Work Text:
The Fighter Still Remains, a Bucky & Steve Fanvid Playlist/Show
23 fanvids, with a total running time of an hour and sixteen minutes. When this was posted, all of the vids were available on YouTube in the United States; I have not checked about availability elsewhere in the world.
I understand you may be tempted to pick and choose which vids you watch, perhaps just watching the ones that are new to you, but I did carefully curate and arrange these vids in the order for a reason and highly recommend watching the playlist in its entirety if you can (or as much as you can before taking a break). (Want to watch this with other people and/or watch it without commercials? I'm hosting fanvid watch parties regularly-- see end notes or my profile.)
Please check the individual vid posts from vidders for more specific content notes and warnings. Content in the vids may include footage from all things MCU prior to Endgame, with just a tiny bit of Winter Soldier flashback footage from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
General content warnings
Two videos show Bucky when the snap occurs in Infinity War ("A & B Song" & "that's all I know"); there are no vids with footage from Endgame.
Content warnings overall for Nazis, war, canon-typical violence, and the usual trauma one gets when dealing with these two characters: characters being frozen, being wounded, loss of a limb, torture (including electrocution), both firing weapons and being shot by them, stabbing and being stabbed, punching and being punched, waking up 70 years in the future, falling from great heights, and on and on. I'm a very squeamish person who can't handle much violence or blood or anything like that, and I don't really have a problem with any of this (beyond, you know, thinking it sucks for characters). Please go easy on yourselves, if you aren't up for this sort of content now or ever, that's fine.
Watch the Playlist on YouTube
Summaries in italics are from the vidder's posts on AO3 or possibly comments on YouTube or Tumblr in some cases. Dates are for when the vids first appeared online, best I can tell (please correct me if I have any wrong).
This playlist works well if you ship Bucky & Steve (Stucky), but I think it works just as well if you consider them close friends. Their story is epic and intense and at the heart of the three Captain America movies, whether you think their relationship platonic, familial, or romantic.
More comments on this playlist from swizzlespoon
I start with a vid that covers ground from First Avenger to Infinity War, but then I back up and go forward chronologically (more or less) with vids with just footage from The First Avenger, then First Avenger and The Avengers, then a slew of Winter Soldier vids before we get to Civil War, and so on until we conclude with more vids that cover everything from the first Cap movie through Infinity War.
There are excellent vids that are not currently on YouTube which weren't included here. One of these days I'll figure out how to do playlists where I can include vids from all over, not just the 'Tube. (For that matter, there are hundreds if not thousands of excellent vids on YouTube that didn't make the cut for this playlist. I had to limit things somehow and tried to stick with one vid per vidder more or less, for instance. I made some tough choices, but told myself I will make more playlists to cover more vids one day. There are so many vids that focus on these characters, I know I haven't seen them all; happy to hear your recs for any great ones you think I should see or possibly include in a future playlist.)
- 1. "Captain America: Tour Canceled" by DistantRiver & Sarashina_Nikki (September 2018)
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Summary: Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes versus the power of modern myth.
In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains"The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel
Song/Artist: "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel
Commentary from swizzlespoon
This vid premiered in 2018, but I didn't discover it until this year and then I completely fell in love with it. "The Boxer" is one of my favorite Simon & Garfunkel songs and I'm especially fond of this live version which has an additional verse that was not in the original recording and which especially resonates when you're talking about Steve & Bucky (and is used to outstanding effect in this vid):
Now the years are rolling by me—
They are rockin' evenly.
I am older than I once was,
And younger than I'll be.
That's not unusual;
No, it isn't strange:
After changes upon changes
We are more or less the same;
After changes we are more or less the same.This vid jumps around in time when showing their stories and has all sorts of clever lyric matching and transitions between shots. I notice different cool bits each time I watch it. The summary for this vid mentions the "power of modern myth" and that's the thing-- the stories of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are truly epic and mythic.
I like to start a vid show with something that shows the whole history of characters or a story, I suppose. A summary? And the title of this playlist is taken from the lyrics to this song, which seems fitting. Bucky and Steve do still remain after going through a hell of a lot.
- 2. "Sorrow" by greensilver (trelkez) (November 2011)
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Summary: A Captain America fanvid. Steve/Bucky, some Steve/Peggy.
Song/Artist: "Sorrow" by The National
Link: YouTube
Commentary from swizzlespoon
And now we start at the beginning of Steve Rogers' story as told in the MCU. This vid is a classic made after Captain America: The First Avenger was released. I love how Steve's story unfolds in this vid, covering the different kinds of sorrow he'd experienced in his life. The story of the film is told in order for the most part, but with relevant flashbacks that help make each part hit even harder. There are so many great cuts and transitions and lyric matches. It really brings home the profound losses Steve experiences in that movie.
- 3. "The War Was in Color" by Settiai (September 2012)
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Summary: "Sit down, son. Let me fill you in." Or, alternatively: STEVE *REALLY* FEEEEELS! (As do we.)
Song/Artist: "The War Was in Color" by Carbon Leaf
Commentary from swizzlespoon
When making playlists of fanvids (or even just music), I tend to go for shorter songs more often than long ones to keep things moving. This vid is over six minutes long which is A Lot to put in a mix, especially so early on, but Settiai's vid does such a masterful job of showing Steve's story from The First Avenger into The Avengers that I had to include it. It also flows well from "Sorrow" musically, thematically, and chronologically which is amazing.
They nail the key moment when "the war was in color" is first uttered in the song and they keep on nailing all sorts of beats with great lyric matches. Casting Tony as "grandson" amuses and delights me for some reason. All the "let's start with the end" moments and "black and white photo" moments are so good. (Oh, Steve.) (This is the "Oh, Steve" part of the vid show I guess.)
- 4. "Clint Eastwood" by Gianduja Kiss (June 2014; remastered in August 2014)
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Summary: Two little boys had two little toys.
Song/Artist: "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz
Links: AO3 & Dreamwidth & YouTube
Commentary from swizzlespoon
I debated so hard as to what vid I should use in this playlist to show the first appearance of Bucky as The WInter Soldier. There are lots of great vids that have dramatic "here is the Winter Soldier" moments that would've been great, but I was following the mood set in the previous songs and the mood of the movie and this vid just fits really well.
This vid is creepy and cool and brings home the fact that both Steve and Bucky became science experiments used by forces bigger than them. "Useless but not for long" and "my future is coming on" are both such great lines that get repeated and Gianduja Kiss matches footage so well to those lines in such clever ways.
- 5. "History Repeating" by kuwdora (April 2015)
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Summary: The joke is rather sad that it’s all just a little history repeating.
Song/Artist: "History Repeating" by Shirley Bassey
Links: AO3 & Dreamwidth & Tumblr & YouTube
Commentary from swizzlespoon
This was a late addition to the playlist, which seems hard to believe given how well it fits here, as I somehow didn't have it saved along with other Winter Soldier vids and it slipped my mind-- once I was reminded of it, I couldn't imagine not including it. I've always loved this song and it could've been used in a number of ways with this source material, but I love how kuwdora shows us the similarities between The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier while also hitting key emotional moments for these characters.
This vid continues some of the same themes introduced in "Clint Eastwood" of how both Steve and Bucky are used in similar ways. Some of the parallels are a bit alarming! And then there are lots of little moments I love like showing Bucky make the same expressions as the Winter Soldier that he did before Zola got his hands on him. Or the matching of motion to the piano segments.
- 6. "When You Were Young" by violace (August 2014)
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Summary: "Whoever he used to be -- the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save." (He's the kind who saves you.)
Song/Artist: "When You Were Young" by The Killers
Commentary from swizzlespoon
Had to lighten things up a bit (but only a little) with this next vid choice featuring another great song choice with great lyric matches within the vid. Steve saves Bucky, but Bucky also saves Steve. Probably the shippiest vid of the vids so far, though things will focus on Bucky & Steve as a ship more and more, I think these vids should work even if you don't ship them as it is clearly canon they are close.
Can't help but feel heartbreak here for both of these young and beautiful boys, to use the language of the song. Heartache, actually. So many great shots coupled with the lyrics about being young or beautiful or the places they used to live. "Devil's water" oh no. There are just so many great sequences to match lyrics and music in this vid.
- 7. "Problem" by Talitha78; remastered by kuwdora (May 2014 & February 2015)
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Summary: Bucky Barnes is a goddamn problem.
Song/Artist: "Problem" by Natalia Kills
Links: AO3 & Dreamwidth & Tumblr & YouTube
Commentary from swizzlespoon
This has such a great dramatic introduction of The Winter Soldier that I thought about having it be the first Winter Soldier vid, but in the end I wanted to warm up to this sort of thing. Brilliant use of this song and such great editing for the dramatic action bits. Eh, it's all good, I don't know where to start when I talk about all these vids that I love. I remember loving the vid when it first came out, but the remaster somehow made it even better.
The "dream girl" and "problem" clip selections are so great. "You and me against the world" and "you know what they say about me" and yup, lots of great lyric matches in this vid too. In addition to the brilliant editing choices.
- 8. "Windmills of Your Mind" by astolat (August 2014)
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Summary: Hydra's post-mortem analysis of the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Song/Artist: "Windmills of Your Mind" by Esthero
Commentary from swizzlespoon
I had difficulty deciding where to put this vid, but knew I wanted to include it as it is just so beautiful and well put together. Great concept and execution and song choice. "But to whom do they belong" hits different now than when this vid first came out, doesn't it?
Probably easy to focus on the graphics and the concept of this vid, but I love so many other bits as well, where the music and the moments work perfectly or the lyric matches are clever.
For a time I had a run of "Problem" into "Miss Jackson" into "Dangerous" which are all vids I love, but they have a similar thesis or mood or something and while sometimes I like to keep similar things together, sometimes I like to mix things up. So this slows things down before speeding things up again. (I still go back and forth about this decision and may overthink things; when in doubt I decided I could default to when videos came out and put them in order that way.)
- 9. "Miss Jackson" by bradcpu (August 2015)
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Summary: Where will you be waking up tomorrow morning?
Song/Artist: "Miss Jackson" by Panic! At The Disco
Commentary from swizzlespoon
Another brilliant upbeat action packed Winter Soldier vid, but I especially love the way this one weaves older events into the story to give it more impact. Steve loves him anyway, okay? The "back door" moments and so many others hit so well.
"Where will you be waking up tomorrow morning?" hits hard and "beautiful and tragic in the fallout" does too. Lots of it does and then you add in the brilliant combination of action and music. Such great movement. I'm flailing again here, aren't I?
- 10. "Blank" by lim (March 2016)
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Summary: a Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes vid to Neopolitan Dreams by Lisa Mitchell, with thanks to astolat and speranza
Song/Artist: "Neopolitan Dreams" by Lisa Mitchell
Commentary from swizzlespoon
Slowing things down a bit again with another vid I had to include-- but where? lim's vids are so technically fascinating to me. "There are no legible signs." "you're not in the room" and and . . . yeah. The marching sequences. I'm reduced to flailing again, just watch the vids they are far better than any comments I could make about them.
I often think less is more when it comes to adding effects to vids, but then vidders like lim and voordeel show me such things can really add a lot to a vid (there are a couple of vidlets by voordeel later in this playlist/show).
- 11. "Bottom of the River" by roane (July 2016)
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Summary: "Hold my hand, oh baby it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river." The Winter Soldier remembers.
Song/Artist: "Bottom of the River" by Delta Rae
Commentary from swizzlespoon
I love the way this song is used with so many images of being in water, above water, higher up above other things-- there's good use of flames too. The cut between the two bridges. It's a great song and great use of it, also some great sequences involving movement to the beats (and other sounds). Framing it as Bucky remembering is clever. Silence at the beginning and the end works well too.
Further proof that some things I often find distracting or unpleasant in some vids, can work well in the right hands-- in this case it's clips that show characters talking with no diegetic sound; it may help that I know the source so well I know what is being said, but I think it's also novel after having watched so many vids that use the same clips to see some different ones in the mix. And of course as with any vid, the clip selection and arrangement is important.
- 12. "Gasoline" by shirasade (October 2015)
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Summary:
"You can't wake up, this is not a dream,
You're part of a machine, you are not a human being"
-Gasoline, by HalseySong/Artist: "Gasoline" by Halsey
Commentary from swizzlespoon
The "not a human being" sequences showing not just Bucky as WInter Soldier but as a soldier always get to me. "Hands are cold" and just so many other interesting lyric matches and juxtapositioning of shots. Bringing footage in from The Avengers and Age of Ultron broadens the scope and story in interesting ways. There's a tiny bit of what looks like cam footage from Civil War in here too because sometimes that's all the footage you have at the time.
"These voices won't leave me alone." Oh no.
- 13. "Friction" by Cantrous (December 2015)
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Summary:
"You're a wanted man."
"I don't do that anymore."Song/Artist: "Friction" by Imagine Dragons
Link: YouTube
Commentary from swizzlespoon
When I hear this song, I think of Bucky Barnes, probably because there are at least two good vids to it, it just works so well. It's a good match of vibes, I guess? This video uses diegetic audio really well, integrating some lines from the movie into the vid. Sometimes footage is matched to what are essentially voice overs rather than to the lyrics and music of the song, which is cool.
Using black and white for what are essentially flashbacks within the vid's narrative works well here.
Now we're getting into vids that use footage from Civil War which means even more action.
- 14. "Dangerous" by gwyneth (August 2016)
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Summary: I bet you didn't know someone could love you this much.
Song/Artist: "Dangerous (Sebu Remix)" by Big Data
Commentary from swizzlespoon
I love the opening sequence of this vid so much; I suppose this is another song I'll forever associate with Bucky (and Steve). Love the use of trailer-only footage of Bucky in eye black holding the shield; there are a few vids in a row here that use that (& it delighted me to use that as a way to smoothly segue from one to another).
This vid has so many good lyric matches. "How could you know that those were my eyes?" The vibe of this song works so well for both Winter Soldier and Civil War with all the "it's like they know" and "here they come" and "nobody listening" moments. Just a lot of lyrics that work really well for this source (I haven't even mentioned the lines involving being dangerous and about loving someone so much.). Great use of flashbacks to The First Avenger too. Good action sequences to the beat of the song.
- 15. "Out of Control" by Loki (SecretlyToDream) (December 2015)
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Summary:
I, was out my head, I was out of control
Thought I was living, but I wasn’t and
Sometimes, you crash and you burn
Before you're once again whole.Bucky, control, and how he became himself again.
Song/Artist: "Out of Control" by Tim McMorris
Link: YouTube
Commentary from swizzlespoon
Big mood with this vid and song. Such a great build. Some ingenious lyric matches. More good use of lines from the movies, a little of that can go a long way. "Gather the pieces to the puzzle" and all the storytelling in this. (Yet another vid where I'm thinking "Oh, Bucky" but then there's a lot of that and "Oh Steve" in this show.)
"Nothing's as it seems." "Gone without a trace." "Traveled through the air" (oh no).
- 16. "Trouble" by theletterelle (June 2016)
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Summary: Bucky Barnes just wants to get the hell out of Dodge.
Song/Artist: "Trouble" by Imagine Dragons
Commentary from swizzlespoon
I love that this is exclusively a Civil War vid. Whenever I watch it with my husband around, he says "he just wanted some plums!" I know, dammit. I like that it just tells the story of Civil War pretty much from Bucky's perspective, in the order things happen. Such momentum to this and brilliant use of the action sequences to the music. He wants no trouble! Let him have some plums and candy bars and his Cap exhibit brochures okay. "Maybe you can save my soul. All the things that I don't know." Oh no (oh yes). "I need redemption." Oh buddy.
- 17. "hallo spaceboy" by gwyneth & Speranza (August 2016)
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Summary: The future is today.
Song/Artist: "Hallo Spaceboy" by David Bowie
Commentary from swizzlespoon
There are times I think this is my favorite Bucky & Steve vid, but there are so many good ones for different reasons it's not like I can pick just one. I considered using this vid as the introduction of Bucky as Winter Soldier as the way it happens in this video is so awesome, but this vid uses footage from Civil War and had a broader scope than I wanted that early in the show. "Do you like girls or boys" and so many other fun lyric matches in here. "This chaos is killing me" and the great action sequences. The "bye bye love" sequences oh no. Classic vid is classic.
I love the structure of this: focusing on Steve first and then Bucky and then bringing them together. The war sequences at the start are so good too. "Don't you want to be free?" hurts my heart.
- 18. "we fall" by voordeel (March 2016)
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Commentary from swizzlespoon
I love so many of voordeel's vids and vidlets it was difficult to stick to just one (I knew I had to include "Brooklyn (Go Hard)" for sure) and I wanted another Civil War focused vid in the mix so grabbed this one. They're short! I'm allowed two, right? Trying not to have multiple vids by the same vidder was my choice and I can choose to ignore it if I want to.
Very cool use of graphics and effects and diegetic audio and color and movement (as usual with their vids). This is less than a minute long, but packs a punch.
- 19. "Criminal" by linzeestyle (May 2021)
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Summary: Mama, I'm in love with a criminal.
Song/Artist: "Criminal" by Britney Spears
Commentary from swizzlespoon
I wanted to include one of linzeestyle's vids as she has a number of good ones focused on Bucky and/or Steve and it was difficult to decide which one to use. I like this one a lot, even though I'm so literal-minded I keep thinking "he's not really a criminal exactly" and stuff of that nature (why should it bother me with this song and not some others? No idea). Originally I had this in a run in the playlist with "Problem" and "Miss Jackson" if I recall correctly, which was pretty intense (and probably good for a dance party). This vid has the Infinity War hug and a tiny bit from Falcon and the Winter Soldier and I thought it would be good to get that in here near the end.
"I know you told me I should stay away." Nah, he's not doing that. "Love that guy," indeed.
- 20. Brooklyn (Go Hard) by voordeel (March 2018)
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Song/Artist: "Brooklyn Go Hard" by Jay-Z (featuring Santigold)
Commentary from swizzlespoon
This 90 second or so vidlet is what I turn to when I need a quick shot of Bucky & Steve action as a pick me up. Great use of diegetic audio in this one along with lots of other things voordeel seems to always handle well. One of my favorites of theirs. Also has some Infinity War footage in it along with footage from all the Cap movies.
- 21. "A and B Song" by mithborien (November 2023)
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Summary: "Cause I'm with you, to the end of the line." A Steve/Bucky vid.
Song/Artist: "A & B Song" by Tom McRae
Links: AO3 & Dreamwidth & Tumblr & YouTube
Commentary from swizzlespoon
This vid, the first one ("Captain America: Tour Cancelled"), and the next one ("The Story of My Life") are what really inspired me to put together this playlist. So cool that there were two new vids for Bucky & Steve in late in 2023 and early in 2024; if I recall correctly both were started years ago and then the vidders got a bit disillusioned with the state of things. Very glad they finished them and shared them.
This vid packs such a punch, telling both of their stories to this song. Some great lyric matches (can you tell I'm a sucker for those?) and the end hits hard. So well executed.
"Life is great" is such an "oh Bucky" moment and "cocaine body" and "he knows he's going to be somebody" for Steve. B not believing in fate. Time slipping away. Oh no. "Tired of conversation" and "final scene" and yup, lots of great use of lyrics with good clip choices.
- 22. "The Story of My Life" by stardust_rain (April 2024)
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Summary:
"Till tender is far too fierce for us, winter is almost here for us." Or: two boys from Brooklyn and how they gave up their personhood. One to be turned into a propaganda piece, and the other into a weapon.
But before they were tools belonging to sprawling superpowers, they belonged to each other.
Song/Artist: "The Story of my Life" by Astronautalis (featuring P.O.S.)
Commentary from swizzlespoon
Ahhhh, this vid. I'm in love with this vid. I saw a draft for part of it when it wasn't yet complete as did some other folks on a Discord and I'm so glad those other folks encouraged stardust_rain to finish it and that they did!
Such a cool concept and way of showing parallels and differences in their stories, set to a great song choice for that. So many great lyric matches and matches between scenes and bits where they're just a little off (intentionally I presume because it fits) and eeee. I could write a whole essay on the use of split screen here and juxtapositions of scenes and the bits where the screen stops being split as the voices join together. Just a truly great vid.
I'm just flailing over here, I guess.
- 23. "that's all i know" by sparksfly221 (March 2020)
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Summary: I am your shield now. A gift that you will return.
(Note that there's an annoying high pitched whine for the first couple of seconds of this vid, but it goes away.)
Song/Artist: "Blood of a Broken Man" by Norbert Kristof
Commentary from swizzlespoon
Since I started with a vid that covers almost all of their story as shown in the MCU movies, I wanted to end with another one like that. I considered closing with one of the previous two vids as they both hit hard and would be good endings, but I wanted to end on a more upbeat note I suppose.
Another vid with excellent use of dialogue from the films, well integrated into the music and vid. Amazing how I've seen so many vids using the same footage and vidders still keep coming up with juxtapositions and cuts between scenes that make me notice new things or think of things differently.
In this vid, it's not just the juxtaposition of scenes that is clever visually, but the use of dialogue throughout the whole vid and mixing the arrangement of them up in interesting ways. Some of it wrecks me.