Staring Into the Abyss

Captain America: Civil War made me fall back in love with Tony Stark and comics in general and so I got a year's subscription to Marvel Unlimited last week. Since then I have been obsessively reading old Iron Man comics.

Because I never do anything halfway, I found these two articles: The 25 Greatest Iron Man Stories Ever Told and Top 25 Iron Man Stories and decided that I needed to read them all.

Now I've already read quite a few of the stories (mostly the Fraction stuff) years ago, but I decided that if I haven't read it this year then I need to reread it.

To keep track I have a compiled list in a very roughly chronological order behind the LJ cut where I will cross things off as I read them.

( Iron Man reading list )

Title: The Shortest Week
Author: shinysylver
Artist: meivocis
Characters/Pairings: Gen; Tony-centered, also featuring Steve, Thor, and Fury
Rating: PG-13
Universe: Movieverse
Word Count: 15,235
Content Notes: No standard warnings apply, but Tony does drink a lot in this fic if that is a concern for you.
Summary: It doesn’t take Tony long to realize that he’s stuck in a time loop, doomed to relive the same crappy day over and over again. Every day he wakes up hung over—whether or not he drinks—has to deal with giant robots and, even worse, a pissed off Captain America. Tony has to figure out how to stop the cycle before he goes crazy and in the process maybe he and Steve can come to an understanding.

Author's Notes: Written for the avengers_bang. This fic was written before the Avengers was released so there are no movie spoilers beyond the trailers. Many, many thanks go to meivocis for the fanmix and video she made to go with this fic. And also many thanks to somehowunbroken for the beta and jesseofthenorth and camshaft22 for their support along the way.

Fic at AO3: The Shortest Week
Art Post on LJ: here.

Title: Unraveling
Artist: cellia
Author: shinysylver
Characters/Pairing: Steve/Tony with guest appearances by everybody
Rating (both art/fic): PG-13
Universe: Movieverse
Word Count: 6100
Content Notes: References to possible pre-fic dubcon.

Art Thumbnail:



Fic Summary: After it's revealed that Tony was replaced by a Skrull, Steve begins to question everything about their relationship, and the only person who can set things straight can't talk.
Link to Art: Art at Cellia's LJ | DW

Author's Note: Written for the c_im_bigbang's Reverse Big Bang. Most importantly, thanks to cellia for the beautiful and inspiring artwork. Thanks also go to somehowunbroken for the beta work and the never ending cheerleading and to jesseofthenorth and tailoredshirt for listening to me stress and whine.

( Unraveling ) | AO3

#1 - Tony Stark AKA Iron Man




Iron Man is my favorite superhero. From comic page to movie screen to cartoon he mesmerizes me. There is no one quite like him.

Stan Lee created Tony Stark during the Vietnam War because he wanted to see if he could take a character that the readers would want to hate and make them love him. He was part of the military industrial complex selling weapons during the era of peace protests and yet Stan Lee succeeded and Tony was loved.

This is a character with SO MANY flaws. He's an alcoholic, a narcissist, a jerk, and a sometimes womanizer. He's a genius with a martyr complex. But he is also so much more. Underneath the pompous facade he is deeply insecure and lacks a sense of self worth. He's loyal to a fault and he always does what he thinks is right no matter the personal cost. He is a character that never stops fighting. He fights his weak body, he fights his alcohol dependency, and he fights the super villains.

Tony Stark is a character that has made so many unpopular decisions, enough to occasionally get leveled with the antihero and even villain label (Marvel Civil War anyone?), but he always does them with the best of intentions. Of course Captain America would point out that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and Tony wouldn't argue, he'd just accept that he was going to hell so that Steve wouldn't have to. Martyr complex remember?

One of my favorite things about Tony is how very human he is. He's a superhero with no super powers. He uses his brain and his money to level the playing field, but ultimately he is a human trying to compete with gods and aliens and mutants. Not only is he human but he's a human with a bad heart (or brain in the Ultimateverse). He's flawed and vulnerable and yet he still goes out and saves the world every damn day.

Tony Stark proves that you don't have to be more than human to be a hero and more importantly you don't even have to be a particularly good human to be a hero, you just have to devote yourself to it. He's a beautiful mess and I love him for his flaws and his heart, as broken as it is.

Title: Go with the Flow
Author: shinysylver
Beta: somehowunbroken
Characters/Pairing: Steve/Tony
Word Count: 1053
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel universes. Not even one.
Content Notes: references to non/dubcon anime but no consent issues with our characters, discussions of tentacle porn
Universe: movie
Summary: If there is one thing that dating Tony has taught Steve, it's that sometimes you have to go with the flow.
Author's Note: This was written for cookinguptales's Steve/Tony Tentacle Party. Also, be sure to check out the sequel: Adjustments by somehowunbroken.

( Go with the Flow )
On AO3

Hey everyone! There is Steve/Tony Tentacle Party Post going on here! It is celebrating everything tentacles be it porn or humor or whatever. Everything is welcome including fic, recs, prompts, and art.

So far I've written a one shot for it. I'll probably be reposting this later, but for now, here are the details and a link:

Go with the Flow | Steve/Tony | R | 1053 | If there is one thing that dating Tony has taught Steve, it's that sometimes you have to go with the flow.

***Content Notes: references to non/dubcon anime but no consent issues with our characters

And don't forget to check out somehowunbroken's sequel to my fic:

Adjustments | Steve/Tony | NC-17 | 2004 | It's three hours before Tony calls for Steve.

Now, everyone, go play! :D

Snowflake Challenge Day 14

In your own space, ask for help. Need a beta? Always wanted to learn how to make a vid? a fanmix? icons? Maybe you’d want to have someone cheering for you while you work on an upcoming big bang or fannish bingo? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I feel like I have already asked for so much during the course of this challenge, but I suppose that what I could use now is cheerleading. I finally got a real start on my avengers_bang last night and it is going to be a new and difficult writing experience for me.

Structurally the time loop will make me have to write differently, but, more than that, so much of it is about the character of Tony Stark instead of having a more relationship centered focus. I am a bit worried about doing it right. At the same time I am excited about my idea and hope I can pull it off. Also, I have so much trouble writing long fic and my attention wanders. The rough draft isn't due until March, but I really want to be done with it by the time the c_im_bigbang Reverse Bang author sign ups open at the end of February.

So yeah, some cheerleading would be nice. I'd also love to know what music you all associate with Tony. I dug through my iTunes and a bunch of fanmixes last night, but I'd love to know if there is a song that you think just screams Tony.

Thanks bunches in advance. :D

Snowflake Challenge Day 13

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favourite interview, a book) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

For today's challenge I thought I would share one moment from my two primary fandoms that perfectly illustrate why I love my OTPs in each of the fandoms. The canonical evidence that takes the subtext and makes it text, "proving" the pairing to me.

Hawaii Five-0 (Steve/Danny)



♠ The airhearts moment in episode 1.20. The entire episode is amazing but this moment imploded the fandom and for good reason. Danny literally drew an air heart for an injured Steve who was being taken away on a helicopter. Even now I sometimes have to see it to believe that it's canon and not fanon. My boys love each other! On screen!

Avengers (Steve/Tony)



♠ This is from Steve's public funeral. First Tony got too choked up to give the eulogy and then he flat out says that the day Steve came out of the ice was the best day of his life. Tony so loves Steve, there's no question about it. Also, I might go cry because all the stuff around the Civil War and the Steve's death just HURTS. But I'm a total angst whore, so it hurts good.

Title: Unpaid Taxes
Author: shinysylver
Characters/Pairing: Steve/Tony
Word Count: 475
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel universes. Not even one.
Warning: none
Universe: movieverse
Summary: Steve hasn't paid his taxes in seventy years and the IRS doesn't consider "entombed in the Arctic" a valid excuse.
Author's Note: Written for celli as part of fandom_stocking.

Unpaid Taxes [on LJ] | AO3

Title: Unpaid Taxes
Author: shinysylver
Characters/Pairing: Steve/Tony
Word Count: 475
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel universes. Not even one.
Warning: none
Universe: movieverse
Summary: Steve hasn't paid his taxes in seventy years and the IRS doesn't consider "entombed in the Arctic" a valid excuse.
Author's Note: Written for celli as part of fandom_stocking.

( Unpaid Taxes )
On AO3