…I don’t understand why people think Steve was emotionally compromised by Bucky (or “blinded by Bucky”) in Civil War. There’s no evidence of it in the plot.
Because, seriously:
Steve said no to the Accords before Bucky even appeared in the movie. His argument centred around how the Accords could exploit the Avengers – Bucky wasn’t even a factor at that point in time.
Steve was in Lagos to stop Rumlow from starting biological warfare. Yes, Rumlow distracted Steve by mentioning Bucky, but the audience knew Rumlow was going to set off the bomb the moment he told his soldiers that he wasn’t going to meet up with them. Steve’s love for Bucky had no involvement in the outcome of this scene, beyond the taunt; the battle had long begun, with civilian casualties already occurring.
When Natasha asked Steve to sign the Accords, Bucky still wasn’t in the picture and Steve still said no. There’s absolutely no evidence of emotional compromise, even though it’s Peggy’s funeral so you expect Steve to be emotional. But he’s not fighting, or arguing, or trying to convince Natasha not to sign. He just says he can’t.
When Steve finds out Bucky is alive, he doesn’t dispute that Bucky bombed the U.N. He says to Natasha “If [Bucky]’s this far gone, I should be the one to bring him in, because I’m the least likely to die trying”. That’s not exactly a statement teeming with emotion. In fact, it’s pretty fucking logical, since Steve broke the Soldier’s trance in CATWS.
Steve stops the government from trying to kill Bucky on sight, but does not stop them from arresting Bucky and doesn’t resist arrest himself. He even tells Bucky ‘this doesn’t have to end in a fight’ in the hopes of peaceful arrest, and shows up to save soldiers’ lives as much as Bucky’s. Steve’s not fighting the government; instead, he asks about a lawyer as they take Bucky away. So, emotionally compromised? Nah.
Chris Evans behind the scenes of the May 2016 Rolling Stone shoot
the tags on this were utter gems so here are some of my faves
Essay time y’all – cause these tags are truth. But one of my FAVORITE (and by favorite I mean the reason so many of his pictures fucking enthrall me) things about the way either he poses or the photographers pose him is that that the default for him doesn’t tend to be the WALL OF MAN imposing/daring someone to fuck with him poses that most photographers position men in, especially men who play superheroes. Far more often you see him posed as photographers often pose women – S-curves (trace a line from shoulders to hips to waist to knees in that pic – it’s a feminine way to pose), shoulders slightly hunched forward, looking at the camera through his eyelashes, mouth slightly open. They pose him to invite the viewer in instead of projecting out. The way they pose him is a type of masculinity that isn’t trying so fucking hard and y’all my LOINS ARE HERE FOR IT.
When I try to describe the type of masculinity that I find fucking appealing, it’s this.
(Look… y’all… if you haven’t seen his truckstop hooker photos from way back, do your loins a favor and find them)
A reminder that Sam Wilson was speaking out against the Accords before Steve even opened his mouth once.
A reminder that Bucky Barnes lived a full two years without Steve by his side. He found himself that place in Romania alone. He decorated it alone. He taught himself how to live again alone.
A reminder that Sam and Bucky love Steve very much, but to say that Steve is the catalyst for their actions is reducing the importance of them and taking away from their character traits unfairly.
A reminder that Sam and Bucky have agency outside of Steve.
the thing about “angry chihuahua” pre-serum steve is that on a vacuum, I get why people like it? like it’s cute, smol steve being angry and sassy, it’s funny, not everything in fandom has to be 100% serious and angst-driven etc etc, i understand that
but at the same time… it bothers me so much because it’s just. so. condescending. like… “awww look at this poor disabled man thinking he can stand up to people, haha, so adorable, thank god he has bucky around to keep him alive!111!”.
(i don’t want to get too much into how this devalues the stucky dynamic bc i don’t even go here, but bucky! respected! pre-serum steve! immensely!! he didn’t see him as a reckless idiot who needed him to survive! it’s like people take the “the little guy from brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight” quote and only remember this part and forget the rest, the most important part, “I’M FOLLOWING HIM”! bucky knows pre-serum steve was way more of a hero than some dude dressed as the american flag shooting a fake gun at movies!!! that’s the POINT!!)
it’s just so… dismissive of steve’s bravery and cleverness. people take ONE scene in the first avenger where steve gets into a fight he’s clearly not going to win, ignoring that a) the framing of the moment when the guy stands up and steve’s face makes very clear that he KNOWS he’s in trouble, he has no delusions about ACTUALLY being able to win the fight; b) the dude is being an asshole and disrespecting others in the theater and steve! gets! him! to stop!!!! The guy LEAVES to beat him up in the alley, thus accomplishing the main point of Steve’s intervention, aka to let the grieving lady watch the tribute to the troops in peace.
and that’s like… THE ONLY TIME IN THE MOVIE where pre-serum steve does something like this. right on the first enlistment scene, some dude is clearly trying to tease him with the “makes you think twice about enlisting, huh?” talk, and steve just goes “nope” and IGNORES THE GUY AND DOESN’T TAKE THE BAIT. because it doesn’t matter! it’s just some dumbass who isn’t threatening anyone! steve doesn’t need to get into a fight because someone is underestimating him – if he did, he’d fight with everyone all the time, because guess what, as a disabled man in the 40s, steve is barely considered an actual man. there’s a LEGITIMATE scientific view in this time period that argues that people like him should be murdered at birth. he KNOWS how he’s perceived. he’s aware. when he’s talking to the doctor, he’s not brattish – he asks give me a chance and is there anything you can do?. his tone in the latter line specifically is TIRED, not defiant.
and then!! the One Scene apparently everyone who thinks pre-serum steve was a moron with a macho complex didn’t watch: the training montage! where that hodge guy deliberately fucks with the barbed wire just to get in steve’s way and STEVE! DOESN’T! REACT!!!!!!!! he just grits his teeth and tries to keep going and the officer has to be like “rogers take this rifle out of the mud”. there’s no indication that steve EVER tried to fight this guy in the movie, despite the fact that he’s constantly shown laughing/bullying steve during the training. why? because it’d be a pointless fight to pick. it’d be a fight picked out of nothing but pride and steve can’t afford to do that. he stands up for what’s right, not for everything and anything that pisses him off.
it frustrates me that people don’t seem to get this because it’s like… the very core of steve’s character. he’s not a wannabe bully. he’s kind and polite to others (meeting peggy, talking to dr. eskrine. eskrine isn’t just impressed by the “i don’t like bullies” moment, he’s clearly also very pleased by the fact steve doesn’t show prejudice against him for being german). the only moment where he adopts a “fight me” posture that gets him in actual trouble, it’s to protect and help others who can’t stand up for themselves. i get that in theory the idea of smol bean steve fighting everything and everyone might sound fun, but in reality, a person who craves violence and sees it as a prime way to achieve their goals is the opposite of who steve rogers is meant to be.
(and that’s not even getting into when people write POST-serum steve with this “fight me” attitude which is like… how… do you think… that’d be ok… how do you not see a difference between a ninety-pound disabled man and a literal supersoldier trying to intimidate people physically… which part of “a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion” you didn’t understand…)
so imo, this characterization weakens not only steve’s character, but his arc, and even the story of tfa as a whole? the serum works on steve because he’s already a noble, brave, good man. if he was an asshole who bites off people’s hand for looking at him wrong, none of this would make sense. by this logic, eskrine might have as well picked hodge.
WHYYYYYYYYY??? Why did they delete the scenes where they show Steve adjusting to the “future”??? 😢
They say that it’s about 30 minutes of Steve’s scenes that they cut off which makes me both angry and sad because I NEED that scenes! Steve Rogers is not only Captain America! He is a man who has had to face so many things in such a short period of time, and all alone because everyone who knew is dead, or doesn’t remember him 😢 that is why finding Bucky is so important to him, because Bucky is his family, his connection in life, the person who has known him all his life, the person with whom he shares experiences with, who understands
And then they did it AGAIN in AOU! 😡
And let’s not forget about this one in Civil War! “I gotta get me one of those”
Because YES, there were more scenes/interaction between Bucky and Steve. For example, this one, and we might never get to know what whats going on or what they were going to talk about OR WHAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO DO!!!…
In other news, I watched TWS at work again today and I 100% do not understand how people do not see the suicidal ideation/behavior in the helicarrier fight I can no longer comprehend how that happens and I really kind of want to know how?? People don’t get that from that scene
I think you hit on the issue in your tags: Steve’s depressed, but the people who tend to think that he’s just being ~heroic~ don’t see him as depressed and thus don’t see the correlation. I mean, I tend to lurk in the side of fandom that’s pretty much in agreement that he’s definitely depressed and suicidal, so I haven’t really seen many nay-sayers. But in general, people tend to think that depression is this wallowing sadness where all you can do is lie in bed and cry, and Steve isn’t like that. The apathetic type of depression (which is what I think he has and it’s what I have) is the one ignored the most by people because it’s so hard to tell. Apathetic depression is easy to hide, because you usually end up going through the motions of life because that’s all you know how to do, and the effects are largely eternal.
And honestly, as a super soldier who already isn’t as affected by various things a normal human is, Steve’s behavior may look like heroism to someone on the outside, even though he’s doing those things to see if at least some feeling can be incited in him, regardless if it’s harmful or not.
I freaking hate roller-coasters, but when I was in a depressed episode and went to a theme park with my family, I went on rides I normally wouldn’t even think about going on, because at least blind panic and fear is something, you know? While my family, on the other hand, is going “hey, I thought you hated roller coasters, guess that changed!”
And the best thing is that a lot of the time you don’t realize you’re even doing that kind of behavior. Steve wasn’t thinking about committing suicide, I don’t think, at least not consciously in a lot of the movie. I think it had been on his mind, and I think unconsciously the thought was always there, but I don’t think he thought letting Bucky beat him and kill him was committing suicide; instead he thought it was saving Bucky. But the unconscious suicide ideation that has followed him through the last years is what was really was driving him.
I hope this makes sense? I mean, like, he’s not going to admit that he’s suicidal, and I don’t think he would actively seek it out, as in go “I’m going to commit suicide”, but it’s definitely there in the background, and I think NT people have trouble seeing that because they’re not used to the background suicide ideation that depressed people live with, which may color your actions, but you’ll never straight up admit.
I feel compelled to explain what they are so that those who might be writing fanfictions or doing roleplays will know what these medals mean and imply.
Presidential Unit Citation Badge: This is awarded to a unit for gallantry and determination in accomplishing…
Wonder if he’s gotten other medals since then. I’d say he’d get at least the Medal of Honor for that final Red Skull mission right?
I’m just going to do this, because I spent a couple of months reading up on US military awards when I was writing for A-Team and for god’s sake I may as well put that to use.
1: Yeah, he’s probably got the Medal of Honor. He deliberately sacrificed his life to ditch a monstrous Nazi flying wing that was going to destroy New York City. That’s basically how you earn one.
In fact you can read through the names of US service personnel recipients and the deeds for which they were awarded the Medal of Honor on the Army’s website: http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/recipients.html
Once you get started reading that, it is actually hard to stop. This, my friends, is a list of stone-cold balls-to-the-wall heroism. The lesser actions are humbling. The greater ones are jaw-dropping.
2: I wouldn’t be surprised if the DOD does in fact have a protocol for people who turn out not to be dead to receive previously posthumous awards (I mean, it’s a line of work where it could conceivably happen), but I don’t know what it is and am not dedicated enough to look it up. But a fic where he had to go through a ceremony where he was recognized with one long-delayed medal after another, turning progressively redder with self-consciousness, would be pretty darned hilarious.
Medals and awards he might have earned (all the medals and awards Steve would definitely have for his service in the WWII European theater, plus basically a systematic list of awards granted for being a big damn hero):
Medal of Honor (I’m betting)
Distinguished Service Cross (possibly: extraordinary acts of heroism or merit which don’t qualify for the Medal of Honor; if they didn’t give him the Medal of Honor for raiding that facility and saving 40+ Allied POWs, they might have given him this)
The Silver Star (possibly; awarded for gallantry in action that doesn’t qualify for the Distinguished Service Cross, so if they didn’t give him the Distinguished Service Cross, they almost certainly gave him this)
The Soldier’s Medal (possibly; acts of heroism not involving conflict with an enemy, e.g. rescuing a comrade from a burning building)
The Bronze Star (probably, possibly multiple times; acts of heroism, merit, or meritorious service in a combat zone)
In order of precedence, the Purple Heart goes here
Army Commendation Medal (probably, and probably with oak clusters for multiple awards; for heroism, meritorious achievement or service ranking below the Bronze Star; otherwise known as ‘Steve’s average day’)
Army Good Conduct Medal (can you doubt?—in wartime, awarded for one year of good service, unsullied by marks against your record—although ironically he probably doesn’t have this in comics continuity, because he was always deliberately getting into minor trouble in order to get into costume and hero up)
World War II European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (definitely; awarded for active service in these theaters of war)
World War II Victory Medal (definitely; awarded for active service in WWII)
The Howling Commandos may have also received other unit awards, awarded for various exceptional services and deeds. As a member, Steve would have these as well. (Unit awards are worn on the right breast; individual awards on the left.)
Now, there’s the question of whether he’s technically still in the service of the US military after he wakes up. SHIELD, while it existed, was a UN operation (probably; maybe; kinda-sorta?). In the real world, the UN has no standing troops of its own. Personnel are ‘loaned’ by member nations. So…is he a SHIELD operative, or an active US Army officer operating under SHIELD’s command?
If he’s still in the service of the US Army, then he’s got a few additional retroactive medals coming his way, and the potential to earn more. These include:
Defense Meritorious Service Medal (possibly; this is what they’d give him for heroism beyond the call of duty for military service with SHIELD or…god knows how the Avengers rate)
Joint Service Commendation Medal (possibly, if he’s awarded for exemplary military service with SHIELD)
National Defense Service Medal (definitely, if he’s still considered US Army active service)
Army Service Ribbon (he would’ve been awarded this retroactively after he woke up, assuming he’s still on active duty)
Army Overseas Service Ribbon (retroactive, assuming he’s still on active duty)
OH THANK GOD FOR YOU. Because I KNEW that Steve’s current dress uniform NOW would have more medals than the picture shows up (understandable, because that’s a photo taken in Steve’s career).
I honestly think he’s still active U.S. Army, just loaned out to SHIELD, since SHIELD, actually, is the new SSR.
A few things I’m imagining in this scenario:
a. Somebody more knowledgeable than me has said that Steve, whether or not he’s currently active US Army in the canon MCU ‘verse, should have gotten several promotions over the years he’s been MIA. So unless I’m wrong, Steve’s actual rank now is Colonel? Possibly higher? (Hi, Hannibal! – not the serial killer cannibal dude, i mean the A-Team guy) I’m betting they just call him “Captain Rogers” since “Colonel America” doesn’t have the same ring to it.
b. So basically, I need to write yet another fic (I know there are others out there), in which Steeb needs to get his medals sorted out and he’s EMBARRASSED AS ALL HELL because he’d really, REALLY rather not have all this fuss and maybe BUCKY guilts him into it, only for BUCKY to have the tables turned on him because, basically, due to the fact that’s he’s really the country’s longest-held POW and all the shit he’s been through? He also deserves a few medals (plus his own promotions) of his own!
c. The fact that Steeb is active US Army amuses the HELL out of me. And basically, who among the brass is going to ATTEMPT to put the whole chain of command thing on Steve? Can you imagine Ross trying to go toe to toe with Steve regarding the Hulk? Steve’s going to unleash epic hell on him for that one. (Oh dear Lord, what if Steve’s actual rank now is really General or if they attempted to bump him up to that but he initially refused but then decided to agree, if only because it would protect Bruce from Ross? Especially if Steve gets more stars than Ross does?)
You can think this stance is Steve being stern, or showing off his arms (which I’m sure the producers of these movies love), but it’s really just Steve protecting himself.
Because what does Steve know how to do? Lead. Fight. He’s a soldier.
What is he doing in all these GIFs? Talking. Listening.
When he talks to Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger on their way to the lab where he’ll ultimately be transformed into the guy whose arms you can’t stop staring at, he remarks that their conversation is the longest he’s ever had with a woman.
You think Steve’s conversations with men were any longer? Outside of Bucky, MAYBE?
From personal experience I can tell you that there are different ways to cross your arms. What we see in this GIFset may just be a personal tic for Chris Evans that was accepted as a character choice for Steve Rogers. As someone who struggles with anxiety myself, crossing my arms is a way of protecting myself while trying to not look like I’m protecting myself. So maybe that’s what Chris is doing here.
Either way, look: he’s not pointing his elbows. He isn’t making a show of prowess with his arms; he’s guarding himself. This posture makes his arms wrap around his stomach and support his spine so that it’s not as difficult to stand-up straight–which is something that, when you do it, forces you to expose yourself, physically and emotionally.
This can make you look “tough” and “together” when really you’re just holding your body together.
This is to say nothing of the fact that each and every one of these moments in the movies are moments of vulnerability, especially the reveal of Jarvis’ destruction by Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron (HELLO, Jarvis is artificial intelligence, a computer program, helpful and witty though he is, that Steve has sympathy for), comforting Wanda after the events in Nigeria in Captain America: Civil War, and, later in the same movie, talking to Bucky for the first time since they fought on the crashing Helicarrier in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Steve has broad shoulders and big arms; he is a specimen (to quote Erin [Aaron?]) of physical prowess; but let’s not forget that Steve’s heart was bigger than his body before his transformation, and was bigger after as well.
Steve never cared much for his body, which is why he had no problem standing up to that bully in the alley behind the movie theater, or going through basic training in the military, or throwing himself on what he thought was a live grenade to protect others. His heart is so big that he acts without thinking, throwing his body into danger to save others. But when no one immediately needs saving, when he just has to stand there and… be Steve, when his heart is just… exposed, what does he do?
hannahbelleeeebackup 