2023 Stocking: keirkieran

[stevetony_elf]

Please leave stocking stuffers for keirkieran here as a comment. Comments will be screened until reveals date!



Username: keirkieran


AO3 Username: askaniblue

Comics Steve/Tony: Any (literally any, gotta love fics based on some tiny verse we only saw for 2 panels in a book from the 70s)

Other Fandoms/Ships/Characters: Marvel - Stony in any other media, animated/movies/etc, DC - Tim Drake/Kon-El (yes Bernard is nice, and yes I will yeet him out the window with zero remorse)

Likes: Happy Endings, Meet Cutes, Getting Together, Fix-its, Angst with a Happy Ending, H/C, Pining, Found Family, Monogamous Pairings, Identity Porn, Porn

If you like prompts I've got these two kicking in my head atm.

After a job well done an alien bestows a gift on the team, temporarily bringing their friendship, love, and camaraderie to the forefront of all their minds. The next morning the effect is gone and Steve and Tony are shocked to find themselves in bed with zero clothes but plenty of vivid memories of how their evening went. Oh well, what can you do? Just one of those things, right? Crazy shit happens in their lives, no reason for this to be awkward... even if it turns out they're the only ones on the team that did this. It's fine. It's all fine.

Iron Man's a villain. Course he is. Everyone knows that. He attacks miliary bases, tech companies, steals all sorts of dangerous technology and all the research behind them. He's especially happy to rip up and destroy anything Stark tech. "A particularly nasty blend of opportunistic thief and techno-terrorist" his SHIELD file says. "Treat with Extreme Caution, Lethal Force Approved" it also says, which makes sense. He killed Tony Stark after all, didn't he? It's right there in the file which was written by very serious people who clearly know their facts. How else did he get the armor Stark was designing? Ah well, he's pretty sure no one liked that guy anyway. Yeah, Iron Man is dangerous, even to himself. Especially to himself. Case in point: he's really got to stop sleeping with Captain America cus one of these days Cap's gonna realize he can do better than a wanted terrorist in a suit of armor and finally put his duty above his sex life.

Dislikes: Unhappy Endings, Character Death (unless they come back, cus that's great angst), Mpreg, Alpha/Omega, Grimdark, Cheating

Non-fandom related requests/anything else?: Recs for happy fics are welcome, G rated fluff to deep character works to senseless porn. Video game recommendations, especially indie stuff: I like Adventure all the way to Cozy Farm games (no horror). Book recommendations: hopepunk and cozy fantasy are preferred.

Comments

Some recs <3

[lets_call_me_lily]

Hello and a happy 2024 to you! Hope you managed to enjoy some of the things I recced last year - I'd love to hear what you thought of them <3

This year I come to you having read the ultimate cosy hopepunk (which I'm guessing you know since I never heard the phrase till I read Becky Chambers' books, but just in case!): The two Monk & Robot Books - A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy.

Also, A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher was a pretty cosy fantasy read (if you are okay with the ~14 yr old gotta save the city, which T Kingfisher very much acknowledges, and this one has a MUCH better support system than most of the teen saviours you read about). If you like that one, then Minor Mage and Illuminations should also be just your cuppa, and if you liked Kingfisher's writing style but want more (mostly hetero, one m/m pairing) romance, then try her Paladin series (including Swordheart and the Clocktaur Wars duology, which don't follow the Paladin's X title convention that the rest do, but are part of the same universe).

And now.

I read your villain!IM prompt and had two immediate reactions: 1) I WANT IT TOO! and 2) I've read a couple great ones of this prompt, give or take a few details!

So, by dint of some looking up, I've got some "villain" Iron Man secret identity shenanigan fic recs for you, and I'm hoping that you haven't read them all... but if you have they're worth a re-read haha. And I'm hoping that you will inspire a couple more being added to the ranks!

AvocadoLove's Every Villain Is a Hero (in his own mind), 10K, has some angst fair warning! But a happy ending :)

Tony is the villain known as Iron Man. Steve is Captain America. Outside work, Steve and Tony are married and do not know each other's secret identities. Some revelations, though, do not come with a happy ending.

(this one's probably closest to yours?)

Also AvocadoLove's Enemy At The Gates, 23K, excellent meet-cute (or is it?!) to identity reveal fic.

By the time Captain America was found and defrosted, the Chitauri had wiped out the entire state of New York, and Iron Man was the world’s most wanted villain.

(in fact, just saying, if you haven't read AvocadoLove's work, it's all worth a try! Lots of great fic).

On a different real!villain vein, there's the fantastic Bad Reputation by gottalovev, 14K.

Obadiah Stane, CEO of Stark Industries since Howard’s son died before Steve even woke up, isn’t happy that the Avengers haven’t caught the villain Iron Man yet. The mysterious man in the armor keeps destroying SI weapons, and even though they tried to arrest him, he always slips through the Avengers’ fingers. It doesn’t help that Steve enjoys their bantering a bit too much, and that he’s starting to think that Iron Man has a worthy cause.

Slightly different again, in that this fic opens with the identity reveal, is Supervillain Origin Story by QueenOfALotOfDifferentWorlds, 34K

Glaring at the cafe, Tony tried not to panic.

Because in that cafe sat Steve Rogers aka Captain America. Leader of the Avengers. The superheroes celebrated by the world for winning against an Alien Invasion and protecting the fine people from catastrophes and villains.

Quite successfully, he might add.

The only one they did not seem to be able to nail down was Iron Man. An international terrorist. A flying weapon that left a path of destruction wherever he went. A hacker that every government trembled before.

In other words, Tony’s side business.

This is an "Iron Man is a Supervillain AU" and an "Iron Man and Captain America are forced to plan Rhodey and Sam's wedding AU".

And different again, in that Cap's not a super soldier here and erm, Tony and Steve were fiances who became estranged, rather than being married already: My heart in your hands by itsallAvengers, 34K.

Agent Rogers' mission is simple: seduce his way into Tony Stark's life, find enough evidence to prove he's the man behind SHIELD's Most Wanted supervillain, otherwise known as Iron Man, and then use said evidence to lock him up in a prison cell for the rest of his life. It's a mission only he can do, and the safety of the world is depending on it. Because Iron Man has a plan, and the consequences of it could prove catastrophic.

Of course, though, things are never as easy as they look on paper. Especially not when it comes to Tony. Steve knew that better than anyone.

After all- only a year ago, he'd been going to marry the guy.

__

Enjoy!!

[msermesth]

Hello! I thought your aliens prompt was very inspiring and I tried to write something worthy of it. I hope you enjoy and have a magical stocking season!

[avengersnewb]

Hello Friend!
Here are some happy fic recs for you :)
A classic marriage of convenience from the early MCU days, it has really awesome characterization, a very cool plot, sci-fi worldbuilding and it's so much fun to read If Through a Door
An absolutely amazing Sineala fic, set after the recent Cap/IM miniseries, very fluffy and heartwarming Calling You the Nicest Things
Amazingly soft and sweet and full of feelings, I tear up even thinking about it A Diamond Where the Star Would Be

[dirigibleplumbing]

Happy stocking day! I come bearing video game recs.
A game I loved recently is Sable (https://store.steampowered.com/app/757310/Sable/). It’s from some years ago so maybe you’re familiar. I would recommend only buying it if it’s on sale, because it still has some bugs (mostly with the map and your character phasing through stuff--nothing game-breaking but still annoying). The graphics are inspired by the art of Mobius (https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=jean+giraud+illustrations&eq=Jean+Giraud+il&etslf=4320). It’s an exploration/collecting game. All the quests and collections are optional, but I had a blast getting 100% completion.
My last rec is for Chants of Sennaar (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1931770/Chants_of_Sennaar/) an adventure/puzzle game inspired by the myth of Babel. You travel deeper/higher into a great tower, at each level encountering a different culture with a different language to decipher. The graphics also have a very Mobius feel. My only complaint about this game is I wish there were more of it!
Also, I visited Earth-616 and took a screenshot of the Reddit community for the RPF ship Tony Stark/Iron Man while I was there. Enjoy! (Bigger pic on my tumblr, or will be there in the next day or two.)

[nostalgicatsea]

Happy belated new year and Valentine's Day! I started playing a bit of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective because of a friend who recommended it, and it's a LOT of fun! It's a puzzle adventure game about an amnesiac ghost with powers who has to figure out who he is in one night. If you know Ace Attorney, the guy who made it made this game. I haven't played AA myself, but I know a lot of people have and liked it although this is very different.

[sadisticsparkle]

A few indie game recs. They're both short and cozy, with a nice sense of humor.

One is Pilgrims (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1049280/Pilgrims/), a short adventure game about four characters with cute little stories.

The other is Storyteller (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1624540/Storyteller/), a puzzle game where you have to arrange the characters and objects so the storyline comes to pass, but there are lots of fun variations.

[dirigibleplumbing]

I adored Pilgrims!! Seconding that rec.

[sineala]

Hey!

I play a lot of weird indie video games and mostly these days I am playing a lot of Threes, which is an older puzzle game. I am also playing a lot of Peglin which is like that game Peggle except also an RPG. If you want something with more of a plot, I really enjoyed Open Sorcery, which is a text game about a fire elemental in a computer; I thought it was sweet and thought-provoking.

[magicasen]

Hi keir!!! It's been lovely sprinting with you and having you around the server - thanks for sticking around and here's to more frantic sprints late at night!

I got inspired by your villain Tony prompt, so I wrote a little snippet of an Ults version of it! I hope you like it!

---

Cap laid flat on his back, blinking up at the ceiling. His body gleamed, every muscle carved from stone. His body stilled, like his lapse in control from finding sexual release now necessitated the subjugation of any voluntary and most involuntary movement. Man could have been a statue.

That wouldn’t stop Tony from looking. It might have made it easier, even, because as the lust-addled daze cleared, and Cap remembered who exactly he allowed into his bed, he would retreat even further into his surly, tetchy self.

Cap’s eyes slid over to meet Tony. He sat up, and every ounce of coiled strength in his body slid through his body, like a predator, as he came to an upright position. Even though he was naked, and Tony already had a shirt and underwear on, it was unnervingly clear who was the more exposed between the two of them.

The first few times Iron Man had fallen in bed with Captain America, it was like the walk of shame had started the instant Cap reached orgasm. He had practically run away, and avoided Iron Man as much as possible whenever their paths crossed. That worked out just fine for Tony. It gave him a chance to strike up a friendship with the Ultimates' own eco-terrorist Thor, who had warmed up to Iron Man’s single-minded mission against Stark Industries, bastion of capitalist oppression.

Lately though, having come to terms with the failure of fucking Iron Man, Cap…wasn’t leaving right away. Light brown hair, brown contacts, several makeup products, and an extra hour added to his daily grooming routine, and, well. Cap had never met Tony Stark. Antonio Stark had died before Captain America had been miraculously defrosted by SHIELD, and put in charge of SHIELD’s personal strike team, the Ultimates. Cap had no idea of Tony’s true identity, and Tony intended to keep it that way.

The way Cap studied him though, Tony wasn’t sure how successful he was being. He needed some whiskey, but wasn’t about to give away any vulnerabilities in front of Cap.

“I missed you at the gala, earlier this week,” Steve said, as he reached for his own clothes to begin dressing himself.

“The red-and-gold clashes terribly with the red carpet, doll,” Tony drolled, tugging on his pants and the belt that had so frustrated Cap earlier.

“Dr. Stark requested the Ultimates’ presence there. It was a Stark event, after all. Despite that, it was a good time.”

“I had no reason to target that.” Tony resisted the urge to snap at him.

“Really. I thought you hated all things Stark.”

“A Maria Stark Foundation charity gala for disadvantaged youth? No matter what Gregory Stark feeds SHIELD and their lackeys, even I wouldn’t stoop that low. If you didn’t know that much, Cap, then you really need to reconsider who you let into your bed, and what it says about you.”

Cap accepted the scathing remarks. “Tony Stark died of a brain tumor, is the official story,” he segued, instead.

Oh, how Tony wished that the brain tumor was a cover-up. No, the brain tumor was the catalyst for all of this. To die as Tony Stark, and reborn as Iron Man, until Iron Man himself faded into history, having accomplished his mission to dismantle the evils Stark Industries had unleashed into the world.

“It sounds like you don’t believe the official story, Captain."

“You don’t, either,” Cap said. “Or, maybe it’s not even a belief. Maybe you know, otherwise.”

“Tony Stark had his fingers in the wrong pies.”

Cap nodded slowly. “So, he was killed. Dr. Stark thought so.”

“Did he, now?”

“He phrased it as...I heard…that Tony Stark wasn’t a bad person. But he was making deals with the wrong people.”

Well...dear ol’ Greg wasn’t wrong there. Tony Stark had been an idiot.

“Stark crossed the wrong people, tried to play both hands,” Cap continued. “That wasn’t going to work out for him, even as one of the most powerful men in the world. But, Stark Industries, the government itself, would never allow the assassination of one of its most powerful businessmen ever become public knowledge.”

“So they made up a brain tumor, instead,” Tony supplied.

Oh, so that was the story being fed to the Ultimates, now? Not that Tony Stark wanted to pull back from weapons manufacturing, but it wasn’t some unknown terrorist organization from some far-off country that had an issue with it. No, the call came from inside the house, now? And that the brain tumor, the part that sounded the most fake, was the only part that was real.

“You don’t think that’s the truth, either,” Cap said.

So Cap wasn’t just a pretty face. Where did SHIELD find people like this? If this was a honey trap operation, then Tony had fallen hook, line, and sinker. And the way that Cap looked at him now, searching for his disagreement, Tony didn’t even know if he had it in himself to regret any of it.

“I don’t know it all, either,” Tony admitted. “Otherwise, my mission would be long finished.” Then Iron Man could die, too, without regrets, unlike how Tony Stark had met his untimely demise.

“It has to do with Stark Industries itself, doesn’t it?” Cap said. “Tony Stark couldn’t possibly be the only person there committing treason, if that’s what was really happening. That’s why you’re targeting them. Tony Stark was a scapegoat. The root hasn’t disappeared.”

“It sounds like you don’t know his reputation as well as you thought you did, Cap. Man was just as guilty as anyone could be. He cared more about the designer’s name on his clothes and the notches in his bedpost, than he ever did about improving anyone’s lives. Tony Stark’s death was for the better.”

Cap’s brow furrowed, and Tony was abruptly reminded of the super soldier’s nonexistent refractory period. Cap pushed on. “Other people agree with you too, Iron Man. Other people who also benefited from his death. Other people who would benefit from blaming his death on the thorn in Stark Industries’ side, so they can get SHIELD’s protection, from the supervillain who stole their tech, who has obvious insider knowledge on the company, and is using that knowledge to go after them.”

So that was the sort of impression his dear sycophant brother had left on Captain America. And here Tony had gotten the man to sleep with him. It was always good to win. But regardless...

“I can tell you this right now. Gregory Stark did not kill his brother.”

“Neither did you!” Cap reared up, and Tony was right there with him.

“Tony Stark is dead because of me!”

Cap didn't stop. “If I’m the person on the inside, with access to Dr. Stark's trust, and you’re the person who’s been here since before I was, who knows how this operation works, then we can get to the bottom of this. We both want the same thing, Iron Man. We’re on the same side. ”

Tony’s armor clicked into place around him. He turned around to face Cap, with the armor between them now.

“All due respect, Cap,” Tony said, walking away. Cap, damn him, followed him out onto the balcony.” Tony jumped off, fifty stories above ground, but he only wanted to go higher. “You don’t know what the hell I want.”

No one does.