fqolai

[fqolai]

Team 'give-Walker-shit'

[fqolai]

Yelena: Let’s just hug it out. Come on, hug it out.

Everyone: [struggles into a group hug]

Bucky: Who took my wallet?

John Walker: Sorry

[fqolai]

This is why I'll never read any Sambucky fic where Bucky is not screaming, crying and throwing up from pinning over Sam. I mean, look at him, the man is starving!!!

[fqolai]

2016: bucky stan’s fighting me because i defended tony’s position in civil war

2021: wanda stan’s fighting me because i said sam will be the focal point of the mcu moving forward

2025: sam stan’s fighting me because i defended bucky joining the thunderbolts

[fqolai]

[fqolai]

rip 2012-2014 tumblr, you would have LOVED thunderbolts*

[fqolai]

I love the thought of the new avengers showing up in doomsday with bob in tow and everyone else being like

“who the fuck is that”

“bob”

“why is he here”

“he’s our friend”

[fqolai]

“why do you still use tumblr?”

listen— i have to keep track of my hyper fixations somehow

[fqolai]

TB* spoiler

[fqolai]

[fqolai]

why’s every time i post an angsty headcanon that came to me in a sleep-deprived vision at 3 in the morning, someone’s gotta try and argue with me in the replies…

“i disagree!” good for you! “why are you assuming x,y,z??” this implies i have any control over the voices. “doesn’t make any sense!!” whelp is was 3am. i think you’re holding me to a bit too high a standard. and most recently “these people are not serious” ??? you’re right, i’m not, why is it so serious😭😭😭

like what are you even doing in fandom spaces if someone’s angsty headcanon strikes such a nerve. you must not even be enjoying it here.

[fqolai]

The Old Guard (2020) // The Old Guard 2 (2025)

[fqolai]

YES the Thunderbolts have a fantastic team as family dynamic, yes they are living in Avengers tower, yes history is repeating itself and 2012 tower fics are so back. BUT!

instead of "Alexei eating poptarts" or "Yelena in the vents", we must come up with new headcanons and make history

Bob always does normal domestic chores, often getting in the way of important missions and spy business. "All I'm saying is Bucky is our best sniper" "It would be a much quieter assassination if I just slipped into the condo and cut his—" "Hey sorry guys, anyone have laundry? I'm doing a load"

Yelena and her guinea pig always eat meals together at the dining table. Everyone has their Chinese food or barbeque, meanwhile the rodent is loudly munching on a salad right beside them

Bucky is the mom and always keeps them on track. "Ava you have a dentist appointment in the morning, and bring Bob so they can add him to the insurance. Lena how was therapy? Alexei, I said no vodka until dinner"

Alexei is always coming up with new promotional ideas for the team. Cartoon tv show, cereal, toothpaste flavour...every day he thinks he's come up with the next big thing. Whenever they actually get put into production (Wheaties) he collects and saves it, and won't let anyone use a different product. (He threw out Yelena's frosted flakes and it took both Bucky and John to get her to stop attacking him)

Ava likes to phase and sneak attack her teammates at random. She claims it's for training but really she just thinks it's funny hearing them scream

John gets blamed for everything, even if it isn't his fault. Especially if it isn't his fault: "who ate the last bagel?" "John." "Where's my hair straightener?" "John had it." "Whose turn is it to unload the dishwasher?" "Johnnnn"

[fqolai]

Y'all... I fear Sambucky divorce may be even more complicated than we initially thought.

I was thinking about how hard it must be for Sam to feel like he can't trust Bucky anymore. He became Captain America and went through that journey with Bucky at his side. He told him about reassembling the Avengers.

Then that press conference happens and Valentina tells the world that she has been secretly rebuilding the Avengers for years... and there's Bucky on that team.

A team that was rebuilt by the U.S. government's Director of the CIA. The very thing that Sam and Steve had been adament about the Avengers not becoming. So, of course he sued for copywrite of the name.

But... it also must be so hard for Bucky to feel like he can't trust Sam.

He can't explain how they're not actually working for the U.S. government without explaining the leverage they have over Valentina....

He can't explain without giving up Bob.

He'd have to tell Sam that Bob was the sentry, the result of Val's human experimentation, and that's the leverage they have over her that makes them an independent team.

I think Bucky knows, that just like Steve, Sam wouldn't be happy with using that as leverage. He would want Valentina to go to prison for what she's done.

But to go to prison, she would have to be impeached. There would need to be an investigation and a trial. To send the Director of the CIA to federal prison, the evidence would need to be public.

They'd have to tell the whole world about Bob. Subject him to the distrust and fear of the public when they find out that he was the Void.

To regain Sam's trust, Bucky would have to break Bob's.

[fqolai]

Just realized that Val said she had been working on the 'New Avengers' for years in that press briefing... If Sam only knows the publicly available information on the tbolts... then he probably thinks Bucky knew and was a part of it all along... and that Bucky withheld that information all this time.

[fqolai]

No worries! Your English is very good :) Hope I am also explaining my opinion well haha. Let me know if something isn't clear. Happy to rephrase.

I think solo movies -- besides what's already planned -- won't be an immediate thought for sure. I guess it depends on who the final team ends up being (like you said), but with all these actors wanting to continue their character arcs, I think it makes sense to plan for some down the line after this phase or even the next phase concludes. So I get where you're coming from! I'm thinking more years down the road than the immediate future.

I agree about Carols future mostly. The only thing that makes me question it is her connection with so much of the plot and what Brie has been hinting at on her social media posts. I think her first movie did well (despite all the misogynistic complaints), so I could see them revisiting the character in a solo movie down the line.

Completely agree on Shuri! I would be very surprised if she wasn't on the team. And I agree with your thoughts on Thor! I think if Hemsworth was game to do 5 more movies, Kevin would have him sign a contract immediately haha. I see what you mean about Ant-Man 4. It was never the most popular Marvel solo franchise to begin with. More and more, he seems perfect to be on the Avengers and not as a solo movie character. It would have to be a really special story to tell, I think, for them to give it another go.

I was thinking about Jennifer a while ago too for Sam's team! His lawyer, for sure. Copywrite law is right up her alley. I can't decide if she'll be a team member or just the team lawyer (maybe both?), but definitely a huge possibility.

My main fear for Sam's team is that the audience won't connect with them since we don't get to see so much of it's founding. And since, they are all parts of other series, they all have their own issues/relationships/plots/etc. that fans know them for. That's why I say they're probably resemble the OG Avengers in that they have competing priorities, whereas the Thunderbolts are it. They are in it for the gig of being Avengers. They've got no one else besides each other. This is their family. It just won't be the same for Sam's Avengers.

Val is definitely attached to them. Besides the fact that she is going to be in Doomsday, I think there may be some confusion as to the CIA's role in the team, right? As a U.S. Poli-Sci major, I feel like this is my perfect opportunity HAHAHAHA. To try and shortly explain something very complicated with a whole lot of real-world implications, the CIA is basically the final say for any U.S. government shady business,with some exceptions. Congress and the President do not have full control over it. It does not have full control over Congress or the President. It has a certain independence that sometimes allows them to do very shady things very secretively. Congress can decide how much funding it gets, so essentially crippling the entire agency and jeopardizing American saftey (they do many other things than just Avengers in the MCU, for sure, and no one's going to cripple the entire agency in Congress just to have influence on the Avengers -- in a sane world anyway). The CIA can even -- in certain circumstances -- withhold information from the U.S. President. Now, of course, that isn't meant to be used whilly-nilly. But I imagine Valentina does not care for laws if she did not adhere to the ones on human experimentation, so she's probably not telling the government A LOT about what the Avengers are doing (probably unlawfully). As we saw play out in the movie, this requires a very lengthy and slow investigation to even begin putting to rights. The President can remove the acting CIA Director and nominate someone else anytime he wants. That would potentially be a problem for the New Avengers, hence why they are adament about keeping Val's secrets. So long as she's in power at the CIA, no one's gonna be looking too closely at them, and they can answer to no one. Defense Department is a separate thing entirely and not involved at all (simply put, it's in charge of war).

Completely agree that the optics are not good! That's, in my opinion, one of the reasons why Sam is so upset.

I still have faith that the Thunderbolts won't be written out so soon! Did you know a sports team can also sue for copywrite if someone else starts using their name hehehe. That will be the next hurdle for them if they go back to it I fear. American's take their sports teams very seriously HAHAHA it will probably get more attention than the Avengers lawsuit.

MORE 3AM TBOLTS THOUGHTS (this time for doomsday)

thinking about who sam’s team will be… it’s gotta be people we already know since they’re assembled off-screen, right? so maybe black panther, captain marvel, shang-chi, thor, ant-man etc.?? all really heavy hitters like A+ star team (mcu social media users are already dubbing them the #RealAvengers)

but one thing they all got in common is that they’ve all got their own skills/responsibilities whatever you want to call it. the avengers will likely purely be a job to them (just like with the OG avengers). and just like them, this means their egos will probably clash a lot. everyone has their own expertise/opinions on how to handle the situation.

so when the chips are down, just like the OG avengers, they might fall apart, go their separate ways, try to tackle the problem on their own (carol tried to go fight thanos on her own, thor is always off on his own adventures — the visions during age of ultron, the guardians in infinity war) they’ve all got competing priorities (thor with loki being alive, scott with his family, etc.).

meanwhile, the tbolts have spent the last 1+ years becoming a tight-knit group. they might squabble and tease and taunt each other, but they’ve built up real affection and understanding. this group/family is the most important thing to them. so when the chips are down, they’ll be more likely to turn toward each other and rely on one another.

plus i think sam’s main problem with the team is the governments perceived influence in it (perceived bc the tbolts hold the actual power over valentina, but that’s not what it would look like from sam’s pov).

long way to say i think sam may need to turn to the tbolts in the end to save the day or whatever… and sam’s team — while still avengers — will be more on a called upon basis when/if needed because they have their own franchises for marvel to focus on.

[fqolai]

Definitely why he’s upset — which is understandable — but also important to acknowledge that that’s not actually what’s happening! Just his perception of events, coming from someone who wasn’t there and doesn’t know the situation.

From the outside looking in, it looks like Valentina, head of a U.S. government agency (who was in the process of being impeached for human experimentation allegations), has created and formed a team of super individuals to protect the American people. That’s all the information they have. Because that’s all the information Val told and the Thunderbolts have allowed to be shared.

We know that Yelena wasn’t happy taking orders from anyone. She was depressed and suicidal in that role. She wanted out and told Val that she was done. She wants to be a hero like her sister and find purpose in protecting people. Alexei is similar in that he wants to ‘relive his glory days’ and protect civilians. But, he refers to Russia as “my country” in this film. He’s not working for the U.S. government.

John was tired of being used. He’s been the governments puppet before and look how it ended for him. He hates himself for what he did while in that role and he wanted a clean slate. Not to get involved in the very same thing that led to being ostracized by the public. Ava has been taken in by SHIELD (potentially and likely Hydra) and raised as an operative — a choice she never made for herself — all for the false promise of a cure. No way she’s going to trust in a government agency again.

Bucky tried the ‘right’ way. He tried to go by the books. He became a congressman. But he’s never able to follow rules #1 (nothing illegal) or #2 (no one gets hurt). He tracks Mel’s phone and he abandons the investigation to confront Val directly instead. He has no patience for the system or for anyone telling him what to do. In the end, he’ll do what he thinks is best. And likely, it will end in a fight, not a government sanctioned committee hearing.

“We own you now.” The Thunderbolts have the power to make Valentina go away and she knows it. They hold all the evidence to get her locked away for a very long time. It’s not like the U.S. government is particularly fond of her (considering the impeachment and all). The only reason why the Thunderbolts don’t out her for her role in Project Sentry is that she’s useful. Her backing prevents the government from looking too closely.

The appearance of an agency in charge under the umbrella of the U.S. government prevents the accords situation from arising again.

If anything, the government refusing to share information about the space situation is proof they don’t take their orders and missions from the government. The government didn’t tell them to get involved or to not get involved. The Thunderbolts fired up the jets and are ready to deal with the issue themselves, regardless of whatever the government is doing.

This is what Bucky was trying to explain to Sam, likely. But it went badly. Why? Guess we’ll find out in Doomsday. Or we can speculate… But we won’t know for sure until it’s explained to us. It’s possible that the Russo’s — in all their infinite wisdom — will decide to just make Sam jealous because it’s humorous to them or something.

Personally, as a SamBucky appreciator, I think Sam sees Bucky’s involvement as a betrayal because Sam had confided in Bucky about his plans to rebuild the team. And then he sees Bucky on the news being announced as an Avenger. Now they are headed to divorce court to negotiate custody of the team.

I can’t believe this has to be said but… you know Sam is upset at the thunderbolts* because he doesn’t want the avengers to be controlled by the government, right? That’s why he was on team cap in civil war. Do you know that? It’s important to me that you know that.