winter soldier.

the world is upside down

independent, highly selective, private james buchanan barnes aka the winter soldier mcu based, 616 & headcanon influenced. content warning. written depictions of gore, murder, physical, verbal, and psychological abuse. possible mentions of nazism, facism, and other kinds of bigotry. triggers will be tagged accordingly.

rules.

Your eyes have seen more death than life
And the final page is all you write

disclaimer. the character of Bucky is the original work of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon as depicted in various Marvel comics, as well as the MCU. I have no rights to any of the comics, nor the movies or series, nor Bucky as a character generally. I am not affiliated with Marvel, nor anyone working for the MCU. I am also not affiliated with Sebastian Stan. ( unfortunately ).this blog was created for entertainment purposes only. i make no money with any of the blog's contents. all icons and graphics, with the exception of reblogged content, were made by me. please don't just help yourself to any of my graphics or headcanons.content warning. the comics as well as the MCU, and thus bucky's two main verses, include highly triggering content. this blog may thus contain outdated concepts of sexism, racism, homophobia, class privilege, chastity, large age gaps and military propaganda, as well as brainwashing, physical and psychological abuse. while neither the comics nor the movies are 100% unproblematic ( and neither is the blog ), I am not fond of the recent Netflix level of 'nothing horrendous may ever happen otherwise you're bad'. please keep that in mind before trying to apply modern concerns, problems, or virtues to my muse.the muse. James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a former US soldier who served in WWII. during a mission, Bucky was captured by the former Nazi science division HYDRA and experimented on. the experiments enhanced his human physiology to superhuman levels. in a later accident, when falling from a moving train, a severely wounded Bucky was found again by HYDRA, equipped with a metal arm, and brainwashed into becoming the Winter Soldier; a Soviet spy and assassin.decades later, he was broken out of his brainwashing by his formerly best friend Steve Rogers. since then, Bucky has slowly but steadily tried to piece his life together, trying for find a place for himself in this new era of superheroes. please note that his romance with Natasha will also be canon in his MCU verse; he simply has forgotten her and when he remembers again, it is already too late.writing. though I do love a certain level of eloquence, I'm not all that big on purple prose. i prefer multi-para, if not even novella length threads instead of one liners, and i can become quite descriptive and elaborate in almost everything. playpartners that match my enthusiasm for big plots, drama, and eloquence will thus be showered with love. I use icons and small font but very little formatting otherwise. if you need the font to be normal sized for whatever reason, let me know and I'll try and remember it. english is not my first language and occasional mistakes may happen. I'd prefer to not receive grammar lessons, however.following & unfollowing. i am highly selective and private. I am also mutuals only and i would ask you not to try and get in touch with me if i am not following you. it's never personal, but there is a reason usually. due to the nature of the blog, i do not interact with minors and would actually prefer my playpartners to be 21+. i also like to have an enjoyable dashboard and if i find that a certain blog i follow doesn't provide that anymore for me, i will unfollow and softblock. personal blogs get hardblocked on sight, as well as rp blogs that do not respect my boundaries.
I also will not follow back if you list topics that you do not tolerate in your rules while I actively write or at least mention these topics on my blog, i.e. facism or nazism. to me, it either means you haven't read my rules or care for the content of my blog, or you're a bit of a hypocrite. neither makes interactions very appealing for me.

interactions. i am generally slow when it comes to writing and may occasionally throw replies in the queue. due to me rarely posting starter calls, sending in a meme or two is the best way to start interactions with me. if you prefer to plot beforehand, my IMs certainly are always available for that. god-modding results in an immediate softblock and drop of a thread. shipping, while encouraged, is no priority on this blog.mains & exclusives. i am generally open to the idea of mains but exclusives will rarely ever happen. exclusivity only happens if I have such profound chemistry with another mun and their portrayal, that I cannot see myself write with another version of the muse. mains can be people I simply write with regularly and am willing to prioritize over other mutuals. and yes, I do play favorites. if you'd like to become mains with me, make sure we have regular ooc chats, ic interactions, and just come hit me up about it.shipping. as mentioned before, shipping is not a priority, but i am still absolutely not opposed. i'd merely like you to remember that Bucky is a complicated fella, working hard on finding himself again, and may thus not be entirely open to romance immediately. I play Bucky as bisexual, but he still has to find his courage in relationships with another man. important note that while I am more than happy to ship, I do not write smut. ever. i don't enjoy it and i don't need it on my blog.concerning comic romances following 616 canon, Natasha is and always will be the love of his life. due to the excessive brainwashing, he has however forgotten her until his memories are fully restored; by that time, while following MCU canon, it is however already too late. remember however that I do not auto ship! any potential ships with Natasha RPers will have to be plotted, talked about, and are entirely dependent on the chemistry I have with the other mun. sorry to possibly disappoint there.drama. drama is absolutely not tolerated. I don't want any racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism or otherwise bigoted behaviour ooc on my dashboard and i hardblock anyone displaying behaviour like that. that being said, I also do not tolerate the overall tumblr trend to shit on "straight white men". any kind of hatred against anybody gets hardblocked.i don't have DNI lists, nor FCs i do not interact with. i don't follow the personal lives of actors and i don't care what person xy said five years ago that can be deemed problematic. we're all adults, we can walk away from things we don't agree with. harrassment, callouts, bullying, vagueing, and anon hate thus are not tolerated either whatsoever. i don't care how justified you feel for it, it is not your job to police the content of other people's blogs. if you disagree with any content of my blog or any of my opinions, feel free to do so but keep it to yourself and unfollow or hardblock me, anything you need to do to make yourself feel safe without involving me in it. your rp experience is your responsibility - not mine.the mun. the mun goes by the name toto and has been on and off tumblr for about seven years now. bucky has previously found a home on my now inactive marvel multi, but has been moved back to a single blog. i am from central europe, a published writer, and currently working on my second novel. i am 30+ and busy busy outside of tumblr and thus very slow. i may occasionally drop off the face of the earth and reappear a month later or so. it just happens.

dossier.

Evil shadow looms upon your star
A memory forever scarred

name. james buchanan barnes.
alias. bucky. the winter soldier.
born. march 10th, 1917. in shelbyville, indiana.
nationality. american.
parents. george m. barnes (deceased). winnifred c. barnes (deceased).
siblings. rebecca p. barnes proctor.
languages. fluent in english, german, russian, japanese, chinese, and a little french.
occupation. currently trying to figure that out.
eye colour. blue-grey.
hair colour. dark brown.
height. 5'9 (175cm).
weight. 260lbs (117kg).
physique. broad back, narrow hips. tans easily. trained bicep, defined muscle in the torso.

special features. bionic left arm, made from Vibranium and equipped with various features that help him in fights. master assassin. master spy. master marksman. master martial artist. enhanced strength, agility, stamina, healing. expert pilot. expert military tactician. longevity.
scars. various scars stemming from blades and bullets that he suffered in numerous fights while being the winter soldier. missing left arm, rendering him an amputée.
zodiac. pices.
myer briggs. intj-t ; the architect. rational, informed, independent, determined, curious, versatile. arrogant, dismissive of emotions, overly critical, combative, romantically clueless.
moral alignment. chaotic good.
major arcana. the tower.
sexual orientation. bisexual but still a little reluctant around men.


Just close your eyes for a moment of truth
See with your heart
And a new hope will bloom


personality. once carefree, chipper, and playful in the 40s; these days rather quiet, reserved, pensive, and intense. life hasn't been kind to Bucky and his demons aren't quite leaving him be. almost ninety years of living as an inhuman killing machine have left him drained and a little lost. to see the world as a conscious person again is equally as exciting as it is terrifiying to him. there is still a certain disconnect between him and the rest of the world; things that have changed since the last time he was consciously himself may confuse him occasionally - but he has braved the abyss of technology just fine and probably won't shoot your toaster in the morning.with the months passing since his mind was freed and he's found some peace in wakanda, Bucky is assimilating to the personality of a "normal" man again. he suffers from ptsd and frequent nightmares of his jobs as the winter soldier. trusting is difficult. asserting himself in the world even more so; but he is trying hard. he has crossed off every name on his little list of amends and no longer goes to therapy. things are looking up.
the only thing left for him to figure out is where to go from here. he makes an effort to remain under the radar (unsuccessfully, with captain america as his newfound best friend) and has started to work on his own relationship with the winter soldier - hoping to make peace with the monster of his past and carry it into the future to, potentially, use for good. pieces of his old personality have returned. his bone-dry and mainly sarcastic sense of humor. his no-nonsense approach to almost everything in life. his need to help whenever he can. bucky is healing and, fortunately, can feel it.
home life. after his return from wakanda and the events of endgame, bucky has moved int a small apartment in Brooklyn, New York. a simple, two bedroom home that has barely any furniture or other signs of comfort in it, but it is his own. he makes a point of being friendly to the neighbours and tries to be as invisible as possible. a few weeks into his move, he has decided to adopt a cat from the local shelter. alpine (named after a brand of wallpaint Bucky used for decorating) is pure white and entirely deaf, loves to scream, and is a hopeless cuddlebug. bucky now owns a black suzuki hayabusa and spends his days helping around the neighbourhood. old habits die hard, however, and he keeps several weapons stashed in various spots in his apartment - just in case.job situation. bucky would currently consider himself unemployed - and it bugs him. things have changed since the 30s and finding a job untrained is almost impossible. aside from that, he wouldn't even know what he wants to do. every day, he finds himself more and more tempted to try and use his greatest skill - to fight - for good. he watches Sam, remembers Steve, and occasionally wonders if there is space for a guy like him in all of that.
he considers himself too much of a loner to every properly join a group like the avengers, but the notion of helping people is appealing. and it might help him, too, to bring the 'winter soldier' into a more positive light.
habits. eye rolling. crossing his arms before his chest. plucking lint off of his clothes. scrunching up his nose. frowning. shifting his weight. covering up the metal arm. yoga and meditating. journaling.

the winter soldier. the soldier is a phantom of bucky's past that continues to haunt him. after months of trying to rid himself of him, bucky is slowly realising that the winter soldier is an inevitable part of himself, that he cannot simply shrug off. he has worked hard on making amends for the atrocities the soldier has committed and is now willing to bring him into his present life - as a force for good. bucky wishes to own his past, reclaim the monicker of the winter soldier, and turn it into something positive. he doesn't expect to ever see the name in golden letters like Captain america, but if only some people learn to associate the winter soldier with goodness, he'd be content. the first person who desperately needs to learn that though, is bucky himself.oblivious at first, he now is beginning to learn that some therapy tactics of "making amends" have been unfair on him - a victim of the winter soldier himself - but he is willing to accept that it somewhat helped him to ease his conscious.captain america. for the longest time, bucky has struggled to keep steve rogers and captain america seperate - largely because steve, most days, struggled with it too - unaware that it has always been steve who had been a driving force in bucky's life. he has been without him long enough to no overly suffer now that he's gone - but he'd lie if he claimed that steve's absence has not left a massive hole. the shield indeed is the last touchable reminder of steve ; and steve's trust in bucky.it perhaps is because of steve that bucky trusts sam as much as he does - and he does, unconditionally, now that sam has accepted the responsibility steve personally has bestowed on him. while not being a teamplayer whatsoever, bucky is willing to follow sam wherever life takes him - he'd rather shoot his own kneecap off than admit that, however.the black widow. natasha and bucky first met when the red room "borrowed" the winter soldier from hydra for the ruthless training they subdued their widows to. a forbidden love blossomed between them, causing them to sneak out and meet in secret whenever they could. when the red room eventually found out, bucky was wiped and pulled from the black widow program. he has never seen natasha again until the day he shot through her to get to a target - and he most certainly has not recognised her that day. his memory of natasha did not return until after the events of endgame - and ultimately her death. he remembers the feelings he's had for her, the time they've shared, and is aware of everything he's missed out on ; a fact that breaks his heart more than losing steve does. stoic and dumb as he is, however, he has never told anybody and suffers in silence.his history with natasha ultimately means that he knows and remembers yelena, too - only that he's unaware that she's still alive as well.


Keep the faith alive
Don't give up the fight, Remember
in the burning heart
There can never be surrender


dossier.

Fearless to the bone
Master of your own creation
Born to walk alone
They will never own your burning heart

verses.

When the skin is thin and the flesh shows through
Smoking guns take aim at you
Victimized by a fate so dire
Now a messenger of true hellfire

this blog is MCU based including Disney+ shows and various of my own headcanons. I do not play in 616 verses by default despite being largely familiar with Bucky's comic history. admittedly, I haven't read all of it and forgotten most of what I have read. being based in the mcu simply allows me to know exactly where to put my playpartner's muse and what to do with them. if you'd prefer 616 interactions, I am more than happy to accomodate those, but they may require some plotting beforehand.

mcu the peace in wakanda was the balm bucky's soul has needed. with the trigger words removed, the world has become a little less unpredictable - and a little more safe. he is still far from fine but things are steadily moving forwards for him. he has found an apartment in brooklyn, trying as hard as possible to find some resemblance of a normal life for himself again.sam's appointment as the new captain america has shaken his world up again - in a good way, however. it is sam who, unknowingly probably, inspires bucky to want to do better. be better. to use the undeniable skillset he has to perhaps help for once, instead of destroy and kill. the winter soldier still is a ghoul from his past, but one bucky is determined to make peace with. quietly and on his own terms - it's plans he, so far, hasn't shared with anybody else. he thus starts small ; look out for the neighbours, help whenever you can. the avengers surely aren't for him, should they ever reform - at least he thinks they won't be.for now he is happy to help sam whenever needed - or answer the call of a random stranger willing to, for whatever reason, trust him. a notion bucky still has to get used to.main verse follows the plot- and timeline of the mcu movies and tv shows exclusively. the main part takes place after 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'. Bucky has worked through his list and now works at becoming an actual person again. he feels compelled to help, should he be asked, and has slowly begun to accept the winter soldier as part of his identity.
I am more than happy to throw him into various mcu based situations, especially with characters he might be unfamiliar with. please do not hesitate to approach me for plotting!
please do keep in mind that bucky has once worked for hydra and that this organisation, horrible as it is, is an important part of his life. I am not opposed to play bucky during his winter solider days - even if it means playing him as the lackey of a former nazi organisation. now, this does not make me a nazi myself, it simply means that I embrace my muse with every facet of his personality and background. if you have a problem with that, feel free to unfollow.

616. there is some resemblance of peace. finally. previous stints with the avengers, as well as an utterly failed attempt at being captain america himself, have left bucky as an isolated loner of sorts, but frankly - it's not too bad. he is all too aware that, despite the years that have passed since the tesseract brought his conscious back, some people still don't trust him - and he, frankly, has grown a little tired of proving them otherwise. bucky has retired to a quiet life ; his own little house, a cat to keep him company . . . and the occasional appearance and disappearance of a certain soviet spy. were it not for others dragging him into their business every now and then ( he may be looking at sam and clint specifically here ) he might have a chance at a perfectly ordinary life. unfortunately, that is too boring to be true.second main verse as mentioned before, I am not as familiar with bucky's 616 appearances as I am with the mcu ones. more importantly, I'm not as familiar with everybody else's 616 appearances and may thus struggle to find common meeting ground between the muses. plotting in this verse is thus very much preferred ; otherwise the threads may begin a little stale. by default, I play Bucky post Secret Empire - which we largely ignore anways.he largely keeps to himself, practises to become a mindful, calm person, and rarely ventures out on his own. he still has a need to help however and more often than not finds himself helping people in situations similar to his own - 'bad guys' trying to do better. he is no hero by the avengers definition of the word, but he is content to help the little guy.


Raging willpower unleashed from below
Nothing can stop you,
There's nothing that strong