The Dark Press

Happy Birthday to the Baddest Witch in the Club!

Bucky smirks at the words floating in the air by the power of no doubt Wanda's magic alone. The fairy lights twinkle brilliantly as they hang from various light fixtures on ceiling in the cosy room hidden behind the bar. Steve outdid himself this time. A stunning birthday cake sits in the center of the room, he immediately makes his way over. The laugh he lets out is joyful and shocked at Witches Don’t Age inscribed in calligraphy onto the sweet surface.

“Happy Birthday, sweetheart.”

A smile graces his lips as Steve’s arms come to rest around his waist, the warmth from his own personal space heater seeps into his body.

"Thank you, baby." He twists a little in Steve's embrace.

They share a sweet kiss.

Read on Ao3 and Squidge!

Fandom: MCU

Pairing: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers

Rating: T

Tags: Achillean Romance, Alternate Universe, Creature Feature, A Swashbuckling Tale

Summary

In which Steve is a sailor caught up with the wrong crowd and Bucky is a merman.

Bingos and Events:

AU Challenge - Creatures & Monsters

@au-pril-blog: 2026 - Day 9: Fantasy

@bingocardsforfandom: Hallmark Bingo - Fantastical Elements

@bingorin - Fantasy AU

@bloodyheartsbingo: Mini Bingo II - Saving someone at a pivotal moment

@buckybarnesbingo: Flash Bingo - U: Meet Ugly

@darkspicyevanstan - Rusalka

@deaddovedec: 2023 - Captivity

@fairytalebingo: Mad Monster Bingo - Free Space

@thefairytalebingo - Mermaid

@fairytaleweek: 2026 - Day 7: The Fair Folk - Nereid

@fandombingo:

Dark Deception Bingo - I didn't want this Kisses, Chaos, & Catastrophe - Free Space

@halcyonianlove:

Halcyonian Love Fest - Mermaid Halcyonian Love: a Stucky Winter Advent - Fusion AU

@halloweenhorrorbingo: 2024 - Wanting to see a mermaid

@heartxhorror: 2026 - Lovesick @krotagious

@herohardshipsbingo - Unlikely Relationships

@julybreakbingo: 2025 - Liberating

@marvelbang: Marvel Fanworks Week - Day 7

@multifandom-flash: Here There Be Monsters Bingo - Siren

@secretcrypticevents: Into the Wilds Bingo - Water Nymph

@steverogersbingo - E3: Rescue

@stuckybingo - Free Space

@winterbreakadvent: 2024 - Getting Together

Read: Ao3 🪻 Squidge

Author: Hyacinth

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries

Ship: Elijah Mikaelson/Damon Salvatore

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergent, Vampire Fiction

Summary:

Damon Salvatore is going through some things. One of them being his growing attraction to a certain original vampire.

Written for small fandom summer 2026 and the following events:

@badthingshappenbingo 🪻 compelling voice

@darkacademiabingo 🪻 a dash of vintage charm

@deadbingoclub 🪻 april 🪻 hiding

@fairytaleweek 🪻 day 2 🪻 beasts and creatures of lore

@fandombingo 🪻 kisses, chaos, & catastrophe 🪻 free space 🪻 the blooming hour 🪻 emotional phantom pain 🪻 winter medley bingo 🪻silent death

@monthlywritingchallenges 🪻 misadventure may 🪻 kiss

@thefairytalebingo 🪻 vampire

Some love stories are written in flowers and letters, others are bound in fire and snow.

Written for Winter in Wiltshire: White Wolf and the @winterwonderlandfest: The Old Gods have Returned

Fandom: Harry Potter

Ship: Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy

Tags:  A winter tale, wild magic, Mythology References

i saw into the future of our world before it ends | aspen blackwood

series: they were spellbound in the night (dancing shadows and firelight)

read part 1 from the series ⟶⟶ i found humor in the wreckage

james “bucky” barnes x steve rogers | mcu | 🅴 | 🔞 | oneshot | playlist

a dark and twisted fairytale

tags: alternate universe - canon divergence, an unconventional take on beauty and the beast, blood, creature feature, established relationship, fairytale au, paranormal romance, sexual content, vampires, snow soldiers, winterkiller

Winter demands respect of even the strongest of beings that make the earth their home. Even vampires can be bitten, suffering from the lash of frostbite. - A Winter Tale

bingo fills + event prompts #ficwip: the all ships week 2025 | fairytale au

as part of amnesty weekend

read: ao3 | sqwa | tumblr

⟢ author: a dark forest witch

⟢ series: i’ll be the blood, if you'll be the bones

⟢ rating: explicit ➢ nc-17

⟢ fandom(s): mcu

⟢ pairing: james “bucky” barnes/steve rogers

⟢ tags: alternate universe, blood, consent issues, dark fiction, dark romance, manipulation, non traditional omegaverse, obsession, possession, sexual content, slight body horror, twink tank, underage character(s)

⟢ summary: Steve is spiraling. After taking Bucky for his own, he has to figure out how to take care of the boy - a barely lucid omega deep in heat.

-

Mr. Grant Stevenson sheds his public persona when one of his students calls him by his real name in the privacy of his office after school hours. This outing puts pressure on him in ways that he isn’t ready for. He hasn’t gone by Steve Rogers since he came out of the ice, since he woke up in a new century and his whole world was forever changed.

⟢ The Grimoire ⟢

⟢ chapter one ⟡ lead us into the darkness, lead us into the night ⟢

Prologue: Promises in Polished Shoes

Read on Ao3, Penana, Squidge, and Tumblr!

Fandom: MCU

Pairing: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers

Rating: E | NC-17

Series: Love Blooms in the Dark

A/N: A dark paranormal romance set in a boarding school au!

Tags: Achillean Romance, Age Gap, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Creature Feature, Dark Fiction, Fae AU, Underage Character(s)

Summary

After a successful Donor Appreciation Banquet, Bucky must navigate through the nuances of being a junior transfer at The Institute. When whispers of a secret society clash with his internship opportunity, he runs into a familiar face.

bloodbound: a tale of moonlit passion

author: aspen blackwood

series: @wolfblood-the-epic | there is a decadence in visions of black and red

lloyd hansen x nick fowler | lloyd hansen x steve kemp | 🅴 | 🔞

when hansenfowler + hansenkemp collide!

fresh x the gray man x the 355 fusion | the underworld au

fic masterpost | mini playlist | character tag

tags: alternate universe, body horror, creature feature, dark fiction, dubious consent, gothic fantasy, interspecies romance, mythical beings & creatures, painful sex, paranormal horror, rape/non-con elements, star-crossed lovers, lycans, vampires, vukodlak, werewolves, wurdulac, the bloody doppelgänger-verse, the wolfblood epic, handsomeflowers, murder husbands

They meet in battle, on opposing sides of a war instigated by their fathers. One long dead and the other using a cold, iron, fist to drive the war on until only one immortal species is left.

They meet in battle, on opposing sides of a war as the blood of a beloved sister flows like a river until there is no more. Yet as a lightening bolt strikes hallowed ground, they are both struck by something ancient, primal, that ties them together.

They meet in battle, on opposing sides of an endless war. A love like theirs was strong.

-

Nik and Lloyd are warriors from two different bloodlines. Somehow they find a way to dance to a difference song.

read the sun, the moon, and the truth: a prologue

Read on Ao3, Penana, Squidge, and Tumblr!

Fandom: MCU

Pairing: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers

Rating: M | NC-17

Series: Love Blooms in the Dark

A/N: A dark, paranormal, romance set in an urban fantasy!

Tags: Achillean Romance, Age Gap, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Creature Feature, Dark Fiction, Fae AU, Underage Character(s)

Summary

Bucky is determined to make a good impression.

Bingos and Events:

@anyfandomdarkbingo - Boarding School AU

@ao3tagbingo - Blood Kink

AU Challenge - Vampire

@augustwritingchallenge: Trick AU Treat 2025 - Day 1: Glow

@badthingshappenbingo - Trail of Blood

@bloodyheartsbingo: A Vesper Bleeding on Your Lips' Card (Bloody Hearts Mini Bingo I) - U R Great: General - Throwing a party in someone's honor to show how they're appreciated

@darkacademiabingo:

Dark Academia Bingo - Boarding School Dark Academia Scenarios Flash Event - Amongst the elite, treacherous murmurs rise, the potential of exposure cracking honor and valor

@darkspicyevanstan: Paranormal Fantasy

@deadbingoclub: October - Bloodplay

@deaddovedec: 2024 - Week 1: Day 2 - Bloodloss

@deaddovekink:

Ageplay April 2024 - Day 1: Jailbait Kinktober: Dead Dove Chapter 2025 - Day 29: Claimed

@eclipsingbingo:

Forbidden Love The Rising Moon Flash - Broken Glass

@fairytalebingo: Mad Monster Bingo - Vampire

@thefairytalebingo - Vampire

@fandomsandstuff: Never Have I Ever - Creative Edition: Urban Fantasy

@fandombingo:

Crime & Mystery Trope Flash - Secret Messages Dark Deception Bingo - School Neverwhere Bingo - Something Hunting You from the Shadows Valentine Trope Flash - Card 1: Chocolate Lava Cake, Card 2: Strawberry Mousse, Card 4: Turkish Delight Wonderland Bingo - Arson

@fictober-event: 2025 - “This is annoying.”

@halloweenhorrorbingo: 2024 - Drinking Blood

@hurtcomfort-bingo: Pick Your Poison Bingo - Dizziness

@julybreakbingo: 2025 - Vampire AU

@kinktober-2025 - Day 7: Bloodplay

Macrocest: Winter Bingo - Free Space

@monsterfucktoberbingo - Free Space

@monthlywritingchallenges: Darktober - Alt Prompt: A smile you shouldn't trust

@multifandom-flash: Here There Be Monsters Bingo - Seelie

Problemtober - Underage/Age-Gap

@seasonaldelightsbingo: Cozy Feels Bingo - Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

@secretcrypticevents:

Into the Wilds Bingo - Vampire Into the Wilds Flash - Boarding School AU + Fae + First Touch

@stuckygeekevents: Stucky Halloween Week - Forbidden Love

@sweetspicybingo: Kink Bingo - Blood Kink

@winterbreakadvent 2024 - Week Three: Day 16 - Urban Fantasy

@wintershieldbingo - Boarding School AU

@wipweek - Any WIP

@yearoftheotpevent: 2025 - June: Relationship Reveal

13 Days of Witchtober - Corrupt

@31-daysofhorror - Dusk

Written for Of Gods and Monsters: a Slavic Mythology Feast

He slithers and she, contrary to popular belief, breathes an unquenchable fire.

Fandom: Harry Potter

Ship: Blaise Zabini/Luna Lovegood

Tags: Eighth Year, Post Wizarding War

Summary: When he first sees her, the flames in her eyes leave his soul marked with her rune.

those that live between sunset and moonrise | aspen blackwood

james “bucky” barnes x steve rogers | mcu | mini playlist | newsletter

series: blade of nightshade, be my strength not my ruin | @bladeofnightshade

fic masterpost

bucky’s prequel | steve’s prequel | bucky's poem | steve's poem

tags: all souls x mcu fusion, captain america steve/modern winter soldier bucky, paranormal creatures, dark academia, witchcraft, alpha steve rogers, omega bucky barnes

After being honorably discharged and awarded a Purple Heart for his military service, Dr. James “Bucky” Barnes returns to the world of academia. Despite being accepted as a male omega and scientist while working at Isipho Industries, he finds that there is still something missing from his life and turns inward to confront the witchblood that runs through his veins.

written for 13 days of witchtober '25

read chapter 1: stranger to my soul, become my faith

Read on Ao3, Penana, Squidge, and Tumblr!

Fandom: MCU

Pairing: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers

Rating: M | NC-17

Series: Love Blooms in the Dark

A/N: A dark, paranormal, romance set in an urban fantasy!

Tags: Achillean Romance, Age Gap, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Creature Feature, Dark Fiction, Fae AU, Underage Character(s)

Summary

Steve's tantalizing discovery yields forbidden fruits.

A submission for the @ficwip5k, hosted by @ficwip!

from what i’ve tasted of desire, i hold with those who savor the fire

author: aspen blackwood

series: @iholdwiththosewhofavorfire | from what i’ve tasted of desire, i hold with those who favor fire

read part 1 from the series ⟶⟶ play with fire [bucky's prequel]

steve rogers & family

mcu | 🅼 | complete | mini playlist

tags: alternate universe, dark twilight au, fusion au, steve's prequel, found family, hulkwidow, hunterwitch, thunderfrost

The moon hangs high in the sky, beams of light subtly illuminate the mountainside through the foliage. Crisp, sea salt from the ocean cuts through the scent of birch trees. The sudden burst of bitter sweat coating human flesh tainting the floral hints of freshly spilled blood in the air swirls in Steve’s nose.

written for the 2025 @ficwip5k!

read: ao3 | sqwa | tumblr

i found humor in the wreckage | aspen blackwood

james “bucky” barnes x steve rogers | mcu | tumblr previews

🅴 | 🔞 | oneshot | mini bang: beauty #9 | playlist | bluesky promo

a twisted fairytale

tags: alternate universe - canon divergence, an unconventional take on beauty and the beast, blood, creature feature, dark magic, fairytale au, graphic violence, transformation, paranormal romance, snow soldiers, winterkiller

Lava burns like an inferno that never ceases. It scalds the flesh, transforming it into a chalky, stone, husk before it ultimately gets blown into the atmosphere by the winds. Nothing could have prepared the Asset Bucky for the experience being replicated in its his mind when it he finally wakes up. - In a world where organizations bend governments like a telepath bends minds, a ghost, that some would call a malevolent spirit, rises from the ashes of his own torment to become something new. There is a beauty and there is a beast in this story. The tale is as old as time. The civil war happens differently.

written for the @fairytalebang

artist: @sharkinacar

artist's piece: bluesky | tumblr

read: ao3 | sqwa | tumblr

a @ficwip exclusive

in his house beneath the sea, he waits dreaming of you | aspen blackwood

series: @darkerthegods | bleak are the heavens, darker the gods

lloyd hansen x steve kemp | fresh x gray man au

🅴 | 🔞 | word count: 22,864 | complete

tags: body horror, double penetration, dub con, erotic horror, mutilation, non con body mod, painful sex, ritual magic, watersports

In a small Grecian village where the witches serve a morning star, there lives a man named Stéfanos who catches the eye of a peculiar stranger. OR A chance meeting with Lloyd sends Steve down a road darker than even the path of night.

read: ao3 | sqwa | tumblr

.☽✧ teaser

.☽✧ ch. 5's mini playlist

.☽✧ bingo fills masterpost

devoured (unholy is the hunger) | aspen blackwood

james “bucky” barnes x steve rogers | mcu

🅴 | 🔞 | dark fiction | masterpost | mini playlist

tags: alternate universe - post tws, chaos, creature feature, dark fiction, gothic fantasy, non con body bod, paranormal romance, transformation, violence

They should have never gone on that fuckin’ mission, Bucky thinks as he tightly grips Steve’s hand. It’s ice cold but somehow it feels even colder than that. It’s as if Steve’s blood has been replaced with liquid nitrogen that seeps through his skin, causing wisps of smoke to evaporate off of him like dry ice. - Bucky's hands are frozen by the time he gets Steve out of the water. Tears blur his vision as he presses his lips to Steve's. They're too cold but he has to keep trying. Bucky keeps it to himself when Steve starts coughing up black blood. He tells no one that Steve's skin never gets warm again after.

bingo fills + event prompts

au challenge | horror au

@au-roulette | mystery

@avengers-assemble-bingo:

main event | bucky barnes build-a-steve-party | bucky barnes, natasha romanoff, tony stark

@thebo3bingo | memory loss

@buckybarnesevents: hot bucky summer 25 | free week

@buckyboybingo | eldritch deity

@darkacademiabingo | canon divergence au

@darkspicyevanstan | first kiss

@dark-stucky: steve’s birthday bash 2025 | lethe in his veins

@deaddovekink: kinktober ‘23 | free day

@fandombingo: valentine trope flash | a fleeting kiss

@fandom-free-bingo:

fool | free space gingerbread | fighting half-baked | free space madness | amnesia medical | free space wild | cold as ice world book night | amnesia

@halcyonianlove | gothic horror au + july flower | j.a.r.v.i.s.

@halloweenhorrorbingo '24 | top secret russian underground

@herohardshipsbingo | amnesia

@hurtcomfort-bingo | freezing

@julybreakbingo '25 | canon divergence

marvel-smash-bingo | bucky barnes

@marvelousyahtzee | four of a kind: 1s column

au card | canon divergence character card | steve rogers simple starts card | quarrel steve rogers card | shield

@multifandom-flash: superstition bingo | free space

@sebastianstanbingo | free space

@steverogersbingo | july adoptable: eldritch horror

@stuckybingo | spiders + time [july prompt]

@sweetspicybingo: beginnings | first kiss

@winterbreakadvent ‘24 | week 1: day 3 | being hunted

@wintershieldbingo | magic

@yearoftheotpevent | november: touch starved

read ch 1: ‘cuz once you said “don't worry” was when i started to worry

ao3 | sqwa | tumblr

a world so vicious, so cruel | aspen blackwood

james “bucky” barnes x steve rogers | mcu | mini playlist

🅴 | 🔞 | dark fiction | bang post | fic masterpost | word count: 3k+

tags: alternate universe, creature feature, dark romance, dubious consent, family secrets, gothic fantasy tendencies, manipulation, non con body mod, non traditional omegaverse, sexual content, shrunkyclunks, steve might be a himbo, bucky delights in this though, relishes in it even

A wry glint had peaked through the thousand yard stare that marred Steve’s features that day. He didn’t want to impose then but maybe he should have taken Sam up on his offer.

bingo fills + event prompts

au challenge | tattoo parlor au

@avengers-assemble-bingo:

main event | natasha romanoff bucky barnes birthday bingo | tattoo shop au kinky bingo | alt: lurking in the dark

@thebo3bingo | blood loss

@buckybarnesevents: hot bucky summer 2025

week 3 | "not now!", heat/rut

@buckyboybingo | free space

@character-a-character-b: june bingo | helping shave

@character-plus-bingo:

captain america | free space winter soldier | free space

@darkacademiabingo | tattoo parlor au

@darkspicyevanstan | non-traditional omegaverse

@deaddovedec: 2024 | week 2: day 14 | something red

@deaddovekink:

august heat | mating cycles: rut femboy feb | fashion heatwave | free day kinktober '23 | free day

@eclipsingbingo:

main event | bleeding the rising moon flash event | held down

@thefairytalebingo | gorgon

@fandombingo: dark deception bingo | vanish

@fandom-free-bingo:

fool's edition | new beginnings madness may | free space untamed | free space

@fictionaldelightsbingo: under the sea | free space

@halcyonianlove | june paramour: dr. strange

@herohardshipsbingo | coping mechanisms

@hurtcomfort-bingo | free space

@intotheomegaverse & @stuckygeekevents: omegaween 2025 | free space

@julybreakbingo '24 | free space

@killacharacterbingo | war

marvel-smash-bingo | sam wilson

@multifandom-flash: here there be monsters bingo | greek mythology

@secretcrypticevents: into the wilds bingo | gorgon

@steverogersbingo | free space

@stuckybingo | free space

@sweetspicybingo: beginnings | first touch

@winterbreakadvent '24 | week 3: day 19 | pain

@wintershieldbingo | free space

@yearoftheotpevent | march: tattoo artist

read ch 1: for reasons wretched and divine