Recs? Really?
OK, I haven't done one of these in a long, long time, but here goes!
- Title: Riches Ready to Drop Upon Me
Author: birdsofshore
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Summary: During the nights that follow his trial, Draco dreams as never before.
Rating: PG-13
Word count: ~1400
Rec: I thought of putting in excerpts from the dreams themselves, because they're awesome, but that would be denying people the delight of reading them in context and going, "Oh hey I KNOW that one!!"
This apparently started as crackfic, and it is that, but it's also unexpectedly sweet and touching. It's like... a sweet, cracky love letter to fandom. Even if you've kinda left the fandom? Read it.
Excerpt: During the nights that follow his trial, Draco dreams as never before. His body lies blamelessly, resting exhausted between freshly-laundered cotton sheets, while his mind adventures to scenes so preposterous that, on waking, he can hardly believe his own nerve.
- Title: His Father's Son
Author: rickey_a
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing(s): Scorpius/Albus Severus, Draco/Astoria (implied)
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy tries to find his own way in the world.
Rating: NC-17
Word count: ~7,200
Warnings/Spoilers: Ack, I don't remember how to do this without accidentally revealing it to everyone with a different colour scheme than me. She provides them on her story.
Rec: I read this one when it came out even though I'm not that much into darkfics. I was... stunned. It's one of rickey_a's best fics, IMHO, and she's written a lot of good fics. She mentioned somewhere that it hadn't received as much readership as some of her others and I can only guess that people were put off by the darkfic label.
Which is too bad, because to be honest, even though it's got a lot of painful in it, it's also beautiful. I ended it feeling simultaneously heartbroken, relieved, and uplifted, which was a really weird combination. Went in expecting evil and hatred and found... well, I won't spoil it.
Seriously, read it.
Excerpt: "I didn't want to be in the same house as my father either. People are always telling me how much I look like him."
"Yeah. Me too," Scorpius replies ruefully. "I'm me. You know? It's not really fair. Anyway, I'm going to be as different from him as I can possibly be."
- Title: Sway
Author/Artist: Not Applicable
Fandom: Avengers
Pairing/Characters: Bruce Banner/Steve Rogers
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Hook-up story, romance with angsty feels
Word Count: 27686
Warnings: N/A. Just two fully cognizant adults participating in consensual acts.
Summary: I can hear the sound of violins / long before it begins
"I know you’re still finding your way around the 21st century, and I know that when you were young it wasn’t as easy for…you probably got used to playing along to some degree."
Rec: I beta'd this! To be honest, I had not read a lot of Steve/Bruce, but the premise drew me in and the pairing started to make more and more sense. And, much as I adore fics where Steve Rogers is an all-around perfect human being (because in canon he is pretty gosh darn awesome and wholesome) a fic in which he's a human being who makes boneheaded mistakes but remains essentially a good person is always a delight to read :) :) :)
Excerpt: “It’s a classic.”
“Well, I kind of remember you describing it as ‘panty peeler,’ and it most certainly wasn’t.”
Tony and Clint fell into a chorus of empathetic yowls. “No, no, oh no!” Tony cried, and he waved his drink in the air for effect. “I can’t believe it - I cockblocked Captain America.”
- Title: Family Old and New
Author: Pookaseraph
Fandom: Marvel 616, Marvel (Comics), Captain America (Comics)
Rating: Mature
Pairing: None
Words: 33,219
Summary: When Ian Rogers finally comes to Earth from Dimension Z, his father is in no state to help him adjust, which leaves him relying on the Avengers, unable to forget the violence of his home, and hiding the secret he's sure they will hate him for.
Rec: I read this by accident - as in, clicked on the wrong button. Best accident I've made in I don't know how long.
I'm also a complete newbie when it comes to Marvel Comics. I'm (almost) strictly MCU, because the comics confuse me with their endless references to events I've never read and characters I've never met. And I'd never read the current Captain America, because at $4/issue, it's just a little pricey for me.
Didn't matter. Like, at all. Having now read Captain America 7 (yes, this fic made me cave!) I can tell that there's all sorts of stuff that's richer and more meaningful, but honestly upon first (and second and third) read, I had no idea I was missing anything. Ian and Tony's interactions, and Ian's thoughts about Steve, are just beautiful. He's such an incredibly well-drawn character, and Tony's - and everyone else's - reactions to him are so very, very IC.
Excerpt: One of Tony's best friends in the world was lying on a emergency bed, and Tony had just watched said friend push away his most prized possession into the hands of a kid who had called Steve 'dad' and Steve had called 'son'. To say he was a bit shaken up was an understatement, but part of being in charge of the Avengers at the moment was standing up and not collapsing in a ball of terror whenever things weren't looking so hot. He took a few steps over to where the kid was huddled, clinging to the shield like a lifeline, head bowed down against the edge of it, weeping.