driveby recs, june 2024

[deadfinch]

Sera's Cabinet of Wonder Whose it Was by teamsera
T, Dragon Age, Sera/F!Lavellan, 449 words
Some say she lives in a tavern.

No saying about it. She does and she doesn’t give a tinker’s cuss who knows. It’s hers. A treasure chest. A place for shiny things and her Shiny.

stream-of-consciousness style that nails sera's voice, which i can only imagine is a very tricky voice to nail! (i'd certainly be intimidated if i tried.) so much said in so few words, and very sweet, too.

On the Subject of the Varterral and Courtship in Ancient Elvhenan by Cryptographic_Delurk
M, Dragon Age, Merrill/Pol, Merrill/Audacity, 6k
Pol looked very young without any vallaslin on his face – both adult and not – and also very scared. Merrill decided she liked him then.

this is tagged "I merely think predatory mad scientist Merr is sexy" and i merely agree. THIS is my terrible blood mage wife 💚 i want to call attention to this rec in particular because it has so few hits/kudos in spite of being SO excellent, probably because it's two rarepairs, but really it's more of a merrill character study than shipfic and if you're a merrillmancer, it'll probably be up your alley.

Some Things Are Certain by cupiscent
E, Star Wars, Obi-Wan/Anakin, 7k
Detained far from where he should be by random chance, Obi-Wan meets an unusual slave.

an oldie but a goodie. i first read it so long ago that i'm counting it as fresh read now. the language is delicious and firm. i miss when it was in vogue to tie AUs into canon by having them really metaphysically be other lives/other timelines; i think (as in this fic) it can help reinforce the emotional stakes of the AU.

from the belly of the deepest love by maharlika
M, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor/Loki, 34k
In an attempt to make an inconspicuous supply run, Thor and Loki end up fighting in trial by combat, escaping a death sentence, and getting embroiled in a revolution.

Oh, and they have to pretend to be married the whole time.

disclaimer: this swerves at times a little further into Soft Incest and particularly Soft Loki than my preferences typically allow BUT it is very fun and tightly-written and the tone is delightfully ragnarok-y and thus it deserves a spot in my recs tag. this loki, though soft, is entertainingly wiley.