Mistake on the Part of Nature

Fanfiction
Title:	Mistake on the Part of Nature
Author(s):	idiopathicsmile
Date(s):	April 19, 2014
Length:	1,274
Genre(s):	Humor
Fandom(s):	Captain America Movieverse
Relationship(s):	Steve/Bucky
External Links:	AO3
Cover art by Amiril (2015)
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Mistake on the Part of Nature is a one-shot post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier fanfiction by idiopathicsmile. It explores how Bucky adjusts to life in the modern day - specifically when he discovers that bananas are different. It is a Bucky/Steve fic; characters are Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Sam Wilson. In the fandom, is can be recognized as "the stevebucky bananas fic" or something thereof.

By kudos, it is the most popular work in the James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, and Sam Wilson (Marvel) tags on AO3.

Synopsis

Summary

Steve takes in Bucky's betrayed look and Sam's confusion, follows Sam's gaze to the pile of mangled fruit in the trash can. Sudden comprehension fills his face.

"Oh," he says. "Bucky found out about bananas."

In which an American icon is mourned. But probably not the one you're thinking of.

Author's Notes

So gyzym expressed a need to see Steve and Bucky come to terms with an America that has replaced its Gros Michel bananas with Cavendishes. Hopefully I am not the only person who answered the call, and the Captain America fandom can wind up with this distinct little subgenre of banana stories.

Reactions & Reviews

As of January 2019, the work has 220k hit counts, 20.5k kudos, 4200 bookmarks, and over 570 comments.

• Translation into Deutsch available: Irrtum auf Seiten der Natur by dornfelder
• Translation into Русский available: Ошибка природы by agewa
• Translation into Italiano available: Mistake on the Part of Nature di idiopathicsmile by Code-Name_Black_Widow (LadyYunaRose)
• (Podfic) Mistake on the Part of Nature by avcay, sallysparrow017
• (podfic) Mistake on the Part of Nature by majoline
• Cover for "Mistake on the Part of Nature by idiopathicsmile by RunawayMarbles

Thanks to the fic, is has become a common trope in fandom for Steve and Bucky to be confused at the state of modern bananas. Historical works that take place in the 50s/60s often reference the Panama Disease or the "Banana Apocalypse."

@laurenshippen

One of my favorite factoids to share with ppl is the whole "bananas tasted differently in the first half of the 20th century" thing and ppl always love it and I never have the courage to admit that I learned it from a Captain America fanfic.