Minka: “Fire Breather”
The third time Steve saw him was no accident.
Neither was the fourth, nor the fifth.
There was a turning point in every situation in life. That tip on the scale of accidental and deliberate, where something innocent could be warped and twisted into something premeditated and intentional.
Steve passed that point last Thursday.
Fire Breather by @minka-g. So, before I even get into this fic -- Minka is an all-around phenomenal writer and this isn’t technically the first time I’ve recced one of her stories (refer to this post on some of my favorite angsty fics) and you absolutely should check out their longer works. I just recently read Fire Breather, though, and I realized it was like, criminally underrated, so I thought I’d do my duty as an enthusiastic reader and bring some attention to it (and also her other fics!! I’m not kidding about that, especially if you like angst and plotty fics). Some highlights: Russian Bucky, which is a trope Minka has honestly made me adore; circus performer Bucky who’s special talent is, unsurprisingly, knife-throwing; Good Bro Natasha; borderline creepy artist Steve who is just that into Bucky as his latest all-consuming muse; and also soulmates!! SOULMATES!! Have I mentioned before how much I love soulmate AUs? Yes, probably, but you’re gonna hear about it again lmao, especially because I was enthralled by the way Minka tackled soulmates in this through Steve’s perspective. Also, trust me when I say I don’t generally read anything that qualifies as Dark Fics (or at least not often), so while Steve’s behavior is uh, shall we say, concerning, he doesn’t hurt Bucky in any way, and everything turns out alright in the end, so you think the creepy vibe of the summary might deter you, I can promise it’s nothing that bad. Just. Steve gets a little stalkerish, is all. Like I said, it’s got a happy ending, though, so no need to worry! This is a relatively short read and it’s sooooo good, I was hooked from start to finish. I wholeheartedly recommend it!
