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the first avenger: dr. erskine said that the serum wouldn’t just affect my muscles, it would affect my cells. create a protective system of regeneration and healing.
age of ultron: thor establishes that steve is not mortal.
endgame: we’re just gonna ignore all of that, and make steve old af to shock the audience, even though it doesn’t make sense that steve would age at all, let alone at the same rate as a non-enhanced human, because what happened in previous movies is meaningless.
Some thoughts about SteveBucky (and why it was deliberate in the CATFA and CATWS narrative)
As you might know, nowadays my approach to the MCU canon is pretty much on the lines of, the movies are Kevin Feige’s shitty fanfiction of a concept that could have been good and was attempted at intervals at the beginning at various levels but not executed, and the story and the characters are just suggestions I can play with in my mental sandbox.
But occasionally I like to listen to the Captain America: The Winter Soldier soundtrack to remember how it felt to be in love with that movie, and today that got me in the kind of mood where I am actually convinced that bisexual Steve and SteveBucky as a romantic dynamic were in fact written deliberately into the narrative, or, better, are structural elements of the narrative, because the emotional narrative is structurally made of parallels between the relationship between Steve and Peggy - the relationship of the past - and the relationship between Steve and Bucky - the relationship of the future - and it’s all too architectural in the narrative to not be deliberate.
In particular today I’ve been thinking about pictures. There’s the obvious parallel between the way the 40s story in CATFA and the body of CATWS end, one with Peggy looking at a picture of Steve before his transformation from a SSR file, while Howard tries to help by going looking for Steve, one with Steve looking at a picture of Bucky before his transformation from a Hydra file, while Sam offers to help go looking for him. But I’ve also been thinking about the scene in the Smithsonian in CATWS, and what the infamous picture of Peggy in the compass was about in that scene.
We assume that the compass was the only relevant object Steve had on himself when he crashed the plane and this was found; someone from Shield must have been, here we found this on you, take it back. Basically, it’s Steve’s only belonging in his new life. But here’s the irony: it’s a picture of a person (the only person of Steve’s smallest circle of people close to him) who is actually still alive.
The movie juxtaposes Steve’s visit to Peggy, alive and changed by time, to Steve’s visit to the secular altar to Bucky in the exhibition, crystallized in the past. It’s in fact an interesting detail that, in the museum scene, we only see pictures or wordless footage of Bucky, while we see footage of Peggy where she speaks; she has a voice in both the museum and real life, while Bucky doesn’t have a voice–we literally meet him masked and muted. (Peggy’s responsibility in what happened to Bucky, as the director of the organization Hydra flourished as a parasite of, is a potential the third Captain America movie could have tapped into, if they’d actually decided to make a third Captain America movie. RIP Captain America 3, we’ll never forget you. But this is is not relevant to this post.)
So, Peggy has lived - she has grown older, she physically carries the signs of the time she’s lived through, and even the footage in the museum shows her slightly older than we left her in the first movie, and in color, a deliberate emphasis that the footage was taken later than the time Steve left; Bucky, on the other hand, is unchanged, both in the museum and in real life. In the museum, assumed dead, he’s “frozen” in images from the past (in black and white); in real life, he’s literally been frozen to the point he’s not aged much.
Steve carries a black and white picture of Peggy with him, inside his compass, and the scene compares it with the footage - from a later time, in color, in motion, where Peggy has a voice. That Peggy from the compass is dead to Steve, and he mourns her just like he mourns the man whose black and white images are shown at the museum.
Except that the picture in the compass is something he can mourn privately; it’s, as we said, his only belonging. In fact, it’s ironic that he now has a picture of Peggy, and no one else. In the first movie, we see why: Steve and the Howling Commandoes went on missions on the frontlines of the war, Peggy belonged with the strategic command of the army. So Steve would keep a picture of her to remember her by as they were apart - it would make no sense for him to keep a picture of Bucky, because Bucky was there with him. It’s ironic because Bucky sees the picture and is jealous, but the point is that Steve doesn’t need a picture to remember him by when they’re together.
Of course, Bucky’s presumed death parts them. And Steve finds himself with no pictures of Bucky with him, and needs to visit the museum to mourn him in front of images of him. And this is an interesting point because Steve can mourn past Peggy privately - as he owns the compass with her picture, something that belongs to him and no one else has access to - but he cannot mourn Bucky privately, because he owns no object that connect him to Bucky, so he needs to go to a public place to be able to see an image of him.
In order to mourn Bucky properly, in front of a memorial of him, he is forced to do it in a place that not only is public, but is actually a place where his personal history is treated like a museum curiosity to put on display for everyone to consume.
There’s something deeply poignant in the fact that he hides, that he pretends to be someone else, in order to mourn his deceased male companion - the scene emphasizes that Steve does not want to be recognized, and the metaphor of him hiding his real identity to have an emotional moment regarding Bucky is not so subtle. (Yes, there is material of Peggy in the Smithsonian scene but the scene contains Steve’s visit to Bucky in parallel to Steve’s visit to Peggy in person, so I feel authorized to read the scene as mostly a visit to Bucky, especially since at the end of the movie Bucky also visits his own memorial there, emphasizing the cruciality of that picture in the narrative.)
In fact, the whole hidden identity to visit Bucky thing is not accidental because later, when he needs to confront Bucky, he steals his old uniform from the same exhibition: before finding out about Bucky, he wears incognito clothes to hide his identity, after finding out about Bucky, he reclaims a powerful sign of that identity - the uniform he wore when he fought alongside Bucky - basically breaking it out of the closet. It’s not a coincidence that earlier in the movie he wears a monochrome uniform meant to be unseen, either: the movie plays a lot on secrecy and openness regarding Steve’s identity, and the pivotal element in this narrative is Bucky. Steve reclaims his identity in parallel to trying to give Bucky’s identity back to him. It is a movie about identity and closets after all.
To go back to something I mentioned earlier, you have the contrast of the black-and-white picture of Peggy in the compass with the in-color, speaking, living Peggy; and that contrast highlights the deep difference between the two, because Peggy has lived a long life and grown older and changed. And then you have the contrast between the black-and-white picture of Bucky in the museum with the living Bucky, and in this case the parallel shows how little Bucky has actually been allowed to change, he’s been frozen in time, allowed no voice, allowed no change, no motion.
Steve, unlike Peggy, hasn’t gotten to live his life, but has been frozen in time, like Bucky. Shared life experience and all that jazz…
These fuckers (writers? directors? I don’t know) had the idea of writing two love interests for the titular character and framing the m/f relationship as the relationship of the past, and the m/m relationship as the relationship of the future, as one does, and built the emotional narrative on parallels between the two, and everything was fun and games until Disney Marvel ruined it all because they realized, I suppose. I mean, no, not everything was fun and games because things could have been written a lot better especially in regards of *gasp* female characters, that rarely work in the hands of misogynistic writers, but the two movies, with varying degrees of success, did something interesting (the theme of masculinity in CATFA is so fascinating) that was nice as long as it lasted. At least I’ll be thinking this until I get enraged at some shit they said and change my mind again. #saladforbucky
As always you’re welcome to share thoughts, questions, comments, whatever.
Fic resources: Undressing Bucky Barnes
Here’s some information and resources you might like to have for when you’re writing about male WWII-era characters undressing each other and engaging in sweet, sweet, pornographic activities:
US military field uniforms in WWII didn’t have zipper flies. Modern ones don’t either, actually, though there were eras (like Vietnam) when they did use zippers. I’m not actually sure why they originally did button flies or why they went back to them… I imagine it’s just because a lost or broken button is easier to repair in the field than a broken or jammed zipper? But that’s just a guess. The point is, embrace the button fly.
US Army characters like Bucky would have several uniforms issued, and would have mostly worn a primarily wool field service uniform while on the front. He seems to be wearing the tattered remains of that uniform when Steve rescues him in Azzano. The uniform Bucky’s wearing at the beginning of The First Avenger, before he ships out, is the Class A dress uniform or garrison uniform. This is also the uniform that would be worn while in the garrison, as the name implies, so it’s normal for soldiers to wear when they aren’t in the field, which is why we see Bucky wearing it in New York, and both Steve and Bucky wearing their respective dress uniforms while in London or otherwise in the office, so to speak.
You can see a list here of everything he’d have been issued upon induction, which idek I just found really interesting. Mmm, sexy Army underwear! Yeah, get it! They could also buy additional gear to supplement what they’ve been given, and they’d buy that stuff from the base PX (that’s the Post Exchange, essentially the base general store). That may have also included items like these leather photo wallets and other stuff to help them remember the folks back home, but more commonly they’d be buying stuff there like soap, candy, gum, and beer. Did you know there’s a whole freaking book about the PX system in WWII? I fucking love history nerds, group hug, get in here.
So Bucky’s got his standard issue gear when he’s out with the 107th in the deleted scene from TFA. Obviously by the time they become the Howling Commandos, Bucky is sick of Army issue and they become customized as shit. (Most of the other Howlies are still wearing fairly recognizable kit from their respective countries.) They’re probably also not regular Army anymore at all and are totally under the umbrella of the SSR, considering they also wear SSR insignia, so maybe it was the SSR (or Howard, he’s got some style) who hooked Bucky up with his sweet new duds.
Here’s Bucky in his Howlies uniform, which just personally speaking is my favorite uniform for Bucky because he looks hot as helllllll. I can’t find a single piece of standard issue in this (maybe his underwear, only Steve would know for sure).
He’s gotten himself some trousers with additional pockets and they don’t really look like the standard wool to me, either. Maybe they’ve got some slightly futuristic Stark-style waterproofing, I don’t even know. (Regular field trousers would only have side and back pockets, plus a watch pocket; I know there are trousers from the period that do have cargo pockets, but they were for paratroopers and possibly tankers had them too, not infantry.) Just bear in mind that he’s probably still got a button fly. And I’m not at all reminding you of that because I have yet to read a single WWII-era story that describes Steve slowly unbuttoning Bucky’s fly (maybe with his teeth? go wild!), and I’m dying with the lack of it. It’s not that REALLY I PROMISE.
He’s also wearing leather leggings/gaiters, which is interesting because by this point the US Army has abandoned the leggings used in WWI/early WWII and have switched over to a double-buckle combat boot, which was probably what Bucky was wearing in Azzano. These gaiters have buckles instead of the bajillionty hooks of canvas leggings, though, so they’re probably not too laborious to take off. Just if you’re having Steve undress him don’t forget that he’ll need to remove the leggings as part of that process, is all. (God please somebody write me like at least 5K of beautiful hurt/comfort with Steve tenderly undressing Bucky post-mission PLEASE SOMEBODY PLEASE.)
This video is from a reenactor, but it’s helpful because it shows you close-ups of some stuff like the fastenings on the field jacket (zipper and buttons) and the lining inside and whatnot. It’s these little details that really help when you’re writing me that fic I requested above oh god please somebody anybody. It also shows some cool stuff like shaving kit and some toiletry items. Look at the tiny handy roll of toilet paper! The tiny box of cigarettes and the match case! It shows some cool paperwork and books and things a soldier might carry, too. This reenactor video also shows the person opening the pants and you can see how the button fly looks, though the uniform shown is airborne, not regular Army.
Anyway I can’t believe I just wrote this long a post when really my point is please write less zippers and more button flies, kthxbai.
(Disclaimer: I am not in the Army and am not from the 40s. Hopefully most of this is correct anyway.)
Have we talked about this scene yet? Because I want to talk about this scene and why it’s important that this is the memory Steve is thinking about right before he has to face the Winter Soldier again.
We all know how out of place and unhappy Steve feels in modern society. The movie doesn’t make any bones about it. Even though good ol’ Cap exudes positivity, we see how he uses his time. When he’s not at work for SHIELD, he’s grasping at straws, trying to catch up, trying to make sense of how he fits in a world that’s moved on without him. When Steve starts to feel out of place even when he’s playing soldier for SHIELD, Sam tells him that he could do something different, anything at all; but Steve looks blank. Sam asks him what makes him happy, and Steve doesn’t know.
The only thing that keeps him going is knowing that his sacrifice helped save the world. As he says to Peggy, he always wanted to do “what was right,” and at least he can take some comfort from the fact that he helped save countless lives from Hydra by losing everything that meant a damn to him.
That is, until he and Natasha find Zola in the underground bunker and they find out that Hydra is still alive and well – thriving, even – within the ranks of SHIELD.
This is the moment Steve learns he gave up his life for nothing.
So. The flashback scene.
I’ve heard some people say that they think the scene is extraneous. That it’s enough to know that Bucky and Steve were friends way back when, only Bucky doesn’t remember (and if you want more skinny!Steve and scenes of Bucky and Steve being chummy, go back and watch The First Avenger). On the surface, it may seem like this scene is rehashing old territory, but it’s actually telling us quite a bit more than that.
Bucky is walking Steve home after his mother’s funeral, and Steve is obviously vulnerable and shaken. His parents were the foundational figures of his life, and they’re both gone now. Before Bucky can even get the question out, Steve rejects the idea of moving in with Bucky. He insists he can get by on his own. Then he fumbles clumsily in his jacket looking for his key, but he can’t find it. Bucky casually picks up the spare and hands it to him.
This moment.
It’s such a simple gesture, but the camera focuses in on that key like it’s the freaking Tesseract. Why? Why is this moment with Bucky so prominent in Steve’s thoughts? Why not something out of their days together with the Howling Commandos? Or why not something from when they were kids running around on the playground?
This moment is an echo of exactly what Steve’s feeling in the future: lost and alone. Everything that means home is shut behind the locked door of time (or a coffin lid).
But against all possibility, Bucky is alive. And, to Steve, Bucky doesn’t just have the key back home, he is the key back home.
“I can get by on my own.”
“But the thing is, you don’t have to.”
Suddenly that promise is everything. If Bucky is still alive, then Steve isn’t alone. He didn’t make a mistake putting the plane in the water. There’s a meaning for him to be in this time and place, and Bucky is that meaning. That’s why Steve has to believe Bucky will remember, why he desperately doesn’t want to fight him. Steve wants them both to be able to go home again.
@hellofromlesbistan
WELL aou takes place a few months/almost a year after tws and we know from the ending of tws that Nat had connections to get Steve info on what happened to Bucky. So A) he’s spent the whole time dwelling like the beautiful depressed bastard he is on everything Bucky related and B) he’s gotta have at least a vague idea now of the kind of torture etc. Bucky went through, all the mind wipes and a decent idea of what they were making him do which he’ll also be dwelling on. So he’s riddled not only with guilt over the fact that he didn’t save Bucky from the fall in the first place but he’s also now guilty that he left him there because he knows if he’d gone back for him he would have found him alive and could have saved him from 70 years of torture.
And Joss Whedon expects me to think that the best Wanda could do to take him out of action was pull out some light ptsd and a cute girl? He’s a COWARD Steve’s vision should have started with him walking through the snow and he knows instantly that it’s where Bucky fell. He should have seen Bucky lying there and seen the hydra agents coming to carry him away. At first he thinks he’s invisible and he’s kinda coping because he knows Wanda’s messing with his head but then Bucky opens his eyes and looks him dead in the eye and starts begging him to save him but every time Steve tries to get closer he gets further away until he can barely see him and all he can hear is Bucky screaming and asking why he didn’t help him.
Like it would have made more sense anyway because Nat and the others all saw like?? their worst fears and were paralysed with The Depression and then Steve was just like :( I never got married or had a house :( AND it would have made Steve and Tony’s “I don’t trust a guy without a dark side” “maybe you just haven’t seen it yet” interaction make more sense because in that moment Steve would be thinking he was personally responsible for his friend’s 70 years of torture but ALSO it would have better solidified Steve’s motivations in civil war. Like obviously it made sense anyway that he cared more about his lifelong best friend than these randos he met 2 years ago but like.. it would have been more intense if he was just coming off of that.
Just for reference, sliced bread was invented in 1928. - (x)
Welcome to the Stevebucky Meta Collection! Tumblr ate the first one, so guess what? I’m reposting it!
Please do me a favor and reblog it again if you had before, because the old reblogs are broken now :) This is fine :) Haha :)
And for future reference, this now has a permanent home on my blog here. Not making this mistake again.
If this post breaks somehow, please let me know!
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I posted this as a thread on Twitter (I’m @CharCubed over there), and by popular demand I brought it over to Tumblr.
The First Avenger (TFA), The Winter Soldier (TWS), Civil War (CW), and Infinity War (IW) were all written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Anthony and Joe Russo directed all except TFA (which was directed by Joe Johnston).
In a round-up of analysis, Im here to show how the work of the same team is very subtext-heavy.
Why? Because I want to.
Strong apologies to anyone on the app, because Tumblr might kill the formatting and “Keep Reading” break. If that happens, open it in a browser like Safari!
DISCLAIMER: This was never an “it’s gonna be canon!” post. No part of me ever expected that to happen. Consider this a collection of evidence that interpreting them romantically is no stretch, for the next time someone says “they’re BROTHERS, it isn’t GAY.”
ANOTHER DISCLAIMER: This is not a “stevebucky is the only valid ship” post. Ship what you want! Stevetony, samsteve, stevepeggy, sambucky, whatever floats your goats: valid. If anyone uses this post against other shippers I WILL physically fight them with my tiny fists.
Lastly, ASIDE FROM THE OBVIOUS & BLATANT THINGS INHERENT IN THE PLOTS… these are things that can be subtextually intended to be read through a romantic lens, or push the boundaries of believable platonic explanation.
This is analysis, not me waxing poetic.
Here we go!
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Hydra's absolutely ridiculous shackles for Steve Rogers