Cornerstone Characterisation
A collection of fics that get a character so right that I would recommend them to somebody who has never encountered the source material as a guide to understanding that character. Frequently these works have given me new headcanons simply because their characterisation is good enough that it not only follows canon, but enhances it.
(Open, Moderated)
Random works
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if you're the prosecution I get away with murder by firstaudrina
Fandoms: Daredevil (TV)
01 Aug 2016
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Elektra's his girl, the worst one he knows.
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Sinking the Ship of Theseus by Skierunner for Blue_Daddys_Girl
Fandoms: Avatar (Cameron Movies)
01 Jan 2023
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Summary
Miles Quaritch copes with a new body, fatherhood, and a burning hatred for philosophy.
Alt: Miles' perspective in Avatar 2: Way of Water
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a girl is a house of mirrors by This_world_of_beautiful_monsters
Fandoms: Avatar (Cameron Movies)
19 Mar 2023
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Every child struggles to figure out who they are. Kiri would settle for being sure of who she's not.
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walk through fire for what's important by This_world_of_beautiful_monsters
Fandoms: Avatar (Cameron Movies)
07 Mar 2023
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She wonders if she has ever existed outside of this moment: this boy heaving for air in her grip, the knife bright like a fallen star, the bloody deck humming under her feet. Maybe everything before was just a story she's told herself; maybe this is all that really matters.
____Flames, steel, and a ship hurtling toward a watery grave. Neytiri just wants to save whatever she has left.
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In which Matt Murdock does not need nice things or non-essential feelings such as happiness, and Foggy Nelson is an unexpected (and vaguely bemused, though mostly skeptical) addition to the ongoing saga of 'Matthew Murdock Walks Alone'.
Random bookmarks
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fear and aversion to truth by sleepdeprivedsurgeon
Fandoms: Interview with the Vampire (TV 2022)
02 Dec 2024
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She’s laughing again. The way a mother laughs when a child says a dirty joke he doesn’t understand. “You ain’t a mastermind, Maître . You ain’t even a good director. You’re a rabbit in a cage. You crawled in there all by yourself, and you think that if you can be soft enough and pretty enough he’s gonna keep feeding you, keep you safe from the hunters and the dogs.”
Somewhere, in the tiny pocket of empty space between Armand’s ribcage and his heart, there’s a boy, eyes looking down, hands numb from being strung up on the cellar wall. He’s been louder than usual, these past few months.
[it's the last half of season two but Armand gets threatened and therapy-ed enough to actually try and save Louis]
Bookmarked by mayfriend
11 Jul 2024
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He makes it to the bathroom between the concessions and the rack of Baby Lulu dresses. His knuckles go white against the countertop. There’s a boy looking back at him in the mirror, blood in the corners of his eyes, hair falling over his face. Less of a boy, really; more of an animal, an alley cat in a box, a bird drinking rainwater from the gutters in Delhi.
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Lucifer stalks the angel through the grasses, down the lawn, across the strobe lights.
Lucifer loves mouth-first.
Oliver hunts Felix through the house party.
Bookmarked by mayfriend
03 Feb 2024
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Lucifer knocks on the gates of His Lovely And Only and, Becomes Lonely, and then he goes angel-hunting and well, that’s that, isn’t it.
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Solaria's only ambition is to live, for herself; and she's not going to let a girl that calls her Foxface stand in her way.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,916
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 5
- Kudos:
- 87
- Bookmarks:
- 24
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- 2,441
Bookmarked by mayfriend
01 May 2018
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"I know that nothing is fair," she begins. "I know that this whole contest is meant to be a punishment. But can you really let them get away with that? Cato and Clove have each other, Katniss and Peeta have each other..." She lowers her eyes in entirely fake sorrow and contrition. "And so you relegate the ones that could have been your victors, not their own. Katniss the ice maiden will never be yours. Peeta the humble son of the earth will never be yours. Cato and Clove will own their own triumph if they can make it."
She blinks tears into her eyes and looks up at the camera again. "It's in your hands now. We all know the Gamemakers interfere with the Games at their whim, but how are your bets looking now, which you placed in good faith that the rules would be as they always are?" And then she plays the line that people have used against her so many times, when she chafed against the confines that held her in her place. "If you let them get away with this, what might they think of next? Is nothing sacrosanct? Is nothing stable, nothing reliable, nothing unchangeable?"
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Tags
Summary
In which Matt Murdock does not need nice things or non-essential feelings such as happiness, and Foggy Nelson is an unexpected (and vaguely bemused, though mostly skeptical) addition to the ongoing saga of 'Matthew Murdock Walks Alone'.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 23,961
- Chapters:
- 14/14
- Collections:
- 4
- Comments:
- 816
- Kudos:
- 3,777
- Bookmarks:
- 787
- Hits:
- 56,472
Bookmarked by mayfriend
23 Oct 2018
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He doesn’t need help, he really doesn’t.
He uses his cane, sure, but that’s because he’s used to it and it is admittedly easier to get around with, necessary most of the time, even. There aren’t many other things he needs, though. He holds onto Foggy’s elbow, but that’s more closeness than anything. He doesn’t need to do that, so it’s not help, not really, even if he’s less likely to trip over a curb or cross at the wrong place on the street when Foggy’s there to tell him there are stairs or guide him around crowded places.
The thing is that help is for people who, well. Who need help. Matt can get out of police grade handcuffs in under forty seconds, okay, and zip ties in even less time. He practiced that for a long time with Stick when he was a kid. He still has scars from where the handcuffs cut into him, so, yeah. He’s pretty self-sufficient.
(He only started holding onto Foggy’s elbow because one time when he was drunk he kept tripping even with his cane, so he grabbed onto Foggy’s elbow and said, regally, “You’re my guide, now!” and he never got out of the habit.)
Matt’s disabled, sure, he’s never going to say he isn’t, but he doesn’t need the same kind of help other disabled people deserve. He’s gotten used to all the things he can’t do, and so he can do everything by himself. He has his gifts, and his gifts should make up for the fact that he can’t see.
(That’s what Stick said, at least.)
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come down off your throne and leave your body alone by blacksneakers
Fandoms: House of the Dragon (TV)
06 Feb 2023
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Summary
“Did Viserys ever tell you that her first word was—”
“Uncle, yes. He was very unhappy about that, I can assure you.”
“He still is, he was complaining about it when Aegon learned how to talk.”
“Ridiculous. Everything he’s had, and it’s never been enough for him.”
“Sometimes I think he’d be happiest if he could have both of you in your own separate boxes. And he’d keep you in different rooms, and he’d never take you out at the same time.”
“And what about your box?”
“I would never be important enough for a box of my own. If he could control both of you, exactly as he liked, he wouldn’t even know that I existed. I’m nothing, in the end. Or I am a box that children can come out of, and that’s all. That’s all I’ve ever been to anyone, my whole life.”
“I’m sure Rhaenyra wouldn’t agree with that.”
Alicent rolls her eyes. “Rhaenyra hates me.”
Series
- Part 1 of the dragon must have three heads
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 7,403
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 33
- Kudos:
- 639
- Bookmarks:
- 105
- Hits:
- 6,658
Bookmarked by mayfriend
11 Feb 2023
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“I am sorry, by the way. About your wife.”
“I’m sorry about my wife, too.” Daemon has a hollow, miserable look on his face now—a look Alicent recognizes herself, a look that has stared back at her from the mirror. “And I’m sorry about your husband. At least my own marriage never had to be consummated.”
This comes as a surprise to Alicent. Of course she’s heard all manner of rumors about Daemon, but she’s never had any of them directly confirmed or refuted by the source himself. “You mean you never—”
“No.” Daemon continues to look miserable. “I couldn’t. You understand, don’t you?”
She does.