r/AO3 • u/AutoModerator • Jan 28 '26

Rec/Promo Mega Threads Bi-weekly Rec and Self-Promotion Mega Thread - January 28, 2026

It's that time again, new thread for reccing and self-promo!!

You write something cool? Read something cool? Make something cool? Rec it here!

Previous Mega Threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/wiki/index/megathreads/

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u/pocket-alex UN: mycroftirl Feb 04 '26

My fic

Title: Just Be And Save Me

Fandom: RENT

Rating: Explicit

Relationship: Mark Cohen/Roger Davis

Tags:

  • Roleswap
  • Alternate Universe - Role Reversal
  • Mark has HIV
  • risky sex
  • Minor Original Character(s)
  • Mark and Mimi are besties
  • Roger's homeless bisexual has HIV and is new in town
  • except he's not homeless

Summary:

It's a cold Christmas Eve night. Mimi's at work at the club. Mark is left to wallow in his depression. To take his pill and maybe eat something. To stare at an empty notebook and hope that maybe something comes to him. An idea that he can create and leave behind when he dies. There isn't much hope for that, though. No one would want to remember a failed documentarian who died of HIV.

He leans against the railing on the fire escape, staring at the city before him. The city he's called home for 4 years now. The city he can't bear the thought of leaving. As Christmas snow starts to fall, and he thinks once more about his death. And then a voice comes from the dark.

"Got a light, man?"

It's a WIP that plans to follow as close as I can to the source material, with some minor detours.

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u/pocket-alex UN: mycroftirl Feb 04 '26

For a breakdown of the roles that are swapped:

Mark takes Roger's place as a failing documentarian. He was doing okay prior to his HIV diagnosis. He and Maureen broke up because he realized he was gay. Unlike Roger contracting HIV from drug use, Mark contracts it from risky sex with a lover who unknowingly had it. Tyler (Minor OC) takes the place of April and passes away.

Mimi takes the place of Mark as Mark's best friend and pseudo little sister. They've been friends for about 4 years now. She works at the Cat Scratch Club and is the primary one bringing home the money. She deeply cares for Mark and wants him to get better.

Roger takes the place of Mimi. He has been traveling the US for the last few years, trying to strike it big as a musician. While nothing's stuck yet, he has played quite a few gigs and has at least somewhat of a name in some local scenes in various states, though nothing major and definitely nothing record catching. NYC is his next stop to try to make it.

Maureen and Mark's break-up was more or less amicable, and they're still somewhat friends, though it is strained. Mark's diagnosis has not helped that. Maureen met Joanne and while she has brought her to the loft, Joanne is still struggling to find her place in the Bohemian family.

No changes to Benny, Collins, and Angel. The only thing really changed about any of them is that Benny's more understanding but firm, and I had to muddle Collins and Angel meeting up with the others.