do you have to live quite so relentlessly in the real world?

Oh my! This is something I promised to rearranged and badjujuboo, and is an in no way comprehensive list of things I've liked in Avengers fandom. Cutting by pairings because whoo boy, this got long! I haven't put anything in the way of summaries and tbh my laziness is so epic that this being anything more than a big list of ugly links feels like SUCH an accomplishment. Endless respect to people who actually rec properly omg.

Also! I've tried not to rec anything that is based in comic canon to such an extent that you actually need to know the canon beforehand. (AKA there are no post Civil War fics waiting to choke you with angst hurrah!)

edit: 23/10/2012 - OKAY so even just since posting this list I've read a few more awesome fics so I'm going to keep adding to this list intermittently. Enjoy!

( Tony/Steve )


( Clint/Coulson )


( Bruce/Tony )


( others, threesomes, moresomes, multiple pairings )

There absolutely MUST be amazing things I've missed out, so hey, drop anything in the comments that you think I/other people should read. As the list (especially the 'other' section) indicates, I will read pretty much anything haha.

WOW, I have done no work today because I kept rereading ALL THE THINGS. Happy sunday, guys.

Title: Clueless, or: How I Learned To Stop Being a Selfish Prick and Love a Capsicle by withthepilot
Fandom: Avengers
Rated: Explicit
Pairings: Tony/Steve, Clint/Phil, Jane/Thor, Bruce/Pepper, with bits of other pairings in there too.

Author's Summary: Okay, so you're probably thinking, This guy seems like a total douche.

You're half right. But seriously, I'm a completely normal teenager. A normal genius-billionaire-philanthropist-playboy teenager. Who goes to a school for government agents and superheroes in training. Every morning, I get up, trim my goatee, take a shot of Jack Daniels (which Ke$ha totally stole from me, by the way), and pick out my school clothes.

A Clueless AU, starring Tony Stark.

Word Count: 37k

Why I Loved It: COME BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT. Yes I said Clueless AU. I love Clueless, okay? A lot. So as soon as I saw this I clicked with mixed hopes because it just seemed so out there, you know? But then out there AUs are golden when they work. And this so, so completely worked for me.

Obviously, Tony is Cher and Steve Josh, but I'm not going to say who everyone else is because I want people to giggle-snort the same way I did when various bits became clear. There's a smattering of dialogue lifted from the film (I was most disappointed that my life motto – I'm totally buggin'! I feel like such a bonehead! – was not there, but still, minor detail) which also works well.

Mainly, I love this fic because it cracked me the fuck up during a fit of insomnia the other night, which is just what I needed. The dialogue sparkles in both a Tony-esque and a Clueless-esque way. Also! I don't listen to podfics so often, but for those of you so inclined, there's a link to a recording in the author's notes.

Title: Leave The Pieces by formerdinosaur
Fandom: South Park
Rated: R
Pairings: Stan/Kyle plus others, some spoilery under Cartman/Butters, Craig/Tweek, Damien/Pip, Kenny/Wendy
Author's Summary: Stan and Kyle meet as strangers in their mid-twenties, both of them astounded to meet someone else who doesn't remember the first ten years of his life. Only one person from South Park remembers that they existed, though no one has ever believed his ravings about the super best friends who went missing. When Kenny learns that Stan and Kyle have been reunited, he suspects the forces that separated them as children have returned, and that the town's only hope resides in their missing memories.
Word Count: 250k

Why I Loved It: Well, first of all, I cannot imagine a South Park world in which Stan and Kyle are not joined at the hip/brain. So the premise of this fic is in itself kind of heart breaking - what if they lost each other and never even knew it? The plot is tight and pacey, and it brings in so many of my favourite, criminally underused South Park characters.

The author has a bunch of South Park fics, and all the ones I've read do a fantastic job of taking the extremes we see on the show and making them into believable, recognisable adult characters. And also, of taking some of the South Park events (I'm thinking in this one, of Butters' parents behaviour) that are just part of the backdrop of the insanity of this little mountain town and saying no, hey, wait, how would this effect someone? Who would they grow up to be from this starting point?

The relationship between Stan and Kyle is a complicated, slow-burning thing, but their instant dedication to each other, you guys. They're both damaged by their amnesia and the lives they've lived subsequently in very different ways, and while finding each other is really only the start of this story, you can't help a sense of relief that Stan and Kyle are back together - the centre holds.

The other characters are wonderful. I cried genuine tears over Kenny. In fact, the sections from Kenny's POV (the POV changes, but not quickly, if that's something that puts you off) are possibly my favourite. I ached for Kenny, for the fervency of his belief in Stan and Kyle, and the consequences of this. This is why I love fanfic, okay? It makes me emotional over a clever cartoon about foul mouthed children, particularly the one who dies every episode. I cried buckets.

Full disclosure: formerdinosaur = hollycomb so it was always bound to be scary-good, right?

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I have a fic that I've been thinking for ages should only take a week or so of concerted effort to finish. Fingers crossed!

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I won't be taking part because fests + me = quivering ball of stress, but this looks great!