I never realized before that Steve also falls. When he reaches out to Bucky he’s almost taken down with him. For some reason, no matter how many times I have seen it, I always thought of Steve as a rock, an anchor in the scene. Because that’s who Steve Rogers is as a character, and who he is up until this moment as Captain America. But in reaching out to Bucky he loses his footing and needs to grab on to save himself. And his resentment is immediate. Between the rush of almost being pulled down and the realization Bucky is gone, it’s the moment Captain America stops being Steve Rogers.
WHEDON HOW CAN YOU SAY HE HAS AN EGO DO YOU NOT SEE THIS SHIT. DO YOU NOT SEE HIM LOOKING PHYSICALLY UNCOMFORTABLE BECAUSE OF THE CAMERA DO YOU NOT SEE THE REST OF THE COMMANDOS NOT GIVING TWO SHITS ABOUT THE CAMERA BECAUSE THEY HAVE BIGGER THINGS TO THINK ABOUT AND STEVE IS THERE THINKING “SHIT SHIT DON’T LOOK AT ME DON’T TRACK ME I DON’T WANT TO BE THE ARMY’S DANCING MONKEY I WANT TO DO SOME GOOD, QUIT FOLLOWING ME”
“A MATCH OF EGOS” WITH TONY STARK WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL
Headcanon where Bucky used to “accidentally” damage newsreel cameras to make Steve feel better.
I love you all and I love this analysis but i think y’all are mistaking two different kind of ego. This is a hot take that will probably get me in trouble, but
Tony’s got a very performative kind of ego. A kind of “Oh look at me look how amazing I am” ego.
You know, the kind that often goes hand in hand with those pesky self-esteem issues that Tony has in spades. Genius Billionaire Playboy Attention-Seeker. If you scratch that shiny surface, he’s a hot mess, always second-guessing himself.
Oh but Steve (god love him) Steve’s just so sure, you know? This is Right and that is Wrong and yeah, he’s a smart guy and understands the complexity in a situation but Red Skull wasn’t all that far off the mark when he said that Steve-o does arrogance better than anyone. It just looks different when he does it.
Put it this way: can you imagine Tony delivering a line like this:
… with that level of confidence? No. Tony would be all tortured and angsty about it, but not Steve. And that’s its own kind of confidence, it’s own kind of ego.
Steve might not be comfortable in front of a camera (sing me the song of Steve Rogers’ body dysmorphia I am here for that shit) but Steven “tree by the river of truth” Rogers consults his own moral compass (aka his opinion of what is right and what is wrong) first and last and always. Yeah, it’s admirable. It’s also egotistical as fuck. Who died and made him king of right and wrong, huh?
In Sum: If ego is “a sense of self-esteem or self-importance” Steve got all the self-esteem (at least in terms of morality) and Tony got all the self-importance (at least in terms of who should be the center of attention At All Times) but they’re both egotistical af.
Tony’s ego is about being seen, Steve’s ego is about being right. They’re both struggling against their own egos, with varying levels of success.
The more I think about the timeline for Bucky’s torture given Agent Carter canon, the more I want to cry. That flashback scene in CATWS got impossibly worse.
Presumably Bucky got taken after his fall by Russians- HYDRA or affiliated with them- having suffered the traumatic amputation of part of his arm. His survival alone would have made him a subject for medical experimentation, and when they realized who their captive was, his value as a prisoner would have skyrocketed. He was Zola’s only success.
At this point he was Bucky, coping with a second round of captivity and medical experimentation. Steve was gone. But still, they couldn’t contain him without cryostasis, an incredibly dangerous procedure they must have tested on him. They risked him dying in order to preserve him for Zola. And no, he wasn’t “naturally frozen” in the snow where he fell, because Bucky was conscious enough to remember being found bleeding. He was conscious when he was captured, and when they shoved him into that tube.
Zola came years later, back from American prison to oversee his project. Bucky woke to the operating theater, where he was conscious when a fucking bone saw cut through what was left of his left arm, and the metal one was attached (the series of surgeries required to reinforce his skeleton must have been a never-ending nightmare reel of physical torture). It was still Bucky, Sergeant Barnes, waking up at this point to his worst nightmare standing over him.
Then Agent Carter tells me that Zola had either Johann Fenhoff or his knowledge to fucking hypnotize Bucky into doing whatever they wanted from here on. Before electroshock became their go-to method, they distorted Bucky’s grasp on reality. Zola who had years in America to weasel information to use against Bucky when he had him at his mercy. He could have made him believe anything, forced him to unknowingly cooperate while he was still Bucky.
And even then, after enough trauma to drive anyone mad, Bucky still must have fought them. He must have broken through Fenhoff’s methods, enough that they weren’t viable in the long-term, that they had to experiment and invest in electroshock and risk (inflict?) brain damage on their prize in order to secure their captive and control him.
The process to get their asset was a testament to how strong Bucky Barnes is, how much of a hero at his core. It took years of calculated, brutal abuse, and still, they had to erase him to force him to comply.
Meanwhile I’m here crying about how IF ONLY Peggy or the Commandos had found him at this point in time, had they just known, they could have spared him everything. They’d have gotten back their Sergeant Barnes, minus part of his arm, still strong and able and whole, but no one even thought to look.
idk how you watch catws and not pick up on the fact that sam is absolutely a mirror of steve… they even straight up say it in the film.
“I do what he does, just slower”
okay we gonna do this because Sam is a reckless motherfucker that absolutely mirrors Steve’s characterization and i’m goddamn tired of people grossly misinterpreting his character b/c it fits in better with their two dimensional therapy dog version of him
Sam doesn’t like taking orders, he’s not pliant or obedient. He does what he believes is right and damn the rules (sound familiar??). Theres a reason they fucking hit it off so well right from the start.
Following that we have Steve turning up on his doorstep looking like a building got dropped on him. And what does Sam do?
Yeah sure… I’ll let a couple of avengers who just told me everybody is out to kill them into my house. Sounds like a good time. It’s also a bit telling that Sam knows exactly where his suit is. Ten bucks says he’s actually tried to steal it before but couldn’t quite manage it on his own.
And then we start getting into really no holds bar Sam:
Y’all like to forget Sam brought a two inch knife to a gun fight and won. Not to mention, he clearly walks around with a knife on him at all times… not just in his car, but on his person.
Sam gives no fucks and will take you out. Winter soldier? Bitch try it
Some hydra fool who won’t stop talking Nazi nonsense?
Fuck this guy. he’ll take him on in nothing but a fucking t-shirt.
Oh and remember that building that Steve jumped out of? Might as well top that by jumping out of the same one, just about 20 stories up.
Cool, cool, cool.
Going feet first towards the rotor blades of a helicopter, knowing if you miss your legs are mulch?
No problem.
Steve wants to track down an international maybe still brainwashed assassin?
When do we start?
And of course, this wouldn’t be complete without the penultimate Steve/Sam comparison.
So to everyone who trashes him, or does him a disservice by making him out to be nothing more than a therapist who can fix Bucky and Steve I have one thing to say. In the immortal words of the legend Samuel Thomas Wilson himself, “Man, shut the hell up.”
Hey, you. You there. Did Winter Soldier fuck you up when it came out?
I know, I know. It’s been four years. You’ve seen the entire movie scroll past on your dash in gifset form more times than you’ve seen it the whole way through with sound on. Every dead horse that can be beaten in dubious Tumblr meta has long since been flogged into meaningless shreds. You’ve moved onwards and upwards, other fandoms, other stories that fucked you up.
I don’t give a shit. Read this meta. It will make you remember exactly why and how Winter Soldier fucked you up, at a time when a lot of us need to hear it.
It’s also Bucky being more than a little upset that they turned his gentle, harmless friend—who Bucky wanted to PROTECT from the horrors of war—into a fighting machine.
was that really necessary
it’s also Bucky realizing that he can no longer protect his best friend no matter how hard he tries. he’s utterly helpless now, even after the war is over. they’ll always be wanting steve to fight this or that, and bucky won’t be able to do a darn thing to protect him.
It’s also Bucky taking the 5 seconds he has of Steve not paying attention to him so he can allow himself to process all these emotions without worrying Steve. If you watch Bucky through the movies, you’ll notice he always makes sure to look like he’s 100% fine if other people are looking at him. Fighting with Steve, but smiling at their dates. Recently tortured, but walking confidently by Steve’s side. Basically a mess, but all “Let’s hear it for Captain America!” It’s a pattern, really. Even in the flashback in CATWS, you can see he looks a lot less confident when Steve isn’t looking at him than when Steve is.
Also, Seb has mentioned that researching WW2, what left the deepest impression was how quickly everybody dies. You get attached to someone only to watch their heads being blown up in front of you the next day. I’m sure this influenced how he chose to act this scene. Because you can bet by the time this scene takes place, Bucky has seen many people – hell, maybe even friends – die, and recently, he’s had to see his whole unit be killed or captured by HYDRA. This certainly plays a role here. It’s not just a general sense of “I can’t protect Steve anymore,” it’s more like “I don’t know if Steve will live till next week.” It’s very real, very immediate. It’s a concrete prediction more than a vague fear. And if Steve’s survives, there’s still the fact Bucky knows what’s like to be changed by war, and Steve will be changed by it, which Bucky certainly hates. Either way, he loses the Steve he knew, even more than he’s already lost, with the whole “Steve Rogers is suddenly a super soldier” deal.
I’d say this scene is wartime Bucky in a nutshell. He handles the entire crowd and this whole Captain America propaganda thing without hesitation, he smiles at Steve and makes sure Steve enjoys the moment instead of pulling some “I did my duty” bullshit, and only then he allows himself to be overwhelmed by the fear that comes with being able to think 48923740 worst case scenarios in two seconds. If we can trust interviews with cast and crew, this eventually becomes his role in the war, basically – he thinks fast and does his job protecting Captain America and the missions, he takes care of Steve on a personal level by shielding him from the worst of the war as much as he can, and only then, if there’s time and Steve isn’t looking, he thinks about how the war is affecting him.
But anyway, overall, this scene is about overwhelming loss of everything Bucky knows, as well as an attempt to hide this as well as he can. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in the 4th and 5th gifs, Seb looks a lot like comics!Bucky does when he says goodbye to his younger sister, thinking he’ll never see her again and almost breaking down in tears, but unwilling to show her he’s scared. For your reference:
my turn-ons include back massages, long walks on the beach, and Bucky Barnes straining so hard to project I’m Just Experiencing Normal Feelings While Having A Nice Drink With My Best Pal that his face becomes an agonized rictus
#I FEEL NOT AT ALL DEVASTATED BY ANYTHING I’VE BEEN THROUGH IN THE LAST 24 HOURS!!!!#I’M JUST HAVING A NICE CHAT WITH MY SUDDENLY TALL AND HANDSOME BEST FRIEND WHO IS HERE IN THE SHIT WITH ME INSTEAD OF SAFE AT HOME#AND FEELING REGULAR ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!#DEFINITELY NOT WORKING THRU ABOUT 60 KINDS OF GRIEF/ENVY/LOSS/RELIEF/TERROR/SELF-HATRED ALL AT ONCE#definitely not having a furious inner dialogue that goes “am i jealous of steve? am i second fiddle now?”#“wait does that imply that steve was ever second fiddle?? he wasn’t. i’m a FUCKING ASSHOLE! oh god he’s talking what is he saying”#“LAUGH”#bucky barnes#marvel#“have i been looking at him weird? is my face regular? what face do people make???”
I totally didn’t just come out of a torture chamber! I feel perfectly fine!! (I actually do feel perfectly fine which ISN’T ALARMING AT ALL NOSIREE) This tastes like alcohol but is obviously half water because it’s nOT WORKING??
#I WANT TO GO HOME BUT LIKE FUCK CAN I LEAVE THIS ASSHOLE HERE#HE WILL DIE#SO FUCK YOU STEVE#I AM GLAD YOU CAN BREATHE LIKE A HEALTHY PERSON#BUT MOSTLY IM REALLY ANGRY RN
I’m actually really curious what would you say are Steve’s core characteristics? I’m honestly not sure what I think that they are because a lot of my thoughts on Steve are tied up with how he interacts with other people. But who is Steve? What would you are say are his major values? What are his flaws?
Bewared – a lot of this comes from YEARS and YEARS of comics.
First of all Cap is DETERMINED. He never gives up, he always stands up. It really
is Steve’s actual super power, his absolute refusal to ever call it quits.
He’s a good man. No
REALLY, he is. One time, Magneto tried
to erase his mind of all prejudice towards Mutants – only to find out that Cap
didn’t have ANY towards mutants or anybody else. Steve is dedicated to his morals
and ideals. He personified “Honor Before Reason” and because of this he’s
ALWAYS been seen as the moral center of the Marvel Comics Universe. (See “The Ballad of Captain America’s
Disapproving Face” by the Murder Ballads. “If you can’t tell the
Captain what you’re damn well up to, then don’t damn well get up to it at all!”)
As has been noted by MANY, he’s Neutral Good since he puts
“good” above “law”, and he defends American ideals more than
American laws. He’s “loyal only to the dream”!
He’s extremely team oriented – though he’s invariably the team
leader (more on that later) of any team he is part of, he treats them more like his family and it’s known to one all and all that he NEVER leaves a team member behind. He’ll put the mission first but he always comes back for those left behind. The rescue of Team Cap from the Raft was CLASSIC Cap behavior.
He’s always a gentleman, usually humble, invariably kind and
polite.
He is the undisputed, tactical genius of the Marvel
Universe. And the DC universe for that
matter. In the Avengers/JLA cross-over
event, Captain America was nominated by SUPERMAN to command the all of the
heroes of both universes. Using Martian
Manhunter’s telepathic mindlink , he organized and lead the ENTIRE combined
force, turning them into a well-honed, fighting machine – and he made it look easy. Thus demonstrating why Captain America is
still one of the greatest Team Leaders ever.
His faults come from many of his strengths, he’s EXTREMELY stubborn,
he never let’s ANYTHING go – long past when he should. He cannot compromise in any way, shape or form – not even when the fate of the world
hangs in the balance, and “honor before reason” is all too often “death before
dishonor” too.
If I may also add another reason Steve is so great is that he sees the world, the good and the bad.
He isn’t as naive as many people think he is.
So he sees what’s wrong with the world and rather then let the bad wear him down or turn him cynical he keeps standing back up. His persevence in the face of negative stuff is really admirable.
REBLOGGING FOR TAGS: #and Steve is never really surprised by how shitty people can be#just disappointed#very disappointed#Captain America is very disappointed
*THOSE TAGS*
*now has many thinky thoughts about Steve Rogers and Night Watch and Young Sam Vimes*
The third gif is what keeps getting me.
He sees all these people getting on preparing to attack him, and they are all the faces of men he has worked with over the last few weeks and months, maybe years. Men he’s trusted. Lives he’s saved. Comrades in arms. His team, as much as he’s had one.
That is the look of bleakness, as someone else gets on and Steve thinks, “You? I liked you. I thought you were better than this. Oh god, don’t make me do this.”
(Sometimes the person that you’d take a bullet for is behind the trigger)
But these aren’t people he’ll lie down for. This is a fight he’ll pick his shield up after. There’s nobody in this elevator he loves enough.
This whole scene is a masterpiece of subtle acting and one I don’t think Chris Evans gets nearly enough credit for. I mean, you can see the moment the penny drops and it’s minutes before everyone in that elevator thought it would. (I get the feeling he gets underestimated a lot at SHIELD—he’s big, he’s blond, he’s the man out of time, what can he know?) But that mind never stops working and the minute the penny drops, he knows what he’ll have to do to survive.
the1timetraveller 