Rec Roundup

[delphi]

Catching up on cross-posting some recs from my journal from May and June:


Untitled Ouizzy Neighbor AU by derekstilinski
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Relationship: Frenchie/Izzy Hands
Medium: Gifset
Length: 3 gifs
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: romance, happy ending, getting together, constructed reality, au: modern, domesticity, nature

Description:

In the first gif, Izzy wanders out into a field and happens upon Frenchie, who's sitting alone and obviously having a bad time alone with his thoughts. In the second, the two men are each in their houses, looking out the window at each other's places. In the third, they've finally come together, Frenchie handing a wary Izzy a cup of tea.

I am such a sucker for constructed reality graphics and vids, and all the ways a little tactical harnessing of the Kuleshov effect can bring us the crossovers, AUs, and visual adaptations we crave. I've got a few from this same creator to rec, but I'm starting with this Neighbor AU that imagines a modern day Frenchie and Izzy living next door to each other in the country and catching each other's eye.

First off, I just love how it's put together, from the progression of running into each other by chance, then scoping out each other from their houses, to finally coming together for tea. But I also love how the choice of sources colours the story being told here. I'm pretty sure the Con O'Neill clips are from Vengeance Is Mine and the Joel Fry ones are from In the Earth. These are both harrowing movies where the actual characters are going through some awful things. I appreciate how those scenes get recontextualized here into something cozier that nonetheless paints a picture of both characters having gone through some rough times.

You can easily imagine that this modern Frenchie has just as many terrible things locked up in that little box in his head as his 18th century counterpart had, and that this Izzy has just been through an emotionally and/or physically traumatic breakup with Ed, and now here they are, a little bruised and cautious but finding some potential comfort and love in their own backyard.


Untitled Ouizzy Vampire AU by derekstilinski
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Relationship: Frenchie/Izzy Hands
Medium: Gifset
Length: 3 gifs
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: dark/horror, ambiguous ending, constructed reality, au: supernatural, infatuation, temptation, fear play, bloodplay (distantly implied)

Description:

In the first gif, Izzy steps uncertainly through the doorway of an abandoned church and stops in front of a flight of stairs. Frenchie jumps out at him theatrically onto the landing above, grinning in front of a full-length panel of stained glass. In the second, Frenchie's eyes glow and his lips part in the dark confines of a confessional. In the shadows on the other side, we glimpse Izzy's rapt and frightened eyes. In the third, Frenchie says something tensely and then flashes a persuasive fanged smile in the vestibule of the church, intercut with Izzy staring at him and swallowing hard, one hand pressed to the side of his face and neck.

This is my second rec for a constructed reality graphic from this same creator, and this one uses some absolutely brilliant editing to bring together what I'm pretty sure is Vengeance Is Mine and an episode of the TV show Bedlam (neither of which involve vampires) to create an AU where vampire!Frenchie and human!Izzy have a charged encounter in an abandoned church. The application of colour, the selection of eyelines, and the addition of other small edits all make this incredibly convincing, and the concept itself is very, very good to me.

I imagine this Izzy having some sort of protective interest in the church—a paid caretaker, a nosy neighbour, maybe a former vicar or member of the congregation who lost his faith after some tragic event. Whatever it is, he intends to roust out whoever's been squatting there, only to slide straight through "Oh no, he's hot" to "Oh fuck, that's a vampire" and into a dark and hot standoff between charmed predator and captivated prey.

Seriously, this is the gift of derekstilinski's work. Three gifs and a fully formed universe full of potential stories pops into existence.



Untitled Narwhal!Merman Izzy by MegaDucko
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Character/Relationship: Izzy Hands (Izzy Hands/Edward Teach in framing text)
Medium: Art
Length: 1 piece
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: slice of life, romance, ambiguous ending, established relationship, au: merpeople, long-distance relationship, gifts, nature
Artist's Summary: For 27 years now Ed has been bringing Izzy, his sea unicorn, small gifts every time he returns from a particularly lucky raid and those are Izzy's happiest moments...

Description:

Merman Izzy, his lower half the mottled grey tail of a narwhal and his brow sporting a long horn, lounges kelp-draped on a rocky shore. He's adorned with a bracelet and an earring, and protected in a small grotto beside him is a collection of other trinkets.

Izzy's status as the ship's unicorn has a special place in my heart, and bringing this together with a merperson AU to give us Izzy as a narwhal-style merman is just brilliant. And as always, MegaDucko has realized a brilliant concept beautifully.

The setting is perfect for Izzy, with his sturdy build and scars: not white sand and crystal-blue waters but a more rugged and cooler coastline, beautiful in its own way but not conventionally idyllic. The overall design of his body feels so natural despite its fantastical construction, with the way his musculature and colouring blends together between top half and bottom, and with the way he's got his tail curled around, dripping water on himself. Curled over his gifts from his sailor-love, it's easy to see that piece of land he's cuddling up to as a proxy for Ed. His expression perfectly strikes the balance between contentment and yearning, and I'm firmly opting for the happier ending discussed in the artist's thread.



Untitled Modern Spy AU by Irene
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Relationship: Izzy Hands/Roach
Medium: Art
Length: 1 piece
Rating: NSFW? (two characters sharing a bathtub, waist-up nudity and bare knees)
My Bookmark Tags: slice of life, action/adventure, happy ending, established relationship, au: modern, au: spies, close call, h/c (injury), bathing/grooming, domesticity, intimacy, smoking
Artist's Summary: The aftermath of a successful mission. (Spy AU)

Description:

Izzy and Roach sit across from each other in a bathtub, unwinding after a spy mission. Izzy is bruised and bandaged, smoking a cigarette. Roach is relaxing, his hands resting on the edge of the tub. Between them is a tray with two cans of beer.

There is so much story in this one picture. There's the physical scrape and near miss that Izzy's obviously been through with either a stab wound or a bullet graze. There's the winding-down exhaustion written across both of them. There's the bath tray and beers that speak to this being a regular ritual, along with the lack of urgency that says this is just another Tuesday for them. Then, as my favourite part, there's the obvious ease and intimacy between two men who are in a field that's all about danger and secrecy. This feels like a partnership that's worn its way into a place of comfort and trust.

I also just love Irene's ability with bodies. The poses, musculature, tattoos, body hair, injuries—everything here has a very real and lived-in feeling.



Day by Day by surprisepink
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Ship: Stede Bonnet/Izzy Hands
Medium: Fic
Length: 1361 words
Rating: Teen
My Bookmark Tags: slice of life, romance, humour, happy ending, established relationship, izzy lives, future, flirtation, compatibility, service
Summary: A typical raid for Captain Bonnet and his new first mate.

Excerpt:

“I’m getting the hang of this, if I do say so myself,” says Stede, cheerily.

“And you do.”

“What’s that, Izzy?’

“Say so yourself.” The man looks entirely unimpressed, but it does take a lot to impress Izzy. Stede has accepted it by this point, and knows not to take it personally. Knows, too, that if Izzy actually wasn’t at least a little happy with him, he could leave the ship just about anywhere and find another pirate crew to join. And yet, port after port, he doesn’t.

And all Stede had ever wanted was for people to stay.

This is everything I love about the idea of Stede and Izzy together on the Revenge, with Stede captaining and Izzy serving as his first mate. The way they rile each other up is perfect, tempered to just the right heat by a better understanding of each other. Izzy's ways of trying to serve Stede while keeping his ego in check are moving, and so is Stede's growing sense of what he's doing and what it means.

The story's funny, with a comedic moment early on that made me laugh out loud, and the sexual chemistry between Stede and Izzy absolutely crackles. This one really made my day.



Untitled Chibi Jim by StarBramble
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Character: Jim Jimenez
Medium: Art
Length: 1 piece
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: action/adventure, happy ending, portrait, clothing, blades

Description:

A chibi-style drawing of a smiling Jim Jimenez in a fencing pose with their dagger, dressed in their season 2 outfit.

This is just super cute. I love Jim's adorkable moments on the show, and I always love a good juxtaposition of cuteness and deadliness. Jim's ready to star in their own stabby Little Golden Book here, complete with a loving representation of my favourite ensemble of theirs: the undercut, the mustard-colour shirt hanging artfully open at the collar, the suspenders, the earring. I just want to take them home with me.