acrownofbloodandroses:

(Before we start, this is a positive post about their relationship btw. lol)

The portrayal of the continuation Steve and Bucky’s relationship in Civil War has divided opinion among fandom, specifically whether they talked to each other enough after finally being reunited after death and time and torture. Putting to one side discussion of what we should reasonably expect from a Marvel movie in terms of emotions and talking about them, whether there was time for it with a war going on, and if the writers were intentionally no-homoing us (because then this would be a dissertation and not a Tumblr post lol):



To articulate my own perspective of disappointment briefly: of course the magnitude of Steve’s actions in Civil War indicate just how much Bucky means to him, and “actions speak louder than words” after all, but watching moments between characters (and re-watching on a loop for 5 hours…or is that just me) is much more rewarding than just thinking about an abstract concept in your head. We as a fandom obviously thrive on moments to gif and quotes to paste all over everything. Especially after all the beautiful things Chris has said in interviews about Steve and Bucky and quotes like “I’m with you to the end of the line,” and “Even when I had nothing I had Bucky,” from The Winter Soldier, it’s disappointing to not have nearly as many quotes and overemotional moments like that in Civil War. There’s nothing between Steve and Bucky to rival the sheer level of emotion in the Helicarrier and Potomac scenes in the Winter Soldier, and Civil War can seem emotionally stunted in comparison.

However, as someone who was also initially disappointed by Steve and Bucky’s interactions, after thinking it over I think it’s not that the writers didn’t give them opportunities to talk about their feelings, it’s that Steve and Bucky had those opportunities and just couldn’t do it. Steve asks Bucky if he knows him and Bucky says he only knows about Steve from reading about him, but later on the Quinjet demonstrates that he remembers specific moments together with Steve. He was lying, like Steve said; he can’t even talk about it because it clearly means too much for him to emotionally process, especially into words. He’s been living alone for two years after decades of being less than human, Bucky doesn’t know how to go about expressing his emotions to Steve.

Bucky opens up another opportunity when he says “I’m not sure I’m worth all this,” and Steve can’t even reply. He pauses for so long trying to find a way to express how deeply untrue that is as we watch his expression cycle through multiple emotions, but it’s too much for him to even put into words. Instead he settles on reassuring Bucky that the things he did were not his fault, that they didn’t affect his worth as an individual or to Steve. Soon after, Steve indirectly lets Bucky know just how much he is worth it by asking him about one his memories. Not in a way that’s careful because of Bucky’s fractured memory, in a way that acknowledges the reality of their awful situation: just a normal “Hey, remember that time…?” between long-time friends. He’s letting Bucky know how much their shared history and their friendship means to him in a way that doesn’t create a stressful outpouring of emotions that Bucky clearly isn’t ready for. When Steve directly asked Bucky “Do you know me?” he avoided the discussion. When Steve prompted Bucky with a casual “Remember this?” Bucky opened up and showed that he did. He laughed and smiled and made a joke, and they were able to share the first moment of casual friendship between them since their past lives. Even reaching out and touching each other like they always did.

They care about each other very much, they want to communicate, but not only is Bucky still in a very fragile place - that he can’t handle the weight of their past, of what’s happening to them now, when confronted about it as directly as “Do you know me?” - but so is Steve, who wants to know if Bucky remembers, if they can get back what they had but, when confronted with Bucky thinking himself unworthy of Steve’s devotion, can’t even gather his words together enough to directly respond to the idea. Steve has never done well with putting his emotions into words or accepting them from others that care about him, it’s not surprising how emotionally stunted he is now after undergoing more loss and suffering on such a grand scale. It’s also not surprising that Bucky is emotionally stunted, not just because of what was done to him during his 70 years with Hydra, but since he still, even now, has things in his mind that other people put there against his will. That’s why he wants to go back into cryostasis, he doesn’t what to process who he could be now or the relationship he could recover with Steve until he is the only one inside his own mind.



(Not to say that they couldn’t have hugged in the mid-credit scene…but Steve didn’t look so good, I think he might have cried and that wouldn’t have been good for Bucky. *laughs and cries at the same time* I would’ve liked for Steve to say something as simple as “I’ll miss you until then,” but I think even that might put emotional stress on Bucky, which Steve clearly doesn’t want to do.)

None of this is to say that I don’t think you could possibly disagree and shouldn’t have a problem with how their relationship was handled: that’s fine and I don’t want to argue about it! As someone that was disappointed but then basically had an epiphany on how to interpret all this in a way that made me want to lay down on the ground and cry about Steve and Bucky in this movie a lot more than previously, I just wanted to share that there is definitely a way to read their relationship in the movie as an emotional and realistic continuation of their beautiful story and hopefully I might be able to turn around the opinion of some others that were disappointed and you can enjoy the movie more! But it’s definitely hard not to want more between Steve and Bucky when there’s two year waits between movies!

And of course, today we got the news that Bucky will indeed be in the (soon to be retitled) Infinity Wars and that Steve and Bucky’s relationship is one that the Russo Brothers are looking forward to continuing the most. So here’s hoping for that open heart-to-heart! And a hug, tbh. ;)