#ca:ws

CAWS as ivan the terrible

Hi, Sam squad! Thank you to everyone who sent in prompt suggestions. Here's the final calendar for Samtember 2025!!!

As per usual, the event will run from Monday, September 1st to Tuesday, September 30th, with a prompt for each day. Check out the rules and guidelines below the cut and don't hesitate to drop us an ask if you have any questions.

See you in September! ✮

NYT original list: Black Panther and The Dark Knight

NYT poll list also included: Logan, Thor: Ragnarok, and Endgame.

And I just ... yeah.

Where the fuck is Captain America: Winter Soldier?

I mean, sure, I agree most superhero movies aren't anywhere near the level of Parasite, but Endgame over Winter Soldier? Winter Soldier is a good SPY THRILLER, not just a good superhero movie. Has everyone forgotten just how good it is?

When I teach the MCU class, I start with Avengers and then we hit CA:WS. The students are always riveted by it -- the fight scenes, the act structure, the acting, the plot. By the time we get through Ragnarok and Black Panther to Phase 4 flicks (we end with Shang Chi), they talk about how they can see the difference of CA:WS to later movies.

Look, I understand why Black Panther and The Dark Knight made the list. They're great movies for many reasons. This is just my humble outrage that Bucky Barnes' murder strut, "who the hell is Bucky?", HYDRA has infested the US government with Nazis *cough, real life, cough*, and "I'm with you til the end of the line" was overlooked.

-> TFA (40s) Bucky: roses, without question. he knows he's gorgeous and he's chasing skirts like a dog and will pull out all the stops to get himself some tit. it's the uniform, it's the charm, how alive and bold and unashamed he is. kinda like red roses that have a couple of thorns here and there. "watch yourself, doll, they bite."

-> TWS Bucky: let's be honest, Hydra-insane Bucky may not even know what flowers are, or that such pretty things like you exist. he's a little busy altering history. but I imagine if he stopped for any kind of flower, it would be ones that are wild and a little colorful, wildflowers. they're so pure and innocent looking. they almost laugh. they remind him of a memory he can't put a finger on.

-> Civil War Bucky: post-Hydra, Bucky is a simple man. he lives in a no-nonsense apartment and it's been canonically confirmed by Sebastian Stan that he journals away his trauma and carries them around like whatever the opposite of a badge of honor is. but, he is of his own mind, and if he met a lovely thing like you, you better believe he'd bring you lilies. they're fragrant and pretty and come in lots of different colors, so he brings one of every kind in a bouquet so he doesn't have to face making the wrong choice. and there is absolutely no vase, so he brings them in a mason jar filled with water and sugar, because he remembers his mama using sugar to feed the flowers.

-> Infinity War/Endgame/Wakanda-era Bucky: Bucky 100% can't deny the beauty of a native flower. He doesn't know what flowers are what in Wakanda, but if you're there with Steve showing up to save the world, he absolutely would not hesitate to put one of whatever looks prettiest in your hair, behind your ear. as long as Shuri tells him it's safe. and when he's stateside? trying to pick up the pieces? you better believe he's going to track down the most virgin magnolia you've ever seen.

-> TFATWS: he hasn't danced in a long time, since like 1945. that's a lot of decades, and he really doesn't even know if girls in the modern world like flowers anymore. but, that doesn't stop him. every girl deserves flowers from a guy that can't stop thinking about her, and daisies are pretty unforgettable, so those seem perfect. plus he likes how bright they make your apartment.

-> BNW: we're running for office, babe. and he's absolutely not above spending campaign dollars to spoil his favorite girlie, so two dozen white roses outta do it. with a card. because reasons, and no, it wasn't Sam's idea.

-> Thunderbolts: it could be argued that he's mellowed out in twilight years, being an elected official and all. Congressman Barnes is well beyond making statements just to say words, and he doesn't care about societal norms and connotations. your favorite color is yellow, and you love the smell of roses (he goes wild for the way they take up the air in the apartment) so logic demands yellow roses, every Wednesday, as a middle-of-the-week pick me up at your office. you never used to bring them home until he asked you to, and now he sends two dozen because you really do like the look of them in your office, and he's proud that everybody knows to whom you belong.

“If you speak I leave.” Bucky says and he’s straddling him, Steve doesn’t know how he didn’t hear him come in. But Bucky's on top of him with Steve’s face held in a vice grip and Steve is blinking trying to find out if this is a dream or not. After a second he swallows and nods, relaxing completely. Bucky looks at him for another second before letting go completely letting Steve sag into the bed. 

Steve can’t take his eyes off him, and tries to control the small breath in when Bucky reaches his flesh hand up and starts mapping his face. A warm familiar palm against his cheek, that has his eyes fluttering. They dip and press and Steve doesn’t know when he started to hold his breath until Bucky is rubbing soothingly against his chest like he did when Steve was sick. He lets out the breath and Bucky sighs with him. He runs his hands through Steve's hair and travels down again. Bucky frowns and Steve so badly wants to ask about what but he doesn’t he stays silent, letting the unsaid words hang in the air like smog. 

Bucky's eyes flicker down and finally a thumb brushes against his lower lip, and Steve stills. Bucky's eyes flicker to Steve’s, and for a second there Steve’s scared that his face might show fear. Not of having the Winter Soldier towering over him, but because Bucky was touching him so so gently, and he knows that this man doesn’t know what that means to Steve; scared that knowledge will spook him.

Bucky seems to relax though, as he searches Steve’s eyes, looking back down as he skims lightly over Steve’s lower lip maddeningly. His other hand comes up to cup his cheek, surprisingly warm. 

Steve’s sure his heart almost gives out when Bucky starts leaning forward, knows his eyes are wide as Bucky creeps imposingly closer. Especially since Bucky staring into his eyes with an intensity that has Steve wanting to squirm. 

Bucky finally rests their foreheads together briefly frowning at the gesture before going down and pressing his lips against the thump still on Steve’s lips. 

He figures that’s fair.

Steve going back in time was NOT a betrayal of his and Bucky’s friendship.

Look, at first glance, I get why Steve’s Endgame ending feels like it’s going against “I’m with you to the end of the line.” Even I had my reservations about it for a while, once my Steggy-shipping heart calmed down from its thrilled palpitations when I first watched the film.

But after giving it a lot of thought, I think in the end, it was for the best that Steve and Bucky went their separate ways, and here’s why.

Once they reunited in the present day, Steve and Bucky’s relationship became extremely codependent, and their entire arc was learning to grow out of that.

We see in Civil War especially how far Steve was willing to go to protect Bucky, and how Bucky became fully dependent on Steve. And remember that Steve had just lost Peggy before finding Bucky again, meaning that Bucky was all he had left of his former 1940s life. The fact that he fought so hard for Bucky is symbolic for his arc, far beyond their friendship. Of course he did it because he loved Bucky, that’s never in doubt. But I also think that he felt an equally strong love for what Bucky represented, which is the life he lost. His clinging to Bucky already showed us that he was unable to truly let go of the 1940s, though he tried. He tried to believe he had let go - Age of Ultron is all about him trying - but Civil War makes it clear that he will never truly belong to the present day.

Same goes for Bucky. Steve was his only reminder of his true self, of who he used to be, of the life he lost. He loved Steve himself, of course, but he also clung to Steve because Steve also represented something beyond just their friendship; he represented the hope for Bucky’s soul. That he was not HYDRA’s monster anymore, that he had a chance of living life as himself again.

The ending of Civil War set the two of them on the path that always inevitably led to what we got from Endgame. Steve and Bucky finally loosened their metaphorical grip on each other; Bucky chose to turn himself over to Wakanda, and Steve let him go. They both acknowledged that Bucky’s need for healing went far beyond Steve. While Steve was his starting point, Steve’s faith the thing that gave him hope for himself, Bucky needed far more work on himself than Steve alone could provide. So they started taking baby steps away from their codependency; Bucky moved to Wakanda and Steve continued with the Avengers. Fans who talk and act as though Steve and Bucky’s lives fully and completely revolve around each other, and each other ONLY, clearly have not actually watched the movies critically.

The narrative always acknowledged that Steve and Bucky’s codependency was not healthy, and that as much as they loved each other, they needed to learn to be their own people, and not be defined only through each other’s eyes.

Which brings us to Endgame. Perhaps the most significant detail about Steve’s final choice is that he canonically told Bucky about it ahead of time. Bucky confirmed this verbally in TFATWS. Steve did NOT return to the 1940s on short notice; he let Bucky know about it. And, on the other side of the same coin, the exact details of this conversation are private. For all we know, Steve could’ve asked Bucky to come with him, to also seize a chance at getting back the life he lost. Steve could’ve ensured that Bucky was alright with this, and if Bucky really wasn’t ready to lose his support, then he wouldn’t go. All of these are very in-character possibilities for Steve, and there is NOTHING whatsover in canon that states that he didn’t say these things.

But what happened? Bucky let him go. Bucky told Steve to go live his dream, to go be with the love of his life. Bucky was alright with it. (Remember Bucky knew from the start how important Peggy was to Steve. He was a first-hand witness to Peggy declaring Steve “the right partner.” He knew what this chance at time travel meant for Steve.) And by letting him go, Bucky chose to stay in the present. Would he have been able to do this in Civil War? No, and that’s because since then, he grew. They grew. They got to a place where the cords of codependency were finally cut, where they both knew they could live their own lives and not rely on each other to keep one another upright. They finally knew what paths they wanted to follow to live their fullest lives, and those paths were not the same one. Steve embraced a future in the past, while Bucky embraced the present moment. In other words, they finally reached “the end of the line.”

Oh, and I find it absolutely hilarious that some people are like “how dare he retire with Peggy while Bucky is out there being tortured in the 40s?” Steve made a branched timeline when he returned to Peggy, meaning no matter what he did from then on, the Sacred Timeline wouldn’t change. And he knew that. And there is not a single piece of text to be found anywhere in canon that tells us that he didn’t immediately tell Peggy that HYDRA was still around and that they didn’t team up, take HYDRA down, and rescue Bucky before New Year’s 1950. So that argument is ridiculous.

Also, did Steve “leave Bucky alone,” as many have said? Uhhh, NO. We see this in TFATWS.

After Steve left, Bucky was not alone. He had Sam, aka a professional counselor. He had tons of friends in Wakanda, and those friendships were close enough that he could successfully request a new suit for Sam on a whim. And Sam told him exactly what he’d been needing to hear for so long: “It doesn’t matter what Steve thought. You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are.”

On top of that, as we see at the end of the show, Bucky now has an entire family: he’s bonding with Sarah (who knows what that might lead to), and he’s another uncle to AJ and Cass, and he’s bringing cake to the cookout and the arm that used to be a killing weapon, he now uses as a plaything for the children to dangle from. The entire community has welcomed him as one of their own.

Steve and Bucky’s story is a beautiful one because it shows how true friends help guide you to where you need to be in life, and their support sets you on the path to being your best and fullest self. The health of Bucky and Steve’s friendship was destroyed by their shared trauma of being taken from their normal lives in the 1940s, and they clung to each other for emotional survival. Then, gradually, they helped each other get back on their own two feet, and when the time came, they learned to let each other go, because they loved each other so much.