Happy New Year, everyone. May 2023 treat us all kindly.
In celebration of the new year, I have two fic recs. I read both of these in the last couple of days. They're fairly different, but both great reads that feel like Stucky classics.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
This is a post WS domestic fic that is lightish on the angst and features beautiful rapport between Bucky and Steve. Their getting together feels inevitable and right, and yet also a little like a dare that neither of them wants to back out of. There are flashback snippets that show the evolution of their relationship, and the kind of writing that sometimes makes you stop and reread a line just to marvel at how perfect it was.
My second rec is a modern childhood friends reunited AU. Again, there's tragic back story aplenty and yet it's dealt with in a way that, even though Steve and Bucky have each done their share of wallowing in sorrow, the story does not. It's hopeful and fluffy and sweet, and makes teacher training sound far less stressful than it actually is. It's also left me thinking about the concept of home, and the people, places, traditions and experiences that build our understanding of home. I'm one of those people who straddles places and sometimes I don't quite feel I belong anywhere. This story helped with that feeling this year.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye. Trans Steve and Trans Bucky! Below are my Top 5 Favorite stories:
“You make the rockin' world go 'round” (E, 7k) by Neonbat
Steve was determined to hit the gym and try to bulk up when his biweekly trips took an unexpected turn. He was caught between his goal and staring at a man that was sending him into a bisexual spiral.
A man, that turned out, kind of wanted to kick his ass.
+ Modern AU. Trans Steve is really into thicc Bucky. Rimming, strap-ons, and dating
-☆-
“seasons change (but people don't)” (E, 2k) by ftmsteverogers
“If there’s a girl I’m meant to be mourning, I want to know,” Bucky persists, as though Steve hasn’t had a close brush with asphyxiation right before his eyes. His foot twitches against Steve’s under the table.
“There wasn’t a girl,” Steve coughs. “Why…?”
Bucky’s gaze is sharp and discerning as his eyes flick back and forth between Steve’s.
“There was,” he says, right hand gripping the counter behind him in a white-knuckled grasp. “A girl. A small blonde girl.”
+ Pre-War, WW2, and Post WS. Three Non-linear scenes of acceptance
-☆-
“What's In A Name” (M, 3k) by cleo4u2
Steve has always know his best friend will be his soulmate. So when he wakes up with the name of a guy on his arm that he's never heard of, he's devastated. Thankfully, Bucky has a surprise in store for him.
+ Modern AU. Soulmate AU! Steve wishes his soulmate mark read Bucky instead of James.
-☆-
“Tomorrow Is Another Day” (T, 75k) by charlesdk
When Bucky got the door shut in his face by a tiny, barely awake blond, he never thought that said tiny blond would become such an important part of his life. Or that he would fall deeply, hopelessly in love with him way too quickly.
+ Modern AU. Bucky meets Steve, befriends, and falls in love with him over seven months. Found family and supporting each other
-☆-
“Undercurrent” (T, 4k) by NachoDiablo
Bucky might be more than a little smitten with a certain cute, blond lifeguard, but there's no way his feelings are reciprocated... right?
+ Modern AU. Mutual crushes, a small misunderstanding, and a date
“I’m Captain Rogers,” Steve said, once the Winter Soldier had joined them and took off his motorcycle helmet, shaking his mane of hair free. “You must be the Winter Soldier.”
“That’s what they call me,” the Winter Soldier replied. His mask took up three quarters of his face and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of goggles, but Steve could still hear the hostility in his voice.
Steve pasted on a smile and stuck out a hand for him to shake. “Welcome to the Avengers.”
Ever wondered what it’d be like if Steve had gotten captured? Wonder no more; below are my Top 5 Favorite Stories:
“the long game” (M, 6k) by dirtybinary
In 1945, Steve Rogers trades himself to the Red Room in exchange for the Winter Soldier. They accept his offer, but don't let Bucky go. After all, their supersoldiers come as a matched set.
(Featuring crafty Steve, pining Bucky, and a very noisy metal arm.)
+ Fall to WS. Steve and Bucky take turns remembering and play the long con. The one with the Fact Game
-☆-
“Falling Back on Forever” (E, 24k) by ftmsteverogers
Bucky falls from the train in 1945. Steve jumps right after him.
The Winter Soldier and the Midnight Patriot are the world's most feared duo, serving HYDRA and leaving a trail of bodies a mile wide behind them. But then they remember.
+ Fall to Avengers. They remember each other, break out, and go on the run
-☆-
“Steve Rogers’s epic failures meeting the expectations” (T, 5k) by StuckySituation
Steve Rogers’s patriotic eyebrows jump up. “Holy cow.”
That was not what Tony would have expected from Captain America. “‘Holy cow’? Did the history books mess up? Was your family actually from India and not Ireland?”
“Fuck off, Stark. I ain’t shitting on what comes out of your mouth, so you better leave my goddamn cows alone as well.”
Tony doesn’t know whether to feel awestruck or betrayed. “You,” he says and points at Rogers, “are nothing like I expected.”
“Sorry to be a fucking disappointment,” Rogers says with a scowl and pulls his ridiculous helmet on, covering the sleekly styled brown hair. It was astonishing how even Rogers’s golden hair had been false propaganda -- but of coursethe great America had wanted to present its figurehead as Aryan perfection in the time of eugenics. “Suit up, everyone. Let’s get this shit done.”
+ Defrosting to WS. A series where defrosted Bucky tries his best without Steve, and then doesn’t have to anymore
-☆-
“Winter’s Heart” (NR, 5k) by Speranza
"Good morning, Soldier," and Steve opened his eyes and said, automatically, "Ready to comply."
+ Endgame. Steve uses the time stone to jump after Bucky in the Alps
-☆-
“Sleeping With Ghosts” (M, 33k) by rohkeutta
The first two years after Bucky gets out of the ice are-- surprisingly easy. Serve his country, learn to use his charmed robot hand, make friends, don’t think about the spark of magic in him that’s gone out, see the world, try to live with the grief (try to live with the grief, try to--)
Maybe they’re not that easy, in the end, but he’s settling - until he gets reluctantly pulled out of the Army and has Steve’s shield (Steve’s shield, its magic wary and curious and half-dormant) thrust onto him again, even though he’s already turned it down once before. The world has changed and so has he, but as he tries to immerse himself into a new life, he meets a ghost he could never leave behind.
+ Fall to WS. Magic, bonding, blood binding, and finally coming home to each other.
-☆-
*More Winter Soldier Steve fics in the Handler Steve list
Trying to be someone else was harder than it seemed. Secret identities, mistaken identities, and identity reveals. Below are my Top 5 Favorite stories:
“Take You For a Ride (On my Garbage Truck)” (T, 20k) by GoodbyeBlues
"This is it," Bucky murmured to no one but Mother Earth herself, blades of greenery tickling his lips as he sang his dying whale song into the ground. "This is where I perish."
...
Despite how it often looks, dramatic millennial Bucky Barnes is not actually homeless. He's just really, really bad at flirting.
+ Modern AU. Hilarious misunderstandings. Steve is the sweetest guy alive, Sam is a Good Bro, and Bucky’s a Disney princess
-☆-
“How to Woo the Winter Soldier” (G, 21k) by writeonclara
“I think I’m ready to date again,” Steve said.
“What,” Natasha said.
“What?” Clint said, lowering his binoculars. He blinked at the dumbstruck look on the Captain’s face, then followed his gaze to where he was staring dopily at—at the Winter fucking Soldier.
“Steve, no,” Clint groaned.
Or: Steve courts the Winter Soldier.
+ Post Avengers. Steve falls in love with Bucky (again) and gets questionable courting advice from the internet. Bucky’s reluctantly charmed despite himself
-☆-
“Strange Visitor (From Another Time)” (E, 51k) by Niitza
James Barnes, rising star reporter of the New York Bulletin, has a plan. One, find out all there is to know about New York's newest vigilante Nomad, starting with his true identity. Two, write a masterful piece about it. Three, win a Pulitzer and become the envy of all his peers. Four, enjoy.
Or, you know, something like that.
One thing's for certain, though: he sure as hell isn't going to let that fucking asshole newbie Grant O'Connor steal his spotlight.
-
Or: the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman AU no one asked for.
+ Shrunkyclunks. Love has a way of throwing ambition off track. (Names may change, but hearts stay the same)
-☆-
“the secret circuit home” (E, 3k) by ftmsteverogers
In which Bucky escapes Azzano on his own with the other Howling Commandos, rough around the edges, but alive. He makes it back in time to watch Captain America's godawful performance, not knowing that it's his best friend up there in tights.
Then he hits on him after the show.
+ Post Azzano. Steve takes Bucky back to his trailer for a personal morale boost
-☆-
“Dirty Pics” (M, 3k) by lillupon
There’s this one guy Bucky slept with three months ago who still sends pics of his ass whenever Bucky asks. What can he say? Grant’s got an ass that just won’t quit.
+ Shrunkyclunks. Hookup to friends to potentially more, if Steve ever finds the right time to tell the truth.
-☆-
-☆- And a freebie! -☆-
“Metallurgy” (M, 22k) by eyres and TheFriendlyPigeon
The battle quieted for the moment, the great metal giant turns, at last, and sees Steve. Dark, almost human hair frames a sharp, steel face - but, Steve is caught by its eyes. They’re bright silver, sparking in the sunlight, shot through with gray and blue, visible even at this distance. Something about them nags at Steve, calls to him, reminds him of…
Instead of making the Winter Soldier, Hydra transfers Bucky's consciousness to a metal body, locking his mind within a prison of steel and programming. However, Bucky is stronger than they could've ever imagined.
+ WW2 to Avengers. Reposted from the Robot List because it’s a gorgeous story. Bucky can’t even say Steve’s name, but Steve figures it out anyway
-☆-
*More identity fics in De-Serumed, Teacher AU, Spy AU, Hitman AU, Sign Language, Video Games, Weddings, Other People’s Weddings, Medieval AU, and Mythology lists
a blade with no handle (13343 words) by ftmsteverogers
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Captain America (Movies)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe
Summary:
“I’m Captain Rogers,” Steve said, once the Winter Soldier had joined them and took off his motorcycle helmet, shaking his mane of hair free. “You must be the Winter Soldier.”
“That’s what they call me,” the Winter Soldier replied. His mask took up three quarters of his face and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of goggles, but Steve could still hear the hostility in his voice.
Steve pasted on a smile and stuck out a hand for him to shake. “Welcome to the Avengers.”
Notes:
Basically an AU where Winter Soldier joins the Avengers before Bucky and Steve met. Basically a fic which made me squee in anticipation of them meeting and cry where it happened. OMG GO READ IT. *cries*
