I've lost hours and hours in some of this fic. [link] Though, caveat, there is some Clint/Coulson going on in a few.

I'm more than fine with Clint/Coulson, it's cute. I'm just wondering why those two.

I'm guessing it's a trust and competence thing.

My favorite Avengers writer is Lettered, who is doing marvelous stuff with Steve and Bruce (but not, so far, Steve/Bruce).

... and are there stories where Darcy isn't obnoxious?

If there are I've yet to run across them.

One thing I noticed about Steve/Tony fanfic is that it's a very similar dynamic to a lot of Cas/Dean fanfic (at least, many of the ones I've read so far). A lot of the issues of self-worth despite heroic deeds, the unwavering belief in the other despite this, plus the fish-out-of-water in need of pop-culture education. Which is maybe why I'm digging it so much (which works for me since the D/C well is pretty dry right now).

So is that a trope? The alien/naive innocent virgin sees the good in the hedonistic shallow man who secretly has layers and a soft squishy center and daddy issues?

Read any good Kirk/Spock lately?

Not a fandom I've ever been into, old or reboot.

If I squint I can see that, but I'm having a hard time seeing Kirk being full of self-loathing. But again, I'm not in that fandom and haven't given it a lot of thought, even though I'm aware of the K/S.

The other thing I like about a lot of the S/T fic is that Pepper is continuously awesome. I don't know if that's because it's canon that she breaks up with him, so it's not a matter of writing her out maliciously to make room for the authors OTP, or that she is just generally well-liked.

But also, the cheeseburgers and the classic rock. Now I want a D/C Avengers AU.

edited for spoilers

The magic of fanfic is that someone has always thought of any given them that way.

I've read psychologically interchangeable Kirk/Spock, Arthur/Eames, Dean/Castiel, and John/Sherlock that matches the fairly little Tony/Steve of which I have partaken. Some are more alcoholic than others, some "alien" is more metaphorical, some literal, but at the end the he's-too-good-for-me-while-I-hide-emo-with-bravado and the I'm-buttoned-down-and-out-of-place-here-but-I-have-feelings-too can be manipulated a number of ways.

But do they have AC/DC shirts, is the real question.

(But, yeah, I figured there had to be some universal trope involved).