Fandom 50 July-September Roundup (5 Recs: Art, Fic, Vids)

[delphi]

Continuing with my goal to make fifty rec posts in my journal this year, here's a roundup from July-September.


Untitled Daisuke and Monty by Julia Stark
Fandom: Dimension 20: Cloudward, Ho!
Relationship: Daisuke Bucklesby/Monty LaMontgomery
Medium: Art
Length: 1 piece
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: slice of life, happy ending, established relationship, then and now, clothing, nostalgia

Description:

Two full-colour images of Daisuke and Monty, one in the present and one in flashback to their younger days. The first is fully saturated and features the two walking close together with Monty in the lead. Daisuke's hat is tipped forward over his eyes as he looks down with a faint smile and puts away his flask. Monty is watching him over his shoulder, likewise smiling and seemingly mid-conversation with him. Above them, larger and more faded out, is a memory of them sitting together decades ago, Daisuke speaking while Monty watches him with soft-eyed attention.

I could have tagged this a variety of ways, but with the whole "Everyone's fallen in love with Daisuke at some point" bit in episode 6 where Van says it's happened to her and Monty says it happened to him twice, I'm going forward with my idea that all of the OG Wind Riders have hooked up over the years (and that it's just a matter of time before Max and Olethra get inducted into the polycule).

This piece is just so sweet. The whole "getting the band back together" element of Cloudward, Ho! has been right up my alley, and I like that their separation was more about losing something that was holding them together rather than a big falling-out that created any ill will. It's made for a great story so far about some highly competent older characters reuniting warmly with old friends and working well together because of their shared history.

I love how the artist has captured this. The flashback looms large over the two men, creating a sense of those past conversations fuelling their present ease with each other and shared direction. It spot-on conveys Monty's wonderful attentiveness to people and suggests a lot in imagining the usually laconic Daisuke so engaged in talking to him. As someone who loves the aesthetics of this season, I'm also very much here for the details in their outfits and the little ways they've changed over the years.



Untitled Kyouji Portrait by yas
Fandom: Let's Go Karaoke!
Character: Narita Kyouji
Medium: Art
Length: 1 piece
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: portrait, ambiguous ending, clothing, smoking

Description:

A monochrome portrait of Narita Kyouji smoking a cigarette. His back is straight and his eyes are closed as he breathes out a cloud of smoke that drifts across his face. A long ash stands at the end of his upraised cigarette as it burns down. His brow is creased in thought.

Okay, first off, this is just gorgeous. I love the way Kyouji looks in the artist's style, the moody use of monochrome, and that absolutely killer smoke effect that lights up as much as it obscures.

Then there's all the potential story lurking behind it. I immediately thought of the scene where Kyouji's reaching repeatedly for his cigarettes and resisting because he isn't going to send Satomi home smelling of smoke. The long ash, the faint frown, the lock of hair falling across his forehead, the eroticism of the parted lips and swirling smoke—I can't help but picture this Kyouji as fresh from a visit with Satomi, letting that careful restraint slip now that he's alone and getting lost in the complicated thoughts he's been keeping under wraps when it comes to what he wants.



Legacy by SpaceCadetGlow
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Ship: Izzy Hands/Benjamin Hornigold
Medium: Fic
Length: 2184 words
Rating: Explicit
My Bookmark Tags: PWP, happy ending, established relationship, backstory, fantasies, genderplay, breeding, foot fetish
Summary: Captain Hornigold has a habit of fucking Izzy before raids. This time, though, he seems overly concerned about his legacy, if anything should go awry.


Excerpt:

"Nothing in this life is guaranteed. Do you ever think about legacy, my dear?"

Izzy shakes his head. He'd been twelve when he'd joined up with the Navy, or so he'd told them. That'd put him around twenty-four now – less than half of Captain’s age, he'd guess, and without any of the status in society that makes a man inclined to worry about things too far down the road.

"The mark we leave on the world," Captain continues. "The proof that we were here." He steps out of his boots and trousers. "For many men, it’s children. But I have not been so blessed."

Izzy has a feeling he knows why, as he perches naked on the edge of the Captain's bed.

This is a scorching-hot and wryly funny story about Hornigold springing some new kinks on Izzy, who's a little more preoccupied with the fact that they're about to go into battle. It's the kind of character-driven PWP I love, where Izzy's pragmatism and lack of an imagination leave him fundamentally unable to get on board with the elaborate narrative Hornigold's weaving, up until something physically clicks for him and his horizons expand. Izzy's point of view is wielded masterfully here, painting a vivid picture of Hornigold's psychology both through what Izzy is capable of understanding and what he isn't. This one left me snickering and swooning in equal measure.



Until It Doesn't Hurt by CATastrophy
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Characters/Relationships: Izzy Hands + Ed/Izzy breakup and background Ed/Stede + elements of Izzy/Lucius
Medium: Vid
Length: 2:49
Rating: SFW (some scenes of violence, including a non-fatal self-inflicted gunshot)
My Bookmark Tags: angst, ambiguous ending, former relationship, fights & breakups, injury, heartbreak, self-harm
Song: "Until It Doesn't Hurt" by Mother Mother
Note: Contains some flickering and flashing lights.

Excerpt:

I want to fight, I want to bite / I want to swallow all the light

This is just a gorgeous three minutes of angst that perfectly captures Izzy's s1 and s2 journey away from Ed, with the way he swings between wanting to lash out and ruin lives but always coming back to just having to bear being left and being hurt. It's a great choice of song paired with crisp editing, making perfect use of moments of fire and self-isolation from the show without ever being too on the nose.



Long Live by llintrek
Fandom: Star Trek (TOS through to AOS)
Characters: Ensemble from TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, and movies
Medium: Vid
Length: 5:19
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: drama, slice of life, happy ending, established relationship, celebration, legacy, nostalgia, friendship, family
Song: "Long Live" by Taylor Swift

Excerpt:

You held your head like a hero on a history book page / It was the end of a decade, but the start of an age

This vid is a warm bowl of good soup, nostalgic and comforting. I love the conceit of starting out following one character who shares a scene with a second, and then following that character, and so on, through the crossovers between the different series, and then across the themes that unite them. This is one I go back to often when I need a smile.