Tag: sebastian stan

the-wordbutler:

topaz119:

amuseoffyre:

excuse u. who gave you boys permission?

Have I re-blogged this before? I can’t believe that I haven’t, but I can’t find it…

CHRIS EVANS SEBASTIAN STAN THIS GIVES ME FEELS FOR 180 DAYS

This is pretty much exactly how I imagine these boys in 180 Days, excepting maybe that Steve needs his softer, blonder hair. He could grow a goatee, though. I bet Bucky’d be super into it.

(Now I am imagining those dorks running errands together, dressed like this, laughing and chatting as they grab groceries or shit—because they have not lived together nearly long enough to run solo errands, no sir—and they are completely unaware that they are being checked out by strangers because they are wrapped up in one another.

Yes, I know they both look a little more subdued in this picture than that, but dammit, I love them happy.)

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:

Part I

WARNING: explicit discussion of suicidal behaviour and all that entails

Still with me? Excellent, I have so much more heartbreak in store for you.

We left off with Steve escaping SHIELD custody after yet another death-defying stunt. From this point on, I actually don’t have much to comment on for a while. Steve continues being stupidly brave but not more so than normal. He has a mission now, and a responsibility to see it through, so he doesn’t take as many reckless risks as he has before. He knows that if he fails, there isn’t anyone else to pick up the slack; if he falls, it’s game over.

For example, when the missile hits Zola’s computer brain, Steve acts much less recklessly. He finds a possible hiding place, pulls Natasha with him and shields them both. I honestly suspect that if Steve hadn’t felt like he had a purpose, he would be more concerned with Natasha being safe than himself, instead of the 50/50 kind of thing we get in the movie.

But let’s flashforward to another turning point: the reveal that the Winter Soldier is actually Bucky Barnes.

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Oh man, I love that moment. It is perfectly shot and I have gushed about it before, especially about how the movie lets Steve be frozen with shock. Steve, who has fought tooth and nails to evade HYDRA capture, isn’t even present enough to get on his knees when ordered to by Rumlow. That is how shaken he is.

It was him. He looked right at me… He didn’t even know me.

And that is the moment Steve comes to his decision: the first priority is taking down SHIELD and HYDRA, because there is a quickly-approaching deadline on that. But the second that is taken care of, it’s Bucky. Only Bucky. He is going to save Bucky from HYDRA and won’t accept any other outcome. Failure through death is not an option, unless they die together.

But I’m getting ahead of myself again. Maria Hill is a BAMF and rescues the trio and takes them to the safehouse where they regroup and form a plan. And here is the next interesting thing. They are all preparing themselves for the final push, the hail mary, the now-or-never attack, and what does Steve do?

He thinks of Bucky.

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He thinks of when Bucky promised him I’m with you til the end of the line, of Bucky offering to carry Steve on his shoulders. He doesn’t think of battle strategies, or of HYDRA, or even of the Winter Soldier. His world has narrowed down to Bucky, because when Steve decides on something, he gets the worst case of tunnel-vision known to man. He knows HYDRA must be stopped but it’s secondary to his quest to save Bucky; it’s only Steve’s sense of duty that keeps him from leaving HYDRA to the rest of the gang.

This marks a massive change. Earlier in the movie Steve recieved an external purpose; a responsibility was placed upon him which he felt he had to uphold out of duty. He is emotionally invested in it, of course, but it’s because of his ideals and beliefs and a little bit of hunger for revenge, as well as betrayal. Now that he knows Bucky is alive and held captive, he gets an internal purpose; no-one has told him that he has to save Bucky, it’s something he tells himself. He is beyond emotionally invested in this purpose, his entire everything is invested in rescuing Bucky. It’s like the difference between an important assignment at work and the novel you write in your free time. In the former case, you do it because you know you should and people depend on you to do it. In the latter, you do it only for yourself and pour your heart and soul into the endeavour.

This is very important to remember as I move onto the scene on the helicarrier. Lots of things happen in-between, of course, but I won’t cover them here. Actually, I will not even go into detail on the fight itself either, because I’ve done that before and I will just once again direct you all to marlowe-tops’ masterpiece on the subject. No, what I want to focus on is what happens after Steve inserts the chip.

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The first mission is done. HYDRA has been stopped. With the replacement of that chip, 12 million people have been saved. Steve’s mission is over.

Now there is only Bucky.

Bucky, whom Steve dives down to save, heedless of his own injuries, because Bucky is in danger. He doesn’t have to keep himself alive to complete his mission anymore; he only has to stay alive for Bucky. Which might not be long, considering the helicarrier is nose-diving into the Potomac.

I have no doubt that Steve is certain that Bucky is somewhere inside the Winter Soldier, but he probably thinks he’s rapidly running out of time to reach him before it’s a moot point. So what does he do? He throws the first fight in his life.

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Steve: You know me.

Winter Soldier: No, I don’t!

Steve: Bucky. You’ve known me your whole life.

Steve: Your name is James Buchanan Barnes.

Steve: I’m not gonna fight you. You’re my friend.

Winter Soldier: You’re my mission!

Steve: Then finish it. ‘Cause I’m with you til the end of the line.

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Look at him. He rolls with the punches. He accepts them and doesn’t make any attempt at defending himself. He tears off his helmet and declares his refusal to fight. He drops his shield into the Potomac because he has no more use for it. Bucky doesn’t need Captain America, he probably never did; he needs Steve.

So it’s going to be Steve.

Even when the Winter Soldier gives Steve the worst beating since his pre-serum days, Steve doesn’t so much as shield himself. He is offering himself to the punishment.

Because that’s what it is. Punishment. Penance, even. It’s fitting, actually, that it’s Bucky himself who punishes Steve for letting him die. I don’t even think Steve is self-loathingly enjoying the pain; he simply sees it as perfectly fair that he gets to feel a fraction of the hell Bucky has been put through.

And if that means he’ll go down in flames with Bucky… Well. He’s with him til the end of the line.

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Nothing will convince me that Steve wasn’t ready to die with Bucky in that moment. He didn’t even attempt to get either of them off the helicarrier; he let the Winter Soldier beat him black and blue while just lying down, because hurting Bucky is unthinkable. He only managed it before because at first he had no idea it was Bucky, and later he had to or innocents would die – and even then he pulled his punches. The look on Steve’s face during their previous fight is pure anguish because that is Bucky and he’s hurting him.

We also see an eerie kind of peace in Steve as he falls and later nearly drowns, and I don’t believe we can attribute all of it to Steve being halfway unconscious. Compare Steve’s fall to Bucky’s: Bucky was panicked, reaching out towards Steve and screaming, while Steve quietly falls with a limp body. The situations are different, yes, but usually you freak out at least a little bit when you suddenly find yourself falling.

But not Steve. Probably because he, again, sees it as fair. It has a nice kind of symmetry to it all, and as a movie buff, I’m sure Steve appreciates narrative parallels. (As to why he’s not screaming for Bucky who is still hanging on, my belief is that Steve can’t actually see him at that point and is assuming Bucky is falling as well.)

Then we have the beautifully shot underwater scene where the Winter Soldier saves Steve’s life. The last shot before the screen fades to black, when we see the metal arm reaching out to us, is a POV shot. This is very important to remember. It was Steve who saw the hand, not just us in the audience. This is subtly confirmed when Steve wakes up in the hospital bed, because he turns his head ever so slightly to the left, to the direction the Winter Soldier’s hand came from, the last thing he was aware of. He remembers being saved, and realizes the implications as he takes in the hospital room he lies in.

Which brings me to the end of the movie and, incidentally, my last point.

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This scene marks the end of Steve’s personal arc during this movie. He turns down the offer of an external purpose – we’ve been data-mining HYDRA files, looks like a lot of rats didn’t go down with the ship – because he instead chooses his internal purpose – there’s something I’ve gotta do first. He no longer needs anyone to give him a purpose, because he’s found one himself.

At the start of this movie Steve was an isolated island, but now he’s found a bridge. It’s small and rickety and dangerous as all hell, but it leads to Bucky, and that makes it worth every risk. He’s also made friends that he feels he can trust, further anchoring him in this new world. It goes slowly, but he’s starting to build a new life here in this century. But most important of all, he feels he has a reason to live again.

Steve has a reason to live again, because it sure as hell isn’t going to be Captain America who rescues Bucky. It’s going to be that little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight.

‘Cause I’m with you til the end of the line.

(gif sources: 1 piney49 & 2 brigantes & 3 kirknspock & 4 yourcannibalneighbour & 5-6 wintersoldir & 7-8 hiddlesy & 9 thenightshalllastforever & 10-13 brigantes & 14-15 maria-sokoli* & 16 yourcannibalneighbour)

*turns out they’re a plagiarism blog – please tell me if you know the original source!