😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
Series Metadata
Listing Series
Pages Navigation
-
thunderbolts*, as told by bucky frantically texting sam by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
07 May 2025
Tags
Summary
BUCKY: okay
BUCKY: there’s no plan
BUCKY: it’s just us
BUCKY: we’re gonna go in together
BUCKY: hopefully we come out the other side
BUCKY: but in case we don’t
BUCKY: i love youBUCKY: I TAKE BACK MY LAST TEXT
BUCKY: I’M ALIVE
BUCKY: turns out his name is bob
BUCKY: power of friendship WINS 🤞🤞In which Bucky is texting Sam throughout the events of Thunderbolts*.
Series
- Part 7 of sad bucky hours (get this man a hug)
- Part 1 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
what is set in stone (cannot be saved) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
05 May 2025
Tags
Summary
Bucky understands why the Void chose this. It isn’t the worst thing that happened to him. Not by a long shot. But it’s where it began. It’s where the line was drawn. The last hours of James Buchanan Barnes before the world buried him and Hydra remade something else in his place.
In which Bucky faces the Void and has to confront where it all started.
Series
- Part 6 of sad bucky hours (get this man a hug)
- Part 2 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
Tags
Summary
“I, yeah. Okay, that’s fair,” Bob says.
His gaze drops down to the monstrosity in the blender as he stirs it half-heartedly with a spoon. The goop sluggishly clings to the metal utensil.
Then, Bob glances back up at John from under his lashes with a kicked-puppy expression no one at his age should legally be allowed to pull off. “I was just…y’know. Kinda proud of this one.”
John folds. “Alright. Give me some.”
In which John thinks he might actually die from Bob’s inability to cook.
Series
-
operation un-taco is a go! (it is not) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
13 May 2025
Tags
Summary
“Okay,” Alexei says, frowning down at the shield. “Tougher than expected, but not to worry. I have another idea.”
John made desperate eye contact with Bucky. Help me.
Sorry, Bucky mouths back, looking infuriatingly entertained.
In which John wants to un-taco his shield, Alexei has many bad ideas, and Bucky is enjoying the show. Also Yelena has a guinea pig.
Series
-
so your arch nemesis is a literal guinea pig by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
13 May 2025
Tags
Summary
Then, her guinea pig waddles up to him, like the evil little creature that it is, and curls itself right onto his lap.
“Yelena,” John says. “Your devilspawn is on me.”
In which John has beef with an actual guinea pig.
Series
-
not my dictatorship, not my problem (wait, actually it is) by TumblingBackpacks for fangirlandwriter
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025), Sunrise On The Reaping - Suzanne Collins
22 May 2025
Tags
Summary
John catches his reflection in the water and frowns.
His face is almost his own. His beard and hair are the same, but the eyes—there’s a kind of coldness to them, a flat, assessing weight behind the irises, like whoever’s behind them is sizing up which parts of a person would break first.
Jesus Christ, he thinks. I look like I strangle puppies for fun.
In which Bob accidentally swaps John Walker with Coriolanus Snow.
Series
-
we are not the new avengers (go thunderbolts!) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
24 May 2025
Tags
Summary
“No, no. Shh,” Yelena cuts in, then leans down to speak into the microphones mounted on the podium. “We’re not New Avengers. I didn’t agree to that. No one ran this by us, and frankly, I am vetoing it on the grounds of it being extremely stupid.”
In which Yelena has objections towards Valentina’s announcement.
Series
-
Tags
Summary
“It sticks!” she says, absolutely gleeful. Bucky blinks down at the tiny, crooked-eyed dolphin stuck above his elbow joint. Yelena pats his arm right over the magnet and grins. “And now you are accessorized. You’re welcome.”
In which the Thunderbolts decide Bucky’s arm needs some personalized flair.
Series
- Part 8 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
- Part 8 of sad bucky hours (get this man a hug)
-
Tags
Summary
“—Junior Varsity Captain America.”
His body is moving before his mind catches up to his new, past surroundings.
The bullet hits Valentina center mass.
Oops, thinks John, not feeling as bad as he probably should.
In which Bob accidentally sends the Thunderbolts into their bodies before the Sentry fight in the Watchtower.
Series
-
i didn’t have a choice (but you do) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
30 May 2025
Tags
Summary
Val recovers fast, because of course she does. She lets out a short laugh, light and easy, playing to the cameras. “Oh, Mel,” she says, like she’s indulging a child, though Mel can see the fury in the tightness of her eyes. “I know this has been a difficult day for everyone, but let’s not confuse facts with personal feelings—”
“I’m not confusing anything,” Mel says. “You can’t pretend that you didn’t run illegal experiments on people then try to bury them.”
In which Mel does not stand idly by during Valentina’s announcement.
Series
- Part 10 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
congressman barnes is a saint (real, not clickbait) by TumblingBackpacks for Mischevious_Oddity
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
13 Sep 2025
Tags
Summary
“Good afternoon, do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, Congressman Barnes?”
Kate stares at her phone for a long moment. “…what?”
In which Kate receives a strange call from an unknown number. She’s not the only one.
Series
- Part 11 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
you were so bright (step into the sun) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
13 Jun 2025
Tags
Summary
“And we are already team,” Alexei says. “Not because of you. Not as Avengers. We are the Thunderbolts!”
In which Alexei raises his issues with Valentina, and her announcement doesn’t go the way she wants it to.
Series
- Part 12 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
there was a time (i thought i’d know you forever) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV), Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
12 Jun 2025
Tags
Summary
“I don’t want him to grow up in a house where we’re resenting each other,” Olivia says.
John manages a nod, and tries not to cry. “Noah should come first.”
In which Olivia and John talk about separation.
Series
- Part 4 of graduates of custer’s grove
- Part 13 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
lights, camera, breakdown by TumblingBackpacks for machoffinland
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
13 Jun 2025
Tags
Summary
The lights are too bright. The whole world is watching.
Val announces, “Meet the new Avengers!”
And John can’t make himself breathe right.
In which John doesn’t do well with cameras on him. Yelena helps.
Series
- Part 14 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
no one should flicker out (it matters that you’re here) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV), Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
23 Jul 2025
Tags
Summary
Olivia sighs. “How long are you going to keep doing this?”
“I just—” John falters, glancing down at the phone in his hand, at the glowing screen and all the articles condemning him. “I needed to check some stuff.”
“You always need to ‘check some stuff,’ John. What are you looking for there?”
In which John is in a mental spiral, and Olivia tries to pull him out.
Series
- Part 11 of graduates of custer’s grove
- Part 15 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
you won’t find me (where you left me) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
22 Mar 2026
Tags
Summary
“SHIELD has been infiltrated by Hydra.”
“We know,” Tony says. Steve nods in agreement.
Bucky blinks. “What?”
In which the Thunderbolts end up back in 2012. Except it’s not their 2012, it’s the alternate 2012 timeline created by the Time Heist.
(Latest Chapter: Bob’s arrival.)
Series
- Part 16 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
someone tell me why (why i’m all in my head) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
30 Oct 2025
Tags
Summary
Whumptober 2025
• CH1 (suicide) – John is the only one in the OXE vault. Escape is not on his mind.
• CH2 (phobia) – The vault is not the first time John has been abandoned to burn.
• CH3 (elevator) – John gets lost in his Shame Room and takes a step forward.
• CH4 (self-inflicted injury) – The serum lets John handle more. Physically, at least.
• CH5 (“we’ll make it alright to come undone”) – John contends with being part of a family again.
• CH6 (“there’s nothing you can ever say, nothing you can ever do”) – John and Yelena have a talk about Lemar and Natasha on the Watchtower rooftop.
• CH7 (resignation) – John knows he shouldn’t be lashing out. Olivia is trying her best.
• CH8 (deal with the devil) - Valentina had promised John a clean slate.Snapshots of different versions of Thunderbolts.
Series
-
seeing the deceased’s advance (you’re next in line) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Marvel Zombies (Cartoon 2025), Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
24 Sep 2025
Tags
Summary
‼️SPOILERS FOR MARVEL ZOMBIES‼️
In which the Thunderbolts end up in the Marvel Zombies universe.
Series
- Part 18 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
it’s rotten work (not to me; not if it’s you) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
05 Nov 2025
Tags
Summary
You’ve always believed yourself difficult to love. Not unlovable, exactly, just hard to love. And you get it. Really, you do. You run too hot, speak before you think, and make messes of good intentions until everyone around you is left exhausted. It makes sense that people would leave.
In which John doesn’t understand why Bucky loves him.
Series
- Part 19 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
-
untitled cupid game (ft. one horrible goose) by TumblingBackpacks
Fandoms: Thunderbolts (Movie 2025)
09 Nov 2025
Tags
Summary
“We can’t lose to a bird.”
“It has a knife!”
“You have a vibranium arm!”
It is a lovely day at the Watchtower, except for the horrible goose.
Series
- Part 20 of 😔 that IS my circus, these ARE my monkeys 😔
