That story makes we want to start an Average Avengers chapter.

Just read a weird and interesting Sherlock/John fic that wanted me to read all their wiki hyperlinks and possibly get lost on a tvtropes equivalent website, and then had a bummer downer if an ending. I feel betrayed by being asked to put all this extra investment into a fic and then be denied even a lady or tiger ending. Maybe I don't have legitimate reason to be angry with the author, but I truly am. And the extra investment asked of me seems to be fanning the flames beyond normal betrayal.

Any recs for Mentalist fan fiction? George or general - nothing porn centered though incidental porn is fine. Plotty with Jane being clever & charming the unit solving crimes. Lisbon being clever, and making Jane regret it when he pushed her too far is good too.

Typo, my Mentalist fic [link] tends away from casefic but check out my lists of favorite stories and authors. It should help. I do skew toward the Jane/Lisbon shippy side. Off the top of my head, Tromana, 221b baker street, and Little Mender are good ones. Not all the best Mentalist fic writers are on AO3.

Typo, I have another idea. If you don't mind signing up, the Paint It Red forum [link] has some recs under their fanfic section. They have also done "awards" for two years. Both the nominations and the winners list might have some joy for you.

Having just reread your post, I think that Little Mender's "Lost At Sea" [link] might do nicely. It was written around season three and features Lisbon outmaneuvering Jane by using leadership skills and integrity. To some extent it is the inspiration for my own monster fic, "Domus Hadeum" which I think is the best thing I have ever written, in any fandom. (It may suit you, if you don't mind the plot being psychological rather than action. It's an AU exploration of what Jane might do to get revenge on Lisbon for having prevented him from taking out Red John himself.)

How do a search to exclude tags I don't want? I've tried doing "not" in front of unwanted tags on ao3 and that didn't work at all. I'm sure I'm being a dummy about this.

minus sign

I don't spend much time in the MCU fic, but I think this Sam/Steve might be all i needed out of this movie: [link]

Does anyone use statistics on LJ?

Yes, with a grain of salt. Sometimes I post a comment or an anecdote deliberately, just to see if people are paying attention. It's a little disconcerting to note, yep, they are.