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thatscarletflycatcher · 8 months

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There's something that has been gnawing at me since I saw some comments on the look-how-they-massacred-them poll for Daniel Sousa -with which I didn't want to engage then and there because I really didn't want to pick up a fight with another Daniel fan, there's few enough of us, but also because the argument was very difficult to articulate.

It is difficult to explain how Daniel Sousa is screwed over by Endgame without making it look like either "he deserved Peggy as a prize" or "he was the perfect prize for Peggy", because it all begins by understanding the experience of WWII and the building of the morale of WWII. Something that Markus and McFeely seemed to perfectly understand in Agent Carter, which inclines me to believe it was specific insistence of the Russos, whose concept of narrative and storytelling is at the level of a belligerent and not very bright 4 year old, that gave us that mindblowingly stupid "happy ending" for Cap and Peggy. Or maybe Markus and McFeely are just arcane creatures, at times intelligent and at times really dumb. Anyways.

Point is that both CATFA and Agent Carter understand that for these characters, fighting WWII is a matter of "each doing their bit", of, as Steve put it in The Avengers, to lay on the barbed wire so the one that comes after you can pass on. And in the process of doing that, you have great loses and suffer great grief. The price of war is immense, and for these people the price of war is the price of freedom (yes, that celebrated Steve speech from CATWS is also sharing in that same spirit. It's kind of impressive how until that awful mess of Endgame, the perspective of Steve as a character from movie to movie is one that addresses how some 1940s things are outdated, but how many others are still relevant and inspiring. It is a surprisingly nuanced take on History, that of course the Russo "Cap is an outdated relic that belongs in the past and should stay there" brothers don't seem to have what's needed to grasp).

In that context, the most coherent tone for Steggy is tragedy. Because that is what happened to many, many, many people during the war. You meet, you fall in love fast, because there is no time. And then suddenly the other is gone, never to come back. And all the promises of youth and life and future the other person represented, are gone with them. People who lived through 2020-2022 have some idea of what it is like for projects, opportunities, and years of your life to just vanish. Now you make that five years, eight months, and to mention "just" the British, 1 out every 100 people live in 1939, dead, and over 350.000 permanently disabled. If you were 20 in 1939, your life would be practically on hold till you were 26. It's a whole lot of grief, and an intense grief, that you don't solve the way you solve a random missing connection in a romcom like Serendipity or The Lake House. Doing so is cheapening and bastardizing the grief and trauma of a whole generation of people in different countries.

So, Agent Carter. Here we have a story focused on a group of people, spies, who, in different fronts and with different outcomes, made it through the war and are now facing this new world they are living in, and all the grief of their respective losses. The focus of the story is Peggy, a woman who, like many others, was allowed a wide range of action during the war, and is now subconsiously perceived as a threat by many of her male coworkers. It's a desperate bid to "go back to the way things were before", and her presence is a constant reminder that they can't.

Sousa occupies a very similar position to Peggy's: he's also a reminder that the war happened and that there is no way back, no magic solution, no pretending. And that's why both are ignored, and displaced, and why both struggle to prove themselves in a subconscious way while living by the continued principle that they are doing their bit. That is their lifeline that keeps them sane and working all throughout s1 of Agent Carter.

That's what we mean when we say Peggy and Sousa are equals, and that Sousa is contented with letting her have the spot; not because he's her inferior or her dependant, but because he's her equal -in intelligence, in ideals, in resourcefulness, in loyalty, but also in their relative positions in the power ladder- and does not feel threatened by her because of it.

(It is in this context, btw, that Peggy's rebuke of Daniel's "rescue" of her in the first episode must be understood. Because she was once treated like any other officer/agent of her same rank, she has knee jerk reactions to both being demeaned and being protected. It's also an important theme of that beginning of the series that Peggy needs to learn to let her friends in, and that she needs their help, and that that doesn't make her too weak to protect and defend them.)

But also, in another way, when we talk about Sousa becoming Peggy's husband, it has to do with the sentiment Krezminsky expresses in the series:

The ship of Steggy had sailed and was gone forever since the moment Steve became the legend in the ice and Peggy "Cap's Girl", this embodiment of the ridiculous damsel in distress we hear in the radio drama that plays on one of the episodes: Peggy fell in love with Steve when he was a scrawny, sickly lad, because she loved the man he was inside, but now forever for the world she is just another superficial, weak girl lusting after the handsome godlike rescuer, the picture of the eugenic dream of the übermensch. In Daniel Peggy loves and finds all the same things she found and loved in Steve, but in a different light, because Sousa is a different person, with a different life story, plus something else: they have both gone through war and its loss and grief, and come to the other side in need of rebuilding and finding new meaning in life and hope for the future.

In a world where the Dark, Tall and Handsome Hero of the Six Pack, Alpha Dominance and Endless Stamina reigns supreme, Sousa as a love interest is a remarkable and -sadly- bold statement about the things that truly matter in finding one's life partner.

So I think here is a reasonable point to start talking about Sousa in Agents of SHIELD. Because here's where someone would rationally say "well, but you see, there he's also chosen as a love interest!", and the reasons why context in AoS changes everything are multiple, so let's go there.

But before that, let me make clear that I do wholeheartedly believe the writers of AoS meant to honor Sousa, and sincerely tried to do their best with what they were given. That doesn't change what the end product ended up doing and saying about him.

Like Peggy is the main character of Agent Carter, so Daisy is the main character of Agents of SHIELD. As much as you can say all the team characters are important and get the focus, Daisy is the one which the narrative insists on making the focal point, as the arcs of several seasons hinge on her, and we are expected to sympathize with her first and foremost in any situation in which she is personally involved. But unlike Peggy, Daisy is a superpowered individual. She's more like Steve than Peggy; she's practically a demigod. She is capable of ripping Earth apart with just her hands. Where Peggy and Sousa were equals in the power ladder in-universe, in AoS the distance between Daisy and Sousa is abysmal. That imbalance is the first thing that leads to Sousa being put in the position of Daisy's Boy. The fact that he ends up in space with Daisy's last minute sister who is ALSO an inhuman does not help things.

As a side note, there's something to be said about futuristic prosthetics in AoS and how they interesect with disability. But I'd rather not get into it because it is a thorny subject and I don't feel qualified to speak of it.

In a different way, Daniel being Peggy's love interest in Agent Carter is balanced out by his having a life of his own and many interactions with other characters throughout the series. He pursues his own lines of investigation, he conducts interrogations of his own, he comes up with plans, he teams up with Krezminsky and with Thompson and in s2 he has downright made a life for himself as chief in California with a fiancé and all. There is a clear sense that he exists as a character outside of pining for Peggy.

In AoS, the opposite happens. Part of it is owed to the writers writing themselves into a corner: to take Sousa out of his timeline, they have to do it in such a way that his disappearance is inconspicuous, which means killing him. They do it the best way they can think of, honoring his alertness and intelligence, by making him realize HYDRA is infiltrated in SHIELD decades before anyone else does. But as a consequence, Sousa becomes the man out of time: there's no future for him, because he has died, and unlike Steve, he's not being brought back because he himself is required. They just save him because they take pity on him and the tragedy of his life. So he has no mission and no significant previous connection with anyone on the team. One of the concrete things in which this is evidenced the most is with the switch from being addressed as chief Sousa to Agent Sousa. He was chief, but between that SHIELD and this SHIELD there's not such a connection by which he can claim that title. There's no subordinates to manage. So he's sort of default-called agent without really being a proper agent.

So the writers choose the fish-out-of-water concept for him. Which is far fetched. This guy lived through wwii in a high spy setting where intelligence has knowledge of powerful interstellar aliens. He's most definitely not bewildered by phone cameras, guys. He would quickly adapt... if, again, you know, he was brought back for a mission. But the reality is that from a Doylist POV, he was brought in to be Daisy's love interest, and the only thing he can offer to her, in this huge power imbalance I have pointed out, is chivalrous manners and quaint WWII style references like when he tells her "Agent Johnson, we are going home"; both can be very charming to a modern woman, but they are things that highlight the cultural and psychological distances that separate them, and make it glaringly obvious that they have barely anything in common.

The series tries desperately to give them common ground in the time-loop episode, with this idea that Daisy is like Peggy because she sacrifices herself for others and to protect others all the time. Which is laughable because, again, in Daisy's condition of beloved main character that embodies the tortured, quasi byronic heroine that we understand to be the hallmark of about one half of the contemporary superhero type, the narrative and the characters in it bend all sorts of ways to accommodate her, not the other way around. Peggy's type is different because it is rooted in that WWII morale/frame I was talking about at the beginning of the post.

As a consequence of all of this, Sousa barely interacts with anyone that isn't Daisy (he has of personal scenes, what? one or two with Coulson, the scene where Jemma gives him a new prosthetic, and then he's given an idea to give to Mac in the finale. I don't remember any other non-Daisy ones), has no unique role to fulfill in the mission (specially because so much of the plan is entwined in Fitz and Jemma's rescue plan that was NOT counting with Sousa) and no personal goal to achieve, which weakens his standing as a character outside the romance plot, and when it comes to the romance plot, he has nothing in common with Daisy, and he brings nothing to the partnership other than... narratively forced love, and chivalrousness.

In the end, Daniel, who was a character and a person of relevance in Agent Carter, is nerfed and turned into a prop for the rushed happily ever after of the main character of AoS. And that, in my books, is being screwed over. That's what makes his becoming Peggy's husband and building a life and a future with her a much better and more preferable outcome for Daniel; he gets to build a life of meaning by his own significant work and significant connections, in his own time and place, with a wife who is his equal and with other people that have lived through the same collective experiences of trauma and grief he did.

#Daniel Sousa #Agent Carter #AoS #meta #peggysous

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doctorhelena · 3 months

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Do you have any underrated/hidden gem Steggy fic recs?

Hey Anon!

I decided not to overthink the definition of "underrated/hidden gem", and just picked 12 random Steggy fics that I love and I thought it was possible people might not have read!

So, hopefully at least some of these excellent Steggy fics are new to you! (Descriptions in italics are the authors' own summaries from AO3.)

dream (when the day is through) by @somewhereapart Steve wakes from yet another nightmare of the Battle of Wakanda. Peggy tries to ease his mind—and give him an outlet to burn off his post-dream-battle jitters. Post-Endgame.

An Unexpected Detour on the Way to Saving the World by @eliza49-7190 Tony Stark and Steve Rogers do not find the Tesseract in 1970 and are forced to travel to 1949 to look for it. There they accidentally encounter Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis. Meanwhile, Dottie Underwood has kidnapped Daniel Sousa and Jack Thompson, planning to lure Peggy to her, so that she can share some devastating news. Steve is thrilled at the idea of helping Peggy solve her case. Tony keeps reminding him that they need to get on with saving the universe.

What the Next Moment Brings by agentofvalue Peggy had a secret when Steve's plane went down and now she's just trying to hold onto control of her life.

Make it Better by TooManyBattles (Skarabrae_stone) After Dr. Erskine is killed, Steve comforts Peggy.

and don't you dare be late by irnan or, Peggy Carter is accidentally sent time-travelling by mind-controlled rogue Nazi secret agents. (If anyone ever asked, honesty would compel her to admit that this is probably not the strangest thing to ever happen to her; those come after the time travel.)

Burning with a Deadly Heat by @amuseoffyre Howard Stark never stopped looking for Captain America, but no one ever expected Stark to find him.

One Single Yesterday by cassandraoftroy Presented with an opportunity to travel anywhere in space and time with the Doctor, Steve returns to the 1940s to make his date with Peggy. Their fates may lie in different centuries, but Peggy and Steve are determined to make the most of the opportunity they have been given to be with one another again, for however long their time-traveling adventure may last.

Sleepers of Ephesus by Domenika Marzione (domarzione) Note: this is unfinished, but still very much worth the read! Peggy Carter is far from home.

Keep Right On To The End of The Road by NyxEtoile, OlivesAwl Note: this has two sequels which are also great! The whole series is called The Captain America Adventure Hour As they ran down the hall, Steve said, "You picked up a girl. As a POW." "What's that thing your mom used to say? God looks after drunks and good Irish boys." "Unbelievable," he muttered.

lovers alone wear sunlight by CoraClavia In a poetic place, in a non-poetic way, Steve does something sweet.

I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire by bookishandi Note: this is unfinished, but still very much worth the read! There's over 18 months between the afternoon Erskine recruits on Steve Rogers and the day he kisses Peggy Carter goodbye. This is my attempt to fill in the blanks.

Metamorphoses by @amuseoffyre Note: this is unfinished, but still very much worth the read! Sometimes, when changes come, they do not always come at once.

(And, if anyone who sees this knows the tumblrs of any of the authors in this list I haven't tagged, please let me know!)

#asks #answered #fic recs #steggy #hope at least one of these is a new delight to you anon!

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mobypecker · 6 months

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Absolutely tragic to me that Peggy Carter got dwindled down to a love interest.

Like! She had her shit figured out. And when she was with Sousa it was her show and her story and he didn't overshadow her. And this isn't an anti Steve rant I just don't like Steggy lmao

They were adorable in theory! And the time they had together was super important for both of them, but Steve going back in time to be with her was stupid

She had her shit figured out and the 1940s wasn't his place anymore, post now 🫡

#anti steggy

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sallyandthefandommachine · 8 months

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Guess who finally made a steggy playlist?

It's a mix of late 1930s, 1940s, and early 1940s music as well as modern music that may have played when Steve was in 2011-2023, or if you headcanon that Steve and Peggy came back to 2023 together around the ages that they would have been in 1949 (like I do)

#steggy #steggy playlist #steve x peggy #peggy carter #steve rogers #what if #Spotify

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pancreasnostalgia · 24 days

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Years ago when I first made my Agent Carter costume, I bought makeup to go with it. It was a mix of items inspired by the show, and ones that Hayley Atwell mentioned using as Peggy.

The only missing piece was the 1940 perfume from Bésame’s Decades of Fragrance line. At the time I skipped it because perfume isn’t visible on the body, and the Agent Carter makeup was very expensive on eBay.

A few days ago I saw that Bésame was having a sale, so I decided to try 1940 out. The scent definitely reminds me of Chanel No. 5 and other old fashioned perfumes. It’s not the sort of thing I would wear on a daily basis (especially since work is fragrance free), but I can see myself using it for special occasions. Luckily it’s just the right size for my Steggy shelf.

#agent carter #peggy carter #marvel #captain america #besame #perfume #fragrance

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steverogersandpeggycarter · 1 year

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First Line Tag Game

Rules: post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to ao3. If you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics.

Thanks to @melliabee for tagging me! :D All my fics thus far are for Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter, so here’s a lot of Steggy. #3 and #9 are almost identical, haha!

1. West Coast Sleuthing: “When Howard Stark learned that Steve Rogers had inexplicably returned from the dead—giving a wild explanation about the future and time travel, and, maddeningly, refusing to tell Howard how the time travel worked—and that Rogers and Peggy Carter were planning to get married ASAP, he gave himself a rather severe sore throat shouting questions over the telephone.”

2. A 1940s Englishwoman in Modern NYC: “It was Howard Stark’s idea to build the time machine.”

3. Friendly Neighborhood Superheroes: “It had been a long, hot day.”

4. The Mysterious Love Life of America’s Golden Boy: “Hey, Cap, did you see the article about your love life?”

5. Washday Blues: “One of the best things about the 21st century was the modern washing machine.”

6. Aboard the Compass: “Tired and sore and somewhat out of breath, Steve Rogers walked alongside Boston Harbor.”

7. The Car Ride: “Steve Rogers was absolutely, utterly content.”

8. That’s Classified Information: “It was an ordinary Tuesday in May of 1949 when Colonel Phillips got the strangest phone call of his life.”

9. The Secret Agent and the Super Soldier: “It had been a long day.”

10. Wartime Valentine: “It all started because Bucky and Dugan got put on KP at the same time.”

Anyone else who wants to play, consider yourself tagged! :D

#steggy #tag game #steggy fanfiction

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teaandatale · 2 years

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Last day of April check in @steggyfanevents! I have not been able to complete my #steggyfanficchallenge like I expected but I did manage 4 bingos!

I didn’t realize how much I never got around to reading while fighting with my own writing muse, but I tried to really widen my reading and hope to continue it on. I also planned to leave comments on every fic, and a few of you are still owed some AO3 comments from me ASAP 😉

I have tried to tag everyone’s tumblr I could find below. If you haven’t been tagged and see your fic, feel free to let me know to tag you.

Less than 10k Words

Five Times Steve Did Not Realize Someone Was Trying To Pick Him Up (And One Time He Did) by @buckywiththegoodhair86

Comments: A great use of the 5+1 fic trope, where the different situations are written with so much humor and pitch perfect voices.

Baby Fic

Build Ourselves Together by fluffernutter8 / @theawkwardterrier

Comments: An incredibly thoughtful, warm, and fun Modern AU where Steve and Peggy have an odd meetcute that turns into a wonderful show of love and community.

“Best Girl”

There is nothing for me but to love you by AnaRose

Comments: This may be an unfinished fic, but it doesn’t leave you on a cliff hanger, and provides a lovely chance for Steve & Peggy to get their dance.

Multichapter Fic

Stork Sweet Shoppe by CapandCarter

Comments: An incredibly fun AU where Peggy goes to visit her Aunt in Brooklyn for the summer and befriends Steve throughout their childhood and beyond.

Mutual Pining

A HUGE misunderstanding by @captainjimothycarter

Comments: A lovely little one-shot where both Steve and Peggy are pining idiots

Post-Canon

The Competition by KorrohShipper

Comments: Steve and Peggy one up each for the significant days in their lives, because they got their second chance, and it’s worth living live to the fullest.

Published in 2021 or later

That Red Dress by @elzibub

Comments: A lovely one-shot revisiting our favorite pub scene in CA:TFA

Skinny Steve

Lightning Strike by Brenda / @brendaonao3

Comments: A Skinny Steve & Peggy meetcute that is both sweet and very fitting of their characters.

Letters

so I wait for you like a lonely house by @whilewewereyetsinners

Comments: Tony Stark hatches a plan, Natasha is impressed by a 1940s SSR Agent, Howard writes a faithful (if perhaps poorly judged) letter, and a lovely Steggy reunion of course.

Contains Your Favorite Trope – “Childhood Friends to Lovers + Long Distance Pining”

a mighty ocean or a gentle kiss by @avengeclintasha

Comments: An absolute lovely use of parallel stories, with an equally lovely sequel.

First Kiss

Let Me Take Care of You by @rachlovesligers

Comments: *NOTE* I took a different take on First Kiss so please note this fic is rated E. But it is sensual and breathtaking, and just chef’s kiss.

30k+ Word Length

Just One Thing by includewomeninthesequel / @cafecitowriter

Comments: 13 Going on 30 but Steggy, and it not only meets that RomCom genre to perfection, but makes some Steggy specific changes that make it even more enjoyable.

Contains Your Favorite AU – “Modern AU”

singing in the rain by hesthedevilinpink

Comments: A very cute one-shot with a meetcute between Steve and Peggy that is a dream.

Enemies to Lovers

Merger by @beautifulwhensarcastic

Comments: I mean can you get any more sexual tension than between business rivals that are clearly really into each other?! Very fun and very sexy Modern AU.

New To You Author

The Holly and the Ivy and the Supersoldier Santa by @pineau-noir

Comments: If you need some Christmas spirit in April, you can’t get a much better visual than Steve dressed as Santa during WWII.

Europe

Lucerne by @doctorhelena

Comments: A fic I read before I was active on AO3, so I forgot how much I loved this. It is a perfect story for some fondue!

Agent Carter

The Next Guy by @roboticonography

Comments: Another fic I must have read a million times just about the time I started getting active on AO3. This is an incredible continuation of post AC Season 2, and has personally been very inspiring to me.

Coney Island

Goodbye, Dreamland by @littlereyofsunlight

Comments: If you need to feel like you can feel sea water, sunshine and summer, this fic will transport you there! A lovely piece about a trip to Coney Island, that manages to be a dream while staying very firmly rooted in reality.

Fix-it Fic

A Second Chance At Keeping Him Safe by @buckywiththegoodhair86

Comments: One of the comments on this fic was along the lines of “ooh Steve is the damsel in distress” and yes you need that in your life, and yes it is worth it. Truly a lovely bit of hurt/comfort full of my favorite Howlies.

#steggyfanficchallenge #fic recs #steggy #long post #reading bingo #i tried my very best to finish before april but such is life

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ao3feed-steggy · 3 months

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The Courtship of Peggy Carter

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/B6fJOLY by winterfool When Steve returns to the 1940s, he knows he wants to be with Peggy, but he can't help but worry about how the years they have both lived through have changed them - so he proposes that they start dating and get to know each other again. But Peggy has her own ideas about how their courtship will go, and is a woman determined to get what she wants. Namely Steve. In her bed. Sooner than he seems to be planning to get there. Words: 5325, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, Angie Martinelli, Howard Stark Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers Additional Tags: Steggy Secret Santa, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Romance, Light Angst, Fluff and Smut, basically steve trying to go slow and woo peggy properly, while peggy just wants to get to the sexy part, it's a game of courtship vs seduction, and all the shenanigans that implies read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/B6fJOLY

#ao3feed #steggy #steggy fic

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userpeggycarter · 5 months

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Ho ho ho and hello there! Tis I, your Steggy Secret Santa! I hope you're doing okay? Apologies for taking a while to drop by and say hi but things have been busy up in the North Pole. Thank you so much for the letter and suggests, that's been really helpful as a jumping point for working on your gift. I do have a couple of questions: if you had to rank TFA era, post-Endgame canon, modern au, historical au, what would your preferenc be? And what are your favourite things about Steve and Peggy?

hi! it's okay for the delay and it's my turn to say sorry to taking a bit of time to respond 🙈 and i'm glad the letter helped, i was worried it was overwhelming/too demanding!

ranking about the settings, i guess it all depends on the fic's (if it is a fic that is) idea, but if i had to rank them it would be (under the cut):

Post-Endgame

War Era

Modern AU

Historical AU

an observation while i ranked Modern AU above a historical one, a historical fic that doesn't follow canon but it's still set in the 1940s an/or forward would rank higher than a Modern AU fic. does that make sense? i guess it depends on what "historical fic" means to you and to me... like, the 1940s isn't the present day for us, but it is for the characters 🤔

favorite things girlboss/malewife (half joking here, i like the gender subversion, ie Steve is more in tune with his emotions and soft-spoken while Peggy is the opposite).

i like they understand each other very well; they're kindred spirits and like-minded. soulmates as in twin souls, you know what i mean? 😍

they believe in each other's potential and those beliefs grant them the strength to be the hero they can be ("you're my hero", "you're my hero too"). they're also each other's mentors and inspirations.

(one of) their biggest qualities complement their flaws (Peggy is confident but emotionally distant; Steve is insecure but wears his heart on his sleeve, etc), so together they're the best version of themselves they can be.

i love the drama of it all too, from losing each other to living with the remorse of an unlived life (especially after 2011), to Peggy having Alzheimer's to finally having to bury each other. 😭😘👌

i really liked the shy guy/flirty woman dynamic they had in CATFA, but also the (probable) evolution of that when Steve returns post-Endgame, now that he got game 😎🤣 even if it's not that much game...

the historical aspect of their canon and their time-appropriate quirks are fun too, like, modern!Steggy (in canon or not) behaves differently than 1940s!Steggy... i would describe it as their "old-fashioned ways" but that sounds so bigoted and they're absolutely not 😝😩

also, battle couple. love me some battle couples ❤️

i hope this helps! if it doesn't, at least not completely, feel free to contact me again! it's no bother 🥰

thank you and i'm looking forward to your gift! ❤️

#type: ask #Anonymous #steggysecretsanta

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