astridv

Of Chemistry and Nerve by sheg0 (SHIELD)
Simmons/Skye and team; mild action/bad girl shenanigans; M; 12501 words
Summary: They stumbled into this dance and neither really know the steps. But they improvise. Set after "The Magical Place."

The First Law of Nature by blackdog-lz (MI: Ghost Protocol)
Gen; Brandt & Hunt; spies and secret agents/snapshots/h/c; PG; 3684 words
Summary: His life would be so much easier if Hunt wasn't a trouble magnet with a malfunctioning sense of self-preservation and an unhealthy adrenaline addiction.

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol rec:
The Beach House by ladygris
Gen; Brandt & OC (plus background team); friendship/drama/spies and secret agents; rated teen; 60,000 words
Summary: When Will Brandt unexpectedly inherits a beach house from his estranged grandfather, he decides to rent the home to an old childhood friend. Things get complicated, however, when secrets are discovered and begin tying their families together. With an international plot coming to light, Will races to find an assassin before someone he cares about ends up dead.

A really interesting story, with a lot of original elements and characters that mesh with the MI verse. I was sceptical at first, as I tend to be when reading fic with a prominent OC at ffn, but the writer pulls it off well. Right from the beginning I got drawn into that world, the little town and its inhabitants.

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Today at awesome_places, a beautiful piece of architecture: Ballena Mexicana - The Mexican Whale House (Mexico)

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Hier ist ein geniales Rezept für irisches Kartoffelbrot. Hab's gestern mal ausprobiert und werde es von jetzt an sicher häufiger machen. Das Rezept ist ganz simpel, aber das Brot schmeckt wie ein raffinierter Partysnack.

Ich habe als Mehl Dinkelmehl genommen, und nur einen halben Teelöffel Salz. Und die Kartoffeln weichgekocht und mit dem Zauberstab püriert. Der Teig ist ziemlich klebrig, deswegen habe ich gar nicht erst versucht, ihn auszurollen, sondern direkt aufs Backpapier gekippt und dann mit etwas mehr Mehl flachgedrückt.

That Light That Takes You Home by torakowalski (Mission Impossible)
Benji/Brandt and teams from MI:3&4; backstory/maybe slightly AU;rated teen; 9817 words

Summary: In which Benji Dunn has a meet-cute on an aeroplane, falls in love, qualifies as a field agent, and nearly gets blown up far too many times.

Domesticity by summerhall (Hawkeye comicverse)
Gen; Clint & Kate; friendship; 580 words

Summary: Somewhere between the extra laundry and the matching coffee mugs, Clint stops paying attention. And then the next thing he knows, there's a cello in his living room, another toothbrush in his bathroom, and his whole damn place smells like lilacs.

Avengers:
Amateur Theatrics by galaxysoup
Gen; PG-13; team & Loki; 26586 words
Summary: In which Thor’s primary problem-solving method (a mighty blow from Mjolnir) fails to have the desired effect on a magical artifact, and his secondary method (a mightier blow from Mjolnir) proves to be actively disastrous.

Bodyswap hijinks with fun team interaction and a cool plot. The ending veered a teensy bit close to Loki apologism for my taste but still, I thoroughly enjoyed this story, including kid!Loki.


Leverage:
with your progress stretched out for miles by abvj
Sophie/Nate; genre: backstory/character study/romance; PG-13; 30,353 words
Summary: Sophie Devereaux from age eleven onward. Some years were better to her than others. (Or, alternatively: my love letter to Sophie Devereaux.)

A beautiful character study that does these messed-up characters and their far-from-fairytale relationship justice.


MI4: Ghost Protocol
The Runner by x_art
Brandt/Ethan, Benji, Jane; Rating ~R; 15681 words

“As I was saying, I was just joking.”
Ethan gave him a long, searching look. “And I’m not. This is the mission, should you—”
He waved away the words. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He knew his big mouth would get him into trouble sooner or later, but sooner seemed a hell of a lot, well, sooner.

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Anybody got recs for humor team fic? I don't read Natasha or Clint paired with other characters or Loki/anyone - other than that I'm a happy multishipper, and Gen's of course great too. Also looking for Fury and Hill. (I can't wait till AO3 becomes tag-searchable.)

Two Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol recs that I'm snagging from jenna_thorn right away:

Safety Net by Zinnith
Gen (pre-Benji/Brandt if you squint); friendship, h/c; 4131 words
Summary: "It's okay, I've got you."

A mission goes to hell and Benji is there to catch Brandt when he falls.

But Then Again So Are You by leah k
Benji/Brandt and team; NC-17; casefic/romance; 12116 words
Summary: Ethan's plan is surprisingly simple, if they can pull it off: get Cade to invite Brandt over, plant bugs. No masks, no jumping off of anything. Brandt is warming to it, which is why it's confusing when Benji says, "I don't like this plan, it won't work, have you thought about tunneling?"