Fic Rec: "User Since" by rageprufrock (and podfic by susan_voight)
Title: User Since (text/podfic) Author: rageprufrock (AO3/Tumblr) Reader: susan_voight (AO3/LJ) Rating: G Genre: Angst, character study in retrospect. Contains: Major character death, exploration of fandom. Summary: Phil — where the hell are you, man? Let us know if you're all right, or if there's anything we can do to help. HQ's freaking the fuck out.
This stoy, man. This story.
Represented though forum posts, e-mails, texts, and letters, User Since follows the reaction of Phil Coulson's closest friends in the aftermath of his death in the Battle of New York. The kicker is that these are not friends Phil ever got to meet in person. Instead, they are his fellow moderators and members at Howling Commandos HQ -- a large but close-knit fan community dedicated to both the historical and fictionalized Captain America.
If you've ever been a member of this kind of fan community or had close online friends you've never met before, you'll understand why this fic hit me so hard. I downloaded the podfic without reading the summary (I already knew I liked the reader), a mistake which found me desperately trying not to cry in the middle of the grocery store. It presents a perfectly in-character representation of a canon character heavily involved in fandom, and the responses of Phil's friends to his death really hit close to home. The story disregards or was written before Agents of SHIELD, and it's all the more heartbreaking as a result.
If you can, I truly recommend listening to the podfic. I almost didn't keep listening after the first few seconds because the fic's format is something that wouldn't ordinarily work aurally. Keep listening: half of the reason I almost cried at the grocery store was susan_voight's brilliant reading. Pitch-perfect and hearbreaking, this fic is a definite must-read within the Avengers fandom.