#I blame thunderbolts

[linsdoods]

I’m nostlagic now

[midnight-ams]

I should really be working on my finals 🫣 but instead I drew thunderbolt butts 🙂‍↕️

[blakellyl]

the fact that it’s literally in the movie

[music-for-sushi]

[purple--queen]

Seeing a lot of SamBucky divorce stuff & friendly reminder married people are allowed to have arguments.

[radioactive-yuri]

art block but still wanna be productive = draw john walker hitting the shinji ikari pose

"dollar store captain america", "you're kind of an asshole, aren't you?", "look, i'm sorry your wife left you and took your kid-", etc etc etc.

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Why I think Sam has a right to be annoyed

Okay, waffle time! 🧇

I've been thinking about this since I watched Thunderbolts, but I've been thinking about it even more when it comes to the way some people have been placing the majority of the blame of the Sambucky Divorce™ on Sam (keyword there being some).

Honestly, if I was Sam, I'd be mad too. Sam has had to do a lot of work to be seen as being worthy of taking on the mantle of Captain America. It wasn't as simple as just taking the shield and the title, he had to show people that he was capable. And then he was tasked with rebuilding the Avengers, with, as far as I can tell, little outside help. I'm sure there are people who will give him a hand (like Joaquin), but for the most part, this is Sam's job to do. He somehow has to try and reconstruct a group that honours the legacy of not just the people who many see as heroes, but the legacy of many of Sam's own friends. That's not an easy task to do.

So, I don't imagine he's too thrilled that while he's working on trying to piece together this team, Valentina comes swanning in, in the middle of people trying to impeach her for experimenting on people, and simply goes "I have the New Avengers" and for the government to just... accept that? Sure, the public reaction wasn't great, but I imagine there would have been some pushback on whatever team Sam brought together too because they're never going to be what the original Avengers were. But for Sam, who is putting in all this work to take on the mantel of Captain America, to build a team who can help protect anyone, and to honour the legacy of his friends, this is a kick in the teeth.

And on top of all of that, the New Avengers are in the hands of the government, which is exactly what Steve didn't want. Steve fought against the Sokovia accords so that this wouldn't happen and Sam stood by him through all of that. The New Avengers being government-operated is a dishonour to Steve's legacy, and to the legacy of the rest of Sam's friends, so of course he's going to be upset with it all.

And obviously he's going to have issues with Bucky being involved! Bucky knew what Steve was fighting for with the Sokovia accords and yet he's going against all of that with this new group. Not to mention he now works for the person he was trying to help to impeach!

Sure, Bucky is going to have his reasonings for why he's doing all of this, but to say that Sam is wrong for having an issue with this is missing a huge part of Sam's character. Additionally, I don't think Sam suing for copyright infringement is a bad idea either. As far as we're aware, his team of Avengers doesn't exist yet, so he can't just ask the government to scrap the New Avengers because he'd have to justify the removal of a group of people who are currently in place to protect the people of Earth when he, at this point in time, doesn't have anything to offer up in its place. Suing for copyright isn't asking to dismantle the team, it's just asking to not dishonour the legacy of the Avengers by using their name for a government-owned group led by someone who was being pushed towards federal prison.

I've seen people getting annoyed at Sam for having an issue with the New Avengers being composed of ex-assassins/criminals (and how that's also disrespectful to Bucky considering Sam knows what Bucky has been through) but there's nothing in the end-credit scene to suggest that that is the problem he has with it. Admittedly, there's no concrete evidence that his issue is anything that I have stated above either, but I'd argue that it makes more sense, and is more in character for those to be his reasonings behind it than to assume he's suing just because he doesn't want criminals in the Avengers. The original Avengers were also composed of ex-assassins/criminals! Sam knows this and it would be downright hypocritical of him to use that argument against the current group.

We don't know how the conversation between Sam and Bucky panned out, just that it went poorly. Honestly, I think Sam has reasonable grounds to be annoyed, just like I think Bucky likely has some reasonings as to why he's staying with the New Avengers. I don't think it's as simple as one side being right and one side being wrong here, but I do think Sam's frustration is justified.

Do I think this is the end of Sam and Bucky's relationship as we know it? No. They've been through worse together, so I'm sure they'll sort things out. They're just going through a rocky patch for reasons that, to me, make a lot of sense.

[Side note: I also disagree with the whole "Bucky now has a family" mentality that people have been pushing following Thunderbolts* because what about the time he spent with Sam, Sarah, and the boys in their community? I'm not saying that the Thunderbolts don't count, because obviously they play a huge part in his life now, but they certainly aren't the first family he's been a part of in recent years.]

[windwakergamer]

YELENA!!

may have seen Thunderbolts* twice now

[firelxdykatara]

gonna take the word 'siblings' and put it on a very high shelf until fandom stops applying it to any set of unrelated adults who don't have anything approaching a sibling dynamic or relationship just because they don't want other people shipping them. none of the thunderbolts are siblings or see each other that way please lordt free me

[paper-lilypie]

I come from Ao3, and I gotta ask-- what is it with you and pushing Bob off of buildings?

1) The mental image makes me giggle snicker teehee like a giddy schoolgirl

2) Tell me that man has any better chance at facing his fear of heights while surrounded by literal superhumans who jump off helicopters and buildings alike. I need that man falling at high speeds on my desk by Monday morning

[very-super-silly]

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL IS SO JOHN WALKER CODED AUGH THIS MAKES ME SO MAD

[lucidasidera]

🤡 Markus and McFeely 🤡: “Yeah, Bucky’s just a POW who had his entire agency explicitly removed in not one but TWO ways but he’s for sure guilty because we don’t want him to have fruit salads with Steve”

[papermachemarvel]

Thunderbolts spoilers

God damn it I’m about to write a Bucky x Walker fic because ALL THAT LIL GUY WANTS IS BUCKY’S ACCEPTANCE AND PRAISE

[deantfwinchester]

sos y’all i just saw thunderbolts and loved it…

this is the first marvel movie i’ve seen in six years and yet. I Feel It. her Siren Song

she calls to me like an old friend. h e l p

[vee-nyx]

BUCKY UNCONSCIOUS ON THE GROUND WITHOUT HIS ARM IM ACTUALLY GONNA THROW UP

[luckytohavebucky]

That is not how it works because not only are Sam and Bucky not a thing or whatever, but people are supposed to be happy for those they care for, so just... This "idea" is very dysfunctional, selfish, and by the way, Sam has totally done something wrong by being a fucking jerk to Bucky; Bucky is the 1 who has never actually done anything wrong.

if my boyfriend started leading a group called the new avengers that worked with the government (and included the government appointed captain america) after i fought alongside the former captain america for the belief that the avengers should not work with the government due to fear of limitation and corruption AND was chosen by the former captain america to be the next captain america, i too would be fucking pissed