The Vault Collection
A collection of works that have special significance for me. Maybe they’re the fics that made me fall hard for a ship or were exactly what I needed at a particular moment in time. Or perhaps they’re ones that influenced fandom, or magnificently execute a favored trope, or are a pure, guilty pleasure.
Mostly Star Wars, Teen Wolf, and Harry Potter (for now) ❤️
(Open, Moderated)
Recent works
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Summary
Derek Hale is a lucky guy. He's got a great family, good friends, and a fulfilling job as a tattoo artist.
He's also one of the twenty-five per cent of the population born with a soul mark.
He likes his life, but he's waiting for his soul-match. The odds of meeting them aren't great but hey, Derek's a lucky guy. He has faith.
He can't believe how good his luck really is when one day his soul-match wanders right into his studio, all long limbs and copper eyes. There's just one problem: Stiles is there to get his soul mark covered up. Permanently.
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Summary
Derek has a new neighbor who won't stop looking.
Excerpt:
“You’re blind,” Derek said flatly, the anger draining from him so suddenly he felt almost woozy. His vision cleared, his claws sliding back into blunt fingernails.
“Thanks for the memo, genius,” the kid said acidly. “I can still fucking defend myself, so don’t take another damn step.”
“Fuck, I...I’m sorry,” Derek stuttered.
“What?!” The kid’s brow crinkled. “I mean — what?! You’re fucking sorry!?” His lips thinned into a harsh line. “What, is this some kinda Hallmark movie where you’re discovering the error of your ways because you don’t want to rob a blind person?! That’s fucking condescending, man. I’ll have you know that —”
“Just, wait.” Derek interrupted what was apparently the start of a convincing argument as to why he should rob the kid after all, feeling his head start to spin. “This is — it’s a misunderstanding. I’m — I’m not robbing you. You’re — you’re safe, okay? I’m taking three steps back. Just — just let me explain.”
“Explain why you came busting into my apartment? Yeah, go right ahead, man, I can’t wait to hear this epic tale.”
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Summary
In which Stiles goes along with one of Derek’s plans and ends up in an alternate universe as a result. He should’ve known better. He did know better, actually, and that means he has no one to blame but himself.
“Laura wants to lure the kid in with food and kindness and make a pet of him, like a feral cat. Derek wants to have him arrested for stalking. They’re at an impasse. (And the rest of the family is staying emphatically out of it in a way that suggests bets have been placed.)”
Series
- Part 1 of play it again
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Summary
“At least your puppies knock first,” Stiles snorts. “Here I thought their alpha raised them to be well-mannered.”
“There’s a sign,” Derek responds stiffly.
Stiles, whose curiosity outweighs even his hardest of grudges, abandons his chilly façade of nonchalance in a heartbeat. He jumps right up and all but pushes Derek out of the way in his effort to get to the window, and sure enough when he leans outside there’s a laminated strip of cardstock duct taped to the vinyl siding:
DON’T FORGET TO KNOCK Stiles gets cranky when we scare him
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Or, in which Stiles Stilinski moves to Beacon Hills for his junior year of high school and accidentally adopts a pack of teenage werewolves.
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Summary
“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible."
Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant.
"Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's name on the menu. "Derek won't let me date anyone from his company, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the eye candy."
"Send them my way," Stiles suggests, finally loading up a forkful of pie. "Apparently I'm incompetent enough that I need to be babysat at all times, because it would be cheaper than dispatching a truck every time I try to use a kitchen appliance."
Recent bookmarks
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Summary
After the events of 5a, Stiles is estranged from Scott--and by association, the pack. Derek is off finding himself, or, at least, Germany and some other places. There's a lot of texting and post cards and then Derek comes back to find Stiles missing. Worse, nobody seems to remember Stiles existing.
Series
- Part 107 of Hurt/Comfort Bingo
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 39,169
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 655
- Kudos:
- 4,988
- Bookmarks:
- 1,742
- Hits:
- 82,019
Bookmarked by PalenDrome (nerdherderette)
11 Sep 2023
Bookmarker's Collections:
Bookmarker's Notes
I picked up my iPad to start this story after waking up in the middle of the night. It’s 2+ hours later and I can’t regret it because this was utterly brilliant. Told from Derek and Stiles’ POVs, it’s about finding himself, healing, and family and home. It’s incredibly layered, all the characters are drawn beautifully, and the writing is evocative and gorgeous. There’s quite a bit of Stiles whump in the first 1/3 but if you’re ok with it I highly highly rec.
Oh yes. The art in this is just as amazing.
[excerpt]:
Fuck. Just to make sure he isn't hallucinating, Derek asks, "Stiles?"The window must not be sound-proofed, because the figure on the other side stirs. He's clearly not asleep—he'd be hanging more heavily from the chains around his wrists if he were—but his head is drooping and when he brings it up, he's blinking, like maybe he was trying to rest. He blinks a few more times and says, "Hey, he turned the lights on." Then, like things are coming together in his mind but he's still not altogether there, he says, "You're—you're supposed to be in Uzbekistan. Or somewhere."
Stiles' voice is scratchy, as if he hasn't been using it much, and he keeps trying to swallow, working moisture into his mouth. He's completely naked, which means Derek can see the enormous bruise covering most of Stiles' right side, and Derek can hear his teeth chattering, even through the window. His breaths are coming out on a high whine, like there's something wrong with his ribs. Given the bruise, there probably is. He's got another bruise high on his forehead, which explains some of the glassiness in his gaze. That, or the fact that Derek can't smell the chemical layer of Adderall in his scent at all. Pain, fear, confusion, and that base layer of Stiles, but no meds.
"Missed home," Derek says, like it's easy, like he's not handing the simple truth that rules Derek's life to Stiles on a platter.
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Summary
Stiles only wishes they could actually be safe. They haven’t been for nine months now.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 73,415
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Comments:
- 126
- Kudos:
- 1,796
- Bookmarks:
- 946
- Hits:
- 78,242
Bookmarked by PalenDrome (nerdherderette)
01 Aug 2023
Bookmarker's Collections:
Bookmarker's Notes
It’s been a long while since a story has affected me so. Beautifully written, with alternating timelines that manage to feel sweeping yet incredibly intimate. The author captures all the tension and monotony yet ‘this-could-be-the-last-time’ desperation of life on the run, and I found myself torn between speed reading to discover the circumstances behind it and never wanting their story to end. This has everything: mystery/intrigue, moments of humor, SMUT WITH FEELS, and all the gorgeous Sterek moments you could hope for. Stiles’ POV, and he’s brilliant, as is Derek as seen through his eyes.
[excerpt]:
Stiles finger hovers over the red button of his phone but he can’t bring himself to hang up. He swallows down a choked off sob. Derek gingerly takes the cell out of his hands and flips it shut before he gathers Stiles into his arms, holding him close and pressing his nose into Stiles’ hair.And Stiles can’t hold back anymore, tears spill from his eyes and he can’t breathe, everything hurts, he misses his dad and his friends, and he knows he probably won’t see them again soon, possibly ever. He can’t talk to them regularly, because it’s too dangerous. All of it comes crashing down around him.
Derek is there. He doesn’t say anything; he just holds Stiles and offers his support like this. Stiles doesn’t know what he would do without him, without Derek’s arms around him holding him together, keeping him from shattering into a thousand pieces, and he thinks it’s unfair, so unfair. Stiles should be the one comforting Derek. Derek’s lost everyone and now he’s being hunted, and Stiles came willingly, it was his choice.
“Thank you,” Stiles sobs out. “I’m sorry.”
Derek doesn’t answer. He takes Stiles’ face between his hands and softly brushes away Stiles’ tears with his thumbs. Tenderly, he places a kiss on his forehead, holding his lips against Stiles’ skin for a while. And when Derek tucks Stiles’ head under his chin, the feeling of breaking into a billion shards isn’t so strong anymore.
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Summary
“Carry me,” Stiles says.
“No.”
“But I’m injured.”
“You have a rash,” Derek says. “On your arm. Your feet work just fine.”
“Please?”
“No. You weigh almost as much as I do. And you ate a pound of chicken at lunch.”
"Well, yeah, but I pooped like an hour ago, so.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“Don’t play, you love me.”
I do, Derek thinks, relatively horrified. I really do.
Series
- Part 1 of The Adventures of Mage Kid and Wolf Nerd
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 61,811
- Chapters:
- 21/21
- Collections:
- 12
- Comments:
- 1,592
- Kudos:
- 11,648
- Bookmarks:
- 3,271
- Hits:
- 264,282
Bookmarked by PalenDrome (nerdherderette)
25 Jun 2022
Bookmarker's Collections:
Bookmarker's Notes
Seriously lovely ‘verse where Stiles is Scott’s maybe-human younger brother and Derek and his father Padraig move to Beacon Hills. I usually don’t enjoy stories that play around with the characters’ ages/familial relationships so much, but this is so brilliant and literally magical I was totally sucked in. Derek and Stiles’ relationship is beautifully drawn, a true friends-to-lovers/soulmates vibe. So well done.
[excerpt]:
“Memo,” Stiles says, putting the kit back under the sink. “Get some Batman Band-Aids. The waterproof tattoo kind. Those are the best.”“Memo,” Derek answers, “I don’t have a need for Band-Aids.”
“I do though. And if I’m hanging out here, which I will be, I’ll probably be getting hurt. Collecting minor injuries is kind of a hobby of mine.”
That causes Derek to pause.
Stiles doesn’t seem to notice, opening the refrigerator and pulling out the lemonade they’d made to go with lunch.
“Are you—“ Derek stops and tries again. “You’ll want to come back? After your suspension ends?”
Stiles stills, giving Derek a one-eyebrow-up one-eyebrow-down look. “Um. Yeah? What, you think once we go back to school I’m gunna pretend you don’t exist or something? Find other people to hang out with?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
It’s meant to sound flippant but it comes out a little bit raw and lot too honest and he turns to get a cup out of the cabinet so he doesn’t have to look at Stiles anymore.
Stiles pours him a glass of lemonade with an unreadable expression.
“I’ve decided something,” Stiles says, sitting down in front of the fan.
“Oh?”
“You’re going to be my best friend now. Don’t try and fight it. It’s done.”
“We’ve known each other for two days,” Derek points out.
“So? I can predict the future, okay. Our friendship will be legendary. It’s in the stars. I’ve seen visions of its epic-ness. ”
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Summary
“The debt must be repaid,” she says, and it has the weight of a vow. The words resonate through him, ringing through his ribcage and the bones of his jaw, and Stiles loses his breath and maybe his grip on reality because she draws herself upright and where there had once stood a supermodel-level MILF now there is Galadriel’s much hotter older sister, a Presence of unmistakable power in their ordinary, smells-vaguely-of-Thai-takeout hallway.
“Oh shit,” Stiles says.
Series
- Part 3 of Teen Wolf podfics
- Part 1 of Misfire 'verse
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 28,800
- Chapters:
- 6/6
- Collections:
- 17
- Comments:
- 559
- Kudos:
- 7,663
- Bookmarks:
- 2,167
- Hits:
- 131,482
Bookmarked by PalenDrome (nerdherderette)
17 Mar 2022
Bookmarker's Collections:
Bookmarker's Notes
Brilliant time travel fic that’s beautifully thought out. Stiles cashes in a fae debt by traveling back in time to prevent the Hale fire, even when it means losing Derek in the process. Pining and some angst but a beautifully hopeful ending that makes it all worth it.
[excerpt]:
Stiles will never know Derek. The chances of them meeting, of forming any kind of connection at all are- astronomical. Same hometown doesn’t really mean a lot in the grand scheme of things.Derek will be out of high school a year after Stiles starts. Derek will be working, or at college, when Stiles is an adolescent. By the time Stiles goes to college, Derek’s adult life will be established, and the odds of anything bringing them together...
He clenches his fists so hard that his nails cut instantly into the palm of his hands.
Stiles can’t let that change anything. He can’t be that selfish. He crouches, leans in close and kisses Derek’s downturned mouth. “I love you,” he says, and Derek’s eyes flicker open.
“Stiles?”
“I love you so much I’d do anything for you, you know that?” Stiles chokes out, and runs a finger down the curve of one perfect cheekbone.
Derek is blinking awake. “Stiles?” he says again, muzzily. “You okay?” He pushes upright, sheet pooling at his waist.
“Nope,” Stiles says, trying for a smile. None of this will matter anyway, this relationship won’t ever have existed. His heart twists up and he can’t breathe for the thought of it.
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Summary
Stiles can't remember what happened to rearrange the time-space continuum, or how he ended up being pulled into the past. All he knows is that he's there now, in 2003 Beacon Hills, with a teenage werewolf and a possibly-crazy veterinarian as his only allies.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 52,270
- Chapters:
- 16/16
- Collections:
- 6
- Comments:
- 804
- Kudos:
- 13,963
- Bookmarks:
- 3,871
- Hits:
- 312,024
Bookmarked by PalenDrome (nerdherderette)
10 Dec 2021
Bookmarker's Collections:
Bookmarker's Notes
In a battle with the fae, Stiles time travels to a point where the Hale family is alive, Derek is in HS, Peter is actually nice, Kate is still a problem, and he and Derek fall in love. It’s also worth a re-read, because the story is so tightly constructed that the “flashbacks” (to the future) mean something so much more once you know the punchline. Beautifully written, and that ending…😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️
[excerpt]:
"I'm not going to forget you, Derek," Stiles tries to assure him. He knows he won't actually forget Derek. Derek is a part of Stiles' future, too. He is terrified that the memories of this will be left behind, though. The memories they've made here together. Stiles' life, as far as he knows, is still progressing forward in the future even as he's here now. It's Derek's past that's being replayed, and Stiles doesn't know which part of it will still be real to him when time rights itself."But what if I'm the one who forgets?" Derek's voice is low, barely a whisper, but it hits the air like a crack of thunder.
Stiles presses his lips to Derek's in the dark, slow and careful at first, just a taste, wanting to memorize the feel of Derek against him.
There's an ache in his chest at the thought of losing this, the beat of his heart rapping out a rhythm of pain that Stiles doesn't know how to deal with, tattooing itself to everything inside him.
He slides his tongue into Derek's mouth, deepens the kiss to more than just a physical connection. Stiles pours everything he has left into it, desperate to leave a lasting impression, to sear himself into Derek's mind and heart even if he was never meant to be there to begin with.