The Toasterverse is a series of The Avengers fan fictions by Tumblr
and AO3 user Scifigrl47.
The main storyline is titled, collectively, In Which Tony Stark Builds Himself Some Friends (But His Family Was Assigned by Nick Fury):
1) Some Things Souldn't Be A Chore
2) Ordinary Workplace Hazards, Or SHIELD and OSHA Aren't On Speaking Terms
3) Four (Or Five) Reasons for Kidnapping Tony Stark
4) Dating the Long Way Around
5) Things Unseen (That Are Captured on Film)
6) Hollow Your Bones Like a Bird's
7) Hunting the Hero
The author has also written a series of somewhat less connected stories in Phil Coulson's Case Files of the Toasterverse:
1) Phil Coulson Is Not the Avengers' Public Relations Manager
2) Phil Coulson Does Not Bake (and The Avengers Do Not Shop At IKEA Anymore)
3) Phil Coulson Is Not a SHIELD Recruiter (Except for Special Cases)
4) Phil Coulson Can't Keep the Avengers Out of Medical
5) SHIELD Has Paperwork for Everything
- Gorgeously illustrated by Rascalparadyne and coloured by Saranoh
6) Phil Coulson Doesn't Take Attendance
7) Phil Coulson Is Not The Avengers' Matchmaker (Or Their Style Consultant)
8) Ghosts of Christmas Memory
9) Phil Coulson Doesn't Work For Stark Industries
10) The Best of Life and Asgard
11) Discussions in Dynamic Relationships
12) Extracurricular Activities
13) Phil Coulson Wasn't Grown in a Lab (He Has a Mom)
14) The Avengers' Calender
15) Phil Coulson Knows Tony Stark's Super Villain Name
16) Diplomatic Relations and Intelligence Failures
17) Over The River and Through The Woods
18) Things Are Not Always As They Seem
19) A Long Time Coming
Tropes for the entire 'verse include:
- Abusive Parents: Tony and Clint, in keeping with canon.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Tony has been known to install A.I. in things he's making without realizing it. So far the only casualty has been that of the one-sided war waged on the bread-maker by the toaster.
- All There in the Manual: Tumblr hosts many of Scifigrl's headcanons.
- Army of Lawyers: At one point, Tony threatens to unleash this on Nick Fury. And General Ross.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Many times in many ways. Notably when the whole team gangs up on someone harassing one of the group.
- Battle Couple: Steve/Tony and Clint/Coulson, fairly predictably.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Steve and Tony. Until it becomes simply sexual tension.
- Berserk Button: Don't hurt Dummy. Don't hurt any of the Avengers. Definitely don't hurt Coulson. All of this will get you into a world of hurt.
- Don't mention Howard Stark around Tony, and don't ever compare the two.
- Big Damn Kiss: Cap and Tony, FINALLY, towards the end of Four (Or Five) Reasons.
- Camp Gay: Played with in the OC of Drew. He's pretty obviously gay, but is also a good enough shot with a rifle to impress Hawkeye.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Both Steve/Tony and Clint/Coulson. Both get better.
- Chekhov's Gun: The fact that the Roombas search for messes on their own, what Tony brings back from "Bartonia," the protection Clint got from Frigga in "Hollow Your Bones," and several other things come back to become more important points in later stories.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Tony's time in the middle east comes back in the Why Tony and Clint Joke About “Standard Torture Resistance Training” headcanon.
- Combat Pragmatist: Clint and Natasha in physical battles, obviously, but Steve shows a decided distaste for fighting fair in mental battles.
- In Phil Coulson Knows Tony Stark's Super Villain Name we get a high-stakes paintball game example of why it would be absolutely terrifying if Tony Stark switched sides. The first thing he does is take out Coulson.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: One villain who's turned himself into a living dust cloud gets sucked up by an army of sentient, flying Roombas. Averted in that Shield R&D is pretty sure he's still alive.
- Darker and Edgier: Swings between this and Lighter and Softer in relation to the main canon. On one hand, you have flying roombas, lots of comedy, and some seriously sweet scenes between the main characters. On the other hand, you have in-depth and realistic explorations of a suicidal-level Heroic BSoD, several characters with (again, realistic) PTSD, and the fact that the series is quite open about the fact that no member of the Avengers is exactly the picture of mental health.
- Deadpan Snarker: Clint, Coulson, and Tony all have varying levels of this, with Coulson as the king.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Tony, frequently, especially when sleep-deprived.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Clint does this quite a bit during Hollow Your Bones and Tony has a lot of it before he learns to open up to the team.
- Even the Guys Want Him: It's something of a Running Gag that Steve doesn't really get how very attractive the Serum made him.
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex: Once they get past their issues, anyway.
- Gaslighting: Tony pulls a good-natured version of this on Steve by making up fake food products—completely with professionally-produced jingles, boxes, and advertising campaigns.
- Genki Girl: Darcy, oh-so-much.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Averted. Frigga in Hollow Your Bones is compassionate, humane, and feels deep sorrow at Loki's role in Coulson's death. In fact her intervention proves critical for both Coulson in Hollow Your Bones and Clint in Dating The Long Way 'Round.
- Good Is Not Dumb: Not on a team that includes Phil Coulson, Tony Stark, and Bruce Banner. "Good is Not Emotionally Well-Adjusted" might be more accurate.
- Guilt Complex: Both Tony and Clint have shades of this.
- Heroic BSoD: Clint gets a heartbreakingly-realistic one in Hollow Your Bones Like A Bird's, and Tony gets a couple smaller ones in the various stories, most notably in Some Things Shouldn't Be A Chore.
- The High Queen: Frigga, particularly apparent in Hollow Your Bones.
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood, Young Adulthood, And Adulthood Before The Avengers: Tony, naturally. Plot point.
- Ignore the Fanservice: Tony is forced to do this for a while, thanks to Steve. (See Innocent Innuendo, below.)
- Innocent Innuendo: Twice, and Steve is responsible both times. Once, when the candy he's eating ends up looking a lot like he's covered in a certain byproduct of sex, and a second time when he shows off his ability to tie a cherry stem in a knot…with his tongue.
- Insufferable Genius: Reed Richards to everyone's consternation, and Tony from time to time, as per canon.
- Laborious Laziness: Tony's solution to Steve making him do the sweeping in Avengers Tower? Create an army of flying, self-replicating hive-mind A.I. roombas to do it for him.
- Lighter and Softer: Swings between this and Darker and Edgier in relation to the main canon. On one hand, you have flying roombas, lots of comedy, and some seriously sweet scenes between the main characters. On the other hand, you have in-depth and realistic explorations of a suicidal-level Heroic BSoD, several characters with (again, realistic) PTSD, and the fact that the series is quite open about the fact that no member of the Avengers is exactly the picture of mental health.
- Manly Gay: Coulson, Steve, Tony, and Clint. (Though all four are more properly bisexual.) Shawn, kind of, as well.
- Memetic Badass: Coulson, in-universe. He even has a series of conspiracy sites dedicated to him, including one that claims he's the secret president of the U.S.
- Mind Rape: Clint's Heroic BSoD in Hollow Your Bones is partly due to getting this from Loki in the movie.
- Named Weapons: Mostly avoided, but Clint has three bows that are named for the Fates of Greek mythology.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Tony, twice. Once when he blows the news of Coulson's survival early and nearly sends Clint catatonic; and once when the big dinner he has planned for Jane Foster's arrival in New York just completely overwhelms her.
- The Nicknamer: Tony, mostly, as per canon. Clint, too.
- Noodle Incident: Budapest, whatever the Avengers did once they got on camera in Public Relations Manager, and a couple of other minor ones that get thrown around.
- One-Steve Limit: Literally!
- Only Sane Man: Coulson and Steve, frequently. When Coulson starts losing his patience and/or temper…
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Clint's sudden shift to super-professional and closed-off in SHIELD Has Paperwork for Everything tips Coulson and Natasha off to the fact that something is seriously wrong. In Four (or Five) Reasons Tony suddenly changing demeanor over the phone tips Steve off to the fact that something's really wrong.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Tony, full stop, usually to Steve's horror.
- Out of the Frying Pan: Reasons For Kidnapping Tony Stark does this to Tony, with every escape from a bad situation leading him into a worse one.
- The Patient Has Left the Building: Every single Avenger save Steve (for the most part) hates SHIELD's medical wing. Coulson typically has to threaten Clint and Natasha to get them to even see a doctor.
- Precious Puppy: The Avengers and Puppies headcanon.
- Puny Earthlings: Averted by Thor, who thinks that all of these Midgardian customs and inventions are amazing. Frigga in Hollow Your Bones also has a healthy respect for Earthlings in general and Clint in particular.
- Real Men Hate Sugar: Unquestionably turned on it's head. Thor is the one who discovers the magic of the jammy cookie.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Coulson, usually. Steve, almost always. Fury, on occasion, though he's usually more the
Magnificent Bastard and The Chessmaster. - Running Gag: The workshop 'bots, the Roombas, Clint and the air vents, Steve's Innocent Innuendo and the general uncontrollability of the Avengers. Also the phrase 'This will go so poorly' and variations thereof. To name a few.
- Secret Test of Character: A flying roomba is present as possible SHIELD interns receive their paperwork. If they can't handle the roomba, they are shown the door.
- Series Mascot: Mr. Fantastic, Dummy, and Calcifer, simultaneously.
- Shout-Out: All the time. Calcifer the toaster in particular. Expanded upon in the Natasha and Star Wars/Phil and Howl's Moving Castle headcanon.
- Shrouded in Myth: Clint, Natasha, and Coulson's histories have elements of this. Frequently played for laughs.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Reed Richards, to the Avengers.
- Take That!: Let's just say that Mr. Fantastic is not well liked in the Toasterverse.
- There Are No Therapists: Both played with and averted. Most of the team simply has too many trust issues to go to the therapists offered, but Clint is forced into going to therapy during Hollow Your Bones, and is greatly helped by it.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Tony loves coffee and Pop-Tarts. Steve adores the old Valomilk candies, with hilarious results.
- Twice Shy: Cap and Tony.
- What You Are in the Dark: On his own time, without telling any of his team, Tony goes off and donates money to community colleges and helps kids build epic lego dinosaurs.
- He also, unbeknownst to anyone, turns down the alien gift that would've given him an engineering prowess unlike anything the world had every seen but could very well have wiped out a good swath of the earth's population along with his teammates. Particularly Barton, who was within reach at the time.
