Doot doot new recruit

[ratbones]

I have finally, FINALLY succeeded in a campaign to recruit someone into the Guardian fandom! My cousin, who I'll call L for now, watched episode 40 last night. According to L, this is the second fandom I've lured them into. Both of us have been fans of Ace Attorney for a very, very long time, and I suppose maybe I introduced them to the games when they were, erm, a bit young, although I have no recollection of doing so. (They think Mia Fey is the hottest character. I contend that it's Franziska von Karma.)

Anyway, Guardian. Specifically, Guardian fic. I've provided a few recs already, but I'm very bad at keeping records of what I've read, or remembering anything ever. I should probably use bookmarks, you know, the thing built into AO3 for this purpose.

But for now, please someone help me with fic recs. Here's what L is looking for right now:
-Fluff, or pining/angst with a happy ending
-Shorter fics (say, under 20k or so)
-SW/ZYL in particular, but gen and other pairings are okay
-For bonus points: get-togethers, DTR talks, or early-relationship talking about feelings

Also, if you have anything that doesn't quite fit those parameters but you think is very good and important for a newbie to read when they're sad after the finale, hit me with those too!

Comments

[clevermanka]

You don't list fix-its in there so I'm not sure if this is appropriate, but galaxysoup's Come On Baby Light My Fire helped me a lot in my post-episode 40 recovery. as did Nerjaveika's we-really-need-a-different-term-for crack vids (there are three, but that's the link for the first one).

[ratbones]

L isn't looking for fix-its in particular, but that one's short and sweet and not full of suffering, so I think it'll appeal to them! And I, for one, watched Nerjaveika's third crack vid literally on a loop while soaking half a box of tissues with my tears after the first time I watched episode 40, so, yeah, good rec. Thank you!

("Crack" has such specific connotations in fandom...if we want to coin a new term, I feel like it still needs that sense of irreverent naughtiness, just without the potential to harm? Some of the alternatives I've seen proposed make me feel like I'm being scolded by a hall monitor for making drug references in school, so I really can't see them sticking. Argh, I wish I had a better idea to offer.)

[clevermanka]

I'm still mad about the fact that it doesn't refer to Cracked magazine, honestly.

[ratbones]

Hah! I remember vids being called "(show title) on crack" when I was a kid, but honestly, the word "crack" refers to so many things and it's such a specific art form in fandom that I never connect it to that in my head unless it's specifically pointed out.