Okay, so I have my standard go tos, @brendaonao3 (brenda on AO3), @boopifer (boopboop), and @thebestpersonherelovesbucky (kellyscams). I’ve been reading their stuff for years, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t missed a single fic from any of them.
Oh! I have also been on a MAD silentwalrus kick lately. Just, like, devouring everything they’ve ever written forever and ever, amen.
Bucky Barnes Has His Shit Together (and Other Lies He Tells Himself) is one of my absolute favorite fics in the fandom, and it’s honestly embarrassing how many times I’ve read it. @bettsfic doesn’t write for the fandom anymore, which is just a damn tragedy because that fic and the rest of her stucky stuff is the shit.
Recently @marciellaniello wrote a stupidly ridiculously cute birthday fic for me and you should read it and all the things by her. She’s awesome.
@rohkeutta has written a lot of really great stuff, but also wrote probably one of the funniest versions of Bucky I’ve ever read in their Stop interrupting my grinding series.
I’ve been reading tons of fic the last few weeks in all the haze and craze of IW, and have come across some real gems. Time to make a rec post and share the love with all of you! Enjoy xx
Note: SOME FICS CONTAIN IW SPOILERS, so check the tags before you read! This post will be spoiler free.
Steve getting hit with some sparkly purple sh*t during a battle and left with all of his old ailments gives Bucky the opportunity to do something he’s been meaning to do for ages.
the way your face could light the bitter dark by Lizzen 2,760 words, complete Mature, author chose not to use archive warnings —–> Steve finds Bucky a year after the end of Infinity War. Fix-it fic ***CONTAINTS IW SPOILERS***
Bucky Barnes has spent his whole life in a state of mild hypothermia. Steve Rogers has spent the last 70 years in the ice. The two things aren’t related until, suddenly, they are. Shrunkyclunks soulmate AU
So Alive by GottaSaveBucky 108,976 words, complete Explicit, —–> Steve is a comic book artist and creator of the character Captain America and only visits this bookstore because of the superior baked goods, honestly, not the gorgeous manager. Bucky designs the comic book displays in his little shop and tells everyone he meets about his favorite author, Steven G. Rogers.
The City in Which I Love You by magdaliny 5,209 words, complete Explicit, no archive warnings apply —–> Steve and Bucky raise baby goats together in Mongolia and everything is rainbows and sunshine and peace. Author’s tumblr: @magdaliny
Moosebumps by rohkeutta 4,207 words, complete Teen, no archive warnings apply —–>Steve and Bucky are road cyclists who don’t know each other until Bucky crashes into a moose and Steve has to go to his rescue. Author’s tumblr: @rohkeutta
Just Dropkick the Shame by MissyPJ, Rohkeutta 7,909 words, complete Explicit, no archive warnings apply —–>Bucky has a kind-of sort-of thing with his boss Steve Rogers, and also drunk-tweets about Captain America’s daddy level sometimes. Turns out those two hobbies may be more related than he thinks. Author’s tumblr: @rohkeutta
M is for Murder by Rohkeutta 4,196 words, complete Mature, no archive warnings apply —–>Bucky’s having a hard time paying rent and turns to tumblr for help. I’m pretty low on funds and need to make ends meet this month. I’m taking commissions for hits in the New York City area. Will Not Kill: Captain America or other Avengers. Will partially refund payment if target turns out to be HYDRA.Will not go to Jersey. No dismemberment or killing children.Message for negotiations and payment details. Author’s tumblr: @rohkeutta
Collateral by Aylwyyn228 13,384 words, complete Explicit, author chose not to use archive warnings —–> Thanks to Hydra’s mindfuckery, Bucky can’t be penetrated without a lot of pain and yet can’t achieve orgasm without getting fucked. He’s really trying to figure this shit out, though, preferably without breaking Steve’s heart in the process.
Darling Wolf by cleo4u2, xantissa 15,605 words, complete Explicit, no archive warnings apply —–> When Bucky put on the mask and browsed the clubs, he just wanted to find Steve. All he wanted to was to let go, to finally relax. He didn’t expect to find so many disappointing doms. All but one. The one he’d been looking for. The one he was afraid would find him.
Controlled Release by steebadore 9,073 words, complete Explicit, no archive warnings apply —–> Bucky’s just having a little trouble…finishing. Completing the mission. He can squeeze the trigger but he can’t make the shot is what he’s saying. Which is why he’s here, loitering outside a nice brownstone in Park Slope, trying to find the courage to knock on Captain Come Control dot com’s door for his three o’clock appointment. You know, just normal Thursday things. Author’s tumblr: @steebadore
Mokusatsu by Shadesfalcon 125,492 words, complete Explicit, author chose not to use archive warnings —–> Clint Barton has been strung along from abusive relationship to abusive relationship all his life. Now, being trapped in a bureaucratically mandated relationship with not one but two doms is going to be difficult and dangerous. Especially since these two doms are both members of the Avengers themselves. He hopes that whenever he disappoints them, they’ll have at least a little pity on him, even though he knows he won’t deserve it. ***PLEASE READ TAGS CAREFULLY, CONTAINS VIOLENCE AND PAST ABUSE but it’s so so good. just like, be careful if you’re triggered by such things, okay?*** Author’s tumblr: @polyamoryavengers
In a world where superhero IDs are still secret, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers are both Captains America, and Bucky has had enough of SHIELD controlling their life since they woke up from a 70-year-old nap under the ice. So they do the only sensible thing to do and start auditioning to find the “third” Cap… which goes exactly as well as you’d imagine.
Carpe Noctem by GoldBlooded 68,169 words, 22/27 chapters as of 5.7.18 Explicit, creator chose not to use archive warnings —–> When the world’s power grid is shut down thanks to a terrorist organization, the world is plunged into an apocalyptic return to violent, domineering alphas and omegas who have to fear for their lives. Alpha!Bucky and Omega!Steve wind up on the run together hiding out in a bunker in the middle of nowhere, finding connection with each other in the midst of the world falling apart. Author’s tumblr: @duelingnebulas
How to Draw Fallen Angels by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves) 17,627 words, 4/? chapters as of 5.7.18 Explicit, no archive warnings apply —–>
Steve Rogers, smol angry artist, helps out a guy having a panic attack in a museum café. No good deed, as they say, goes unpunished.
Steve washes his hands with the sliver of soap left by the sink, and takes a long hard look at himself in the mirror.
The cut on his brow has scabbed over, and the bruises around his eye are blotchy red and sore to the touch.
Stupid.
His hands are no better, and he grips the edge of the sink to keep them from shaking. The scabs on his knuckles open up again, blood welling up starkly against his bone white fists. He holds them under the running faucet and watches the water circle the drain before pulling himself together.
He turns lightning away from barns, he scares children away from unholy places, he keeps the old ghosts company after their names have been forgotten.
If the vârcolac had a grave, no one would visit. It is a forsaken place, and must stay forsaken.
~~~
After the helicarriers come down, the Winter Soldier flees to the Carpathian Mountains in search of silence, safety, and peace of mind. The vârcolac finds him first.
Final Report of the survey starship Hermes, Captain reporting. The other members of the crew, Dugan, Falsworth, Jones, Dernier, Morita are dead. Agent Peggy Carter survived, uninjured. Second Officer James Barnes remains in cryosleep due to life-threatening injuries. Cargo and ship destroyed. Our client, Johann Schmidt, executive curation officer for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation endangered the ship and crew while covertly attempting to smuggle a creature he referred to as The Hydra during our operation. Schmidt perished in his efforts. We should reach the Frontier in about 6 weeks. With a little luck, the Network will pick us up.
This is Steven Grant Rogers, one of three survivors of the Hermes, signing off.
Bucky tapped him on the shoulder, swaying back and forth a little as he waited for the man to turn around. “Hello,” he said, and then promptly forgot what else he was going to say, because this guy was fucking beautiful. “Wow. Good face.”
Two of the guy’s friends, a man wearing a suit that fit so well it had to be bespoke and a man with a cute little gap between his front teeth, started cracking up. The petite redhead sitting next to them cocked her head to the side and pulled her phone out of her handbag. Beautiful Face just looked kind of pained, so Bucky redirected. He was a gentleman. He could take a hint. No hitting on beautiful guys who were uncomfortable with that sort of thing, no matter how lickable their jawlines were.
“Hello,” he repeated, doing his best to mind his manners. “I’m very sorry to bother you. Can I have a piggy-back ride?”
Of course! I’ve just been so busy later I haven’t had a chance or found a message that I wanted to do.
I can always rec angsty stucky fics, I do love to suffer. Idk what you consider long so I’ll just do a whole range. (Also these all pretty much have a happy ending, so if you’re not into that sorry)
“I can stand,” Barnes said, but he was filthy and pale and weak. “I’m
all right, I—” and she knew right away from the casual way Rogers
pulled Barnes against him, from the completely unselfconscious way that
Barnes clung to him as he tried to get his feet under him, forehead
pressed against Rogers’s shoulder like a drunk, that they’d been lovers
in a spit-swapping, aggressively physical way. This was no airy,
spiritual love; military poetry. These were bodies that knew each other. (read)
In a world where Captain Steve Rogers really did die in the Valkyrie, and it was Sam, Clint and Natasha that saved Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark decides the Avengers need their own official graphic novel series.
“Steve Rogers. I haven’t thought about him in…God, at least ten years. Probably longer.“ “Who is he?” Sharon asks, and perches on the corner of his desk, hands folded in her lap. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Bucky clears his throat, tosses the sticky note onto the desk. “Steve was…my college boyfriend. We almost got married.”
It’s been fifteen years since Bucky Barnes left Steve Rogers standing in a New York airport and never saw him again. Those fifteen years have brought him wealth and stability; everything his lower middle class Brooklyn upbringing had not provided. He is happy. He doesn’t want for anything. He doesn’t need anything. That’s about to change.
Tired of being kept awake at night by a screaming baby, Bucky decides to take matters into his own hands. Mostly he wants a good night’s sleep, but what he gets is a beautiful baby boy with big blue eyes, a lonely father trying to move on from tragedy, and a chance at a family he never expected to have.
Sometimes Bucky thinks it would be really cute to meet someone in a coffee shop, like in those silly romantic comedies Clint makes him watch. But there is a reason why meet cutes in cafes don’t happen in real life, and it’s because customers suck.
And besides, love fades.
But coffee? Coffee is forever.
–
This is a story about love and life–and coffee, which Bucky would’ve argued was probably more important than either of the first.
“Why would he actively try and fuck up a building that he and his men are constructing? You really that narcissistic to think the guy is giving blood, sweat, and tears just to fuck up your project?” Sam asks incredulously.
“Every time Sam, without fail, every time I go to that site something is wrong, or something is being built that wasn’t in my fucking plans. I can’t go to the site every day and watch over his shoulder, I’ve got other buildings going up!” Steve sighs, throwing his hands up. Steve was fortunate enough to hit the ground running after school and has become one of the youngest architect to achieve his level of success – a level that warrants him being contracted by Tony Stark personally to work on his namesake – so Steve can’t fuck this up.
The emergency departments of hospitals are all alike. Some are small, just a couple of rooms, a bathroom, a harried nurse who greets the frequent fliers by name, and some are huge, with dozens of rooms and a team of people who don’t even know each other’s names, let alone the patients.
You already know
the story of a couple of Brooklyn boys who went to war and
never quite made it home again, but part of the magic that makes Steve and Bucky so
compelling is that, against all odds and after decades of more hell than anyone should go
through, they manage to find each other. That same magic is what makes me a sucker
for a good alternate universe story: the idea that these two guys are so
completely meant to be together that in any world, under any circumstances, they
would always be a pair. (That, and the fact that sometimes you just need to
take a break from the complete and utter
anguish that is their canon story line and take comfort in them
finding love in a bakery instead.)
(manip by the amazing and adorable @hikku – original post here)
Some AUs are funny, some are fluffy, some are
smutty, but the ones on this list are some of my favorites across the board –
they’re worth their weight in gold. (Yes, the periodic table pun was necessary.) In no particular order:
To Be Vulnerable Is Needed Most of Allby perfect_plan – M, 118363 words – Comic artist Steve
helps new neighbor Bucky through his PTSD. Bonus appearances by a lot of their pals, but the true joy is in watching
two complete dorks with low self-esteem fall madly for each other.
Cake Walk by @rocksaltandroll and @shortsighted-owl – E, 65117 words – Baker skinny!Steve works with wedding planner Bucky on the arrangements for Nat and Sam’s wedding. A slow build to an adorable (yet sexy) romance.
Sex, Drugs & Needles by @ohcaptainmycaptain1918 – E,
38645 words – Bucky the tattoo artist falls hard for his customer, skinny little
Steve. Well-characterized appearances by a lot of Marvel friends. And hot. So, so, so, hot.
Casual Encounters by @morethanslightly – E, 66593 words – Artist Steve and disabled vet Bucky decide that fuckbuddies would be a good step up in their relationship. Which it might be, if either one of
them was really in it just to experiment with sex. Cue all the pining.
The President’s Son by @rocksaltandroll – E, 60016 words – Bucky’s
a traumatized former POW whose mom happens to be the President of the United
States. Steve isn’t supposed to fall for someone he’s been assigned to protect,
but the guy is so much more than what the media have made him out to be. Angst
and smut in all the right places.
Hotel Serviceby Odsbodkins – E, 5477 words – Businessman
Steve falls for the desk clerk at his usual NYC hotel; college student Bucky finds flirting with his regular customer to be an excellent addition to his work days.
Love, Sex, and Paperwork by mtothedestiel – M, 2392 words (plus
two sequels) – Parks and Rec crossover; I hadn’t watched the show when I
first read it and still loved the fic. Steve is the director, Bucky is his
executive assistant, and all of the other Avengers are various Parks & Rec
employees either horrified or amused by the sex happening in their department.
Hilarious and cute.
Slide to Answer by @relenafanel – T, 6326 words – Steve
calls Sam for advice in the middle of a date, but dials the wrong number and gets a stranger. Twice. Bucky is more than happy to help out this disaster of a man who keeps calling
him, and a friendship is formed. Steve wants a relationship, Bucky’s an expert
at one-night-stands, but they might just change their ways for the right
person.
Timeline by perfect_plan – M, 34621 words, WIP – Steve realizes around sixth grade that he is 1) gay, and 2) madly in love with his (presumed) straight best friend. Four of six chapters complete and I just can’t with all the feels.
Signs and Sounds series by @leandraholmes and @saturnmeetsmercury – M, 26416 words total – Bucky is working as a sign-language interpreter when he gets a customer who wants him to translate phone sex. It’s as awkward as
things can get (which his coworker Natasha finds hilarious). But the
customer is kinda cute, and he seems to keep calling back and requesting
Bucky…
Just Say You Do by @biblionerd07 – T, 173149 words – Bucky
needs a spouse in order to get financial aid for college – and also someone to help him
get through his PTSD-filled nights. His mom decides the perfect solution is to
hire one for him, of course. Steve never realized how badly he needed family
until he becomes part of Bucky’s and has to deal with the idea of losing them – and his husband – once the sham marriage ends. Slow-burning fluff with a bit of angst.
The Run and Go by @banedwood – E, 14960 words – Steve and Bucky go to the same college, live in the same building, and have some of the same friends – but somehow they don’t meet until Bucky is standing in the laundry room in just his boxer shorts. Fluff – so much fluff – results.
Alternate universes may or may not contain prosthetic arms, small angry chihuahua of righteousness Steve, or promises of “to the end of the line”. However, they all feature one punk and one jerk who can’t be kept apart no matter what situation you put them in. Use care when reading AUs as a desperate desire for the canon universe to have an equally happy ending may ensue. As always when reading fanfic, be prepared with tissues for both happy and sad tears, and have your favorite Stucky shipper on standby for support.
There are some more stunning and wonderful AUs in each of my previous Massive Fic Rec Project posts, but because there are so many great fics out there, I’m trying not to rec anything more than once. Check out the links below.
However, I’m gonna be frank, these fics are pretty old (except for The Life of Bucky Barnes and The Wedding of Bucky Barnes which are on going series). I didn’t start to dig into Civil War fics and god knows that there must be AMAZING stuff out there! I’m pretty busy at the moment, I don’t really have the time to go “fic hunting” or even read anything. T___T
ealdor 