'She comes back with a hiker’s backpack, out of which she pulls a pair of jersey shorts, black leggings, a red bandana and a bunch of colorful string bracelets.
"Jesus," Sam says, looking it over. "Is there some naked hippie grad student knocked out somewhere in the hotel right now?"
"None of these items will be traced back to us," Natasha says soothingly, which doesn't answer his question.'
Oh man, this fic! This fic is EVERYTHING.
Honestly, the dedication it takes to write over 500 pages of the Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes, prioritising self-care and dealing with seventy years worth of trauma is freaking amazing!
But let's back up, rewind, and give you all some context.
I heard about this fic on Twitter waaay back in July, when Cat Sebastian tweeted about it and someone I knew - possibly several someones, my Twitter is nerdy af - retweeted it.
But let's back up, rewind, and give you all some context.
I heard about this fic on Twitter waaay back in July, when Cat Sebastian tweeted about it and someone I knew - possibly several someones, my Twitter is nerdy af - retweeted it.
And if you've read that tweet, you'll know the next part is golden: THE WINTER SOLDIER READS TRASHY* ROMANCE NOVELS.
That's totally head-canon.
And I love the reactions of Steve (Captain America,) Sam (Falcon) and Natasha (Black Widow) to the random and bizarre situation they find themselves in with Bucky; it's fab!
And yes, this is Stucky - Steve and Bucky in a romantic and/or sexual relationship. Because they belong together.
And I love the reactions of Steve (Captain America,) Sam (Falcon) and Natasha (Black Widow) to the random and bizarre situation they find themselves in with Bucky; it's fab!
And yes, this is Stucky - Steve and Bucky in a romantic and/or sexual relationship. Because they belong together.
 |
| Via Giphy |
(Fangirling notes: head-canon is something that's official in your head - so it didn't actually happen in the book, TV show, whatever, but you're gonna treat it like it did.
Also referred to as headcannon cos it blows your mind! 😵😉 )
*I mean trashy in the most excellent of ways, ofc.
'“And you gave him your ipod,” Steve continues, laughing, his eyes bright. “You traded him a hundred and fifty dollar piece of tech for a bowl of macaroni?”
“Excuse me, Mr. This Soup Is So Good I’m Moving To Korea?” Sam says. “You can’t talk. It had bacon bits in it.”'
It's not all fun, games, and laughter - but it holds very dearly to one of my personal policies of self-care: if you didn't laugh, you'd cry.
Which is kind of the vibe of the MCU in general, when you think about it.
Not that there's anything wrong with crying my nerdlets! HELL NO! If you need to cry, you cry - letting it out is good for you!
There's a lot of dark stuff in this fic too though - so much so that I'm gonna do a 'content warning' section like I do with book reviews. (The fic is novel-length, after all.)
This fic picks up after The Winter Soldier, and then diverges into an AU.
This is also technically a 'Part 2' - but the 'Part 1' is more a prequel than a story in its own right. So I actually think it's better to read this one first.
(Fangirling notes: AU = Alternate Universe.)
 |
| Via Giphy |
This fic might be everything, but everything's not perfect my nerdlets.
It uses a lot of ableist language in particular - like 'crazy,' 'nuts,' 'looney,' etc.
I personally found it uber-relatable in the context of Bucky trying to cope, so ranting at himself and his situation - but it won't be for everyone.
There's also a few sexual consent issues - more ambiguous consent than anything, but it's still uncomfortable at best.
It IS addressed as being uncomfortable and ambiguous though, and the characters involved discuss it, but, little heads-up.
This week's fic, then (see below for content warnings,) is:
If They Haven't Learned Your Name by silentwalrus
Content Warnings:
- PTSD inc. flashbacks (MAJOR WARNING)
- torture
- murder
- references to sexual assault/rape
- consent issues
- suicidal thoughts
- medical details
- serious injury and blood
- general violence
- memory problems
Do you like longer or shorter fics?
What do you think of fics centring self-care?
(I think it's awesome!)
Talk to me! ❤💬
Related Reading:
Please share and comment 😊
Last updated: 4th Nov 2018
Over 500 pages? That's bordering on a brick novel in my world. A dedicated writer :-)
ReplyDeleteIt. Is. AMAZING!!!! Lol. :D
Delete