Misc Fic Recs

There are a few franchises that I'm not sure if I'm ever going to make a proper 'shrine' for or anything, so I'm not sure where to house random fanfic recommendations. I still just want to talk about how good these were, though! So, here we are!

Thirst-verse by imunbreakabledude (ao3) [Killing Eve, Eve/Villanelle]
A good old-fashioned Vampire AU for all your tropey-goofy-sexy-dark-romantic-supernatural Villaneve needs.

Imagine Season 1, but instead of being an assassin, Villanelle is a vampire, and Eve is a bored MI5 agent who has always believed in vampires.

Action, humor, thrills, romance.

She Seduced Me by imunbreakabledude (ao3) [Killing Eve, Eve/Villanelle]
Anna Leonova is a good person. She always has been, until a new student in her Elementary French class challenges her very notion of what that means.

  • I found the first Thirst fic by coincidence, and it made me want to start watching Killing Eve. And, honestly, I thought it was much better than the show! Like, it has more internal consistency and a much more satisfying ending, while keeping similar vibes. A+!
  • I also really liked She Seduced Me. Normally, the whole teacher/student-thing squicks me out, but, here, it was so horrible, it was really interesting! Especially considering how, on the show, we learn the rough beginning and how things end up, but we don't know anything about the middle, so it was nice to see that fleshed out. Again, great! I really have to read more of this author's works!

Our Path is Crooked, But True by ncfan (ao3) [Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Edelgard/Ingrid]
What do you do, when you discover the world is not what you thought it was? When your family is not what you thought it was? When you are not what you thought you were? Ingrid had not thought that coming to study at the Officers Academy would ever see her asking herself such questions, but rarely has she ever been provided clear portents of the future.

And another thing: should it be you who is changed, wrought into what the world meant for you to be, or should the world change, instead?

  • For one thing, I am just such a sucker for bildungsromans! Especially with leading ladies (and sapphic leading ladies, at that!) <3
  • Second, before I read this, I had only played Crimson Flower through, so I wasn't really familliar with Ingrid's character at all. After reading this, though, I love her and relate to her so much! Besides how realistic the characters are, I also loved the imagery: the ivy-covered gate in the back of her mind, her confronting her problems head on and leading an army (of her schoolfriends, but still) into Hell on earth... Wow.

"to be idle and blessed" by whalebone (ao3) [Original Work]
Lara's stifled existence revolves around caring for her maker's house and its occupants. When she begins to venture outside, she realises that there's so much more for her to experience.

  • this is just a very sweet little oneshot about a robot gardening and falling in love. meanwhile, her maker has been really overworking herself, leading to an increasingly strained relationship with her wife...
  • I thought it was interesting to see romance from a robot's point of view, with excessive logic and categorization of every little detail. very cozy!

Demeter by Jane Land (ao3) [Star Trek: TOS]
"A threatened all-female colony will only accept help from women. Uhura and Christine lead an Enterprise team to battle the prejudices of the colonists and the Federation, as well as more sinister forces that imperil them both. Set seven years after Kista, but stands on its own." (From an ad in Datazine #45)

"When I finished Kista, I simply could not concentrate on the immediate sequel. When I tried, I came up blank, so I jumped ahead in time and tackled a question that had been bothering me.

Just how sexist is the Federation? Granted that Star Trek was unusually enlightened for the mid-sixties, there are elements of it which seem offensive in the eighties. And if we accept it as a depiction of the 23rd century, where does that leave us?"

  • this was such a fascinating read (and emotional, I cried through the entire last third)! it was written in 1987 and deals with a lot of feminist issues and discussions from that time (many of which are still unfortunately extremely relevant today). also, I really appreciated the nuance of characters' opinions and how they're portrayed and interact with each other. it's very realistic and refreshing to read in our current time where it seems everyone wants total ideological homogeneity, often to the detriment of interesting characterization, setting, and plot.
  • Ithiliana on Ao3 wrote an essay which gives a more in depth plot summary and talks a bit about the story's context, both in regards to fanworks and second-wave feminism, if you were curious.
    • some choice quotes:

    [context: A crew from the USS Enterprise is on a mission protecting a Radical Feminist Lesbian Separatist colony. One of the crew members, Grace, is very Christian and intent on evangelizing, despite repeatedly being ordered not to. She is particularly focusing on a young woman from the colony, Lilith.]

    "She has the right to hear the truth." Grace's jaw tightened defiantly.

    "Whose truth?" snapped Astarte.

    "My own!" Lilith charged back into the discussion with a vehemence which startled everyone. "Why are you all trying to make up my mind for me?" She appealed to her grandmother. "I think that what Grace says is a load of crap, but how can I really tell unless you let me see what she's talking about?"

    [Demeter, said grandmother and the founder of the colony, reluctantly agrees to let Lilith come to her own conclusions. Then, Lilith says to Grace:]

    "You told me about your ideas. I'll make a bargain. I'll read your book, if you've got the nerve to read some of ours."

    I just thought this was a very interesting passage, that kinda shows the spirit of the story -- encouraging different groups to share and consider what others have to say and where they're coming from.