Top 20 Long Slow Burn Fanfics
Ranked by AO3 kudos. Each fic is tagged with slow burn and falls in the 50,000–100,000 words range.
you took my heart (i was sleeping)
by 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
Running on Air
by eleventy7
Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.
Mastermind: Strategist For Hire
by Clouds (myheadinthecoudsnotcomingdown)
Izuku Midoriya never got the chance to save Bakugo from the sludge villain and impress All Might. With his dream crushed, Izuku becomes bitter and angry. It also doesn't help that he faces discrimination at every turn.All he ever wanted was to be appreciated, so when the villains are the ones to rec
Another Mind Game
by May_May_0_0
Harry’s occlumency reveals his disturbing home life which sets off a chain reaction that cannot be undone. Snape finds himself begrudgingly caring about the bespectacled boy, Harry discovers what it's like to have adults who care, and Hermione finds herself becoming an accidental crime lord. Draco M
Draco Malfoy and the Mirror of Ecidyrue
by starbrigid
All it takes is one look in a mirror and an ill-advised attempt to shatter it, before an embittered Draco Malfoy fresh out of Azkaban is sent back into his body on the day he gets his Hogwarts letter.Suddenly, Draco has an unwanted second chance, with a Sorting Hat that doesn't know what to do with
2am Knows All Secrets [original]
by Unbreakable_Red_Riot
… It wasn’t that he was annoyed.Okay, maybe he was a little annoyed, but that was just the lack of sleep talking. Because a certain explosive punk thought it was a good idea to test the flammability of his sheets at 2 in the morning. Every single morning.(In which Bakugou's quirk wakes Kirishima up,
a turn of the earth
by microcomets
Dean’s your typical half-orphaned, monster-killing 22-year-old until a trenchcoated stranger crashes into his back windshield one September night, claiming he’s an angel that knows him from the future and that he’s on the run. Frigging fantastic. (Or, in which Castiel gets stuck in Dean’s timeline p
Lost Time Without You
by rotasha
In a universe where your soulmate’s injuries show up on your skin, Bruce is convinced he doesn’t have a soulmate, and Clark is seriously concerned for his soulmate’s well-being.
Boomerangs and Rainbows
by mindbending
At Sokka’s behest, the Gaang skips rescuing Zuko during the Siege at the North Pole. Instead they leave him, unconscious, buried in the snow.In completely unrelated news, Sokka’s haunted by a ghost now. (If you'd like more details before deciding to read this story, look here for spoilers.)
guess your trajectory
by ohwickedsoul
That’s a fucking kid, is the first thing that Iruka thinks. That’s the fucking jinchuriki, is the second. The first thought comes back, even stronger, overwhelming him with outrage, with fury, with a sick sort of disgust, and now it comes out as a shouted, “That’s a fucking kid.”
campfire in your chest
by deanpendragon
Kei realizes in their second year of high school that he's probably been in love with Yamaguchi since they were ten. However hopeless he might be in handling that situation, Kei prays he's at least not as hopeless as Hinata and Kageyama. But he just might be.
Stick With You
by lettersinpetals
The MSBY Black Jackals were vacationing on an island when lockdown measures were put in place due to a pandemic. While the rest of their teammates managed to get on the last flight back to Japan, Kiyoomi and Atsumu didn't make it.To be stuck in close quarters with your enemy-slash-teammate in a fore
Homesick at Space Camp
by K0bot
Lance realizes he's been an asshole to Keith, and on a diplomatic mission to a key planet for the Voltron alliance he... overcompensates.
Paradise (spread out with a butter knife)
by Sarah_Sandwich
He sighs from where he’s prone, arms akimbo, and roof gravel digging into his spine. “I lost my job. My… other job. The one that actually pays the bills.”He doesn’t want to dwell on why he’s telling Deadpool of all people. Surely it has nothing to do with his desperate lack of friends. MJ is in Cali
The Bingo Book
by flailinginlove
Kakashi avoided relationships. He didn't want to put others in danger. So he couldn't understand why there was a face staring back at him, as a sub-entry to his own, in this Bingo Book. Umino Iruka (lover) the caption read. It didn't matter that it wasn't true. The Book was fact, and to Kakashi's e
Close to the Chest
by darkmagicalgirl
It takes Yahaba thirteen years to realize he's different from the other kids, one to figure out how to hide it, and two more to learn to be happy just the way he is. Yahaba's journey ft. an extremely annoyed Kyoutani, best friend in the world Watari, and loads and loads of good senpai Oikawa.
Stipulations
by theproblematique
Peter Parker’s longterm dream recently went from ‘get into MIT’ to ‘afford going to MIT’. As the time approaches, it’s dawning on him that he won’t be able to pay his tuition and afford the move to Cambridge all at once: he’s out of money, his secrets are beginning to pile up, and desperation has st
spring day
by Bangtanbananas
Even when he was a pup, Park Jimin never even dreamed that he would find his soulmate. Thoughts like that were better left to his hopelessly romantic best friend and partner in crime, Kim Taehyung. It's a one in a million chance, but a twist of fate brings a strange wolf into Jimin's life and it cha
Altered State
by Ginnyruin
Six years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Auror Hermione Granger activated a mysterious dark object, which unexpectedly sent her decades into the past.Tom Riddle, now known as Voldemort, returned to British wizarding society in 1966 after a decade-long absence. Under the guise of interviewing for the
don't go wastin your emotions
by kissesforcas
"Steve 'the Hair' Harrington, a rage-filled barbarian, who knew?" Eddie says, like its a compliment, like Steve has ANY idea what that means."Uh, I knew. Obviously." Steve says, wisely, even though he clearly didn't. "Anyway, do you think we could eat a demobat? Or would we turn into some kind of mo
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About Slow Burn
A romance that develops gradually over time, with tension building across chapters or the entire story.
Readers love the anticipation, the meaningful character development, and the eventual payoff of a well-earned romance.
Common scenarios: Characters who are oblivious to their feelings, lots of almost-moments, friends realizing their feelings over time.
About This List
This list of 20long Slow Burn fanfics spans 1,406,132 total words. Kudos range from 11,253 on the newest entries to 199,108 on the most established. Nearly all (95%) are complete, so you can start any of them without WIP anxiety. The most common rating is Teen And Up Audiences (12 of 20 fics).
Recurring tags across this list: Slow Burn · Time Travel · Alternate Universe - Soulmates · Enemies to Friends to Lovers · Hurt/Comfort.
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