Tag: meta

takemetothedungeons:

wnnbdarklord:

Thor, I love you to bits, but we need to talk about your definition of ‘in my youth’: 

The Jotuns must pay for what they have done. March into Jotunheim as you once did. Teach them a lesson. Break their spirits so they’ll never dare to try to cross our borders again.

#I remain intrigued by this quote#because like many of the films statements about time and asgardians it makes no goddam logical sense#but meta to the rescue:#I like the idea that this is how the aesir experience time#not as a progression#as we do#where yesterday is recent#last year a while ago#and ten years ago a long time ago#but in epochs and eras#marked by changes in themselves#they don’t age much#not like we do#whether you think they are young for the same-ish time we are and in their prime longer#or if they are still kids at 300+ years old#either way#for them time is purely relative#and nothing changes much#not technology not culture not the people around you#so you judge time by internal markers#thor judges his own maturity as beginning on the day he regained mjolnir and lost loki#so before then he was a youth for all he thought himself a man#for only a youth would court war#and now he knows himself a man#though still battle-hungry#(because it’s THOR c’mon)#but not war hungry#and there is a difference#and it’s about putting others wants and needs and safety before your own#which is what he was lacking in thor 2011 ( amberfox17 )

Can I offer a suggestion? I think that Thor’s style of formal, antiquated language here is the key to deciphering this line, and I think that what Thor is saying here isn’t referring to his youth as a long time ago, like Asgardian time is different, or that he’s lived a lifetime since, but that the phrase in my youth, I courted war is Thor talking about his own immaturity from the point of view of experience. He’s saying, I was/am immature, and fighting was something I sought. The comma is really important, it makes the sentence meaning shift. In terms of a comparison, think of the phrase, ‘in my ignorance, I made an error’.

I keep thinking about Sam Wilson

jjjat3am:

Sam Wilson, who has wings made of metal and human imagination.

He was a paramedic. The maneuverability of his wings, the speed of his flight are all so he would be able to bring help to places no ordinary man could reach.

Imagine a soldier, stuck somewhere in the Alborz mountains, injured and dying, knowing that no helicopter can reach them, that no one would dare. Imagine looking up in your fever and seeing a pair of wings silhouetted against the sky.

Except, it’s not an angel coming to ease your way. It’s a black man, voice calm and reassuring, bandages and shots of antibiotic in his gear. He says his name is Sam and he asks you for yours. He asks you about your lover, about your kids, about the places you grew up in. Then he flies you off the mountain, trying to be gentle, but it’s jarring, because you’re alive.

You wake up in the hospital on your army base and you recover. You meet the man again and learn that there are more people with wings, a whole team and that when they take those wings off, they show you pictures of their dogs and buy you a beer.

Sam Wilson is a paramedic with wings. A healer and a savior.

Now, imagine Sam losing those wings. No, first, imagine him losing a soldier.

‘Is this the first time you lost a soldier?’ No, there were many, when the wings weren’t fast enough or when the blood flowed too freely. There were plenty of times you’ve sat down with someone who was saved by a different type of angel.

But losing someone who shares your sky? That’s different. That’s the sunshine melting the wax on your wings until they turn to feathers and you’re in freefall.

So you go back to Washington. It’s not the City of Angels, but it’s your city.

After a month spent sleepless, watching the skyline for some hint of a star, you walk into a Veteran’s center and you sit in a room full of people whose wings are clipped like yours.

You’re grounded now, but you can still heal, so you use your voice and try not to think of screams and broken metal feathers.

You take up running, because when you go really fast, it reminds you of the wind rushing against your face in freefall.

There, you meet a man that shines like the sun, blindingly enough to cover up his cracks. But you’re used to being closer to the sun than most. You see.

So you do what you were meant to: you heal and offer solace. First, with your words and then, when words aren’t enough, with your wings.

You take them out of storage and they call you Falcon.

Many of you were Falcons in the dry heat of the desert. Now, in a familiar skyline, you are alone.

You defend and you fight, because there can be no healing if there’s no one left to heal.

You are Sam Wilson and you have wings.

Masculinity in the MCU is coded like, well, like Nick Fury. Being a masculine guy means that you have the power to stop the bad guys, whether with a gun like Coulson or with your smarts like Tony or by way of gamma radiation like Bruce Banner. It’s rare in most any media to have a male character like Fitz, who’s unapologetic about his love for Simmons, his apparent fear of guns, his lack of field knowledge. A character like Fitz would normally be the butt of a joke, not the acclaimed hero, and yet S.H.I.E.L.D. goes out of its way to prove that the Wards of the world don’t always have to be the ideal when it comes to masculinity. With Ward and Fitz, S.H.I.E.L.D. asks us to consider what a weak man truly acts like, and concludes that physical strength and mental stoicism are not always the mark of a strong man. Strength is compassion, and compassion is badass.

Sexualized Saturdays: Ward, Fitz, and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Ideal of Masculinity (source)

Fitz isn’t the only subversive take on masculinity in the MCU, either.  Think about it:  almost all the male heroes have some sort of vulnerability, some moment of “weakness”, that goes against the stereotype of what it is to be a tough, strong man, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t heroes.  Think about it:

– Tony Stark has a drinking problem and PTSD severe enough that it nearly wrecks his relationship with Pepper.

– Steve Rogers is chosen as Captain America for his compassion and intelligence. 

– Phil Coulson is a dweeby little bureaucrat in a tailored gray suit.

– Thor loves his brother so dearly that he pleads with him to come home even after Loki invades Earth.

– Bruce Banner despises the violence in his heart that allows him to become the Hulk, and becomes a freelance healer to compensate.

– Sam Wilson is a mental health counselor whose military service was in the pararescue corps, motto:  ”So others may live.”

– Nick Fury’s three chief lieutenants are two women (Natasha Romanoff, whom he treats almost as a daughter, and Maria Hill, whom he depends on to fake his death) and one man (Phil Coulson, whom he tasks with rebuilding SHIELD from the ground up).  

Almost all of these characters are seen crying or close to tears (especially Cap, who is on the verge of tears during the final combat in CA:TWS), all fight in ways that don’t have buckets of blood thrown at the screen, and all value and respect the women they love and fight beside.  The most notable exception is James Rhodes, an Air Force officer, but even he is shown taking care of Tony Stark, his best friend, more often than he’s shown firing a weapon.

I think this may be why the MCU is so popular among women: the men AREN’T the stereotypical strong, silent American hero.  They bleed, they cry, they let their guards down, and they treat their friends, regardless of gender, color, race, or religion, as equals.  This could not be more different from the blood-soaked ideals of masculinity that have dominated the screen over the last few decades (remember Rambo?), and it’s very, very good to see.

 (via ellidfics)

Basically, these characters behave like actual human men; maybe the best of men, but still much more like the regular decent guys you may know in real life than fictional “Alpha Males”.

Which is probably why a certain section of men prefers gritty, grimdark anti-heroes: if Fitz and that SHIELD guy who refuses to launch Project Insight can stand up and do the right thing even when they’re terrified to the point of shaking and crying, if Antoine Triplett (in many ways, Ward’s counterpart) can be both a more “traditional” aggressive operative and quietly geeky, if Nick Fury – the ultimate pragmatist – can draw a line he’s not willing to cross, these men have no excuses left for their behaviour.

Because if these flawed characters can be decent human beings and heroes, then all men have the potential for being decent human beings and heroes. Even if not all men choose to follow that example.

(Additionally: their masculinity doesn’t depend on their ability to get a date, and the relationships are depicted as… complex. It’s almost as if these heroes saw their potential romantic partners as actual human beings with lives of their own – shocking, I know.)

(via iokheaira)

agentotter:

casspeach:

star-anise:

last-snowfall:

star-anise:

last-snowfall:

inscarletsilence:

on the one hand

what is the fucking point of flipping it you pulled it out of the sheath by the handle there’s no goddamn need for that

why even bother having a special spot easiy to reach in your black leather suit for knives if you’re just going to play with them when you take them out

but on the other hand

hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng 

(He’s switching grips, largely because someone like Steve ain’t gonna give you an easy target for a straight thrust, especially if he’s got his shield, which makes for a lot of over and underhand stuff. But god yess hnnnnnnnnng.)

Also he LOOKS like he’s pulling it out normally, then flips it around—if you don’t have the advantage of a specific close-up you’d easily miss the little flip and think his blade was pointing toward his thumb.  Then when he pulls his arm back across his body you think he’s pointing the knife over to his left, when in reality it is pointing straight at you and he’s about to slam it in your face.  The arm movement to pull it out of the sheath that other way is super awkward and telegraphs the fact that your blade’s going to be reversed from the very beginning.  But the Winter Soldier is a tricksy bastard.  And IIRC, it works—Steve isn’t aware until his arm comes down to strike that he’s about to get hit.  Otherwise he’d find a better way to block it.

</fencer>

Now with additional commentary from a fencer. My “hnnnnnnnng” is only exponentially increased.

Tl;dr knife flips are a useful, brutal, excellent tool.  When the Winter Soldier is coming after you with a knife you’d better have superhuman reflexes, because he is going to attack you from every possible avenue.  If I only hold my blade like a screwdriver, there are a limited number of physical movements I can make, and they are relatively predictable.  If I hold it like an icepick, the repetoire changes but is likewise limited.  If I can flip it around with absolutely no notice, I’ve effectively doubled how difficult I am to defend against.

Reblogging for commentary, and also because I could watch that gif all day.

All of this, and also, even if he WAS just playing with it, fucking around with a weapon is one of the ways that you get really good with it. With knives specifically, for a guy like Bucky — in both his lives — you’d pretty much have one on you at all times, and a lot of the military life (and probably the assassin life too) involves sitting around being bored as shit waiting for the death and terror to start. You end up playing with your weapons, because they’re there, and that’s one of the primary ways you really learn that weapon inside and out. You might play around, switching your grip, flipping it over and over, learning to catch it by the handle, by the point, learning to throw it, learning the exact weight and the center of its balance and all the other things that make handling it so effortless… it’s all just repetition and asking yourself “I wonder if I can….” and doing it until yes, indeed, you can stab some guy in the face before he can even see you coming.

whedonesque:

peppermoonchilds:

thunderboltsortofapenny:

#that might be the first time he smiles in the whole of avengers {via ink-phoenix}

#it is #i watched it again to make sure #on screen the last time he smiles before this is when he’s teasing Bucky about Coney Island

(via thunderboltsortofapenny)

Sad.

Always reblog this bit of meta. The first time Steve Rogers smiles genuinely in the MCU since 1945, and it’s because Tony’s prattling about shawarma.

fieldbears:

potofsoup:

archeralli:

a weak and tortured bucky making sure steve gets to safety first

It’s because Bucky has a habit of letting Steve go first.

——-

1) Always let Steve go first up the stairs, so that you can keep an eye on him.  It’s easier to count Steve’s breaths and notice when Steve’s heart does that thing that makes him stop and shake.  Much easier to stop and pretend to tie your shoes while you wait, worried, than to realize 2 flights too late that Steve’s no longer with you. 

Later: Your limbs are sore and numb from being strapped to a table for 2 days and you’re pretty sure you haven’t eaten and the entire base might be exploding, but when Steve says “let’s go up,” you tell him to go first.

———-

2) Steve’s walk was mostly normal, though he swung his hips in a certain way to compensate for his scoliosis, and that put a special cadence to his stride that you unconsciously match. Even without Steve around you would twist your hip back before swinging your leg forward.  Twist, swing, twist, swing.

Later: Steve is leading the way through the forest, and you’re finally used to his height and broad shoulders and that dumb shield, but something still feels wrong.  Somehow your pace doesn’t quite match, and you can’t figure out why.

———-

3) Colors don’t work the same with Steve, so always describe unfamiliar objects by their shape and relative location, like that square window past the third door on the left, or the man wearing that unseasonably long coat standing in the corner by the garbage can.

Later: The boys are singing in the other room and you’re at the bar with Steve, trying very hard to get drunk because of course you’ll follow Steve into whatever but that doesn’t mean you have to do it sober.  “Steve,” you whisper, “Check out that lady by the door, next to that short thin guy who has his shirt open.”  Steve looks over.  “The one in the red dress?  That’s Miss Carter.”  You decide you need another drink.

———-

4) When walking down a narrow dark alleyway always stay on the right, because Steve’s bad ear makes the right side feel blind to him (though damn if Steve’d ever admit that).  On broad open streets, switch to Steve’s left side, so that Steve could hear you better through the noise.

Later: Dum-Dum gives you a weird look as you line up to charge into a Hydra base.  “Why won’t you take the left flank for a change?”  You start explaining Steve’s bad ear before you remember that he’s not that Steve any more, and that Captain America doesn’t have a bad ear.

———-

5) Stuff in your left pockets are for Steve: the asthma cigarettes that Steve could never afford, a dime for that popcorn that Steve likes, tickets for whatever shindig you’re trying to drag Steve along to. Sometimes you put things there for Steve and totally forget about it, like extra paper and a spare pencil in case Steve wants to doodle.  The left side always belongs to Steve.

Later: Steve is awfully quiet by the campfire.  You sit down by his good ear and reach into your left pocket.  “Hey,” you say, pulling out a news clipping about the war front that featured a lovely photo of Miss Carter.  “You read this yet?  They think Morita’s a Japanese defector, but the section on Dernier is priceless.”

———————-

Still later:

Report on the Winter Soldier reset procedures

After the latest test run, only the following anomalies remain:

A) The asset tends to hug the right walls and not the left, and hesitates for 30 microseconds before climbing stairs.  However, he does not hesitate when scaling walls or ladders.

B) When walking unopposed the asset has a characteristic and identifiable stride, which is dropped when he is making a covered approach.  

C) The asset communicates via relative locations, often omitting crucial color information.  However, he can be commanded to describe the colors of any object in impressive detail.

D) When dressing himself, the asset keeps his knives exclusively on his right side, and his left pockets are underutilized.  This may be an effect of continued unfamiliarity with the new left arm.

After extensive field testing, we have determined that these anomalies do not impede the asset from completing his missions, and declare the reset process complete.

—————————

[basically the textual partner to the colorblindness comic]

[The rest of my Captain America stuff]

This is perfect, and the thing I’ve been trying to think of how to write but so much better

msbeeinmybonnet:

Can we talk about this for moment? About what Sebastian Stan’s incredible acting gave us?

(I saw someone else mention this in passing in tags to a gif set, but I cannot for the life remember who or where. If anyone does, please tell me, because I can’t take credit for this brainflash.)

These are two moments we see the Winter Soldier when he’s not focused entirely on his mission, and both have chilling implications. In the first, he’s basically in a pit stop when he acts out in angry confusion and Pierce has to be called in to deliver a speech that goes from creepy to horrifying in hindsight.

Winter Soldier: The man on the bridge. Who was he?

Alexander Pierce: You met him earlier this week on another assignment.

Winter Soldier: I knew him.

Alexander Pierce: Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we’re giving it a push. But you don’t do your part, I can’t do mine. And HYDRA can’t give the world the freedom it deserves.

Winter Soldier: But I knew him.

At first, it just looks like Pierce is trying to smooth things over and get Winter Soldier “back on track”. But that’s when you realize Pierce is oddly… soothing. Calming. Explaining the situation in clear, easily understandable words. Praising the Winter Soldier. Gently guilting him into behaving.

Almost as if he was speaking to a child.

If you excuse me for a moment, I need to quell my nausea. … There, mostly done. But yes. I am saying that for all intents and purposes, the Winter Soldier is a child with the skill set of a fully-trained assassin.

There are several hints of this throughout the movie. Whenever something happens which pulls the Winter Soldier out of his hyper-focus on his mission, he gets flustered and angry, not unlike a toddler throwing a tantrum. Let’s look at how he reacts to Steve calling him Bucky.


He hesitates for a second (which is heartbreaking for a completely different reason) and then throws himself back into the mission, because missions are uncomplicated and safe.

It’s after this scene that we see the Winter Soldier at his “pit stop”. He is still hung up on this man he recognizes, who knew him, because it has never happened before. He turns to Pierce for answers, his voice is small, his body language is submissive. “Daddy, where did my bunny go?”

I fully believe this is Pierce’s design. It is probably a side effect of the constant mind-wiping which keeps the Winter Soldier stuck with the emotional range as a toddler. He’s effective, but erratic.

Then we have the scene on the helicarrier. Not only does the Winter Soldier not attack Steve first, he is pulling his punches. Please note that this is after he was mind-wiped again. He’s torn between his safe, uncomplicated Mission and the way his very bones scream at him to protect this man. He’s frayed and at the breaking point and when Steve keeps showing him kindness and friendship, he snaps.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Winter Soldier moves like a machine, efficient and with no unnecessary gestures. But when Steve calls him James Buchanan Barnes, all that shatters and the Winter Soldier just throws himself at Steve to pummel him and make him shut up. He is feeling so many things he doesn’t know what to do with himself, and it manifests as violent rage. You’re my mission he yells, trying to convince both himself and Steve. But look at Winter Soldier’s face when Steve says his famous line:


Apart from the shock, anger and confusion, we also see fear in the Winter Soldier’s eyes. Because this is entirely new, nothing he’s ever encountered before. He doesn’t know what to feel. He doesn’t know how to feel. It’s a heart-breakingly vulnerable expression which you last expect to see on a legendary assassin’s face.

(We’ll talk about Steve attempting to commit suicide another time.)

I think I need to stop here before I feel nauseas again, but I wanted to put this down so that it might leave me alone afterwards. I am still blown away by Sebastian Stan’s acting and how subtle it is, while still speaking volumes. It can’t have been easy to play the broken, shattered Winter Soldier this perfectly.

(gif sources: brigantes & kirknspock & glassconduit)

msbeeinmybonnet:

“Bucky!”

This hit me only today and I’m kicking myself for not seeing it sooner, but I’m also wondering why I haven’t seen anyone else scream about this? I guess it could be because I’m looking in the wrong places but I feel like this should be echoing all over fandom.

Bucky remembered Steve. Wait, no, not Bucky, the Winter Soldier remembered Steve.

‘The man on the bridge’ suddenly takes on a double meaning. The Winter Soldier isn’t only talking about the man he saw that day on the bridge in DC; he’s also asking about the man he saw in a memory flash, on a speeding train in the Alps. They look the same, they sound the same, they both called him Bucky. They must be the same.

I also think that it’s extraordinary that the Winter Soldier still has access to those memories. He remembers the last few seconds before a massive trauma, which is astonishing.

Another thing that hits me like a punch in the gut is how the Winter Soldier remembers Steve. He remembers the panicked shout and then how Steve desperately tries to reach him while hanging onto the railing. Steve is frantic and horrified, and it’s obvious that it’s because of the Winter Soldier. For some reason the Winter Soldier at one point in time inspired such an emotional response in another human being. Someone cared that much for him.

No wonder the Winter Soldier is so hung up on the man on the bridge. Not only do they have a history he can’t remember, but he also loved the Winter Soldier, which is an entirely new concept for the human-turned-weapon. And yet it feels right, it feels true.

But I knew him.

(gif source: trollux)