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I need this injected into my veins fr fr

Okay so I've written a little something. It was supposed to be a character analysis about how John's behaviour towards Bob speaks about John's struggles with being the perfect american man, but I've got carried off, so this post is more about how John's behaviour can be interpreted as John being obliviously drawn to Bob, and how I imagine him slowly developing feelings for Bob. It's under the cut if you're interested;)

So John's default reaction, when he feels anything too strong for him to rationalise, is aggression. Not just anger, but being a dick to the person he feels targeted by (especially when it's unmotivated). And that, having been in the military for many years, he conceptualises relationships between men (except for the one he had with Lemar, because their bond was of course deeper than any one he ever had with another guy) as being based on submission and dominance. Who gives and who follows orders, who gives and who takes the punishments.

That being said, let's talk about his on-screen interactions with Bob. Literally a second after he met him, John has been outright aggressive to Bob. Poking him constantly, being rude without any cause, besides Bob being himself, so rightfully confused about the whole situation and nervous about three mercs pointing their guns at him. It's clear he attacked Bob because he was something John couldn't stand, something John finds unacceptable in a man, I might add. Wearing his emotions without hiding them, being anxious instead of coldly focused, like most of the men John has been around in his life. It instantly bothered him a great deal, because John doesn't understand that. And of course, John put himself in a place of superiority to Bob, because that's how it works between men, and Bob would never be above him in that sense. That's what made him push Bob against the wall when Bob insulted him. He was offended, of course. But he also couldn't accept Bob stepping up to him, because that's not a role for weak men.

It's obvious what I'm going for here: John felt threatened by a man being so different from the standard he has learned a man must be. A proper man, strong, unemotional, cold. He didn't like being faced with the embodiment of what he has learned being "not man enough" means. Not when all of his life, John has strived to be that man. There can't be another way of doing it, can there be?

But John was also curious about Bob. About what he was and why he was in the vault, of course, but I'd like to imagine that his curiosity extends beyond that. Maybe, especially after they all move into the Watchtower and start to know each other more, he wonders what it's like in Bob's head, what it was like growing up without hiding the most difficult parts of him. His mental illness, of course. But also his sensibility, his gentleness.

Are we also on board with Bob being gay and knowing that from a very young age? With that being an additional reason for his father's abuse? Good, because once John realises that Bob is gay and doesn't think that's a big deal about himself, he also obviously starts to obsess over that. Because of course he's not homophobic, but also how can you be so chill about something so... how can he put that? So private, so controversial? So hard? And his gears start spinning about that too.

In conclusion, John goes from being angry that he doesn't understand Bob, because he's so different from anything he knows to be good and right for a man to be, to obsessing over those said differences. It would take him so much damn time to realise he's grown a habit of observing Bob. That he slowly stopped analysing him, and turned to just watch him maybe a bit too much. That his "how is Bob so kind?" has evolved into "how can Bob be so kind?" and inevitably turned into "I like how kind Bob can be".

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"All his cute comments, how he always looks in all directions because he’s so curious, the way he squeezes his eyes shut and turns his head away before shooting, how he doesn’t want to hurt anyone even though THEY hurt him all the time, his adorable smiles and all of that - that's HIM. Like damn even the way he sneezes"

Oh . I think I just fell in love with a tumblr paragraph byeee🥺✨

Also, I saw some stupid discussions on Twitter about how fanfics have Bob stuttering and fiddling with his sleeve and such, and Op said that was infantilizing him, which is absurd. It's canon; he does do all of those things. It's how his anxiety manifests.

Also, let's not forget the shaking hands, fidgeting in place, blinking rapidly, and flinching in the face of violence (because, yk, unlike every other thunderbolt, he was just Some Guy pre-Sentry Project??).

Like, bfr, Lewis Pullman didn't act his ass off just for me to disregard those character-defining tics and gestures. It's called being accurate to canon. If that's not your thing, go off. God knows I've rewritten half the MCU in my head at this point, but don't call it infantilization.

Infantilizing Bob is when writers act like he is helpless and stupid for the sole reason of being mentally ill.

He is a former drug addict, god knows what he went through, and the crazy thing? He is a survivor, that's Bob for me in one word, even if he doesn't see himself that way.

He even survived a shady scientific trial where every other candidate died. It's what Bob does; he survives. And while it's sad to think about, we can only speculate on the many skills he's gained over the years to survive the shitty hand he was dealt in life.

There is a fine line between Bob thinking of himself as those things because he clearly suffers from self-esteem issues -void or no void- or the others, in a well-meaning way, trying to help or keep him out of danger because they are protective of him, and you portraying him as a helpless baby who doesn't know how to do anything. Tread carefully.

saw the discussion on twitter and wanted to speak about it here too, just this once, because everyone's talking about it so damn much

calling Bob pet names and wanting to love the fuck out of him is NOT babying him. people do it to ALL the characters all the time, even to super buff, perfectly healthy men. babying/infantilizing is thinking he is incapable of doing something, that he needs constant help and supervision, it’s about talking down to him and looking down on him

JUST AS BAD as people infantilizing Bob are people who reduce his every action to his disorders/addiction/anxiety

His shaking hands, stuttering, fidgeting with hands and/or clothes and such are caused by those

The rest is the kind of person he is, that’s HIS personality and HIS behavior

All his cute comments, how he always looks in all directions because he’s so curious, the way he squeezes his eyes shut and turns his head away before shooting, how he doesn’t want to hurt anyone even though THEY hurt him all the time, his adorable smiles and all of that - that's HIM. Like damn even the way he sneezes

Why the fuck is Bob completely one thing or completely another to almost the entire fandom?

He IS the sweetest cutest boy, but of course he can be sarcastic and rude if you’ll bother him. he IS the kindest, but of course he'll tell you everything he thinks about you if you’re an ass. like he's a fucking human being, he has a LOT of emotions and if he's driven to it, of course he'll get angry and won't hesitate to say his opinion back.

People no longer understand what infantilization is, and so many other people are afraid to say that Bob IS the ultimate babygirl because they think others will misunderstand and attack them immediately (and that’s exactly what happens lmao)

well if YOU don’t understand the difference then that says a lot about YOU and that's entirely YOUR problem. Open google and read about the meaning of things.

I also want to point out that people who say "he literally was on drugs!!" are grossly generalizing and stereotyping because they’re implying that all addicts are the same, that they all have the same behavior and everything, forgetting that they are all people (!) with their own personality, emotions, their own pain and stories, forgetting that people become addicted for their own completely different reasons. But that's a whole other conversation.

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Nothing screams "I'm writing a thunderbolts (sentryagent) fic" like getting this shit recommended to you after going on a whole 3AM spree researching guinea pigs

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no sentryagent HC does it for me quite like Bob being John's #1 rage baiter... just, ugh, so good (and nothing we haven't seen in canon)

The infantilization of Bob is so fucking funny cause that man is actualy a Brat and he probably rage baits the fuck out of John

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RIGHT? Like I just don't get it... John doesn't exactly give anyone else on the team any nicknames so???? Cue the "I know what you are" dog meme AHAHAUWHWHSB

not to be annoying and gay but literally what made john call bob “bobby.” what made him do that

you can say he did it to be an asshole but that was like once. he immediately just starts calling him that. pulling him up from the tunnel he says “can you make it bobby?” not to make fun of him but to literally just ask if he needs help. talking down the sentry he says “you don’t want to do this bobby” because he’s trying to reach him i’m so

why is he like this

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All animals love him, honest to god never seen a chicken be as quiet and chill as the one he was holding in the video? Lewis Pullman is a Disney Princess confirmed 🎀

Lewis Pullman for Bustle (◕‿◕✿)

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I'm very stupid because no shit Yelena keeping the guinea pig is canon. Look at the end credits😭😭😭

Category is lab "rat" taken in by Yelena Belova <3

I'm fucking crying why are they the same they genuinely look so similar in my eyes😭 (whatever you do don't think about them both being lab "rats" adopted by Yelena ((yes she adopts the guinea pig and they call it Cucumber and Bob feeds it apple slices piss off ok idk what to tell you))

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Lessons in Chemistry is the best Lewis has ever looked duuude what is this😭😭😭😭 fuck that bus anyday of the week

LEWIS PULLMAN as CALVIN EVANS Lessons in Chemistry (2023) 1.02

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This is the closest we got to a proper interaction between Bucky and Bob (other than sentry bob beating him with the metal arm sjsbsbsbsb) and I think that's hilarious.

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Category is lab "rat" taken in by Yelena Belova <3

I'm fucking crying why are they the same they genuinely look so similar in my eyes😭 (whatever you do don't think about them both being lab "rats" adopted by Yelena ((yes she adopts the guinea pig and they call it Cucumber and Bob feeds it apple slices piss off ok idk what to tell you))

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I present you this: Bob's super nervous upon realizing his crush aka the first two to three weeks, but then he just kinda gets used to it, because what's one more thing to get a bit (?) stressed about hahaha and also bc he totally believes he has zero chances of it going anywhere so he just, embraces it? is very normal about it? Like, yeah. I have a crush on this dude, and all of these weird assholes are family to me, I'd kill for them, bla bla, casual Bob Thoughts or whatever.

John, on the other hand, when he finally gets his head out of his ass (somehow) hooo brother this guy STINKS

I don't imagine Bob being really nervous around John? Like, okay. Part of him is 110% sure that he's not ever going to like him, and that if he likes him, it will be a fleeting kind of thing, and also, that he's going to ruin John's first experiences with a guy (all of this is incredibly stupid and totally baseless, but we all know that Bob struggles a lot with his low self esteem). But I don't imagine him losing his cool a lot? Like yeah, Yelena's tired to see him throwing what he thinks are subtle looks in John's way. Ava can see from a mile away how Bob has gone from getting a bit tense at John's abrasive personality to volunteering a little too quickly to accompany John. Alexei hovers around making popcorn because he knows Bob is going to sit with John during movie nights. Like, it's not as if Bob's going to take the first step, because he's laughably convinced that his feelings are not going to be returned, but I don't see him suddenly forgetting how to string a sentence.

On the other hand, I'm 110% convinced that John would walk into a wall because Bob looked cute.

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Lewis Pullman WORKED for that paycheck 🙏🏻

THUNDERBOLTS* | 2025

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This was... an enlightening read. Wow.

Why does everyone assume that Bob (just because he’s an 4ddict) was pr0miscuous? Hmm? Addicti0n doesn’t automatically mean he was out there fcking everyone.

He could even have touch aversion because of his trauma. I need a fic that explores that. A less experienced Bob. Maybe even a virgin.

🧍‍♂️💔🚫👄

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Also, something about Yelena and John both lingering to see if Bob is good, even though no one would blame them if they hurried to leave -because they're quite literally fleeing from death- or if only one stayed. No. BOTH linger until he gives them the ok. And I just, um, yeah 🥺

Maybe it’s just me, but this fleeting scene/moment in the movie where Bob is 1. wearing tactical gear (his sweet and fragile nature being paired with a traditionally “masculine” uniform made me feral) and 2. smiling as he gets shoved in the back of the military utility vehicle, knowing that (in his mind, to be part of something bigger than him, even if it was just for a little while) made him feel more alive than he could have ever imagined before.

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PLEASS SOMEONE DO THISSS