hazel-wand

[hazel-wand]

Hi hello yes, it's a new fic!

This was written as a gift for the lovely @gloromeien as part of the @marveltrumpshate event. Thanks to @booksandabeer and tenmilestilts and @earthbornavenger for the heroic beta support.

I loved the prompt from @gloromeien and I also appreciate your patience as you waited nearly a year for it! (PS: Check out Gloromeien's great fics on ao3! Hi friend!)

Thanks for the super fun shrunkyclunks prompt featuring paramedic Bucky and Captain America Steve! This fic is a mix of Gloromeien’s fun ideas and the weird places my brain took it.

I really, really hope you like it!

Only the Good Die Young by ZenaidaMacroura for Gloromeien

Summary

Bucky Barnes is a paramedic who is doing pretty good. He’s got a good crew, a good family, and a good job. And then he meets Captain America. May contain: Awkward conversations, even more awkward conversations, people hiding to avoid said awkward conversations, descriptions of paramedics doing paramedic things, Steve Rogers running in a very tight shirt.

[hazel-wand]

incorrigible.

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[hazel-wand]

The Long Way: A Stucky Fancomic

Steve didn’t stay in the past…

Read this Stucky masterpiece in beautiful full resolution on AO3 (and leave kudos/comments for both auteur @BeaArthurPendragon and artiste @lokewolf82 😻)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36126970?view_full_work=true

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Are you frustrated you can't leave second kudos on AO3? or third kudos? or whatever-who's-counting kudos?

Well, have I got the html for you!

Plop any of these in a comment (by copy&pasting the code) to make an author's day and show your appreciation!

Second kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/tHMjbb6/second-kudos.png" alt="second kudos">

Third kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/52bggQH/third-kudos.png" alt="third kudos">

nth kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/6y7qGtC/nth-kudos.png" alt="nth kudos">

yet another kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/wKtcj0s/yet-another-kudos.png" alt="yet another kudos">

It will look something like this (and will be transparent with white outline on dark backgrounds):

Feel free to spread and use these as much as you like! (and if you have ideas for other variations, let me know ✌️)

[hazel-wand]

I think one of the reasons I'm utterly in love with Steve as a character is -and I say this a lot- his kindness, and his willingness to put people before himself.

It was such a nice thing to see, a character who isn't 'asshole with a heart of gold', or 'tortured soul' or any dark, edgy, morally gray character type. Steve is good by nature, he is kind to be kind, willing to help people because it's the right thing to do, not because he's waiting for something in return.

And even then, with Steve being the way he is, he's not portrayed as naive, or an idiot who's always being tricked into something or taken advantage of because of his kindness. Steve stands his ground, doesn't take bullshit from anyone. His kindness is one of his strengths, it makes everything about him 10x better.

His first reaction upon meeting Bruce for instance, is assuring him that it's Bruce and his work that matters, not the Hulk, which was a very big insecurity of Bruce.

When Sam presented him the file on the falcon subject, his first instinct is to ask about Riley, and letting a moment of silence pass to let Sam know that he understands that type of loss, that Sam isn't alone.

He sympathised with the Maximoff twins, knowing that they were young and being tricked, and wanting to help them.

We see Steve comfort both Natasha and Wanda at different times, reassuring them in the ways that he knew worked best for them. He gives Natasha his trust, something that wasn't readily given to her before, and he lets Wanda know that sometimes there are things that she cannot control, and it's not entirely her fault.

Even though Steve hardens over the years, even when he's faced with the worst sides of people, his kindness does not fade. He doesn't close off, never stops comforting those in need, and it's one of the best things about him.

It's also why so many people are attracted to him. Kindness draws people in.

[hazel-wand]

Okay so here, I think, is why I think Red, White and Royal Blue succeeds spectacularly as a romcom, and actually to me is a better-than-average take on the genre.

First, the leads have absolutely scorching chemistry. They are incredibly believable as two men absolutely infatuated with each other. They each kiss like drowning men shown water, right down to how each grabs at the other, at hair or back or neck and face.

They each have developed their character having a specific characteristic even when flirting or kissing. Henry grabs Alex's hair, for example, every single time, in a way that makes it clear he spends serious time thinking about that hair.

Fair enough, Henry.

They also do something even goddamn better.

They are friends. They are believable as two people who could actually get along long enough to fall in love.

They are allowed to become FRIENDS.

They are given time to get to know each other before they get physical. You can feel their interest in each other growing. And, to my opinion, you can tell that Henry is feeling Alex out through texts to see if the interest might be reciprocated even though he thinks it can't possibly be.

One thing that kills me about romcoms is how the leads will have witty "sexy" banter but don't seem to actually like each other. They are enemies who fall into bed but aren't really believable as lovers.

Henry and Alex are believable, because they... Well. They're impossibly silly even when tearing at each other's clothes. They have awkward moments.

They laugh.

Alex laughs in bed. He holds Henry in a way that is romantic, openly so. Henry is overcoming the conditioned hesitation and avoidance he has, his smiles and warmth and laughter come with rare vulnerability - Alex is a man who throws himself head first into life and has no such compunctions in the moment. He laughs because this is awesome and Jesus Christ, Prince Henry is too hot to be real.

They like each other, they stumble, they laugh.

But also, another reason this works so well?

The sex scene isn't scorching.

Watching the sex scene felt realistically intimate. It felt like I had walked in one real people and needed to leave. It was intense in a way that felt like something I maybe wasn't meant to see.

It was filmed so well. So much romanticism and deeply felt adoration in a simple grasping of a hand, the look in soft eyes, a hand pressed against a back. The edge of a knee just in frame. Looking up and looking down.

It felt like we walked into their room during and saw them both laid utterly bare.

Henry's look of vulnerability and nerves and pleasure, Alex looking slowly over his face to take it all in. Moving slowly, then, when everything they do before this is hurried or hidden.

It works as a romcom because you believe 100% these two men could get to like each other, fall in love, and stay that way.

You believe Henry's very real terror of rejection from the public because he already knows his family, beyond his sister, will reject him. You believe that Alex is a headstrong idealist who is sure that you can bulldoze through any wall too tall to climb.

And you believe that between the two of them, they can find a way around the wall entirely.

This movie is a master class on how a movie can get you to suspend so much disbelief if the leads sell their characters. The importance of believable chemistry.

And also... Isn't it nice to see a queer love story in a world that is, in some ways, just a few shades better than our own?

P.S. you cannot tell me Stephen Fry did not chew the goddamn scenery in circles all around everyone during his single scene. That man was having a ball.

[hazel-wand]

yeah no offense to confucius or anything but if i was about to embark on a journey of revenge i would simply not dig two graves

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my personal little headcanons about that time between civil war and infinity war:

when bucky is in cryo, and steve is off fighting hydra, shuri, unprompted, gives him tech that lets him see bucky’s vitals always. he checks it religiously.

sam and nat exchange a lot of looks about it, but never say anything

wanda teaches steve how to braid via nat’s hair

she also cuts nat’s hair for her with drug store scissors in an old polish motel

they all bleach her hair the same night with sketchy drug store bleach. it takes them all night. the bleach gets everywhere. they have to pay to replace the carpet.

sam tells a lot of bad dad jokes. nat hits him over the back of his head a lot.

(they’re in love)

when wanda goes on her getaways to meet vision, they all know. they don’t say so.

they have a lot of aliases. mostly, they use random internet name generators. sometimes, sam and nat try to see if they can get away with giving steve pop culture names he won’t recognize (they don’t get away with emmett brown, but they do get away with michael scott)

when bucky’s vitals show that he’s waking up, steve is immediately on his way to wakanda, they let him go without question.

they never comment when he’s gone for weeks at a time and feel bad for having to call him back in.

they all have nightmares. they make each other tea and stay up together. they never make each other talk about it.

but sometimes they do talk about it, because they know the other would understand, and they trust each other.

on one occasion, sam, nat, and wanda go back to wakanda with steve and spend a weekend there. bucky has named goats after all of them.

they watch a lot of foreign language soap operas

when steve isn’t with bucky, he calls him most nights. they talk until 4am.

sometimes sam and nat wake up curled around each other. they don’t talk about it.

wanda, as the youngest by far, is not coddled, but protected. they want to keep her safe and feel bad for making her grow up under such shitty cirumstances. she rolls their eyes and tells them to stop treating her like a baby. (she loves steve’s big hugs)

steve sings in the shower, and nat records it for blackmail. he’s a bad singer.

wanda takes little souvernirs from the places they go.

sam writes vague postcards to his sister under an alias.

they play a lot of uno

they’re family.

i had two glasses of wine and am so in love with this bunch. i didn’t read this over, so i hope it makes sense.

[hazel-wand]

*twirling hair normally* im sooooo normal about this piece of media,,,, so soso normal,,,,, *begins whirring* sooooooooooooooooooooooo noooooooormaaaaaaaal 

[hazel-wand]

wow, way to go big on the rwrb experience! i feel reenergized--i've been meaning to buy myself a copy for two years now and just haven't had the time to properly stroke all the books in a barnes and noble, but i wanna go now...

😂😂😂 Go forth and stroke all the books! There's apparently a collector's version which has a chapter of what happens next from Henry's point of view (I've just read a bootleg copy here).

[hazel-wand]

ALEX & HENRY | Red, white & royal blue (2023)

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Richard Siken continues to kill it on twitter. He just explained why his poetry is so popular in tumblr graphics - "you can take any of my quotes and apply them to any fandom or picture and they will work because they are sad and mopey and full of longing" and then proceeded to demonstrate this. With cat pictures. With lines of his poetry slightly altered to be lol cat speak.

(from his twitter thread here)

People are doing their own versions in response and he is complimenting them.

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introvert at a party ⤷ for @princessfbi

+bonus introvert with the emotional support extrovert

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Me too! Or rather in the last week I've listened to the audio book one and a half times, read the book (when the audio book was too slow), read a fuckload of fanfic, reflected on why I apparently can't be normal about dark-haired/blond, gay/bisexual love stories ... and then watched the film.

just watched red white and royal blue, aka smiled for two hours at a tv screen,

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Reblog if reading someone else’s fanfiction has helped you get through a hard day

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I've recced this story before, but seriously guys it is brilliant and deserves more attention. It's halfway through WIP and updated regularly (and fully written so I trust it won't be abandoned). This Steve is absolute perfection. He's absolutely all about what is best for Bucky, and he's learning to have things for himself as well. He's the kind of Steve who is funny and snarky and competent and reckless and a little lost and so so thoughtful and caring and loving. Bucky glows in this story because he's seen through the lens of Steve's adoration. He's got a lot of Winter Soldier fallout issues that are just who he is now, but he's a caretaker and a giver and someone who can challenge and rib Steve. It's such a delight to see how they complement each other as they both heal and their relationship evens out. Most of my comments start 'oh Bucky' or 'oh Steve'.

This story has so much emotion and humour (and some very *fans self* scenes). It's beautifully, delightfully written.

Chapter 13 is up, and it is very NSFW!

In which Steve and Bucky have reckless, wild sex for about 10,000 words, and also a bunch of feelings, too. (For real, though, this is just a PWP chapter... more plot will commence with the next update.)

“Such a little shit.”

“Huh?” 

Steve is distracted. Feels like he is floating, lost, not entirely on this planet.

But Bucky’s clever mouth lifts with a lopsided smirk, and that pulls him back to Earth.

“Wish you could see inside my head. I’ve got something else I want you to draw for me.”

“Oh.” Steve laughs, a little shy, a lot curious. “How did it look?”

Bucky just laughs. Covers his face and laughs. 

Steve laughs too, and sort of wishes one of them had thought to take a picture, sort of wishes he could have seen it, too, from that angle, Bucky’s left arm disappearing inside him…

“Leave it to you, to wait until a moment like that to tell me you want the biggest, most dramatic thing you can think of. You’re such a punk.”

“Mm-hmm.” Steve nestles in closer. Runs a fingertip down Bucky’s chest. “Your punk.”