hopeless-eccentric:

Preface: i’m far from the first to talk about this, but i recently made a post about works with f/f ships or more prominently featuring women getting a lot less interactions so after about ten seconds of deliberation i decided i might as well make a rec list for penumbra so those of you who are new to reading vesbud might have an idea of where to start! this list will mostly be newer oneshots which means im leaving out a few of my favorites to make this a good starter list but every vesbud fic is perfect to me

elsewhere, the sky fades to black by SarcasticSargassum

This one is one of my favorites. I bookmark very, very sparingly and this is one of the thirty or so that are on that list. The fic explores Vespa’s psyche following the flashback events of Time Gone By in haunting, beautiful prose that I still remember bits of to this day because they stuck with me so firmly. Be prepared for angst and check the content warnings, but this is still one of my favorite fics of all time.

i see you holding your breath by goinghost

This one!! Another one of my bookmarks, this one is a mermaid au near and dear to my heart. It’s a very fun read all the way through with what I can only describe as a strong authorial voice that I feel matches the story and narration really, really well. It’s one I reread often and enjoy more and more every single time. Another plus is that this fic (and this author consistently!) actually portrays Vespa’s hallucinations often, realistically, and without stigma so this is one I would definitely check out.

my tongue was confounded to reach for her by opaldawn 

This one is post season three finale, so make sure you’re caught up before you read it, but I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again, this is a bookmark, it’s phenomenal, it knocked me dead. If you like angst, this is the fic for you. If you like hurt/comfort, this is the fic for you. If you have eyes, can read, are fine with the content warnings, etc, this is the fic for you. I cry about twice a year and this almost got me.

Drive You Wild [PODFIC] by hopeless_eccentric, entropyre, linktopus 

Hey, there’s a familiar name! I feel bad reccing myself too much, but the acting in this one is genuinely wonderful. It might as well have been done by the actual cast, and that’s not me tooting my own horn, since I just wrote the fic. That being said. The fic is also very good. It’s an action comedy meet cute where Vespa and Buddy meet when Vespa, getting chased by police, jumped in the first car she saw, yelled “drive!” and the rest is history.

if i’m butter then she’s a hot knife by goinghost

Ever just been gay for your wife? If you’re more into fluff, domesticity, and being head over heels for your partner, this fic is wonderful for all of that!! It’s really the vesbud equivalent of a warm hug. It explores postcanon domestic life for Buddy and Vespa and is overall a wonderful time!

Reverse AU by entropyre and SJ Writes (stubborn_jerk) 

I know I said I’d keep most of the recs on this list fairly short, but it would be literally criminal not to bring up the Reverse AU. It’s a fan project putting together fully soundscaped, acted, and soundtracked episodes of an au where Vespa is a private eye and Buddy the mysterious thief. There are full backstories to keep characterization up while also respecting the bones of canon they’re working with (which is super impressive imo), bonus fics, and even bloopers. Check them out on ao3 or on their youtube channel here!

a complete list of fears - vesbud by goinghost with podfics by goinghost and entropyre

This is a series of two oneshots with two podfics, all of which are excellent, featuring a lot of hurt/comfort and emotional hurt/comfort. Essentially everything I look for in a good comfort fic. The podfics are beautifully done and acted, including soundscaping and music, plus the writing is absolutely beautiful. I’ve already included Danny on this list a number of times and I cannot stress enough how much his work has done for the entire vesbud tag. I wish I could put in everything she’s ever written lol.

the stagger of your dagger by opaldawn

Oh my god. Oh my god. Hoo. Whew. Howdy. That being said, if you heard the line “I know how to make a special lady feel special” and tripped and/or choked on something, this is the fic for you. It’s a precanon vingette in which Buddy and Vespa accessorize for a heist by figuring out how to hide knives on them and it’s just excellent. Opaldawn is one of my favorite vesbud authors but this one was just straight up a direct gift to the lgbt community.

all the things they taught me by uptillthree

Another one having to deal with the season three finale, so my only caveat is that you should be careful of spoilers! This one is absolutely wonderful, as is everything this author writes. If you’re a big fan of fluff and angst (but mostly angst), this fic is absolutely wonderful. Devastatingly sad in the best way. It definitely helped me process a lot of what I felt coming out of that last season!

The Honeymoon Phase by kopescetic

In which Buddy and Vespa visit Ranga on their honeymoon and enjoy the scenery, talk about Vespa’s childhood, and oh, yeah, run into Vespa’s ex, a TENTACLE MONSTER. It shouldn’t be as good as it is, but it’s genuinely wonderful, with a lot of fun worldbuilding and moments that fill in bits of Vespa’s past we don’t get to see in canon. I found it absolutely delightful and it’s going on the rec list for a good reason. Just trust me on this one. For fans of Elevator Pitch Podcast, this may or may not be the same Rae who has starred in numerous episodes.

Vespa Ilkay’s Hot Girl Summer by various authors @vespailkayshotgirlsummer

This is a collection of fics revolving around Vespa and the various weekly prompts that have come out this summer. While not all of these are primarily vesbud fics, all of them revolve around the fandom showing a well written female character a little bit more love! If you want to join, the event is still ongoing and the prompts are going up weekly, though you can write and create outside the prompts if you want!

Prelude to a Kiss by hopeless_eccentric

Hey wonder who that guy is. Anyway, I couldn’t get through this without a little self promo, so here’s one of my favorite of my own fics. Buddy and Vespa commit a heist by pretending to be a bereaved femme fatale wife and a hardboiled detective respectively. They flirt profusely while their crewmates who they may or may not be mocking have to hear it all go down over their comms. 

Anyway, I hope all of this is some help for those of you without any idea of where to start! If you want more recs, I have plenty, plus you can go ahead and treat all of these as author recs as well. I didn’t put any writers on here whose stuff I don’t generally like. I hope you consider giving these fics and others a read to help out with the lower interaction f/f fics tend to get!