#marvelfanrecs

[marvelfanrecs]

This is probably one of my favorite fanfics of all time. I read it at least once a month and it has a permanent tab open in my browser.

It is a Tony/Steve/Bucky fic. Almost a soulmate fic, but the marks that appear are flowers indicating significant events in your life. You are born with one flower, your heart flower, that represents who you are. Tony’s is a clump of yarrow blossoms, meaning war. So from birth, his life is filled with angst. Soul searing angst.

You can stop after the first chapter and it would be finished, but unhappy. Or read the second chapter, where things drastically improve. The flower meanings are well researched and it’s a great fic.

It’s by @rayshippouuchiha and honestly go read anything at all they have ever written.

Mod Added

Ship: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes

Rating: teen and up

Major Tags: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Howard Stark’s A+ Parenting, soul marks, Flowers, So many flowers, seriously, Angst, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Language of Flowers, Pining, Protective Rhodey, Rhodey is the best bro, Oblivious Tony, Self-Esteem Issues, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Tony Stark Has A Heart

Summary: “You’ve got war in your heart boy,” Howard sneers, “don’t ever try and pretend to be anything but what you are.”Tony feels the familiar burn of a flower mark being etched into his skin but he doesn’t look, doesn’t try and check to see what it is. Instead he keeps his eyes on Howard and his hands cupped around his bleeding mouth and nose.

Review written by @ladyaulis

[marvelfanrecs]

Jan 1 - 4th, Fic Recs*

WinterFalcon - Sam/Bucky

Chain Reaction (But You’re Holding the Fuse) @notcaycepollard – sex pollen, aliens made them do it, etc**

Stony - Steve/Tony

Bulletproof - Foxxcub – Steve had a crush on Tony when he was 15. Now he’s 20, he’s over it, he’s fine, he’s… Tony’s fuckbuddy. How even is his life??

IronFalcon - Tony/Clint

Visiting Hours are Nine to Forever -  Tahlruil – Clint is the BEST fake boyfriend, ever

WinterIron - Tony/Bucky

Murderers and Thieves – @27dragons –  For a man who supposedly wanted to be found, the Winter Soldier fought like a wildcat when Steve and Sam finally cornered him.

Stucky - Steve/Bucky

The New Year’s Eve Pact by @relenafanel – if we’re still single by 2018… guess we’ll date each other. (pro-tip… they date each other.)**

*so, I’m going through the tags. if I missed anyone who contributed to the bi-weekly listing (I’ll put one of these out twice a week, on Thursdays and Mondays!) let me know and I’ll add you.

**These lists will include at least one new fic every week, but the others may just be older ones that I prefer (I don’t know what criteria other people are using for their recs)

[marvelfanrecs]

Title: The War is Far From Over Now

Author: Dont_call_me_Carrie

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10799406/chapters/23958186 (currently a WIP as of 10/29/17; regularly updated)

Ship: [no romantic pairing] Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, James “Rhodey” Rhodes & Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Tony Stark, past Tony Stark & the Avengers, Maria Hill & Tony Stark, Nick Fury & Tony Stark

Rating: Teen and Up

Major Tags: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Accidental Overlord Tony Stark, HAL 9000!JARVIS, Unreliable Narrator, Mental Health Issues, JARVIS Lives, Unhealthy Coping Methods, BAMF JARVIS, BAMF SI Legal Team, Overprotective JARVIS, Fix-it via Accidental World Domination [please see the story for the full list of tags]

Summary: The world keeps pushing him, demanding, because what he did wasn’t ever enough. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, but that wasn’t enough, wasn't ever enough.

Tony Stark was tired. But he had a planet to protect, even if everyone laughed at him whenever the prospect of alien invasions was brought up. He could count on one hand how many people he could trust, which was disheartening but then, what else was new?

 Or,

 ActuallyAVillain!Tony Stark Tony Stark, [Accidental] Overlord. In which it’s his self-awareness, rather than his support system and/or self-confidence, that becomes a cryptid sometime during Phase II.

[gradual divergence from canon, starting at the end of Iron Man 3]

Review’s name: rightsidethru

Review:

Pull up a chair, fellow readers, and let me tell you the story about Accidental Overlord Tony Stark.

This story is awesome because a large portion of it is rather tongue in cheek: the author starts with a premise and it starts to spiral out of control (deliberately done: aka - what would make Tony move away from the Avengers and push towards trying to keep things as controlled and as safe as possible) and it will definitely make you sit for a while and go: Huh.

I absolutely love stories with unreliable narrators (yeah, yeah, yeah; technically most stories have unreliable narrators…), but this ties in the perception that comes from a great deal of mental health issues and how it ends up affecting Tony’s behavior in turn and how he looks out on the world and other people’s actions (or inactions). Everything that he ends up doing, it’s with the safety of the world as his main focus, except everything kind of… goes *coughs*a little*coughs* overboard. Accidental Overlord pretty much sums it up, even while my heart breaks for Tony and I just want to give him the biggest hug–if JARVIS would even let me get that close (warning of overprotectiveness as an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 is, uh, accurate).

This is an incredibly enjoyable read, but I honestly think that my favorite parts are when the various departments of SI send emails and memos to one another. Those… oh, God. I crack up. Seriously, though: SI’s Legal Department and PR Department will become your absolute favorites, too, and you’ll look forward to their sections with glee.

There are some flaws to the writing/plot, but I suspect many of them are deliberately done and their purpose(s) will be revealed as more chapters come–and though it’s not very serious, the way other stories may end up being, it’s something that I enjoyed reading all in one go up ‘till the latest chapter, and I definitely ended up subscribing for further updates.

JARVIS is terrifying in this, though. Don’t mess with him.

…or Legal.

[marvelfanrecs]

Holiday Reads Wanted!

From November 3 - 20th, marvelfanrecs will be taking Christmas, New Year’s, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Mid-Winter Spending Holiday fic recommendations. We will compile the list for December 1st and read/review at least 2 per week for the entire month of December. Reader reviews of Holiday Fics strongly encouraged!

Do you have a favorite Holiday fic that you read every year, to help get us into the fandom spirit? We want to know about it! We will take fan-written reviews specifically for Christmas stories and give those priority through the month of December.

Remember! This blog is about sharing stuff we love and want other people to read. No negative reviews will be posted! 

[marvelfanrecs]

be he living (or be he dead)

Author: @theshukri Link: ao3 Rating: Teen and up Relationship: Tony Stark & Thor Tags: Alternate Norse Religion & Lore, Norse Mythology, Age Regression/De-Aging, De-Aged Tony Stark, Kid Tony,Jötunheimr | Jotunheim, Jotunn | Frost Giant

Summary: 

A run in with Amora gets nasty, and Thor - son of Odin - finds himself in an unforgiving realm with none other than a tiny, quiet, Anthony Stark. With no functioning bifrost, getting home (be it to Asgard or Midgard) will be difficult, but they have no other choice. Jotunheim is no place for outsiders, the Jotnar have no love for Thor, and - more worryingly - Thor has no cure for Anthony’s regression.

They have to get home. Quick.

Review by summerpipedream:

Thor stared at the small boy, bewildered besides himself, and looked around once more for any adults. “Little one,” he started haltingly, crouching down until he was (mostly) on level with the small child. “Are you alone here?” 

The little boy stared at him, expression careful, wary, and shook his head. Slowly, the boy reached out a hand towards Thor, and his small childish fingers gently grasped a hold of Thor’s ruby red cloak. The movement had the boy’s body moving, arm stretching, and Thor suddenly noticed the blue light – different than all the other shades of white and blue of their surrounding – almost glowing from the boy’s chest. 

A very familiar glow. 

A very familiar glow Thor had only ever seen in friend Anthony’s chest.

After a run in with Amora, Thor and a de-aged Tony find in the cold, unforgiving land of the giants. Meeting old friends and new foes, Thor and Tony travel the land to find a way home.

Written from Thor’s point of view, I love that we get to see a different side to Thor than we normally do. Thor takes the role of protector, both physically and emotionally of his young friend.

With Tony, we get to see how Thor has changed his journey to Midgard, facing enemies from Thor’s checkered past. Battling harsh weather and even harsher opponents, a young Tony is not to be underestimated, even with his young age.

A wonderful tale of adventure, friendship and coming home, I absolutely love this one. The small moments between Thor and Tony are tender and lovely, and the story is a wonderful journey. 

It’s complete for now at around 13.5k, with a lovely ending that leaves open the possibility for a sequel. I definitely think this one flew under the radar, so go give this a read and if you enjoy it like I did, some love!

[marvelfanrecs]

Losing You (Is My Supervillain Origin Story)

Author: @amethystinawrites

Link: A03

Ship: WinterIron, Tony Stark X James “Bucky” Barnes

Rating: teen and up

Major Tags: canon-typical violence, murder, Bucky is NOT okay, angst, implied major character death

Summary: There are a lot of things that Bucky regrets. The list is, quite frankly, longer than he can handle on most days and, right at the very top, is lying to Tony about who killed his parents. Bucky has known even from before they started dating, but he simply can't bring himself to say anything — to ruin one of the few good things he has in his life. It's selfish and wrong, but Bucky just doesn't know how to tell Tony that he is the one responsible for Howard and Maria Stark's deaths. So when he starts receiving anonymous emails, threatening to expose the truth to Tony and the rest of the world, Bucky is desperate enough to agree to the blackmailer's terms, even if it means breaking up with Tony. Bucky cannot, under any circumstances, let Tony find out about his parents from anyone but Bucky himself. Too late Bucky realizes that there is much more to the blackmailer's scheme than just having Bucky break Tony's heart. Too late Bucky realizes that despite his best intentions, he will still end up losing everything — in a much more permanent way than he could ever have imagined.

Review’s name: mod tisfan

I read this while it was being posted, and oh, my goooood, it killed me. A lot.

The perceived character death sends Bucky Barnes right off the rails from recovering good guy to supervillain in training... from torture and probable murder and lying, he does it all in a desperate bid for revenge.

We’ve got good-bro Jarvis, a lot of Bucky feels, Winter Soldier feels, Steve is trying but he’s also kinda being a dick... 

It starts with Bucky dumping Tony, and that’s just the first blow. This fic is punishing in its angsty goodness, punching the feels right out of you without a chance to catch your breath. This is a two-kleenex fic and it’s only that few because it’s (relatively) short, not quite 20k in six chapters. 

(Can I say that I personally have a “thing” for people who right decent length chapters? I have this ideal spot between 1,500 words and 5,000 words and after that a chapter is too long, don’t people know I have THINGS to do?)

If you need a bit of a cathartic crying jag, I highly recommend this fic.

~~mod tisfan

[marvelfanrecs]

Title: Nonage

Author: Del_Rion

Link: AO3 | FFN

Ship: Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Brotp

Rating: Teen

Major Tags: De-Aging, Howard Stark Style Parenting

Summary: Loki’s idea of an – unintentional yet effectively hilarious – practical joke is to turn Tony into a 5-year-old. The remaining Avengers soon realize they may not be able to handle the boy-genius. While Thor hunts his brother down in order to turn Tony back to his older self, the rest of the team seeks help from a man who, in the past, was more of a father figure to Tony than Howard Stark himself: Edwin Jarvis.

Reviewer’s name: realxmen

Even before Agent Carter graced my screen, I loved Edwin Jarvis. The idea that Howard Stark didn’t make Tony the man that he was, but that Jarvis did, is a trope that is near and dear to my heart.

This fic puts Tony in a very vulnerable state, and seeing Jarvis’ protective nature of the young Stark is absolutely heartwarming. Also, in this fic Tony still has the arc reactor, so seeing young Tony struggle with grasping why he has this device in his chest is extremely poignant.

[marvelfanrecs]

Title: Put My Head Under My Pillow

Author: lazywriter7

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8140699

Ship: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Rating: Not Rated (I would put it at a Teen and Up)

Major Tags: Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Angst, Fix-It, Canon Compliant, Regret, Friendship, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers Feels, POV Steve Rogers, Nightmares, Trauma, Pre-Slash

Summary: Tony uses the BARF tech to get over his nightmares of Siberia.

Review’s name: rightsidethru

Review:

So after Civil War, I was left floundering and with a broken heart and–just… dissatisfied, for a variety of reasons. As most of us seem to do, I went off in search of fic to help me through my Feels™ and potentially mend what was crushed underfoot.

…and then I found this story.

Truth: Tears were streaming down from my eyes for a majority of this story. And if you go into it with the full expectation that things are rainbows and butterflies between Tony and Steve at the end, you will be very disappointed. It’s definitely a fix-it fic, but it’s more like… the first step taken towards that eventual and hopefully complete fix-it. So partial fix-it, I guess I would label it as?

Also truth: this story will go a long way in healing the itty bitty pieces of that broken heart, but it will absolutely stomp on it some more along the way. Quote: But Steve hadn’t been fighting with a clear head. His mind had been flooded by a deluge of panic and fear and guilt and notagainnotagainhecantdiepleaseplease and Iron Man hadn’t been using….any part of his arsenal except the repulsors to even remind him of the fatal strategic errors he was committing. Honestly? The choice to tell this story from Steve’s point of view–though it deals with a focus on Tony’s trauma–was expertly done and lazywriter7 makes it work and work well.

The writing in this story is just… really top notch, vocabulary and imagery flowing in a gorgeous way, and it’s able to do so easily what a lot of writers struggle with (*raises hand!*): it catches your attention and drags emotion out of you. I mentioned that my face was wet for the majority of this story? Yeah, I immediately began tearing up again like some sort of Pavlovian response as I began writing this review.

But the story is just–so, so good and I felt immensely better at the end: I was offered a type of resolution that I needed and this story healed a hurt that had been left gaping and raw for months after that movie: like the wound finally got lanced and the infection could finally get let out.

Read this. You’ll hurt–probably a fair amount–but there won’t be any regrets by the end.