#that scene is civil war when bucky realizes he knows steve as steve is nearly unconscious

[hyper-revenge-sio]

Just thinking about that one scene in Captain America: The First Avenger when they come back that first time and Steve brought Bucky back from Hydra, when Steve and Peggy are talking or whatever. How Bucky was smiling when Steve was looking at him, and how Bucky's smile drops immediately when Steve looks away.

He already looks so broken in that moment, from how he just looks down blankly to the look in his eyes it's so upsetting. It doesn't help that the bruises on his face are exactly where we see the machine Hydra uses on him later connect with his face.

[graphicabyss]

I watched The Falcon And The Winter Soldier and I liked it more that I expected, although frankly I didn't expect much. Overall, I love the setting, the cinematography and the character development. The director and the writers did an excellent job. But it also sent me down an emotional roller-coaster and that's the thing I really need to talk about.

I know there are countless rants about TFATWS, Endgame, queerbaiting and poor MCU narratives but I've never really been hanging out in the fandom until recently so for me it's my first one and I need to get it off my chest. It's gonna be long.

It was interesting to see where the show's gonna take things but start to end there was an elephant in the room. It doesn't sit well with me the way they completely sidestepped the Steve Rogers issue. Like, "we didn't make this mess, so we're not gonna go there". And it's just wrong. You can't just avoid the subject altogether and pass it on for future writers to handle. Also, you see Bucky so sad and lonely it breaks your heart. And this inevitably made me think about Endgame and Cap's storyline. I didn't feel like writing it all down after Endgame but now all these thoughts and feelings came up again and I need to get it off my chest. If they ended it all at Endgame, and I thought they did, it would have been fine, sort of. We'd forgive some loose ends. But they didn't end it there and that makes them fully responsible for this mess. I mean, I didn't hate Cap's ending. After all, it could have been worse. Steve could get together with Sharon like in the comics and they probably considered it at some point but the reactions were so bad they backed down and dragged Peggy along. Still, the ending just felt forced, no matter how you look at it. The thing is, if I knew about it after the first movie, I'd rejoice. But at this point, after everything that went down after, it just doesn't feel right.  I love Peggy and I can't deny the dance scene made me flutter a little but now I wish this was Steve's way to keep his promise before going back. In the end, Peggy would be fine without him. She had a good life, she made a career and a family. We know that thanks to Agent Carter. And we got many cues that Steve and Peggy's relationship, as important as it was, was over. Her saying goodbye to him by destroying the serum, him carrying her casket... Yet, Endgame effectively undermined that basically erasing all of these events from existence and making Peggy just a prize for Captain America.  On the other hand, Bucky needed Steve the most. And the show made it clear how bruised and broken he was. Bucky and Steve's relationship was the closest of any relationship in the MCU. At that point it was clear Bucky was everything to him, the only one who could truly understand him. Steve lost him many times and every time he fought to bring him back, no matter how impossible it seemed. When Bucky was captured Steve went into an enemy base alone on a suicidal mission and saved him and everyone else. That's basically how he became Captain America. Then Bucky got killed in the war and it devastated him. Bucky returned as Winter Soldier and there was hardly any Bucky left in him but Steve nearly let himself be killed because he needed to save him and he trusted that James would not hurt him. When Bucky finally got to his senses, there was an ultimate war going on and in the Snap James fell to dust in front of Steve's eyes. It took 5 years to get him back. And as soon as Steve succeeded, he left him, along with the rest of his traumatized friends and the world in deep chaos, to be with Peggy in 1940's, thus throwing 12 years of his life away. It just didn't feel right. That does a disservice to both Steve and Peggy's storylines. But it's not just about Peggy or Bucky. Steve going back and living his life to return to that park as an old man has opened a rift with a host of questions. I tried to get to the bottom of it but it got me nowhere.  According to Russo, when Steve went back he created an alternate reality. He also retired as Captain America. First off, I think he just made that up after to cover up the mess. If that was the case, Cap would return to the designated spot and not be sitting on a bench like he was waiting there all along. But, like, even if it was alternate reality, it could not be that different, right? He wouldn't just live in Peggy's basement, would he? He knew about the things to come like, you know, the HYDRA thing, and being the man that he was, he couldn't just sit and do nothing. Especially when Peggy was one of the founders of the SHIELD. Captain America or not, Steve would do everything to make this world a

better place. Also, if Steve went back after he crashed that plane, that means there's another Steve still locked in ice, which Russo confirmed. Even more importantly, in Steve's timeline Bucky is still with Hydra being tortured. There's no way he could leave him there. So much for the 'quiet life'. Then there are the writers of Endgame who claim that Peggy's two children are fathered by Steve. Really? That directly contradicts the earlier version that the father is a soldier Steve saved, which is shown in Agent Carter. Seriously, guys, if you're gonna make up random bullshit at least get your stories straight first.   Fans love to make all sorts of theories to try and patch up the holes but the truth is, MCU is not just one mastermind's creation and the comics weren't either. It's bound to be a mess because it's created by dozens of writers and directors and each phase gets increasingly messier because it has to fit in with the 547 previously released movies and shows. I get that and I applaud the effort of Endgame but they really can't expect us to get involved with the characters only to see them being treated as an afterthought. And the thing is, I thought that it might be just me but after a quick survey of the fandom I realized that a lot of people feel the same way. If you look at the comment section of nearly any relevant video, you're gonna get top comments saying all these things. If Marvel listened just once maybe things would make more sense. And all these thoughts aren't necessarily what I wanted to see, but what would be right for the characters. And while I do love Stucky, I'm a reasonable shipper and I really didn't expect them to be canon gay or anything, I just wished they had at least spent some time together not fighting, just healing and catching up on their lives. Honestly, I don't always like the way people ship m/m characters in every show but this time it was really more than justified. The whole storyline going through Winter Soldier and Civil War was just massive queerbaiting. It was undeniably a love story, romantic or not. "Why do you ship male characters?" some people ask. Idk, maybe if the writers put half the effort into developing m/f relationships as they do m/m ones and not just randomly throw them together I might care about them. And MCU was terrible with romance. That traumatic kiss Steve had with Sharon Carter? In the comics, Steve did love Sharon but who cares? In MCU they met, like, twice. Mostly after Peggy's funeral. Peak romance. If they had to pick a new love interest they could go with Natasha. They cared about each other, they bonded in TWS and they were both dealing with some difficult issues. But they became just good friends, which I loved. Instead, Natasha got together with Banner? And then there's Wanda and Vision, which seemed like the most random of pairings with no buildup whatsoever. The wonderful world of heteronormativity where a witch/robot couple comes before a gay one. And the thing is, I only recently learned that there's some legit leverage to portray Bucky as gay. Bucky is based on two characters from the comics. Bucky Barnes was Steve's teen sidekick, kinda like Robin, so this origin was too weird for MCU. Instead, the writers used the origin story from a character named Arnie. It was a boy Steve grew up with, a boy who protected him from bullies, and a boy who kept inviting Steve to these double dates. A boy who was gay. Which wasn't explicitly stated but was pretty obvious. And this was in 1984. So making Bucky gay would be neither woke nor against 'canon'. It would be way overdue.  So with TFTWS it was nice to see Bucky recover and bond with Sam but to me the whole ending also felt a bit excessively positive and this time the queerbaiting felt even more intentional, almost as if the writers wanted to distract the discontent fans with a new shiny ship so they forgot all the things they were mad about. Like, of course I want Bucky to be happy but also I hate the way the show's pushing the idea that he just needs to get over losing Steve and move

on with his life already because surely all his problems come from his inability to trust people and not trying hard enough, and not from being brainwashed and tortured for 70 years and then losing the only person who loved and cherished him.

[annes-andromeda]

Fanon Marvel cause they got I S S U E S

This isn’t really a fanfic thing, more or less what I envision the MCU would be in MY head. Granted not everyone’s gonna agree with these points, but that’s fine. Well all got our own opinions☺️

Q: Who survives the Snap in Fanon?

A: Steve, Thor, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Nebula, Gamora, Rhodey, Rocket, Scott, Okoye, Shuri, Pepper, Wong, Valkyrie, Loki, and Tony

Q: Will anyone be recast?

A: Yes. Monica Rambeau is Captain Marvel instead of Carol Danvers. Make of that as you will.

Q: Are there gonna be any major changes?

A: Not for the most part, as I haven’t watched all the Marvel movies. However, these would be the most prominent ones:

* T*ny Stark is an anti-villain. His story has been changed to mostly fit the Superior Iron Man storyline. The IM trilogy would stay the same since I haven’t seen them, as well as the first two Avengers movies. However, he gets his immediate change in Civil War, where we find out that he worked for HYDRA the whole time, and wanted the Avengers to sign the Accords so the organization didn’t get found out. I feel it would’ve been interesting if we had seen Tony turn from a man who pretended to help others survive, into a man who only ever did things to help himself survive. If you don’t like this change: well then suck it cause it’s my fanon🙃

* Steve and Thor are in a relationship. This is mostly a personal preference, but I genuinely think they’d be a good couple. Their feelings would begin to come out in AOU, after the party scene. The two have a drink, slow dance, and confess there feelings. Simple, but cute (I think). Steve would think of Thor in Civil War, while Thor would have a scene in Ragnarok, in which he calls Steve and gets his opinion on everything that has happened to him (Odins death, Hela, losing Mjolnir etc). In Infinity War, they reunite and share a big kiss Pirates of the Caribbean style. As for Endgame: Steve doesn’t go to the past (I.e fucking up the timeline and Peggy’s happy life) and Thor stays on New Asgard to rule as King, with his consort by his side.

* CA:CW- People like Rhodey and Natasha don’t just immediately agree to the Accords. Instead, they go undercover and try to find out what the government is actually doing; Peter is on Team Iron Man until he finds out that Tony is HYDRA. It sucks that M*rvel really out here just making Peter iron boy instead of... ya know... Spider-Man; Civil War has a scene where Steve reminisces on his mother (his real moral compass fight me) and we focus more on him and less on Tinkie’s man pain; Instead of Tony being upset that Bucky killed both of his parents, he’d only get upset about his mother, as he actually wanted his father dead. Got this idea from a post where basically a bunch of people were talking about how Tony was probably HYDRA the whole time, which is where I got the idea. Feel free to add anything else.

* IW: Loki and Gamora don’t die. I feel like they killed off Loki a little too early since he was just getting the arc he so desperately needed. While I don’t really know what to do with him yet, I do know that he’ll be in a relationship with Valkyrie. I mean, did you see their fight scene? The sexual tension. As for Gamora, well we all practically hated it when she died and hated it even more when they brought her 2014 counterpart back from the past. Someone on Quora said that an alternative for Thanos to sacrifice on Vormir could be Ebony Maw, as out of all of Thanos’s children, he worshipped him the most. Maybe Thanos would hesitate as this was his most loyal child, but he does it cause gotta wipe out half the universe or whatever. It wouldn’t be as tragic tho, but (1) that’s the price we gotta pay for Gamora to stay alive, and (2) are we reeeaaally supposed to pity Thanos? Thanos? The guy who only ever fell in love with Death???. Anyways back to Gamora: I actually wanna do something for her. If you’ve ever seen RWBY, one of the main characters essentially loses her arm when she tried to save her friend. I know it sounds cruel for Gamora to loose a limb, but hey, sometimes you just like seeing your fav characters suffer🤷‍♀️. I was thinking it could go two ways:

- (1): Gamora loses her arm like the character in RWBY i.e, saving one of her friends like Mantis, Quill, or Nebula.

- Or (2): Thanos uses the Reality Stone to make the Guardians + Peter and Strange think that they have the upper hand. Strange uses his magic to hold Thanos down while the others try taking off the Infinity gauntlet. Once the gauntlet is nearly loose, Quill would try to strike him, as Nebula realizes that the whole thing is an illusion. But before she could warn the others it’s too late, and Gamora looses an arm to her boyfriend, leaving him and everyone in complete shock. I like this option more, as it would show not only just how cruel Thanos is, but that he never really loved Gamora. He just favored her above all his other kids. And hey, I’m a sap for angst.

* Feel free to add anything else.

* EG: So in the first bullet, I already said which characters survive the snap and that Captain Marvel isn’t Carol, but Monica. Aside from that, I haven’t really thought much of what to do with Endgame. Surprisingly, it’s difficult to write a better story for this one. What I would most like to happen, however, is more character moments. Thor’s PTSD and traumas being taken more seriously, and instead of him gaining weight he loses it (cause according to Tinkie’s dumb rant that’s what gets an audience to take your turmoil seriously. Pls don’t hate me for this decision). Bruce doesn’t turn into Professor Hulk, and his traumas are actually talked about. Also he gets closure on his relationship with Natasha (I know it’s not that great but I personally like it). Clint dies instead of Nat and we remember that Nat was the leader of the Avengers for like five years. Steve properly mourns his friends and actually acts like Steve Rogers and not a fucking imposter. We actually see what happened in Wakanda after the Snap, with Okoye and Shuri at the head of it all. Also Pepper would be stand in for Tony, cause ya know, she has a life outside of him and is actually smart. And her and Scott help with the Time machine or what other plan I or anyone can come up with. Again, feel free to add anything else.

Q: Will there be any new characters added?

A: For now just one: A robot named Iris (aka Iron Blade), created by Tony for HYDRA. I’ve made a summary of her here:

* Iris is an android created by the billionaire Tony Stark, who possesses a synthetic body made of Tungsten Carbide which is powered by the arc reactor in her chest. For years Stark worked into making Iris highly advanced, while also keeping her secret from the rest of the world until she was ready to be used by the organization HYDRA. She was trained by HYDRA in combat and artificial intelligence, transforming Iris into a dangerous, ruthless killing machine. However, she still managed to keep some essence of personality thanks to Tony, who refused to have her be simply mindless. This resulted in Iris inheriting some of Tony’s more negative traits, while even accepting his lavish lifestyle. Although she may act like him, Iris has her own traits which vary from being charismatic, eloquent, and sophisticated to privileged, arrogant and cruel. Due to HYDRA’s influence, Iris is mostly misguided and blindly follows orders.

* Iris was eventually revealed when Tony tried forcing the Avengers to sign the Sokovia Accords as a means to keep HYDRA underground. She was introduced as a new recruit of the US government, in which she had a hand in writing the Accords. When the Avengers found that Iris was created by not just HYDRA but by Tony, this caused a huge riff in the team. The people on Team Iron Man immediately turn on him once finding out that he created Iris, which in turn resulted in them finding out that not only had he been providing the organization with weapons, but was a member himself. Out of all the team members, Iris has the largest fallout with Bucky Barnes (the former Winter Soldier) and Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), as she mostly worked as their antithesis, showing what probably would’ve occurred had they never recovered from their manipulation at the hands of corrupt organizations.

* After the fight between Iron Man and Captain America, Iris went into hiding alongside Tony, who was no longer a member of the Avengers. For the next two years, Iris stayed by her creators side as he intended to carry out his boss’s plan. The titan Thanos had ordered Stark to help him eradicate half the universe. Tony agreed to the plan, as he believed that Earth had been ungrateful for his attempts at ‘saving’ the world. He would help Thanos, so long as he ensured his safety and payed him. Iris, programmed to follow orders, agreed to the plan without question.

* Once Thanos arrived on Earth, Iris would go to Wakanda to stop the Avengers from destroying the Mind Stone, all the while Stark attempted to kill the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, and Spiderman (also the only one who knew of Tony’s true alignments). Iris, failing to retrieve the Stone, joins Tony on Titan while Thanos fights the Avengers. Despite the Avengers attempts, Thanos gets the stones and does the Snap, in which Tony and Iris survive and go into hiding once more.

That’s pretty much it. I made this cause I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I wanted to share my opinions. Feel free to add anything or give constructive criticism.

[cafecitowriter]

Peggy Carter Saves Infinity War

So hear me out. We always talk about how Peggy could’ve stopped Civil War and the Snap (which obviously she could). I’ve been re-watching the Infinity Saga with my friend before she goes back to work next week. We’ve gotten to the point where a week ago, we saw Infinity War, and then I couldn’t get this idea out of my head, of exactly how Peggy saves the day in Infinity War. Like seriously I haven’t been able to write because this idea has just consumed me and I needed to write something out if I wanted to go on with my life.

I might make this a full fic someday. We’ll see.

There are probably some plot holes in here since I am about to ramble from brain to paper without any editing, but just roll with it for my sake.

Insert your favourite “this is how Peggy got to the future” but for all intents and purposes, the Peggy I’m talking about here is also a super soldier for reasons. Also, Civil War never happened because of Peggy so they’re all friends yay.

Even just this little bit got kinda long so it’s under the cut here: 

Tony and Bruce are still the only (official) Avengers right in New York when they come to get the Time Stone - except Peggy’s also there. 

Wanda and Vision are on a romantic getaway type trip in Glasgow, while Steve, Nat, and Sam are close by them responding to something unrelated. So while they’re all friends, they’re still physically separated from each other.

I read a post once that said that Tony covers the people he loves in suits (Rhodey, Pepper, Peter). He and Peggy would have obviously bonded and become extremely close, so he made a (more subtle) suit just for her - though there’s nothing subtle about the colours on her suit matching the ones on Steve’s uniform. It’s nothing nearly as extravagant the ones he made for himself or for Peter (because she wouldn’t let him). It covers her body, has some thrusters on the soles of her feet that she can use to fly, and has an optional helmet that is similar to Steve’s but also has a clear portion that covers her mouth if she’s somewhere she needs to be fully covered. The suit lives in a red, silver, and blue bracelet that she can activate at any time. She’s never worn the full suit in all the years she’s had it, but he begs her to always have it at the ready just in case. 

When they take to the sky, Peggy’s glad she actually listened to him.

As they’re going up, she and Tony have the same realization: it’s a one way trip. While Tony calls Pepper, she calls Steve.

He picks up in the middle of the first ring.

“You’re going up,” he states immediately, his voice heavy.

She’s not surprised that he knows. It’s all over the news - that she can hear in the background of wherever Steve’s at.

Which means he can see the space ship that they’re chasing getting higher and higher. She wonders if he can see her, too.

“Yes,” she answers simply, because there’s no way around it. As it is they’re almost out of time before the call inevitably gets dropped.

“Thanos is coming, he’s after the infinity stones,” she warns him.

“Vision,” Steve realizes at once.

“You can’t let Thanos or his minions get to him. You have to protect him, Steve.”

“I will,” he says firmly.

She couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t any easier being on this end of the call, but she had to keep it together. Steve was strong for her, after all.

“When I get back, I’m going to take you dancing,” she promises.

“8 o’clock on the dot,” he agrees.

“We can start with something slow,” she offers, and she feels the tears burning in her eyes as she finds her way into the damn ship. “We can start with our song.”

“I promise not to step on your feet.”

This time, he finishes his sentence before they get cut off.

While Steve, Nat, and Sam don’t get to Vision before he gets stabbed, they do get there sooner, so he’s not as in terrible condition. The earth end of the movie goes very similarly to the movie at this point.

Everything goes pretty much the same on the space side too - until we get to the team on Titan fighting Thanos. With Peggy’s help, Tony manages to form the plan to attack Thanos and things are going pretty well with the extra hand.

Then Quill comes along and allows his own grief to get in the way.

But this time, they have one more person to help. (And seriously I couldn’t help but think that entire time that they just needed one more person to deal with Quill so that they wouldn’t lose their grip on Thanos ugh).

Before Tony lets go, Peggy screams at him to keep at the gauntlet with Peter. She then drops her arms from where she had them wrapped around Thanos’ neck and tackles Quill. They fight it out because SERIOUSLY QUILL CAN YOU NOT WAIT TWO SECONDS.

He’s stronger than she thought he’d be - put she’s Peggy goddamn Carter and she isn’t about to let the billions of people die because of some petulant man child.

While they fight, Quill yells at her, tells her that she has no idea what Gamora meant to him, what he’s going through.

Peggy, of course, is one of the few people that probably understands what he’s going through the best. 

While physically wrestling him, she tells him about losing the love of her life but not being able to mourn because it was World War 2 and they had work to do, lives to save.

She tells him that he needs to respect Gamora’s sacrifice and the only way to do that is to get the gauntlet off of Thanos and stop him for good. She tells him that she knows how hard it is, but he needs to be strong.

He owes the billions of lives at stake - he owes Gamora that.

Finally, the gauntlet comes off. 

Thanos is now fighting back even harder, Mantis isn’t going to be able to keep him down much longer.

Peggy lets go of Quill and dashes to take the gauntlet from Peter because he’s just a child.

There’s a big mess as Thanos “wakes up”, throws them all off, and they play keep away with the gauntlet. At some point, Peggy gets it and she takes off in a mad dash/fly away from Thanos. During this, she sneaks the stones out of their slots without anyone noticing (where do you think Tony learned it from?) and she places them in the bag that Shuri made specially for her out of Vibranium - among other things. It is tear-proof, can be adapted to a different sizes and strapped to her body in multiple different ways. Peggy never leaves home without it.

(Context: Peggy visited Wakanda with Steve when he went to ask T’Challa to help Bucky. She and Shuri became fast friends because they’re two kickass women who have so much respect for each other and we love women supporting women. Ya’ll can fight me on this.)

Thanos catches up to Peggy and tears the gauntlet away from her. He then throws her violently in a random direction. Strange opens up a portal that she flies through.

(How he knew that she actually had the stones, well he’s Dr. Strange so).

Peggy lands (hard) in Wakanda during their big battle - right in the middle of the field. She’s disoriented, aching, and lying on her back, but she needs to get those damn stones to safety and this looks the exact opposite of that. 

“Peggy?”

It’s Steve.

He’s bloodied and breathless, but dear god it’s her Steve.

He rushes to her and helps her on her feet. Before she can say anything, he’s kissing her bruisingly because he thought he lost his best girl but she’s alive and she’s here.

“Steve,” she gasps, pulling back, her fingers digging into his biceps. “There’s no time.”

“That’s because you’re late,” he whispers, still in shock.

“I have the stones,” she presses on.

“What?”

“I have four infinity stones on my person and I need to get them as far away from here before Thanos realizes I’ve taken then and follows me here.”

“We need to destroy them,” he told her.

“How?”

Still keeping one arm wrapped around her, he pressed his finger to his ear, speaking into the comms.

“Wanda, we have a package coming your way, be ready. Everyone else, if we want to win, we have to get Peggy to Wanda while keeping those things away from Shuri and Vision.”

Then there’s a whole other mess as Peggy rushes toward Wanda. It’s very similar to Endgame where everyone takes turns fighting with her (at some point she gets separated from Steve for a bit), covering her and getting her to her destination. (Also I want one of these people to be Bucky because she and Bucky were friends okay and they deserve a cool fight scene together).

At one point, her leg gets injured badly. Her thrusters are no longer working so she can’t fly and she’s alone. Cue Steve.

By the skin of their teeth, they make it to Wanda, Steve setting Peggy on the floor. They keep Thanos’ army at bay while Wanda destroys the stones and Shuri continues working. The battle rages on, but they’re starting to get the upperhand.

A portal opens in the sky. Steve, Peggy and Wanda look out the window, for a moment terrified that Thanos caught up to Peggy.

It’s not Thanos.

Well, not just Thanos, anyway. It’s Strange and Peter and Tony and the Guardians of the Galaxy and a one-armed, half unconscious Thanos. Without the Infinity Stones, they were able to team up and defeat Thanos. Strange never had to give up the time stone.

Thanos’ army realizes what’s happened, and they begin to flee.

With the extra time they bought, Shuri manages to get the mind stone out of Vision’s head. Wanda destroys that one too, for good measure.

After, they’re cleaning up the remnants of the battle, tending to the dead, to everyone else’s wounds. Steve is stitching Peggy’s leg back up and caring for her. They both know she’ll heal soon enough without his help, but Steve is still buzzing with adrenaline and energy and needs something to do with his hands and they’re not about to let each other out of their sights anytime soon.

Together, they watch Vision and Wanda hold each other, whispering sweet nothings and words of comfort in each other’s ears.

“You kept him safe,” Peggy tells Steve, who looks up at her with pained eyes.

“He offered to sacrifice himself when we figured out that our best chance was to destroy the stone.”

“It’s what we all would have done,” she agreed, her fingers now carding through his hair. “But you found another solution.”

“I thought about losing you when I crashed the plane. About you going up with Tony and Strange and the kid and the fact that I’d probably never see you again and... I couldn’t let them become us.”

“Funnily enough... in a way, they have become us,” Peggy told him, flicking her eyes to the pair. 

Vision kissed the palm of Wanda’s hand, both of them still clinging to each other.

Steve tilted his head until he was able to do the same with Peggy’s palm, closing his eyes.

They won. 

Once Peggy’s leg is healed and they’ve dealt with the fallout of Thanos, Peggy makes good on her promise to take Steve dancing.

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

What I'm loving about this new wave of Marvel shows is that each series is exploring the main roster of The Avengers more thoroughly. Each series has its distinct tone and focus that lines up with the tones that were set forth by their preceding films. WandaVision took it to the more magical and somewhat supernatural world and I enjoyed that, but this brings the tone back down to Earth and deals with the world post Blip. The political ramifications, the struggle of those who have had 5 years of their live taken away and how they've created an organization to help them. The Captain America films dealt with the more governmental element of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that element brilliantly continues in this series. We get more time with titular characters and we peer into their lives as they both try to take on a sort of normal life with a growing global terrorist movement. There are many themes that are explored and I don't want to spoil all of them, but they are so pertinent to today's social climate and economy. We are constantly looking to heroes to lift us up, but what happens when that responsibility is entrusted to a hero that doesn't feel it belongs to him? That is one of the major themes that are explored and I loved the aftermath of a certain choice that is made.

Anthony Mackie once again does a fantastic job as Sam Wilson/The Falcon. Ever since Steve Rogers passed the shield to him at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Sam has always struggled with the notion of taking on the mantle and I loved seeing work through that feeling. He soon realizes that giving it away was a terrible mistake. I also loved seeing Sam go back home to his sister Sarah played wonderfully by Adepero Oduye. She keeps him grounded in the best since and reminds him of what a civilian life is like. Sebastian Stan returns as Bucky Barnes the former Winter Soldier and he has a fulfilling character arc. We get to see how he over came the brainwashing of Hydra in a beautifully acted scene. Even though he is trying to reconnect to the world, his nightmares still plague him as he begins to make amends for his past. Once he reconnects with Sam, the story really takes off. The two of them together were fun to watch as they pick at each in a great buddy cop style. Their chemistry really reminded of Riggs and Murtaugh from the Lethal Weapon films. They were perfect together and you see their bond grow naturally. Wyatt Russell joins the MCU as John Walker and he becomes the government's version of the new Captain America. Wyatt delivers an excellent performance as Walker and you see the man that is trying to live up to the title, but you also see how that expectation and devotion starts to corrupt him. There is one character that nearly steals the entire series and his scenes had the most powerful message of societal response to a possible black Captain America and knowing what comes with carrying such a burden. Carl Lumbly gave an Emmy Award worthy performance as Isaiah Bradley and I loved that we got to dive into his troubled past and how the original Captain America changed and/or ruined his life. His scenes with Sam really cut deep and revealed the more troubling history behind the significance of the shield. His story actually correlates to actual a dark part of World War 2 history which was truly heartbreaking.

Emily VanCamp returns as Sharon Carter and I loved that she is still the badass we saw in Civil War, but she has a new edge about her and we see the consequences of her actions from the past films. She has a great fight sequence in a shipping yard that was tricky to keep from being overly violent for Disney, but it works never the less. The antagonist of the series was fascinating and not exactly wrong, but their methods were. Erin Kellyman was fantastic and strong as Karli Morgenthau. As the leader of the rebelious and dangerous terrorist group The Flag Smashers, you see her point in making the world understand why the people that returned from the Blip shouldn't be treated like refugees in their own regions. Her conviction to these ideals are right, but her violent nature is where she failed. I agree with her message, but not her methods. Erin delivered a powerful and empathetic performance that'll truly be remembered. Daniel Bruhl returns as Baron Helmut Zemo and I loved every second that he was on screen. He steals every moment with his elegant and suave attitude as he glides through scenes. You spend more time with him and he asks the hard questions and also givers answers to them. I can't believe it, but at times Zemo was right.

The score by Henry Jackman was excellent and I loved his  slower and darker versions of The Winter Soldier and Captain America theme. The score really becomes heartfelt and powerful in the scenes between Isaiah and Sam. The cinematography of the show was gorgeous and the action sequences are on par with what you see on the big screen. Most shows nowadays feel like a long form story with film qualities, but this was long and fantastic film told over six different chapters. I loved this series and it was right up there with the Captain America trilogy in tone and quality. Definitely check this show out if you're still on the fence about continuing the MCU on television. All episodes are currently streaming on Disney+. Let me know what you thought of the show or of my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[machi-kun]

Machi can we get your thoughts on a Civil War scene next?The one where tony tries to get Steve to sign by showing him the old fashioned pen set?It always kills me how close Steve got and makes me so frustrated how Wanda was the thing that made him not sign, like she’s in a luxury mansion surely that’s better than her being deported....And also what do you think Tony was thinking in the scene when Steve tells him ‘You did that when you signed’ after tony says Steve’s breaking up the team? Ty!!!

Of course, friend! And let me tell you, just like all my other thoughts on CW, it’s very angsty. 

The pens make this entire scene very painful to me. Not just because Tony is offering Steve an olive branch in a way he never has before, because he’s clearly at the end of his rope and doesn’t know what else he can do to convince Steve other than this, but also because he brings up Howard to do it. That alone is painful enough to Tony, but in this context, hoping that the memory of Howard will convince Steve to sign when all of Tony’s own arguments haven’t, well, that doesn’t bode well for Tony’s idea of how Steve sees him, does it? And it means a lot that Tony has decided to appeal to Steve’s emotions to convince him to sign, because he’s tried all the rational and logical arguments, and nothing worked. That’s how far they’ve drifted apart in this mess. And mind you, this is not about the Accords. I don’t care how many times I have to repeat this, but their fight is not about the Accords. It never was. See that when Tony basically lays down all his vulnerabilities at Steve’s feet and uses emotion instead of logic to try to convince Steve to sign, Steve considers it. In that split second before hearing about Wanda, he almost agrees to it. So the Accords are not the problem! 

The thing about Wanda is just another moral disagreement between them. I will be fair and say I think Tony was wrong in keeping Wanda trapped inside the Compound without coming to her first and asking her directly to stay. She would have agreed to it if he had. Hell, even if he had asked Vision to ask her - she would have agreed, and Clint wouldn’t have been able to bring her to Leipzig. But he doesn’t - and that only adds fuel to the fire.

But the thing is - had Tony asked her or not, Steve would have thought Tony was in the wrong anyway. Because it’s not about Tony doing it in a way that’s more or less inconsiderate, it’s just the fact he did it at all. Steve at this point is in a mindset where he has gotten into his head that they are justified in acting in whatever way they need without giving anyone any explanation, so Wanda’s situation, since it was an accident, requires no apologies or careful consideration - despite her accident injuring and killing people, and being the main reason why King T’Chaka demands the Accords. But all of this goes over Steve’s head - either because he simply refuses to believe they did something wrong, intentionally or not, or because he simply shoves it down in favor of ignoring everything except his priorities, ie. finding Bucky and keeping the others from signing. So it doesn’t really matter how Tony went about keeping Wanda away from the public - Steve resents the very idea that she would be kept from the public at all, despite her being constantly targeted by the media and who knows how the general population would react to her had they seen her in person.

By the time they are in Leipzig, Tony’s hope of fixing this is nearly null, and Steve telling him he’s the cause is just another twist of the knife - but it’s not unexpected. Tony’s issues with self-worth are no secret, and by the time Steve rejects the pens and runs away, Tony is already beating himself up over telling him about Wanda and ruining his last chance of convincing Steve before their argument turns violent. He’s already blaming himself. Hearing it from Steve’s mouth, hurts, yeah, of course it hurts, but he knew. Of course he knew. Just because it’s painful doesn’t mean it’s surprising. 

It says more about Steve than it does about Tony, actually. The fact that even then, Steve thinks the Accords are the reason why they can’t agree, when it’s really not. That’s how deep into his own “mission” Steve is. He really doesn’t realize what he’s doing. And Tony knows this, even when Steve himself doesn't. That’s why Siberia hurts so much - because when it all comes to light, it stops seeming like Steve is unaware, and it starts to seem like he’s doing it on purpose. And when it’s intentional, betrayal always hurts more. 

[littlesliceofmarvel]

I’m Sorry | Part 2

Request/Synopsis: Reader dies during the events of Civil War. 

Warnings: Swearing, detailed mentions of death and gore, ENDGAME SPOILERS!!!! Big Ol’ Endgame Spoilers below the cut!

Pairings: Avengers x Reader

A/N: So, after many people have asked, part 2 is finally here! I don’t remember all of the dialogue from the movie, so if there are some mistakes there, just ignore them! Also, the italics are flashbacks. Gif isn’t mine! Enjoy! xx

Also, Tumblr is being weird right now so the flashback scene isn’t all in italics, I don’t understand. I’m tryna fix that. 

-

Part One

“Tony, I don’t want to fight you,” Y/N faced the man in the suit, his weapons lowered when she came to face him. She hated the fact that the Accords had separated the team, leading them to turn on each other, to turn on family.

“I don’t want to either, but until Rogers turns Barnes over, I have to do what I can to make you guys give in,” he said with regret, his heart breaking at the sight of the girl in front of him, bloodied, bruised and slightly decayed. 

“You kill me later on, you know, it’s your fault,” Y/N spoke as the patches of blood started to spread on her body, the skin slowly peeling off of her face to reveal the bones in her skull, her legs giving in under her as she collapsed to the ground, reaching out towards Tony who could no nothing but break down, seeing her fall apart in front of him, his body threatening to crumble at the sight of her, blaming him for her death. 

He knew there was nothing he could do now, he had this nightmare over and over again every night. So did most of the team. Y/N’s lifeless body haunted their dreams, each of them feeling the guilt build on their shoulders more and more every morning after she taunted their sleep. They knew that Y/N wouldn’t blame any of them for her death, that she would want them to move on and be happy, live their lives and save the world, but they couldn’t help it. 

She was gone, she had disappeared from their lives, taking her bright spirit with her. For the first couple of weeks, the denial had set in, and they would wait around the table during meals, hoping she’d skip out of her room and laugh at them for falling for one of her many pranks. But she never did. She wasn’t going to. 

And that hit them harder than they could have ever prepared for.

-

SEVEN YEARS LATER

Going back in time seemed like an almost impossible task if you thought about it. To go back in time would be to mess up your present, your future. This had crossed their minds, of course, Tony almost dropping out of the adventure completely to ensure the safety of his wife and new daughter.

But they did it. They went back, collected the Infinity Stones, and made it back to build an Infinity Gauntlet, props to Tony. They lost Natasha in the process, having sacrificed herself for the soul stone to save the universe. Clint was devastated, feeling as if she had deserved to live so much more than he did, but it was too late. She had asked him to promise her something, that if it was possible, bring back those that we had lost before her, those who didn’t deserve the death they were given. Of course, she meant those who had been wiped out in the snap, that was their mission, but the two of them knew she also meant Y/N. 

-

“It’s her birthday,” Steve broke the silence in the room as they looked through a box of pictures, wanting to frame some around the tower of Y/N and her smiling face, brightening a room immediately.

“Remember... before it happened, she wanted sushi,” Wanda said, a small smile on her face as she looked down at a picture of her, Y/N and Natasha, the three of them bruised and bloody, sitting in the medical lab while getting treated for injuries, but each of them giving the camera a thumbs up. A classic. 

“We should celebrate with sushi, then, for her birthday,” Tony said quietly, Natasha nodding from beside him as she looked over his shoulder to see another picture of Y/N, this time of her passed out on the couch, her legs flung over the back as Sam and Bucky held sharpies to her face, drawing ‘tattoos’ on her skin, big smiles on their faces as Y/N slept soundly, not noticing what was going on. 

“It’s been eight months, she’d be pissed as us for still moping about her, you know that, right?” Clint asked, chuckling slightly, his head in his hands as he looked down towards the table before looking back up to face the rest of the team, all nodding slowly.

“Oh, she’d be furious,” Natasha grinned, picking up another picture out of the box, smiling down at it, realizing Clint was right. Y/N would be pissed at the team for sitting around in their sweat pants, looking through pictures of her months after her death, guilt still swirling heavily around each of them.

They wanted to move on, they knew that they should, but they couldn’t. If she had died any other way, they would have. If it were Thanos, Loki, Ultron, any other bad guy, they would have been able to move on by now, but it was their fault. They let their own problems get in the way, and she paid the price with her life. There was no turning back from that. 

-

Clint broke the news to the team, telling them that Natasha sacrificed her soul for the sake of the universe, and if anything, they were so much more determined to make things right because of that. If they failed, they would have failed her, she would have sacrificed herself for their failure. They were distraught at having lost one of their best people, a wonderful soul and an important member of their ever-growing family, but they had to do this. Now or never.

“I’m going to have to be the one to do it, I hope you realize,” Bruce spoke, approaching the gauntlet, his voice filled with determination as he approached it.

“No, why does it have to be you?” Clint asked, crossing his arms to look at Bruce’s figure, approaching the gauntlet himself.

“The radiation’s mostly Gamma, I’m the only one who can handle that,” Bruce stated as if it were obvious, looking around the room, no one really volunteering to do it in the first place. They had seen the effect that the snap had on Thanos, nearly killing the guy, so they knew that anyone who’d snap it next would deal with the same fate. 

Bruce approached the gauntlet, his mind racing over all of the possibilities that could happen to him once he put it on, but they all didn’t matter. He was going to do this, whether he survived or not. He slid his hand into it, the power of the stones completely taking over his body as he collapsed on the ground, the rest of the team approaching him to make sure he was alright. Bruce nodded, letting the pain settle down as the power coursed through his veins, igniting everything inside of him.

“Ok,” Steve looked over a small scan of the gauntlet before turning back to Bruce, “Just bring everyone back. That easy.”

Clint uncrossed his arms, looking to Steve, “Nat... uh, had a request, actually.” He ignored the crack in his voice as he mentioned her, the realization that she’s gone not completely settling in yet. 

“What was it?” Tony looked up from the machine he was using to close off the room, large barriers crashing down around them to prevent chaos once the snap had been done. The sound vibrated throughout the building, but no one took their attention off of the conversation.

“She, uh, asked if there was any way we could bring back people who didn’t die because of the snap, people who were innocent,” Clint finished, looking down to the ground before looking back to the team, each of them understanding what he meant.

“Y/N.” Tony nodded slowly, looking to Bruce, “Do you think you can try?”

Bruce nodded, eyes wide, “Yes.”

Steve, Scott, Clint, Tony, Rocket, Thor, Rhodey, and Bruce looked between each other, each of them feeling an immediate weight on their chest. Rocket had never met her, but being around the team for the last five years made him feel like he knew her.

“Is there any way to bring Nat back?” Bruce asked, breaking the silence that over took the room, everyone trying to think of ways to make this possible.

“I don’t think so,” Clint said, looking back down to the ground as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration, “Her soul is what’s going to power that stone for us to use. Try it, of course, but I don’t think we should get out hopes up.” He knew what he was saying was true, but part of him wished that it wasn’t.

Unfortunately, everyone had already got their hopes up to see the two ladies again. They understood that the chance of seeing Natasha again was much smaller, but the hope was there for her anyways.

Bruce nodded, lifting his hand as if to signal he was ready. Steve lifted his shield, Tony and Rhodey covered themselves with their suits, and the rest of the team got themselves secure and safe, out of the way of the snap. Bruce closed his eyes, not letting his emotions get the best of him as he focused on what he wanted. When he was ready, he snapped his fingers, a gust of wind blowing across the room as everyone took cover.

Seconds passed, and no one dared to speak. Tony lifted the barriers in the room and Scott approached a window, looking outside to see birds chirping, settling themselves into a tree. Clint felt his heart drop when he looked over to his vibrating phone, a call from his wife signalling that their plan had worked.

“Guys, I think it worked,” Scott said almost too quietly, but it broke through the dead silence in the room.

“Um, what’s going on?” A small voice from the room next door made their eyes widen, a familiar soft voice enough to make seven years of emotions come barreling through. Tony felt his heart drop, running over to the sound of the voice and his eyes landed on Y/N, standing next to a window, looking down at her body in complete confusion.

She could feel all of the atoms in her skin forming once again, it was as if she was being re born. She could feel her blood, the pumping sensation of her veins feeling all too real. Her head was pounding as she looked around, seeing the familiar faces of the people she called family looking back to her.

“Y/N...” Steve whispered, not being able to look away from the girl, who looked as if she hadn’t aged a day since her death. Technically, she hadn’t, but the rest of them were so sleep-deprived and devastated that they seemed to have aged 20 years.

“What’s going on?” Y/N asked, eyes wide as she faced the team with shaky hands, “We were... in Berlin, I was asking for sushi...” To her, it was seconds after her death, it hadn’t felt like nearly a decade had passed. 

“Oh, we’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” Tony looked to Steve who nodded, bracing themselves for what was to come.

[cinnamonrollstark]

Watching Civil War: High Thoughts

I'm watching Civil War on the TV in my hotel room. It's a very large tv. I am quite high. Watch with me as I dine on cold pizza.

Bucky is hOt

Okay what Wanda did sucked but she didnt need to be blamed that much for it. But it's good that all of them were put in check, I guess. But then on the other hand she probably saved a lot more people than she killed

Natasha is just?? A badass? Like bro, this woman has no superpowers (that I'm aware of) and she can just?? Do that??

Tony is very animated

He kind of reminds me of the Polar Express

LMAO WATCHING THIS AFTER KNOWING ABOUT QUENTIN IS FUNNY

Like should he have given him credit, sure, but also? Calling it barf is so funny

Ow ow ow ow fuck this scene, I mean the sadness in his eyes when the kids mom was talking about guilt, like he just instantly KNEW

Also I just realized- do you think after Peter died, did Tony ever try to find that woman?

"Who's going to avenge my son? Hes dead, and I blame you." Is probably what rang through his head every time he looked around. Every time he looked in the mirror. I need to write a fic about this

Vision just

DID THAT

Just

SHOOM

Yell you will use the door you robot fuck

"Berspective"

Who do you think was right?

I bet Steve had to go fucking cry after seeing the disaster footage from DC- something he knows was a fight he played a major part of- like, he wouldnt run off or anything, hed be quiet about it but... just a thought. Probably put Bucky on his mind, too.

Steve and Tony sharing that look...

HUSBANDS

Okay I think I agree with Steve AND Tony

Mind you I've seen this before I'm just being introspective. Extrospective? Are these even words? Am I using them correctly?

Probably not

Sorry commercial break. There are many dollars. It's a discover card commercial.

Wings. Sauce. More wings. Ribs. Hit Me Baby One More Time is playing. Applebees logo.

Okay it's back on

He just like

Did that didnt he

I see you're in to bondage, Zemo

I dont know why but zemo reading through Nats released records sounds like him reading her tumblr blog at 3AM

Me too tony, me too

I'm kinda sad we didnt get more Rhodey/Sam interactions, or even Sam interactions or Rhodey interactions, we havent had nearly enough of them

I'm excited TFATWS

That's what's going on Captain, it's just Pain

His voice is shaking. I feel like this is how he explains to himself later that Peter is dead because of him- even though he isnt- SO MUCH FIC MATERIAL GUYS

"Its run by people with agendas and agendas change" FUCKING WOKE AS BITCH

DONT CRY STEVE FUCK

I wonder what it is like in the endgame au (like, the one marvel made- cause endgame was kind of it's own au, right) with old Steve.

Do you think Sharon was ever born in Oldsteverse?

"It is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say no, you move."

Babe. God she is. She is power.

When Natasha said TBD, I thought of Michael Scott going TDB

I want to hug Steve too. Better yet, I want to hug Natasha. Agh

More to come after this commercial break. Orange juice looks like pee if pee were orange juice.

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

By Talking About The First Sequel To The Massive Blockbuster Known As The Avengers, Avengers: Age Of Ultron...

This Film Sees Earth's Mightiest Heroes Reuniting To Battle A Threat Created By Tony Stark And Bruce Banner Called Ultron, Who Is Out To Create What He Believes To Be The Peace Of Our Time When Really He's Causing Massive Human Extinction....

Will The Avengers Be Able To Prevent The Age Of Ultron With The Help Of Enemies Quicksilver And Scarlet Witch And A New Ally Who Calls Himself The Vision?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Avengers: Age Of Ultron...

The Film Starts In Sokovia With The Avengers Launching An Attack On Baron Von Strucker's Fortress And Forces...

(End At 4:30)

(End At 4:25)

Searching Strucker's Secret Room, Tony Finds One Of The Chitauri's Leviathans Before He Finds Loki's Scepter But Before He Can Grab It He's Blasted By The Other Olsen Twin Who Gives Him A Vision Of The Avengers Failing To Save Earth Because He Failed...

And It's This Vision That Changes Tony Completely And Makes Tony Believe Every Decision He Makes From Here On Out Is The Right One Even Though To Others It May Seem Like The Wrong Choice...

As Kick Ass Zooms In We Get A Title Card As Tony Grabs The Scepter...

Returning To The Newly Dubbed Avengers Tower, Hill (Who Now Works For Tony After The Downfall Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Tells Cap About Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver While Hawkeye Gets Healed And Tony's Iron Legion Returns From Sokovia...

But As All That Goes On Tony (With Help From J.A.R.V.I.S.) Analyze Loki's Staff And Discover That While The Scepter Is Alien, The Jewel Is Housing Something Inside That's Like A Computer As J.A.R.V.I.S. Discovers Code...

Telling Banner This By Showing Him The Data Of The Jewel, Tony Thinks That It Is Perfect For His Ultron Program That Tony Is Making For His Iron Legion And Asks For Bruce's Help With It.

Despite Being Against It At First And Wanting To Tell The Rest Of The Team, Bruce Eventually Caves And Decides To Help Tony While They Have The Staff For The Alotted 3 Days That Thor Is Allowing Them To Have...

As Tony And Banner Get Ready For A Party Tony Is Throwing In Honor Of The Avengers Defeat Of Strucker, The Ultron Integration To The Iron Legion Is Complete. But As Ultron Awakens, He Questions His Programming Which Leads To Ultron Malfunctioning And Using Advanced A.I. Abilities To Kill J.A.R.V.I.S. As He Creates A Body Out Of One Of The Iron Legion Armors

Meanwhile, At Tony's Party Everyone Seems To Be Having A Good Time Even The Avengers Themselves, Rhodey (Who's Back As War Machine From Now On)

Guess Iron Patriot Didn't Well With Focus Groups After All...

Sam (Who's Been Helping Cap Track Down Bucky Since The End Of Winter Solider) And Stan Lee Who's Cameo Is Here...

Stan Lee Cameo!

Anyway After Everyone Is Gone The Avengers Along With Rhodey And Maria Hill They Hold A Contest Of Who Could Lift Thor's Hammer With Cap Being The Closest Only To Be Interrupted By Ultron, Who Reveals He Is On A Mission To Destroy The Avengers With The Help Of Stark's Iron Legion...

Escaping Through The Internet, Ultron Goes To Strucker's Castle Where He Can Build Himself A New Body...

With Everything Gone From Their Computers And Loki's Staff Gone As Well, They Discover The Computerized Remains Of J.A.R.V.I.S. As The Team Worries About Ultron Hacking Into Nuke Codes....

Knowing That They Have To Not Only Get The Scepter Back But Stop Ultron, They Ask Tony Why Ultron Is Trying To Kill Them And Of Course It All Goes Back To The Battle With The Chitauri And Tony's Vision That Scarlet Witch Gave Him...

Speaking Of Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver, In Sokovia, Ultron In A New Body Recruits Them To Help With His Plans To Save The World By Getting Rid Of The Avengers As We Discover Why Scarlet Witch Let Tony Have The Scepter Which Is Because She Saw Tony's Fear And That It Would Control Him And Make Him Self Destruct...

Uh, Self Destruct On Him? How About Self Destruct On You Or Do The Words Civil War Not Mean Anything To You, Wanda?

And Why They Are Who They Are And That's Because They Believe Tony Stark Killed Their Parents As One Of His Companies Missiles Killed Their Folks And Nearly Killed Them As They Were Buried Under Rubble...

Discovering Reports Of A Metal Man Or Men, Someone Making People See Old Fears And Memories And Someone Too Fast To See Breaking Into Robotics Labs, Weapons Facilities And Jet Propulsion Labs All Over The Globe, The Avengers Continue Their Search For Ultron...

But When Strucker Is Found Dead In His Cell With The Word Peace Written In Blood, They Start Going Through Hard Copy Files When Everything They Had On Strucker Is Gone From Their Computers...

Eventually Tony Discovers That Someone He Once Knew Named Ulysses Klaw With Connections To The Home Of A Certain Black Panther And The Vibranium That Not Only Powers His Suit But Captain America's Shield...

Traveling To Africa, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch And Ultron Do Buisness With Ulysses Klaw (Played By Supreme Leader Snoke) To Get Vibranium Only For Ultron To Cut Of Klaw's Hand When Ultron Says Something That Tony Stark Once Said To Him...

Ooh, Foreshadowing....

(Start At 1:10)

Blasted By Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Cap And Thor Have Visions We Start Black Widow Who Sees Visions Of Her Time In The Red Room (Which Is The Black Widow Training Ground) Then Move On To Cap Who Is At A 1930s Dance Hall Where He Dances With Peggy Only To Have A Symbolic Moment, I Guess Which Has Him Realizing That Everyone He Cared For Back Then Is Gone...

And Finally Thor Who Sees That Asgard Has Turned Into Christian Grey's Playground Only To Be Confronted By Heimdall Who Sees That Thor Will Lead Them Into Hell And He Will Destroy Them (Which Obviously Isn't True)...

Anyway Aside From Those Moments Of Either Foreshadowing Or Just Scenes That Have No Reason To Be In This Movie, Tony Eventually Destroys The Version Of Ultron That's There Only To Now Deal With A Rampaging Hulk That Scarlet Witch Has Turned Loose On The City Which Forces Tony To Activate The Hulkbuster Suit To Take Him Down...

(Start At 0:30, End At 4:50)

With Banner Calmed Down, The Avengers Decide To Lay Low As Hill Deals With The Press And The Police On The Attack In Africa But The Question Now Is Where Do They Go?, Luckily, Hawkeye May Have The Answer They're Looking For...

Taking Them To A Rustic Farm (That Looks Like It May Already Be Occupied By The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, April O'Neil And Casey Jones) Hawkeye Introduces The Team To His Family...

Wow, I Didn't Know Velma Dinkley Was Married To A Superhero....

While Ultron, Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver Visit The Team Doctor, Helen Cho In Seoul So She Can Create A Living Body Into A Reanimation Cradle That Her And Tony Have Been Developing For Ultron To Download His Consciousness Into, Refusing, Ultron Decides To Convince Helen To Help Him Using Loki's Scepter...

Back On The Farm, The Team Has Some Moments On The Farm Which Eventually Lead To Tony Talking With Nick Fury In The Barn, Who Aside From Telling Tony To Cut It Out With The Maximoff Vision Crap, Is There To Help The Team...

Telling The Team That Ultron Isn't Having Any Luck Getting Nuke Launch Codes As They're Changed Frequently By Unknown Sources And That His Contacts Believe That Ultron Is Actually Building Something Which Leads Banner To Realize That Ultron Is Trying To Evolve Above Humans As He Believes Humans Are Significantly Insufficient Hence Helen Cho...

And Speaking Of Dr. Cho, She Is Just About Done With Ultron's New Body Only Thing That Needs To Be Added Is The Stone From Loki's Scepter Which Is Revealed To Be The Mind Stone...

With Steve Taking Natasha And Clint With Him, Tony Heads To Oslo To Do Reconnaissance From There While Fury Takes Banner Back To Avengers Tower So He Can Pick Up Hill Who Will Help Him With Something Dramatic...

But You're Probably Wondering Where Thor Is...

Well, Unable To Get Scarlet Witch's Vision From His Mind Thor Decides To Take Off To Get Erik Selvig To Take Him To The Spa Of Sight That Will Allow Him To Re-Enter His Dream To Find Out What He Missed...

Uh, Unless You're Into Weird Fetishes, Thor I Highly Doubt You Missed Anything...

But Miss Something He Did, As It Shows All The Infinity Stones Except For The Time Stone And I Guess Ultron's Plan...

And Speaking Of Ultron's Plan, Wanda Looks Into The Mind Of The Body That Is Inside Of The Reanimation Cradle And Sees Ultron's Ultimate Plan To Destroy The World...

Believing That Ultron Lied To Them, Wanda Snaps Dr. Cho Out Of Her Mind Stone Hypnosis And She Stops The Download Which Forces Ultron To Kill Her And Her Team As The Maximoffs Escape...

As Cap, Hawkeye And Widow Arrive With Enough Time To Save Dr. Cho, Ultron And His Metal Minions Take The Reanimation Cradle Onto A Truck Only For Hawkeye To Spot It From Above So Cap Can Jump On It And Fight Ultron...

With The Help Of The Maximoff Twins, Cap Was Able To Stop Ultron And Save A Runaway Train While Widow Gets The Reanimation Cradle On The Quinjet With Hawkeye Only For Widow To Get Captured By Ultron's Minions

Talking With The Maximoffs Afterward, They Ask Where The Reanimation Cradle Is Only For Cap To Tell Them That It's On It's Way To Tony, Which Leads Wanda To Believe That He Will Only Make Matters Worse By Using It To Fix Things

And Right She Is, As Tony To Convince Banner To Help Him Place The Person Who Has Been Beating Ultron All Along Into The Reanimation Cradle, J.A.R.V.I.S

Turns Ultron Didn't Attack J.A.R.V.I.S. Because He Was Scared But Attacked Him Because He Was Afraid Of What He Could Do, So He Went Underground And Scattered His Memory Throughout The Net To Try To Stop Ultron...

Believing That After All That's Happened It's A Bad Idea, Banner Decides To Do It Anyway. Luckily, Cap And The Maximoff Twins Arrive To Stop Them Which Leads To A Heated Argument Of Right And Wrong Between The Team Until Thor Arrives To Get Everyone To Shut Up And Bring The Body In The Reanimation Cradle To Life...

Forming Clothes And A Cape Out Of It's Skin, Thor Tells The Others About His Vision And That Tony Is Right The Avengers Cannot Beat Ultron Not Alone...

Telling Cap And The Others That Unlike Ultron He Is On The Side Of Life Where Ultron Isn't And That He Doesn't Want To Kill Him But The Pain He Is Creating Will Roll Over The Earth If He Isn't Destroyed Which Kind Of Gets Them To Trust Them...

But None Of That Matters Now As Barton Has Located Ultron With Nat In Sokovia And Need To Go Now...

With Tony Downloading A New A.I. Named F.R.I.D.A.Y. To His Suit And Ultron Knowing That They're Coming The Odds Are Stacked Against Them So, The Priority Will Be The Evacuation Of The City While Discovering What Ultron Has Been Building At Strucker's Fortress And Saving Black Widow At The Same Time Which Banner Does Only So They Could Run Afterward...

But Knowing That She'll Be Unable To Live With Herself If That Happens, Widow Pushes Banner Down A Hole So He Can Become The Hulk...

(Imitating Baby Plucky) Hulk Go Down The Hole!

On Board The Quinjet, The Hulk Gets A Call From Black Widow Asking Him To Turn Back But Instead He Decides To Go Off On His Own To Take A Nice Vacation In Sakkar As Vision Destroys The Last Ultron Minion, Destroying Ultron Once And For All...

And With Everything Done, Hawkeye Decides To Retire From The Avengers To Spend Time With His Family While Tony Builds A New Training Facility/Alternate HQ For The Avengers Where They Can Train...

But Unfortunately It's Going To Have To Be Without Thor (Who Is Going Off To Solve The Mystery Of Who Is Making The Infinity Stones Appear Out Of Nowhere) And Tony (Who Is Going Spend More Time With Pepper And Build Her A Log Cabin) But Just Because The Team Is Down A Few Members It Doesn't Mean That They'll Be Short On Team Members....

Nope, Not On Your Life As Scarlet Witch, The Vision, Falcon And War Machine Join The Team As New Avengers...

Sadly, There's No End Credit Scene But There Is A Mid Credits Scene Which Sees Thanos Grabbing The Infinity Gauntlet And Deciding To Take Matters Into His Own Hands...

And That's Avengers: Age Of Ultron And...It's Okay...

While The Action Scenes Are Great, The Villain Is Good And There Is Loads Of Character Development Throughout The Movie, The Color In Some Of Those Fight Scenes Are Not Good Especially The Ones In Africa, Having Both Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver As Bad Guys Was Completely Pointless (Yes, I Know In Their Comic Book History They Were Bad Guys Before They Became Good Guys But Without Magneto And The Brotherhood That Part In Their History Is Pointless)...

There Are More Reasons Why I Don't Like This Movie But I Feel Like I've Been Writing This Review Forever And I Just Want To End It Also I Can't Think Of Any Other Reasons Right Now So, For This One I Would Say Skip It But I Honestly Don't Know If It's That Bad To Skip So I'll Leave This One Up To You Guys....

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[dreadnought-dear-captain]

Steve’s Ending: What the Fuck Just Happened?

                            ************WARNING*********** 

BIG-ASS ESSAY WITH SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: ENDGAME AHOY

I have been largely out of the fandom sphere for a spell because of personal stuff that went down and then subsequent Endgame anxiety (I’m sorry, I really will get to some BW asks as soon as I’m done reeling from this film), but I wanted to get out some thoughts about Endgame while they are fresh in my mind. I have seen Endgame twice since its release. I saw it Friday morning, debriefed with my beta @pitchforkcentral86, and then turned around and bought tickets for an evening showing the same day. Why? Because I had to process Steve’s last scene. I had to see it twice just to comprehend what the hell happened and then try to interpret it. I went through several hypotheses and waves of accompanying emotion and then came to a tentative personal conclusion about what the hell Steve’s ending is to me.  But first I had to ask— Is this a true happy ending? Is this lazy writing? Is this a character assassination? Is this a legitimate choice Steve would make? Some combination of the above? So, here go my hypotheses—

Hypothesis 1: This is a legitimate happy ending for Steve and his timeline.

If you only look at the images shown to us and don’t devote much thought to the implications of Steve’s choice for other people in the world, it might appear to be a beautiful ending. After a decade-and-a-half of compass-gazing and pining for the good old days of segregation and boiled food, Steve gets what he wants. He gets the person who is — surprise! — “the love of his life.” This plays into the ongoing narrative that Steve has never been able to find contentment in the modern world or with modern people (some of whom he refers to as “family,” interestingly enough). This hypothesis also assumes that he can only be happy if he is with one woman, because he assumes shared life experience is a prerequisite for partnership, which means that he has essentially preemptively foreclosed on any relationship with anyone who is not Peggy.  Since Bucky’s name has barely even entered Steve’s consciousness lately, except to emotionally whump his past self into not choking him to death, even their friendship seems to be a question in the last two films in this series.

So if we take the arc of these films into consideration, including the last two films, he has apparently resigned himself to a position of “Peggy is my only viable romantic relationship, and she is dead, and I am incomplete as long as this is true.” When you write this thesis for Steve Rogers, which is a sad thesis indeed, this ending might seem like a relief for him. (It could also be argued that it is terribly lacking in resiliency and flexibility and is naive, at best, in terms of what is love versus infatuation versus idealization.) Problematic in this happy ending scenario: The writers clearly did not consider the second and third order effects of this decision. They just needed to tie up Steve’s timeline and get Chris Evans out of the franchise, and this was a way to do it that resonates at face value. Man out of time gets put back in his time. Gets love. Quote: “It was beautiful.” Ignore all of the following and more: -There will now be two Steve Rogers in this timeline. -One of them will presumably be with Peggy Carter for at least a good chunk of time, unless things went south. -Peggy Carter is the director of SHIELD. Her close associates are undoubtedly known to them as a result. -Thus, Steve Rogers probably could not just stay hidden in the pantry. SHIELD would want to debrief him. They would want to know how the hell he got there. Questions would get asked. This could not remain a secret forever. -Is Steve Rogers going to sit out history? Hang on the couch while the world burns, shield unused? -Is Steve Rogers, knowing that Bucky is alive, going to leave him to rot with Hydra? -Even if they made some sort of arrangement beforehand, like Bucky saying it’s okay, don’t come get me, would they both sit well with continuing to let him kill all of the innocents he killed? -If Steve did go get Bucky, he would likely find him some time in the span of however many years he’s in the past. The future would be completely changed. -If he intervened and found Bucky, Sam Wilson would not be Falcon because TWS would not happen. This version of Bucky would not exist. This end scene could not happen. -Thus, this does not seem to be something that Steve chose to do during his life with Peggy. (Debunked-ish, along with other “Back to the Future” science hereafter, below) Which brings me to my second hypothesis about this ending. Hypothesis 2: This was thought out, but it represents writers Markus and McFeely’s disconnect from the character they built. This is where the “there is no way in hell Steve would sit on the couch where the world burns, where Bucky suffers with Hydra etc.” argument comes in. This taints the ending in a particularly sour way, because they have labored so hard to build an image of Steve as someone who would wreck the world to save Bucky Barnes from harm and stop at nothing to prevent serious harm in the world where he could. It’s what he wanted in the first place! It’s where we all started in TFA! The Steve we know and love would want to go to Korea. To Vietnam. He would want to stop the Khmer Rouge and all the bad shit he could intervene with. Right? And his ass would try to save Bucky, especially knowing exactly where he’s kept! Right?? He would keep going and going until he was worn down into a nub of nothingness. Right??? Which meanders me to— Hypothesis 3: This was a decision that Steve Rogers made that is plausible for his character and was deliberate on the part of the writers. Second and third order effects included. This may be a stretch, but I think it could be argued on the grounds of good becomes great, bad becomes worse. Steve does nothing by half measures, an intrinsic trait that is amplified by his transformation. I have always argued that Steve has a very real selfish streak, or else he never would have tried to enlist in the Army so many times knowing he is absolutely unqualified to serve. Serving in his original condition would have put so many lives at risk, and others would have had to pick up his slack, because he would have been next to physically useless in combat as small Steve. But he would not accept reality, and he would not accept a “lesser” form of helping because it had to be the way that served his ego and his sense of rightness and justness for himself, consequences to other soldiers and the mission be damned. It was myopic and self-serving. And if good becomes great and bad becomes worse, maybe this is a form of that. Maybe he and Bucky agreed (because they were clearly in cahoots with that final scene business) that he would not intervene and rescue him, because then there would be no Falcon, or simply on the principle that the timeline must remain as undisturbed as possible. And maybe this one time, Steve didn’t say “fuck you, Bucky” and do what was right. Maybe Steve Rogers was done. Fucking done. Maybe he realized that what he first wanted at the beginning of TFA is not tenable. That he can’t fight forever. That he, like Tony, needs to rest, and that he can’t do that in the modern world. Which is interesting, because he essentially becomes Tony Stark v1.0 in the end, only caring about himself and his own. And Tony Stark becomes Steve Rogers, making the ultimate sacrifice for mankind. So Steve enjoys a life with Peggy while the world burns because he just can’t do it anymore. He’s paid his dues and he’s done being Captain America or Nomad or anyone else. (Wonder how she likes that version of Steve...?) Though how he could possibly say “It was beautiful” is utterly beyond me. I can’t fit that into this hypothesis, unless he has compartmentalized so hard and so well that he has forgotten about Bucky’s existence completely. And if he has, this is a very sad ending for his character.

There are probably many other hypotheses out there. They just didn’t percolate through my mind yet.

Which brings me to some things @pitchforkcentral86 brought up:

Why was Tony Stark’s arc so perfectly completed, so beautifully closed — truly, even I shed a tear — when we have to sit here writing stupid billion word theses on a nearly defunct blog site, grasping for straws, scratching our heads, wondering what the fuck just happened to Steve Rogers? It’s like getting to know somebody for eight years, being told the same stories about their behavior, learning their values system, their truths… and then being thrown a parting image that can only make sense if  a) the writers cannot be trusted — and maybe could not be trusted this whole time, or b) the character is actually not the person we thought he was.

Is either of these what we want to be left with as we close this phase of the MCU? Either the writers failed or Steve Rogers is not the person we love? And do we really not get to see Bucky and Steve’s friendship arc get closed in a meaningful way after building its depth for three movies? Are we really supposed to count a cheap recycling of a TFA line and some shimmery-eyed SebStan woobieface (TM) and some secret time travel hook-up conspiring off-camera (AS THEIR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN SINCE CIVIL WAR, PRESUMABLY, OFF-FUCKING-CAMERA) as “closure”? So, what do I think? I think this was lazy, crap writing, and I think Markus and McFeely thought we wouldn’t consider the timey-wimey implications too much. I think they know this character, and I don’t think they figured this would assassinate his character. I think they just really, really needed to tie this story up in a superficially pretty bow, and they couldn’t kill off both Tony and Steve, so they needed to give him something that took him out of the franchise. And that scene at the end with Peggy was aesthetically BEAUTIFUL. I smiled the first time, ear to ear, until my brain kicked in two minutes later and realized what it meant. They have been building up to this forever, kindling Steggy pretty much every movie. We Stucky people are all like yeah, yeah, Peggy, so sad, but the films have been consistent all along about saying a) Steve is a man out of time, and b) he loves Peggy Carter. (However you wanted to interpret that love... until the support group, where the interpretation is made for us). Support group side note: First, I squeed that Steve was running a support group in what I’m pretty sure is a VA auditorium. And on one hand, I loved the super chill gay Russo cameo and Steve’s untroubled reaction. Three cheers for the first openly gay character in the MCU [eyeroll]. But also, it felt like a total concession, like okay all you Stucky idiots we’ve been queer baiting over the years, we are gonna drop an A-bomb your little kingdom, but look, at least Steve isn’t a homophobe! See? He’s cool with the gays and so are we. Thanks for playing. Maybe you’ll get a REAL queer character in the next phase of the MCU! (If you even stick around after the shit we’ve just pulled.) But this laziness is problematic, because it feels terrible and discrepant. Intended or not, it does have serious implications for the timeline and/or the character, and the final scene existing the way it is potentially means at least one of two things: 1. Time doesn’t work the way we think it does. (In other words, what if there is a world where time travel Steve did all these good things like free Bucky, end the Vietnam War early, etc.?) However, since he is here on this bench with Bucky and Sam, dropping off this shield, this is implausible. If he just disappeared for good and Bucky explained the situation with a tiny, knowing smile, then it would be possible that he started an alternate reality where he did all these very Steve-congruent things and freed Bucky in that timeline, which would not affect this one. Wouldn’t that be nice? I could live with that. Just disappear into the sunset and we can write fics to fill in all the gaps of his Steve-ness. His core character is retained. Hooray. 

But if he started an alternate timeline, he would not be here with Bucky and Sam like this in the original timeline as an old man, which suggests that he jumped back in the same timeline. Unless they invented technology to jump between timelines. Or Dr. Strange jumped him back to this bench just to drop the shield off and high five with Sam and then is going to take him back any second or some dumb shit that has no basis in anything we have seen on screen (see @pitchforkcentral86’s point above about grasping for bullshit just to make sense of this). Or it means that— 2. Steve did not do anything and did not give a fuck about it. Both of these are terrible. Terrible. I would rather have had Steve die than have this ending. And this has nothing to do with Stucky for me, because Stucky is mostly just a fun fandom thing for me. I don’t mind that he ended up with Peggy per se. It’s the implication that he didn’t save his friend, knowing EXACTLY — geographically and historically — where he was, not only saving Bucky but also all the innocent people Bucky would kill. OR I hate the implication that the smug motherfucker let Bucky rot — perhaps per their agreement, maybe he kept a promise, whatever — and he had the gall to call it “beautiful.” And this is after Markus and McFeely slaved for three movies to convince us that these are best fucking friends from childhood who are with each other “‘til the end of the line.” At the very least, even if they are not going to be physically together, friends do not let friends suffer for decades at the hands of Hydra, and if they do, they do not fucking enjoy themselves while it’s happening. If this is the Steve they are leaving us with, I do not want him. And I kind of don’t know what to do now.

Am I missing something? Please tell me I am. I’m desperate for a way to make sense of this. Truly.

OKAY, EDIT: 

@koubashii  very kindly sent me a message reminding me that Bruce spent quite a bit of time belaboring on the point that changing the past doesn’t change the future. She reminded me that Nebula killing her past self didn’t obliterate her from existence. I did forget about all this. So I can’t use Sam and Bucky Prime’s existence in their current form as evidence that Steve did nothing, if he went back in time. Point taken. THANK YOU!! 

(Edit: As far as I can gather from some research from actual astrophysicists and not MCU Bruce Banner, this “changing the past doesn’t change the future” stuff is just one small theory and does not appear to be the prevailing theory. However, this is the quantum realm, so we can make up all sorts of silly rules about infinite possibilities, infinite realities, yada yada, because nobody understands quantum physics except Hank Pym. Comic book science wins again!)

So, if he’s creating a separate timeline, let’s say he rescued Bucky early. Is there another Bucky running around with him? (New fun theory to make the pain better: He danced with Peggy, had a good time, went to find Bucky, married HIM, and that’s why he doesn’t want to talk about it with Sam. THERE. Fixed it.) 

But this still suggests that he broke off into an alternate timeline, one that did not disturb the current one. So if he went off into this entirely new timeline, how did he bounce into this old one? Pym particles? Sure. Fine. Comic science Whatever. Maybe he gets some. Did he just drop in by the lake and pop a squat on the bench right before Bucky told Sam to look? Sure. Was he there the whole time? Perhaps. Fine. Who the hell knows. 

So, one possible explanation is that there IS an alternate timeline where Steve did the right thing. And he jumped back here because Pym particles. His character’s integrity is potentially saved and who the fuck knows who he ended up with in the end. Let your imaginations run wild. It’s too late for Bucky Prime to get saved, poor Bucky. At least he has Sam and their upcoming Disney spinoff series, which sounds like a fucking joke when I write it (but srsly I’m dying and cannot wait). 

And there are still problematic things with this narrative for me, such as the idea that Steve’s entire happiness hinges on one woman he barely knew, largely because she didn’t scoff at him when he was smol and I will be DAMNED if Peggy kept his picture on her desk, and there is no effing way that she would even have her back to the door, but whatever. And I still hate that Steve and Bucky’s relationship arc was treated so horribly by these last two films. NO HOMO, indeed. Just in case we got the wrong idea from the intensity of the relationship that the MCU created for us. I will be posting more on this later. 

AND STILL — we should not have to work SO HARD for this kind of "meh” explanation. You should not need a group effort to make sense of your character’s ending, after so much wallowing in despair. And this might still reek of bullshit to many of you. I need to percolate more. 

Pym particles and Wakandan Vibranium trauma-healing brain magic — quick and dirty shortcuts for real character development. Thanks, MCU. Consider my brain exploded.

[brolinjosh]

endgame review

i’ve waited 24 hours for my endgame feels to sink in. spoilers and strong opinions are under the cut.

first i need to start with the parts that i loved and that made the movie stand out and be memorable and parts that i immensely enjoyed:

- tony and nebula’s friendship and nebula’s arc later. she finally stopped being self destructive, lost the desire to please thanos and stood up for herself. she made a strong bond with gamora and even in the past, that bond stood out and it was beautiful. she got more screen time and stopped being just a weapon. got to play games, got to be appreciated for more than a good warrior. joked with people and made good friendships.

- tony telling steve off. tony stan here, but unbiased opinion is that him and steve had a falling out. steve stayed on earth and tony ended up stranded on an alien planet and nearly died. he is a non powered man and only had his armor and got stabbed by thanos and he has never felt more alone than when oxygen was slowly running out on him and nebula. he should have argued and called him out on them sticking together, and he had every right to do so.

- whole time travel thing. it was nostalgic, i am really glad they connected this, as last movie, to the previous ones. thor getting his moment with frigga, tony commenting on shape of steve’s ass, loki disappearing with tesseract, little things like that. they gave movie depth and not just thanos aftermath. 

- steve had some show stopping scenes. telling himself he could do this all day and being tired of himself bc he knows how big of a pain in the ass he can be in the battle?? hell yes thank you. steve wielding mjolnir?? legit had me cheering, wig snatched. 

- i genuinely liked thor’s arc. he lost everyone he had ever cared about, it was normal for him to be depressed and angry and that he had given up. i am glad rocket snapped him out of it because it gave rocket depth and we saw how deeply he connected to all of them and decided not to be an asshole and be kinder to people that surround him. it showed another part of them being a family and how even characters we never thought would love each other this way, ended up with an unbreakable bond that is more than just a team work.

- more screen time for underappreciated amazing characters, james rhodes, scott lang, clint barton. more of their interactions and showing how funny and smart they are??? they had my heart.

- i LOVED professor hulk. mark ruffalo finally got more screen time and it showed how smart bruce really is and that he is not just some likable guy who is intelligent, but not as much as other scientists (like scenes with shuri in infinity war that i loved because of shuri, but in past movies they downplayed his intellect a bit). i loved how he was more confident and at peace with himself.

- thanos!!! thanos remained a formidable villain and his arc was still the best villain arc in mcu. he is not easy to take on , he is a threat and he gave movie and everything that happened a meaning.

- best mcu scene to this day - strange opening portals and people passing through, ready to slay enemies. all united, all fighting together, all boosting and helping each other out in this final battle that we waited for 10 years??? literally killed every other movie battle ever. they have outdone themselves.

- peter seeing tony and talking about soul stone world, not realizing that everything was done for him and out of love for this amazing boy?? beautiful.

- TONY FUCKING STARK WIELDING INFINITY GAUNTLET. YES. had me yell at the screen, it was showstopping. my favorite scene ever in movie history. mere mortal taking on the fate of the world and killing every bad creature and smiting thanos himself. CONTENT I LIVE FOR.

- valkyrie a king??? hell yes, she deserved it. no one more than her. 

now, things that ruined the movie for me and that i do not think i will easily accept or forgive:

- i understand that in the end, since natasha and clint went to vormir, in the end had me desiring that she would be the one to give up, since he has a family. but it’s not supposed to be that way. natasha seemed out of character the whole time. she was way more emotional, i partially understand because she lost everything and it has affected her more than anything ever. but it was bad writing. woman dying for shock value and to effect men??? why. she just started expressing herself and letting know people she loves them and really connected and bonded with them and have her go like that? as a sacrifice? uncalled for.

- pepper’s arc bugged me the whole time. woman who was there from the beginning to call tony out on his shit, also was a woman who stopped him from doing reckless things. she was always the one who kept arguing with him, literally in every movie, over his desire to save the world and to protect them. he told her he found a way to bring everyone back, but one word from her (something she was terrific at), and he would ditch it and stay with their family. and this is the first time she encouraged him to do something so reckless and it was poor overshadowing of his death and insanely out of character for her. she knew how it would end and she kept saving him from himself, because he was always terrified of losing her and in a way that stopped him from doing what he did years ago. they had a family and in the end . her showing up in an armor had me in tears, because that’s my gal, but also that is incredibly reckless and like she didn’t think things through in 2-3 scenes she had in the movie?? 

- i’m in it for tony. naturally i am upset. but not because he died, but because of HOW he died. naturally gauntlet took a toil on him. his body was combusting. it was devastating. what killed me was that pepper, love of his life, approached him and seemed like she had kind of a bad day. asked for his vitals and when told he is dying, she shed a tear and told him that he could rest. it blew my mind that she did not crumble in front of him, no “ i love you” nothing that would be her last words to him that showed him that he meant the world. he knew that, but would have been nice to have something like that. ALSO, him not being able to speak??? BEYOND OUTRAGED. no actual goodbyes, no him saying anything to the avengers, just lying like he had a stroke. the best character with the most complicated arc in the entire marvel universe and did something unimaginable and to have him just fall and not say goodbye or how he feels, or is he afraid of dying or what is happening to him??? “ i am iron man” is a great line for taking on thanos, but as last words while he is alive, unsatisfying and writing for shock value. peter crying, hugging him, apologizing , that was beautiful. everyone who he had just given his life for just standing aside, looking at him, shedding one tear???? steve? STEVE ROGERS???? JAMES RHODES??? no goodbyes between best friends, no them being wrecked and having breakdowns??? really?

- steve’s ending. it was the most out of character thing russos have ever done. they became famous for taking on characters in their own ways, but steve, person who had such strong relationships with tony, bucky and sam, leaving bucky and sam for a selfish cause of going back in time to a woman who already had a fulfilling life and found a way to live without him?? who had a husband and family? who was accomplished and her heartbreak over losing steve gave her depth and she got out stronger than ever. and he just went back and her whole history and family was erased for it, because he loved her and they shared one kiss a lifetime ago? steve going back to do this and not free bucky from hydra or help his best friend out, a man who he started civil war over and fought government for, steve leaving bucky and sam, people who have been with him through thick and thin, going back to indulge himself, thinking he cannot be happy in present, not thinking about two people who have to now live on without him? bucky who never got a decent time with him after ca:tfa, who’s life has been nothing but a shitstorm, now having to live without his best friend and only person that felt like a home? insanity. steve rogers, the most self-sacrificial, stubborn little shit, who gave enemies hell for people he cared about, leaving people behind? never. 

in conclusion, for me movie did nothing but upset me, because i have invested 10 years into this, countless hours of writing meta and giffing scenes that went unnoticed, loving these characters, pouring my heart and soul and time into this, and for them to kill off people for shock value, natasha and tony, to have them fuck up steve’s arc beyond words, to end relationships or to make them meaningless.... they did pay an omage to previous movies, but not characters  and how they were previously portrayed. tony, man who started mcu, should not die for us to be miserable bastards after spending so much time in this universe, he should have gotten to live a happy life with the family he had just started. 

in the end, if anyone had to die, for me it was supposed to be both steve and tony, in a battle, bloody with glorious goodbyes, their last battle, showing each other how they would lay their lives so the other one lives, sacrificing for each other, but have both biggest characters die gloriously, not one like he had a stroke and second one grow old and selfish, abandoning his friends and family.

in the end, i did not like the movie. first marvel movie to this day that i didn’t like, because it was first that erased so many good things. 

[barnesnmrnoble]

Bucharest, Romania.

Main Masterlist - Bucky Barnes Masterlist

Plums. All he’d wanted was a few plums to make dinner tonight, but the world had other plans.

Word Count: 2540

Warnings: Violence, Bucky being a big brother figure, hydra brainwashing mentions

A/n: The scene rewrite from Civil War that didn’t end up being a rewrite as much as the scene but with an added character. It’s supposed to be a bigger part of the story, but there is a strong bond between Bucky and the reader. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! If you do, leave a like and a reblog or comment! I’d love to hear what you think and honestly I need the validation. 

This is for Nicola’s 4k writing challenge! Congratulations my dear!

Read on Ao3!

Plums. All he’d wanted was a few plums to make dinner tonight, but the world had other plans. 

He’d first tensed at the distant sirens, feeling frozen with fear as they grew closer, his mind set that this was the day they came to take away the semblance of peace he’d found in Bucharest. He only marginally relaxed when the sirens passed in a flash in front of his blurred vision. 

He kept his head low, avoiding eye contact as best he could. His heart was hammering at this point, the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood on end. Every part of him was in panic mode but he hadn’t been able to put his finger on the why yet. He waited to cross the street, leaning on his toes to be able to take off at a moments notice. 

It was when he met the frantic eyes of a newsstand worker that he knew this day was well and truly going to shit. The man did a double take at Bucky, his eyes growing until he watched Bucky take the first panicked step across the street, then he’d scrambled away from his stand and ran through the crowds. 

Bucky reached a gloved hand out to grab the paper, uncaring of the small lighter that clattered the ground in his haste. The headline yelled at him in big, bold, accusatory letters, and he felt his heart plummet to his feet. 

“WINTER SOLDIER WANTED FOR UN BOMBING” 

His hands shook as he threw the paper back on the counter, he needed to get out of here.

His memories had been shit after hydra, countless hours spent in that godforsaken chair, searing pain that he swore split his skull in half as they tore through his mind, taking away the last things that made him James Buchanan Barnes. But he knew, amidst all the struggle he’d had trying to get them back, he hadn’t been the one to bomb the UN. 

His feet had taken off before he could return function to his brain. He was sprinting down back alleyways, not daring to take the main roads and risk someone seeing him. He was sure there were few people that would ever try to stand in his way if they did recognize him, but he couldn’t take the chance that they would alert police. He needed time and if the police knew he was in Bucharest, all of that would vanish. 

He slid to halt behind his apartment complex, old and run down. If he didn’t know better it might look as if it was about to collapse in on itself. There had been nights that he’d wished it would happen, the early days of finding a hide out in Bucharest. He didn’t wish the pain of its collapse on anyone but himself, hoping that it’s end would mean he was taken away from the pain, the sleepless nights were his mind replayed the screams of those whose lives he so brutally took away, the blood that in the darkness of night, he could still see staining his hands no matter how hard he scrubbed at them. 

He scrambled up the back fire escape, sliding into the back stairwell a few floors down from his. He couldn’t hear much, the piano of a neighbor, running footsteps of the children in the apartment opposite of where he stood. Bucky slid into the main stairwell to reach his front door once he realized the main stairwell had been clear. 

He moved with surprising grace and stealth through the front door of his apartment. Both the lock and door were intact and looked like they hadn’t been tampered with and Bucky let out a relieved sigh and slipped inside. 

The apartment, old and dingy like the outside was basic as he could find. Cheap rent that he could cover with small time jobs that didn’t require dealing with people. He’d managed to find an old mattress that someone in his building had thrown out and managed to snag it before it made it to the dumpster. They’d also been throwing out a threadbare blanket and a few pillows and Bucky had snagged those as well. 

He had built up a few shelves along the side wall, extra storage for when he might need it besides the newspapers that sat there now. Not that he’d need it now if he was back to running. The kitchen was bare, just like the rest of his apartment, only holding the things needed to make basic meals. He’d stashed a few journals on top of the refrigerator, filled with memories and thoughts.

His blood turned cold when he walked far enough into his apartment to see someone standing in his kitchen. The red, white and blue suit was one he’d remembered from several different occasions of his past. He remembered him from the fight in D.C., and remembered what had been written about him in the Smithsonian exhibit. Steve was his name. He wasn’t a direct threat, but he was connected to and worked for people who were. 

Bucky nearly collapsed with relief when he saw the one thing that panicked him more than anything, more than he himself being captured and framed for a bombing he had no part in. 

When he’d escaped hydra the few years ago, he’d been a mess of himself, his brain stuck in the instinctual ways they’d programmed into him, looking over his shoulder with every step he took waiting for the inevitable. Waiting for them to come back and say those goddamn words that took away his free will, that took away Bucky Barnes and replaced him with The Asset, the Winter Soldier, that replaced him with HYDRA’s puppet. 

But he hadn’t been the only one. He’d seen her for the years leading up. Heard her scream, watched her body convulse the same way as his always did and they pushed a deadly amount of voltage coursing through her veins, lighting them with the lightning that powered their missions. He’d been sent on the odd mission with her, ones that required more than one set of hydra’s fist, assassinations of high ranking political figures, that needed more finesse rather than brute strength. They worked well and the asset had taken a liking to her. 

That seemed to have extended further than just the asset, seated deep into his roots. When Bucky has been running through the maze of halls, trying to find he way to the freedom he so desperately craved and deserved, he’d seen her. Her presence tugged at him, told him to stop his frantic escape and drag her along with him. And so he did. She’d just arrived back at the base and had been poorly treated  for her wounds, her leg had been the worst of it, the broken bone not reset and ready to heal in the worst and most painful way. 

He grabbed her and ran. He ran until they found a space to hide in the dense Russian forest, ran until he felt the slightest relief of the fear they’d instilled upon him. It wasn’t until Bucharest that he’d found it for the both of them, and now that was gone. 

Her body was tucked in the back corner of the small bathroom inside the apartment. She’d made herself small, hidden, something Bucky wished he could do some days but found it a struggle with his large and bulky stature. Steve, the man standing in front on his fridge, reading the journals of his memories, hadn’t seen him yet and Bucky couldn’t lie that he was grateful for that. 

He nodded to her and her body relaxed minutely. It was a silent conversation between the two of them, one they had long since known was going to happen. The plan was to be enacted but she was stubborn like Bucky had always known her to be and even though his first and most important priority was her safety, her was his safety. There was no way she was leaving without him. No way she was escaping whatever the situation was without him by her side. It was a non starter. 

Bucky cursed under his breath when he shifted on his feet and the floorboard freaked just loud enough to grab Steve’s attention. He was hoping for just a little bit longer to devise a plan, to figure what direction this interaction was going to go. 

Bucky’s heart nearly thudded straight from his chest when Steve turned around. His breathing picked up and his anxiety and panic that had been building in these last two years on the run, all surfaces at once. It sent Bucky into a dangerous spiral of thoughts, and Bucky managed to school his features to hide this winces of pain as new and old memories alike started coming back, brutally punching at his brain. 

It all happened pretty quickly after that, Bucky denied any involvement in the bombing and much to his surprise, Steve knew and was trying to help escape. Bucky wouldn’t let him, he was too connected. Had too much involvement with people who didn’t care that Bucky’s been a POW, who held little sympathy and only wanted a face to blame and a body to throw in a cell. 

He had contingencies, plans in place for whatever happened when this day inevitably came. Everything in the apartment had been strategically set up to give him a way out. For all the atrocities Hydra committed to Bucky, he was at least grateful for the ability to always be prepared, to have a way out should anything ever go south. It was handy when you were on the run from multiple organizations. 

He could just make out the shapes of swat officers surrounding the building on the rooftops of building across from him. He could hear the heavy, pounding of several officers rushing up the stairs and their guns cocking, readying themselves for whatever came. 

“This doesn’t have to end in a fight, Buck.”

That line, the unwillingness to ever stand down, to ever give up, it all struck something within Bucky. He was flooded with another memory, one of the skinny blonde boy he’d seen a few times when he recalled old memories. God, even now it was hard to resist the urge to roll his eyes at his unending morals. 

But Bucky knew, no matter what, it would always end in a fight. He slid the glove of his metal hand, flexing the fingers a few times to regain the dexterity after keeping it so stiff and tense. 

And then shit hit the fan.

Steve’s eyes flew to the window, and Bucky’s followed. The flash bang bounced off Steve’s shield, as a second one thudded in the floor near Bucky’s feet. And with an action and silent conversation that, to an outsider, would look like that of a a partnership that had been working together for years, Bucky kicked the charge to Steve who trapped it beneath his shield. While he was distracted, Bucky took a step back and banged on the bathroom door. 

It was time to go whether they wanted to or not. 

She emerged from the bathroom looking every bit the part of the soldier and asset she once was. Her shoulders were stiff and her muscles tense, but yet, she still moved through the room with a dexterity that someone as stiff as she’d become shouldn’t be able to do. 

They worked around each other like they had been attached at the hip. The fighting styles screamed similarity, a well oiled machine pumping out power packed punch after punch. She was graceful, stealthy but powerful. Bucky was her counterpart in every way, still powerful, not more so but in a different way. In a way of brute strength, a weight behind his punches that few others would ever be able to replicate. 

In a non combative, training scenario, Steve might have found it mesmerizing. A history between the two that begged to be unearthed and explained. He did have a moment of pause, watching they way they worked with each other and then worked within the confines of the apartment. Using the strategically placed furniture to their advantage, to block doors and the rain of bullets fired through the windows. 

The flurry of movements and steady stream of bodies rushing into the fight had started to trickle down, though they were far from over. 

Her and Bucky steadily moved back towards the back door. They had hidden two go-bags underneath a sectioning of flooring days after having moved in to the shitty apartment. They knew this would happen and they would be uprooted from what little peace’s they’d come to find. 

They moved as fluidly together as they had in the apartment as they broke through the waves of officers trying, however stupidly to stop them. Neither cared much for the safety of those that came at them, despite the annoyed looks Steve gave them. 

Bucky restrained himself from feeling any relief that had finally made it low enough to safely jump the gap between their building and their only chance at escape. He wasn’t really sure how he managed it, but somewhere the soldiers instincts must’ve taken over. They jumped across the ledge and Bucky reached out to grab on to her body and pull her into his, knowing that his serum enhanced body could handle the brunt of a fall like that, where hers could not. 

While she’d been an asset, wiped and trained like he had, they had never administered any type of their bastardized serum. He never really knew why, what benefit did it keep to have her not hopped up on the serum. Though then, he hadn’t really questioned it but just knew she hadn’t received it. 

They landed heavy, Bucky landing with most of the combined weight on his cybernetic arm. It hurt like a bitch, the limb already hurting from his fighting and the dumb decision he’d made to drop four flights and catch the railing on his way out. They stood quickly, Bucky only able to take seconds to check her for injury before the daunting shadow of a new threat descended upon them. 

They both took of at a dead sprint, following the predetermined route until they were eventually caught, thrown from the bike they’d grabbed to gain more distance. The squealing of tires, and the clash of a suit hitting heavy against the roadway burned in his ears, in his heart. Because he knew this was the end of their peace, the end of what little freedom they’d found after so many years of captivity. He felt even worse knowing he’d failed in his one goal of protecting her, the person he’d practically adopted to seek shelter under his umbrella of protectiveness. That if he hadn’t been so afraid to admit in fear of losing it all, (like he was) would be like his little sister. He still couldn’t get over how much she reminded him of Becca. 

And to think, this whole started with a trip to the market, for six measly plums to make them dinner.

[cuz-tony-stark]

So... a theory about Endgame.

Okay, so, I have a theory that probably ISN’T true. But when I thought of it, it was such a brutal and interesting twist in my head ntm it’s been bouncing around in there for days now that I have to share it with you guys.  Is it a little stevetony influenced? Maybe. Am I probably going to write something like this in the future if it’s not canon? Yeaaaaah. But here goes...

Steve is the man out of time in the most literal fashion. He has already lived through the snap. He’s known about it since that very last scene in The First Avenger, and has been reliving the years up to the apocalypse... but with one major difference between timelines. 

Tony survived the battle of New York this time.

Further explanation below the cut:

So, all of the marvel fans who have seen the various leaks can reasonably theorize by now that the Avengers are going to use quantum tech to go time traveling. Whether this is to collect the Infinity Stones or to stop the snap before it happens isn’t certain yet. But we all have seen from this clip

that they’re gonna go pick a fight with Thanos sometime in the beginning of the film.

But what if that’s a flashback?

What if that’s what Steve and the remaining avengers did in another timeline, and lost? What if Steve was the last one left standing against Thanos and — instead of the power stone — he used the time stone against him? Pushed him back through time?

Maybe he just aimed to reduce Steve back to his skinny self to humiliate him.  But... that’s not really in character for Thanos, is it?

“Dread it... Run from it... Destiny still arrives.”

We never heard that line in Infinity War. 

Yes, maybe Thanos just aimed to reduce Steve back to his skinny self.  Or maybe Thanos threw him back on purpose, to hammer home the point of inevitable defeat and ultimate destiny. 

What if that line is from Endgame?

If it is, all of the MCU movies have been from this second attempt. This second timeline that Steve has been living through. Because when you rewatch the movies in this context?? A lot of Chris Evans’s acting choices make SO MUCH MORE SENSE??  I nean, let’s start from the beginning.  Picture going through Steve’s whole ordeal, living nearly a decade of your life in the future, pursuing Thanos again, facing a horrific battle with him where you see all your friends die, unable to fix the snap... then Thanos flashes you with a green stone and a line about inevitability and your brain turns to jelly and you pass out...

And wake up at the very beginning.

In that context, watch this clip:

There isn’t a vast amount of curiosity or confusion in this portrayal.  There is fear and a massive fight or flight response, and when you’re waking up for a second time in a world you don’t belong in, with full knowledge of where you are and what happened and what’s going to happen... just trying to get the truth out of people that you’ve already met, hoping like its some kind of practical joke or hell, maybe even a fever dream.  This is a nightmare scene for Steve because he’s already lived it.  And nobody else -- not even Fury -- seems to realize what’s happened.  You’ll notice that he never asks who Fury is.  Because he knows.  But he’s asking the questions he already knows the answers to because god, this can’t be happening...

But then look at that face journey at 2:38.  That’s not confusion.  That’s realization and sorrow and resignation.  Resigning himself to the fact that Thanos threw him back in time, deciding that he has a second chance here and trying not to see it as a punishment, but still grieving over the reality of the situation.

Then... the line.  “Yeah.  I just... I had a date.”

That’s the moment.  That’s the moment when he decided that he couldn’t tell anyone what he’s been through.  Because telling them would cause despair and panic when that kind of reaction wouldn’t be productive in any way.

In that context, let’s move onto the Avengers and the Captain America trilogy.

You’ll notice that throughout these films, Steve doesn’t react viscerally to anything.  He doesn’t even look surprised when Tony tells him that SHIELD is making weapons.  He doesn’t skip a beat.  He obviously doesn’t know the exact context of a few things because he was in a different place the first time around, but any questions he asks are remarkably flat, like he’s asking them just to go through the motions.

Moving onto Tony however, this is where the timelines start to diverge.

^^ Watch this video with this theory in mind.  It’s got some gems. ^^

So, Avengers 1.  Steve’s going through the motions.  You’ll notice that he doesn’t really react to anything majorly -- not even Coulson’s death -- until Tony taunts him on the helicarrier, and then one more time after Tony wakes up.  I theorize that in his reality, a lot of that taunting was the same, but in Steve’s first run through on this, Tony actually died beyond the portal.  Steve uses that irritation and grief to channel that argument, thinking that most likely it was what spurred Tony to make the necessary sacrifice in his 1st go.  In his first timeline, Nat closed the gate and the battle of New York ended with Tony dying out in space.

Then, in the second timeline, Tony comes hurtling down through the sky.  Steve is actually relieved to see a difference from the first run around!  He’s happy!    But then Tony reaches the ground and seems to be dead.  Steve is disappointed after thinking that there’s some kind of difference here, but again, he doesn’t seem to be surprised or horrible heartbroken about the death of a comrade.  After all, Tony made the necessary sacrifice.  This is how it played out the first time...

Then Tony wakes up and this is Steve’s face.

:O  “w8 he’s alive???”

The first major change in his perspective on the timeline.

Moving on to The Winter Soldier.

This movie is unique to the 2nd timeline aka the MCU that we know because if Tony hadn’t survived the battle of New York, it wouldn’t exist.  Fury says here that the mini-helicarriers for Project Insight were made possible by repulsor technology.  If Tony wasn’t around to contribute to it, Project Insight wouldn’t have existed and Hydra never would have brought the Winter Soldier out of hibernation.

Therefore, giving birth to the other moment that took Steve genuinely by surprise.  Bucky’s reveal.

If Tony had died at the battle of New York, by extension the events of The Winter Soldier never would have happened.

Also, there’s this scene in the Winter Soldier.

Look at Steve’s face.  He is not confused.  He is not sad.  He is angry.  He is angry that Bucky has been alive all these years and he never knew.  Even through Thanos and the snap, he never knew Bucky was alive.  He’s gonna burn the world down before he lets Bucky suffer through whatever horrible fate he had in the 1st timeline because Steve wasn’t there for him.  

Steve’s most genuine reactions in this entire trilogy are when he’s fighting his best friend and Hydra; a situation that he never saw coming.

Moving onto Avengers 2!  Age of Ultron!!

This whole movie was Tony’s responsibility and ergo, it was another massive event that Steve didn’t see coming because -- again -- if he had died in the battle of New York, Ultron and therefore Vision never would’ve existed.  

But the most notable scene concerning this theory is this one:

LOOK  AT  STEVE’S  FACE.

HE KNOWS THEY’LL LOSE!  LOOK AT HIS FACE!!  HE’S SEEN IT!!  HE’S SEEN THEM LOSE!!  But he also knows that Tony is the only one that’s been able to change the timeline so far.  He lived through the battle of New York.  He helped cause the events of The Winter Soldier.  He directly caused the events of Age of Ultron.

And that’s why Civil War cut him so deep.

Imagine.  Going through almost another decade of your life, dealing with new and old threats.  Realizing that this one dark-eyed genius is probably the best chance at beating what’s to come, because not only was Tony taking precautions, Tony is effecting the timeline.  

But... he can’t let Bucky suffer.  Not again.  Not when Steve wasn’t there for him on the first go-around.  

Steve makes a choice in Civil War, and it is a pure, heart-ripping, emotional choice.  He sacrifices one friend in order not to betray another, even if it wasn’t the smart thing to do.  Even if it put the past 5-6 years and the future in jeopardy.  It tore him apart, but he made a choice, and he sent Tony the burner phone.

“If you ever need me, I’ll be there.”

Steve knew that the best chance they had to defeat Thanos was together.

But Tony never called.

He disappeared.

The Avengers aren’t together when Thanos comes.  And they lose.  Again.

Just.................... 

Look at his face...

This is fury.  This is anger.  This is denial.  This is the culmination of everything he’s worked for, everything he’s done to prove Thanos wrong.  And...

“Oh god.”  Not like this.  Not again.

That is why, in Avengers Endgame, instead of rushing after Thanos, Steve tells the Avengers his story.  The full story.  His first timeline and Tony’s death and the death of all the Avengers against the mad prophet.  He turns to the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, Iron Man, Earth’s Best Defender, and tells him that he’s sorry.  That he made a choice in Civil War.  That Bucky died and maybe it was all for nothing but he refuses to believe that.  He refuses to give up.  Thanos will not win.

So they wait.  They train.  They look into quantum technology.  They stand as one.  And when the time comes, they will undo what Thanos has done... and they’ll do it right this time.

Because other people might move on.

“But not us.”

...

So... would I shit my pants in the theater if this was canon? Probably.

Am I excited for Endgame?  

Hell yeah.

[invisible-mirror]

Stucky-centric Endgame Thoughts

So I’ve thought about it, and that ending isn’t nearly as bad as it seemed on first glance, from a Stucky shipping perspective. I’m giving up on the spoiler cut because I’ve been replying to other people’s stuff anyway, so my blog is already contaminated. So here goes.

First thing’s first: this is not a time loop.

The way the final scene is structured makes it look like a time loop -- Steve goes back to the 1940s, lives through to the present (without anyone noticing), and on this particular day drives himself to that park bench to explain what happened to Sam and Bruce. But this is impossible. Leaving aside the laughably ridiculous notion that Steve could last through the first year of the Cold War, much less seventy years total, without doing something drastic enough to get himself on the evening news, the premise itself doesn’t work. If time loops were how the universe worked, there is no possible way that both Thanos and Tony could have snapped. It’s a paradox. Which means what the Russos said in their interview, convoluted as it is, is our only option -- Steve went back to the 40s, branched into an alternate universe, grew old in that universe, and then somehow universe-hopped back for the final scene.

In other words, Steve did not choose to leave Bucky in the present while he went to live a life in the past without changing said past. He went to an alternate reality in which everything from 1945 onward had not yet happened, and doesn’t need to happen the way he remembers it. He can take down Hydra and get Bucky back by 1950. There is nothing stopping him. I expect a veritable Cambrian explosion of Steve/Bucky/Peggy fic in this new universe, y’all, I am not even remotely kidding.

Okay, but what about our Bucky?

Even if Steve saves Bucky decades earlier in the new timeline, that doesn’t erase the fact that he’s left the Bucky we know behind for good. Which could be taken as a betrayal... or not. Because here’s the thing: Bucky knew. He canonically knew before Steve left that Steve wouldn’t be coming back; this is evident in his dialog and the Russos have confirmed. Which could mean one of several things:

Steve never mentioned staying in the past, but Bucky knew him well enough to realize that’s what he really wanted and that when the opportunity presented itself, he would choose to take it.

Steve told Bucky his plan, and Bucky respected his wishes to not tell the rest of the team until after it was done.

Bucky suggested the plan.

All three share a basic theme that I think is critical to our understanding of the situation: Bucky let Steve go. Steve didn’t steal away in the proverbial night. Bucky could have tried to stop him, or at the very least could have spilled the beans to Sam and Bruce and placed his hope in the combined power of a three-pronged guilt trip. Instead, he gave Steve permission to go, just like Pepper gave Tony permission. We didn’t see the conversation on screen, but what Bucky must have said to Steve can’t have been that terribly far from “We’re gonna be okay. You can rest now.”

(excuse me, I need a minute)

(*sniffs* one more minute)

(okay)

And Bucky will be okay. Bucky’s always had a higher level of self-preservation than Steve, and what that translates to in this case is that he’s learned to cope. He’s spent years clawing his way back from Hydra, with only a little help from Steve, and he still has a support network in Wakanda. He can handle the 21st century, even without Steve beside him, and he knows it.

But why?

It’s a common staple of romance/shipping that, as the Beatles say, “all you need is love.” I know many of us are hurt that Steve had an opportunity to stay in the present and build a life with Bucky, only for it to hit us like -- well, like an iceberg to the hull -- that Bucky-in-the-present wasn’t enough for him. But we’re also all about healthy relationships, right, so I think this is a situation where the canon simply compels us to accept that, as per Patty Smyth, “sometimes love just ain’t enough.” Steve’s been missing huge chunks of himself since the day he got defrosted. One of those chunks was Bucky, and Bucky’s return went a ways toward filling one of those holes -- but Bucky himself wasn’t the same, and while Steve received some comfort from having him back, that comfort was counterbalanced by the knowledge of how Bucky had suffered and Steve was unable to help him. Other chunks, of course, include Peggy (whom he also did truly love don’t @ me) and everyone else in his home time. And now suddenly there’s Tony, who as it turns out never actually forgave Steve for what happened between them in Civil War. Steve is messed up, y’all. Someone else might be able to cope with that list of regrets, but Steve has really never coped that well, just buried his feelings and gone into fights with his helmet off. And when your options are “stew on things you can’t change and be miserable for the rest of your life” vs. “try to move on,” then absolutely, moving on is the best decision. But when you get a magical third option of “freebie do-over,” then you know what, maybe the do-over really does beat moving on as a way to heal. It’s the premise behind Tony’s BARF system, after all.

And Bucky loved Steve enough to give him that chance.

[a-ratt]

One Marvelous Scene Playlist

So, with Endgame coming out in three days, a variety of Youtube personalities have decided to band together and analyze their favorite scenes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They’ve collected them all in a playlist here: (x)

I’d love to join them, but I don’t have the right equipment or footage to edit a whole video essay. I do, however, have a whole collective of followers on Tumblr, along with the rest of the site that might come to read a little.

So, uh, this is my favorite scene from the MCU:

A little background on this. I didn’t actually watch Captain America: Civil War when it first came out. I was in high school, the most I heard of it was from classmates. I wasn’t big on the MCU back then.

I loved the Thor movies because of their scope, visuals, and world-building. The first Avengers was a big meme among my friends because we picked roles to fill on the team.

Then, I got into college and started studying screenwriting. I watched a bunch of video essays, read books, and so on. I really want to write for films, shows, etc. I want to create my own animated show, I’ve already got a whole story, cast of characters, and scenes plotted out.

In studying all of that, though, I started to focus on the down-to-Earth quality. The grounded and relatable content. And surprisingly, the final battle between Iron Man and Cap and Bucky is one of the most grounded in the MCU.

But, back to that scene. The scene in which the Avengers are left fractured and broken.

There is so much that goes into this scene. So much that it does in return.

In the background, we have Tony Stark, who started out infamous for being a playboy and a notorious corporate ass. Then, he’s nearly killed and kidnapped in the Middle East. That experience changes him after he learns that these extremists who held him hostage were using his own weapons.

His entire arc has been his attempt at becoming accountable for his actions. He’s struggled with completing it though. The first time he really succeeds is when he returns from the Middle East and stops production of Stark Industries’ weapons. The next is when he becomes Iron Man and deals with the extremists himself. Going onwards, however, he continually experiences a cycle of success and failure. When he joins the Avengers, he does not actively help the team. However, he redeems himself by redirecting the nuke into the Chitauri portal, thereby saving New York City. When he faces the Mandarin in his third film, he discovers that his enemy is a demon from his past that he originally brushed aside due to his ego. In the second Avengers film, his trauma from the first one prompts him to create Ultron. That act nearly causes a cataclysm, but they minimize it to the destruction of the city.

Civil War sees his full transformation from privatizing world peace to handing the power to institutions because he believes that is the best method of ensuring accountability.

On the other side of the spectrum is Steve Rogers, who started out an idealist that just wanted to do his part. He gets that chance and picks up his shield, becoming Captain America. However, he later wakes up to a world that prefers pragmatism over idealism. He is forced to confront that clashing of beliefs in his second film, in which S.H.I.E.L.D is revealed to be a front for a reborn Hydra.

His arc has been his attempt at upholding his philosophy on responsibility and adapting to a new, different world. Cap’s first film establishes his character, who he is and what he’s about. He doesn’t want to join the army to kill Nazis, he wants to go to Europe to do his part and stop some bullies. By the end of the movie, the audience knows he is. Then, when they see him in the Avengers, they see him trying to get his bearings in this strange, new world. One of the most iconic moments is the first major argument between the Avengers, when he accuses S.H.I.E.L.D and Nick Fury of being just like Hydra, then attacking Tony for his narcissism. The Winter Soldier brings that argument further when he learns that the institutions he fights for are planning on pointing a gun at the world instead of trusting it with that gun. That conflict of beliefs happens even before the big reveal by Arnim Zola. The entire film is a political thriller that ultimately leads to Steve consolidating his philosophy and taking a stand against extreme pragmatism, placing good faith over cold efficiency.

When we finally reach Civil War, both characters have had their philosophies inverted by the modern world. Thanks to the guilt of his own actions Tony now believes in handing responsibility over to the governments of the world to make sure they are held accountable. In contrast, Steve’s experience with corrupt institutions pushes him to not trust the governments of the world and therefore  keep that responsibility to themselves as they are the only ones that they can trust.

But do you want to know the craziest part of this entire spiel? It’s all backdrop. It’s not the main issue, but the reasoning behind the main issue.

Tony’s belief in accountability lead him to work for the UN in an attempt to capture Bucky Barnes, who was framed for a terrorist bombing.

Steve’s belief in responsibility lead him to uncover the truth on his own, as well as save his childhood best-friend from being held accountable for a crime he didn’t commit.

The political beliefs come to a head in the iconic airport battle where the music ramps up, but doesn’t meet a grand, climactic note. Instead, there’s a crash and a symphony of tragedy. The Avengers clash: Cap battling Iron Man, Wanda flinging cars at Spider-Man, Black Panther pouncing on Bucky, War Machine flying after Falcon, Black Widow pinning Ant-Man, and Vision phasing through Hawkeye’s shots. The entire sequence is full of wide, fluid shots and grand, complex plans.

Then, we get to the Soviet missile silo. Here, the environment is small and cramped. There’s only two ways out: straight up or through the door. The entire film the audience were lead to believe that the big bad guy at the end was a team of super soldiers akin to the Winter Soldier that would be under the command of Helmut Zemo, someone with a grudge against the Avengers. Instead, Steve, Tony, and Bucky discover that each one of the super soldiers were murdered and Zemo was responsible.

He provides brief exposition, telling them about his Sokovian family and how the Avengers had killed them. He tells them about his time planning and plotting and what his final goal is. Then, he plays a recording of a Hydra assassination mission. The same mission Bucky was shown to be performing at the very start of the film.

That moment when Tony recognizes the road, Bucky realizes what is being shown, and Steve discerns what Zemo is trying to do is one of the most powerful moments in the entire film. The following battle is also one of the best in the entire MCU.

It’s not cosmic or grand like in the Avengers’ films. It’s not big and explosive like in the airport battle. It’s cramped, brutal, and primal. There’s not big plans or clever tricks. It’s just a fight for survival.

Iron Man bashes Cap away and tackles Bucky to the ground. He prepares to blast his head with his repulsor, but Cap stops him. He tackles Cap, then shackles him before grabbing Bucky and holding him up against a wall. They struggle and Bucky breaks one of Iron Man’s repulsors before redirecting a missile.

The entrance to the silo is closed off, leaving only one last exit: the roof. Bucky climbs while Cap tries to stall Iron Man. The latter wastes no time with words and flies past him, but gets one of his jet boots broken. The chase goes on for a bit before all three combatants fall into the abyss.

At the bottom of the missile silo, Cap gets up, standing in dim lighting. Iron Man crawls over a platform, shrouded in darkness. They argue briefly before the former launches himself at the other. There’s no more flashy moves or signature attacks, it’s just a fist-to-face duel. Hand-to-hand combat.

Bucky joins in a second later, beginning a short sequence of 2v1. It’s quick, fluid, and absolutely savage. Then, Iron Man blasts Cap back and faces Bucky. The Winter Soldier is able to hold his own and even backs Iron Man up against a wall.

In an attempt at ending the fight, he tries to rip out the arc reactor in Stark’s armor. Iron Man is quick to fire a unibeam, completely disintegrating Bucky’s prosthetic arm. He is left incapacitated as Cap gets up to protect him, leading to an iconic shot taken right from the comics:

Then, we get to the finale.

Iron Man beats Cap by analyzing his fighting style. He goes under his guard and breaks it, beating Cap into submission. Cap refuses to stay down, though, and Iron Man prepares to incapacitate him. Bucky stalls him, though, long enough for Cap to grab Iron Man and throw him to the ground.

He gets on top and wails on him. He grabs his shield and breaks off his helmet.

For a very, very brief second, Tony looks at Steve. Then, Steve raises his shield.

Tony protects his neck and face. Steve goes for his arc reactor. The swelling music reaches a solemn note, then turns into a deeply tragic symphony.

The look that they give each other is telling.

Tony believed that Steve, his friend and teammate, would kill him. That moment, that brief second where he defends himself in vain, is the moment when the trust between them is broken. That is the moment the Avengers are truly broken.

And that’s why I love that scene.

It’s not political. It’s not cosmic. It’s not big and grand or amazing. It’s personal. Deeply, honestly personal.

It’s two friends who stuck by each other despite their arguments and disagreements reaching a head and losing it all. There aren’t any winners. There are only losers.

The fight doesn’t even truly end. When Steve starts to leave, Tony tries to get a final jab in, claiming he doesn’t deserve the shield. It’s not his to keep. It was made by Howard Stark, not Steve Rogers.

And Steve, who has worn red, white, and blue on his uniform and shield for most of his life, drops the shield.

Everything that both sides put into the fight has failed them. Iron Man’s belief in accountability became null and void when Secretary Ross refused to believe his allegations of Bucky’s framing. Cap’s belief in responsibility failed him when he inadvertently got his friends imprisoned for following him.

There is no victory. No triumph. No heroes in the end. Just the solemn truth that these aren’t gods, just people. Humans. Flawed and all.

It’s a lesson I take to heart when writing, because the characters that we relate to aren’t the infallible heroes living power fantasies. It’s the very human characters that struggle and endure, that mess up and make amends.

So, uh, thanks for coming to my TEDtalk. Uh, make sure you check out that Youtube playlist. All those Youtubers are great and excellent at their craft. Their analysis of storytelling, structure, characterization, and what not is exceptional in a way I hope to match some day.

Anyways, have a great day! Also, Happy Earth Day!

[memescomicswriting]

In the Pursuit of Happiness Ch. 2

.Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Reader x Bucky, Reader x Steve

Warnings/Genre: Angst, Fluff

Summary: Singer!Avenger. Raised by Sheild since the age of ten, Y/N grew up without everyday examples. She only saw how to be an agent. Though as a grown woman she has surpassed that mindset, she still faces challenges from her upbringing- like how to handle feelings, unrequited love, and interpersonal challenges. Set after similar plot points in Civil War, Y/N must face returning home after leaving during an uncomfortable time in her life and facing the consequences

A/N: This is my first series in the Marvel fandom. I hope you enjoy it. I always welcome feedback. It is appreciated. This story does not follow the traditional Marvel timeline. I mess with it to make the story work, so roll with me.

Story Masterlist

---

You were disappointed with Steve, to say the least. Yes you'd been on this mission for over three months, and yes, you left when your friendship with Steve was on rocky grounds, but you never thought he would forget you. You were friends from almost since the beginning. Then you had to go and make things murky. 

You shook off those thoughts as you neared Peter. God, you loved that kid. He was like the little brother you never had. Growing up as a ward of Sheild didn't provide a great example of family, but you had Natasha and Clint. They were your family. 

"And he placed second in the national science fair!" Tony exclaimed. "He should have taken first if it were up to me. The judges had a bias."

Tony was praising his semi adopted son to a gathering of his friends- Rhodey, Coulson, and other government and Sheild names.

"I think you have some bias." You joined the circle, slinging an arm around Peter. "Though Peter is an amazing kid."

"And there's the other rising star!" Tony somewhat took you in as well. When a sixteen-year-old shows up, Tony adopts them. You appeared with Coulson and Nat when Tony was dealing with the fall out of revealing his dual identity. You were kind where they had been stoic, and you'd play along with Tony's bits. When he discovered your love for science he nearly sued Sheild for your custody. That was almost eight years ago.

"Superstar and MIT and Columbia graduate; you blow me away kid." Tony raised his glass to toast you. 

"You forgot top Sheild agent and Avenger." Coulson, your other father figure added.

"Yes, Y/N is the apple of all our eyes." Peper winked at you as she joined the group. "But really honey, you shouldn't gush on the kids this much."

Tony dared to look annoyed at his fiance, but he quickly dropped it with one raised eyebrow from Pepper. He moved on to other stories, but still managed to relate it back to Peter or you.

"Run," Peper whispered discreetly in your ear. Without any hesitance, you nodded to the lovely woman and escorted Peter and yourself to the food table.

Thor was roaring with laughter at something Vision had said. The vision was utterly clueless as to why it was funny. They scooted further down the line for you and Peter to grab your own plates.

"Thanks for the save." He released the tension he held. He was the cutest little thing. He was always polite, even in awkward situations.

"What are roomies for?" You quipped. Tony wanted Peter to stay closer to his wing of the compound. However, you insisted that Peter should have more independence. He needed to be around someone closer to his age, but someone he could look up to. That was you.

"Ugh," He groaned. "You don't know how happy I am that you're back. Clint's kids were killing me." One questioning look and Peter was retracting. "Not that I don't love having them visit. They're just a lot to handle at their age."

"Right." You side-eyed him and giggled to yourself. "And it has nothing to do with how much mothering I do for you, or how I keep Tony off your back."

"I'm not all that helpless." He grumbled.

"I know you're not." You elbowed him and you both chuckled together.

With full plates, you made your way over to an open table by the window. It was off to the side, and away from the heavy crowd of personalities. "Oh!" Peter perked up. "How did it go meeting Captain America's friend, Mr. James?"

You halted the motion of your forkful of food to your lips. Slowly, you put your fork down and folded your hands on your lap. "You can call them Cap and Bucky you know."

"You don't" He casually pointed out.

"No, I don't" You sighed and faced the window. You looked out over the lit field of the compound that led to the forests beyond of Upstate New York. "Steve forgot to mention I was coming or who I was."

"No!" Peter exclaimed. "He couldn't have!"

"He did and he told me so." You let out a small and disappointed huff. Your smile faltered, something you hated doing around Peter. You always wanted to keep the joyous vibe for him especially. 

"He's a jerk." Peter had a stern look set on his face. He had never shown that look to you. 

You were shocked. "Peter!" You gasped.

"What? It's true!" He pointed his fork at you. "So what you've been gone for three months after what happened. You were on a mission with radio silence."

"Yeah, but I left for three months after what happened." You repeated his statement with a different tone. "I accepted the mission."

"Like you can say no to Fury." Annoyance clear in his voice. You questioned that statement. Shock took over him as he realized you have said no to Fury. However, he shook that off and continued. "It's not your fault you don't know what you feel, or how to feel it. You were raised by Sheild with no examples for one. Second, you've been friends with him for years- since you were eighteen. You took the place of a friend, therapist, guide, and everything else for him. You don't owe him more of yourself. Third, rejection isn't an excuse to be a jerk."

You were taken aback by this sudden declaration. Evidently, he had been spending time with Carol and Natasha and the rest of the feminist army while you were away. Honestly, you'd say the same things to another woman in your situation. 

"I just..." You took Peter's hand holding it firm. "I can't be everyone's everything all the time even if I want to be."

Peter looked so sad staring into your eyes. "You just being you is enough for me."

You wanted to throw your arms around him then and there and pick him up. He really was the best. Though you convinced Tony, Peter needed to be near you, you may be the one that needed to be near him. In a sudden move, you swept your hand away and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!" He cried out. retaliating by throwing a roll at you.

"You're the best kid." Despite being hit in the nose by a dinner roll, you beamed at him. Then he blushed. 

At eleven, Peter decided it was time for him to go to bed. You told him not to wait up for you. Now you could join in Thor's tomfoolery and consume some Asgardian liquor. Games of chicken and bets became more common with the more alcohol consumed. Clint asked you to dance just before you had the bold idea to go up against Nat. 

"So I think I got all of the kids' things out." Small talk while he twirled you around respectfully.

"You pulled me away from the fun to talk about my room?" You scoffed.

"No," He corrected you. "I pulled you away to keep you from making a mistake."

"I so could have taken Nat in that challenge." You retorted with displeasure.

"No, you couldn't." Clint managed to say without letting his chuckle slip.

"No, I couldn't." You agree quickly, dropping your act of toughness and laughing with Clint.

He hummed out. "Things aren't the same with you gone on a mission." Then he dropped your hands as the song ended.

"Well, I hope my return doesn't put a cramp in your vacation from active duty." You huffed out with your hands now placed on your hips.

"Never kid! In fact, I'm the leader of the welcome home committee." He retorted. 

You were both about to rejoin for another light dance when someone cleared their throat next to you.

---

A/N: Chapter 2 done! Let me know what you think. Reblog if you liked it. Peter’s the best, isn’t he? Comment below if you want more Peter and Y/N scenes and what they would be.