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Fanfic Recs / Downton Abbey

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Proof that the remaining 10% is worth putting it in your pipe and smoking it for here.

These are recommendations made by Tropers for Downton Abbey fanfics, all of which have to be signed or reviewed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic you like to the list (though self-recommendations aren't allowed), but remember to use the template found here.

You can also add your review to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.

Do warn when a fanfic may head into sexually explicit or non-canon territory. Some people just don't like it, and as we all know, Shipping is Serious Business.


Authors and Websites

None yet.

Stories focused on the family and the friendly relationships of the cast. Plot-focused stories or light day-in-the-life stories. Pretty much anything that isn't focused on romance.

Downton Abbey & Zombies by The Yankee Countess

  • Recommended by SlaaneshIsSexxy
  • Status: Dormant
  • Synopsis: What if the Zombie Apocalypse took place immediately following WWI? What if the poison gas used in WWI caused serious, biological repercussions, that brought the dead...back to life? What if the men and women of Downton Abbey, both upstairs and downstairs, had to unite to fight off a horde of flesh-eating monsters? Inspired by AMC's The Walking Dead.
  • Tags: Drama, Action, Horror

The Fox Hunt and its sequel, Master of Hounds by Rap541

  • Recommended by: rcobleigh
  • Status: (The Fox Hunt) Complete / (Master of Hounds) Complete
  • Synopsis: It's the fall of 1922 and Matthew Crawley has been dead for close to a year. So what happens if a familiar-looking stranger shows up in Downton? Then, after the events of The Fox Hunt, things are still awkward at Downton Abbey. Matthew is alive and well, with his memory intact, but the trial of the Duke of Crowborough looms, and it could have long-term ramifications for the Crawleys and the estate.
  • Pairing(s): Matthew Crawley / Mary Crawley, although the fic isn't really about their romance, per se.
  • Tags: Dark Fic!, Drama, Horror, Back from the Dead, Faking the Dead, Moral Event Horizon, Darker and Edgier

Stories focused on the romantic relationships between the cast.

The Center of My Heart by lilyrowan1

  • Recommended by: rcobleigh
  • Status: Complete
  • Synopsis: What if Matthew hadn't recovered from his paraplegia as quickly as he did in canon? Would there still be a way forward for him and Mary? If two people love each other, why can't they be together?
  • Pairing(s): Mary Crawley / Matthew Crawley
  • Rating: M
  • Tags: Angst, Romance, Shipping, Wish-Fulfillment, Tragically Disabled Love Interest

Not For Turning by eitoph

  • Recommended by: rcobleigh
  • Status: Complete
  • Synopsis: Modern AU. Mary Crawley, daughter of a great British political dynasty, keeper of her dysfunctional family's secrets, and the woman holding the UK Government together with her bare hands, meets Matthew Crawley, a politically-inexperienced staffer with the power to make or break all she stands for. Power, romance and scandal ensue.
  • Pairing(s): Mary Crawley / Matthew Crawley
  • Tags: Romance, Shipping, Alternate Universe Fic, Drama

Trust and Providence by Rachel Smith Cobleigh

Love's Journey by Yankee Countess

  • Recommended by SlaaneshIsSexxy
  • Status: COMPLETE
  • Synopsis: The story and romance of Tom Branson and Lady Sybil Crawley is retold through a series of letters, diary entries, and personal POV thoughts, spanning from Branson's arrival at Downton in 1913, and ultimately leading to their journey to Ireland
  • Pairing: Sybil Crawley/Tom Branson
  • Tags: Drama, Romance

TheAbbey by Frea_O (Link)

  • Recommended by: Star Valkyrie
  • Status: Complete
  • Synopsis: Perseus was always supposed to rescue Andromeda, but when the fair maiden's not such a damsel in distress, and the valiant hero's deep in over his head, things might just go a little differently this time.
  • Pairing(s): Mary Crawley/Matthew Crawley, John Bates/Anna Smith
  • Rating: PG-15
  • Tags: Romance, Spy Fiction, Tuxedo and Martini, Modern AU

Perdition by sunsetmog

  • Status: Complete
  • Synopsis: Thomas is manipulative, ambitious, and ruthless. He's also lonely as hell. And then the new gardener starts at Downton, and everything changes.
  • Pairing(s): Thomas Barrow/OMC
  • Rating: Mature
  • Tags: Hurt/Comfort Fic, Earn Your Happy Ending

Do No Harm by dollsome

  • Status: Complete
  • Synopsis: "She’s weak still, for all she says about feeling much better." O'Brien helps Cora get ready for Lavinia's funeral.
  • Pairing(s): Sarah O'Brien/Cora Crawley (unrequited)
  • Rating: General
  • Tags: Angst

Up the Garden Path by Dementian

  • Recommended by marigold_lesley
  • Status: Complete
  • Synopsis: Desperate for a chance at happiness and unable to see another way out, Thomas Barrow begins a precarious affair with Daisy Mason. The result is an existential crisis, the likes of which has the rest of the staff praying for the swift return of Jimmy Kent.
  • Pairing: Thomas Barrow/Jimmy Kent
  • Rating: Mature
  • Tags: Earn Your Happy Ending

Authors of Our Own Fate by Mr. Chaos

  • Recommended by: Milarqui
  • Status: Ongoing
  • Synopsis: When Matthew suddenly finds his soul transported nearly a decade into the past, before Downton, before the War, and before Mary, he realizes that he has been given a chance to change his past and make his life and those around him better. How will the Crawleys and the servants of Downton react to a Matthew who knows all their secrets and is determined to win his happy ending?
  • Pairings: Mary Crawley/Matthew Crawley, Sybil Crawley/Tom Branson
  • In this Peggy Sue story, Matthew goes from the day of his car accident to a few days before the Titanic sinks. When the new situation sinks (heh) in, he decides to use it to the best, so as to save himself, his family and Downton the many troubles that would affect them in the future - while, perhaps, making sure that he and Mary end up together sooner. This gets somewhat easier when it turns out Sybil has also gone back in time from the time of her death.

Halo Effect and sequel, Soldier’s Heart by Alex51324

  • Recommended by: raffitz
  • Status: stories are Complete, series is Dormant (last updated February 2020)
  • Barrow makes a couple of good choices that have further repercussions.
  • Synopsis: The Halo Effect is the tendency for a positive impression in one area to produce a more generous or optimistic interpretation of ambiguous information in other areas. When Thomas rescues Lady Mary from the nefarious attentions of Turkish houseguest Kemal Pamuk, his employers and coworkers begin to see him differently...and Things Get Better. A Season One AU diverging from canon in Episode 3, The One Where The Turkish Gentleman Dies in Mary's Bed.
  • Pairing(s): Thomas Barrow/Original Male Character
  • Rating: Mature
  • Tags: For Want of a Nail, AU

Something Worth Having by MrsTater

  • Recommended by: paralauragram
  • Status: Complete
  • Synopsis: When Mary moves to London to escape painful memories of Matthew at Downton, she must face more than grief as former suitors and her estranged sister come back into her life.
  • Pairings: Mary Crawley/Sir Richard Carlisle, Edith Crawley/Michael Gregson, Edith Crawley/Evelyn Napier
  • Tags: AU

Thomas and the Society of Sentinels and sequel, Pack Up Your Troubles: Guide Thomas At Downton by Alex51324

  • Recommended by: Star Valkyrie
  • Status: Complete
  • Fusion Fic with Sentinel/Guide fanon (based loosely on The Sentinel) – however, no prior knowledge of this fandom is necessary to understand this fic
  • Synopsis: After being arrested for gross indecency with another male person, Thomas Barrow learns that he has a natural gift which will plunge him into a startlingly different society which exists in parallel with the one in which he has lived his life until now. He’s not entirely sure whether or not that’s a good thing.
  • Pairing(s): Thomas Barrow/Original Male Character
  • Rating: PG-15
  • Tags: Romance, AU, Fusion Fic, Crossover

Tony Stark Meets an Extremely Unimpressed Time Traveler, or, Thomas Barrow Makes a Surprisingly Good 21st Century Butler by Alex51324

  • Recommended by: raffitz
  • Status: Complete
  • Crossover with the MCU
  • Synopsis: In which Tony Stark ditches a boring party, makes an addition to the household staff, throws a much better party, and tries not to sexually harass his new butler. Or,In which Thomas Barrow has a little trouble getting home from the pub, is generally unimpressed with many aspects of the 21st century, never thought of himself as a conservative dresser before, and may or may not be falling in lust with his new employer. tl:dr: Thanks to time travel, Thomas Barrow becomes the Avengers' butler.
  • Pairing(s): Thomas Barrow/Tony Stark
  • Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
  • Tags: Time Travel, Crossover

Bring Back Some Browncoats To Shake Us Up A Bit by foojules

  • Recommended by SlaaneshIsSexxy
  • Status: Dormant
  • Synopsis: Downton Abbey. Yorkshire, England. Or not! The planet called Earth by its inhabitants is really Lab K2116: a vast social experiment built by Blue Sun. Serenity crash-lands on the Downton green and we find that K2116's planetary defenses have been lowered, leaving them ripe for the Reavers' picking. Capt. Mal Reynolds unwillingly takes on a rather large group of refugees.
  • Tags: Adventure, Space Western

Second Chances and its sequel, No Fate, by Rap541

  • Recommended by: rcobleigh
  • Status: Complete
  • Synopsis: The Doctor and Donna have ended up in Downton Village in December 1921, where the Crawleys, including Isobel, are still mourning their losses. But something doesn't seem right, and it's not just that Isobel eerily resembles former Prime Minister Harriet Jones. Then, what happens in the aftermath of the Doctor giving Harriet Jones, now known as Isobel Crawley, a second chance?
  • Tags: Intercontinuity Crossover, Fridge Logic, Back from the Dead, Deus ex Machina, Faking the Dead

Panem Abbey by Rap541

  • Recommended by: rcobleigh
  • Status: Dormant; last updated December 2018
  • Synopsis: What if Downton was in Panem's District 10? The Downton Abbey characters inhabit the world of The Hunger Games just as the revolution is starting to gain momentum. Mostly background references to The Hunger Games canon characters and events.
  • Pairing(s): Matthew Crawley / Mary Crawley and Sybil Crawley / Tom Branson, but their relationships are mostly ancillary to the plot. This story is not primarily a shipping fic.
  • Tags: Fusion Fic, Elsewhere Fic, Intercontinuity Crossover

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