Let me tell you, having my Avengers reading hunger rekindled by Iron Man 3 was tricky, because while on the one hand there are gazilion stories, on the other I have to eliminate so much which I'm really, really not interested in. My avarage look through archives and lj communities goes roughly like this:

- is Loki mentioned in a prominent position in the summary and paired with an Avenger in the pairings list? Do not want.
- Clint/Coulson? Do not want.
- Steve and Tony as adopted fathers of Peter Parker? SO DO NOT WANT, Peter is one of those characters you can't detach from Uncle Ben and Aunt May without altering him (any version of him) so much that it kills any interest I might have)
- Tony as Darcy's newly discovered bio dad? Okay, new trend, is at least more plausible than the Peter Parker stuff, but still not exactly what I'm looking for
- Clint/Natasha - I'm okay with this, but right now I'm more in a Natasha and Clint as team mates mood
- Tony/Steve - absolutely for the comics, but so far I don't see it in the films; author would have to start from scratch to convince me
- any summary indicating it postulates Howard Stark as an abusive parent: DO NOT WANT. I'm aware that some of the comic versions (and they get endlessly retconned anyway) go with that, but the movieverse didn't indicate anything more than Howard having been focused on his work and not having spent much quality time with his son. I get so TIRED of the fannish trend to blame parents, I can't tell you. (Not just in the Marvelverse. Everywhere.) Anyway, if you want a MCU character who has had an abusive father on screen, go with Bruce Banner. (He did in the Ang Lee Hulk.)

Having filtered all this out, still looking in vain for Happy Hogan centric stories and also having been converted to Tony/Pepper as a pairing by the combination of their screentime in Avengers and by Iron Man 3, this leaves me with the following stories I can recommend.

( Below the cut, as they can't be described without spoilers. )

Once Upon A Time is shaping up to be one of those fandoms for me where the canon gives me more of what I want than the fanfiction does. Most, though not all, of my fanfic seeking expeditions to see what’s been posted at the usual suspect places end up spotting:

- A gazillion Rumplestilskin/Belle stories, most of which, going by the summaries, A Us: so do not want.

- Emma/any guy, be he Graham, Neal, Jefferson or Hook: sorry, not interested, either. Emma gen stories are cool, but rare.

- Emma/Regina: okay, let’s try the slash juggernaut. Hang on… who is this completely out of character written obligatory Bigoted Coldhearted Enemy Of Pairing person the writer calls “Snow” or “Mary Margaret”? SO DO NOT WANT. I didn’t get even to the point of finding whether or not Regina gets the full woobie why-are-those-meanies-not-giving-her-hugs treatment in the story in question, the Snow bashing made me click away in a fury.

- Ruby/Whale: after In the name of the brother, there were three or so charming stories, but not it’s AU s all the way there, too.

The family relationships and friendships which are actually my primary interest in this show you have to look really hard for, fanfic wise. And the one pairing I actually would love to read more of, nobody but me seems to have been writing. *waves sociopaths-in-love flag and eyes another rewatch of The Miller’s Daughter. * However, misscam is a lone star in the wilderness, writing about Emma and her parents – I’ll link some stories beneath the cut, because the descriptions are spoilery for s2 and I know some people on my flist haven’t watched it yet – and now has started a fascinating A U which asks a “what if?” question that made me wonder “damm, why hasn’t anyone done this yet?” but also be glad misscam does it, who isn’t likely to woobify our Mr. Gold or Regina, yet render them layered. It is this: what if Regina had balked at ( doing that spoilery thing she does in 1.2. in order to )

cast the curse, leaving Rumplestilskin no choice but do his own dirty work and cast it himself? How different (or not) would Storybrooke be if it had been formed by his wishes instead of hers? The backstory gets revealed, like in the show, bit by bit, so we haven’t found out yet whom Rumplestilskin ( has done a spoilery thing to )

I’m simultaneously eager and dreading to learn which one, and how a Regina who has stopped herself from one crime but still has a long way to go will be handled.

( These and other story recs beneath the cut )

I dashed off a few more Yuletide reviews while we’re all still anonymous, not least because I know how happy mine made me, but also because the stories in question were superb. It really was a splendid Yuletide this year. And there is fanfic outside of it to love, too.
For your, or, well, my post Merlin finale needs, two stories, a Gwen pov and a Merlin pov, which not only characterize them and their, to put as unspoilerly as possible, emotional situation beautifully, but also their relationship with each other:

Heavy is the Head (That Wears The Crown): Gwen post finale.

Old Love, But In Shapes That Renew And Renew Forever Merlin post finale

Emerging bleary-eyed from a lot of reading, I bring reccomendations. (Well, the first part of them anyway. More to follow.) As for my own stories, both the recipients liked them and wrote lovely things about them at their own journals (their summaries of what the stories are about are better than mine, drat!), which makes me glad, but not too many other people so far bothered to check them out so far, woe. Ah well. Self, you knew this would happen, a rare fandom is a rare fandom, and within rare fandoms, at least in one case you picked a subject you knew maybe only recipient and yourself are interested in. (But I still want other people to read both stories, she sniffles, they mean so much to me this year!)

However, as a reader, I'm in unqualified ecstasy. Have a first bunch of recs (excluding, of course, my gifts which I have already talked about).

History/Hunger Games: The Sticking Place

Yes, you read the fandoms right. Someone wrote an ingenious fusion of the Hunger Games premise with the 15th century. In the Fifth Hunger Games, Lucrezia Borgia, Richard (III.) of York, Marguerite d'Anjou and poor Henry of Lancaster are all tributes. It sounds like crack, but the characters are played, err, written straight, and of course it has to end the way it does.

History: The most pleasant tale of Lady Bessy

Four titles Elizabeth of York never held, and one she did. The "Five Things" format applied to the woman who was the last Planatagenet princess and the first Tudor queen, but rarely gets fictional or biographical attention. This year, she got several stories. This one which applies the "Five Things" format in ingenious ways is my favourite.

A Place of Greater Safety: Parallel or Together

In which Camille Desmoulins tries to bring Robespierre and Danton together. It doesn't work out the way he expected. The characterisations ring very true to Hilary Mantel's novel, and it does something I've been secretly and not so secretly hoping for when reading the actual book, where it didn't but could have. :)

Babylon 5:

The Subtle Arrangement of Stones: the Babylon 5 story I never knew was missing in my life, but retrospectively it so was, and oh, how it wins at Yuletide! Set during the first season. Londo, G'Kar and Delenn are kidnapped by the Homeguard, and it's up to their valiant aides, Vir, Na'Toth and Lennier to rescue them. The characterisations and - as invevitable given the characters in question - the bickering are top notch, the format (Garibaldi interviewing everyone for the security files afterwards) ingenious, and it fits into canon beautifully. I loved this to bits.

The Price of a Favour: Timov in the days of Cartagia. I'm always thrilled to find fic dealing with my favourite B5 one episode character, and this was great.

In Flagrante: three times Londo and G'Kar are caught in the act. One happy, one angry, one sad. Alternatively funny and heartbreaking, as Londo and G'Kar are wont to be.

James Bond: Protégé

M passes on what she learned. Contains two of my favourite things, M backstory and Eve Moneypenny fleshing out. I loved it.

Elementary (which had 21 new stories in Yuletide - hooray!):

Three Anniversaries: A Love Story: Not all great love stories are about romance is the summary the author gives, and this one celebrates the (platonic) friendship between Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson through the years. Present and future fic that feels true to where the characters are now and where they could be through the years, and has that same restraint and understated affection I find appealing on the show.

The Long Summer: this one is an ensemble fic that uses a frustrating case to show Holmes' relationships to Watson, Gregson, Bell and deliver an excellent Holmes character exploration to boot.

Greek Mythology: this year one of the requests was for a story about Ariadne and Icarus growing up together in Crete. This resulted in a dozen or so great tales, and it feels unfair to single one out, but this is my favourite of them all:

Thirteen Views Of A Labyrinth: They are not so very different, Ariadne and Pasiphaë, Icarus and Daedalus, Ariadne and Icarus. This has fantastic world building and awe-inspiring characterisations of everyone, is full of shades of grey and surprising yet sense making twists on the myths. I admire it so much.

The Count of Monte-Cristo: Constant.

It's a rare story which takes one of the source canon's villains - in this case Fernand Mondego, the later Count de Morcerf - and fleshes him out without going the excuse and woobiefication road. This story accomplishes it.

New Tricks: New Tricks for Old Dogs (or Five Alternate Universes Where Sandra Pullman Was Always Awesome)

What the title says. :) Wonderful banter and character voices in every universe.

Prometheus: Satellites: Three events in the life of Peter Weyland. Dysfunctional family relationships are my soft spot, and they rarely come more messed up than with Weyland, Meredith Vickers and David 8. This story gives us some background for this, in a Weyland, Meredith and David pov respectively, and it's fascinating.

Skyfall:

The Road and the Room: an AU which departs from canon in the Westminster scene. Bond doesn't arrive at the inquiry in time, giving Silva the chance to abduct M. What then? It's an M pov throughout, her weary strength and sharpness captured fantastically well, Silva and Bond ring very true, and so does the way she relates to each. If you're easily triggered, there is a warning you should pay attention to, but to put it as unspoilery as possible, I found the potentially triggery thing that happens mid-story in character and handled in a non-gratitous manner, especially given the follow up.

Harry Potter

Undertow: It's hard to remember if you have to fight the current or swim with it to stay alive. Bellatrix, Narcissa and Andromeda during Deathly Hallows. The Black sisters have always intrigued me more than cousin Sirius, and this a poetic yet unsentimental and captivating take on them.

Skyfall:

Heart-Shaped Stone: it's lengthy, layered, delicious Eve character exploration. Why she makes the choices she does in the film, what creates an agent. Has also excellent Bond and M, but that's just a bonus. This is the Eve story I've been waiting for.

in all i've done: whereas this one, to put it as unspoilery as possible, is an M story that deals with a central event in a creative, dark way by using the Groundhog Day concept.

So far, no one has written the Skyfall inspired long M story of my dreams, and I'll try not to pout about the avalanche of Bond/Q there is instead. (At least as opposed to the last avalanche, Clint/Coulson, they had actual on screen interaction.) (Also, it's always great to reread the Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace era M stories.) However, since Skyfall opened in the US later than elsewhere, the actors are still busy promoting, which means there is no lack of new "Daniel Craig declaring his love for Dame Judi" material. In this interview, he comes up with gems like "She walks into a room, she lights it up" and "I'd sweep the floor for her". Bless. Also, clearly someone was enjoying themselves during shooting this film:




And here are some Skyfall related stories I did enjoy reading:


Perpetual Anticipation: a short and intense look at M and her relationship with Bond.


Seek a newer world: Silva, Q, Bond and M before and during the film. Uses the "Silva is who Bond could have become" interpretation the film suggests creatively.

Down the burning ropes: the treatment of Sévérine by the film came in for much justified criticism. Luckily, fanfiction thrives on going for plot holes and fail and making something creative out of them, and I don't mean fix its. Here's Sévérine in her own point of view. Burns, as it should.


With your hand in my hand we'll still stand: The crisis is over but no one at MI6 is sleeping yet. Film aftermath centered on Q and Billl Tanner, which is also Q/Bill Tanner. See, I've got nothing against Q slash. Just not with Bond. (Incidentally, the TNG fan in me finds it incredibly weird to type "Q" , add a / and then not to follow it up with "Picard".)

It felt like a betrayal: creepy and hence appropriate Silva drabble.


You may have my number, you can take my name: MI6 tries to recover from the film's events. This one is great with the Q and Eve friendship, and offers a bonus Avengers or rather Captain America crossover near the end. (I have to handwave some logistics for the premise of same here, but hey.)

Something to cheer myself up in various areas, and hopefully some of you, too:


Avengers:

check out this adorable Bruce and Tony cartoon


Angel:

Various minor character drabbles. Two are about Anne, who is the best minor recurring character going from BTVS to AtS, full stop, and the first one is magnificent. But really they're all good.


The Borgias and history:

A good post on the historical Rodrigo Borgia and the three most important women in his life: Vannozza, Giulia and Lucrezia.

Since most of these stories are set post-movie, they are inevitably spoilery when described. Hence ( a spoiler cut for all the recs. )

The great thing about a big fandom like the Avengers is that so much gets written, which means that once you filtered out the kind of stories you don't care for, there are still more than enough left to filll your particular fannish tastes.  Of course, the flipside of this is that the sheer amount of tales means it's hard work to filter (while in small fandoms you're lucky if four or so stories per year to your liking get written) among the tidal wave of writing. Which is why I find rec posts helpful, and why I'm writing them now and then. :)

In my case, digging as I do the ensembleness and Natasha, it's not hard to figure out what will make me happy:

Anatomy for children: Natasha starts to adjust to her new not-quite-friends. Her pov on everyone sounds completely plausible.

walk a while beside you: Five observations Bruce has about living with Natasha in Stark Tower with the rest of the Avengers. This, conversely, is Bruce's pov on Natasha and the way she interacts with everyone.

Soft Skills: The team tries to bring Steve Rogers into the 21st Century. It mostly works. One of the things I really appreciate about the story is that it presents Steve not as some naive manchild and remembers the 1940s weren't the stone age.  It's delightful, and the humor and banter isn't one note.