All the Avengers, all the time

[thuviaptarth]

I WANT ALL THE TEAM BONDING PLEASE.

Before I saw the movie, I was a little sad because I figured it would do all the work of creating the team bonding and also the Steve/Tony friendship*, as this is especially relevant to my interests, and then there would be fewer fic versions. So, although I would have loved to see more Joss doing character interactions, in a weird way I am really excited that there is still room for fandom to play in that particular area.

PLAY MORE, FANDOM.

* I know, the movie has launched Tony/Bruce in a big way. But I have faith some fans will continue to fulfill my Steve/Tony needs. If people can get Steve/Tony out of Ultimates**, the movie should be a cakewalk.

** Ultimates wants you to ship Tony/Thor. Like, A LOT. I haven't seen anyone take up the invitation, though.

These are gen (sometimes with mention of canonical romances) unless otherwise noted.

Fic
BlackEyedGirl, Fifteen Short Stories About Teamwork
A thousand more stories like this, please.

Kayim, Contingency
Bruce starts to trust the team

jennathorn, Improvise
The Avengers at the state fair. Written before the movie came out, so characterization may diverge slightly.

signe, Tex-Mex, Lies, and Facebook
Recovery after the movie

katemonkey, Knit 1, Purl 2, Save the World (Again)
The Avengers Tower Stitch & Bitch Club. This rec is dedicated to springgreen.

quigonejinn, Love is for children. (Natasha Romanov/Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov/Bucky Barnes, Natasha Romanov/Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers)
This is not a team fic and it is not shiny and in fact it is extremely disturbing in more ways than I can count. The author warns for graphic violence, but there's a sex scene there that squicks me way more than any of violence. Quigonejinn's work tends to be cold and clear-eyed and ruthless, much more ruthless in following implications to their logical conclusion than either the movies or comics have ever been. I have ended up bailing out of half her stories partway through because I just couldn't take them -- not because of gruesomeness or explicitness, I've read much worse in both ways, but because the emotional violence was too much for me to bear. Take that as your warning.

This incorporates the Winter Soldier storyline into the movieverse: how Natasha was recruited into the Red Room, and what she left behind.


Vids
nel_ani, My Body Is A Cage
Made with the earlier movies and teaser footage before the movie came out, this compares the journeys of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, and Wolverine. It is amazingly reminiscent of that lab scene on the Helicopter that I am not going to describe more precisely because spoilery. The Wolverine inclusion doesn't quite work for me thematically, maybe because he doesn't choose his "body"/prosthetics/powers/skills the same way the others do -- Tony and Bruce don't choose their injuries/conditions, but those injuries are linked very closely to the work they did choose.

Or I could just be stuck on the different movieverses. Anyway! Really amazing visual parallels. I especially love all the circles in the beginning.

trelkez & sisabet, Glad You Came
THIS GIVES ME ALL THE SHINY EMOTIONS. ALL OF THEM.

caramarie, In the Bullpen
Natasha is better than you.

trelkez, Sorrow (Captain America)
Oh, Steve.

Comments

[jeviltwin]

Ultimates wants you to ship Tony/Thor. Like, A LOT.

Hmm. That is... Intriguing? I've read very little Ultimates because, you know, every single person whose judgement I trust has said AVOID, but now I'm all curious. (Maybe not curious enough, tho.)

It is interesting to me that Tony/Bruce as a romantical ship has sailed so fervently because it strikes me as the most friendshippy of ships. RDJ has chemistry with everyone (constantly all the time in perpetuity throughout the universe) so, like, I get fandom's reaction -- also, fandom is so easy, let's be honest *g* -- but I really love most the idea of kindred spirits finding each other in a very platonic sort of lab buddies way. I'm certain there will be stories that convince me otherwise, and that's okay.

Truly, there isn't a character in the movie I don't love and don't want to see in any combination with any other character(s) for any reason. So. adorable. And fierce.

Many thanks for the links!

[thuviaptarth]

In Ultimates, Thor is kind of like hippy Jesus sent to protect the earth by his father Odin and he hates big corporations and US aggression abroad, but eventually he ends up helping the Ultimates out for things like alien invasion etc. anyway. In the beginning, he refuses all overtures from Nick Fury but is persuaded by Tony actually inviting him to his house for dinner. Another time he joins in a battle because the US agrees to double its foreign aid budget -- and because Tony asks him to. (That is his actual stated reason, not an implication.) Later on, he and Tony tend to hang out as Tony builds things.

Also, Tony and Thor are the only decent human beings/gods on the team in that universe. (There is just something wrong when Tony Stark is a nice guy and Steve Rogers is an asshole. Very, very wrong.)

I still say AVOID.

It is interesting to me that Tony/Bruce as a romantical ship has sailed so fervently because it strikes me as the most friendshippy of ships. RDJ has chemistry with everyone (constantly all the time in perpetuity throughout the universe) so, like, I get fandom's reaction -- also, fandom is so easy, let's be honest *g* -- but I really love most the idea of kindred spirits finding each other in a very platonic sort of lab buddies way. I'm certain there will be stories that convince me otherwise, and that's okay.

Tony/Bruce is not my kink, but it's still okay. ;) I would love more platonic lab bros fic; that relationship is really interesting to me.

[cofax7]

Thank you for all the recs! And yay for a Dessa vid!

[oracne]

Thank you!

I read--well, skimmed the first paragraphs of--some BAD fic over the weekend. BAD. I cannot tell you how BAD. This will teach me to choose at random.