#mcu meta

[velvet4510]

If it weren’t for Billy creating the Road, Sharon would’ve died completely alone, never again having a taste of sisterhood or adventure.

If it weren’t for Billy creating the Road, Jen would never have unbound herself or regained her power.

If it weren’t for Billy creating the Road, Alice would never have known what her mother did for her or broken the curse, achieving what her ancestors could not.

If it weren’t for Billy creating the Road, Lilia would never have achieved closure within herself or understood her own purpose in life.

If it weren’t for Billy creating the Road, Agatha would never have learned to love a child again or realized that she could still be more than just a killer.

Every member of the coven, whether they physically survived in the end or not, was given something immeasurably valuable by Billy through his Hex of the Road.

He may have “killed” some of them.

But in truth, in one way or another, he saved all of them.

[mischievous-thunder]

Did Wade really think that Logan was going to let him do this? All alone?

This was the very moment when realisation came crashing down on both of them that they wouldn't be able to live without each other. So, they saved the world together and in turn saved their souls.

[jessmalia]

This has been said before by people better at articulating their opinions than me, but the bad reception Black Widow got from male MCU fans is about so much more than just the simple concept that it's a superhero movie starring a woman, but the fact that it's so clearly a film by women for women. It's in all the little things, like all the amazing braids sported by the female characters instead of having them constantly fight with their hair down, Yelena and Natasha being excited about the vest and all its pockets, zero sexualisation of any of the Widows, the forced hysterectomy being discussed matter-of-factly, and the women getting to wear minimal to no make-up in settings where that makes sense. But it's also in the big things, like the story centred around the epidemic of girls being subjected to human trafficking with a theme of reclaiming your anatomy and freeing other female victims, both others’ and your own.

Obviously this doesn't mean that every single woman on earth is automatically gonna identify with and like the movie, that's an impossible achievement. But it is a movie that's so much more than pandering, and these geeks are just completely incapable of inserting themselves into a point of view different from their own.

[reallyunluckyrunaway]

You have to earn that title damnit.

[gunsandspaceships]

Fandom: definitions

Since the mangling of fandom terms has gotten out of hand among the fandom itself (or fandoms), here are their original (correct) meanings with examples from the MCU:

Canon - official source materials (films, books, etc.) describing official timelines.

Examples:

The MCU is part of the Multiverse.

Peter/MJ is a canon pairing.

Tony Stark had arrhythmia and a pacemaker.

AU (Alternate Universe) - an alternative universe (timeline) in the Multiverse (or in another Multiverse, if there is more than one). AUs contradict canon. If you change anything from canon, you are writing an AU.

It can include significant differences from canon (Mafia AU/College AU/Medieval AU, etc.) or relatively minor changes (a character's middle name is changed, two characters who dislike each other in canon become friends, etc.).

Examples:

The Avengers in a steampunk setting.

MCU Thor became a doctor.

Tony and Natasha survived Endgame.

Headcanon - a fan's personal interpretation or addition WITHIN the canon. Headcanon should not contradict canon. It can only fill in the gaps left by official sources. If something you write contradicts canon, it is AU, not headcanon.

Examples:

The Grandmaster was killed by the Sakaarans after Thor: Ragnarok.

Tony, Pepper, and Morgan had a cat.

Steve Rogers became a father of 10 children in his own timeline.

Remember, if at any point official sources confirm that your headcanon is correct or incorrect, it ceases to be a headcanon and becomes canon or AU (or false information), respectively.

Fanon - is simply a headcanon that's widespread in the fandom. It becomes so popular that sometimes fans forget that it has no canonical basis.

Examples:

Maria Stark is Italian.

Stark Industries makes phones.

Thor loves Pop-Tarts.

OOC (Out Of Character) - any deviation in internal characteristics of a character. Automatically creates an AU.

Examples:

Steve Rogers who doesn't swear.

Trans Peter Quill.

Dark! versions.

P.S. As you may have noticed, headcanon is actually a pretty narrow thing that is not so common, and instead is VERY often misused when people mean AU.

Please do not use these terms interchangeably. The words are different for a reason.

[amarriageoftrueminds]

thing I've realised which alters how I see the howling commandos:

if the actors' ages reflect the characters’ ages, then all of the Howlies are considerably older than Steve.

The youngest Howlie (after Bucky & Steve) would be eight years older than Steve (that's Monty). The oldest is eighteen years older.

So they're a bunch of guys in their 30s and 40s who voluntarily put themselves under the command of a clueless 25 year old whippersnapper who's never even been in the field before. 

Or, another way to put it: 

Bucky was asked to pick a team to put under Steve's command and he chose a bunch of much older, seasoned soldiers, because clearly a bunch of kids in their twenties couldn't be trusted to cope with this idiot.

[legalandnotease]

Dear Flying Eagles of Manwë.

Sam Stans keep on outing themselves as the most collossal narcissists imaginable.

Like excuse me? Since when did Bucky owe the Wakandans lifelong loyalty?

"but muh they saved his life...."

Actually, no, they didn't.

They helped remove his programming- and they only did THAT because T'Challa felt guilty over having tried to kill him multiple times for a crime he didn't commit.

I mean this is canon. Civil War shows this- and Bucky repaid the Wakandans by fighting for Wakanda against Thanos. By accepting a *weaponized* prosthetic that T'Challa gave him for the express purpose of fighting even though he wasn't asked if he actually *wanted* to fight.

Like he hadn't had his body weaponized against his will before but he agreed to allow that a second time because he wanted to help Wakanda. He's more than repaid their kindness by literally *fighting and dying* to protect Wakanda.

But if you're gonna say that Bucky owes lifelong loyalty to the Wakandans for that --- well ok.

Then Rhodey owes lifelong loyalty to Tony Stark for saving his life and giving him the enhancements to walk again. Rhodey also shouldn't have been allowed to act or do anything without consulting Tony and asking his permission.

oh and Tony owed lifelong loyalty to Dr Strange and Captain Marvel because they saved his ass, so he should also have consulted Carol before doing anything in Endgame.

...and Ross owes lifelong loyalty to Samuel Sterns for giving him the medication to keep him alive.

See how *fucking stupid* it is to say that because someone helped you once they basically *own* you for life? Its not just stupid though- its narcissistic. This is literally how narcissists view other people: as their posessions and property.

They are the kind who think that because they bought you stuff they have the excusive right to dictate every aspect of your life. Tell you who where you can go, who you can and cannot be friends with, associate with etc etc.

I also love how these people conveniently neglect to mention that Bucky returned Zemo to the Wakandans after a few weeks. As was always his plan. Ayo was also smart enough to let Bucky explain himself and to understand that he was using Zemo to root out a potential threat which could harm millions of innocents.

Even Shuri understood what Bucky was doing and why. She was pissed but she *understood* the necessity of protecting the innocent, even if it meant working with people you didn't like or agree with. We know this because she literally gave Bucky more time to return Zemo.

On top of that, he is actively working against Sam, who Joaquin said in CABNW got his gear as a gift for helping out Wakandans. (Where/When/How/What?)

What is this bizarre headcanon? We know exactly how and where Sam got his new gear.

BUCKY gave it to him in TFatWS. It was the "one last favor" he asked for from Ayo before she left with Zemo.

We saw him give Sam the box with his new suit in it.

There's no mystery in where Sam got that gear- we were literally shown. Torres wasn't there at the time, so he simply made a mistake when he said Sam got it for "helping out Wakanda".

Sam Stans literally tried to replace that with their headcanon. (I mean Anthony Mackie talked about going to Wakanda in an interview but his remark was *clearly a joke* probably at the expense of the interviewer who hadn't watched TFatWS and didn't notice he had the same suit in BNW).

But I guess they leave that part out because it shows that Bucky's relationship with the Wakandans was not irrevocably damaged after all. That there was no betrayal because Zemo never posed a threat to Wakanda. But narcissisim. Anyone who won't do what they want is a "traitor" in their deluded, twisted minds.

A literal CIA agent (Ross) was actively spying on the US govt for Wakanda, and calling out Valentina in Wakanda Forever.

Good grief, they don't understand the f-ing movies. Ross was approached to help deal with Namor, not spy on the American government. He called out his ex-wife Val (yes they were once *married* not so much because her actions harmed Wakandan interests but because they made the CIA and the Americans look bad. She she nearly caused a diplomatic incident by trying to kidnap a foriegn ruler on American soil and he had to fix things before it all blew up.

E. Ross was also in a position to be able to do this as a CIA operative himself. (Why no demand *he* leave his government job....hmm @elektraking) Bucky at the time BP2 is set was still on fucking parole and could do nothing against government high-ups like that.

4 years later, Bucky was essentially acting as a double-agent by spying on Val under the guise of a and we have no idea what he's doing at the time of the post-Credit scene. He may well still have been working against her.

Val... a person ..... who is an active enemy with intentions to destabilize Wakanda.

They can't even keep up with the continuity of their own movies. Black Panther 2 is set in 2024: Val was trying to destabalize Wakanda then.

Thunderbolts is set in 2027/28. By this point Val's focus has shifted because of the whole discovery of Adamantium thing which is literally meant to be the plot of Brave New World. I mean Ross outright says that Adamantium means that the world won't have to realy on "isolationist countries" anymore.

HE MEANT WAKANDA. He was literally attacking Wakanda. Sam Stans have no issue with that.

Unilaterally making decisions and deciding what’s acceptable to risk AND what lines can be crossed AND what loyalties can be suspended for what he decides is the greater good? And Wakanda and Sam must just fall in line because he, Bucky, knows best?

What is this bullshit? Bucky never asked Sam or the Wakandans to "fall into line" with anything he did in TFatWS or in Thunderbolts. Yes, he made descisions for the greater good because that's what you do when the fate of the world and billions of people is in your hands. Because what will happen if you don't make that choice will be worse than the strain on your friendships or Sam's hurt feelsies. Billions will die- including in Wakanda. Including potentially Sam.

Its literallly the same thing Sam did when he agreed to work with Ross in Brave New World. As in the same Ross who broke up the Avengers, locked Sam and the others in The Raft, tried to kill Bucky and Steve... tried to kill Bruce Banner, used his own daughter as bait.

THAT Ross.

Did Sam betray Bucky, Steve the memory of the Avengers and Bruce Banner when he agreed to reform the Avengers at Ross behest and take orders from him?

Its the same thing Steve Rogers did when he agreed to work for Nick Fury and SHIELD (a *government organization* which literally took orders from the World Council.)

Yeah.... that's the other thing. Sam Stans are trying to promote the other headcanon that the Avengers were never affliated with the government in any way shape or form.

When they were.. twice. When they were first created and then when Tony Stark signed the Accords. And they were going to be again when Sam agreed to make The President their boss. Then did *nothing* for more than a year. Literally nothing at all. No Avengers team being formed. Jack Shit.

Like where was Sam when Sentry was being created? Val wasn't even interested in Wakanda anymore because of the whole Adamatium thing... her focus shifted to creating her own superhuman.

People like that argued there were too few superhumans to "protect the world". Which is the same reasoning Ross used to create Hulk, Tony to create Ultron (which Sam also wasn't opposed to).. the list goes on.

The only way Bucky is "actively working against Sam" is doing his f-ing job for him. But no- his needs, his hurt feelsies are more imporant than the universe. The world can burn as long as Sam isn't inconvenienced by Bucky.

@buckydeservesthebest

...and because you seem to need Media Literacy lessons....

@butternuggets-blog

@lovealotgirl

@crowleythesnake

@crookedchopshopkingdom-blog

[starryeyedastronaut]

I can’t stop thinking about the Thunderbolts, I haven’t been this invested in a MCU movie in long ago. It’s not by any means perfect, like I think the plot would benefit from being given a slower pace and more space for the scenes to just. Breathe. Also not use a character throughout all the marketing promos only to kill them off 10 minutes into the movie. I don’t know. But the story itself and the characters? It’s just… There’s so much love in there, I was so happy when watching it and it makes me happy to think of it now, it has become a comfort movie in all senses of the word.

And I understand why everyone is having some sort of nostalgia due to Thunderbolts, because I have the same feeling. Not for the avengers though, neither for ‘the avengers live together in the Watchtower’ trope, I was never really into that.

What I’m nostalgic about is that Thunderbolts reminds me so much of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

And I can’t help but draw the similarities between both movies:

* The main antagonistic force being someone used for scientific experimentation in order to transform them into a human weapon.

* The REAL antagonist being a political authority trying to use said human weapon for their own gain and destroy everyone that gets in their way.

* A team running from the political authority trying to kill them as they fight to stop their plans.

* A blondie haunted by grief and loneliness, fighting hard to help the human weapon.

* Most importantly, love. Love ultimately saves both the human weapon and the world.

(I wanted to use the part where all the Thunderbolts are hugging Bob but I couldn’t find a gif of it, I think this one with Yelena saying “I’m Here” to Bob conveys the same feeling as the iconic “I’m with you ‘till the end of the line” moment)

*And also Bucky.

(Insert here two gifs from Bucky, one from CATWS and one from Thunderbolts. Which would be visible if only tumblr didn’t have a 10 image limit 😔)

But where Captain America: The Winter Soldier has a bittersweet ending with Bucky remaining alone. In Thunderbolts, Bob is able to stay with the team.

And there’s something poetic about the former human weapon being one of the people helping another in the same position he was in. And where Steve wasn’t able to get Bucky to stay, Bucky and the team made a home for Bob to live in with them, I like to think this brings some sort of closure to Bucky. It sure feels satisfying narrative wise, at least for me.

I have so many thoughts yet I can seem to find the right words, so let me just say that now Bob has a home in my heart too, just as Bucky way back on 2014.

I will end this by sharing an edit I found on TikTok that highlights the parallels between Bucky and Bob.

[animanga-bonanza]

The way that Ironheart incorporates the theme of Magic vs Science in Riri’s characterization is so good

magic is intuitive, it’s not straightforward, you can’t understand it by taking it apart and analyzing it. you have to feel it. Riri’s mom uses magic (although it’s unclear whether she has a magical gift like Zelma), and she’s always trying to be understanding, trying to get Riri to open up and let herself feel her emotions.

but Riri can’t do that. she prefers the cold, logical realm of Science (as she understands it). taking things apart, building new things out of lifeless materials, creating a literal suit of armor that can protect her family and herself from pain. everything about Riri, including Dominique Thorn’s excellent performance, conveys a young woman who is trying so hard not to let herself feel. her forced nonchalant attitude, those mannerisms and tics and facial expressions that show she’s trying so hard to be “hard,” tough, like steel. but her eyes always give her away. there are so many moments throughout the show where Riri is visibly holding back tears. trying to stem the flow of her emotions before she gets overwhelmed. forcing a smile to pretend that she's okay.

the way that Riri takes after her stepfather, trying to live up to his image and legacy, leaning hard into Science. rejecting her mother, and in doing so, rejecting Magic. but Riri fails to realize that her father wasn’t just a brilliant mechanic. he was a family man, a loving protector. the memories she tried to bury to avoid feeling pain were also memories in which her stepfather showed her warmth, kindness, and open affection. the very things that Riri tries to shun so that she can be “strong.”

in rejecting Magic, in rejecting her own feelings, Riri makes herself callous towards the feelings of others. she manipulates people, just like Parker does, and shuts them out, and suffers for her loneliness. and just like Parker, she is susceptible to manipulation. because she’s out of touch with her own emotions, she does not know herself. she hasn’t healed from her wounds b/c she’s only buried her grief instead of directly addressing it.

and that’s how Mephisto gets her. Riri doesn’t really respect magic. she thinks she’s got it all figured out. and that’s why she was such a ripe target for Mephisto. if Riri had been more balanced, able to integrate both Magic (emotion) and Science (reason), she wouldn’t have taken Mephisto’s deal.

Ironheart is a tragedy because Riri becomes corrupted right at the moment she was beginning to heal. she had just started to let her family in. she was just learning how to trust and rely on others. and now, she’s sacrificed her own soul for the sake of bringing back Natalie, a horrifying yet understandable decision.

I can’t wait to see what the MCU has in store for Riri next. a second season is definitely warranted, but I understand if they decide to have her next appearance be in a feature film like Doomsday.

[bromcommie]

tbh I still think Brock Rumlow was an interesting character and upon further examination way more unsettling a villain than most to me because like. Let’s be real, the second you lay eyes on Robert Redford as Pierce monologuing in his pristine suit and glass office high up in the sky he just screams Evil Politician! at you. You can see it coming a mile away. Meanwhile Rumlow is….Just Some Guy. On the surface, he’s just some side dude. He’s not enhanced, he’s not in some major position of power, he’s just someone who’s really good at what he does and seems dedicated enough to the work and functions well with his team. He respects Steve, might admire him even, but not so much that he gets starry eyed like everybody else. He’s lighthearted but focused, he’s no nonsense, he’s the everyman Steve can relate to way more than spooks like Natasha or Fury.

And okay, maybe what Rumlow does for a living is beat intimidate and kill people, but it’s not like that’s the primary objective, right, because SHIELD are the good guys and this is what Steve does now, too, anyway; except that Steve doesn’t really use any weapons other than the shield, he holds back, he doesn’t carry a gun anymore which is usually fine since he’s dangerous enough without it. But when that leaves him vulnerable, he’s covered: Rumlow’s got his six, and he does it well, and he earns some of his trust. This is familiar to Steve.

And maybe Rumlow’s a little too good, fine, maybe he shoots a guy in the head within the first fifteen minutes of the movie when he doesn’t necessarily have to and then cracks jokes immediately after but that’s alright too, because that guy had Steve at gunpoint and that guy was Bad whereas Rumlow is One of the Good Guys just doing his job, right. Rumlow’s joking around because he’s used to the violence, they’re all used to it, and this is just how it works. They’re just soldiers doing the grunt work and following orders, and this is familiar, too.

Except that they’re not soldiers and this isn’t a war, except that the work is for an intelligence agency whose job it is to hoard and steal information and monitor civilians and orchestrate and sabotage and meddle in internal and external state affairs. Except that the Good Guys, in reality, are extremely grey at best. Except that many of the Good Guys turn out to be Nazis on top of everything else, and it’s not that far of a stretch.

But when it’s all starting to unravel, you’re still thinking well maybe some of these guys didn’t know. Maybe they didn’t do it out of individual belief, and if faced with the right choice, they can be redeemed.

That is until you realize that Rumlow maybe didn’t respect Steve and what he did so much as what Steve could do if only Steve weren’t “weak” in other ways, if Steve had chosen the right side. That it not being personal is less a cop out and more a taunt the same way just following orders has always been, for Rumlow and many many men that came before him and will continue to come after. Until the vault when, by the most charitable of interpretations, Rumlow looks at the Winter Soldier letting himself be smacked around and crying and getting shocked like he’s maybe a little unnerved (if not just downright fascinated) by the whole thing, but not enough that it really changes anything for him, because the end justifies the means and it’s not really his problem, anyway.

Until Sam shows up and Rumlow looks at him like a bird of prey and says This is gonna hurt with a fucking smile on his face, and then you think: shit, man, obviously. How was it not clear from the start.

To me, what makes someone like Rumlow a good villain, even a side one, is not that he’s straight up Insane & Evil™️ or suffering from Tragic Backstory Syndrome or all hopped up on magic superstrength juice or whatever, but precisely the fact that he’s Just Some Guy with a cockroach survival mentality who operates well within the established system and just so happens to be really good at his job - a job that he might’ve even joined thinking it was for a good cause, or because he had something to prove, or simply because it gave him one hell of an excuse to be a bully. Because he either wholeheartedly believes in HYDRA or he just doesn’t give much of a shit either way so long as he gets his due in the end, and both are just as bad.

Because when you strip away all the grand scale superhero theatrics, you’ve seen this before. You’ve seen Rumlows in your school and in your neighborhood and in the military and the cop car patrolling your street. They’re the ones who sometimes say or do somewhat offputting shit but you figure it’s fine because they’re otherwise real nice or charismatic or normal looking, or maybe they work a job that’s framed as helpful or protective or inherently good despite the power dynamics at play, or they share your background and interests and you chat about the weather being crap this time of year.

And every time one of them turns out to be a violent, hateful piece of shit, you’re still somehow surprised then, too, when you really shouldn’t be.

[velvet4510]

We all knew Rio was Nicky’s other parent but it’s glorious to see it firmly confirmed and so no hater is able to deny it anymore.

And now we can really bask in just how deep and unique the writing is for that final episode.

From conception, Nicky was half-life, half-death.

Death isn’t supposed to create life. It’s a total paradox that explains why Nicky was meant to be stillborn. How could the child of Death live? Agatha becoming pregnant must’ve turned Rio’s world upside down.

Also Rio doesn’t see death as a tragedy. How could she when it’s her job? When it’s the natural order of things? Before meeting Agatha, it never crossed her mind that death could be seen as bad.

But it’s when she fell for a living human, a mortal, that she finally saw what death means for humans. How much pain and fear and grief it brings.

And suddenly here’s Agatha pleading and pleading for her to NOT do her job, to NOT take their child with her. If she does this, she’ll break Agatha’s heart - the antithesis of her understanding of death. Rio suddenly comprehends that as long as Agatha lives on, there’s no way for the three of them to ever be together as a family. No wonder she chokes back tears.

As for Agatha, she only has the living person’s perspective. How could Rio want THEIR child to die? It’s the antithesis of parental instincts to want or allow your child to die. Death or no Death, surely Rio can see why this would be wrong?

Agatha and Rio are looking at the situation through totally different and incompatible lenses.

So out of love for Agatha alone, Rio lets Nicky’s “life” half take over not just for a few hours or days, but SIX WHOLE YEARS.

Then when Rio can’t stretch the rules any longer and she comes for him, Nicky knows her. He does not fear her, or where they are going. How can he, when she is his mother, when she needs him home?

Then Rio pays the price, as Agatha cuts ties with her and wants nothing to do with her anymore.

I also think this explains why Rio is so determined to kill Agatha herself or to let the Salem Seven do it, during the rest of the show. Again, as Death, she doesn’t see death as bad, or a harm, or a pain. If Agatha dies, then Rio can take her to Nicky and they can finally be a family. But Agatha doesn’t want them to be a family together. She still sees what happened as a loss and betrayal that Nicky would never forgive her for - the opposite of how Rio views it.

Ultimately, Agatha makes herself into a ghost who can’t cross over to where Nicky is, and Rio’s dream of her family being together is shattered.

Truly one of the greatest and most profound tragedies in television history, let alone MCU history.

[mischievous-thunder]

Initially, the only people who didn't know how far gone Logan and Wade were for each other were Logan and Wade themselves. Neither of them knew why there was a shift in their hearts or what to do with all of the raw emotions. So, they did the only thing they thought were good at. They fought their heart out.

The exact moment Wade realised that he was madly in love with Logan and would do anything for him was the very moment Logan had the exact same realisation. The moment Wade went inside to destroy the Time Ripper alone was when Logan felt completely lost. He used all of his power to get inside and be right by Wade's side.

The urgency in their tone and expressions, the way they tried so hard to sound casual to mask their true feelings and failed miserably, the way they were instantaneously ready to sacrifice themselves to save the other one point to the fact that their love is otherworldly. At this point saving the world and saving the other person became synonymous as they'd already become each other's entire world.

They didn't just save the world. The two broken men saved each other. After that, Wade had to introduce his new boyfriend and their dog to Althea. Oddly enough, domesticity does suit them exceptionally well.

[portraitofadyke]

Steve rogers is NOT the man who’s obliged to help everyone and never turn his back on those who need him. Steve Rogers is not obliged to hold people’s hands and be responsible for them. Steve rogers is the man who will do it either way, because it’s in his nature. Steve Rogers is not a hero because he has obligations and fulfils them, but because he’s naturally selfless and choosing to help people is not a sacrifice for him, it’s who he is. That’s what endgame writers couldn’t understand and why they thought him turning his back on his best friends and found family to disappear to the past (after saying goodbye to it years ago) to put his feet up and ‘retire’ while terrible things happen around him doesn’t make sense

[jessmalia]

Realistically, I know it's cause of bad writing that we never see any real bonding scenes between Steve and Tony to explain their close relationship, but I actually like that their connection is a mystery to the audience. Like, how on earth did you guys fall in love? You're willing to die by each other's side? Since when? You don't have anything in common and you fight all the time yet it's so clear that you love each other deeply. It doesn't make any sense. I'm obsessed.

[amarriageoftrueminds]

inspired by this post, here are some headcanons and meta about Steve & Bucky and queerness pre-war.

.

Sarah Rogers:

This idea of Sarah's awareness/acceptance of queerness, doesn't necessarily have to be a function of her living in NYC.

If we go with the idea that Steve's parents were Irish immigrants, and Steve was born in 1918... Well that gives Sarah time to have been living in Ireland during the Easter Uprising.

Steve Rogers's mother is obviously going to be involved with that, probably a member of the Irish womens' paramilitary group Cumann na mBan. (Would've also brought her into contact with Suffragists, Socialists, and Trade Unionists to pass that onto Steve, if she wasn't into all that already.)

And y'know who else were involved? A fucktonne of lesbians, that's who (including more than one female doctor and even one butch sniper!)

(My personal headcanon is that she was a nurse on the front lines in 1916, and actually left Ireland because she was in danger of getting arrested if she stayed. She met post-WWI-injury naturalised-American Joseph, either in 1916 while he was visiting Ireland (his home country) and they fought together, or in NYC, after he had been invalided home in 1917, then they married and had Steve in 1918.)

So if Sarah was a part of the Easter Uprising, she could've come into contact with/been accepting of lesbians, at least, long before she set foot in NYC.

You could so easily have her attitude as being like 'ah so there are men like that too, are there??'

.

Gay-Community Steve:

It is hard for me to reconcile 'bloody-mindedly honest, terrible liar' Steve with being gay and knowing he's gay, and not being open about it, in a self-destructive-for-the-period way.

So either he was so deeply in the closet that he himself didn't know yet, and so hadn't been a part of a gay community with gay friends because he literally didn't know to look for one.

(Like, he and Bucky are a couple and sleeping together for years, but Steve is so naive or in denial he thinks it's just a thing all bachelors do in the absence of a girl they're going to marry.)

OR...

CATFA's view is the propagandised version of events, and Steve actually did know he was gay, and was out to his friends, and the real reason Captain America kept getting rejected for active service is not because of his disabilities but because... he kept admitting to being gay?

And it was only after he got serum (and got in the news), that his public records were expunged to cover up the fact that their darling supersoldier (good and pure and Therefore straight! or perhaps asexual!) ...had broken the law; both by being gay and by falsifying his enlistment forms multiple times.

(Kind of like how how celebrities get a suspect 4F or dodge the draft, and their PR team makes up a more-palatable lie to feed to the public. Like how Frank Sinatra got rejected for active service on psychiatric grounds, but pretended it was because of an inner-ear problem.)

.

So, if Steve did have rainbow connections, where are they?

Possible reasons (beyond hate crimes, imprisonment or institutionalisation), why it looks like Steve only has the one friend:

Steve could also have had friends in the disabled community and lost them to illness?

Lost friends to the Depression/poverty, or had to move away from NYC for economic reasons?

Lost friends to internment (it wasn't just Japanese-Americans!), deportation, or lavender marriages (felt their new concentration on children and straight-passing made them strangers?)

had friends who were not enlisted, but we didn't see them because when we first meet Steve it's the middle of the day and they were all busy working?

had queer friends but: they were all enlisted by the time CATFA rolls around, and/or already died in the Spanish Civil War?

had queer friends but: they were all in the Navy and kept getting in fights with Steve about the Army being superior.

had queer friends but: they were introduced to Steve by Bucky, and 9/10 were actually friendzoned guys harbouring secret hopes and weren't exactly ecstatic to find out that Bucky was taken -- or, even worse, didn't see Steve as competition at all! -- and therefore never formed a good relationship with Steve. ('Jeez Steve why can't you n' these guys ever seem to get along? He was always so nice to me!' 'I know Buck, it's a mystery.' 😏)

had queer friends but: every time he went to a gay bar the men he could've befriended avoided him to hit on Bucky, or avoided him because he was hitting on Bucky, or avoided him because Bucky was hitting on him (and giving them the stink eye), or both of them were avoided because they were too... distracted to pay attention to anyone else.

(And/or the lesbians that talked to Steve all sidled up thinking he was a beautiful butch woman, then panicked once he opened his mouth, or were only there to ask if that friend of his was 'the double-date guy.')

imagine cops running Steve down outside a gay bar to arrest him for being a woman wearing pants… (Bucky would not let him hear the end of it.) And then being like 'oh! uhh sorry sir…' (two second pause before they suddenly clock that Steve and Bucky are a gay couple) 'Wait a second-' (Steve and Bucky already running.)

Maybe Steve would even become reluctant to go to the clubs, out of a fear of losing Bucky to someone else? Or Bucky reluctant to go for the same reason, and because Steve just attracts bad luck? (See: mob-related stuff below.) Both of them just sick of having run-ins with the cops?

had queer friends but: his views were so ahead of his time that even they found him too much.

(IE. barred from the gay bath house for protesting ableist body standards, the lack of POC, fighting the police too hard during a raid, and/or criticising the mob owners... Maybe Steve eventually couldn't go to any gay club, because he was in shit with the mob? Maybe the police actually thought he was straight, because they'd seen his photo up behind the bar as a persona non grata in gay clubs?! Future idiots will say this is 'proof' he stands for 'Traditional American Values.')

Banned from politics club for criticising Stalin's regime; barred from the jazz club for fighting a white dude there; banned from the radical womens group for bringing a trans friend; banned from the trade union for attacking the mob / wanting to fix union and police corruption. (Has he been excommunicated yet? It's probably only a matter of time.)

Picture hapless social-secretary Bucky helping Steve limp home from yet another Club that Bucky got him into, and having to listen to Steve rant about why 'they're all a bunch of hypocrites, Buck!' Perhaps homebody introvert Steve, secretly wanting to stay in, while extrovert Bucky keeps trying to help him get out more, and every time Bucky thinks he's found Steve the perfect place this time, Steve's all like 'we'll see.'

had queer friends but: he was so open about it that he was alienated by potential friends who wanted to remain on the DL and considered him dangerous. (Perhaps especially so, if they were / or about to be enlisted and didn't want to risk a blue discharge, and couldn't sanction the way Stevee blatantly proclaimed his orientation at recruitment stations? 🤔 Whereas Bucky was so invested, and had cultivated such a lady killer rep, that he can not-worry about being seen with Steve.)

Or: he was on the DL and was alienated by potential friends who weren't, and looked down on him for passing?

Or: he was estranged from gay friends who did the same thing he did (ie. declared their orientation during recruitment) but because they actually wanted to dodge the draft, etc.

Also consider: gay Steve and gay Bucky, both aware of their sexuality but not out to each other yet... independently going to any of the numerous gay hot spots in Brooklyn, seeing each other there, and fleeing in horror before they can make any friends, thinking 'omg why was he there? did he follow me?? does he know?!' And not figuring it out... because they are just genuinely that dumb.

Likewise, both of them in the pre-out phase, thinking 'well I can't risk having gay friends because they'd have to be a part of my life and then Bucky/Steve will find out!!' ...because they are just genuinely that dumb.

There are actually loads of options!

You could definitely do a have-your-cake-and-eat-it version of events where Steve has been part of a wider queer community, made friends, and yet still wound up having only one who stood by him. (There has to be reason why 'even when I had nothing, I had Bucky' would be true).

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Other Possibilities:

Steve and Bucky double-dating beards / playing mirkin to lesbian couples? = Hell yes.

(Sidenote: I also headcanon Bucky as having a gay sister, so maybe she could've been Steve's plus one, or they'd take out all Bucky's sisters to act as chaperones?)

Shit, why not turn it into a business? Bucky the Escort who gives his lesbian client a cover date, a great night of dancing, and a second cover-escort guaranteed to not steal her girl!

(Service comes complete with beautiful handwritten love letters (dictated by Bucky, penned by artist!Steve), a personalised sweetheart-style photo of Bucky, and a messy Public Break Up Scene on her stoop.😉)

RE: them moving in together: everyone talks about how queer Brooklyn was, but what if the boys went above and beyond for their own safety -- February House style -- and lived in a building exclusively populated by queer people? Maybe by queer members of the forces, or people who occupied humble positions in creative industries?

If Steve has lesbian friends from BK, and lesbian friends in the chorus line... why not both at the same time? Why not have some of those lesbian friends be Brooklyn girls who signed up to be chorus girls because- y'know -chorus girls, and were then like 'Steve?! Wtf are you doing here?!'

(Why not kill three birds with one stone: one of those chorus girls is Bucky's sister? Cue Spidermenpointing_meme and mutual assured blackmail -- she promises not to tell Bucky what Steve did if Steve promises not to tell Bucky that one of his sisters has run away from home to become a showgirl.)

Bucky as the social butterfly of the two, more likely to be out and about, especially in risky places (ie. he worked on the docks; he could actually get and keep jobs in those places), and/or the safer one, and given their later pattern of Bucky's friends becoming Steve's (ie. the Howlies)... I think Bucky would be more likely to be the one making eye-opening introductions to Steve rather than the other way around. Which could have interesting knock on effects... (see above).

Maybe he got Steve a lucrative job illustrating queer 8-pagers (maybe there's an underground queer magazine out of BK, a la The Circle, and he illustrates for that, using Bucky as a model? Cue hilarious 'what were you doing at the Devil's Sabbath?' moments when random men come up to Bucky in the street like 'where do I know your face from??' 😱)

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Re: Extended Family

I also headcanon that Bucky had a gay Uncle Jim (maybe a tailor?) who was institutionalized for being gay, and received harrowing medical treatments like electroshock therapy that eventually resulted in his death.

So by the time Bucky -- named after his dead uncle -- started showing signs of being bi, Bucky's parents had already had their eyes opened. Or maybe, like Sarah, they had already emigrated from a specific open-minded situation, so queer Brooklyn wasn't such a revelation.

Alternatively: In Stucky fic, people often seem to think as far as 'Brooklyn was queer!' but no farther.

But why not? Why does their queer education have to have started in queer Brooklyn?

Why not have Bucky's or Steve's (or both!) parents be engaged in Lavender Marriages, and open about it? One gay parent, or both?

(This might be another reason why Steve appears to not have friends outside Bucky; he might have got all the queer community he needed from his own family unit. Imagine it! Not just connected to Brooklyn queers but Edwardian queers, darling! The Herstory!!)

What if Steve's mother wasn't single but simply... 'never married?' 👀 Or maybe she was straight, but in love with her late lavender husband?

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And during/after the war:

Re: the Howlies.

(Have brought this ficbunny up elsewhere)

The Howlies knew and were fine about it, because... maybe there was an official investigation during the war to establish whether or not any of the Howlies were gay and/or in a relationship with Steve.

So, being a bunch of professional mischief-makers, and acting completely independently, the Howlies all pulled an 'I am Spartacus!' and claimed to be gay and in a relationship with Steve, under interrogation.

Steve also admitted to being gay, because he is terrible at lying and had to stand by them when he was told all his men admitted they were gay.

(Except for Bucky. He kept his head during interrogation -- sadly, not his first rodeo.)

So Bucky went down in hastily-redacted Army Record as somehow the only straight Howling Commando??

(The interrogators couldn't tell if they were being made fun of or not, and in any case the scandal was considered absolutely monstrous and a terrible blow for morale, so it was immediately covered up and no further steps were taken.)

Ironically enough, Steve & Bucky weren't even the only queer Howlies!

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The Future:

Seeing gay marriage legalised, the Stonewall riots, openly queer films and celebrities and tv shows, queer pride parades etc. etc. would be heart-breaking for Steve... because of course by this point he has become Captain America, deluded women he barely knows have spent decades claiming to have been his true love, and the people that did know him have been loyally covering up for him claiming he's straight. He'd feel like a hypocrite for not being what they said; or like he's letting them down by unmasking all their hard work.

And of course his real beloved isn't here any more, when he's finding all this out he's totally alone, no one to share it with, (doesn't know if any of his other friends are still alive, yet). And he doesn't want to have to relive that pain over Bucky by being interrogated on his love life...

Plus, after a century of being mythologised, he associates coming out with even wider public furore and a violation of the privacy that Steve Rogers never gets to have.

So all he has is the private escape of the 20th century's queer cinema, literature, tv shows, and porn (which all feel like an embarrassment of riches) ...but without being out to anyone - he feels he has to keep it a secret.

Until Bucky comes back, and isn't in a prudent enough mental state to realise all this. So for him, finding all this out about queer rights etc. is an untrammelled joy, and that's what finally gets Steve out of his negative headspace and into the light.

(And then, yeah, out and married. Try to stop Bucky getting his citizenship back when he's literally married to Captain America, assholes! Nowadays, the only women that hit on Steve are lunatics who think they can turn him, and Steve's only other problem is all the gay men who either want in on that threesome or think they can steal him away from Bucky!)

[legalandnotease]

"Sam is Working with the government, not for the government": A Rebuttal

Sam Stans often claim Sam is working "with" not "for" the government. The main basis for this claim is that he's not taking orders from them.

Yet, in Brave New World Isaiah Bradley and even Torres say Sam would have to take orders directly from Ross. Everyone associated with Sam realized this. Sam himself realized this: he directly said he'd be obligated to obey Ross.

So why do Sam Stans insist the contrary? Part of it is cognitive dissonance and denial. Not wanting to admit the implications of Sam being subject to Ross.

Sam Stans often point to individual acts of disobedience as "evidence" Sam isn't beholden to the government. Yet there's a problem with this. Sam either engages in these acts secretly, or when Ross is incapacitated. He has to go behind Ross back or wait until he's unable to do anything because he won't be able to get away with it otherwise.

It is a little bit like breaking the rules when your boss is away. This doesn't mean the rules don't exist, or that you are not subject to them. It simply means there is nobody to enforce them and punish you for breaking them. This is what is happening with Sam.

In Brave New World, it's clear that Sam’s current setup allows him to work alongside the government while also maintaining his independence.

This first claim is also frequently made and comes from this post. It is interesting how closely this resembles Tony Stark's position in Captain America: Civil War. Stark maintained that the Avengers could sign the Accords but still retain their independence.

Like Sam Stans, Tony fans often point to instances Tony broke the Accords and wasn't punished for it as "proof" Tony's claim was true. The problem with this is that Tony was in a unique position of wealth and privelege. This allowed him to buy or bribe his way out of trouble when other characters could not.

Tony could sign the Accords and then ignore them because nobody could hold him to account for breaking them. He was untouchable. Nobody else had this privelege. Which is why this remark from the linked post is so interesting.

The exact details are unclear, it seems that his base is probably either a generous donation or that he’s worked out some agreement, which makes sense because he is Captain America.

The "details are unclear" because this is a headcanon. Brave New World makes it very clear Sam would be totally beholden to Ross, but the last part of this remark is what I want to focus on. The op is clearly aware that Sam's position as Captain America affords him certain priveleges. (Priveleges which FTR Steve Rogers didn't have...) but they don't want to consider the possibility this allows Sam exercize political influence and use underhanded methods.

If Sam has political influence, it means he's more closely tied to the government than the Sam Stans dare to admit. This is in fact he case: in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, for example, Sam is running missions for the military but can also be heard bragging about how he can get people pardons.

The US military are of course funded and controlled by the government. To get someone a pardon. Sam would have to have *considerable* influence with various people in the government and the legal system.

But there's more. There's a scene in Brave New World which previously made no sense to me, but now does. Remember that several people were mind controlled to try and assassinate President Ross? They were all sent to the same Prison to await trial but someone got in and murdered them before this could happen. Except Isaiah Bradley, who was conveniently moved just in time.

The reason this didn't make sense was because Sam was tipped off that such a thing could happen. Yet it seemed he did nothing with that information. Except... he did. There was a shot showing Ruth answering her phone. Sam made sure that Bradley was moved, but let the other mind control victims be killed.

This level of favoritism here is staggering. Sam was prepared to allow other people to be killed as long as his friend was safe. He did not even bother to try and save everyone: only the person that mattered to him. Which reflects terribly on him not just as a person, but as Captain America.

In other words, Sam has influence. He can use it as and when he pleases in ways that he wants, and can get away with things other people can't. In other words: Sam is corrupt.

There's one final remark in the linked article which merits consideration. The op refers to non-profit organizations recieving funding from the government and supposedly only using them for projects which "align with the organization's vision". He says that

"So whilst the money comes from the government, it doesn't feel as much like a situation of working for them as much as for them as with them, like Sam does"

This is an extremely naive attitude, or else one based in denial. Government funding isn't free. it comes with certain obligations and expectations. There are always strings attached. Funding has to be applied for, and governments generally only approve funding for organizations which align with their policies or do things they want: the moment this changes, the funding is withdrawn.

No matter how it "feels", organizations in receipt of government funding are beholden to the the government to a greater or lesser extent.

All the above serves as evidence Sam isn't working with or for the government. He's *part* of the government. He's literally a member of the corrupt establishment, just like Tony Stark was before him.

Note that in Civil War Steve didn't just throw away the shield: he also lost his role and status as Captain America. He was known as Nomad for 2 years. This is because it is not possible to be Captain America *and* be in open defiance of the government.

Unlike Steve Rogers, who consisently and openly defied government dictats even if it meant giving up his rank and status of Captain America, losing funding, or becoming a fugitive, Sam accepts them.

Sam became a government employee from the moment he picked up a set of wings and especiallly the Shield. (Which is after all "government property" as Natasha said in Civil War). Although he disagreed with the Accords, his actions in Civil War were more due to his desire to help Steve then anything else.

Its possible that after recieving a pardon following the events of Endgame, everything Sam lost in Civil War made him determined to never defy the government again. or simply that his new role as Captain America ave him more breathing room.

He didn't have have the same black mark against him as Steve after all: 2 years as a fugitive for defying the Accords and helping the Winter Soldier. He could say he'd been roped into all that, and the Accords being repealed helped. As did Bucky being pardoned and Ross snapped as well.

We do know that after Endgame he retained his contacts within the government and military, allowing him to access resources and exercize leverage. Furthermore, his status as a member of the elite, who never challenges the government in a meaningful way allows him to get away with small acts of disobedience. Provided he toes the line overall, and only recruits "respectable" people of course.