I love this shot. CONSPICUOUS WATERGATE HOTEL IS CONSPICUOUS right as Captain America is about to get jumped by members of a sinister government conspiracy, after Evil Robert Redford got done telling him his apartment was bugged by the head of the very agency he works for. It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

as we approach the decade-versary of Cap 2 let’s just take a moment to remember some of the best and most overloaded-with-implications fictional building placement of all time. the old-boys-club political wheelings and dealings of Georgetown on one side, the defense-contracting-$$$ skyscraper hell of Rosslyn on the other, conspicuous views of the Watergate Hotel, down on the river in a way that pointedly evokes CIA headquarters at Langley, and they would’ve had to raze a national park to build the damn thing on Roosevelt Island in the first place. 1000/10 no notes.

At first glance Bucky’s gun in TFATWS may not look particularly special or appear to have any narrative significance, but I’m here to tell you that’s almost certainly not the case, whether intentional or not.

I already thought the parallel was fascinating when I first noticed these guns looked similar, but the deeper I dug the more compelling the story got. They aren’t just similar, they’re the exact same gun. Which ordinarily wouldn’t be that all that special either, since many people use the same type of gun, but this isn’t some generic off-the-shelf model. In fact, I now think this custom P226 SCT is so unique as to be intrinsically linked to Rumlow, and I’m going to make the case that its reappearance in TFATWS is so remarkable that the gun (and therefore likely Rumlow himself) must hold some sort of significance for Bucky.

Buckle up, I’m about to overanalyze the shit out of this gun.

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NYC Geography - MCU Edition

here is a semi-detailed walkthrough of new york city in terms of the MCU and all it’s characters residing there!

let’s start with the 5 boroughs: mahattan, queens, brooklyn, the bronx, and staten island. here’s a map!

Rewatching the winter soldier for the bazillionth time and truly, what I love about it, are the “everyday” heroes who tried to do the right thing:

This movie was about every person having the same energy as Steve Rogers; every person can be a hero if they choose to.

This movie is somehow more relevant in 2019 than it was in 2014.

A seven nation army couldn’t hold me back.

Yup, sometimes i’m still alive on tumblr. 

are there any ww2-era cap fics, or even modern fics, that discuss/deal with the the widespread, military-supported use of amphetamines in their forces? the germans had pervitin–but the allies had benzedrine sulphate; benzedrine, i think, is still actually used to this day.

there’s a section in this old paper that goes “As the drug raises the level of physical performance in the course of prolonged effort by lessening the appreciation of fatigue, it was considered wiser, when the emergency was acute, to resort to the use of a drug which makes men temporarily immune to fatigue than to abandon the exhausted (Fetterman).On many a dangerous mission benzedrine helped tired men to win the battle against sleep, when they could not be replaced by rested reserves.” 

if regular infantry kept popping energy pills to keep going, what about the theoretical drug usage of the howling commandos? From that same paper: “The responsibility for the tactical use of benzedrine rests with the commanding officer, who must decide when the situation demands it. Distribution and administration, however, is the responsibility of the medical officer. When it should be used, how much is needed, and what the effects will be are matters of interest to every member of a tactical organisation.” did all of them, including bucky, have to take above-average doses to keep pace with actual-superhuman captain america? did steve himself take benzedrine to stave off sleep when the mission stakes were too high to take an hour off to rest? would it be ineffective for him because of his metabolism? 

what about the postwar consequences of prolonged drug use in returning servicemen? how did that affect the howlies when they went home, since they might have taken way, way more than was standard issue? was howard also on benzedrine to keep up his rapid R&D during the war? did that contribute to his postwar instability? did bucky go through a serious crash withdrawal with the russians during the early days of his confinement after his recovery, because they didn’t have supplies of benzedrine? what kind of supplementary dosing did HYDRA give him during the torture and reeducation? is modern-day bucky at a high risk for relapsing to amphetamines or other substances due to decades of drug dependency and experimentation? is he currently a drug addict? if he’s been ‘clean’ for at least a year, is he still suffering from various addiction-related psychological and health issues on top of his traumas and preexisting conditions? 

what about steve? what’s his standpoint on performance-boosting drugs and drug dependency, given that his life was so fundamentally altered by the military-supervised application of an extreme and permanent performance-boosting chemical concoction into his body? his frequent dependence on medicine and health aids before the Rebirth procedure? smoking as a cultural norm during his original time period? would the serum have killed his nicotine addiction too, or would steve have kept smoking during the war as a social activity in the same way he kept drinking alcohol that wouldn’t get him tipsy? does he ever sneak away to smoke now when the nostalgia hits him, or is it the nostalgia that prevents him from finding comfort in the habit? (probably the latter. smokes aren’t the same nowadays anyway, just like bananas.)

“Until the end of the line”

To see how far the line goes, we have to start at the beginning.

From patreon.com/leehanji

Buck’s gon give it to ya, turn on sound pls

DAMSEL IN DISTRESS

a classic theme in world literature, art, film and video games; most notably in those that have a lot of action. This trope usually involves beautiful, innocent, or helpless young female leads, placed in a dire predicament by a villain, monster, or alien, and who requires a male hero to achieve their rescue. After rescuing them, the hero often obtains their hand in marriage.

#i’m just saying#there’s a reason so many women fiercely latched on to bucky’s character#not only is bucky gorgeous but he’s also a constant plot point to give the hero manpain#in the first avenger he needs to be rescued and his death is the hero’s ultimate motivator#in the winter soldier the hero still mourns this momentous loss until bucky springs back like the beautiful femme fatale that he is#with no agency or autonomy i should add#and in civil war he’s again just a plot device this time to cause a rift between two Men#and the russos stated they chose bucky as the first to be dusted in IW so we could view this horror from steve’s eyes#anyway i have Thoughts#bucky barnes#steve rogers#cap: tfa#cap: tws#cap: cw  (via mackievanstan)

Let’s also remember that Bucky is given feminine actions to perform outside of Being Rescued by Steve. Bucky performs a lot, like a whole hell of a lot, of emotional labor on Steve’s behalf. Oceans of digital ink have been spilled regarding Bucky’s role as pre-serum Steve’s physical and emotional caretaker. On-screen, we watch him arrange Steve’s domestic (“I am literally begging you to live with me now that your mother has passed away”) and social (“I found you a date!”) life for him…

(Interesting to note that when he takes on the role as Steve’s protector, the actual aggression involved is minimal: one punch and one kick in the alleway; one clean shot to the head during the CATFA montage.)

…and he puts up with Steve’s cock-eyed enthusiasm against his better judgment and against his own best interests. From letting Steve ditch him at the Expo on a night that should’ve been about Bucky making good memories to take overseas, to agreeing when Steve asks him to join a crack squad going after the same people responsible for a pretty damn significant trauma to him—and hell, skipping ahead to CW when he instantly joins up with Steve to go to Siberia despite the events of the first half of the film—Bucky constantly sublimates himself to serve the causes of other people.

And it’s not just Steve! Pierce orders and abuses and guilts Bucky into compliance even when he has misgivings. Bucky is undeniably reluctant to be dragged into the Infinity War, but he follows when T’Challa beckons, and he even plasters a big smile onto his face for when Steve shows up (to say nothing of the appearance change/personal grooming he put on in the meantime, which a - was so goddamn gay, and b - is a ploy to make him look more ready to be here, since Bucky’s appearance/state of dress is linked to his mental state, as evidenced by every single scene Bucky is ever in, ever).

Also, I think Bucky is the only MCU man we ever see shopping? (I’m not counting Peter Parker because he is a minor.) Actually shopping, not just walking through a marketplace or townsquare (or covertly using a computer). Chatting with the vendor and smiling and generally putting on social niceties that are often assigned to women irl and on-screen (without the manly posturing that even Peter engages in).

There was an article awhile back hypothesizing that Nonbinary Bucky took off as a popular fandom interpretation precisely because he’s been assigned the Woman’s Role so thoroughly. I can totally see why.

tagging @beautifulwhensarcastic and @koreanrage so they can read my tags

|

V

everything e v e r y bit of this, especially:

Steve Rogers leaves dishes in the sink.

In 1938, Bucky Barnes comes home from a long day at the docks and looks down at a full sink. He directs a halfhearted glare in the direction of the small lump doodling something at the kitchen table. “Goddamnit, Steve. Dishes.”

In 2016, Steve Rogers rubs his face and drags himself into the kitchen before heading out to search the city — the cooling trail — again. He drops his plate into the sink. There’s already some other things in there. He’ll get to them later, probably. When he has time. It doesn’t really matter.

He turns to go.

The shadow behind the refrigerator shifts slightly, and the Winter Soldier hoarsely whispers, “I swear to God, Steve, there’s a fucking machine for it right there.” 

*SHRIEKING*

Alexander Pierce + healthy villainous emotions

 #I KNOW IF TUMBLR COULD IT WOULD GIVE ME NEGATIVE NOTES FOR THIS POST BECAUSE EVERYONE HATES THIS GUY SO MUCH #BUT IDK HE’S MARVELLOUS DEFINITELY THE BEST MARVEL VILLAIN YET #REALLY SHITSCARY #NO PATHOS OR BROKEN PSYCHE LIKE RONAN OR MALEKITH #NO DADDY ISSUES OR JEALOUSY OR A FACE THAT COMES OFF??? #A COLD MIND COMPLETELY IN THE GAME #LIKE IN THE THIRD GIF #THAT’S HOW YOU REACT TO AN UNEXPECTED MOVE ON THE CHESSBOARD #BUT IT’S OKAY #HE’S A MANAGER HE’S GONNA MANAGE IT HE’S GOT HIS MBA #HE KNOWS HOW THIS WORLD WORKS BECAUSE HE SHAPED IT AND YOU CAN’T OUTPLAY HIM #UNLESS YOU GIVE HIM LEAD POISONING #FROM YOUR GUN TO HIS CHEST #THAT WASN’T IT HIS MBA PROGRAM #HAHAH

And here I thought we could go without romanticizing one more white male villain smh

I would argue there is a difference between acknowledging that a character is a fantastic, multifaceted villain and romanticizing them.

Pierce is cold. He is calculating. He knows how to manipulate people into doing what he wants. He’s not afraid to use pawns and sacrifice them accordingly. God, he is an awful person. A terrible one. He’s an abuser and unapologetic and willing to take out millions of people for his vision, however fucked up that vision is, of the greater good.

Recognizing that he is one of the most terrifying villains that marvel has rolled out with does not equal romanticizing him. He’s the kind of evil that creeps up without you noticing and by the time you do it’s too late. He’s smiling as he stabs you in the back. Pierce is important because he’s the bad guy who can actually exist in the world today. There aren’t people building giant robots, there aren’t Norse gods or nazis peeling their faces off. What there are in this world are politicians in positions of power who abuse that power and nothing is more dangerous than that.

Those tags are great because if you go against Pierce in a battle of wits you WILL NOT WIN. Plain and simple. Literally the only way to stop him was pure force.

TLDR - pierce is a despicable human being but recognizing why and how he is an excellent villain for this day and age does not equal romanticizing him.

I actually just used the wrong word, I meant glorifying not romanticizing

I’d still argue though that he’s not being glorified? Everything within the post is canon.

I think everything you need to know about Pierce is in the line “the man turned down a Nobel Peace Prize.” He had literally everyone so fooled that not even NICK FURY suspected him until far too late. I’m not trying to put Pierce on a pedestal or anything like that, but he was winning at a game that no one else even knew they were playing.

Like I hate Pierce. I HATE him. Like I said, he is an abuser and a terrorist and a terrible person. But Talking about his effectiveness as a villain in context of a movie still doesn’t equal glorifying him.

For a villain to be effective, they must be the hero of their own story. 

THAT’s what makes a good villain. THAT’s what makes a villain terrifying. THAT’s what makes Pierce terrifying. Because Pierce is the best villain Marvel has given us because he is real. He’s in congress; he’s leading our troops; he’s in the Senate; he’s sitting in the UN; he’s at the head of a multi-billion dollar corporation and he’s drafting laws and hey, did we forget that we already have a project insight? Because what’s the difference between the helicarriers and drones?

What makes CA: TWS such an amazing piece of storytelling is that it is absolutely a sociopolitical thriller disguised as a superhero movie. And if Pierce wasn’t the cold, smart, dispassionate, well-spoken, insidious bastard that he is, he wouldn’t be nowhere as effective. Even after Steve gives his passionate speech at the Triskelion, even when the World Security Council turns against him, Pierce still thinks he can win by spinning things his way. He absolutely believes he’s doing this for the greater good. No villain worth his screen time ever looks at the things they do and thinks ‘ah yes I am such a terrible person, doing these evil, awful and morally wrong things.’ Every single villain must absolutely think they are absolutely in the right, and the hero is their villain. Or they become stereotypes and caricatures. 

Discussing the type of villain Pierce is has nothing to do with glorifying him or romanticizing him. It has everything to do with recognizing the Russos’ clever, brilliant writing, which shows us that real, true evil doesn’t need to have a red skull or an army of chitauri. Real evil exists, we are steeped in it, and we don’t even fucking know it until it’s too late.

also, don’t think for ONE INSTANT that casting Robert motherfucking Redford — All-American roguish Good (white, blond, CLONE OF CAPTAIN AMERICA) Guy Robert Redford — wasn’t possibly the most deliberate casting choice made in this movie.  Robert Redford is a Good Guy, and you know it.  How do you know?  Why, just look at him!  Look at his blond good looks!  Look at his nice suit!  Look how perfectly uber-American and…and…and he just LOOKS like he should be in charge, um, because he’s so.  White.  And Perfect.  And.  Rich.  And uber-American and…we let those kinds of people get anything they want…oh.

whoops.

Reblogging for commentary. 

Alexander Pierce really is the absolute best villain Marvel’s done to date, and could well be the best they’ll every do, because of this. He’s utterly terrifying, and hits far too close to home.

All of this — I love Alexander Pierce, in the sense that I fear and loathe him: He is the real deal; he is the kind of person you do find in glass-and-steel high-rises, in backrooms of clubs with panels of dark wood, in all the exclusive places where powerful people gather. Because these people, these people are still mostly older white men with the “right” kind of origin story and, yes, looks. Not to mention the whole meta commentary of casting Robert freakin’ Redford: this idea of, beyond the sheer acting, of what he can evoke in others. Someone else commented that had Captain America been made almost fifty years ago, this would have been Steve Rogers. 

The thing that works about him, really, is that he’s like the villains we have in real life America. Slick and wealthy and powerful and white.

Making Robert Redford the villain was possibly the most terrifying casting choice because he is usually Mister Hero, or at least not a bad guy. And You can’t really go into this movie without knowing at least a little who he is (or like me both on & off screen) and that plays into your expectations of his character. And then his villainous aspects just hit that much harder, and you realize that (to quote above) it is absolutely a sociopolitical thriller disguised as a superhero movie. 

I think Pierce is terrible, he is clearly irredeemable, and I think his ending was the only way to take him out of play. I love how he was portrayed, but not him.

You know what, the ‘suddenly, there’s 5 more Winter Soldiers’ subplot

has gotten a lot of flack, and I don’t disagree that it could and should have been handled a lot better, but even as it is, I really really like what it says, or rather, confirms about Bucky.

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- Thor and his magic patu: notes on a very Māori Marvel movie

How the heck did her hair get braided like that? Did she and the other officers just have a braiding train at night? ????

do you think Peggy carter needs anyone to braid her hair? she does it herself. The right hand’s nail polish? my girl has it covered. Zipping and unzipping the back of the dress? pff… Peggy Carter can do anything. Liquid Eyeliner? in one try. Peggy carter can do anything.

anything.

a n y t h i n g. 

That’s not a braid. It’s a roll. It is one of the most beautiful hair styles to come out of the 40s and is incredibly simple. The hair styles you should be impressed with are these.

Waves: I had a 1920s themed dance last month, and I wore my hair in waves. I sat in a chair with a professional stylist for AN HOUR for FOUR of those beauties. I see at least eight. And she does those regularly for work.

Victory curls: I can do victory curls. Two, to be exact. Not counting practice, I have worn my hair in V-curls exactly twice. It took me an hour and a half last time, and I didn’t even curl the ends, just two v-curls on the top of my head, and they weren’t nearly this amazing. Again, another casual work look. 

Do you think Steve curled her hair? Fat chance. Be in awe of Peggy Carter. Be in awe.

I now have a mental image of Peggy Carter doing her nightly routine, which of course doesn’t necessarily happen at night, just whenever she has a chance to lie down and sleep. It starts with sitting at her desk, where a mirror has been wedged into the right position by militarily files, but she doesn’t look at it any more. Instead she’s pouring over whatever has to be memorized for the following day, fingers working on automatic as she wedges pins into place. It takes forty seven pin curls to get the look she wants, and she’s done with it before she finishes reading the memo.

There’s little flickers of red on her gun as testament to smudged nails before she learned to check her weapons first and then paint her nails. While they dry she reads something else, filing it all away for future reference and remembering key words by which finger she was painting at the time. When Peggy Carter checks her nails she might well be looking for chips, but it’s more likely she’s remembering names.

She ran out of cold cream weeks ago, but she stills has some rose water left and uses it sparingly, careful not to get it mixed up with the other little vials in her kit.

And of course there will be that one night, when the alarm sounds and everyone is forced from their beds in a panicked hurry. Peggy Carter will not only be at the center of it, but she will be the one keeping the intruder pinned down. Dressed in a faded floral nightgown thrown over her night clothes, smelling like rose water, her hair hidden under a silk scarf to keep her curls in place, gun held steadily in a perfectly manicured hand. Everyone else is dressed, however hurriedly, but it’s Peggy who is the most put together, even in her pin curls.

I love the expression, “Hell in high heels”, but frankly Hell has never met Peggy Carter.

ALL of this ^^^. Also, the glorious queen probably does her winged liquid eyeliner in that stupid jeep, bouncing along the path to a meeting.

This is the most beautiful thing I’ve read so far about Peggy Carter.  *chinhands and sighs, dreamily*  Because Peggy fucking Carter.

If Thor understands Groot (the language) and calls Groot (the character) “Tree”, then, is “Tree” Groot’s real name?

Ah great now I won’t sleep either

#takeaknee

I’ve been really busy lately so my blog has been 99% queued, but this is important