Hydra Trash Party
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Synonym(s) | HTP, Hydra Party Favor Trash Party |
| Related tropes/genres | rapefic, torture, whump, darkfic |
| See also | Dead Dove: Do Not Eat; Chin-Stroking Scene |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
Hydra Trash Party or Trash Party is a genre of fanwork, primarily fanart and fanfiction, that originated in the Captain America: The Winter Soldier fandom. These works focus on members of Hydra abusing other characters, especially Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers. Common topics include rape and brainwashing and many users of the term consider it a content warning in and of itself.
What is the HYDRA Trash Party?
The HYDRA Trash Party is a community that creates and enjoys darkfic-type fanworks about the Captain America movies. The community is largely based on a Dreamwidth kinkmeme, called the HYDRA Trash Meme, although many members also post and share works on the #hydra trash party tag on Tumblr. Like with other dark fanworks, topics explored in the HTP community include:
- psychological, emotional and physical trauma
- physical and sexual violence
- body horror
- death
- …and other “dark” themes and concepts.
Some, but not all, of this content is explicitly sexual.
Many people find this sort of content upsetting or disturbing, and that’s totally valid. We all have our squicks and triggers, which is why the HTP community works hard to tag and warn for HTP content. But finding something upsetting or disturbing doesn’t mean it’s okay to verbally abuse or attack anyone.[1]
History
"Hydra Trash Party" is a condensed version of a tag first used by fanartist stereowire on Tumblr. In April 2014, shortly after Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released in the US, stereowire started making text posts tagged "HYDRA PARTY FAVOR TRASH PARTY 2014",[2] which speculated about the possible abuses of Bucky Barnes at the hands of Alexander Pierce, Brock Rumlow, and other members of Hydra. Art on this theme followed under the same tag, and later that month the first fanworks using variations of the HYDRA Trash Party tag were posted on the AO3.
A Kink Meme was created on Dreamwidth in June 2014,[3] leading to the creation of many more fanworks and the adoption of "HYDRA Trash Party" as a common tag for fanworks based on the Captain America movies that involve "bad guys doing dirtybadwrong things to your faves".[4]
A community of fans interested in Hydra Trash Party works grew both on the Kink Meme[5] and on an IRC channel,[6] and by 2018 had moved to a dedicated Discord server.[7]
Backlash
Hydra Trash Party fanworks and their creators have seen significant backlash for depicting potentially upsetting content. This has ranged from polite requests not to post Hydra Trash Party fanworks on AO3[8] to personal attacks more reminiscent of the Anti-shipper culture that later became widespread on Tumblr, for example:
When I see fic description of “Bucky gets raped by everyone” followed by “Natasha tries to help him with kinky sex” and not anything acknowledging how fucked up and NOT FUCKING ENTERTAINMENT that is I judge. Yes, I fucking judge the people who write and read that shit, because it is not fucking okay. [1], Archived version
Some fans took to anonymous spaces such as Fail-Fandomanon to vent safely about negative comments, discussing their frustration with accusations that they were contributing to real world harm by creating Hydra Trash Party fanworks.[9]
In April 2015 an anonymous user suggested creating an "Anti-wank resource"[10] in the form of a Tumblr blog designed to explain and defend fans' rights to create Hydra Trash Party content. The blog, titled "What is the HYDRA Trash Party?", was made live in July 2015[11] and could be considered an early version of an Anti-anti-type blog.
Dead Dove
In April 2015, mostlyvalid on Tumblr proposed creating a more general tag to encapsulate the connotations of the "Hydra Trash Party" tag, that could be used across all fandoms.[12] The tag is called Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, and is derived from the "I Don't Know What I Expected" meme from Arrested Development.
Common Tropes and Fanon
- Sexual violence: Rape and sexual abuse at the hands of Hydra members is a common theme in Hydra Trash Party fanworks.
- Trash Parties: The original conception of the Hydra Trash Party came from the idea that elite members of Hydra might host parties where the Winter Soldier was passed around like a party favour to be exploited and abused.
- Hydra Husbands: A common name for the Jack Rollins/Brock Rumlow ship, which pairs two Hydra members who appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
- Recurring Original Characters: Various original Hydra characters have been created and used by fans in the Hydra Trash Party community. One example is Isaac Murphy, who as of March 2023 is tagged in over 50 fanfics.[13]
- Hydra Tentacle Monsters: Also known as "horrible squiddly non-con cuddle monsters".[14] A series of drawings by feanorinleatherpants where Bucky Barnes is represented by a teddy bear, and Hydra members are represented by octopuses, juxtaposing cute children's-book-style illustrations with dark and disturbing content and themes.
Notable Fanworks
Fanfiction
- Blood from a Stone by shinelikethunder. Steve Rogers is captured and gang-raped by Hydra members.
- Lamb and Martyr by dsudis. Post-TWS, Steve/Bucky-centric. Hydra brainwashed Bucky Barnes to only orgasm when he was forced to rape other people. Steve and Bucky attempt to navigate the consequences this has for their relationship.
- To Build a Better World by asocialconstruct. Hydra Wins AU, Steve/Sam/Bucky. Sam Wilson is captured by Hydra and forced to help control the Winter Soldier, while suffering frequent physical and sexual abuse at the hands of his captors.
Zines
Archives and Communities
- Works tagged HYDRA Trash Party at AO3
- Works tagged Dead Dove: Do Not Eat at AO3
- Hydra Trash Meme at Dreamwidth
- What is the Hydra Trash Party? at Tumblr
References
- ^ Overview of the HYDRA Trash Party on What is the HYDRA Trash Party? (accessed March 2023
- ^ Tumblr posts from user stereowire tagged "HYDRA PARTY FAVOR TRASH PARTY 2014"
- ^ "I did a bad, bad thing" (post by trashmod on Tumblr, accessed March 2023)
- ^ hydratrashmeme Rules on Dreamwidth (accessed March 2023)
- ^ hydratrashmeme Chatter Post (accessed March 2023)
- ^ Tumblr post declaring "No guilt, just boners" to be the official motto of the #wienersoldier IRC channel, also tagged "hydra trash party" (accessed March 2023)
- ^ Tumblr post referencing a Hydra Trash Party Discord server (accessed March 2023)
- ^ Littering on ao3 (Anonymous Dreamwidth comment, accessed March 2023)
- ^ Fandom Venting thread about Anti-Hydra Trash Party posts (accessed March 2023)
- ^ "Anti-wank resource?" (Anonymous Dreamwidth comment, accessed March 2023)
- ^ What is the HYDRA Trash Party? on Tumblr (accessed March 2023)
- ^ A proposal by mostlyvalid (accessed March 2023)
- ^ Isaac Murphy tag on AO3 (accessed March 2023)
- ^ Hydra Tentacle Monsters by feanorinleatherpants (accessed March 2023)