Something that had already caught my attention when I first watched Captain America: Civil War, and that now receives my full love, is the scene at the end of the movie when Steve says “I can do this all day” once Tony tells him to surrender. While it is cool in itself that it mirrors skinny Steve from the 1940s, it is cooler to me for another reason.
As soon as Steve says “I can do this all day”, a heavily beaten Bucky lying on the floor, and devoid of his metal arm reaches for Tony’s leg, to stop him from hitting Steve. This mirrors the real Bucky, the guy who befriended Steve when both were children, the guy who always got Steve’s back, who didn’t care about Captain America but for the little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb to run from a fight.
To me that’s the crucial Bucky moment of the whole movie. That’s the moment when you know why Steve is fighting for Bucky. Inside of that broken, pretty dehumanised man, is still that kid from Brooklyn who couldn’t bare to see his best friend hurting.
The follow up of the “I can do this all day” scene in Captain America: the First Avenger is this:
They did go to the future. Yes, things changed and both of them changed, but at the same time they are still the same. The tiny, skinny, sickly kid who would never run from a fight, and his best friend, who would be with him till the end of the line.
Some time ago there was a post on my dashboard saying that the Captain America trilogy is beautifully symmetric, for Steve Rogers picked up the shield for Bucky and gave the shield up for Bucky, becoming Captain America and retiring from that position because of his friend. But to me that’s not it.
To me this trilogy is beautifully symmetric because of those two mirroring scenes I talked about above. Because Steve Rogers can expend his whole day, not to say his whole life, fighting for what he believes is right, and Bucky Barnes will always get his back, till the end of the line. Be it in the 1940s or the 21st century.
Captain America is Steve Rogers. A shield doesn’t make him. Being able to “do this all day” is what makes Captain America, be it in the past or in the future. From beginning to end Steve Rogers is not a perfect soldier, but a good man. At the same time, Bucky Barnes is not what Hydra made of him, what it made him do. He isn’t just a perfect soldier. Inside the perfect soldier “ready to comply” has always been trapped a good man.
RHODEY: Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have. SAM: So let’s say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they lojack us like a bunch of common criminals? RHODEY: A hundred seventeen countries want to sign this. A hundred and seventeen, Sam, and you’re just like, “Naw, it’s cool, we got it.” SAM: How long are you going to play both sides?
In a narrative sense, the sides that Rhodey and Sam pick in Captain America: Civil War are very predictable. No one’s really expecting Tony Stark’s best friend to side against him, after all, or Sam “I do what he does, just slower” Wilson to fight Steve Rogers. But in-universe, looking at the specific arguments for and against the Accords – it’s illuminating to look at how both Sam and Rhodey’s positions are informed by race.
reasons bucky barnes is too good for this world collected from both the mcu and comics, feel free to add if you like
as the winter soldier he botched a shot because a little girl got in his line of fire
his first christmas as himself again he gave a wad of cash to a homeless vietnam vet
after the events in washington d.c. he returned to his handlers but didn’t kill them (just beat ‘em up a little) bc he didn’t want to spill anymore blood
he got really emotional when the young avengers patriot, hawkeye, and vision saluted him and said it was an honor to work with him
once told off one of his soviet handlers for suggesting that the black widow belonged to anyone
visits his little sister at the alzheimer’s hospital where she lives
has actually uttered the words “holy cow” on screen
wanted to be a park ranger
saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in theaters with his dad and little sister
actually put his hair in a manbun and wore an apron over his uniform to make eggs and bacon for himself and steve
builds model spaceships while living on a spaceship in space
adopted a space aardvark he found in chains, scared, and alone
also adopted a tiny child who has been known to be an actual menace bc she had been used as a weapon and he knows what that’s like
his name is literally “bucky barnes”
plums???
lives by the code W.W.S.D. (What Would Steve Do) when things are looking tricky
sat with a couple of kids on the fourth of july to watch the fireworks while eating a red, white, and blue popsicle
when pressed to choose a restaurant, he always chooses pancake houses
his idea of fun includes going to futuristic science fairs
he makes Steve look sensible with how reckless he tends to be
he always felt inadequate, but still fought nose to nose with super powered people even while he had no abilities
he put on a brave face from a young age because he didn’t want to disappoint others
he always puts others first and is compassionate to others’ suffering
he curses all the time, but he also makes jokes all the time, often at his own expense
he also makes Steve laugh and ribs him all the time
When [Bucky] gets [his] arm back in the movies, are you wanting them to change the star from what Hyrda gave [him] to kind of portray [his] friendship with Captain America?
I started thinking absently about Steve Rogers’ jogging route during my run today and then i couldn’t STOP thinking about it because there’s literally NO WAY it makes sense unless you accept that he is specifically fucking up his entire morning routine to get another look at the cute boy he clocked on his run. I got home and started to make a post about it but it was like
so you’re just going to have to trust me
Enough people asked me to Get Into This that, you know what, fine. Let’s get into it. Under the cut please enjoy my doctoral dissertation, There Is No Carol In HR, or Captain America Is a Big Ol’ Creep and I Can Prove It with Maps.
Q: In Winter Soldier, Bucky’s very lean, there’s not many meat on his bones, and then in Civil War he’s, you know, he’s a beefcake. So did Hydra not feed him?
okay but listen up these two geriatric dinosaurs are going to be the end of me.
after tony finds out that the winter soldier murdered his parents and flies off the handle (understandably), steve and bucky fight him as if they’ve been doing it their whole lives. and yes, in a way they have since they were kids but james buchanan barnes of the howling commandos was a sniper and unless you count steve standing with his fists up while bucky punches the lights out of whoever is trying to punch the lights out of steve, i don’t think they’ve ever fought together in close combat.
and they do it in perfect harmony, synchronized better than a bolshoi ballet academy teacher’s wet dream. 70 years later, post brainwashing, post deep freeze, post everything they’ve been through; it’s ingrained in their very damn beings because they always have and always will know each other better than they know their own goddamn selves.
and don’t even get me started about the “i could do this all day” line. immediately all i see is scrawny, stupidly brave steve armed with nothing but the fierce determination in his eyes, barely able to move, still trying to stand up against bullies and needing bucky to come rescue him. well, fast forward 70 years and he’s admittedly much less scrawny, but just as stupidly brave (probably even more so) and this time he’s fighting for bucky. we know that tony is fighting to kill, and just like in the helicopter scene where steve basically seems to bypass the upper limits of human function, he gets up time after time and performs feats that should not be possible, super soldier serum or not, in the hopes that it can somehow make up for that time he couldn’t reach far enough from that train and let his best friend fall.
but wait, tony gets the upper hand and who saves steve again? metal arm soldered off by an unforgiving repulsor beam, basically going into shock from the pain and on the ground, james buchanan barnes still manages to save steve rogers’ sorry ass.
and later when tony says steve doesn’t deserve the shield? well fuck that, steve’s never wanted or needed the shield; all he’s ever wanted was to do what’s right, consequences be damned, so he just drops it without a second thought. the look on his face is so weary, guys, steve has been fighting in a war for 70 years and he’s never been able to escape the horrors of it but maybe now that he has bucky back he’s got a fighting chance.
and the line that tony says in a trailer about how “the whole world was wrong about [steve],” well technically they all are because steve’s not perfect, and people seem to expect cap to be, so i’m in love with zemo’s creepy, unnerving comment about the hint of green in steve’s blue eyes and how it’s nice to see a “flaw in captain america”. the funny thing is steve is full of flaws; sure he’s a super soldier but he’s human, and a damn good one, but it irks me when people constantly put him on a pedestal. even initially in the first avengers, the way tony tries to hit steve the hardest in verbal sparring is by saying he doesn’t live up to the stories howard stark used to regale him with and that he’s nothing without the serum.
and after all of this? he writes tony stank stark a goddamn handwritten letter apologizing (although the abridged version of the letter basically goes “i got bucky back so fuck everything else”). his line about not liking the idea of tony rattling around a mansion on his own and how tony needs the avengers (family) even moreso than steve hurts so much because what’s unspoken here is BUCKY IS HIS FAMILY. he’s been “on his own since he was 18″ with nobody but bucky, so say what you will about steve being adaptable and 100% capable of living in the modern world but the fact still stands that he does not belong here; he isn’t supposed to be here. his time was supposed to be the 20th century with bucky and peggy and he lost all of it.
oh and the best part about it all? steve only really became “Captain America” because his headstrong stubborn ass needed to go get bucky back. and as chris evans said on GMA, a lot of what makes steve steve and therefore what makes captain america so goodis connected back to bucky. so when he drops the shield for bucky? it means a lot. captain america is a persona that steve rogers has to shoulder, almost like a burden since he never asked for any of it. and i’m not even gonna touch with a damn ten foot pole the colossal burden that bucky is trying to live with after his years as the winter soldier. i just wish the russos would have shown the scene with tony lying on the ground in siberia with not only cap’s discarded shield but bucky’s metal arm as well because it would mean that our two brooklyn heroes who have gone through hell and back are finally able to leave some of their burden behind.
so yeah sure, in summary, steve’s utterly compromised and now technically a wanted criminal and whatever but you know what i think? i think it’s about damn time steven grant rogers and james buchanan barnes found their way back to each other again.
Here’s some information and resources you might like to have for when you’re writing about male WWII-era characters undressing each other and engaging in sweet, sweet, pornographic activities:
US military field uniforms in WWII didn’t have zipper flies. Modern ones don’t either, actually, though there were eras (like Vietnam) when they did use zippers. I’m not actually sure why they originally did button flies or why they went back to them… I imagine it’s just because a lost or broken button is easier to repair in the field than a broken or jammed zipper? But that’s just a guess. The point is, embrace the button fly.
US Army characters like Bucky would have several uniforms issued, and would have mostly worn a primarily wool field service uniform while on the front. He seems to be wearing the tattered remains of that uniform when Steve rescues him in Azzano. The uniform Bucky’s wearing at the beginning of The First Avenger, before he ships out, is the Class A dress uniform or garrison uniform. This is also the uniform that would be worn while in the garrison, as the name implies, so it’s normal for soldiers to wear when they aren’t in the field, which is why we see Bucky wearing it in New York, and both Steve and Bucky wearing their respective dress uniforms while in London or otherwise in the office, so to speak.
You can see a list here of everything he’d have been issued upon induction, which idek I just found really interesting. Mmm, sexy Army underwear! Yeah, get it! They could also buy additional gear to supplement what they’ve been given, and they’d buy that stuff from the base PX (that’s the Post Exchange, essentially the base general store). That may have also included items like these leather photo wallets and other stuff to help them remember the folks back home, but more commonly they’d be buying stuff there like soap, candy, gum, and beer. Did you know there’s a whole freaking book about the PX system in WWII? I fucking love history nerds, group hug, get in here.
So Bucky’s got his standard issue gear when he’s out with the 107th in the deleted scene from TFA. Obviously by the time they become the Howling Commandos, Bucky is sick of Army issue and they become customized as shit. (Most of the other Howlies are still wearing fairly recognizable kit from their respective countries.) They’re probably also not regular Army anymore at all and are totally under the umbrella of the SSR, considering they also wear SSR insignia, so maybe it was the SSR (or Howard, he’s got some style) who hooked Bucky up with his sweet new duds.
Here’s Bucky in his Howlies uniform, which just personally speaking is my favorite uniform for Bucky because he looks hot as helllllll. I can’t find a single piece of standard issue in this (maybe his underwear, only Steve would know for sure).
He’s gotten himself some trousers with additional pockets and they don’t really look like the standard wool to me, either. Maybe they’ve got some slightly futuristic Stark-style waterproofing, I don’t even know. (Regular field trousers would only have side and back pockets, plus a watch pocket; I know there are trousers from the period that do have cargo pockets, but they were for paratroopers and possibly tankers had them too, not infantry.) Just bear in mind that he’s probably still got a button fly. And I’m not at all reminding you of that because I have yet to read a single WWII-era story that describes Steve slowly unbuttoning Bucky’s fly (maybe with his teeth? go wild!), and I’m dying with the lack of it. It’s not that REALLY I PROMISE.
He’s also wearing leather leggings/gaiters, which is interesting because by this point the US Army has abandoned the leggings used in WWI/early WWII and have switched over to a double-buckle combat boot, which was probably what Bucky was wearing in Azzano. These gaiters have buckles instead of the bajillionty hooks of canvas leggings, though, so they’re probably not too laborious to take off. Just if you’re having Steve undress him don’t forget that he’ll need to remove the leggings as part of that process, is all. (God please somebody write me like at least 5K of beautiful hurt/comfort with Steve tenderly undressing Bucky post-mission PLEASE SOMEBODY PLEASE.)
This video is from a reenactor, but it’s helpful because it shows you close-ups of some stuff like the fastenings on the field jacket (zipper and buttons) and the lining inside and whatnot. It’s these little details that really help when you’re writing me that fic I requested above oh god please somebody anybody. It also shows some cool stuff like shaving kit and some toiletry items. Look at the tiny handy roll of toilet paper! The tiny box of cigarettes and the match case! It shows some cool paperwork and books and things a soldier might carry, too. This reenactor video also shows the person opening the pants and you can see how the button fly looks, though the uniform shown is airborne, not regular Army.
Anyway I can’t believe I just wrote this long a post when really my point is please write less zippers and more button flies, kthxbai.
(Disclaimer: I am not in the Army and am not from the 40s. Hopefully most of this is correct anyway.)
Just realized that the patterns on the shirt are cooling coils.
It’s what he wears when he’s going into cryo, presumably to speed up the cooling process. In which case they didn’t even bother taking it off him before starting in on the brainwashing.
I think they have to go straight from cryo while he is weak into the chair. And then while he is disoriented from that they use the trigger words. Otherwise he’s too difficult to handle.
That said, that protocol is effective! He goes from the Siberian bunker to New York to kill stark and when he returns to the bunker he is still carrying the case of serum. He must have been on a very long leash or they would have taken the case away long before he got back.
These metas and headcanons came about from multiple discussions with Ranee/ @wundermacher and numerous pokings around various Bucky/TWS posts/tumblrs. Please note that these are only personal headcanons/metas and aren’t set in stone, nor have to be believed, and are probably filled with plotholes and inconsistencies. Also I haven’t gotten around to reading the comics yet oops.
Synthetic Muscle I like to play with the idea that he’s got a pile of synthetic muscle attatched to his metal arm somehow possibly with hydramagic**. While the serum he was given most definately boosted his strength, stamina and a whole lot of other things, his body could possibly handle the metal arm, but I think that he might have been given synthetic muscle because the metal arm is that powerful, it’s used a hell of a lot and said synthetic muscle is probably a lot more durable compared to serum enhanced muscle. Not to mention it probably can’t be “pulled” or strained when used in excess.
Although arguably once I looked into all the muscles that control the arm (which is an absolute ton), if that was the case he’d probably end up with more extensive scarring compared to what’s seen in the movie. BUT the doctors were dealing with a giant gaping wound to work with once the remainder of his arm was removed, so I dunno?
Also I only drew the major muscles that control the arm/shoulder because there’s so many tiny ones that surround the shoulder blade and collar bone.
Metal Arm Bones Nothing too special, mainly used as an anchor, support, and to help structure the arm akin to a regular arm and it’s bones. All the intricate mechanical and technological stuff that make the arm work would be attatched to the bones.
Each bone is hollow to help lighten the arm, however each one is also made of the same/similar metal as the outer casing giving it strength.
No synthetic muscle is inside the arm.
Via some fancy mechanical movement/minor transformation his arm can dislocate and be removed for whatever purpose.
Scarring Left from a botched, early, crude method of cauterisation in attempt to seal the wound. Attempted multiple times due to cauterisation being a poor method of sealing wounds (especially way back then), hence the gnarled appearance.
Misc I also read somewhere about brain implants being used to help aid with the control in prosthetics.TWS/Bucky having an implant in his brain so he can have full control over and connection to his arm.Also Hydra doing this so his arm can be used with 100% effectiveness.
Metal arm is riddled with pressure sensors to create a sense of touch and some degree of sensetivity, however it would not be as highly tuned as skin. (Since he’s able to feel for the small grenades kept behind him on his back.) Obviously the metal arm can’t feel pain or distinguish hot and cold and so on, or he wouldn’t be doing this:
Also leads me to believe the arm can be deattatched (I know it can do this in the comic-verse but it’s unknown in the MCU). It also looks like the plates/sections near his collar bone can move or are hinged in some way? (Otherwise I don’t think he’d be able to raise his arm upwards or at all.)
Partly related but after scouring so many metal arm gifs it looks like they changed the design of his fingers at some point while filming:
Also thinking about the metal arm realistically ruins it a bit and just doesnt seem plausible, so I’m just “EH it works just cos. also hydramagic”
(**Hydramagic is an inside joke, it’s basically the equivalent of the “a wizard did it” trope)
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