Fic Writer Appreciation Day Rec List
Hey, it's Fic Writer Appreciation Day!
Sadly I don't have as much time as I wish, got a terrible migraine instead, but I wanted to give at least a few shoutout in this particular date, so just a quick, not detailed rec, some of this year's favorite fics - the list is far from complete, but it contains some of my to-go fics when I feel down, or when I need some epics, or when I'm in a mood, or... well, basically anything can indicate me re-reading :D So: a collection of 2018's reads and bookmarks and favs. (Note: the date is the time I've read the fics, not when they were written - most of them are not recently published.)
Note: If you know the author's tumblr username, feel free to tag so they'll know they've been recced! If I tagged someone by accident who aren't the author of these fics, I'm sorry, let me know so I can correct my mistake! :)
Note 2: leave comments, folks! Seriously. We writers live and die and write for your feedback.
HUMOR:
Title & Author: A Handstand Flip over a Hot-Dog Cart by LullabyKnell ( @lullabyknellart ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6641941 Pairing: gen Length: 1866 Summary: Steve wakes up in the 21st Century, freaks out, and successfully runs away. Note: check out the sequel too, in which HYDRA loses the Winter Soldier while shipping him... :D Both fics have hilarious style!
Title & Author: Uphill Both Ways In The Snow by BuckyKingOfMemes ( @buckykingofmemes ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10072283/chapters/22443629 Pairing: gen Length: 48,595 words as of now Summary: Bucky provides bad advice and worse humor to all comers, plus occasional stories from the Good Old Days. Includes such tales as "How the Howlies got their name," "Steve and the Deathbike," and "Cows are Not Horses, Dumbass."
Title & Author: Look the Devil in the Face by prettybirdy979 ( @prettybirdy979 ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5113310 Pairing: gen Length: 3412 Summary: It's increasingly becoming a world where the unbelievable happens every day. The Avengers team includes a defrosted World War Two solider, a giant green rage monster and a man who might be a God; and they battle aliens and magic on a regular basis. It's not too far fetched to believe the Devil walks Hell's Kitchen. Matt, on the other hand, hasn't realised exactly why his new battle buddies seem terrified of him. It's not like they've even heard the rumors about him being the Devil... right? Note: I love everything about this fic and I'm not even into the Daredevil fandom that much.
Title & Author: Tiptoe Through the Tulips by notlucy ( @notlucy ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13562340 Pairing: Stucky Length: 1308 Summary: Steve and Bucky debate the ethics of sex pollen because they have nothing better to do with their time. No, really. Notes: You know you need sex pollen ethics dicussion. From them. You know. This fic is simply hilarious and I love the punchline.
Title & Author: Operation: Rescue Playmate by Akira_of_the_Twilight ( @akira-of-the-twilight ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13624239/chapters/31283262 Pairing: Winteriron Length: 7768 Summary: Prompt: Tony is an alien who crash landed/got lost/was left (by Obi?) on Earth. Tony tries to hide among humans using his advanced tech and abilities. Bucky as WS is sent after alien Tony because Hydra wants his tech. Tony uses his tech to give Bucky back his mind. Fall in love, defeat Hydra (maybe pick up Avengers along the way), the end :) Does Tony decide to stay on earth or does he build a new space ship so he, Bucky, and the Avengers can be space cowboys?
"Happiness and a sense of victory tickled Tony’s insides. He snatched up the two hot dogs then swung himself back onto the crosswalk light. He gobbled them up with voracity—just one hotdog short of what he thought humans would consider “gorging.” He licked his fingers and hummed in delight. His pointed ears wiggled as he sucked the crumbs and juices from his fingertips.
Dummy flashed a yellow light.
Tony and his tail perked up, just as Dummy displayed a human-thumb-sized image a man on a rooftop with the coordinates.
Tony yelped and leaped onto a passing truck just as a bullet zoomed past where he had been standing. Giddiness tickled his belly as he spun around and grinned at the rooftop where the bullet had come from." Notes: Not as much humorous as simply a lighthearted, easy to enjoy story for rainy days to snuggle up and smile at alien!Tony's antics and be happy about Bucky finding his match in a rather unusual way.
Title & Author: You Can Hear It In the Silence by waldorph ( @waldorph ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2774723 Pairing: gen Length: 2830 Summary: When CAPTAIN AMERICA walks into the precinct, Jake staples his finger and doesn't realize it for like, six hours. He can only be happy that Scully and Hitchcock leave every day they can at 4:48pm so that they couldn’t bring shame upon the family. Notes: Avengers meet Brooklyn 99. Do I need to say anything else? ^^ Hilarious one-shot.
Title & Author: Vanilla Human Problems by manic_intent ( @? ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1493935 Pairing: Stony Length: 3911 Summary: Written for the prompt: "AU where Tony isn't Iron Man. He's a consultant for the avengers, so they still live in his tower, he still builds/improves their gear, but he never invented Iron Man. He's still close to the team, and is still a genius, so as the non-superhero member, he gets kidnapped. A lot. The team becomes increasingly protective of Tony." Notes: Cute and fluffy fic, warmly recommended for times when you don't feel good - it'll be better after (re)reading this :)
Title & Author: The (Not So) Great Pretender by RayShippouUchiha ( @rayshippouuchiha ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12912708/chapters/29501541 Pairing: Winteriron Length: 19,586 Summary: “What,” Tony says softly but with a great depth of feeling, “the actual fuck just happened?”
“I believe, Sir,” JARVIS pipes up from the phone in his pocket, an unnecessary amount of what sounds like glee in his voice, “that you’ve once again managed to maintain your closely guarded secret identity. Truly your subterfuge skills know no bounds."
“You’re an asshole J,” Tony mutters back as he reaches up to rub at his temple. He either has a headache coming on or a blood clot. At this point he’s honestly not sure which he’d prefer.
"I did learn from the best, Sir,” JARVIS tells him sunnily. Notes: Tony doesn't try to pretend he's not Iron Man. Quite the opposite. Yet it takes a Bucky for someone to realize what's up.
HURT/COMFORT:
Title & Author: No Such Thing as Fighting Dirty by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen) ( @leveragehunters ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6443635 Pairing: Stucky Length:3878 Summary: Bucky wants to be touched – he wants Steve to touch him – but seventy years of torture and captivity have left body and mind hardwired to perceive touch as a threat. They're working on it, but Bucky should have remembered that Steve will use every weapon in his arsenal – even the unconventional ones, the ones no one else would consider a weapon – when he's fighting for Bucky. Notes: This fic has Atmosphere(TM) and I love it.
Title & Author: Holding my breath in the palm of your hand by Snowflakesandangels ( @snowflakesandangelslove ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13896096 Pairing: Stucky Length: 1744 Summary: Sometimes Steve needs to feel the steadying grip of Bucky’s hands to ground him. It’s not always easy for Bucky, he’s still learning to trust himself as much as Steve does, but in the end, it’s all about love. And oh how he loves taking care of his best guy. Notes: A verey gentle and sweet BDSM one-shot with sub!Steve and dom!Bucky and how they're ready to give what the other needs and I HAVE FEELINGS about this fic okay???
Title & Author: In Which Steve Rogers has Sex with all of the Avengers by Cards_Slash Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/484417 Pairing: Steve/Avengers Length: 3313 Summary: It's Natasha on the days that he's livid, just furious, about to burn up from the inside out. Notes: okay, it's more of a character study than an actual hurt/comfort story, and on top of that it's more porn than plot, but you know what? The fact that it's on my list despite these factors shows how good it is.
Title & Author: where the days are longer by endofadream ( @endofadream ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6611716 Pairing: Stucky Length: 7835 Summary: And maybe that’s what they’re running from. Those ghosts. That minefield. The suffocating pressure to live up to who they used to be when who they used to be has now become stale, recycled words in textbooks and museums and clickbait online articles. Captain America and Bucky Barnes may be American heroes, relics of a time when patriotism ran deep and values were wholesome, but they are also people who lived and breathed and died to live and breathe again. They fuck off to the coast, trying to put as many miles between them and D.C. as possible. New York is loud and claustrophobic at the best of times, but California has the open skies and roads that make Steve ease a little more into his skin. Notes: This is an Atmosphere(TM) fic. A very well-done one.
ANGST:
Title & Author: I Hurt Myself Today by MusicalLuna ( @musicalluna ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15300942 Pairing: Pepperony (sort of) Length:659 Summary: Tony and Pepper have been at each other's throats and Tony finally figures out why. Notes: Little ficlet packed with feelings! You might cry...
Title & Author: I'm Not There by Voodoosgirl ( @voodoosgirl1 ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14550885/chapters/33621744 Pairing: Stucky Length: 1177 Summary: Thanos brought Steve to his knees, hands in the ash, facing the loss of Bucky again. What if the dead could see us? Reach across the void? What would Bucky's message be if he could talk to Steve after the snap? Notes: If you're still not over the end of IW, like me, this fic will bring you to your knees. Awesome Bucky POV. Yes, you've read that right.
EPICS:
Title & Author: One Man's Trash by Shi_Toyu ( @shi-toyu ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14796809 Pairing: Winteriron Length: 5098 Summary: Tony Stark is head of the largest crime syndicate in New York. Bucky is his head of security, nothing more than a well-trained lap dog that comes running whenever his master calls. Still, even the best trained dogs can be lured away by a few scraps of meat... and Tiberius Stone plans to do just that. Notes: That one mob!au that even I love to pieces.
Title & Author: The Necrofloranomicon by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen) ( @leveragehunters ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13640571/chapters/31325814 Pairing: Stucky Length: 47,569 Summary: Bucky didn't want much. Just to keep his head down, to sell his scavenged flowers in peace, and to stay off Shield's radar. His life would have been a lot easier if his flowers weren't dead and if being a necromancer wasn't illegal, but easy or not, he was getting by. Steve didn't want much, either. He was happy working for Shield, he had good friends, and overall his life was going just about the way he wanted it. Problem was, being happy with your life was generally an invitation for fate to throw a spanner in the works—and in Steve's specific case, it was going to be a spanner named Bucky. (A love story about flowers, trust, and magic and the choices we make about doing what's right.) Notes: necromancer!Bucky and special!cop!Steve and a beautifully built magic!au world and do I need to say more? That's my jam right here!
Title & Author: Endless War by Nonymos Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14488623/chapters/33469737 Pairing: Stucky, Pepperony, Length: 27355 Summary: There is always something more to lose. (Which means all is not lost.) Note: An IW fix-it (but not a cheap one) including Deadpool and crossovering with Sandman and - honestly, this is among the most clever things I've read. Also it's from one of my fave authors. So definitely worth a shot if you want to bring back our faves or whatever! Also anything from her, especially War, Children and the old familiar sting and we are the things that we do for fun, but I should probably just make a rec list entirely dedicated to her...
Title & Author: Take Me Home (to My Heart) by Taste_is_Sweet ( @taste-is-sweet ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13581903 Pairing: Winteriron Length: 25459 Summary: For this nonny prompt at the Imagine Tony and Bucky comm on Tumblr: Bonding is a natural thing that happens between compatible people. Person can have only one bond. When Tony wants to bond with his partner he finds out that he already has a bond. Now he has to find the person that he accidentally bonded with so many years ago when he was still a child.
"The only thing Tony remembered for certain was how he'd felt: Joy, belonging and comfort like he'd never found before or since. For a couple minutes out of his entire misbegotten life, he'd known what it meant to be whole.
It was impossible to forget. It had ruined him. Every new friendship, every potential relationship, only offered the forlorn possibility that he might feel that way again. But he never did. And after forty-something years of looking, he didn't think he would.
He still woke up with tears on his face and an emptiness inside him like a black hole had swallowed his heart. But that didn't happen as often anymore. He could even manage not to think of his lost Half for whole hours at a time.
Most of the time, he was okay." Notes: bitter and at the beginning quite depressing soulmate!au with a happy ending that worths all the struggle for them and for us readers.
Title & Author: Like a Comet Streaming On by Sineala ( @sineala ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3344072 Pairing: Stony Length: 32,491 Summary: Tony escapes Afghanistan with a functioning Iron Man suit and a perfectly normal heart. He even manages to bring Ho Yinsen home safely at his side. But he may as well have lost everything... because his wolfbrother is dead. Six months later, the Avengers find Captain America, frozen in ice, miraculously alive. Everything and everyone Steve has ever known is gone -- except his wolfsister, the recipient of the lupine version of the super-soldier serum, who was frozen in his arms. Tony has everything but his wolf. Steve has only his wolf. This is how their lives fit together. Notes: PSYCHIC WOLVES!!! WOLF-SOULMATES!!! EPIC ANGST AND HURT/COMFORT! HELL YEAH! *screams*
Title & Author: Above the Rain and Roses by coveryourheads (rsk110), Kellyscams Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11407446/chapters/25551711 Pairing: Stucky Length: 34,742 for this fic, 73,943 for the whole series Summary: Steve Rogers has been looking for The One ever since testing as Dominant. True love. Fairytales. Happily ever after with his very own submissive is all he wants. Which might be asking the universe for a little too much, but he'll take a good connection to start with. But tonight, Steve is visiting The Armory. An exclusive club where unattached Doms can go and enjoy themselves with a good sub for the night. Not exactly the place Steve expects to find his one true love. Then again, fate might have other plans, and one sub might get in way over his head making assumptions about this Dom. Notes: Dom/Sub universe, some of the best tropes and kinks if you're into this, and and and it's just beautiful. The worldbuilding, the plot, the character arcs, eveerything. I'm so on love with this fic, guys, you can't imagine.
Title & Author: Meridian by Tippet Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11842224 Pairing: Stucky Length: 31,181 Summary: The metal hand flexes now and Steve’s eyes go straight to it, then fix back on the soldier’s. Slowly, that the soldier can see every crease shifting into place, his face fills with a quiet wonder; he looks at the soldier as a beggar gazes at a banquet. (Steve goes missing; Bucky goes after him.) Notes: Again, this is an Atmosphere(TM) fic, with a great style, gorgeous descriptions, beautiful character and redemption arc. A bittersweet must-read that may or may not leave you in tears - through it and in the end as well, only for different reasons.
Title & Author: Don't Fear The Proving by juuls ( @juuls ) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14678979/chapters/33913917 Pairing: Stony Length: 44,522 Summary: “Ah, tut tut, Thor All-Father; she no longer calls to you. She is open for the taking. We of power can feel it,” Proxima Midnight drawled, a smile tugging at her lips. This time when she hefted her trident she pointed it right at Thor, then proceeded to point it at each of them—Tony, Steve, Nat, James—and then back again to Thor. She held the trident steady, her muscles obviously strong and used to its weight in her hand. “Do any of you challenge me for her?” she demanded.
-or-
The one where Mjolnir gets repaired, Thanos' minions come knocking, Tony gives a speech, and there's a road trip. That may or may not lead to kisses. Oh, and Tony just might be worthy of lifting Thor's old hammer after all...
[[Written for the Cap-IM Reverse Big Bang.]] Notes: If you need a good post-CW Stony fic, this is it. I was almost afraid of it, because it's such a hard topic, but juuls handled them with such a grace and precision, it's spot on, it has its great moments, and it doesn't feel forced for a moment. Awesome work, really, check it out!
And last but not least, my beloved @cpt-winniethepooh's WIP - the one THAT EVERYONE SHOULD READ - and leave comments so she'll update sometimes in the future I guess:
Title & Author: The changes we dread (are the changes we need) by araydre, cpt_winniethepooh Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14429967/chapters/33328158 Pairing: Stucky Length: 83,974 atm Summary: Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers were both on the Valkyrie when it crashed. In the new century they are both Captain America and work for a SHIELD that keeps the world safe - and also keeps superhero IDs a secret. Except they've had enough of SHIELD controlling their lives and they set out on a journey to find the Third Cap... and if they end up finding true friendships, secrets of the past, and maybe even a way to make this secret superhero thing a better deal for all parties involved? Well, that's just what Captain(s) America does, isn't it. Note: This is a super duper awesome fantastic fic, folks. Hilarious humor, delicious estabilished relationship - but just the right amount of miscommunication and past issues for it to be absolutely interesting and really, happy stucky relationship is our jam, right? - and an intriguing plot with lots of hurt/comfort! READ IT. Seriously.
Don't forget to leave kudos and, more importantly, COMMENT if you read a fic! Show your appreciation to your local (or not so local) fanfic writers who WORK FOR FREE and pour their souls on screen to provide entertainment for you, and all they ask in return is some feedback!
