Tomorrow When the War Began recs - by ship & author

[doranwen]

updated 2025-09-22

This post is my complete list of Tomorrow, When the War Began (both the book series and film) recs, organized by ship or ship combo (and then by author). (For Tomorrow, When the War Began recs organized by time in canon & wordcount instead, go here.)

I have included my own fics in this post. I have marked some as favorites (because I do re-read them from time to time!), and others I have not. None of them are marked as exceptionally well-written because I couldn't objectively evaluate my own work that way, even when I particularly like the way I wrote something.

Guide to icons used:
Fics I tagged as favorites:
Fics I thought were exceptionally well-written:
WIPs:
(Icons come from the Icon pack by Icons8.)

As always with my db-generated lists, ratings are all converted to a single system for convenience:
Fanfiction.net - G through R
AO3 - PG through X (though the occasional child-friendly fic I mark G)
anything without a rating (AO3 or other site) - Unrated


The fics in this list are given with no information beyond author, title, rating, word count, major ships, and the summary the author gave it.

However, my database does store information on themes, which cover everything from grammatical things like tense & person (I mark for present tense, first person, second person, and direct address), to format (poetry, songfic, 5+1, etc.), trope (fake couple, stranded together, etc.), relationship type (beginning, established, etc.), general feel (angst, fluff, etc.), fic ending (positive, sad/unhappy, mixed/ambivalent, etc.), and warnings (major character death, non-con, violence/wounds, etc.).

Regular fandom posts do not have themes included because it's not feasible for me to keep the lists updated in case of theme name changes and such. This also prevents accidentally spoiling readers, as I sometimes tag more thoroughly for themes than authors do.

If you would like to see the themes for the recs from any of the fandom lists below, please comment and let me know so I can reply with that information. It is very simple to generate the recs for a large list of fics in such a way that all of the themes are listed.

If you would rather just have a list with certain themes excluded, please also comment to let me know which one(s). You can find the full list of themes here.


I listed any ships I thought were major below each fic. If there are any minor/background ships you want to avoid, please leave a comment and ask for a list to be made for you. Note that ships may refer to one-sided or unrequited ones as well as to requited/mutual.



Below are the recs:

Ellie Linton & Corrie Mackenzie

hiddencait / Hidden Relevance - Armored Hearts, 754 words, PG-13
A quiet moment between friends during a war.

Kailorien - Under a Southern Sky, 1185 words, PG
Ellie's having trouble comprehending just what she and her friends have been through. Set just after blowing up the Hereon Bridge.


Ellie Linton/Fiona Maxwell

wandering_wildflower - waiting by the fire, 1084 words, PG-13


Homer Yannos & Ellie Linton

Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat) - Thoughts of the End, 1100 words, PG-13
A scene from Homer's point of view after he finds out he and Ellie are sentenced to death by Major Harvey and the enemy soldiers at Stratton Prison in book Three


Homer Yannos & Robyn Mathers

Kailorien - Strange Girl HomerRobyn The Tomorrow Series, 1131 words, PG
A one shot exploring the friendship between the religious Robyn and rebel Homer. I love these characters, they're my favorites from the whole series. I've tried pretty hard to stick to their original characters and not take too many liberties. Enjoy!


Homer Yannos/Ellie Linton

Emma_Oz - Adventurers, 802 words, Unrated
Boating on the wedding morning.

Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat) - Sometimes It Takes A Ghost, 1305 words, PG
Homer is feeling confused about the depth of his rage and gets a visit from an old friend who lays it all out for him.

LaurenThemself / notalwaysweak - it's a revolution I suppose, 2389 words, R
Set in some nebulous time between The Other Side of Dawn and While I Live; life is beginning to return to what passes for normal in Wirrawee now, but that doesn't mean that the war is over.

LaurenThemself / notalwaysweak - Nascent, 2839 words, PG
This is my first story featuring anyone from John Marsden's work. I'm toying with some more ideas, but for the moment this is it. Set after The Other Side of Dawn, this story is a tentative beginning to the relationship between Homer and Ellie that John hints at in the final chapter of TOSoD.

lilypadandprongs4eva - Obscure Your Dreams, 5988 words, R
When everything becomes too much and there's no one left, who can you turn to? Dark-fic, Ellie/Homer. The spark is seen brightest when the night is at its darkest. A friendship-affirming story that becomes more. Lemon but plot-centric! Set 5th book BfR


Homer Yannos/Fiona Maxwell

Jazyrha - For All My Tomorrows, 1479 words, PG
Because even the world was reduced to ashes, she looked beautiful, still. /A Fi x Homer story/ /Set during Burning for Revenge/

Kailorien - Chocolate Pudding A FionaHomer fanfic, 1373 words, PG
Fiona Maxwell knows today is going to be a special day, she just can't work out why... Rated K mostly for the implied fluffiness :

Kailorien - When the End is just the Beginning, 2116 words, PG-13
SPOILERY: If you haven't read the end of the series. This is a story, a moment of recognition and reflection after the war from Fiona's perspective. Enjoy :


Kevin Holmes/Corrie Mackenzie

DreamingIce - Into the Abyss, 224 words, PG-13
Movie-verse. In the aftermath of their attack on the bridge, Kevin is left reeling. Kevin/Corrie. Originally written as part of a multifandom challenge in 2012 - 10 songs from my iPod on shuffle=5 ficlets from various fandoms each month, every month.


Lee Takkam & Robyn Mathers, Robyn Mathers/Fiona Maxwell

ryttu3k - Your promise preserves my life, 1919 words, PG
Five times Robyn doesn't tell, and one time she does.


Lee Takkam/Ellie Linton

ochred - the mystery of love belongs to you, 4019 words, PG-13
Ellie's been walking blindly forward since that day they descended into Hell. Time to stop. and I draw a line, to your heart today, to your heart from mine, a line to keep you safe.

The TwilightTwin - Fighting Back, 4056 words, PG-13
Ellie, Homer, Fiona, Lee and Kevin, are attacking enemy patrols, as they are in the Other Side of Dawn. This is another guerilla activity of theirs that takes down a patrol. One-shot, let me know if you want it continued.


Lee Takkam/Reni

Technomad - Taking Care of Business, 5000 words, PG-13
What if Homer, and not Ellie, had found out about Lee's affair with an enemy girl? AU for Burning for Revenge; features a much more ruthless Homer than in canon.


No major ships

alphayamergo - Over, 1199 words, Unrated
Gavin's last days of the war.

Dots And Dashes - You'll Be The Death Of Me, 1715 words, PG-13
No matter their morals on killing, they're certain we're doing the just thing, trying to save our land from the terrible invaders. I'm not so sure. Ellie's thoughts on the war, set after book one - could be considered either book or movie verse, really.

Electraa - Iridescent, 605 words, PG-13
Chirs Lang - genius, legend, poet, borderline alcoholic, smoked anything he could. On the outside, you got what you were given but on the inside, he was shimmering.

Emma_Oz - Team Work, 530 words, PG
Scanning through the Yuletide requests, I thought that I could kind of meet Shadowcat’s request for a Tomorrow When the War Began story. This fic is set in a world where the events at the end of the first book go differently for Corrie. The fic doesn’t show them working together during the war as requested, but does involve a post-war discussion of their work.

Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat) - Storytime, 800 words, PG
Chris finds a way to make his friends relax a bit.

Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat) - The Phone Calls, 1366 words, PG
After one more tragedy happens to their group, it's up to Homer to make the phone calls to their mates.

Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat) - These Eyes That See, 1000 words, PG-13
Fi's thoughts on what she sees happening with Ellie.

Firelord Mel / Dracarys 2.1 - Cold, 423 words, PG-13
Tomorrow, when the war began. A short one-shot of Corrie's perspective of when she was shot. Rated T for themes.

halfeatenmoon - Found my feet but lost my ground, 792 words, PG-13
Ellie always talks about how much Wirrawee changed after the war. Homer is spooked by how normal it seems.

Hermione Fowl - Those Quiet Moments, 243 words, PG
There was only one good bit in that war. Those quiet moments in Hell

Jessimyre - Yesterday When The War Began, 17817 words, PG-13
Tomorrow When The War began from Lee's POV. Delve into the thoughts and feelings of one of the other characters, Ellie's love interest and a complicated, fascinating guy. Just my version - Lee's character has always fascinated me. Rated T just in case.

Kailorien - These Last Few Days, 3658 words, PG-13
The group of teens are finally caught and held in the Stratton Prison. This is the telling of that time from Homer's perspective. How he copes with what they've done, who they face, and the road laid out before them. Language Warning! Bad words ahead!

Kristen - Through the Wreaths of Mist, 1399 words, PG-13
Robyn says good-bye to Chris.

Louise Brennan - Robyn's Last Days, 720 words, PG-13
Robyn's view on her last few days in prison

Nienna14 - Destruction, 561 words, PG
A quick one-shot from Corrie's point of view of when her house is destroyed

Richard Simpson - Consequences, 797 words, Unrated

Richard Simpson - Eight Very Ordinary Heroes, 7152 words, Unrated
Ellie's diary entry for an Awards Ceremony - follows "The Other Side of Dawn" Finley is always talking about "proper recognition" and that got me wondering what "proper recognition" would be. From my reading on the subject, it is very clear that support, approval, acceptance and a ready ear to listen are vitally important to the recovery and health of people in the position of Ellie and her friends. At the same time societies need their heroes and honouring such people publicly is one way a society can help draw itself together and inspire its members to keep up the struggle. This is one stab at what putting together those two needs could involve. For those overseas, the "Governor General" is the nominal "head of state" of Australia. This is largely a ceremonial position. The "Governor General" is not a politician, but is generally one of the most respected people in Australia. There have been exceptions to this, but for the purposes of the story I am assuming this GG is one of the good ones. In this story, the Governor General speaks for me.
Note: There's an unlinked alternate ending to this that can be found here and which is included in the total wordcount listed.

Richard Simpson - Every Time I Close My Eyes, 765 words, Unrated
Ellie's diary - playing with a scene from "The Other Side of Dawn" Ellie can't find the words to explain to Ryan why the ferals must be saved, but Fi does.

Richard Simpson - Extract from the Memoirs of Kari Elko, 4469 words, Unrated
Description of the last battle in "The Night is for Hunting" and its aftermath from the perspective of an Enemy Soldier This story introduces Ellie to a future Australian president (and her twin), who just happens to be armed, female, Ellie's age and trying to kill her at the time they first meet. Half the story takes place a bit after "Eight Very Ordinary Heroes" and as such this piece should be read after "Judy's Story".

Richard Simpson - How I wish they were all just monsters, 4545 words, Unrated
Ellie's diary entry for an inserted scene in "The Night is For Hunting" I have always been facinated by moral dilemas and how people resolve them. This is story about how one troubled man seeks to balance compassion and duty.

Richard Simpson - Judy's Story, 4523 words, Unrated
Description of Ellie's visit to Camp 23 and the aftermath from Judy's perspective I was interested to see how some of the things that happen might look like from another's perspective, so I wrote up Judy's impressions of Ellie and her visit to Camp 23, along with her view of the events in "Eight Very Ordinary Heros". It should be read after that piece.

Richard Simpson - Lee, 1439 words, Unrated

Richard Simpson - Ryan Reports, 1679 words, Unrated

Richard Simpson - SAVED!, 674 words, Unrated

Richard Simpson - The Explosive Salami, 1139 words, Unrated
Ellie's diary - playing with a scene from "The Other Side of Dawn" Ellie isn't really someone to run away when her friends are threatened.

shelter - DSLR, 4066 words, PG-13
One-shot. Somewhat AU. What if there was no hope of rescue, no convenient bombardment of Stratton Prison, no escape? In the shadow of execution: 12 moments from Ellie's last week on death row.

shelter - Lazarus, 1994 words, PG-13
One-shot. As the battles rage around her, Robyn Mathers fights, saves, cries and leads - right up to the end. And knowing she's done everything, she looks forward to going home. Contains spoilers for Book Two and Three. Bookverse.

Technomad - Ellie's Heroes, 23431 words, PG-13
AU for Darkness Be My Friend. What if Ellie and her friends had only gone back to Australia on condition that they get trained, armed and uniformed?

Technomad - Game as Ned Kelly, 2095 words, PG-13
An AU for The Third Day, The Frost/A Killing Frost. What if the RNZAF hadn't dropped their bombs on Stratton Prison just where and how they did?

Technomad - The Last Reunion, 1736 words, G
The end of the whole story, decades in the future. This has been bugging me to get it written for a while.

Technomad - Through the Wreaths of Mist, 1495 words, PG-13
The war may be over, but the losses linger on...

voleuse - The Floodgates of the Sky, 1028 words, PG
What was left behind was astounding. Ellie takes stock of the person she used to want to be.


If any of the links above no longer work, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)