check yourself. rec yourself.

I read a lot of fanfic, so I rec a lot of fanfic. Fandoms: MCU- Irondad (mostly) & Captive Prince & Star Wars & Misc Recs by Nini Black

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I let this languish again when I said I wouldn’t! 🙈 But I’ve been organizing my bookmarks and all my saved fic so I should have some posts soon.

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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Author: Bean_reads_fanfic

Fandom: MCU

Characters/Pairings: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, May Parker

Summary:

It starts here: Peter, in his Spider-Man suit minus the mask, caught deer-in-the-headlights-style in front of a person he’s never met before in the kitchen of his and May’s apartment.

“You’re, uh, what’s-his-name –” The guy coughs a bit, swallowing. He points at Peter, his voice getting higher as he goes: “P – uh – Peter, right? You’re – you’re Spider-man?!” ... One unfortunate encounter starts a chain of frustrating events; in the process of which, Peter's insecurities are examined. Including but not limited to: his worries that Tony cares about Spider-Man more than Peter Parker.

Thoughts:

This fic has some of the most in character dialogue I've read for both Peter and Tony. And the scenario, and how Peter winds up in this situation, reads very true to character for him. It's a good dose of angst with some great mentor Tony and Peter showing off how competent he is, even if he does still have some stuff to learn. Just, really really good.

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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Author: Blondsak

Fandom: MCU

Characters/Pairings: Peter Parker/Michelle Jones, Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Summary: “Let’s just pretend I say yes to this-- do I really have to do it all? The parading, the shimmering--”

“The twirling, the smiling, the cute little swimsuit number? Yes, Parker,” Director Fury says. “SHIELD agents don’t do anything half-assed, you know that.”

Peter blows out a slow breath. He looks back and forth between the two other agents before asking in a defeated tone, “Even the Speedo?”

“Definitely the Speedo,” Jones replies with a victorious smirk.

Peter groans, head dropping into his hands.

// OR: the Miss Congeniality AU.

Thoughts: Miss Congeniality is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I honestly would not have expected to find an AU of it for this fandom. It just doesn't seem like one that would fit. But oh, it does. It's delightful. It's hilarious. It's heartfelt. It lifted my spirits on an otherwise kind of bad day I was having.

Peter is the beauty queen we weren't expecting and he's perfect. Tony Stark as a pageant coach is truly inspired. Like, he walks into the room and that role and is somehow perfectly himself. MJ is badass but like, she always is. Ned is a particular bright spot. All the casting in this fic is great.

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Resurrection!

I've had this URL sitting around for years but not done anything much with it. Seems a shame, so I'm going to try to use it more to post fic recs. I mostly read Irondad fics now, occasionally Captive Prince, so follow for that.

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Author: Poteto Fandom: Captive Prince Characters/Pairings: Damen/Laurent

Summary:

Laurent doesn't consider himself particularly lucky, but the fact that there's someone out to actually kill him is a bit ridiculous. Although it is not as ridiculous as the fact that there is a certain superhero that saves him every time.

This Lois Lane bullshit? Laurent didn't sign up for it.

Thoughts:

If you haven’t read this fic, stop what you’re doing and go read it. Now.

This is one of the best one-shots I’ve read in this fandom. It’s a modern AU that keeps elements of canon and fits them into place in a really seamless way. Everyone is in character and the interactions are fantastic. It’s got some serious topics but at the same time doesn’t take itself too seriously. It feels like an old-school comic book. I smiled the entire time I was reading it and didn’t want it to end.

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Author: DisraeliGears @disraeligearsgoestumblin Fandom: Captive Prince Characters/Pairings: Damen/Laurent, Nikandros

Summary:

Laurent will do anything for Damen. Including make friends with Nikandros... if he must.

The story of Nikandros and Laurent's friendship.

Thoughts:

I love canon fics (missing scene, divergent, pre- or post-, you name it), and this one picks up where canon left off perfectly. Damen and Laurent are comfortable with each other, but not so comfortable that they don’t still have things to work on. I loved the exploration of the insecurities they both still have.

This fic switches between points of view (mostly Laurent and Nikandros) and I really enjoyed seeing Nikandros’ perspective on Damen and Laurent, both together and how he views them individually.

Jord wins some major kudos for being the most loyal bodyguard ever.

This fic is such a good mix of plot, sub-plots, some good action and peril, smut, world building, character development, angst, fluff... I could go on. Just really everything you want out of a fic, with great pacing and very well written.

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Anarchy in the U.K.

Anarchy in the U.K.

Author: Yahtzee Fandom: X-men Characters/Pairing: Charles/Erik, past Erik/Shaw

Summary:  “Good God, Erik thought. The Prince of Wales is gay.”

Charles lives in the unceasing glare of the public spotlight, yet keeps his sexual orientation a closely held secret, afraid he could lose his throne and force his deeply troubled younger sister into a role that would crush her. Erik, journalist and world traveler, has been a loner most of his life; he has little patience for closet cases. But a chance meeting in Kenya brings these two opposites together and sets in motion a love affair that will challenge the British monarchy – and their most deeply held beliefs about who they are, and who they should be.

If you haven’t read this yet, drop what you’re doing right the fuck now and go download it. The author is removing it soon (I assume to scrub it clean and publish but I have no confirmation of this aside from my own suspicions.) So go now, dearies.

That said, I’ll be the first one to admit that I have very fond memories of reading this for the first time because I did so on a beach in Hawaii. Thank God for Kindles; everyone thought I was reading harlequin romance novels. And this one kind of was. It’s long, for one thing, and yet doesn’t drag at all. By the time you get to the end it feels like everything has been wrapped up and the pacing is excellent throughout. 

It’s hot, it’s funny, it’s emotional, it’s sad, and it’s a brilliant look into a way of life that I think we all wonder about (by which I mean being royalty.) The challenges Charles and Erik go through to be together, and the sacrifices they make to have their relationship, are at times heart-wrenching. The world building is also lovely, I felt like all of these things could be perfectly true about the royal family, despite my american ass knowing nothing about the royals except their names and how cute Prince Harry is. Everyone knows how cute Prince Harry is. I couldn’t put it down, except to go frolic in the ocean of course. Then I came right back and kept reading.

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Closer (to God)

Go read it here! Author: americanpsycho Fandom: X-men Characters/Pairings: Charles/Erik

Summary: Se7en/The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo AU-ish.

Political journalist and editor, Erik Lehnsherr, has just lost £150,000 in a libel case against businessman, Kurt Marko. Down on his luck and in need of money, Erik is approached by the Metropolitan Police’s Detective Inspector Charles Xavier. Well-known for his investigative journalism, Erik is asked to help in the search for a serial killer in return for £200,000 if the killer is caught.

Wrapped up in murder, religion, and sex, Erik gets more than he bargained for.

Erik is excellent as a down on his luck journalist who’s trying to fix his mistakes, and as is Charles as the detective obsessed with solving the case. The dynamic between them develops so well throughout the course of this story, going from strangers to sort-of partners to lovers to that happy couple everyone secretly resents, and the sex is scorchingly hot (give me all of the topping-from-the-bottom Charles in the world, please.) The plot is wonderfully detailed and nuanced while the mystery and the pacing keeps you reading until you’ve finished the whole thing (trust me, I couldn’t sleep until I got to the end) and the ending is almost fluffy enough to make up for the fact that you were crying a few pages ago.

Do heed the warnings on this one. Heed them well. It’s gory and gruesome and sad and one of the best horror fics I’ve ever read, mostly because it actually is horrific. If you’ve read/seen either of the inspiration books/movies then you know what you’re getting into. (I haven’t seen se7en, so it’s also okay if you haven’t seen either.) The author weaves in elements from Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Se7en without creating a pastiche at all.

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10 Things I Hate About You

Author/Artist: Lamia Fandom: X-men Characters/Pairing: Charles/Erik

Today’s rec (and the first rec of this blog!) is the absolutely lovely 10 Things I Hate About You by Lamia. The art style is lovely and adorable, and just when you think this is going to be happy and cute, it punches you right in the feels.

[rec-yourself]

Welcome!

I’m still getting this set up, so bear with me.

The gist is that I read a lot of fanfic, so I rec a lot of fanfic. Everyone loves fic recs. Everyone.