fic recs: Avengers kidfics plus movie review: strippers

Ironsides is mostly an exploration of the AU in which Tony Stark is a woman, and her relationship with Steve. But the bit I really loved was at the end, where ( spoilers )

20K words, another story by copperbadge. In the remaining two stories, Without the Usual Cost of Labor by vain_glorious, 6400 words, and Breakfast of Discordians by Dira Sudis, 1200 words, the kid isn't intentional, but is acquired by the Avengers more or less en masse. And I think part of what I love about all of these (besides them being funny and clever and well-written and stuff) is the ways they break out of the standard heteronormative baby-making narrative. I mean, I'm not *opposed* to the standard heteronormative baby-making narrative - I am personally living it, pretty much, so that would be kind of awkward. But, I don't know, before I had kids, I think part of the appeal of kidfic was just vicarious enjoyment of kids, and now that I have kids, I have this different appreciation for the fantasy-fulfillment aspect of, for instance, raising a kid with a team of six or seven people all helping. (Dira Sudis also recently wrote a novel-length Generation Kill kidfic that is an amazing exploration of PTSD, but is also a fantasy about competent help showing up when a new parent most needs it.) I mean, even with a very supportive partner and family, there are always moments when *my god* it would be nice to have another three or four superheroes around to lend a hand.

Meanwhile, in other news, I saw Magic Mike aka "the male stripper movie". Only person in the theater! Well, not counting Q, who I mostly tried to keep facing away from the screen (er, not because of the shocking content, but because I'm dubious about small babies watching movies at all. And I kept covering his ears because it was surprisingly loud for a movie where nothing blew up.) I enjoyed it although I kept thinking it was ( spoilers )