#fangirlx

Site: AO3.org

Genre: Action, Romance

Fandom: Captain America (Movies)

Ship: James “Bucky” Barnes/ Steve Rogers, Clint Barton/ Natasha Romanoff

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 94,364

Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence

So I’ve been absent in my reviewing last month. In my defense, I was trying some new things. The Stucky Big Bang has also started - or at least the deadline was sometime last week - so a lot of those stories are either being posted or are finishing up. Apparently BetteNoire’s “Lucky Seven” is one of them.

In “Lucky Seven”, Steve Rogers just wants his bike fixed. He knows if he asks Tony, he’ll end up with a new bike entirely, so Steve intends to look for a new mechanic himself. That’s when he finds James Barnes, the racing star who also owns the Red Star Bike Repair. But where Steve thought he was getting a boyfriend who happened to be his mechanic, he actually got a man with more than one back story.

I really liked “Lucky Seven”. I know it’s obvious if I’m recommending it, but it was such a surprising like for me.

As a rule, I generally hate any fic that tries to push Darcy Lewis on me. She has nothing to do with the main Marvel Cinematic Universe, so why do I keep finding her in fics that aren’t Thor-centric? I understanding having a placeholder character, but Angie Martinelli makes much more sense than Darcy Lewis in this instance.

However, Darcy wasn’t a major annoyance this time. Yes, she was there, but it actually worked. So that was surprising.

Bucky’s multiple back stories were actually quite interesting, even though I wasn’t too sure if having him connect back to Steve’s past would work. Having Bucky Barnes be the Winter Soldier without actually being the Winter Soldier was a longshot at best, but I think that BetteNoire did a good job of making it all connect back together.

I liked the general feel of the fic. It was somewhat canon compliant, even though I was not a fan of Fury being made out to be the bad guy. Like, he’s legitimately just doing his job, but I know how this fandom goes about these things. Still, it’s a great fic, all things considered.

Site: AO3.Org Genre: TV Shows, Movies Fandom: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Pacific Rim (2013) Ship: Thor/Loki Characters: Thor, Loki, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Jarvis (Iron Man Movies), Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Nick Fury, Frigga Rating: Explicit Word Count: 13,920 Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence

I think a portion of me wanted to keep my mission of ten posts for July, even if four of them only count for this blog. So I reached back into my list of fics to be reviewed and found this one from 2013. Remember when everyone had a Pacific Rim AU? Yea, this is one of those.

So in "Into The Breach", Thor wants to be a Jaeger pilot, and somehow manages to make it by a random stroke of luck. While learning to about Jaegers, he comes across the story of the missing child, Loki Laufeyson. Thor makes it his mission to find Loki, but what he finds is more than anyone could imagine.

I have a love/hate for this fic. On the one hand, it's legitimately a good story. Like, it's basically a movie. On the other hand, I take issue with quite a few of the author's choices, and that's without me having to pick apart the story itself.

I'm going to keep it simple though, because I want to have this posted before AMC reruns the season finale of Preacher.

I think that Loki's plot was very interesting. The world-building done in that particular section of the fic was very inspired. I like that in the end, he comes back, not because he wanted to be saved, but because he wanted to see his mother. It's kinda hard to talk about it without giving away the whole thing, but Loki's plot makes the whole fic worth reading. It's the only reason that this review could be called a recommendation.

With that being said, I have to say that the use of Jarvis over Rhodey was entirely unnecessary and a bit telling. And it wasn't even the real Edwin Jarvis; the author, Rory, decided to make a human persona for Tony's AI. Any other fic writer would have used Tony's actual human friends, but this one decided that the human version of what essentially is a robot would be a great candidate for Tony to drift with. So what does that say about the state of Tony Stark's mental health in this fic? I'm not even going to talk about the fact that Jarvis is supposed to be brain damaged and a platinum blonde.

I will however talk about how the author chose to emphasize the emotion behind particular phrases. Most people choose to italicize, capitalize, or even embolden a word depending either on artistic choice or whatever is already going on with the text. This author decided to do all three, because why not? And then threw in some ellipsis to top it off. I don't know if I'd noticed this during my first read, but only Loki's plot kept me going once I became aware of it.

So who is this written for (because this is supposed to be a recommendation)? This is for people who want to read an Avengers fic with appearances from Sif, Frigga, and Bucky Barnes. This fic is for people who've forgotten that Tony Stark has actual friends. This fic is for people who like a good take on the Pacific Rim AU, and are willing to take hits for a good story.

To be honest, I don't know why I'm so salty about this fic. 2013 was a whole other time; I didn't know that I could want better in my fics. Admittedly, even then I would have read the author for these style choices, but I don't know if I would have been so harsh. However this is not the worst that I could be.

Site: AO3.Org Genre: TV Shows, Movies Fandom: Marvel Television & Cinematic Universes Ship: NA Characters: James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Sam Wilson, T'Challa, Nick Fury, Mike Peterson, Luke Cage, Misty Knight, Claire Temple, Baron Mordo, Heimdall, Malcolm Ducasse Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 14,108 Warning: Racism

Recently, there's been a push for more fan works with black characters and black couples. The reason being is that most black characters, when they are featured in fanfiction, often are only written for the benefit of their white counterparts. If you've ever read an Avengers fic, you'll notice that more often than not Sam Is A Good Bro, but never his own person, and Rhodey is usually nonexistent and usurped by Bruce Banner. Even T'Challa's glorious entry into Marvel's Cinematic Universe hasn't elevated him from more than a background character who happens to come with the scenery.

Black In Fanfiction is a godsend, even if it's not filled with fics that I would usually read. I'm not going to pretend that most of my ships aren't white or interracial, but it's also super annoying that there are a few WestAllen fics that try to subtly erase TV Iris West's blackness. There's no reason for Finn to get less shine than Kylo Ren or General Hux, the Darcy Lewis of the Star Wars fandom. Is it so wrong to want minority characters to be written with the dignity, respect, and importance that they deserve?

That being said, "We Gonna Be Alright" is about how several black characters in the Marvel Universe react to the shooting death of a black teen by a police officer. Quite relevant, all things considered.

I really liked this fic, much more than I expected to. I tend to walk away from fics that talk about racism because I use fanfiction to escape, but a lot of times it's the hard topics that really show a writer's ability. I wonder at the inclusion of Heimdall and Baron Mordo over Monica Rambeau and Blue Marvel (Adam Brashear), but this seems to have been a strictly a live action venture.

I liked all of the different perspectives, especially Claire's personal story about her experience as an Afro Latina. Baron Mordo's experience with the Ancient One was especially telling, although Heimdall's wasn't as relatable. There is a point where it begins to seem a bit monotonous, even though these are entirely different characters, but the way it's brought back together in the end makes it all worth it. Like, it was nice to see how it affected these characters, but it was also much better to see them try to do something about it.

So who is this for? The black kids, mostly. We don't get a lot of fanfiction that is steeped so heavily in realism and actually takes the perspectives of black characters into account. It doesn't help that Rhodey was recently killed in the Marvel Comics Universe, and Sam Wilson handed over his name and is being asked to give up the shield.

This is for the kids who rejoice at how black Black Panther is going to be. You might think writing a character who happens to be black is enough, but how is it being true to the character if you're only writing a default white character in dark skin? The same way you can write Steve Rogers being influenced by his Irish immigrant mother and her culture's particular brand of Catholicism, you could also write about how Sam Wilson's past as a black child from Harlem has influenced the way he lives his life.

This is for people that understand that representation really does matter. I don't watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. so I've only ever heard of Mike Peterson when it's time to talk about how the show treated him. There's only 155 works under the Mike Peterson tag on AO3, and the few that have him as a main character seem to mostly be focused on his relationship with Skye. How much do you want to bet that, even in those few fics, Mike is written in a way that benefits Daisy?

I'm rambling, but the way that most fanfiction is written as far as black characters is pretty insulting.

In any case, go ahead and read "We Gonne Be Alright"; it's truly well done and deserves all of the hype it gets. There is also a fic that focuses on black DC characters, but their response to the situation is entirely different to what’s done in "We Gonna Be Alright".

Site: FF.Net Genre: Anime Fandom: Dragon Ball Z Ship: Bulma / Vegeta Characters: Vegeta, Bulma Briefs, Trunks Briefs, Son Goku, Son Goten Rating: Fiction M Word Count: 68, 059 Warning: Graphics Depictions of Violence

So guess what I just realized? I haven't been putting ratings on these recommendations for the last four months. My bad, guys.

In "To Live Again", Vegeta finds himself dealing with yet another chance at life. Except, this time, he chooses to live for his family.

When I first got into Dragon Ball Z fanfics, I was immediately pulled into the Bulma/Vegeta ship. I also immediately knew that I hated the three year gap between Future Trunks' first appearance and the Cell Saga. There was nothing inherently wrong with it, but reading fics about it got boring quickly.

The post-Buu fics though? Girl. They are my absolute life.

I love any B/V fics where Vegeta and Bulma make a legitimate go of being a family. I like Vegeta trying to live life as more than just a warrior and a prince without a kingdom. I think that the struggle to be a good person really humanizes Vegeta.

I like this story in particular because you can see the growth. Trunk's starts out begging for a sibling, and Vegeta vehemently denies him at first. However, Vegeta eases up once he's able to tell Bulma exactly why he was against it. Just being able to talk out his fears helps him. The Vegeta that married Bulma, or even the Vegeta that got Bulma pregnant, would have never been able to do that.

Site: AO3.Org Genre: TV Shows Fandom: Teen Wolf Ship: Derek Hale / Stiles Stilinski Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Talia Hale, Scott McCall, Melissa McCall, Lydia Martin, Erica Reyes Word Count: 106,646 Warning: Graphics Depictions of Violence

In "Sinking Ships", Derek and Stiles are suddenly thrust into an arranged marriage in order to further Talia Hale's political agenda. Except, humans are treated as objects, if not an endangered species. So Derek and Stiles have to work through more than just getting to know each other.

Excuse me if this review isn't as hype or long as my usual, but I put it on my recommend list for a reason. This was not some fairy tale, rags-to-riches fic. The disparity between Derek and Stiles' social standings was large and terrifying, to the point that I was afraid that the author would brush it aside for a happy ending. Thankfully, they didn't.

It is made painfully clear that Stiles would be the person most benefitting from this marriage, but it can be argued that Derek is the one with the biggest fight. Having a society full of werewolves accept that his marriage to a human is real, and not an exploitation of a lesser being, is at times next to impossible. However, the development of Stiles' agency makes for a brighter future for the couple.

"Sinking Ships" is for those of us who like a good moral conflict that does get messy, and will go there. It's a bit of a twist on the arranged marriage fic, and it puts the Hale family in a very interesting light. It's not the for the faint of heart, but it's definitely the kind of fiction that really deserves to be heavily recommended.

Let me know what you think.

Were his eyes always green?

Site: AO3.Org Genre: Books Fandom: A Song of Ice & Fire Ship: Ned Stark/Catelyn Tully, Rhaegar Targaryen/Lyanna Stark, Benjen Stark/Cersei Lannister, Barristan Selmy/Ashara Dayne Characters: Robert Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Ned Stark, Jon Arryn, Tywin Lannister, Olenna Tyrell Word Count: 40,874 Warning: No Archived Warnings

It's been seven weeks since I wrote my last review, and you have to know that only a good one could bring me back. That's not to say that none of the fics I've read in the last two weeks weren't good, but there were very few that I was itching to recommend to my followers.

And then I stumbled upon this gem.

In "Wearing Robert's Crown", the Bobby Baratheon that comes back from war is almost a different person entirely than the one that left for it. And the people of Westeros can only help but be influenced by the man that would be their king.

I don't know if I've talked about this before, but I have a soft spot for the Baratheon family. They are destined to be eradicated, if only to live on by Robert's remaining bastards, because the gods hate them. And I don't think that's fair. Also, I really love their house words.

But you know what I like best? A competent Robert Baratheon who actually cares about being a good person. This is one of the few times this fandom has bothered to grant me that.

This Robert is a good father to all of his kids, and finds a strategic way out of marrying Cersei. This Robert spares the lives of Daenerys and Viserys, and abolishes the Kingsgaurd. This Robert is tactical, patient, and commanding. This Robert is hella great.

I don't know if you'll like it, this is some serous canon divergence. I, personally, love any and all canon divergence in this fandom, but, like I said, people tend to like their characters to stay in character. Now, in the author's defense, Robert is the only one who is out of character, and the story is told through the point of view of those around him. I don't know if that will make it more interesting to you, but I know for a fact that I enjoyed it.

2 things:

1. I can finally return to the Stucky fandom