recs and links

Nicely done backstory for Clint and Natasha.

M made Eve who she is. Short and sharp.

Bond ruminates on a shopping trip with M. Good look at him, and at her through his eyes.

Sharp look at Pepper and what she's done - and prepared to do - to protect Tony.

Very hot Clint/Kate.

Really lovely and warm Bruce/Tony/Pepper.

Lovely story of Steve's attempts to get acclimated to the 21st century, deal with his teammates (and warmer feelings for Natasha) with bonus Logan and Deadpool (if Deadpool is ever a bonus). (I feel like maybe Bucky is a little absent here in talk about Steve's past? but I am just sensitive about how people forget he is Steve's ACTUAL BFF in the movie.)

Dear Captain Awkward, This weekend I’m attending a housewarming party for which I’m incredibly anxious. Some background: I am a first year graduate student in a phd program, and I am go…

Steve's rarely had enough to eat. Here's five times someone tried to help him out with that.

Really excellent look at who Natasha is - how she was made into the Black Widow and who she decides to remake herself into.

"No, I never dated Rhodey." “Did you want to?” The hand in her hair stills, Tony pushing himself upright on his elbows. “What?” “Did you ask him? Or consider asking him?” Pepper stares up at him, expression curious. “What’s with the twenty questions? I don’t know how you forgot, but I’m kind of dating you right now, so — ” “Because I like him.” Tony falls silent, the rest of his ramblings dying on his lips. “You might have to clarify that statement for me.” “I said I liked Rhodey and was wondering if you liked him too.” She draws a heart lightly with a finger in the space above the arc reactor. Tony swallows heavily. “Oh. Oh. I, wow. Um, yes. Definitely yes.” “I had a feeling you’d say that,” Pepper says with a grin, and kisses him. How Tony and Rhodey and Pepper become Tony/Rhodey/Pepper. Lovely.

Really lovely Tony/Rhodey(/Pepper).

Ridiculously hot Maria/Bruce.

Melancholy missing scene from the movie, featuring M and Bond.

In which Carol is a good friend to Steve, and discovers he's sleeping with Bucky. lovely.

When everyone in New York City, including the Avengers, gets hit with sex pollen, Steve and Bucky are the only two people who are immune, so it's up to them to save the day. Hilarious and awesome and sweet and full of PINING and EVENTUALLY REQUITED FEELINGS.

Really lovely story that takes place just post movie and handles the grieving and starting to move towards becoming a team really well. Have tissues handy.

"I think Bond’s trying to be your friend," Eve tells him. "...well," Q says slowly, "this is a new and disturbing development." Enjoyable look at Q, Eve, and Bond and their odd friendships.

Bond keeps dying in service, and they keep bringing him back; every time they do, he has a different face. Excellently chilling and oh so plausible.

Natasha tries to take up a hobby. It's not as easy as she'd like.

There were no new photographs on the wall of her parents' living room because there were no more straight lines in Joan's life. There were days when Joan was terrified of that—scared by the fact that it was hard to look back over the last two years and see how she'd gotten here from there in large part because there seemed to be no difference between the two points. Some days she found it comforting, how she could mark off the weeks only by the cycle of Mondays through Sundays, not by this prestigious fellowship or that foreign trip or by the addition of a new publication to her CV. Sharp look at Joan and how she got where she is now.

Maria Hill gets tapped to accompany Nick Fury to a charity gala. Mayhem and hilarity ensue.

Bucky's always been better than Steve at things like this; at pulling his collar just so and making his tie sit right. Bucky always looks sharp, a real dapper dresser. Steve always looks slouched over and small, no matter how Bucky fusses with his collar or pulls the shoulders of his jacket. He says maybe someday they'll get Steve a good suit, a tailored one, instead of buying a secondhand one, and Steve will look real good, he's sure of it. It's nice that Bucky believes in Steve, but there's no money for a real suit, even if Bucky does one of the jobs they don't talk about, guarding warehouses or delivering things that Bucky won't look at while he's carrying it, and Steve knows they could go to one of the fancy stores on Fifth Avenue and spend all day in it, finding a suit for him, and he'd still look small and slouched over. He'd rather Bucky get the suit anyway. That way he can look at it and admire the way it falls over Bucky's broad shoulders like a painting in a suit advertisement, and not feel ridiculous himself. Lovely, achy look at Steve and Bucky.

“Does it hurt?” Belle asks. Red doesn’t understand the question for a full five seconds. “Oh,” she says. “No, it doesn’t hurt.” “How does it feel, then?” “I... I guess it feels right. Like something that’s supposed to happen.” Belle smiles, then, a gentle smile doused with sadness. “Good,” she says. “I mean, I’m glad you have that again. You must have missed it, without even knowing, back then.” It makes a startling kind of sense, and Red, who tries not to think of the curse, or of her time in it, says, “Yeah. It’s funny, how much I didn’t know what I needed.” “Not funny,” Belle says, suddenly somber. “Not really.” No, not funny at all.

Fantastic story about Lydia.

Really smart and emotionally true look at Erica.

Ridiculously hot and wonderfully in character M/Bond.

A spy who is also a ballerina. Take a step back and it makes sense. Because he’s watching Natasha glide across a ballroom and at the same time he’s watching her walk into her tiny Parisian garret and kick off her heels. He’s been waiting for thirteen hours on a rooftop in the dead of winter and he just wants to finish the job and go home. It’s snowing lightly and he watches as she takes off her makeup and jewellery and changes into a loose sweater and shorts. She steps closer to the window and he draws an arrow back. Inhales. And then she begins to dance. Slowly at first, as if she’s carrying a heavy weight almost too much for her to bear, but her steps gradually growing lighter and more certain until each movement flows together like music. Earlier that week he watched her kill six armed men with her bare hands. He’s read her file. He knows what she is. But he watches her dance like it’s the only thing holding her together and he knows he can’t kill her. Not without offering her the same choice he’d been given. Four days later he holds out his hand and she takes it. really lovely backstory for Clint and Natasha and their relationship.

He's used to being in the public eye, to being called a hero and a freak in the same breath, and Tony's been famous practically his whole life, but Steve knows it's new and uncomfortable for the rest of them. There's one clip he's seen a couple of times, of someone shoving a microphone in Natasha's face and asking her what it feels like to be a hero. She'd shot a pretty impressive glare at the camera before declaring in an even voice, “I'm not a hero.” Steve knows she hates the idea that anyone's looking up to her. She doesn't see herself as good. But she was there, fighting right next to him in the streets, and he knows better. He'd tell her, if he could figure out the right time to do it. Really good Steve-settles-into-the-future story. I especially like his relationship with Natasha, and the section with Thor made me tear up.