i've been careless with a delicate man
Posted a story yesterday:
Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Take Me In (@ AO3)
Captain America; Steve/Bucky; pg; 4,165 words; no Cap 2 spoilers
Bucky finds himself, and then he finds Steve.
My entry into the "Bucky deprograms himself before Steve wakes up" genre. I've had the title in mind for them since Steve said he was "just a kid from Brooklyn" (I might have burst into tears the first time "I and Love and You" came on my iPod after I saw "Captain America: The First Avenger" *cough* but you can't prove anything), and 2/3 of the story had been written for ages, but once the reunion actually happened, I couldn't get past the point where Steve offered to make eggs for Bucky. *hands* I thought about gutting the whole story and revamping it to be more in line with Cap 2, despite the fact that it is AU from the get-go anyway, but then the other night, the resolution came to me in the person of Natasha (i.e., when in doubt, have Black Widow burst into the room with a gun, thank you, Raymond Chandler), so I was thrilled to be able to finish it without having to do that.
I like how it turned out, anyway. Now if I can only finish one last OT3 story before the movie comes out in the US. It's another one that's been stalled for a while, and while
laurificus did suggest a fix for it, that might be too complex a thing to do in the time I have left. So I have to think some more about it, because I don't want to abandon 6k words of a story I really like. Otoh, I just thought of a way to bring it more in line with Cap 2, so maybe revamping is the way to go? Dilemma, dilemma...
I've decided that the other story I really wanted to get done - the DCU crossover - can wait because it is much more plot heavy and again, AU from the start (as is the one above, but it feels like a different thing for reasons I can't explain), though I do think there are tweaks that will bring it more in line with where MCU canon will be at after Cap 2, since they're a lot less crucial to that story, and in fact may make it easier, now that I've thought about it.
As a reminder, if you've seen Cap 2 and you want to squee, my post about it is here. I can't believe I have to wait another week to see it again.
Also, I'm not sure how this is going to work out, given the givens, but Amy Acker is going to be on SHIELD as Coulson's cellist. Make of that what you will.
Speaking of the DCU, some quick thoughts on last night's Arrow: Birds of Prey:
I don't understand how a show that has done so well by so many of its characters just completely dropped the ball with Helena Bertinelli. I know that she showed up early in the first season, before the show had actually gotten good (just before that, really), but they managed to make me really enjoy their version of Deadshot and he also had a rather poor beginning. And I just - Helena is one of my favorites in the DCU (well, preboot, of course). I love that she put on the cowl as Batman* during No Man's Land, when Bruce had faffed off to Europe to lick his wounds, and that she managed to find a way to sort through her anger issues to become a trusted member of Barbara's team (and also that even though Bruce was manipulating her like an asshole, he trusted her to do what needed doing in NML). (I still feel like there was a huge missed opportunity to team her up with Jason - Babs should have totally be on that. People Jason needed to team up with, preboot: Babs, Helena, Donna (more than he did, I mean, though Diana would also do in a pinch here), Kory (I'm still angry at what the reboot did to Kory, though).)
* She was not Batgirl, whatever Barbara wanted to think (that was as much about Babs' issues as it was about Helena, I think; that it was Helena, and that Helena had hooked up with Dick, just made it all more complicated; I still want Helena and Dick to be gossipy FWB). I thought she was very clearly taking on Batman's mantle in the story. Not that Batgirl doesn't serve her own unique purpose in Gotham and the Batfamily! But that wasn't what Helena was doing there. Though I guess she kind of was, because it was as much about bringing hope to a desperate populace as it was about keeping criminals in line, and Steph's Batgirl, at least, is about hope as much as it is about justice. Hmmm...
Wow, okay, I am totally sorry for letting all my HUNTRESS (and Jason) FEELS make everything confusing.
Let's restart: I thought this episode did some interesting things with Sara and Laurel, it made good use of both of them, and while Ollie was less central, it was also a lot about his growth from the Hood into the Arrow, from killer to vigilante (he's still working up to hero), and I love that he admitted that his mentoring of Helena had been poor, because he had no leg to stand on re: killing people last year. Of course, I also love, except I don't because it hurt to watch, how he's screwing up as a mentor for Roy now, in new and exciting ways that hopefully don't get Thea killed; regardless, I thought all Amell's scenes with Roy, Sara, and Helena were really good last night. Except that I hated that he called Roy "Speedy." That's THEA'S NICKNAME (which clearly Roy didn't even know; he was just like, "Wtf?"). I really want Thea to be in on the secret and also not dead at the end of this season. Please, show, don't fail me now.
I like that Helena seems on the way to having a redemption arc, hopefully with the Suicide Squad (I can still wish for them to recast her, can't I?), though I find it hilarious that Laurel didn't recognize Sara, and that they're still making it like Det. Lance doesn't know Ollie is the Arrow.
I like that Kate Spencer is still around as DA and I hope to see more of her, especially with Big Dick Paul out of the picture.
I loved that there was a Gail Simone shoutout in an episode titled Birds of Prey. *g*
Now if they could just give Felicity and Diggle more to do. Sigh.
In other news,
unfitforsociety has been updated for March 2014 with 30 recs in 7 fandoms:
* 16 Avengers (no Cap 2 spoilers)
* 3 Crossovers (1 Young Avengers/Red Robin, 2 Avengers/James Bond)
* 3 Arrow
* 2 Veronica Mars (containing movie spoilers)
* 2 Rivers of London
* 2 Life and 1 Pacific Rim
I keep hoping Cap 2 will bring a surge of Steve/Bucky, Steve/Natasha, and Steve/Bucky/Natasha fic. Certainly there are a bunch of things I want to write now, but I also like reading stuff I haven't written. *puppy dog eyes*
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/650459.html.
people have commented there.
Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Take Me In (@ AO3)
Captain America; Steve/Bucky; pg; 4,165 words; no Cap 2 spoilers
Bucky finds himself, and then he finds Steve.
My entry into the "Bucky deprograms himself before Steve wakes up" genre. I've had the title in mind for them since Steve said he was "just a kid from Brooklyn" (I might have burst into tears the first time "I and Love and You" came on my iPod after I saw "Captain America: The First Avenger" *cough* but you can't prove anything), and 2/3 of the story had been written for ages, but once the reunion actually happened, I couldn't get past the point where Steve offered to make eggs for Bucky. *hands* I thought about gutting the whole story and revamping it to be more in line with Cap 2, despite the fact that it is AU from the get-go anyway, but then the other night, the resolution came to me in the person of Natasha (i.e., when in doubt, have Black Widow burst into the room with a gun, thank you, Raymond Chandler), so I was thrilled to be able to finish it without having to do that.
I like how it turned out, anyway. Now if I can only finish one last OT3 story before the movie comes out in the US. It's another one that's been stalled for a while, and while
laurificus did suggest a fix for it, that might be too complex a thing to do in the time I have left. So I have to think some more about it, because I don't want to abandon 6k words of a story I really like. Otoh, I just thought of a way to bring it more in line with Cap 2, so maybe revamping is the way to go? Dilemma, dilemma...
I've decided that the other story I really wanted to get done - the DCU crossover - can wait because it is much more plot heavy and again, AU from the start (as is the one above, but it feels like a different thing for reasons I can't explain), though I do think there are tweaks that will bring it more in line with where MCU canon will be at after Cap 2, since they're a lot less crucial to that story, and in fact may make it easier, now that I've thought about it.
As a reminder, if you've seen Cap 2 and you want to squee, my post about it is here. I can't believe I have to wait another week to see it again.
Also, I'm not sure how this is going to work out, given the givens, but Amy Acker is going to be on SHIELD as Coulson's cellist. Make of that what you will.
Speaking of the DCU, some quick thoughts on last night's Arrow: Birds of Prey:
I don't understand how a show that has done so well by so many of its characters just completely dropped the ball with Helena Bertinelli. I know that she showed up early in the first season, before the show had actually gotten good (just before that, really), but they managed to make me really enjoy their version of Deadshot and he also had a rather poor beginning. And I just - Helena is one of my favorites in the DCU (well, preboot, of course). I love that she put on the cowl as Batman* during No Man's Land, when Bruce had faffed off to Europe to lick his wounds, and that she managed to find a way to sort through her anger issues to become a trusted member of Barbara's team (and also that even though Bruce was manipulating her like an asshole, he trusted her to do what needed doing in NML). (I still feel like there was a huge missed opportunity to team her up with Jason - Babs should have totally be on that. People Jason needed to team up with, preboot: Babs, Helena, Donna (more than he did, I mean, though Diana would also do in a pinch here), Kory (I'm still angry at what the reboot did to Kory, though).)
* She was not Batgirl, whatever Barbara wanted to think (that was as much about Babs' issues as it was about Helena, I think; that it was Helena, and that Helena had hooked up with Dick, just made it all more complicated; I still want Helena and Dick to be gossipy FWB). I thought she was very clearly taking on Batman's mantle in the story. Not that Batgirl doesn't serve her own unique purpose in Gotham and the Batfamily! But that wasn't what Helena was doing there. Though I guess she kind of was, because it was as much about bringing hope to a desperate populace as it was about keeping criminals in line, and Steph's Batgirl, at least, is about hope as much as it is about justice. Hmmm...
Wow, okay, I am totally sorry for letting all my HUNTRESS (and Jason) FEELS make everything confusing.
Let's restart: I thought this episode did some interesting things with Sara and Laurel, it made good use of both of them, and while Ollie was less central, it was also a lot about his growth from the Hood into the Arrow, from killer to vigilante (he's still working up to hero), and I love that he admitted that his mentoring of Helena had been poor, because he had no leg to stand on re: killing people last year. Of course, I also love, except I don't because it hurt to watch, how he's screwing up as a mentor for Roy now, in new and exciting ways that hopefully don't get Thea killed; regardless, I thought all Amell's scenes with Roy, Sara, and Helena were really good last night. Except that I hated that he called Roy "Speedy." That's THEA'S NICKNAME (which clearly Roy didn't even know; he was just like, "Wtf?"). I really want Thea to be in on the secret and also not dead at the end of this season. Please, show, don't fail me now.
I like that Helena seems on the way to having a redemption arc, hopefully with the Suicide Squad (I can still wish for them to recast her, can't I?), though I find it hilarious that Laurel didn't recognize Sara, and that they're still making it like Det. Lance doesn't know Ollie is the Arrow.
I like that Kate Spencer is still around as DA and I hope to see more of her, especially with Big Dick Paul out of the picture.
I loved that there was a Gail Simone shoutout in an episode titled Birds of Prey. *g*
Now if they could just give Felicity and Diggle more to do. Sigh.
In other news,
unfitforsociety has been updated for March 2014 with 30 recs in 7 fandoms:
* 16 Avengers (no Cap 2 spoilers)
* 3 Crossovers (1 Young Avengers/Red Robin, 2 Avengers/James Bond)
* 3 Arrow
* 2 Veronica Mars (containing movie spoilers)
* 2 Rivers of London
* 2 Life and 1 Pacific Rim
I keep hoping Cap 2 will bring a surge of Steve/Bucky, Steve/Natasha, and Steve/Bucky/Natasha fic. Certainly there are a bunch of things I want to write now, but I also like reading stuff I haven't written. *puppy dog eyes*
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/650459.html.
people have commented there.