Friday Fics Fix - What If Zemo Was In the Zombie Apocalypse (With Bucky)?

 

'...he smiled, apparently amused. “The apocalypse seems to make for strange bedfellows. A Sokovian Baron and a Winter Soldier walk into a bar.”'

Due to the current vastness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU - the Marvel movies) sometimes it can be difficult to explain where, within the sprawling fandom and its sub-fandoms, fan-created content fits in.

This week's fic is mostly based on the Marvel's What If..? zombies episode, but also reaches into the main continuity, and hoiks out Zemo, dropping him into the zombie-ness so that he can play too.

While Zemo was present in Captain America: Civil War, he really came into his own in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS.) Civil War has happened in this universe (or at least, the fic author presumes,) but TFATWS hasn't.

Friday Fics Fix - Loving Losers

 

'..."Uh, yup." Richie shrugged. "Just all reconnected this weekend for some good old fashioned sewer clown fighting and murder."'

I love the IT movies.

- That's the modern, 2010s, IT parts 1 & 2. 

(Technically the films are IT, and IT: Chapter 2, but you all know what I mean, so expect me just to call them parts 1 & 2 throughout this post.)

I haven't seen the Tim Curry adaptation - though I might get around to it one of these days, purely because Tim Curry. 

I also haven't actually read the Stephen King novel because it's one of those 1000+ page behemoths that you have to kind of psych yourself up to tackle, and I'm yet to summon the sufficient energy and desire to do so.

Again, I might get around to it at some point, since I'm a general Stephen King fan.

Friday Fics Fix - A Queer Horror Fanfic Rec List

 

Since it's October, and therefore a time for all things spooky and gothic (woohoo!) I thought I'd give you all a little taste of some horror fics.

Some of these are horror in that the specific piece of fanfiction is horror-based, and some of them are actually based on horror media/fandoms. OK? OK.

Oh, and they're all Queer af.

As I’ve mentioned before, Queer people love horror.

(Not all of us, obviously, that would be a sweeping generalisation, and everyone’s different, but a lot of Queer people do love horror. And I mean LOVE it.)

So, horror's Queer, fanfiction's Queer, let's pull some monsters outta the closet! 😉😎😅

Friday Fics Fix - Trope Stew With SamBucky (You Know You Love It!)

 

'Bucky’s knife skills are like a well-choreographed dance, smooth and dangerous and beautiful. He moves like water, the knife a true extension of his arm, and it’s all Sam can do not to let his mouth drop open like a goddamn cartoon character.'

 

To the surprise of probably no-one by this point, I'm here to rec you some more The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) - specifically, more SamBucky.

(Look, the inside of my head is essentially a big ball of tangled spaghetti, the confusion of which is relieved by the presence of various fictional characters, who have taken their spots rent-free, and who fight each other for dominance. 

Right now, Sam and Bucky are winning. 😅)

(Fandom Notes: 

SamBucky is a romantic and/or sexual relationship between Sam and Bucky. Hence the name, lol.)

Friday Fics Fix - Umbrellas In A Burning Building

 

'"What’s the plan?" Diego asked. 

Five rolled his eyes. "Stay out of my way."'

Last week I brought you a The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) mission fic, this week it's the turn of The Umbrella Academy (TUA).

Even though we barely see any actual missions in the TUA series, because the Academy is more-or-less defunct by the time we properly pick up the story, mission fics are still a fave of this fandom.

Friday Fics Fix - Sh** Goes Down At The Mall

 

'...he’s able to slink into a shadowed Pottery Barn. He makes it past the faint light cast from the skylights in the atrium, then the pain crashes over him.'

I love a good mission fic.

Especially when it's a The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) mission fic.

Especially when it's a TFATWS mission fic with much Bucky whump and lots of hurt/comfort.

And it was my birthday on Wednesday, so I get exactly what I want 😜😘

Friday Fics Fix - Not That Strange

 

'The great fairy incident of 1822 was depicted in many paintings, the most famous of them being The Seelie Siege of London by an unknown painter with a penchant for alliteration.'

 

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke is a behemoth of a book.

It's over 1000 pages of alternate history, set in a world where the titular characters are bringing magic back to England, against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.

Month in Review(s) - August 2021

 

August was a month where I had multiple migraines, so that sucks.

But it also was NOT meltingly hot (unlike the first days of September...) so I'll take that! 😅

I know some people were complaining that the skies were dull and not as sunshiney as August normally is, but honestly, if the temperature stays down then I don't care!

(Me + Heat = Angry Bear! Lol.)

Friday Fics Fix - Definitely A Thing

'“...That’s why, if I wanna make sure someone knows who I mean when I’m talking about Bucky, I just say: my brother-in-law.”

Sam heaves an exasperated sigh and puts his head in his hands.'

This is The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) - and I know I have no excuses for how often I read TFATWS fics, but neither do I need any 😉😅

Fangirls are gonna fangirl dearest nerdlets, and I am most definitely a fangirl.

Friday Fics Fix - An Umbrella Novella

 

'Klaus claps his hands together. “Yay, sibling bonding time!”

Diego levels a stare at the medium. “We’re hunting a serial killer.”'

We return to The Umbrella Academy (TUA) dearest nerdlets!

It turns out that there's a tiny corner of my brain which isn't entirely absorbed by Marvel superheroes, and the Hargreeves siblings from Netflix's adaptation of TUA have reclaimed their residence.

(As they should.)

Friday Fics Fix - Road Trip With Steve Rogers

 

'Bucky's voice in the back of his head told him they both knew that really Steve wasn't going to just leave a kid in a gas station parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Who was the Bucky voice to tell him that? He was right, but still.'

Honestly - and you know I'm always honest with you dearest nerdlets - I don't know what exactly it is that I read, with this fic.

I don't know what exactly to make of... *waves hands to encompass entirety* the whole thing.

Friday Fics Fix - A SamBucky Rec List

 

I wrote a Sam and/or Bucky rec list a little while back, but I've rec'd a few The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) fics since then - so I figured it's time for a mini-list highlighting some specifically SamBucky fics!

Because in this house, Bucky Barnes is Queer af, OK? OK.

SamBucky, sometimes known as WinterFalcon (though SamBucky is generally preferred - at time of writing anyway - by most fan-creators,) is the name of the ship between, well, Sam and Bucky - which is kind of self-explanatory, really.

Friday Fics Fix - Loki, Gender, and The TVA (Fandom Is Here For It)

 

‘But as the days wore on in the TVA, blending together as they did, Loki realized that what they missed was magic.

And the freedom that came with it’

 

I mean… it’s probably no surprise that I’ve been absorbing large amounts of Loki fanfiction as if I can somehow merge them with my DNA.

(Which… I feel like there’s probs a fic out there somewhere that’s based on just that scenario, but I’m too scared to look. Because I’ll find it. 😅)

But if you’re new around here: I’m Marvel trash, btw.

And of the many specific types of Marvel trash that I am – being part of Loki’s Army is right up there.

Month in Review(s) - June 2021

 

June was awful.

I lost my grandmother, and everything is just that little bit harder, y'know?

I know a lot of people have been through some sh** in the last year and a half - but that doesn't make it any easier.

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: Sandbox Love Never Dies

 

And we're here! It's the last week of my Prides Fics Fest, where for the month of June, I give Friday Fics Fix over solely to LGBTQ+ fics!

Which isn't much of a change, because fanfiction is Queer af, but this month has focus and everything! 😅

'Needy wraps her hands around the smooth wood handle and takes a deep breath. Then she raises the shovel and stabs it into the earth.'

Jennifer's Body is a, thankfully renaissance-having, staple of Sapphic culture.

For years, this Queer horror classic was maligned by A-hole, Allocishet (non-LGBTQ+,) male critics and audiences, who didn't effing get it!

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: Jack the Lass

Welcome back to Pride Fics Fest! That period in June where I stop pretending straight and fanfiction have anything to say to each other 😉

This post contains SPOILERS for Gentleman Jack, series 1

SPOILERS!!!! OK? SPOILERS

Gentleman Jack is a truly amazing BBC historical drama, based on the life and diaries of 18th/19th Century English Lesbian, landowner, and businesswoman, Anne Lister.

Anne left extensive, coded, diaries - many of which were fairly sexually explicit.

I love this series - a well-written, well-acted, period drama about Lesbians who are complex, flawed, genuine, people. It's so good!

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: Bucky Barnes, Bicon

 

Yes, it's another week of Pride Fics Fest, where I stop pretending fanfiction is anything but All the Gay™.

(You can check out last week's post here!)

I figured it out, Marvel!

You just didn't know how to give us Bucky Barnes as a Bicon! You were afraid of messing it up! That's what it was!

How cynical and misguided of us to think that you were Queerbaiting with The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) - extensively - rather than trying to find a way to express Bucky's Bisexuality.

Month in Review(s) - May 2021

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19)

May was one of those in-betweeny months - as lots of months have seemed to be lately.

Here in Wales we had a Senedd/Parliament election, allowing Mark Drakeford (aka everyone's uncle,) to form another consecutive government, and giving him the mandate to continue with his cautious Covid approach.

It also means that while Labour's struggling nationally, Welsh Labour are the strongest they've ever been. 

Which means that while England is increasingly voting for the Conservative party (the party our current Prime Minister Boris Johnson leads,) which is the party on the right of UK politics, Wales are sat here being a Socialist democracy and happy with it!

(This is your regular reminder that Socialism =/= Communism, Communism is a form of Socialism.)

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: The Queer Umbrella (Academy)

 

Yes, it's June! Which means that here on Dora Reads I stop pretending that fanfiction is anything other than Queer af, and go all-out with my Pride Fics Fest.

What better way to kick off this year's Pride Fics Fest than with superhero TV show The Umbrella Academy (TUA)?

TUA is super Queer (pun very definitely intended,) and more than willing to give us two canonically Queer main characters in our superhero family ensemble.

Because this is fanfiction, I'll be looking at IDs which are both canon and not canon.

Friday Fics Fix - Bucky Needs Advice... Maybe Not From Them

 

'...“Not in a bad way! Just, y'know, since you started dating him you guys are like a package—”

“I'm not dating Sam,” Bucky stops him.

Peter’s mask’s eyes narrow up at him, confused. “Really?”'

Yes it's The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS). Again.

Yes it's Queer. Again.

Because in this house we allow Bucky Barnes to be his Achillean, Queer-a**, self, with the actual full-on, representation, and not the Queerbaiting b*llsh**. 😎