driveby recs, february-may 2024

[deadfinch]

Steve Rogers Might Wear Tights, but He's Not Your Pin-Up Girl by RosaLui & what_alchemy
G, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Steve/Bucky, 5k
Bucky enrolls in a college course about Captain America. It doesn't go well.

i'm not a steve/bucky person typically so i don't know what goes on over in that space, but i would be surprised if this isn't considered some sort of fandom classic. certainly one of the coolest uses of multimedia in fic i've seen, with topics (historical revisionism, the conservative co-opting of counterculture figures) that i found both well-handled and resonant.

orchard by frausorge
T, Narnia, Jadis/Susan, 1k
Susan saw her for the first time at dusk.

the first tastes of a fascinating premise, told in crisp & pleasant language.

Third by cumdumpster666
G, Teen Titans, Starfire/Raven/Blackfire, art
A grumpy Raven is fawned over by the alien sisters.

as i say in a comment - at once fluid and sharp in all the right places! i'm enamored with this style.

Waterways by echoslam
G, Disco Elysium, Joyce/Lilienne, 1k
The indotribe's representative was always unfailingly polite towards Lilienne, to the point that her intuition told her she ought to be wary.

It took her far too long to realize she was being wooed.

both women are as charming as they are in canon and have an easy chemistry one might not expect from their very, very different backgrounds and stations in life. i've been shallowly curious about the ship since i played the game - in a "joyce is hot, lilienne is hot, need i say more" sort of way - but this little slice makes it feel like something that really could happen.

The Leash by downjune
M, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Peter/Tony, 30k
Peter didn’t know if they talked to anyone else who carried them, but when he had the Infinity Gauntlet tucked under his arm, he could swear the stones were trying to…commune with him. They wanted something from him. Wanted to be used. He wanted to be rid of them.

Until he found Tony Stark leaned against some torn up tree roots and rock. He found Tony dying.

At that point, Peter was ready to bargain.

i'm pretty sure read this at some point before, because every now and then there'd be a line that just slapped me with a sense of being eerily familar. i never kudos-ed it, though, so maybe i was just more in the mood for it the second time. i stumbled upon it in an ffa thread asking for "classically" tropey soulbond fics and i agree with nonny that this is a delightfully competent example! what impressed me the most about this piece, though, is just how young peter feels in comparison to tony without it ever edging into infantilizing. that can be a surprisingly hard balance to strike in age gap shipfic and i applaud the author for sticking the landing.

Agony of a Kiss by StrawberryScribbles
G, The Owl House, Eda/Lilith, art
Once more, at the end of things.

this is living in my head rent free, as the kids okay, apparently that phrase is from the 90s and i'm not that old so i don't know why i said kids in the first place speakers of english like to say. no commentary; just go look at it.

Sensory Deprivation by Lovejoy
E, Naruto, Itachi/Sasuke, comic
Satsuki's been having recurring dreams.

a delicious, texturey art style with delicious, steel-abbed 63!itasasu character designs and also a deliciously hot smut concept. hard to top!

hot girl bummer by lovetincture
M, Naruto, Itachi/Sasuke, 1k
Sasuke and Itachi have neat, short nails painted the same immaculate shade of dark plum, and Naruto wonders if they share nail polish.

i'm almost too embarrassed to rec this because of just how self-indulgent it is but also the whole venture of fandom is fundamentally self-indulgent and i am not ashamed! so there! rule 63 high school au mean girl sistercest! for your reading pleasure! i'm kind of obsessed with the creepy hilarity of itachi coming to a high school party just to publicly make out with her little sister, lmao (positive) (iddy).

Five Views of Two Rabbits by reconditarmonia
T, Mulan (1998), Mulan/Shang, 1k
Lots of people have opinions on Li Shang's relationship with Fa Ping, later revealed as Fa Mulan, but most of them are missing something: Shang is General Li's daughter.

this is just an awesome idea for a 63 and the 4+1 outsider pov/dramatic irony frame is a great way to execute it. the emperor's section and the section with their fellow soldiers are my favorites, but the whole thing is well-considered.

Comments

[meikuree]

thank you for your service with your recs!

i'm almost too embarrassed to rec this because of just how self-indulgent it is

hey, if this was self-indulgence for you it was indulgence for me too. anyway, sistercest liker gang coming here to say this was a nice hit to my id buttons too.