#oliver stark loves buck so much and he will always defend this character with his life and I love him for it

[mischiefbuckley]

if there’s one thing Oliver is going to do is defend Buck

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Ugh thank you sooo much for that meta on Buck/the firefam/mental health. I was tired of seeing all those takes demonizing the firefam for not fully recognizing Buck's internal struggles. Like you said, we can only do so much with what we currently know. I love Buck as much as the next and would love to give him the hug he desperately needs, but there's a little too much bias and coddling for my taste in this fandom. Everyone is accountable and everyone made mistakes, but some forget that.

Oh my dear sweet nonny, you are playing my song. I’ve been yelling about this for DAYS to anyone who will sit still long enough. Fandom tends to do this - they have a character who’s the favorite (almost always a white man) and he can Do No Wrong and must be cuddled and coddled, which is... ah... not great. For several reasons.

It’s important to remember that we the audience are treated to a look inside the heads of the characters in a way that the other characters are not. WE see that Buck is hurting because we’re being given his point of view, but that doesn’t mean what’s obvious to us is obvious to the firefam. Nobody is a mind reader. I joke that my best friend can always predict what I’m thinking and doing, but the truth is, she can’t actually read my mind and know exactly what I’m going through if I don’t tell her. Communication is an important part of being in relationships, romantic or otherwise.

Buck, bless his golden retriever heart, has through Abby and the firefam, finally figured out one half of being in a relationship: giving, putting the needs of others before yourself, being respectful. But (as seen from the repeated motif “you’re making this about yourself again”), Buck hasn’t figured out the other half: receiving, how to see that you’re cared for, how to communicate what you need. His relationships are turning into one-way streets as a result and it’s taking a toll. My hope is that the next two episodes of season three will show Buck learning how to express what he needs while seeing that he is, in fact, already loved.

Oliver Stark (the actor who plays Buck) has repeatedly said that Abby’s return in the next episode is to bring Buck closure. My hope with that is Abby will give him that closure and her return will show him how much he is already loved by the firefam. He doesn’t need Abby. He has all that he needs already, and he is loved and valued.

Acting like Buck has never done anything wrong ever does not only the other characters, but Buck himself a disservice. Buck is a flawed imperfect wonderful human just like the rest of us. If he never messed up he wouldn’t be as good of a character. And he messed up. He messed up when he proved he was so desperate to get back to work he couldn’t be trusted with his own health and would put his literal life in danger. He messed up when he started the lawsuit (THAT STUPID FUCKING LAWSUIT JESUS FUCKING CHRIST--) and didn’t warn anyone in the 118 in advance, didn’t say goodbye, especially to Christopher.

And are you seriously telling me that in the five months of recovery, not one of them EVER saw Buck EVER? Nah. That wasn’t a “we haven’t seen you because you’ve been away in rehab” party in 3x01, that was a “congrats on passing your test” party. There’s no indication at any point that they’ve been ignoring Buck that whole time and I would bet actual money (which I cannot afford) that they were all there to help Buck with his recovery - especially, in my opinion, Chim and Eddie. Chim has, twice now, had to recover from extreme physical injuries, and Eddie has PTSD from his tour, and so both are uniquely positioned to understand what Buck’s going through.

People like to see things in black and white, and when you love someone, it’s easy to turn that black and white thinking on and say, “this person has never done anything wrong ever, and I will always defend them.” Especially since Buck is the youngest main character on the show until Eddie arrives (and Ryan just looks older than Oliver) and, well, a lot of people find Buck attractive. When a character is a) young b) hot and c) a lot of people identify with them - I’ve seen a lot of people saying “I identify with Buck” - it’s hard to admit to their faults. But it’s okay for characters to be flawed! It doesn’t mean you can’t love them anymore! If all characters we loved were perfect we’d have no stories to tell!

The firefam didn’t always realize when Bobby was struggling. They didn’t always realize when Chimney was struggling. People are good at hiding the shit they don’t want you to see. There’s two sides to this, and Buck, while an adorable darling puppy boy, is also an adult who needs to learn to not only recognize he is loved (and methinks go to therapy for his abandonment issues), but to say, “I feel alone and I need to be reminded that you love me.”

Because we all need that reminder sometimes. Even from the ones we know love us the most.

[marvelswinterfrost]

1943

Summary: Set in the year 1943. The first Stark Expo is about to take place in Queens and a very interested Bucky drags Steve with him. To his dismay, his best friend didn’t seem to share the same excitement he felt. Luckily there are plenty of people around him who do, especially one black haired man he’d love to spend more time with.

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Loki Laufeyson, Steve Rogers Pairing: 40s!Bucky Barnes x Loki Laufeyson Genre: tiny bit of fluff Words: - Warnings: war (mentioned)

A/N: Sorry, this is NOT a STUCKY fic. They’re just bros in this one. Really good bros though.  I might add one or two more chapters as well but idk.

Chapter One | Chapter Two ...

Masterlist

…

Bucky was walking down the street, his hands in the pockets of his pants. It was getting late, the evening sun slowly replacing the bright, warm light of the day. He’d heard that a science fair was taking place somewhere. Howard Stark himself, the man of the future, brought old and young together to admire one of his latest inventions. It was being kept a secret, but Bucky felt like it would be something that would change their lives forever.

He hadn’t told Steve yet. The small boy had been too busy, finding a way into the military to serve in the war. Without luck. Bucky was glad he couldn’t manage to enlist yet, even if it was one of the biggest dreams. He knew Steve was stubborn, he wouldn’t give up that easily, and the brown-haired man knew it. But this tiny boy from Brooklyn was so fragile. His medical issues, his height, poor boy had so much heart; too much heart. But nevertheless, he thought that Steve might need a break from all of this. So here he was, walking down the main street, the sun setting behind him and on his way to get his best friend. He was probably causing trouble somewhere. Always picking fights with people much taller than himself. Damn fool.

As if Bucky had known, there was a small voice coming from a nearby alley telling someone to fuck off. “Steve...” Bucky sighed and shook his head. It wasn’t anything new. He’d saved the smaller man so often it became a second job. He entered the small path, seeing his best friend barely standing straight anymore, his lip bleeding and a tall guy hovering above him, keeping Steve from running away. `As if he’d run’, Bucky thought and smirked a little.

“Hey! Why don’t you pick on someone your size?” The soldier yelled as he dragged the aggressive man away from Steve. With a punch to the face, he went away, mumbling something under his breath.

“Stevie-“Bucky smirked, his head and chin raised a little bit. “I recall me telling you to stay out of fights you can’t win?”

Steve straightened his jacket with a loud huff. Having asthma and trying to fight a guy 4 times his size didn’t mix well.

“He started it, Buck.”

“Of course-“said Bucky. It was barely audible and more of a sigh than an answer.

“He was talking incredibly loud during the news. People were trying to pay attention!” Steve continued defending himself. Bucky had already slung an arm around the other man’s shoulder and led him out to the main street again.

“Look, I care about you, alright, Steve?” the taller man said. “I don’t wanna read in the newspapers some day that a tiny, slim, blond boy was found dead on the streets beaten to death by a maniac. All just because you’re too stubborn to run.”

“I can’t do that, Buck.”

“I know.” He sighed. “But do it for me, alright?” Bucky looked at his friends with pleading eyes. When he received a tiny nod, he smiled. “Good! Now let’s go!”

“Where are we going?” Steve asked as Bucky dragged him forward.

“The future!”

About 20 minutes later they stepped onto the grass covering the ground of the expo area.

“Can you smell it, Stevie? The future smells amazing.” Bucky laughed and spun around a little.

“Sure, if you like the smell of gasoline.” He shrugged, putting a strand of his hair away from his face.

5 minutes later Howard Stark came up on the stage. Bucky’s heart started beating faster at the sight of a big object being brought in after him, hidden underneath a large blanket. “Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the future!” he began. Bucky was utterly amazed. Even more so when the man on the stage pulled the blanket from the now exposed object.

“A car?” Bucky said, the disappointment lingering in his voice. But was soon washed away once the wheels were suddenly taken off. “What the hell?”

“-but this isn’t a normal car, Ladies and Gentlemen. No! Before us lays a future where wheels are no longer needed!” Stark went on about how his new invention will change all of humanity and Bucky listened to every word he said.

“You’re drooling, Buck.” Steve laughed and looked around the expo, clearly looking for something. Bucky thus came out of his daze and smiled.

“How can you not when looking at this car?”

“Oh, I don’t think it’ll do very well.” Came a deep voice from beside the soldier. Bucky turned around with a smug grin.

“No? Why’s that?” his grin only getting wider when he saw the man standing in front of him. He let his eyes wander the tall man’s body up and down, licking his lips.

“The construct seems rather unstable. Once it takes off, it will fall apart within seconds.” The stranger now smiling as well. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, but his eyes remained where they were. Looking straight forward to the stage to see if he was right. Bucky joined him.  

To his surprise, the stranger was right. The car hovered over the ground for about 10 seconds before it came right back down again. He gulped.

“There’s no way you didn’t know what was going to happen beforehand.” Bucky laughed as he turned to the stranger again. Pleased with himself, he let his focus wander to the uniformed soldier, admiring how it fit his muscular body.

“I didn’t. But I’ll be glad to tell you how I could guess what was going to happen.. sometime.” He gave Bucky a cheeky wink. The soldier stared at the man, his mouth hanging slightly open in a big smile. His head started nodding automatically, as if an unknown force had taken control over his body.

Steve, reading the situation well, cleared his throat, hoping to gain the attention of his best friend again to tell him he’d be off to try his luck, enlisting again, but he failed. Bucky’s attention was drawn to the handsome stranger in an olive-green suit. Steve tried again. This time he succeeded.

“Hey, Buck. I’m off trying my luck again, alright? Don’t wait for me, it’ll probably take a while.” He said, keeping a few strands of hair from covering his face yet again.

“Sure, Stevie. Make sure they won’t catch you, okay? I don’t wanna bail you out again.” Bucky turned back to the tall man and smiled again. “But I think I’m going to be busy as well.”  

“Yeah, whatever. Just don’t win the war until I get there, okay?” Steve gave him a tight hug, standing on his toes so that Bucky wouldn’t have to come all the way down. “Whatever you say, punk.”

“Jerk.” And Steve went off.

“Are you going to be drafted soon?” the black-haired man said. Raising his right eyebrow, a bit.

“Yeah, day after tomorrow. What about you? You’re one of the only men hear not wearing a uniform.” Bucky looked the man up and down once more. He was dressed in an olive-green three-piece suit, dark brown leather shoes and a tie. The hat sitting loosely on his head, making some of the black strands of hair on the back visible.

“You’re not from here, are you?” Bucky asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“I’m afraid not, soldier.” He chuckled.

“James, actually.” He laughed, looking the other man directly in his eyes. “But you can call me Bucky as well.” Bucky said as he held out his hand. The stranger took it gratefully.

“Loki.”

“Loki?” the soldier asked amused. “That’s an odd name. Where are you from?”

“From far away.” He smirked.

“Alright, I see you’re keeping it a secret. Sure hope I’m not flirting with a spy.” Bucky chuckled, but kept the eye-contact.

Loki reached for the soldier’s arm and dragged him gently away from the crowd. Bucky wasn’t used to be the one being led but feeling the big but gently hand guiding him off the expo area was…enjoyable?  Just outside they came to a halt.

“I hope you don’t mind but it was getting really crowded and I prefer a calmer atmosphere.” Loki said in a soft voice. His hand was still laying on Bucky’s arm, not that he minded.

“A calm atmosphere at an expo? You’re so strange.” Bucky took a step closer, letting Loki’s hand drop from his arm to his waist. Luckily the other man understood what he was trying to say and grabbed it gently. Didn’t matter how Loki held him, it was always so god damn gentle. Bucky pressed him a little bit against the wall they were standing in front of. To their luck, most of the people were still busy looking at Stark’s inventions than standing in the dark at the back-entrance.

“I don’t think we should do this out here in the open, but I really have the desire to kiss you right now.” Bucky whispered softly, getting closer and closer.

“Why not do it? I’ve got my hands under your uniform already anyway. If they stare, then they stare.”

“Mhm, as much as I like to, I can’t risk anyone seeing me and snitching on me.” He pulled back, taking Loki’s hands from his hips and holding them in his. “Someone’s gotta win the war, you know? And I can’t do that when I’m getting kicked out of the military now, can I?”

“I hate to see you being part of something so cruel.” Loki shoved Bucky’s hat a little bit back so that a few of his brown strands of hair fell forward.

“You’ve known me like 30 minutes.” Bucky laughed, finally taking off his hat.

“I know a kind man when I see one.” Loki replied softly, kissing the other man’s forehead. “We should get going now, shouldn’t we? To do the `thing’ we shouldn’t be doing in public.” He laughed.

“Well, what are you waiting for then, doll?”