#that's established in catws. literally everything.

[bedlamsbard]

CATWS really does become retroactively a worse movie, not through any fault of its own, but because the MCU systematically blew up every single thing in it, only occasionally literally.  I can’t think of a single element introduced or established in CATWS that didn’t get torched by the MCU somewhere down the line, up to and including whether Nick Fury still has an eyeball.

#my feelings about captain marvel are that as an individual movie it's fine but it retcons literally everything about fury's backstory #that's established in catws. literally everything. #the hell was that. #sam doing mercenary work in fatws sits really poorly with me too #oh sorry 'military contractor' i think is the polite term #bedlam watches the mcu

[luna-rainbow]

I posted 778 times in 2022

185 posts created (24%)

593 posts reblogged (76%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@possibleplatypus

@feralgoblintea

@valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn

@musette22

@olderthannetfic

I tagged 711 of my posts in 2022

Only 9% of my posts had no tags

#bucky barnes - 163 posts

#steve rogers - 128 posts

#asks - 92 posts

#stucky - 86 posts

#anti mcu - 65 posts

#sebastian stan - 64 posts

#tfatws critical - 39 posts

#stucky meta - 38 posts

#anti peggy carter - 37 posts

#lol post - 32 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#all the redemption came from him trying to patch up shit that the plot pinned on him to do when it patently didn't make any logical sense

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Just here thinking “even when I had nothing, I had Bucky” is literally “Bucky was my everything”, and so on the Helicarrier Steve gives up everything he now has — his job, his reputation, the mask, the shield, the title, and almost his life — to get Bucky back because that’s how much Bucky is worth.

627 notes - Posted July 25, 2022

#4

You know how the CACW quinjet conversation that’s always been mocked as forced heteronormativity? I’m sure that was the intention but I just remembered something.

Bucky: Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone on Coney Island?

Steve: Yeah, and I threw up?

Bucky: This isn't payback, is it?

Steve: Now why would I do that?

See the full post

655 notes - Posted March 11, 2022

#3

There is something to be said about the way Steve and Bucky communicates with each other in the Captain America movies. The way they are so consistent and unvarying, as though they had tread the same ground with each other hundreds of times before and resolved every argument this way, because they all take the proforma of:

Steve: “stupid idea” Bucky: “that’s a stupid idea!” Steve: 🥺 Bucky: “UGH FINE!”

In the first act of the first movie, this conversation format is introduced in their very first disagreement, and establishes the way their dynamic is defined throughout the next 70 years.

Steve: I’m joining the army. Bucky: This isn’t a back alley, Steve, it’s war!! Steve: 🥺 Bucky: UGH. DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID UNTIL I GET BACK.

Their relationship is put to the trial through the fires of the battlefield, but their communication style remains steadfast and faithful to their origins.

Steve: Are you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death? Bucky: Hell no. Steve: 🥺 Bucky: ONLY IF YOU KEEP THE TIGHTS.

As we come to CATWS, despite the intervening 70 years, their first verbal exchange falls back into the familiar rote, almost as if they had never parted a day. Importantly though, it is this very dynamic that jolts Bucky's memory.

Steve: Bucky? Bucky: Who the hell is Bucky? Steve: 🥺 Bucky: HUH. I KNEW HIM. Hydra goons: NO YOU DON'T. Someone go check that warranty on the brainwashing.

During the climatic confrontation in this movie, with the fate of the world weighing on his shoulders, Steve reaches for the same reassuring conversation technique to find a connection with the man before him...and he succeeds.

Steve: You’re my friend! Bucky: You’re my mission! Steve: 🥺 Bucky: ............🥺🥺🥺

And last but not the least! After a series of tumultuous events, during a time of great unrest and distrust, when even Steve seemed to doubt what Bucky was capable of, Bucky instinctively reaches for the same conversational tone to allay Steve's fears and regain Steve's faith in him.

Bucky: Steve...? Steve: Which Bucky am I talking to? Bucky: 🥺 Steve: 😌 Can't read that in a museum Sam: STEVE. What happened to keeping your head straight? To staying rational? To not being swayed by sentiment?! Steve: 🥺 Sam: THAT DOESN'T WORK ON ME. Steve + Bucky: 🥺🥺 Sam: ..........UGH.

661 notes - Posted April 28, 2022

#2

Every now and then I think about how lucky CATFA was written in the early 2010s when it wasn’t considered cringe to believe in goodness and kindness. How it gave us Steve and Bucky passionately arguing but the closest thing Bucky said to being hurtful was “right, and you’ve got nothing to prove”. He never once referenced Steve’s small stature or ill health. He never told Steve that he was chasing an empty dream because of his health records, only that he might get caught “or worse” recruited. He never mocked Steve for being overwhelmed by the size of his opponents, only teased him about his tenacity for not running away or giving up. His frustration was never because he thought Steve was not good enough, but because he wanted Steve to stay safe. Regardless of how you choose to interpret their love, there was never any doubt that Steve loved Bucky and Bucky loved Steve, even if those words were not said out loud, because the way they interacted spoke of mutual respect and affection and loyalty.

I loved when love wasn’t about how much two people could hurt each other and still be forgiven, but it was about two people who did everything to soften the harshness of the world because of how much they wanted the best for each other.

874 notes - Posted November 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Bringing this back because there is still confusion: Bucky is not responsible for the crimes of the Winter Soldier. The analogy is not “if you lost control of your car and killed someone you still need to be responsible for what your car caused”. It is not “if you’re a soldier who followed orders you still need to be responsible for the life you took”. Bucky was not distracted or indoctrinated. He was induced into a state where he had no idea who he was, could barely recall what he did, and where “he will do anything you tell him to”.

The correct analogy is “if someone hijacked your car, tied you up and locked you in the trunk, then drove your car into people, you are not held responsible for what happened to the victims because you were as much a victim as they are”. Yes, maybe you will feel guilty for not putting up enough of a fight, or for not killing the hijacker when you thought you had a chance. But you should be told by your good therapist that while your guilt is a natural reaction of a good person, it wasn’t your fault and you should not make contact with the other victims on your own, much less apologise on behalf of the people who hijacked your car.

I hope that’s how you get treated in the real world anyway.

(Edit: small correction on the wording of one of the analogies)

1,055 notes - Posted April 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

Honourable mention (tbh I think this one got the most notifications)

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #trust tumblr app to glitch when trying to get to hear in review #stucky #bucky barnes #steve rogers

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

@cosmicmechanism reblogged your post “@ivywing​ replied to your post “Captain America:...”

#they definitely flubbed the analogy by making Steve blame Nick Fury for Hydra being inside of SHIELD #I mean it’s pretty obviously intentional #it’s very difficult to see it not be that way #but this is why I’m critical of the existence of characters like Peggy and Sharon in the comics and the MCU #and why they use Captain America/Steve Rogers of all people to fall in love with them #reading the comics it’s very easy to understand why Sharon was brought into Steve’s life in the 60’s and again in 2004 #it’s reflective of the eras in which this relationship happened #and how Steve could be used to gain the trust of the people (and readers) who believe in him #in this decade however it’s interesting #we can criticize these institutions but there’s a huge gap between that criticism and the characters who represent them #you get called a misogynist for pointing out what they do in the story #that’s playing into the hands of the creators who have an agenda with the characters #Peggy and Sharon represent these institutions #they’re not just female characters who are ‘badass’ #(have I mentioned how much I’m beginning to resent the word ‘badass’? #it’s more often than not being used to describe a female character who has not been fleshed out when they’re either just standing there #or in a badly choreographed fight scene that was designed for them to win despite everything #it’s beginning to seem cheap and weirdly sexist) #they are allegories of the system itself #and having a very anti-establishment character literally get in bed with them sends a message #it’s up to you to figure out what that message is #(and also can we remember where Sharon ends up at the end of CATWS? it’s important) #steve rogers #+.+

There is absolutely something insidious in the fact that the Black man faces consequences and needs to actively work to fix his mistakes, including passing the leadership onto someone else (a white man). The white woman is badass and attractive and wears red lipstick so *crickets*

Of course the female characters are written in a sexist way but I think some people are still stuck in the “Sakura is a bitch” era and don’t realize that nowadays when we criticize a female character we can actually see she’s fictional and a person (man) is writing her.

#(and also can we remember where Sharon ends up at the end of CATWS? it’s important)

Oh, and that. Yep.

#mcu

[arrowedavenger]

💕

Send 💕 (or “hearts!” if the symbol doesn’t show up) and I’ll fill out the following for our muses:

Have we discussed shipping before?: yes || no

My interest level overall: I’ve wanted this for so long (we’ve been building them up to this for literal months JUST ADMIT YOU’RE IN LOVE ALREADY YOU DUMB BUTTS) || can’t wait || I think it’ll be fun || kinda feeling it || maybe with a lot of plotting || I need to think about it || not interested, sorry

How we should do this: jump right in || slow burn || pre-established || build up to it in a thread || anything goes (with your Bucky, everything is magic xD no but seriously, every dynamic we’ve got for them so far is gold, so any others you want to add are completely fine by me!)

Dynamics I want to try out with our ship: friends to lovers (already happening) || rivals to lovers (idk in an AU?) || enemies to lovers (lmao in MCU maybe if Clint was in CATWS) || mutual pining (already happening) || battle couple (already happening) || childhood friends (imagine them meeting as teenies ahhh) || high school sweethearts (weird quirky new kid meets the nerdy bff of the soccer captain and has an existential crisis lmao) || star crossed lovers (WE HAVE ENOUGH ANGST) || long time lovers (aww) || old married couple (AWW) || newlyweds (I mean we might be there soon in that AU) || sickeningly sweet couple (that AU AGAIN) || secret lovers (okay actually this has a lot of great angst potential lol) || fake dating/marriage (always a fan of this trope oops) || best friends hiding their feelings (a world in which Clint & Nat aren’t best friends and Bucky & Steve aren’t best friends offends me lol) || arranged marriage (I had thinky thoughts about this and what if one of them was actually supposed to be in an arranged marriage to someone else but then fell in love with the other one instead!! ooooo) || soulmates (I have so many soulmate AUs I wanna try) || other (......just throw something at me, you know it’ll be great)

#meme reply; #whoops this is a love letter to Them #lostsouldier

[terastallized]

i actually liked/am more emotionally attached to catfa than catws (wasnt able to see catws in theaters so i saw it years later after everyone was done talking about it and i love it!!! but idk catfa just has more sentimental value to me) so like as a catfa stan i just wanna say even going from catfa directly to endgame doesnt make the movie make sense from Steve’s POV

so you have preserum steve who tries to enlist 5 times because “there are men laying down their lives i got no right to do any less than them” which shows that he is not content with staying in the sidelines, he argues about it with bucky! it establishes his core characteristics, along with:

“I don’t like bullies I don’t care where they’re from” - combined with the above, it means he will always do the right thing and the right thing is standing up to injustices no matter who’s committing them

“did you have something against running away” “you start running they never let you stop” - he will always face the problem head on

and “i can do this all day” but people have talked about it a lot already so im going to focus on the first two points

of course he shouldn’t be expected to fight all his life, he deserves retirement BUT living in the past isn’t retirement, instead it shows steve running away from the present. if you go by the russos explanation he escapes to an alternate universe where everything is alright and literally leaves everyone else to deal with the consequences of a post-snap world. just because he’s tired and doesn’t want to deal with it???? idk by that logic everyone should be able to break the rules of time travel to run away to an alternate universe where everything is fine it’s just that steve was the only one who got the opportunity to do it. anyway the bottom line is steve ran away

and not only that, he chose to live in the past knowing that he’s not allowed to interfere with anything. it means he’s literally living in the sidelines for 70+ years, that’s he’s content to just sit and watch tragedies and big world changing events and just so much death and NOT do anything about it at all. im not saying that he should be in the thick of it and save everyone, im saying that he willingly chose to put himself in circumstances that don’t allow him to interfere. he’s ok with doing nothing about 70+ years of injustices happening right in front of him

if steve rogers really was that man at the end of endgame he never would have become captain america in the first place because he wouldn’t have tried to enlist multiple times and been on esrkine’s radar, who btw specifically said “it’s not the exams that interest me, it’s the five tries”

idk it just feels like people who say catfa supports the endgame ending literally only watched the scenes with peggy in them and ignored everything else lol. anyway just wanted to say that catfa establishes steve’s core characteristics and endgame betrayed that in the worst possible way (ALSO had steve said hail hydra. it wasn’t ok in the hydra!cap comics a few years ago, it’s not ok now and NEVER will be ok)

#sorry im pretty sure i said some of this before and other people have probably also said similar things too but #i will not tolerate catfa slander #just because it's the only movie with any explicitly romantic steggy scenes doesnt mean that it makes the steggy endgame ending makes sense #*make sense #anti endgame #sorry for ranting again lol but i had to let it out #also sorry but endgame ruined steggy for me it just sucked all the emotion out of it now it's literally bland 50s nuclear family bullshit #sorry for ranting again because im kind of repeating myself i've made like three other posts about this #anyway yeah #will not make anymore anti endgame posts today i've said enough

[jaytodd1129]

Endgame spoilers ahead!

The problem that I have with the Endgame ending is not that he abandoned Bucky. I actually don’t happen to think he did. Steve has given literally everything for Bucky at this point. And he knows Bucky doesn’t need him as he did before. He knows he’s mentally stable, that he has Sam and a whole support system and that he will do just fine. He knows he’s free and nobody is going to come after him. I actually found it kind of awesome that he makes a decision for himself for once, instead of putting anyone or anything above his own wishes. Like, honestly, you do you baby you deserve it.

...my problem is that I feel like him going back to the past and reliving that life goes against what the character of Steve has been building up to, specially after CATWS. Which was that Steve wasn’t the same man he was all those years back. What happened to him changed him. It changed the way he thought of authorative figures and the way he saw the world. To me that made him 1000 times more interesting as a character.

As a matter of fact, one of the most iconic CATWS lines came from Peggy herself: “All we can do is our best, and sometimes, the best that we can do, is to start over.” That was the jist of Steve’s arc for me. That he started as this guy so hung up on what could’ve been, he wouldn’t allow himself to be happy, but then when he realizes Bucky is still alive, that gives him a reason to look forward instead of back.

I’ve always thought of both Bucky and Peggy as the two loves of Steve’s life (whether it’s romantic in nature or not). And so, I’ve always thought of both of them as having equal importance. However, I’ve also always thought that Peggy was Steve’s past. Bucky is his future. Cause Steve and Peggy had their time. It was short-lived, yes, and it was unfair that they had such little time. But they had it. And then Peggy went on and married, had kids and got to lead a long, fulfilling life. 

Steve and Bucky never had that chance. It was taken away from both of them.

So to me, it just seemed like a natural next step to get them to have that chance now. Make them realize they’d rather deal with this life instead of looking back at the one they lost.

Idk. I still prefer this ending to him dying, because that would’ve been an insult to him in my opinion. Like.. at least he got to retire and be in love and be happy (which is what I wanted for him anyway, I just never imagined it would be like this). For a character like Steve who keeps giving and giving and giving to also get his life taken for The Cause would’ve been way to bleak and tragic. 

I just feel like him going back to do all that in the past also goes back a bit on what they’ve already established for his character. But, meh. Who cares anyway? We’ll always have AO3 amiright?

#avengers endgame spoilers #endgame spoilers #steve rogers #bucky barnes #stucky #peggy carter #steggy #I mean.. we've already rewritten all of aou and civil war and even infinity war in some instances on ao3 #we can also make it happen for this

[bieddiediaz]

endgame thoughts (spoilers!!)

the good

this movie was perfect fanservice. it was the most beautiful way to end the past 11 years of the mcu. it paid homage to the fans who had stuck by it through iron man (the clanging of tony’s hammer after the credits!!! the start of the mcu and the end of an era) to the snap, through twenty two movies. the entire sequence of everyone going back in time was for us, for the fans who had kept it going - the first avengers (i’ll have that drink now), hail hydra (that was so clever, honestly), frigga!!!, gamora and nebula as sisters!

clint and natasha again! this was the first time they showed their relationship properly since avengers 1, and by god did they do it justice. also! nat choosing to sacrifice herself! the agency!! this movie was honestly peak natasha and i t  b r o k e  m e.

tony calling everyone out on not listening to him! honestly, i was satisfied with thanos has been inside my head for six years because i never thought we’d get better. but! this was. ultimate. validation. purely c a t h a r t i c

nebula. nebula my love. nebula telling her past self that she can and does get better! the torture stops! nebula telling gamora that they become sisters! i died. i honestly wanted nebula to kill thanos (because i maintain that she deserved it most) but i’m okay with how it turned out. because nebula healed. before the snap, she found a family with the guardians. with gamora. after the snap - nebula and tony! tony showing her the gentleness that thanos never did. tony teaching her games like a father should his daughter! having nicknames for her! her dressing him and putting him into the seat when she though he was about to die k i l l e d me. also - nebula and rhodey! nebula being comfortable enough with him to call him rhodey. them bonding over being broken!!! perfect victim survival story. i love nebula okay

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE. i have been waiting for this line since aou. steve getting ready to face thanos alone! with a broken shield! the avengers - all the avengers - as a team. against thanos. what they should have been the first time. such 616 feels

i know people are upset carol didn’t have more screentime, but i wasn’t that bothered by it honestly. this wasn’t her moment to shine. her story is just starting. this movie is homage to the heroes we’ve known for ten years, to tony and steve and natasha and clint and bruce and thor, whose stories are closing. they deserved to be the ones who saved the universe. this movie was theirs.

special mention for carol’s comics-esque lesbian haircut.

scott and cassie single-handedly broke my heart and healed it back together again.

sam being the new cap! it’s everything he deserves! (i do what he does, only slower)

and

and

of course

tony

tony stark

tony my love. tony my boy. i love you 3000 okay. you were the shining star of this movie. you are the shining star of my life.

how do i even begin to describe this. tony’s arc was perfect. (i once though cacw was peak tony, and then i thought iw was peak tony, but this movie outdid them all)

of course i’m mad that he died. i don’t think there’s a universe where tony stark deserves to die. tony stark, the futurist, the heart and soul of the mcu, deserves to live. with pepper and peter and morgan and rhodey. he deserves all the happiness in the world.

but

if they had to kill him, if i had to pick one way for tony to die, i couldn’t have picked a better one. he died saving the entire fucking universe. they were losing. thanos had the gauntlet. tony is the reason they won. tony wielded the fucking gauntlet. tony killing thanos and his army (tony dusting thanos!) the same way thanos killed trillions of people - also extreme catharsis. tony stark couldn’t protect the universe, but he damn well avenged it. (tony stans, we got ultimate validation. anyone who dares say tony is selfish or tHe reAl vILLaIn oF tHe mCu now is completely invalid.)

tony being bitter about being right! all this time (a suit of armour around the world), and no one listening to him when he tried to warn them. tony realising they lost because they were split apart (i needed you and you weren’t here. liar.). he found his second chance with morgan and pepper. he didn’t jump back into the fray because his ~teammates asked him to, but because he had a chance to save everyone. to save peter. peak. selfless. tony. stark. tony forgiving steve (giving him the shield that he! made!!) because he knew they had to do this together. i was afraid it would happen too quickly, or the stevetony conflict would be brushed under the rug for ~universe reasons, but they handled it really well. it took five years of moving on and healing for them to reconcile. steve trusting tony (since steve not trusting tony was the thing that started the entire shitshow in the first place) and tony forgiving steve (steve left. steve abandoned everything the avengers stood for). i loved it okay.

tony’s funeral absolutely ended me. i burst into sobs at proof that tony stark has a heart. everyone was there. proof that tony stark was fucking loved and respected by literally everyone. (also, that funeral seemed like a private thing. people who had known tony stark. which means - either friday or pepper let harley in. which means - tony told pepper about harley and how important he was and/or they kept in touch!! excuse me while i go cry even more)

okay

now

the bad

i honestly didn’t have many complaints with this movie, it was such a perfect ending. just two major things -

team as family. they really tried to lean into this trope, but it fell flat after not establishing it over the past avengers movies. i could have bought it if they showed some bonding moments when they were preparing for their missions, but they tried to tell us instead of show us. jokes and quips are fine, but emotional bonding moments/conversations needed to happen more. nat was the only one who seemed like she really considered the avengers as her family. (tony did at one point, but i think that illusion was shattered for him after cacw.)

i… don’t even want to talk about this. this is exactly what i was dreading. i can’t believe the same directors who gave us catws gave us this. steve’s ending was disrespectful to peggy. to sharon. to steve himself. peggy made a life for herself. it’s super disrespectful to suggest that peggy motherfucking carter would settle for anything other than the very best, whether it be her job or her life or her husband. why retcon all that to make her dance with this guy she knew for a few months. it’s super unhealthy for steve. for all the preaching about moving on he did, he himself admits that he hasn’t. a logical, healthy conclusion to his story would be to have him finally do it. instead, apparently he hasn’t moved on from something that happend thirteen years ago, let alone the snap. ugh. what do i even say. (and there’s the tiny little matter that this implies steve made out with his niece. unless he created an alternate timeline. which he clearly didn’t. since he’s there. in the same universe.) of course steve deserves to be happy!! but his arc - which began in catws - should be him moving on. finding a new family. not regressing back to things that should be done and gone.

also, it doesn’t make sense plot wise. did steve hide from the rest of the world? did he live in secret? if no, why would howard keep looking for him in the ocean? he wouldn’t. he wouldn’t have found the tesseract. or dethawed steve’s body in the future. did he hide his name from his family? no, right? then sharon knew?? that she was kissing her uncle? idek man

#marvel #isha talks #so i have a lot of thoughts apparently #avengers endgame #endgame spoilers #notmysteverogers