honestly the thing I have the hardest time suspending my disbelief for in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that Steve and Bucky are not fucking.
A guy shrinks down to the size of an ant and can communicate with them? Totally believable. Literal other world god that is thousands of years old and travels via rainbow? No problem. Dude manages to stay alive by performing what is basically open heart surgery on himself while being held in captivity in some actual hell hole, and somehow doesn’t die? Sure!
Bucky breaks through 70 years of brainwashing and disobeys a direct order from the man that has tortured him for god knows how long, because his ‘best friend’ recites a line that is basically a marriage vow, and i’m supposed to believe those two aren't head over heels for each other? Yeah right.
Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
I think that “bucky is steve’s blind spot” is one way to look at it. another way is, bucky is the thing that steve sees most sharply. everybody has asked steve to give up on bucky, to turn aside. and that’s always a moment that steve looks around at whatever narrative they want him to play out, and says, “no.” steve was their dancing monkey until bucky was captured, and then they couldn’t hold him back: screw the rules, screw the idea of acceptable loss. hydra wanted them to kill each other, but steve refused to take it there. and I have to believe bucky’s treatment at the hands of hydra/shield was a factor in steve’s decision to say “shut it all down.” not because he’s blinded by pain or impulsive feelings, but because his love and compassion for somebody allowed him to see how deep the rot went. how broken the system was. and bucky’s still making things crystal to steve. “give him up,” the government’s saying. “he’s dangerous, we need our scapegoat.” and maybe if steve saw bucky differently, they’d be able to convince him, to get him to say “this is for the greater good.” but he knows any ‘greater good’ that sees bucky as a villain is a lie. because when he looks at bucky, steve’s eyes are clear.