Stucky Fic Recs

[amarriageoftrueminds]

Canon AU:

Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail series
(my most-reread series; post-WS AU fluffy screamingly hilariously funny and moving comedy in which Bucky is following Steve around DC while Steve is, he hopes, following him around).

Ain’t No Grave series
(same, but more angsty/serious, post-WS!Buck's mental state/side effects addressed, plus surprise homeless foster kidfic and side feminisation kink).


Not Easily Conquered series
(AU in which Steve never went into the ice, but Bucky still did. Side of Steggy. ANGST.)

Speranza's 

• 4 Minute Window (post-WS Bucky is trying to get to Steve but can’t because of all the SHIELD staff tailing him; and better still it’s #1 in a 14-part ficlet miniseries! it has Advent Calendars.)

• All The Angels and The Saints (examines the effect on stucky of Steve’s politics/religion; has lines of dialogue from Bucky that just really stuck with me.)

• 20th Century Limited (I think of this as the ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ AU. Steve and Bucky can hear/communicate with each other when they’re ‘on ice’. Extra points for Bucky and Hulk being immediate Bros.)

• In the Carcass of the World (post-apocalypse/dystopian roadtrip, bit like The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but feelgood).

• The Way Out Is The Way Down (canon-y, post-Civil War/Pre-Infinity War in Wakanda.)

similarly, pineapplecrushface's

• My Working Week and My Sunday Rest holy shit this fic, dat slowburn! talk about shivers down the spine! exactly articulated bottom!Steve in a way I’d never really been able to put into words- in fact, you know what? Read this one ^ first. It’ll reward a re-reading right before Captain Marvel and Endgame come out, I bet.)

Golden Age of Illustration
An AU based on the real life of J. C. Leyendecker, where Bucky is sent home before the train mission, gets back into art, becomes an add illustrator and Steve is his model/muse. (Illustrations included!) 

Lucky Seven
The stucky fic that had such good, satisfying characterisation of Bucky (he's not a 'gay disaster' dumpster fire person who cannot hope to live up to Perfect Angel Steve!) ... that it actually gave me goosebumps of euphoria the first time I read it!


A/B/O
like ¾ of a rec for
Just Left of Normal 
&
Sugar Baby Love
(UNF the sex scene!)
(because I’m a sucker for A/B/O but they both take that depressing/ horrifying/infuriatingly hetero-normative turn into mpreg)

if you're in the market for A/B/O sans exasperating sexual politics then look no further than:

thepinupchemist's:

What I Used To Be
(very dark backstory with a fluffy present, similar to the movie Room; in which Steve is a 'support' alpha to omega Bucky.)

and the flipside/AU of that:

The Fool In the Mirror
(Bucky is support omega to alpha Steve; it kills me that this is a WIP because it just hits every note I want in a fic).

The Finding of Lost Time
A lot of sweetness and humour but also some sad content towards the end that absolutely dehydrated me. (Heed the tags! Not a sad ending tho!) Perfect if you fancy a good cry.

Advanced Theory & The Rogers Theory of Attraction*

Basically just a duo of dumb fun short PWPs with jock alpha Steve and tutor omega Bucky.


Also: 

Scents and Sensibility
AKA ‘Steve Rogers Builds his Crush a Pillow Fort and Then has Anxiety about It.’
Not a Regency AU, like it sounds, but a fluffy modern shrunkyclunks AU with unusual worldbuilding (with poly/triad relationships and people being able to change their designation at will) Where sad/soft omega!Bucky is still from alpha!Steve's time, and still the Winter Soldier, but the two of them never met, and by the time Steve is unfrozen Bucky has already defected and literally single-handedly dismantled Hydra. Contains the most awkward first date ever in a fic, quote: 

 

"There’s a pause where Steve stares desperately at a duck. The duck does not save him."

I’ve been through a very weird

Creature!AU

phase recently so 

*Whip Crack 
(cracky tentacle-monster!Steve, this one’s a WIP; Whip Crack won’t make a lick of sense if you haven’t read the hysterical Dishonour series (see below)

similarly
How To Embrace A Swamp Creature 
(very good oneshot non cracky tentacle-monster!Bucky, a la Steven King.


basically everything by littleblackfox, also enjoyed Devil’s Acre with demon!bucky recently and I think there’s a Romany!Bucky-works-music-festivals fic of theirs I liked), and the 

FJAWTF series 
(demon/incubus!WinterSoldierBucky, also sadly a WIP).


Once Upon A Beanstalk
(Steve is a Giant, sometimes, Bucky is a Jack, and this is a 'what if fairytales were being ethically managed by Woke Individuals' au)



I think I must be a sucker for 'Steve finding Bucky insanely attractive' in fics because I also liked:

 
Shrunkyclunks
 

The Sweetest Spark

(kind of a sugar-daddy!Steve/student!Bucky AU except not because it's just that people think Bucky's a gold-digger when he ain't... one of those fics that makes me stare into space mentally writing fanfic of the fanfic, if that makes sense.) 


War. Children 
(actually shrinkyclinks, it's that rarest of things a skinny!Steve modern AU I can actually stand -- and god the modern Vet!Bucky/homeless!Steve hurt/comfort… One for a rainy, melancholy day… it'll stay with you.)


Love Stories for Tedious People
(is an interesting Doctor!Steve/PTSD!Soldier Bucky AU with a realistic feel and a rare plausible not-annoying past Sam/Steve; has lines of dialogue that haunt.)


I embarrassed myself recently while sitting in the audience at a painfully-unfunny stand-up comedian’s gig, by guffawing right at a moment of silence on account of reading 

Life of the Party 
(BAMF childrens’-entertainer!Bucky mistakes Steve for a fellow superhero impersonator) at the time. 


You Could Be Mine 
(it has a romantic waterfall scene, I mean), 

as does You’re Looking for a Way Out 
(a really nice modern-cabin-in-the-woods AU in which they meet while hiking). 


Lemon Meringue Lies
obviously I’m a sucker for cook!Bucky, and slowburn with a side of mutual pining and friends-to-lovers, (who isn’t?)
so I love ^ 


though I’m not usually a fan of criminal AUs the NYPD Cop!Steve / reforming!hood Bucky in 

These Streets
series is scalding hot, (Bottom!Steve !! But they also switch???) Not to be read in public

(Nejinee is literally the only person I’ve come across who can write Darcy Lewis properly, ie. without making me want to stab her in the face).

perfect_plan has a great knack for bittersweet mid-length slowburn 
(the fics Stay…, and All Summer Long… from memory)


I know little about American Football and care even less, so the ‘former high school sweethearts become rival football players in college’ AU of the 

In the Deed the Glory
series is bizarrely compelling, really really gripping
(and good lord, don’t read part 4 unless you’re alone!!) 


Notorious bitch series is a funny wrong-number AU with Cap!Steve, and that sassy dick Bucky you see so much in fanon


Dishonor series
Comedy in which they meet during the Battle of Manhattan, and Steve has the most Awesome case of foot-in-mouth syndrome imaginable, I mean, talk about meetuglies, truly it’s a miracle he and BAMF Sergeant Bucky ever get past the enemies stage.  

In the 

SHIELD-Agent!Bucky
  Teaches Steve How to Millennial:

genre I remember liking 

Easy Work for Easy Pay 
(really satisfying -- office chemistry! killer plot twists! spot-on characterisation!) 

Use Your Agency
(same premise, Steve's a sassy punk).

You Are the Light, the Calm in the Day
(don't be put off by the awful title! The least romantic/most realistic/gritty version of this AU, includes an OFC/Natasha fem sideship, and some interesting 'Steve worked in a Brooklyn gay bar back in the day and now Bucky's got to compete with Old Gay Ex-es' backstory.) 

similarly

Never Talk to Strangers 
by mambo (easily overlooked because it has one of dem useless vague summaries you scroll past on ao3 but basically:
clueless modernstudent!Bucky helps 'that sweet weirdo' cap!Steve acclimatise to 21st Century Life following a "We’re on the bus and I’m really not trying to take up your space I’m sorry I just have rlly rlly long legs” sad n sweet meetcute, circa Avengers #1, and they are both just utter LAMBS in it. (and also it has adorable naiveart comics embedded!)

 

ps. pls check back, I may add more to this list as I read more!

Comments

[norsellie]

Thank you so much for your recs! You've reminded me of SO MANY good fics. ♥ ♥ ♥

[amarriageoftrueminds]

You're very welcome -- and thank you for commenting!

[leveragehunters]

Some seriously great recs here, and thank you so much for reccing Once upon a Beanstalk, especially alongside such amazing fics, but even more than that, 'Steve is a Giant, sometimes, Bucky is a Jack, and this is a 'what if fairytales were being ethically managed by Woke Individuals' au' is the most incredibly wonderful description of Beanstalk I could ever hope to see <3 <3 <3

[amarriageoftrueminds]

Oh hallo there! Welcome to the post, and you're very welcome (nice of you to comment!)

Honestly, as much as I love fantasy, Fairytale AUs are usually such a big Nope for me that when I actually found one I enjoyed, it was like an automatic 'This Goes On The List' no brainer - really earned its spot. And I'm glad you liked the summary -- maybe I've missed my calling as a Blurb Copy-Writer for fanfic authors? ^_~'

[asterisktrash]

ahhh these recs are amazing!!! I either already agree with them 100% or have been longingly staring at them sit on my marked for later list, and now feel extra motivation to actually Sit Down and READ THEM!! Thanks for compiling this lovely list <3

[amarriageoftrueminds]

Welp whichever of these you haven't tried yet you're in for a treat (nice to know I've got the same taste as someone else; makes it easier to gauge reviews, like when you know you and a particular film critic are on the same wavelength.) Thanks for stopping by and commenting!