#existential loneliness

[burberrycanary]

End of Year Stucky Picks #1

Stucky as a fandom is lucky to have a lot of classics and I rediscovered some old favorites this year!

Title: Malibu

Author: glitteratiglue​​ / @glitteratiglue

Summary:

Steve believes Bucky is dead for exactly a week. Then he doesn't.

(AU where Steve rescues Bucky before Hydra can turn him into the Winter Soldier. They get to go home from the war, but that's only the start.)

—

Part of what fascinates me about Steve and Bucky's story is that there are no possible endings that are entirely happy, not in their original time and not in our own. It's a maddening puzzle. But this story comes close, giving them an earned, authentic ending where they find some peace and each other. The author has a deft touch with period details and the mid-century Californian setting does some effective work here. And, look, let's be honest: I'm a sucker for Steve pining. But I'm even more of a sucker for stories that make both Steve and Bucky complicated, interesting people who, while mutually devoted, have lives outside of the other. - B.

Art: Eve McBride, Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

[madthehatter]

I don't know how to exist. I don't know how to live.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Walking Practice

weird scifi horror novella

follows an alien who crash-landed on earth years ago, and spends their days hooking up with people to then eat them & gain enough strength to make it through the day

explores existing outside of the binary norm and being seen as other, deep loneliness, and desire for connection

meandering narration, interesting formatting, illustrations

[lacystar]

genuinely hilarious to me that no matter how good the graphics, no matter how good the lore, no matter how good the horror, the single BEST backrooms video game we have is the Stanley parable

[burberrycanary]

End of Year Stucky Picks #3

Stucky as a fandom is lucky to have a lot of classics and I rediscovered some old favorites this year!

Title: When the Season Comes Around

Author: theheartischill / @prettyboysdontlookatexplosions

Summary:

The other problem is that Steve loves him, and Bucky isn't sure he remembers how to love.

—

A great post-WS recovery fic that ends up feeling like an examination of the human condition. The storytelling is thoughtful, well-paced and with a lot of earned catharsis as Steve and Bucky slowly confront what the world has done to them, how to start healing and what they need to learn how to carry, even if the load is heavy, in order to come back to each other. Theheartischill really gets at how life is shockingly beautiful and shockingly unjust—and that the one doesn't have much to do with the other even if our moral intuition would want it otherwise. How do you find the strength to keep going is a big question that lies at the heart of what makes these two characters so fascinating. If you're not a fan of certain reductive codependency tendencies in post-WS recovery fics, just trust me on this one. Highly recommended. - B.

Art: William Herbert Hampton, Bombsite

[hundredpercentdarling]

Angst

I wish that deranged intensity was candy for my eyes only.

I wish all the promises and threats were music to my ears alone.

I wish you smelled of bloody obsession only for me.

I wish you could not think of anyone else but me.

I wish you could not think at all, without me.

But every beat of your heart, every breath in the dark

Pulsate and blow in thousand directions but mine.

Yes, I wrote that. All rights reserved ©️ᴴᵘⁿᵈʳᵉᵈᴾᵉʳᶜᵉⁿᵗᴰᵃʳˡᶦⁿᵍ ₀₂/₂₂/₂₀₂₅

[heliosphere-underthesky]

How do you see blackholes? as like enemies, threat or anything like those?

Howdy! Actually during the first times I worked on black holes years ago, they were supposed to be antagonistic. They were evil and crave for destruction, and that's a reflection of how I used to view them.

Hence why Cygnus X-1 was designed to look like a villain in his earlier sketches. However, I wanted to pull a twist on that in my more recent art because of how my views on black holes changed as years went on. He may still look intimidating, but he's actually really nice and considerate!

We also get this silly quaso man, destroyer of worlds but also pretty silly. The solar system is personally scared of him, but he's really trying not to be! (Also he was designed only last year, that's why he didn't have old sketches of him looking antagonistic unlike Cygnus X-1 did.)

Nowadays, I just see them as part of life. Like yeah, they're scary, destructive, but they must be there for a reason we can't understand! I quite like this excerpt in Interstellar, I think it explains my stance on black holes quite well.

[rontra]

childhood friends on the roof. shes really working hard not to call him brucie baby rn

CTDE au musing to myself.... Not Taking Things Seriously is her new favorite defense mechanism post-incident and you see it EVERYWHERE!!!! but she does genuinely still have a passion for performing. its the sole part of her old life she can still connect with (and even do Better Than Ever Before)

before!zee used to be less walled up. and also more grounded emotionally. and more connected to her life and the people in it. and more sensitive to her own insecurities. and and and...

in general (and with very few exceptions) CTDE zee After Magic Realm Incident(tm) is always putting on at least a little bit of an act. usually A Lot of an act. getting plain emotional honesty out of her is impossible. but damn if the show doesn't go on!!!

[moograss]

"yOu cAn'T jUst seNd rAndOm SponGebOb mEmeS tO aVoiD taLkinG aBouT yoUr EmOtiOns"

[lesbiandatekaname]

Sick of going into the Death Stranding tags to find good art and funny memes and seeing a bunch of posts from big name blogs going "Death Stranding is soooo weird, like it's art but it has no actual value, who was it even made for." Like. Say something beautiful and true etc.

[burberrycanary]

End of Year Stucky Picks #4

Stucky as a fandom is lucky to have a lot of classics and I rediscovered some old favorites this year!

Title: (I Can't Let This Go) I'm On My Way

Author: kototyph / @kototyph

Summary:

“Do you, uh… d’you want to go in?” he asks. Jeez, he’s nervous. He doesn’t think he’s been this nervous since 1940 and asking Mary Margaret to come dancing, standing out on her stoop with all her brothers and sisters watching and Bucky egging him on from under the stairs. She’d turned him down in front of God and country and even slammed the door in his face.

Steve really, really hopes Bucky’s not about to slam the door in his face.

—

A wistful little number to close out the year. This one-shot is lyrical with enough sharply observed particularity to ground its softness into a vivid and tangible glimpse into one way—out of all the ways we collectively imagine—Steve and Bucky might finally find some happiness. But what I love most about this story is how Steve and Bucky knowingly and quietly manage each other's hurts, habits and foibles—there's a glowing fondness in these small gestures that I'm utterly here for. - B.

Art: Francis Livingston, Cyclone (Coney Island)

[thomyorkelover69]

mitski + radiohead collab NOW!!!!!!

i wish it could come out of thin air

i need you to show me the depths of my despair

only you two combined could make sad²

[buoybythesea]

And if we'd spent our lives together Who knows what we might've seen

[moograss]

Hello, I hope you're doing well! My name is Mahmoud Abu Swierh, and I'm a 17-year-old from Gaza. The ongoing war has devastated my city, destroyed my school, and made daily life incredibly challenging. Despite these hardships, I'm determined to continue my education and build a better future. I've been given a chance to study abroad, but I need help to cover the costs of leaving Gaza, as well as living expenses and other essentials abroad once the crossing opens. If you can, please consider donating or sharing, your kindness can truly make a difference. Thank you. https://gofund.me/bd3ccf0b

Supporting with what i can! If you cant donate pls share this persons posts