Yuletide recs: Fandoms starting with A - J

[wakeupnew]

OKAY. Upon my first gleeful half-pass through the archives, I have about fifty recs. Some of these are being recced to high heaven, but a number are fandoms that I have yet to see touched by rec posts; a couple are stories where there is only one comment: mine, and that makes me sad, because they're fantastic!

Fandoms featured: The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series, Aladdin, Arrested Development, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Avengers and New Avengers, Beauty and the Beast (Disney), Black Books, Burn Notice, Cable & Deadpool, Captain Britain and MI:13, Hellboy, Hot Fuzz, How I Met Your Mother, Ian Fleming's James Bond, iCarly, The Incredibles, Indiana Jones, Into the Woods, Iron Man (comics), and James Bond: Casino Royale.

(I am still making my way through writing reviews; I tend to read a batch, save links in delicious in a batch, rec in a batch, and then comment in a batch. I've got about 15 still to comment on. So, since I am linking this publicly, if you are one of the authors of one of these stories and have yet to see a comment from Lexie: you will. :D Last year, I sucked at commenting. This year, I am a fiend. Yay Yuletide!)



The Adventures of Pete & Pete
Today's Adventure: Wrigley Versus Wrigley: Pete is going to college; Pete does everything in his power to stop him. The story brings across the tone of the show brilliantly, and it's a gas seeing how many ways Pete can get Pete arrested.

It's an open secret that the thing people call "college" is really part of the International Adult Conspiracy - an old invention for kids who escaped their parents' many careful attacks of Personality Draught, and managed to keep their... well, their kid perspective on things. (The sole exception to this is Mervin Pinkiss of Niagara Falls, the world's youngest accountant at age nine and a half.)

Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series
And An Umbrella For The Rain: A small moment between Poirot and Hastings, with wonderful voices.

'Non!' he said, looking up again, this time with a little frown on his oval face. 'The game of cricket and Hercule Poirot are not meant to be friends! Now, if you please, I endeavour to read my letter and to do the work!'

Aladdin
Whole New World: A look at the Genie through time; lovely and startlingly heart-breaking.

Genie will say, ticking off his fingers: "Before you ask, handsome: yes, genie, not a ghost, blue skin's good for the ultra-violet rays, fulfilling wishes is just my day job but you look like I can do you a favor, and darling, you think you're the first to wish for that before? A sliver of originality, that's all I ask for, Harold."

Arrested Development
Tiger Beaten: George Michael joins a band, to help Maeby. The narration reads like Ron Howard's voice -- classic.

No more than seven months, two weeks, and four days after agreeing to suspend his undergraduate studies in order to join a band out of his Pavlovian desire to impress his cousin, George Michael (now Tobias) Bluth was in the unique position for a Bluth of being famous for something other than criminal conduct or flubbed magic tricks.

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
Commonplaces: It's Holmes/Irene Adler (with a hint of Holmes/Watson), and it's handled with the utmost care and a deft touch. I can believe it, and I love seeing Irene's capability and brilliance.

They had dinner in a small anonymous cafe, sitting on the sidewalk with the noise of conversation and carriages around them. "Some of his lieutenants have escaped the net," he said, waving an impatient hand, long-fingered and pale, "but they are not of his caliber. They are all watching Watson."

"I suppose," she said thoughtfully, "that you will find that an excellent excuse to give him."

The Adventure of the Expert Cracksman: It's a case-fic in Watson-voice, a wonderful Doyle pastiche with a believable mystery, complete with a Holmes-and-Watson moment, at the end. As someone who tried to write something similar last year, I can tell you: this isn't easy, and the author makes it look as if it is. Brilliant.

Holmes rubbed his hands together. "Watson, I fear we will have to arm ourselves -- not with guns, at least not yet, but with hats and mufflers and every device man has invented to fight the cold. Unless, of course, you choose to be sensible and stay indoors?"

1918: This is apparently a crossover with Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books; I'd never heard of them, but even without that knowledge, I loved every second of this. Watson returning from war once again.

Uncertainty had never been something he wanted to admit to, but age and loss had diminished his pride. And the truth was that it was not a resemblance to the stocky, middle-aged man he had seen off to war that had caught his eye, but the ghost of a unnaturally slender young man, fresh from war and disaster, standing among the beakers and flasks of a chemical laboratory with his hat in one hand and his other shoulder held stiff against pain.

Avengers and New Avengers
That Time in the Place with the Thing: This takes the form of a comic book script by Brian Michael Bendis (complete with notes to the artists), which is rather ingenious; it's a night with Peter Parker and Luke Cage, and wonder of wonders, it makes me want to read more New Avengers than I have (so I can get what they're talking about).

SPIDER-MAN:
I hear green _is_ the new black.

LUKE CAGE:
_Black_ is always the new black, man.

Movement: Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and a domestic moment. Sort of. It's prickly and back-and-forth, and sweet; love it. I've never actually read anything with Jessica Jones in, and I have to admit, from this alone, I'm pretty sure I'd love her. I may, um, have a weakness for this sort of character. *is not looking at Liz Sherman*

"God, how do I own so much crap?"

Luke snorted. "Woman, you kidding? I had more stuff in prison."

Changes: Full disclosure: I ordinarily do not like Steve/Tony or genderswap fic. The author handles both so well, however, that I had to get past it! The genderswap makes sense, and is handled subtly and with full attention to the details, and the same goes for the pairing! Steve Rogers is hit by an AIM superweapon's ray, and has to deal with the fallout. Featuring bra-shopping with Mary Jane Watson, clothing tips from She-Hulk, and Steve/Tony.

"I think," he said thoughtfully, "I'm going to need a bra."

It was almost worth it, just to see Tony do a coffee spit-take all over his workbench.

Beauty and the Beast (Disney)
Unwind for a Change: Pre-movie -- Cogsworth is trying to keep the staff together, keep them moving, but it isn't easy. Lumiere is trying to help, too, in his own way. Long and sweet and beautifully-crafted; I can't get over how gorgeous the writing is.

The guests had become a mere memory and their abandoned rooms kept perfectly tidy by servants who, themselves, were fading more and more into their new roles. Long treated as tools by their vain and inattentive master, tools they were becoming in truth. The small legion of maids, footmen, scullery urchins, pages, housekeepers, grooms, coachmen and all were becoming less and less distinguishable from the household items and implements they now resembled. They carried out their tasks and returned to their hooks or their cupboards and each day they lost a little more of themselves.

This castle, these people - they were his responsibility, and Cogsworth wondered sometimes if they were aware enough to realize how hard he was trying to keep everything running, everything in order so that they would all keep moving just a little while longer.

What Became of Marie La Fleur: Recced by everyone and their mother, and for good reason. Marie is one of the three silly sisters from the chorus; this fic gives her a voice and growth.

Only Marie was serving the afternoon Belle visited the tavern, fetching her father a stein of the local brew for old times' sake. Belle smiled at Marie, which had happened before, and seemed to actually see her, which hadn't. Marie ventured a question about the castle, something to do with feeding so huge a household, and was regaled with a long tale of kitchen mishaps featuring an Englishwoman and a boy named Chip who may or may not have been a teacup. Come meet them, Belle said. Marie dithered, and wondered about Claire and Annette, and finally just said yes.

Black Books (note: this is one of those fandoms where it's all great; I just picked out my favorite one or two. I recommend reading everything!)
The Morning After: Bernard and Fran wake up together. Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. Great voices for Bernard, Fran, and Manny.

Bernard avoided answering directly, but Fran knew him well enough to recognise the tiniest hint of a smile curving the corner of his lips for a microsecond. "I suppose it is only natural," he said. "The sort of thing that happens when two people are close and one of them's devilishly attractive and witty and charming and the other's ... completely desperate."

Intervention: Bernard has Misanthropic Booksellers Syndrome, and Fran and Manny set out to cure him. This reads, no joke, like an unfilmed episode. It's brilliant.

"No!" Bernard yelled, finally. "No, you can't have it!" Then Bernard curled into a protective ball around Greco-Roman Architecture: An Introduction and rolled under the desk with it.

Barcelona: Black Books becomes famous on the internet; chaos ensues. The Fran voice in particular is dead-on.

"Bernard, I had to," she said imploringly. "My mobile was gone and he had these gigantic eyes and I have a better chance of being eaten by a shark."

Burn Notice
Luck of the Irish: Michael and Fiona in England; Fiona causes a scene. This was written for me, and it is absolutely note-perfect. I get such a kick out of the voices (the Irish accents!) and how nuts and badass Fiona is (and how much she enjoys things she really shouldn't), and the author managed to work in a fabulous mention of Sam. AND IMPERIL MY SACRED, IMMORTAL SOUL?!

And then, when Fi finally does come slamming into the pub, he knows straight away there's going to be trouble. Or, properly, that there are already is trouble. Fi's dressed like a high-class prostitute in a working class bar, and the first thing she does is grab him by the throat and throw him back against the bar. Michael's already noticed that for someone who weighs approximately ninety pounds, she's freakishly strong.

He knows a cue when he sees one. “Sure, and what is it that's troublin' you, colleen?” he drawls, although it's hard to sound nonchalant with Fi's sharp little elbow pressing against his adam's apple. He can think of two distinct possibilities. Either someone from the IRA's found about the guns, in which case they're in trouble, or Fiona's found out he's playing her, in which case he's in trouble.

Cats and Raccoons: Sam Axe, on Michael and Fiona's relationship. This was also written for me, and it's so fun! The Sam voice is excellent, and I love the Michael/Fiona backstory that the author has come up with; it makes perfect sense, and explains that throwaway line of (I think) Michael's, when he mentions having been with Fiona all over continental Europe (or something along those lines; my Burn Notice-fu is not strong for specific dialogue from random episodes).

"Yeah. Okay, well we got to talking that first night, but nothing too deep. She was sounding me out, too, I could tell. And that's fine - the name of the game. But there's also something different about this girl, Sam."

"Different how?" I asked. It was really not like Mike to fall head over heels; the kid was starting to worry me.

"Well," he said, feeling his way, "most people who join the IRA - or any radical activist organization - they do it for one of two reasons: love of the cause, or sociopathic tendencies. Got a feeling she's number two."

Leaving Ireland: Michael reflects on the night that he left Fiona; featuring a wonderful Michael voice and a cameo by the love of my life Sam. For me again; I received so much awesome this Yuletide!!!

She made him crazy, made him miserable, but he loved her.

Maybe more than he ever had loved someone, or ever would again. He would go on, and she would move on. She was beautiful, resourceful, and strong. She would forget him.

That, or she would hunt him down and bitch slap him with an assault rifle.

With Fiona, he could never be too sure.

Regret: Michael reflects on meeting Fiona. This is the fourth and final Burn Notice fic that I received for Yuletide, and I love it as much as the other three; I just want to clutch them all and hug them close. It features Fiona's crazy and purposely terrible timing, Sam's easiness, and a great, dry (regretful) Michael voice.

She was a flash of fire - sparkling bright in the rain and gray depression. She wasn't the contact I was supposed to meet, but the best laid plans of mice, men and spies often change without any damn notice. "Hi. I'm Fiona."

Cable and Deadpool
tidings of joy (or something like it): The Merc with a Mouth has a dream. I just started getting into Cable and Deadpool recently, and I love this so much. The Wade point of view is fantastic and slightly disturbing and hysterical, just as it should be.

"Come on, Wade, it's Christmas Eve," Irene says into the keyhole, voice characteristically exasperated. "What would Cable say if he saw you sulking like this?"

"He would probably tell me it builds character, much like being infected with a techno-organic virus as an infant and sent thousands of years into a war-torn future by your grieving father, forcing you to be raised in a harsh world where you fought for survival every single day," Wade says, hand on the doorknob. "Nate knows the value of a good rugged, manly sulk. What's the password? No one gets in without the password."

Suing Through the Fourth Wall: Exactly what the title suggests. Deadpool goes to She-Hulk. The mission: suing his fanfiction writers. Fourth-wall-shattering and hilarious, with a great Cable cameo.

"Hey, you were never drawn by Rob Liefeld," Wade pointed out. "I mean I had pouches everywhere and my muscles had muscles. And my feet! Why did he do that to my feet?"

Captain Britain and MI:13
Five Times Faiza Hussain Meets a Superhero: Exactly what the title says. I haven't read the source material, but this makes me want to; Faiza meets superheroes, but does not need to be rescued.

Raising her hand in front of her, she tries to focus on it. The energy just turns away every time she gets near it, like trying to bite one's own elbow. She can't seem to get the power to flow back on itself. Note to self: she thinks, Can't fix own body. Rely on team mates for protection. Also, Captain Britain and Spitfire and the Black Knight are my team mates! Note to self (addendum): stop acting like barking lunatic when around team mates.

Hellboy
Abe Sapien and Hellboy Share a Kiss While They Work: Abe goes out on his first mission with the B.P.R.D., and Hellboy runs into trouble. I don't want to spoil it, but I will say this: it's not what you think. The voices are fantastic in this, as is the exploration of Hellboy and Abe's friendship; there's a very cool twist at the end that you might see coming, but I didn't. I don't want to give it away, but it made the fic for me.

"I'll see what I can do, Lewis," Hellboy said. "I think I found the master bedroom here. Not very masterful, if you ask me. Anybody getting anything on the ghost stuff?"

"Nothing yet," someone else said. "Just a whole lot of well-behaved rats and - aaghk!"

Hellboy spun and started for the door. His footsteps thundered across the floor. Dust puffed up and swirled around the prints he left behind. "Who was that? -- Emerson, right? Emerson, where are you? Someone check on Emerson!"

"hhhagk - I'm fine, Hellboy, disregard - just a faceful of cobweb, I wasn't looking where I was going," Emerson said, apologetic in spite of his mouthful of spider leftovers.

Pictures of You: Liz in a quiet moment after leaving the Bureau for Bellamie Psychiatric Hospital. This was written for me, and I adore it; it's little and contained and heartbreaking, and I'm in awe of how much the author brings across in such a short fic. It's the explanation for why Liz won't admit that she loves Hellboy, prior to the first movie.

Beneath the bed, tucked into the back corner, was a securely taped up shoebox. Inside it were dozens of pictures - probably even a hundred or more by now - of one man. The safe, normal people watching her from the walls couldn't ever imagine a man like him, either, and Liz wanted to rip open the box and cover their faces with his.

Xoloitzcuintli: I received so much engaging fic this year; it's a little astonishing, and very humbling. This was the final Yuletide story written for me, and it's a rollicking adventure. Cows and sheep are turning up sucked dry out west, and B.P.R.D. Agent Liz Sherman is sent to investigate in her first solo mission. I have a special soft spot for the exchanges between Liz and Abe. Liz is finding her way, and meanwhile, Hellboy is starting to realize that she's not a kid anymore. And the mystery is great; it's a case-fic! References to Kate Corrigan and other comicky awesome!

Cautiously, Hellboy approached the door, and swung it open. In the back was a small office, as dingy and dilapidated as the main house. Dark wood panelling dating to some bygone era made the room even darker. And old black fan - the kind with no grill from some old noir film - swirled the smell of death throughout the room. A small color tv with bad reception blared some awful local commercials featuring local used car salesmen and monster truck rallies. The place was a mess.

"HB, there's something wrong here..."

"No kidding."

Hot Fuzz (note: this is one of those fandoms where it's all great; I just picked out my favorite one or two. I recommend reading everything!)
And This Time I'll Remember: Starts off with the best opening lines I've read yet this Yuletide, and goes on to solve the mystery and feature a sweet Nicholas/Danny.

Nicholas Angel knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up on Christmas Eve face-to-face with a dead body.

"Shit," said Nicholas, and went from sitting down to standing without any of the bits between. This was probably a metaphor for Nicholas Angel's life right now, because as far as he knew he'd gone from pub-with-Danny to waking-up-next-to-dead-body without any in-between bits.

Tokens of Affection: Tracking the evolution of Nicholas and Danny's relationship in the six weeks before Christmas. Long and incredibly satisfying, featuring wonderful voices for everyone involved, including the background cast; the Andys and busybody Doris are particularly hilarious.

The peace lily notwithstanding (no longer impounded), Danny always seemed to find a way of one-upping him (Cornettos, car keys, absolute trust). The flowers for Mrs. Butterman's grave had probably been Nicholas's best effort to date. They had earned him something resembling a snuggle later that evening, which had been vaguely perplexing at first, but actually quite nice once he'd got used to it. In fact, he was getting used to the prospect of a lot of possibilities that he'd never even considered.

How I Met Your Mother (note: this is one of those fandoms where it's all great; I just picked out my favorite one or two. I recommend reading everything!)
Modern Love: Robin's going to be deported if she doesn't find a job soon; she and Ted decide to get married so that she can stay in the country. Barney has problems with this. I love the voices for the full cast, and Barney trolling for MILFs at Lily's kindergarten.

"This is Ted we're talking about," Barney said, beginning to pace behind the couch. "Ted doesn't do quickie divorces. Ted's had the song for the first dance at his wedding picked out since he was in junior high. Ted wants nothing more in life than to have twins and give them alliterative names. Ted probably knows what kind of food he wants to serve at his fiftieth wedding anniversary party."

"Okay, but--"

"'Adore,' by Prince."

"--Ted and I broke up almost two years ago, we both know this is just a favor for a friend--"

"Carly and Calvin. Either that or Carrie and Caleb. I always try to give myself a toothpick lobotomy when the subject comes up."

Still A Little Hard to Say What's Going On: Barney and Robin during the summer that Barney is in the hospital; terribly fun and a little sad.

[Robin] smiles. "I want your A game. The stuff you used to pull out for Ted before he got his first period and grew into a beautiful young woman."

Ian Fleming's James Bond series
No Omen But His Country's Cause: Daniel Craig Bond in the spirit of Ian Fleming's books; Bond/Leiter. Spare and tough and beautifully written, and pretty sexy, too.

James smiles, but lets no warmth touch his eyes. He sees something in Felix he recognizes, always has. Felix wears the same expression, anticipation with a hint of defeat. They've both lost fights, lost wars, and wear the scars.

iCarly
iDo Lunch With Freddie: Sam and Freddie do lunch. I can't even describe how happy this makes me. The Sam-voice is amazing and the author takes it to a depth that the show can't, in explaining why Sam is the way she is. This is my favorite story that I've read in Yuletide so far.

The lunchroom's already loud and crowded when Sam exits the line, balancing a tray loaded with spaghetti, corn, chocolate milk, and an extra fruit cup that she took from some pimply short kid's tray when he wasn't looking. If making every meal count were a religion, Sam thinks, she would be its Pope.

Hmm, might be a good idea for the show, she thinks, envisioning herself wearing a tall white hat and pretending to bless plates of roast beef and doughnuts.

The Incredibles
As Close as Hands and Feet: Violet agrees to help Dash out, some time after the movie. I love the back-and-forth of their relationship, how sibling-y they are while still caring about each other, and I'm thrilled by how much more confident Violet seems here, while still remaining essentially Violet.

"Just go over and talk to her."

"How?"

"You inhale, shape your mouth, exhale, and sounds come out of it."

Indiana Jones
The Charm: Indy and Marion through the years. This one's not work-safe, kids, and features really beautifully-written sex, as well as character voices and insight.

"He told me not to shoot," Marion continued. "Begged me."

"Between Scylla and Charybdis," Indy muttered, leaning forward to feed another log to the fire.

When the Ground Falls Out from Underneath Your Feet: God, there is so much Indy/Marion in the archives this year. My heart cannot contain my happiness; they have been my OTP since my dad first showed me the movies when I was five or six. The one good thing to come out of the abysmal fourth movie was the confirmation of thier love. This one features Indy, Marion, and Mutt as they become a family, or at least work at understanding each other. The voices are dead-on, and Marion is a badass. Perfect.

"Your mother never just has one drink with the locals."

Another roar of laughter came up the stairs like a hurricane followed by a rhythmic chant that made Mutt's hair stand on end. "What's that?"

"That," sighed Jones, "is your mother."

Indiana Jones and the Trail of Light: Wow. Wow. The plot packed into this little story is extraordinary; so are the details. This is Indy and Marion first meeting; it's crafted from the throwaway comments about Indy and Marion's early relationship, from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indy's admiration of Marion's brilliance while he tries to keep himself away from her, Marion's fiery temper and her admiration for Indy's bare chest -- wonderful. A great read.

She was nothing like his students, really, Indy mused, stripping off his dirty shirt and rummaging for a clean one. Most of them, the only digging they'd ever done was through the card catalogue. They wrote about Schliemann and Petrie with enthusiasm (sometimes), but they'd never know what it was like to taste the air of a dead city on their tongue. Marion, though, she'd obviously caught the field excavation bug that drove Abner around the world and drove any institute he affiliated with mad. She knew more than Indy had ever been able to teach the dunces in his lecture halls.

Not that there weren't some things he'd like to teach her.

Into the Woods
Halfway through the Woods: It's a look at the characters after the end of the show; they're all still together, but the Baker hasn't forgotten his Wife. It's short and sweet and reads like the musical, to me.

She had kissed him, once upon a time. It had been soon after the woods, and everything had been shaky and uncertain like the earth under the Giantess' feet. She had kissed him, and her mouth tasted of flowers and babies. He fancied that it would have been different before - everything, that her mouth would have been overlaid with candy and lace and gold, but she's not the Princess any more. The Prince is dead, and she's the mother of his son. Not his wife, either. And so she tastes of baby's small smells and nothing more. Maybe her mouth always tasted like that, and he only imagines otherwise because he sometimes thinks that everything must be different now than it was before the woods.

Iron Man (comics)
The 3 AM Phone Call: A fascinating blend of old and new canon. The author takes the main plot of and Tony's alcoholic breakdown from "Demon in a Bottle," and mixes it with characters and situations from "Extremis" and other recent Iron Man canon. Well done!

The last time Tony called Maya Hansen at 3 AM -- the last time before this time -- he thought he had discovered a perpetual motion machine.

His words poured of the telephone receiver: "The reason it hasn't worked before now is that we've been thinking one-dimensionally. I don't mean one-dimensional like a line or a point in space. I mean. . .one-dimensionally in the sense that we've limited our thinking to this plane of existence. Once we put the Negative Zone into the equation --"

"Tony?" Maya said, as though there were more than one person who might call her in the middle of the night to rant about the Negative Zone.

James Bond: Casino Royale
Sur Le Pont d'Avignon: Vesper (and Bond) traveling, before Venice; Vesper sees Yusef everywhere. Sweet and sad, a wonderful look at Vesper's affection, motivation, and crippling guilt. The sharp Bond voice is a bonus.

Vesper saw him on the bank of the Rhone from the corner of her eye. It was not the first time he appeared since James left the hospital. That he should be in her mind at all these days - much less at the edges of her vision - was flatly improbable, but there was no mistaking his hard-edged figure, or the way she responded to it.

He was gone when Vesper turned her head. She hesitated in confusion, and the inertia of the crowd swept her to the railing of the Pont d'Avignon. Leaning out, fingers tight on the rail, she searched the sidewalk winding beneath the last arch of the Pont and the grassy bank below. Like the ghosts fluttering treacherously at the edges of perception, the familiar silhouette dissolved in daylight reality. Vesper saw nothing but tourists.

Ten letters down; twelve fourteen to go! I -- totally know how many letters are in the alphabet. Yes.

Comments

[hockeyiris.livejournal.com]

I can't wait until author reveal.

What fandom did your pinch-hitter writer for you?

And the thing about the continental move, as far as I can remember, was in episode 7 of the first season, when she wants to talk or kick his ass and he's pointing out the scars she gave him in Dublin and in Germany. And no, I didn't write that one, I just watched the ep recently.

And for future reference, on either the 30th or 31st, they are going to do the entire first half of season 2 back-to-back starting early in the morning and going into the late afternoon.

[wakeupnew]

My main story was the Hellboy one with the fabulous title that I can't spell to save my life, if that's what you mean? That's the one that was my assigned pinch hit, I believe!

Good to know! Thanks; I thought I'd heard it somewhere, but I couldn't remember where. :D

Oh man, that is so good to know; I've got people to make aware of that! I watched the entirety of season 1 with some friends and they were all very cranky about there not being a legal way to see the first half of season 2 in time to catch up for January; I'll have to let them know!

[jothra]

I have 4 volumes of Cable and Deadpool at your disposal, if you haven't gotten that far.

[wakeupnew]

asokfp;dsk;spdkg

I have number five, so that would be AWESOME. The comic book store I went to only had 5&6.

[hockeyiris.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check it out.

I'm pathetic in that I remember too many quotes and weird references.

Double check to be sure, but I was on the USA site and it said next week it'll show them all.

Of course, I have the first half of the season... but I can't say how. ;)

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I've only gotten through a few of these fics, but you mentioned wanting to read about Jessica Jones, and I can't recommend the Alias comic enough.

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

Oh, damn. Almost had me at Ian Fleming's James Bond, but. Daniel Craig =/= Ian Fleming's Bond.

/snob

[wakeupnew]

Mmhmm! Apparently, the request was for Craig Bond/Wright Leiter in the spirit of Fleming's books, and the fic was officially categorized under the category Ian Fleming - James Bond. Sorry to disappoint!

[wakeupnew]

I keep hearing that! Some day, when I have the time and the money, I'm going to get to Alias. Some day! Oh comics. I love you, but you are an expensive habit.

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

It's not your fault.

My problem boils down to: bawww, very few people write in Ian Fleming's actual verse, it's all Daniel Craig, oh wait someone actually did write in Flemings ver -- no wait nevermind BAAAAAWWW

In conclusion: cry moar, Frankie!

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the volumes aren't cheap or easy to find, unfortunately :-/. (I had to borrow the ones I read from a friend). Though I see you're getting Cable/Deadpool, which is my favorite series ever, so that should keep you busy .

And I'd missed that 'Cable & Deadpool' fic my first time through the archive, so I'll definitely give it a look!

Love your 'Demon in a Bottle' icon, by the way. Oh, Tony!

[wakeupnew]

On the bright side, it looks like someone else actually did write in Fleming's verse? *pats*

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

ORLY?

I will read...later. XD

[wakeupnew]

I am drowning in Cable & Deadpool and Hellboy/B.P.R.D. this break; it's brilliant! I do intent to add Alias eventually, though, despite the way that I've been avoiding current Marvel canon. I've really enjoyed the snippets of Jones that I've picked up here and there, and I can't keep reading old-school Iron Man and Avengers forever!

Those two Cable & Deadpool fics are really fun; I'd definitely recommend them both.

Oh Tony. So emo. If you could pat a fictional character, I'd do it!

[wakeupnew]

Helpful, not pathetic! :DDD

I'll check; thanks!

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Honestly, you can read Alias without dipping into any current Marvel canon. The series had a definite endpoint, which was several years ago, and though it does lead into things that are happening now, you don't have to follow it past the end of the series. The four trades of Alias read like a novel.

Now, I am a fan of current Marvel canon -- loving the current Iron Man series to pieces, and thinking that the current direction of Avengers looks really promising. So I certainly don't want to advise against reading new comics. But Alias isn't your gateway drug (in fact, once you've read it, you'll probably be kind of disappointed with how she's been written since).

[wakeupnew]

Awesome! I love stand-alone canon. As for the rest of current Marvel -- well, I just really don't like what I've picked up of Civil War, so I've been happily rolling around in sixties and seventies era comics; I figure even when the older comics are terrible, the vernacular and hairstyles and coloring are all so entertaining that they're worth it. I read the recent Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. mini where War Machine takes over, and I'm going to read Rhodey's new series. I'm really just in it for Jim Rhodes, though, which is another reason I haven't really gotten into new comics: Rhodey's appearances have been few and far between, and the characterization has kind of sucked. He's such a stick in the mud now!

So, yeah, it's okay if I fall in love with Jones in one series and wind up disappointed with the writing after it; I'm kind of used to that. I'd need one heck of a gateway drug to draw me into mainstream current Marvel; I've read some New Avengers and the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. series, and I'm just not feeling it. Maybe that's because I miss the cracktastic eighties, though. I probably have an unfair bias against contemporary Marvel!

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I think one of the problems with current Marvel is that everything is tied to their big events, but the events themselves (Civil War, Secret Invasion) aren't really what they ought to be. The gateway drugs are more self-contained series like Captain America, Invincible Iron Man (which does have Rhodey, but only in the first issue), and Immortal Iron Fist. Or maybe I'm just showing my Matt Fraction/Ed Brubaker bias. (I would also really like the new 'War Machine' series to be good -- and I liked the Secret Invasion tie-in starring Rhodey a lot -- but I don't have a lot of hope. Have you tried the Marvel Adventures 'Iron Man' series? (These are the all-ages books that are sold in manga-sized digests). I believe there's quite a bit of Rhodey in that.

But I'm certainly not going to argue with the cracktastic eighties. I just started reading Power Man/Iron Fist and am about ready to declare that I could give up every other comic and just read PM/IF for the rest of my life and be content. Because, damn, the crack, and the awesome.

[djcati.livejournal.com]

Oh man, that Luke and Spidey fic has made my entire day already and it's only 11am. They (plus occasionally Wolverine) are the best things in New Avengers, no lie, especially pre-Civil War NA. I was already thinking about how I wanted to re-read the first half of the book and now I have to go find my hard drive.

[emperorsteele.livejournal.com]

The Pete and Pete one is even more hilarious if you invert the Petes =P

Misdirection ftw

[wakeupnew]

Isn't it great? I really loved that one! It tempted me to catch up with New Avengers -- which I've only read the first two trades of -- which was rather impressive, considering that I was pretty uninterested in the series after reading those two trades. I fail so much at enjoying modern comics. :(

[wakeupnew]

Hee! This is true!

[wakeupnew]

Your first sentence really hits the nail on the head for me. Everything's tied into these huge dramatic Things, but then the Things aren't all that compelling in and of themselves. I have the same feelings as you about the new War Machine series, given how Rhodey's been treated lately and what I've heard about the creative team working on it: I wish it'll be good, but I don't have high hopes. I haven't actually read any Invincible Iron Man; I'd like to eventually work my way there. After all, eventually, there will be no more eighties crack to read, and then I'll just have to get used to comics from the 2000s!

Marvel Adventures Iron Man -- is that the series with art that almost looks manga inspired? I picked up something that sounds like that, with these little digest books; it looked like it was set AU from regular Marvel canon, though, from what I could tell. But there was a lot of Rhodey, for sure; thanks for the recommendation! :D

Oh man! Power Man/Iron Fist is another one on my giant list of things I'd like to read some day; that and Heroes for Hire. Dear Marvel universe: why do you have to be so huge???

[djcati.livejournal.com]

Man, New Avengers is the best modern age Marvel title, except for maybe Young Avengers or the first two volumes of Runaways (pre-Joss). Then again, the first trade (picked up randomly in the library) is what got me interested in the series in the first place -- clearly we just like totally different things when it comes to comics.

What are your thoughts on Secret Invasion? If you hate it, steer clear of New Avengers from I think #37, where it basically becomes SI backstory (a lot more than any other Marvel title). Up to then, though, A++ and there are ninjas. :D

[wakeupnew]

I've read bits and pieces of Secret Invasion and am not terribly interested in it? As for New Avengers, I've read the first two trades, so the breakout and then the stuff with the Sentry. Is there more really Sentry-centric stuff? Because I was just like, '...what' a lot with him, rather than being into it. I liked the first trade better, and then the second one cooled a lot of my interest!

[djcati.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, Sentry was weird. He's still kind of around up to Civil War (but not the focus), then he goes off somewhere because plot device he's too scared of using his powers, or some weird crap, and then when he comes back I thiiink he joins Tony's new group rather than the NA. There's one sort of vignette-style issue with him in Civil War, but everyone gets a vignette-style issue in CW (except Spidey since he has his own book) which I thought was a really cool way of doing it.

[cashewdani.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the rec on Still A Little Hard to Say What's Going On. You're totally sweet!!

now that reveals are in --

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reccing "The 3 AM Phone Call". I was really glad this story seemed to work for so many people, even with the various obscure canon references.