Recs part 2: Captain America fanstuff on Tumblr

[sholio]

One of the things I find most fascinating about being in a Tumblr-based fandom for the first time ever is how much hybrid fanstuff there is -- fanart with mini-fics attached, collaborative fanfics that grow one reblog at a time, creative what-ifs that are suspended somewhere between meta and fanfic, etc. I thought about trying to organize the links

Comments

[trobadora]

Thank you for these links!

... I really need to get myself a Bucky icon.

[sholio]

Anytime! :)

I have fallen into this fandom so hard. :D

[trobadora]

You and me both. I've been away for the last week, or I'd have posted about it before. EVERYTHING IS WINTER SOLDIER. EVERYTHING.

[sholio]

YES. YES IT IS.

I also see you've managed to fix the "no Bucky icons" problem. :D

[trobadora]

I had to! But I need about ten million more, and I'm having real trouble finding good ones. *sighs*

[sholio]

There's an icon recs post here at mcugen, which is what led me to most of the ones I have.

While I'm reccing stuff anyway, I'm not sure what sort of thing you're into in the fandom right now (if you're going more for "make everything stop hurting" fic or for the "all the pain in the world" variety) but I just finished reading a really good Pierce POV fic that deals with his relationship over the years with Bucky. There's just one bit of characterization near the end that didn't quite work for me (YMMV) but it's excellent otherwise, in an emotionally devastating kind of way.

[trobadora]

Oh, thanks! I must have missed that post.

I'll bookmark the Pierce fic for when I'm in the mood - right now I'm mostly burning through every scrap of recovery!fic I can find.

[sholio]

Ha, yes, I know what you mean. When I first fell into the fandom after watching the movie, I couldn't even touch a fic that didn't end on a somewhat upbeat note; now I'm branching out, but I do think it's kind of sweet and adorable that the fic is like 90% recovery!fic so far - the general Winter Soldier premise could easily lend itself to a lot of really dark fic, noncon, etc, but instead the entire fandom seems to have decided en masse that BUCKY NEEDS LOTS OF FIXING and set out to write tons of fic with people being nice to him. (Not that I am complaining about this trend.)

[trobadora]

ALL THE GOOD THINGS FOR BUCKY. I definitely approve. :D Though I wouldn't mind more Bucky being awesome despite being broken, and less just plain Bucky being whumped and cuddled, I suppose. Definitely not looking for darkfic right now, though! If I remain this obsessed I'm sure to branch out eventually, too, but I'm not there yet. I'm a few weeks behind you on the fannish timeline. *g*

(I'm sort of stunned by how completely this has taken over fandom. But it's brilliant being into something huge again for a change!)

[sholio]

Though I wouldn't mind more Bucky being awesome despite being broken, and less just plain Bucky being whumped and cuddled, I suppose.

Oh yes, I hear you on this! I actually think fandom is doing reasonably well with the recovery stuff, considering fandom (or maybe I'm just managing to avoid most of the "Bucky is a miserable sobbing wreck for 20 chapters" fics by their summaries), but I am really craving more fic of the "... and then they all went out and kicked ass" variety (or lived their lives, or, you know, did something other than hole up in Steve's apartment/the Avengers tower for lots of shower-sex or cuddling under blankets). Not because I hate cuddling/recovery tropes, but I'm feeling a bit glutted on it right now. (Heh, I'm actually subscribed to a number of recovery!fics that are SO similar I generally forget which one I'm in the middle of when I get a new chapter notification, so then I'm briefly lost every time: Are they staying with the Avengers? Is Bucky non-verbal or just kind of fragile? etc

[trobadora]

! I actually think fandom is doing reasonably well with the recovery stuff, considering fandom

Agreed! And I don't know if I'm just getting better at filtering it out, but I seem to be stumbling across less Steve behaving like a creepy stalker in the more recently posted fic. Also, less trying to shove post-Winter Soldier Bucky back into the mould of 40s Bucky. Though I'm still waiting for one, just ONE of the ten million haircutting fics to end with Bucky deciding to let it grow out again because he liked it better that way. (I definitely like it better that way!)

I also completely hear you on the many very similar WIPs - I've started to lose track myself ...

I am really craving more fic of the "... and then they all went out and kicked ass" variety

THIS. This is what I always want. There can never be enough of it!

[sholio]

Hee, yeah, I like the long hair; I was disappointed in the comics that he cut it almost immediately. (And probably will in the movies too, but one never knows.) There is a fair amount of fanart out there that has post-Winter Soldier Bucky tying his hair back into the most adorable tiny ponytail. :D

[trobadora]

There is a fair amount of fanart out there that has post-Winter Soldier Bucky tying his hair back into the most adorable tiny ponytail. :D

THIS IS WHAT I WANT. Seriously, all the haircuts are just making me sad. *pouts* (Sebastian Stan looks much better with longer hair, if you ask me, and also, the haircuts are always framed as getting back to what he used to look like, which makes me twitchy per se.)

And yeah ... stalker!Steve, and also Steve (et al) taking agency away from Bucky and tricking or forcing him to submit to things he doesn't want to do - I think of all the post-movie fic tropes, that's the one that bothers me most, because NO, you don't do that to someone who just got their agency BACK.

THIS, SO MUCH. I mean, I've read fic in which Steve et al. behave in ways that would send any sane person running for the hills, much less someone already traumatised. On the list of things Bucky really doesn't need right now, that's got to be top of the list. Also, all the "let's take away your arm - but don't worry, we'll totally

[artemis_prime]

Hair! There's fanart with him keeping the hair? Oh, you have made my day :D. Do you have links to any? 'Cause Winter Soldier hair is just so beautiful... so very beautiful.

I realise that this isn't long fic material (or that you even asked for suggestions), but maybe a scene in the fic could have the WS doing some gardening. Something like planting a seed and tending to it as it grows. He helps to create life now, not destroy it. Perhaps it's a calming technique to help in his recovery.

Another thought. If the WS remembers parts of his life as Bucky, will he also remember the charm he had with women? How might that shape his current self image?

[sholio]

This is the one that INSTANTLY came to mind of post-Winter Soldier Bucky with a ponytail: http://laylainalaska.tumblr.com/post/83467407120/mechinaries-i-imagine-both-steve-and-bucky-like

I think most of the fanart I've seen of the movie version has long hair, actually! Maybe because it's fun to draw. Here is one and another one and one with hair braiding. :D And also a cartoon which includes Bucky gardening, since you mentioned that. I really like your idea of Bucky growing things, because yes, that seems like something that will be very therapeutic for him. :D *makes mental note*

.... augh, I want the next movie NOW, because it is SO HARD to write fic without knowing what direction Bucky's personality is going to develop -- whether he's going to be closed-off and angry, or laid-back and charming, or ... something entirely different.

[artemis_prime]

Thanks for the links. I've also been perusing deviantart and comic vine and found some very good drawings of the WS with his hair intact. This is one of my favourites: http://www.comicvine.com/images/1300-3764371 And I hope, as you do, that the MCU execs don't cut his hair