Do you have any good angsty with happy ending fic recs? ;3
Hi there! Not my favorite genre/trope because I don't like to be sad but I think I have a few that fit the bill!
For all of these, please heed the tags. Dead Dove Do Not Eat and all that. Some are super intense and some are much milder. Please read descriptions and tags carefully on AO3!
Leverage by KellyScams @thebestpersonherelovesbucky
Rating: Mature // Warnings: None apply but I'm going to put a tw for technically non-physical torture
This is the only fic I've read that's incorporated Valentina and I don't know if I can read anyone else's Valentina at this point. She's so in character and well written. Basic gist is Bucky being used as leverage against Sam with POV from the both of them throughout. I love Bucky's characterization and Sam's intensity. All around great fic.
(The author has a whole whump series that I need to go back through and read, so there's more if you also fall in love with this fic!)
Rating: Mature // Warnings: None apply
This fic, y'all. It's so soft. It's Bucky POV but pretty focused on Sam, which is rare to find. Sam gets trapped in a kind of memory loop and Bucky has to get him out. I love all the memories we see from Sam. I love Bucky's reaction to them. The snark between the two of them is perfection. Such a solid fic. Definitely one of the tamer ones on this list as well.
The Kitchen Incident by chase_acows @ cowsalot on here (it's not linking for some reason :/)
Rating: Teen // Warnings: None apply
So silly. Your honor, they're stupid. I love the friendship between Steve and Bucky in this fic and I love the way the reader gets to see this relationship between Bucky and Sam bloom on the page (Bucky wears Sam's USAF sweatshirt 🥺😍) The snark is strong with this one and the feelings are so earnest once they come bursting out. Good communication (when they decide to communicate)
Except it Abide in the Vine by spitandvinegar
Rating: Mature // Warnings: Creator chooses not to warn (tw: for body horror) Locked to non-users
I reread this fic, like, once every six months. I love it so much. It's so beautiful and quiet and soft, while being loud and rough and hard too. It's a multiverse-esque story (published several years (??? i'm ancient) before the current multiverse of madness mcu shennigans) where Bucky and Sam lose Steve, pick up an extra Bucky and then have to reunite various Steves, Sams, and Buckys (and a Natasha) with their respective partner across a multitude of universes, settings, and time periods. It's not strictly Sam/Bucky because there are a million relationships happening, but I love it and the core of the story is Sam/Bucky working together and keeping each other held up. All the characterization is so good, all the new Sams, Buckys, Steves are so good.
double back by flowermasters
Rating: E // Warnings: None apply
A time loop fic where Sam gets stuck in 1943. So good, so tense. I'm such a sucker for time loop stories and this one is very well executed. There's so much tension in it as far as the time loop goes that you feel like you're suffocating with Sam sometimes. The characterization is so good. The 'learning to interact with someone you know but who doesn't know you yet' is so good.
What the light gives by ElleBishop @blogland-total-landscaping
Rating: E // Warnings: Creator chooses not warn (heed the tags)
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. This STORY. It's so real and intense and in character. It made my chest feel like I'd scooped everything out of it until I hit rib bone. It's so good. It's about Bucky and Sam's self-destructive habits and it's so good. It's a travesty this masterpiece doesn't have more kudos because it's astounding.
Access Granted by @suaine
Rating: Teen // Warnings: None apply
This is not a traditional angsty fic but damn if my heart didn't hurt for this little robot throughout. The fic follows Sam and Bucky as they get to know each other from the time Sam boots up the new vibranium suit and wings through several weeks (months?) after. The catch? It's told entirely from Redwing's perspective. And told very well. It's a mix of Redwing trying to access files/code new missions/other techy stuff and a really pretty prose that never forgets it's a robot relaying the information. It's so cute and wonderful and so tender. I love this robot so much and this robot loves Sam and Bucky even more
And I'm just gonna leave my own fics here Inhale My Soul (coming back from the blip), Quiet Birds Circling in Flight (Sam and Bucky consider Steve’s cenotaph) and Tying Me to You (red string of fate from CA: TWS to the first episode of TFATWS) Both rated T, no archive warnings apply to either
Wow I just realized you never specified Sam/Bucky. I can probably dig out some stucky too (or pynch if you're from the other side of my blog!)
