Arete20
Fandoms
- Merlin (TV) (7)
- Heartstopper (TV) (3)
- Heartstopper (Webcomic) (3)
Recent works
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As If You Were a Mythical Thing by Arete20
Fandoms: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic)
28 Jan 2026
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Summary
Charlie Spring thinks he’s well into recovery. He’s managing both his OCD and anorexia well, and thriving in university. He and Nick are going strong. His life is better than it has ever been — and he means that.
That is, except for the fatigue, brain fog, stomach pain, and the way Charlie is losing weight even though he’s eating consistently and following his meal plan. When a routine blood test threatens to upend his life, leading to new struggles with his health and his eating disorder, he decides to shoulder the burden alone and keep it secret from his family, friends, and his boyfriend.
He doesn’t really understand what coeliac disease is — but there’s no reason to bring Nick down with him. Not again.
***Nick Nelson knows that something is wrong with his boyfriend. If only he knew what.
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In Search of Sunnier Paths by Arete20
Fandoms: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic)
17 Aug 2025
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Summary
Nick opens his photo app and scrolls through the pictures from that afternoon he spent with Charlie in the snow.
Charlie is beautiful. He’s truly the most beautiful person he’s ever seen, and his smile — Charlie Spring smiling is the best thing in the universe. Nick thinks he would join the circus, go sky diving, cross the ocean to make Charlie smile the way he did that afternoon.
But Nick just went on a date with someone else on Charlie’s birthday.
Nick doesn’t stop himself from crying. He nuzzles his head into his pillow, trying to muffle the sound of his sobs, but if shoulders heave with it, the grief of hurting the best person he’s ever known.
It’s a grief, and a guilt, that weighs down on him, wraps around him like chains, and doesn’t let him go all night long.
Or, Nick does not overhear Tao and Charlie's conversation in the bathroom at Charlie's 15th birthday and goes on the date with Imogen. In the aftermath, Nick is confronted with his people pleasing tendencies, navigates his sexuality crisis, and searches for a way to bring Charlie Spring back to him.
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Last Valentine's Day by Arete20 for deceptive_serenade
Fandoms: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic)
03 Mar 2025
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Summary
Charlie hates Valentine's Day. it's a dumb, consumerist, utterly performative holiday. He hates the hearts, the way everything is pink and red, the way couples perform affection and fake happiness.
It might sound dramatic, but Charlie has a reason to be the Valentine's Day version of the Grinch. Last Valentine's Day, his whole world fell apart.
Still, when his best friend and long time unrequited crush Nick Nelson asks Charlie to be his platonic date to a Valentine's Day party, Charlie can't say no.
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Summary
On Albion, the only space station in the Alliance of United Earth that welcomes open magic users, Merlin works as an assistant mechanic to Gaius. Though Merlin doesn’t hate his job, spending days repairing broken coffee machines and toasters can be tedious, but it's a small price to pay for being able to use his magic openly.
Then one day, a mysterious man called Arthur shows up with a broken droid and a barrage of questions. Arthur keeps coming back with more broken things, and as charmed as Merlin is, he knows Arthur knows more about Albion than he lets on, possibly even about the strange and suspicious incidents from a group of new crewmates. With the Alliance threatened by a brewing conspiracy, Merlin and Arthur find themselves putting differences aside to save both Albion and magic itself.
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Summary
Arthur Pendragon is known for being oblivious. But he always, always knows when Merlin isn't okay.
Recent bookmarks
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Summary
Charlie Spring, a Harvard postdoctoral fellow, is in Montréal for a conference in July 2026. A conveniently scheduled meeting in Ottawa the following Monday leaves him with a few unexpected days off in between to do some sightseeing. What exactly possesses him to buy a last-minute ticket for a one-hour boat tour on the Saint Lawrence is a mystery. But the moment his eyes meet those of one brown-eyed hot boat guy, Charlie can’t help thinking it might not have been such a bad idea after all. Sightseeing might even be very interesting.
Or: an unexpected Canadian AU where Nick and Charlie fall in love in three days.
Bookmarked by Arete20
06 Sep 2026
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Season's Greetings, Hope You're Well by deadfangirlwalking
Fandoms: Heartstopper (Webcomic), Heartstopper (TV)
25 Dec 2025
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Summary
Fed up with always being single on the holidays, the perfect solution drops into Charlie’s lap when his aunt tells him about holidates. Someone only for the holidays. No strings. No expectations. No judgement.
Meanwhile, Nick is trying to be casual. He's always gotten too much for the people he's dated. He always jumps too high, too fast. And so, when he meets the grumpy but beautiful Charlie, it isn’t long before they agree to be each other’s platonic plus-ones all year long.
But as the seasons change, their hearts begin to yearn for something more.
Bookmarked by Arete20
31 Aug 2026
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The Signs Of Pride by HappySappyHippo
Fandoms: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic)
30 Jul 2025
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Summary
Nick is fidgety.
He sits in the same seat as he has done every day for the past four weeks and impatiently waits for the next stop. Eventually, the train slows down, comes to a halt, and the doors open. Nick cranes his neck and watches the people coming in. Then he sees him.
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Or, Nick has a crush on a fellow commuter.- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 1,583
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 86
- Kudos:
- 234
- Bookmarks:
- 24
- Hits:
- 1,392
Bookmarked by Arete20
29 Aug 2026
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Ham Sandwich Secrets by hereforhsfanfic for OlderSisterMagic
Fandoms: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic)
24 Aug 2026
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Summary
Nick and Charlie are going on holiday to Dover Beach, but first they have to make a very important detour to see a certain famous road sign. Nick is very excited, Charlie is very confused (but thinks Nick is adorable, even if he gives him shit about it).
Bookmarked by Arete20
28 Aug 2026
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Summary
Saw a plot bunny, had to go for it. The gist is Nick falls for Charlie at first sight and is a bumbling idiot about it, but what's new?
Bookmarked by Arete20
26 Aug 2026