Recs: May 29, 2012

[bethbethbeth]

Still immersed in the Avengers & Sherlock universes. Mostly slash, but some gen and a magnificent Natasha/Clint post-Avengers movie story. Also? A Harry Potter/Mycroft Holmes story, which never should have worked, but does.



Avengers - Marvel-Verse

atrata (atrata on dreamwidth): "Almost No One Makes It Out" (Iron Man (Avengers). Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Stane, etc. "What would have happened if Tony hadn't been born filthy rich? A military AU." This Tony's leading a completely different life from the one he led in canon. For one thing, canon!Tony was never given the "choice" to either go to jail or enlist. But he - and Pepper and Rhodey and Stane and...others - are instantly recognizable. Perfect characterizations and a narrative that feels so real that sometimes it's hard to remember that this isn't how Tony Stark's story was always meant to be told.

boombangbing (boombangbing on LJ): the "Magnetic" series (Avengers/Iron Man/Captain America. Tony/Pepper/Steve - in all combinations, eventually. Author's summary for the first part: "The Courting of Tony Stark" - "It only takes her nine years to say 'I love you' back." Massively long series and still nominally incomplete, but the end of each individual story works as a logical stopping point. The series leads to a Steve/Pepper/Tony threesome, but it's also a team building story and a look at Tony's psyche, which...is a kind of scary/sad place to be at times. The first story in the series - 50,000 words - follows Pepper from her earliest days at Stark Industries, through her rise to CEO and her developing relationship with Tony. Pepper's smart and sexy, Steve is earnest and loving, and Tony is a complete mess, but brilliant and persistent and wildly loyal in his own weird Tony Stark way to the people he loves. Could use some extra proofreading, especially in the later parts of the series, but really engaging and fun)

gyzym (gyzym on LJ): "we were emergencies" (Avengers. Natasha/Clint. "It's not about being unmade; it's about remaking, one aching step at a time." Whether you think this is your pairing or not, I cannot recommend this story highly enough. It follows the events of the movie - most specifically, Loki's manipulations - and...it's raw and honest and erotic and painful and loving all at once. Important: the author has included some fairly extensive notes - trigger warnings and otherwise - so do heed them if warnings are relevant to your reading experience)

heyjudesie (heyjudesie on tumblr): "The potential you'll be (that you'll never see)" (Avengers. Tony/Loki. "Loki has an army, and so much malice in his heart. Tony has liquor, and Loki bent over his bar. They both have the lies that they tell, themselves and everyone else." Short and (not) sweet - but hot. There's no need for the Trickster to tell any lies to Tony here, when he's so good at lying to himself.)

hoosierbitch (hoosierbitch on LJ): "As It Is Written" (Avengers. Clint Barton, Phil Coulson. "The first time the teachers send a note home with Clint, about his problems, about how he’s dumber than the other kids, his dad’s not angry. He just laughs, which, Clint realizes, isn’t actually better." Backstory - gen for the time being - about Clint, which imagines him grappling with dyslexia. Saved from moving into "Afterschool Special" territory by being incredibly honest and real. As of this rec, the author is planning to turn this into a series, but the story stands on its own.)

nightwalker (nightwalker on LJ): "New Traditions" (Avengers. Tony, Steve, Various Avengers, Others. "Tony's starting to think that tackling the whole teamwork thing, the sobriety thing and the holidays thing all at once might have been overly ambitious. AKA: Steve and Tony throw the first Annual Avengers Non-Denominational Winter Holiday Party." For somebody who doesn't drink or do drugs, I'm weirdly attracted to stories about addictions - and also to stories about characters trying to deal with those addictions, whether alone or with the help of [new] friends. This story, written for a holiday fest prompt, is...sweet, but not saccharine and feels very honest. Plus, there's an eight legged horse!)

Petra (petra on Dreamwidth): "Zen and the Art of Anger Maintenance" (Avengers/Iron Man/Hulk. Bruce/Pepper/Tony. "Bruce doesn't trust himself as far as an unenhanced human could throw him, but his new employers, or rather teammates, or--possibly--friends want to help him work on that." This isn't Pepper and Tony's first time around the block, but it's new for Bruce. Smart, with relationship negotiations that feel natural - and if there's not exactly a happily ever after here, that's perfectly okay, at least for the time being)

sinope (eponis on LJ / sinope on DW): "Leaving Doubt to Fate" (Avengers. Hawkeye (Clint Barton)/Phil Coulson. "Clint doesn't have a functioning arm. Phil doesn't have a functioning body. They make it work." Even more science fiction-ish than canon, with a really good possible insight into Hawkeye's psyche - and a smart perspective on the way he might see himself within the team...and otherwise. Potentially spoilery content information: Dom/sub play, and...is it still a spoiler to say that Phil - as per the Avengers movie - is dead?)

TerresDeBrume (terresdebrume on LJ): "We Shall Have Peace" (Avengers/Norse Mythology Generally. Steve-centric, Clint, Loki/Tony, others. "Loki succeeded in conquering the Earth. 85 years later Avenger, Steve Rogers is released from prison only to find that Earth has become a true utopia." Future!Fic obviously, and very creative and original. A bit more 'talky' than anything else, which is actually a feature of the majority of utopian tales ["...and now let me tell you about our economic system!"], but no less engaging for that.)

Zekkass (zekkass on LJ/DW): "and you're out" (Avengers/Captain America/Iron Man. Steve/Tony. "A villain kidnaps Tony and removes his arc reactor and Steve's the one to rescue him. Tony proceeds to try and deal with this. Steve tries not to think about the gaping hole he saw in Tony's chest." A very powerful look at Tony's psychological make-up...and Steve's too, for that matter.)

Harry Potter

esama (esama on tumblr): "Whispers in Corners" (Crossover between Harry Potter and Sherlock (BBC). Harry Potter/Mycroft Holmes. "Everything started with a stumble - his new life in a new world as well as his surprisingly successful career as a medium." I'm pretty sure very few people could have imagined a pairing like Harry/Mycroft working, but work it does. The story could benefit from more proofreading, but apart from that, it's well written and original. Creative use of the Deathly Hallows from HP, and the way the characters from the two universes intersect is very well done, although the way "the Great Hiatus"-era Sherlock characters are presented might come as a bit of a surprise to some LJ/DW readers. Very clever stuff! Note: as you might deduce from the author's summary, supernatural themes are at the heart of this story.)


Sherlock Holmes

achray (achray on LJ): "Cannot Help But Fall" (BBC. Sherlock/John. "John really hadn’t expected to come down for his morning tea on a normal Baker St Sunday and find a strange man asleep on the sofa." Long, smart, and with excellent characterizations, but it's the pacing of the plot that made this story particularly special for me. A seamless blend of casefic and relationship fic.)

astolat (astolat on LJ): "Acceptable Risk" (BBC. Sherlock/John. "The door wasn't locked. He stopped just inside and drank in the flood of data, like the first rush of a cigarette after weeks without, or the even sweeter rush of heroin. " Part of the Canadian Shack 2011 Collection, this post-Reichenbach story has Sherlock tracking John down to Canada in an effort to get him to return to 221b Baker Street, but John isn't as easy to convince as Sherlock imagined he would be. Clever and...this John is so smart)

cyerus (cyerus on LJ): "Gone Is My Past" (BBC. AU. John, Sherlock, Mycroft. "John is an army bomb detection dog who has been turned into a human." So, yes...the author's summary is exactly right, and the thing is, the only way to write a story from this sort of prompt is to not treat it like 'crack,' but to take the premise absolutely seriously, which the author has done...and quite brilliantly. Potentially spoilery content information: self harm, and a rather pet-appropriate moderately Dom/sub sensibility)

e (etothepii on LJ): "they tell me their secrets (will you tell me yours too)" (BBC. Sherlock/John. "In Afghanistan, the supplies tell him when they're running low, and the cars always, always tell him when strangers have touched them, and John gets known as having a knack (paranoia, his men call it, but he's never missed a single car bomb) for keeping his men safe. " A wonderfully original premise, handled extremely well.)

esama (esama on tumblr): "Whispers in Corners" (Crossover between Harry Potter and Sherlock (BBC). Harry Potter/Mycroft Holmes. "Everything started with a stumble - his new life in a new world as well as his surprisingly successful career as a medium." I'm pretty sure very few people could have imagined a pairing like Harry/Mycroft working, but work it does. The story could benefit from slightly more proofreading, but apart from that, it's well written and original. Creative use of the Deathly Hallows from HP, and the way the characters from the two universes intersect is very well done, although the way "the Great Hiatus"-era Sherlock characters are presented might come as a bit of a surprise for some LJ/DW readers. Very clever stuff! Note: as you might deduce from the author's summary, supernatural themes are at the heart of this story. )

Taz (tazlet on LJ): "The Bee Master's Pattern" (BBC. Sherlock/John. "After Sherlock's death, Watson has retired to a cottage on the Sussex Downs." A remix of a story by coloredink Excellent characterizations and very smart - plus...wonderfully detailed where the whole "keeping bees" thing is concerned.)

vangoghaway: "Self Defense in Advance" (BBC. CisWoman!Mycroft, Sherlock, Holmes parents, Lestrade, Anthea. "Mycroft was seven the first time she worried about Sherlock, a tiny pink ugly thing he was, so soft, and quite suddenly she was very aware of all the dangerous things in the world. All the things that not only could harm, but were intent upon doing so. She's thirty six when she first notices the effect this stress has on her. Mycroft is Atlas, of sorts, a government, a sphere of lives resting on the space between her shoulder blades. In the mirror, the sag and sallow of her face alarms her the moment she pauses to study. She looks...old. She at once looks fifty and thirty two, more lines and pronounced gray hair the only things properly missing. She has perhaps always looked this age, somewhere between young and old, for years now, but it's only just now she properly pays attention to it. Mycroft lets her hand drift across her cheek for a second longer before popping open the medicine cabinet and carrying on." A really smart genderswap story (and character study), in which Mycroft is - and has always been - a woman. Mycroft is, for all intents and purposes, asexual in this fic, but... Potentially spoilery content information: there's some interesting interactions - potentially romantic if the series continues - between her and Lestrade. Note: there's also a mention of suicide, drugs, and overdosing - the latter two, canonical - in the fic.)

Comments

[bethbethbeth]

It is!

(meanwhile, I just thought about you yesterday when a friend posted a "Civil War" story: "THE BETTER PART OF LIFE". Thought you might like it...)

[d_generate_girl]

Hah, you know me so well. I am all OVER that.