Heroes and Devils, Avengers 616
Title: Heroes and Devils
Author: marinarusalka
Rating: Teen
Fandom: Avengers 616/Echo Bazaar
Characters/Pairings: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Luke Cage/Jessica Jones, Jessica Drew, Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson, Natasha Romanov, Sam Wilson, Wong
Length: 35k
Warnings: Some supporting character death.
I'll say upfront that while this is a crossover, you don't need to be familiar with Echo Bazaar to know what's going on. I'd never played the game before reading, and I found the world fascinating; the author does a great job of - not quite worldbuilding, I guess, as the world's pre-built, but of giving us the tour, showing us piece after piece so we build a picture of a strange fantasy New York. Don't let it put you off, or you'll miss out on something great!
marinarusalka's work is always great to read, but I love this one in particular because it's such a perfect crossover; if you didn't know it was a crossover, it would be a perfectly reasonable comic plot. Doctor Doom threw Manhattan into a weird hell dimension? Sounds legit. And the characters very much treat it like that - sure, it's a crisis but it's another in the long list of crises which is life in the Avengers. They adapt, they work, they solve. They fit themselves into the new way of living at the same time they're looking to undo it. The way the stress of their situation wears on them in different ways is also very well-done.
There's some delightfully creepy moments, and some very tender ones; the Steve/Tony relationship is understated but sweet, their long years of friendship moving naturally into a romance. They're both very well drawn, and I particularly like the depiction of Steve. He can often be written as too perfect, but here we see his flaws and quirks and the things about him that make his friends roll their eyes. Supporting characters have some delicious banter, and the plot is fun and intriguing.
Heroes and Devils
Author: marinarusalka
Rating: Teen
Fandom: Avengers 616/Echo Bazaar
Characters/Pairings: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Luke Cage/Jessica Jones, Jessica Drew, Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson, Natasha Romanov, Sam Wilson, Wong
Length: 35k
Warnings: Some supporting character death.
I'll say upfront that while this is a crossover, you don't need to be familiar with Echo Bazaar to know what's going on. I'd never played the game before reading, and I found the world fascinating; the author does a great job of - not quite worldbuilding, I guess, as the world's pre-built, but of giving us the tour, showing us piece after piece so we build a picture of a strange fantasy New York. Don't let it put you off, or you'll miss out on something great!
marinarusalka's work is always great to read, but I love this one in particular because it's such a perfect crossover; if you didn't know it was a crossover, it would be a perfectly reasonable comic plot. Doctor Doom threw Manhattan into a weird hell dimension? Sounds legit. And the characters very much treat it like that - sure, it's a crisis but it's another in the long list of crises which is life in the Avengers. They adapt, they work, they solve. They fit themselves into the new way of living at the same time they're looking to undo it. The way the stress of their situation wears on them in different ways is also very well-done.
There's some delightfully creepy moments, and some very tender ones; the Steve/Tony relationship is understated but sweet, their long years of friendship moving naturally into a romance. They're both very well drawn, and I particularly like the depiction of Steve. He can often be written as too perfect, but here we see his flaws and quirks and the things about him that make his friends roll their eyes. Supporting characters have some delicious banter, and the plot is fun and intriguing.
Heroes and Devils