Pining
Unrequited or unspoken longing for someone, often with lots of internal anguish.
What is Pining in fanfiction?
Unrequited or unspoken longing for someone, often with lots of internal anguish. With over 520,000 works on Archive of Our Own, Pining is one of the most beloved tropes in fanfiction.
Why readers love Pining
The exquisite torture of loving someone from afar, especially when it's mutual but unspoken.
Examples of Pining
Secret crushes, assuming feelings aren't returned, watching from across the room.
Best Pining Fanfics
The highest-rated Pining stories across all fandoms on AO3.
you took my heart (i was sleeping)
Completeby lameparties
It’s winter in Hawkins, and Mike and Will aren’t speaking anymore. Living in Mike’s house, Will tries to be invisible, spending most of his time in the basement. Then the power goes out — and if there’s one thing he dreads more than facing Mike, it’s the cold. or Seven nights in which Mike and Will
Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love
Completeby isthisselfcare
Hermione straddles the Muggle and Magical worlds as a medical researcher and Healer about to make a big discovery. Draco is an Auror assigned to protect her from forces unknown – to both of their displeasure.Features hyper-competent, fiery Hermione and lazy, yet dangerous, Draco. Slow burn.
The Way You Used To Do
Completeby edema_ruh
"We're really sorry," his father says, in a teary-eyed, wobbly way. "But your friend, Izuku, he's... He's gone, son."Katsuki can do nothing but blink up at them for moments that feel like an eternity, eyes darting between both his parents in obvious confusion, disbelief, and, more than anything, ind
count your blessings, not your flaws
Completeby PitViperOfDoom
Midoriya Izuku has never been asked out, confessed to, or flirted with, except as a joke.
True Love
Completeby platonic_boner
AU where soulmates can’t lie to each other.(That’s okay, Merlin wasn’t planning to lie to Arthur anyways! Haha.. ha.. ha…)
What The Fuck Did You Just Call Me?
Completeby reading_raindrop
“A-ah B-Bakugou! You dropped some pencils!”Katsuki stiffened. Kirishima and Kaminari froze. Basically, everyone within earshot stopped what they were doing to look at Izuku like he sprouted a second head. What did he just call him? “What the fuck did you just say to me?”Katsuki whipped his head towa
I'm Reading Your Lips (You're Speaking My Language)
Completeby some1_around
Rozanov cocked his head. “You speak Russian? Or just the curse words?” “Yes, I speak Russian,” he snapped, defensive and angry. He knew that it had been a mistake to even try to be friendly with Rozanov. “Why? Do I not look Russian to you?” He scoffed. “No, not really,” Rozanov said. Some of his tea
The Shape of Me Will Always be You
Completeby MissDisoriental
A post-canon Hannigram fix-it fic.Fan videos here and hereAnimations hereFanart masterpost herePodfics here, here and hereFan playlist hereTranslations in Deutsch | 中文 | Ελληνικά | Magyar | ไทย | Русский | Polski | Cymraeg | Español | Українська
In Love With Justice
Completeby PlotsOfCoffee
Batman is notorious for his secretive ways, so when the Justice League meets someone he associates with, they naturally have questions. The questions continue to pile up when it’s clear that Batman is rather. . . close to him. Or the Justice League thinks Batman and Nightwing are dating.
All the Young Dudes - Sirius's Perspective
Completeby Rollercoasterwords
this is an ATYD fanfic first!!! and a harry potter fanfic only by necessity. this is literally just me rewriting each chapter of atyd but from Sirius's perspective bc i love this story so much and can't get enough of it. all credit for the original work goes to MsKingBean89 and if for some reason yo
frequently, secretly fond of each other.
Completeby milominderbinder
Shrugging one shoulder far more casually than he possibly feels, Ilya says, “I like both. Is secret, okay?” “Okay,” Hollander says, voice cracking. He doesn’t say anything else. The air’s so heavy around them that it feels like being in the middle of a scrum, the weight and heat of all those bodies
I Would Bring You the Stars and the Moon
Completeby GutterWitch
“Houston, do you copy?”Caitlyn panicked, feeling extraordinarily unprepared having been thrust into her new position without so much as even a handbook to consult. What were the formalities? What was she supposed to respond with? Where was the damn push to talk button…“Hellooo? I said Houston, do yo
(the first time) he kissed a boy
Completeby buzzcut__season
Reki is insecure about his lack of kissing experience. Langa just wants to help him feel like he's good enough, even if teaching Reki to kiss means breaking his own heart. (yet another practice kissing au)
Heir Apparent
by MonsieurClavier
When a Voldemort in his thirties encounters a time-travelling, seventeen-year-old Harry Potter, he makes a dangerous—and hilarious—assumption. He assumes that Harry is his son. And his son, of course, deserves the very best.A confused Harry plays along for the sake of self-preservation, but living w
The Right Thing To Do
Completeby LovesBitca8
Hermione felt the pounding in her ears again. She would see him for the first time since the Great Hall, gaunt and stricken at the Slytherin table with his mother clutching his arm. She hadn't meant to look for him. Not in the corridors, not beneath the white sheets of the fallen, not on the way to
re: hi
Completeby fleezerweezer
At eleven years old Ilya Rozanov's class is given an assignment:They will be randomly paired with a student at another school in Canada via email. In order to get full credit on the assignment, they must send at least five emails back and forth and gather enough information to write their project.Af
Lumos
Completeby birdsofshore
Harry never expected to spend eighth year listening to Draco Malfoy wanking.
Written on the Heart
Completeby who_la_hoop
Harry doesn’t mind that so many Slytherins from his year have returned to finish their NEWTs, really he doesn’t. It’s just – do they have to be so friendly? He’s not prejudiced, really he’s not. It’s just – they’ve got to be up to something, right? Unnerved by the attention he’s attracting from ever
Azoth
Completeby zeitgeistic
Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy
As the Romans Do
Completeby kooksie
As a straight man, Ilya Rozanov has never had a gay roommate before, but it’s going pretty well. Shane Hollander is kind, silly, and an even bigger hockey nut than Ilya. So when Shane starts bringing men over, and Ilya begins to want to bash their fucking heads in, Ilya comes to a startling conclusi
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many Pining fics are on AO3?
There are over 520,000 works tagged with Pining on Archive of Our Own.
What fandoms have the most Pining stories?
Popular fandoms for Pining include MCU, Supernatural, Sherlock BBC.
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