, healing, male-female friendship, I love thinking about the friendship between these two, supporting each other as they heal from so much shit

Booker & Quynh | ~2500 words | Teen

What I loved: There’s something about this one that hits so nicely, with the two of them being… present for each other, and Booker giving Quynh enough space to just express things. Nothing gets fixed in this fic, but that’s okay. Also, the fact that it takes place in Canada is a nice touch!

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#platonic#Booker#Quynh#<5k#Teen#trauma#healing
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Sandstorm by finx

Help me, Andromache of Scythia. You're my only hope.

No archive warnings apply. Alternate Universe – Star Wars Fusion. Andy as Obi-wan, grief-stricken and alone, Nile as Leia, Joe and Nicky as Han and Chewie if they were also simultaneously Chirrut and Baze, Booker as Owen Larsson, you’ll never guess who gets to be Darth Vader. Mod tag: alcohol use!

Genfic | ~1500 words

What I loved: This is the kind of Fusion AU that’s long enough to be satisfying and short and compact enough that I’m left wanting more! It’s a fic I think deserves more love – it’s so creative!

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard Fic#Star Wars#Fusion AU#Crossover#Genfic#Gen#Andy#Joe#Nicky#Booker#Nile#mild angst#alcohol use#<5k
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Affirmations of Soft Things by stardustbees

It's a tradition that had been born after a particularly awful job in northern Sweden; a simple affirmation that there were good things in the world even when they were up to their necks in the absolute worst it had to offer.
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When the fighting is over and the mission has ended the family takes some time to take care of themselves and each other.

No archive warnings apply. Team as family, domestic fluff, fluff without plot, established relationship, showers, family dinners, family feels, post-canon, literal sleeping together, found family

Team as Family | ~2600 words | Gen

What I loved: Nothing makes me happier than the team being a family. Domestic fluff and how they take care of each other? Destroy me. The thing of this fic is that it goes back to how they’re not meant to be alone and them taking care of one another is something so special here. I love that this is an established thing they do and how they recenter themselves with the team.

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#Team as family#found family#No Archive Warnings Apply#fluff#established relationship#post-canon#<5k#Gen#Nile#Andy#Joe#Nicky#Quynh#Booker
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Booker and Marisol - series by jessikast

Booker's plan to spend a lot of time very, very drunk is derailed by a stray dog.

Next thing you know, Booker's running a home for old or otherwise unadoptable dogs. With all the emotional healing and cartharsis you'd hope for.

 He woke in the morning to her curled on his bed behind his knee, the empty bottles that had been there knocked to the floor. It was warm and comforting and Booker groaned into his pillow. He had a fucking dog now.

Fics:

Animal death, animal harm referenced, animal therapy, immortal dog, Andy regains immortality, fix-it, emotional healing, alternative epilogue, alcohol abuse, happy ending, redeemed Booker, Booker comes home

Booker-centric | ~16000 words, incomplete | Teen

What I loved: I love a good Booker-fic where he has to work for his redemption. I love him putting in the work for himself, not for the team. This is one of those fics that feels so right and perfect, that it’s something that the character needed. I love, love, love Booker processing and working through his grief with dogs and unintentional animal therapy. It is sad but in a good way - sometimes you just wanna read something sad that ends well (and there is a happy ending, I promise!). I love the way the team comes to him and I especially love how the author details a sort of slice of life aspect here. Please mind the tags on each piece!

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard Fic#Sebastien le Livre#booker#Booker-centric#animal death#animal harm referenced#<50k#Teen#incomplete#no archive warnings apply#graphic depictions of violence#immortal dog#Andy regains immortality#fix-it#emotional healing#happy ending
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Just submitting one of my own and one that I loved. This one is mine.

Title: the forest begins with a tree by loyaulte_me_lie (also on tumblr @if-fortunate). 

Summary: Sometimes being immortal is about fighting. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it’s about stories and homes and justice and closure. There are, after all, many different ways to live forever.

Warnings: (non-explicit) violence, mentions of (but no depictions of) slavery, drowning, grief.

Pairing/Character: It’s Joe/Nicky and Andy/Quynh, but it’s a general character study of each person in turn.

Word count: 15k

AO3 rating: Teen & Up Audiences.

Submitted by if-fortunate
#Your Work Wednesday#submission#The Old Guard#the old guard fic#nicky#joe#joe/nicky#andy#quynh#andy/quynh#Andromaquynh#booker#nile#lykon#<20K#reviewed#mod: cactusdragon517#<50k#Teen
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I’ll lay my roots in fertile ground by itsmylifekay

Andy did this on purpose, she’s sure of it. No matter how many excuses about skillsets and plans and 'you’ve been working on your Arabic, it’ll be good practice, Nile'… she knows now it was all a bunch of lies. There can be no other explanation for why she has been here, stuck with Joe in the middle of a hot, Italian summer while Andy has taken Nicky to the northern most part of France. It is a unique and unexpected kind of hell.
(A series of seven stories, snapshots of the first few years of Nile's time with the team. I'm trash for Nile & Nicky & Joe dynamics so there's a lot of that in here, but the others are all part of the craziness as well.)

Creator chose not to use archive warnings; additional warning in the author’s note at the start. Team as family, POV Nile Freeman, Canon-typical violence, slice of life, what would they do without Nile, We are just here for 13k of fluff and bonding and minor angst people, some plot, sharing clothes, protectiveness.

Team as Family with background Joe/Nicky and Andy/Quynh | ~13000 words | Not Rated, Gen

What I loved: So much of this fic feels warm and cozy to me (perfect for what’s a blustery November day in my part of the world) – I love the bonding, I love the vignettes, and there’s some very sweet Joe/Nicky content throughout. Nile getting used to the dynamics of the team takes centre stage, as do some extended convos between her and the other Old Guard folks.

The author has written other fic for the Old Guard!

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard Fic#Nile Freeman#POV Nile Freeman#Nile#Joe#Nicky#Andy#Quynh#Booker#found family#Team as Family#Gen#Not Rated#<50k#slice of life
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there for your first year by biblionerd07

Nile’s world is upended. But she doesn’t lose family. Not all the way.

No archive warnings apply. Grief/mourning, team bonding, birthday presents, friendship, platonic cuddling. Nile-Centric | Gen | Teen and up | 9,781 words What I Loved: At the heart of it, this story is about family. It’s family and grief and the changes one goes through. Nile is so interesting in this respect, she’s given space by the others and biblionerd07 does such a great job of showing the parts that Nile is still adjusting to and the parts that Nile still grieves. I love how Nile settles into her family by the end. The author is on tumblr as @biblionerd07 and has written other fic for The Old Guard!

#please let me know if you'd prefer not to be tagged#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#Nile#Andy#Joe#Nicky#Booker#gen#<10k#teen#mod: cactusdragon517
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the fire’s found a home in me by hauntedjaeger (saellys)

Nile has had it. She’s tired and she’s telegraphing her moves and she’s done caring. There is nothing that matters except beating her. She crowds up to Andy and swings for her face; Andy leans out of range. Nile puts everything she’s got into the backstroke, and Andy raises her stick to block with her hands set wide. It snaps in half. That doesn't count as a point, but damn if it doesn’t feel great anyway. Andy steps back, staring at the two halves. Nile puts the tip of her stick under Andy’s chin. That’s a point. There’s something new and electric in Andy’s eyes. She nods, as if to the beat of a song Nile can’t hear, and tosses the broken pieces away.

Graphic depictions of violence, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim fusion, canon-typical mentions of torture, canonical character death, world building, angst, dystopia

Nile-Centric | Gen | 16,767 words

What I Loved:

Full disclosure - I love any and all AUs and especially Pacific Rim fusions. I love the way that the history of both Pacific Rim and of The Old Guard is woven into this fic. It’s a rich and wonderful bit of world-building, and - who doesn’t want to see Nile in a Jaeger?

The author is on Tumblr as @hauntedfalcon and has written other fic for The Old Guard!

#please let me know if you'd prefer not to be tagged#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#Nile#Andy#Booker#Joe#Nicky#Quynh#Lykon#gen#Au: pacific rim fusion#<20k#mature#mod: cactusdragon517
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on the lonely side of the moon by rupzydaizy

“One hundred years, Book, except for one day each year.”
He's too stunned to say anything at that, hollowed out by the new information, and instead just lets her pull him into a hug that creaks at his ribs. When her hand brushes the back of his head, he leans in closer, hoping to hold onto the moment and commit it to memory.
There are small mercies in the world, and somehow he’s been given one.
He watches them turn their backs, climb the stairs up, and go, while wondering about trees falling in forests. The sound of his own loneliness echoes on and on like frothy waves lapping on the shore until he leaves himself.
A year passes uneventfully, and he barely notices the time go until a message comes through on a secure email account he’s kept active for the past five years and tells him, ‘Prague’.

No archive warnings apply. Alternate universe, exile for a hundred years – except one day, and obviously it doesn’t last the full hundred, baklava guessing game, top tech recs, Copley brings the board of history to Booker, found family, post-canon, reunion fic, happy-ish ending, some angst along the way

Booker-centric, platonic, team as family | ~9400 words | Gen

What I loved: This one feels like a very compassionate take on Booker’s exile, and months later it holds up when I’m in the mood for this sort of fic.

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard Fic#<10k#Gen#Booker#team as family#Platonic
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Cold Feet by Ligeila

Booker has second thoughts. Family rallies around him. Nile still becomes immortal.

booker | incomplete | teen | canon divergence

What I loved: an au where booker chickens out on his plan with Copley and tells the team what was supposed to go down is so so interesting, and I really enjoy the way the team rallies around him; found family all the way

#booker#teen#incomplete#mod emdee#canon divergence
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For the Long Haul by battle_cat

In the aftermath of escaping the lab, everyone deals in the ways they know how to.

Graphic Depictions of Violence. Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, aftermath of violence, trauma management for immortals, coping mechanisms, sexual content.

Everyone, with some Joe/Nicky | ~3600 words | Mature

What I loved: This one is a really tender look at some conversations, different ways of decompressing, and how they look after themselves and each other; plus, Joe/Nicky comfort sex!

The author is on tumblr at @fuckyeahisawthat!

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#Joe/Nicky#Andy#Booker#Nile#Joe#Nicky#<5k#Mature#hurt/comfort#caretaking#coping mechanisms
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in ventos vita recessit by gloriouswhisperstyphoon

The first time I meet her, she’s lying dead on a battlefield turned to mud and muck from the thunder of two armies crashing together, the sky turning a sickly blood red above us. She’s bleeding out from a wound in her back, delivered by the last person she would have expected, but that’s no matter.
There have been others in history like her, but no one will ever be quite her.

Major Character Death. Canon-compliant. Mod note: Starts and ends with Andy, final character death

The crew’s all here | ~2300 words | Mature

What I loved: Confession, I have not read the Book Thief, but I’m a sucker for Death Personified in many incarnations and this was a really inventive fic to read as a result! And this one is gorgeous for all that it’s darker (it is from Death’s POV, after all), and so worth reading (I almost cried at the end)

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#POV Outsider#Crossover#Andy#Nicky#Joe#Nile#Booker#Angst#<5k#Mature
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Half a love never appealed to me by thefrabjousday

It’s been ten years, Andy’s hair has started to show streaks of grey, Quynh (mostly) no longer wakes halfway through each night screaming and spluttering as if her lungs are full of water, and Booker looks less haunted than he has in a century. Nile misses her mom and brother, but loves her new family in equal measure. Memories of zip ties and needles are far from Joe and Nicky’s minds, and when the thought of one day losing the other weighs too heavily in their minds they know to hold one another until the feeling passes. They’re a family again. They will be okay.
—
Four vignettes of The Old Guard members dancing with one another.

Creator chose not to use archive warnings, Dancing, slow dancing, hurt/comfort, serious injuries (but like… they’re immortal so it’s fine), tenderness, fluff, found family, it’s about the intimacy of small moments and the comfort in being close to someone, non-sexual intimacy, I didn’t tag major character death cause they don’t stay dead but… nightmares, I swear it’s mostly soft and tender, this fic is very self indulgent to be fair.

Andy/Quynh and Joe/Nicky | ~2800 words | Teen

What I loved: IT’S ABOUT THE TENDERNESS!! It’s a very sweet fic involving dancing for different reasons – for fun, for comfort. I see a lot of dancing AUs or content around for this fandom and this puts me in mind of some fan art I’ve seen. A great comfort read.

This author is on Tumblr as @toosmallortootall!

#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#Dancing#found family#vignette#hurt/comfort#non-sexual intimacy#Andy#Quynh#Joe#Nicky#Booker#Nile#<5k#Teen#Tenderness#please let me know if you'd prefer not to be tagged
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Artifacts by praycambrian

“When Andy does this, it is love,” Nicky says. “What you do is love also. Don’t stop, if you can help it.”
Ongoing collection of loosely connected snippets pre-, during, and post-canon.
Creator chose not to use archive warnings. Family, vignettes, ancient history, queer history, art history, food, music, love, immortality, families of choice, POV multiple.

Andy/Quynh, Nicky/Joe, Nile, and Booker | 3007; chapter length varies | General

What I loved: Hhhh what isn’t there to love! This author has a gorgeously poetic writing voice – every word deliberate, the diction impeccable, the writing style utterly lyrical and poignant and gorgeous. There are fics about Andy and Quỳnh’s backstories that made me tear up; a fic involving Nicky and Yusuf in the aftermath of a big fight featuring preserved lemons; Booker and Andy talking about petrichor. I can tell that the author has put so much research, time, care, and thought into every single one of these vignettes and I’m living for them! The historical and cultural elements included are so thoughtful, and the author includes links to learn more in the notes often. Don’t miss this one!

Also: The author is taking prompts of one word! They may use the prompt in a future snippet. The author is on Tumblr as @praycambrian and has written other fic for The Old Guard!

#Please let me know if you wouldn't like to be tagged#The Old Guard#The Old Guard fic#Nile#Andy#Quynh#Nicky#Joe#Booker#<5k#Gen#Andromaquynh#Andromache the Scythian#nicolo di genova#yusuf al kaysani#Ancient history#queer history#art history#vignette#incomplete#mod lightdescending
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