22, black || Steve Rogers loyalist first, Stony truther second || I drift between lighthearted and Way Too Dedicated™ when talking about fictional characters and events. New to Tumblr! DMs always open to talk about Steve.
Pro-tip (because I love seeing notifs from people going through my profile)! My "everything special" tag is basically my Steve meta/Steve characterization tag. So have a blast there 🙏🏿
I would like to humbly ask for an extention on the increased online activity I was supposed to be displaying.
In other news, I would like to hear ya'll opinions on Steve vs self-sacrifce and how far it goes. I happen to know I have a slightly unpopular opinion on this. Not unpopular as in "hated" but just a bit different.
I think, in general, that Steve is self-sacrificing, but only if it's the only good way to achieve a big enough goal. He's not particularly eager to sacrifice himself—he wants to come home from the mission—but he's not afraid to die either.
I do think though, that sometimes Steve will act on principle in situations where most others wouldn't, and it looks like unnecessary self-sacrifice because his reasons don't seem like enough. There's a disconnect between what he thinks is something worth dying for and what an outside observer might think.
That is, Steve believes that standing up for what's right is important to do, even if success isn't guaranteed, or even likely. Standing up to the theater heckler even though he can't possibly beat him in a fight; trying to rescue Bucky and the 107th even though it would be almost impossible without Peggy & Howard's help; not leaving the floating Sokovian city (Novi Grad?) until its population is evacuated, even if that means still being there when they blow it up; standing up alone to Thanos in Infinity War and Endgame. These things all seem needlessly self-sacrificing if you don't believe that trying to do the right thing is valuable even if it seems hopeless
I'M FINALLY BACK, PLEASE APPLAUD AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE
I was able to finally get a new laptop and phone (so now I can actually be on here consistently) and I also put my life back together. I know it was super hard and lonely without my presence, but no need to fear anymore, obviously <3
Now give me a few more days to get into my Discord....lol....I may have forgot the email I used.....Also, Imma be honest, I don't know the email I used for @cloudbells otherwise I would have posted this announcement on there lmaooo. If you see this reblogged there, then you know I figured it out <3
I'M FINALLY BACK, PLEASE APPLAUD AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE
I was able to finally get a new laptop and phone (so now I can actually be on here consistently) and I also put my life back together. I know it was super hard and lonely without my presence, but no need to fear anymore, obviously <3
Now give me a few more days to get into my Discord....lol....I may have forgot the email I used.....Also, Imma be honest, I don't know the email I used for @cloudbells otherwise I would have posted this announcement on there lmaooo. If you see this reblogged there, then you know I figured it out <3
Sunday Steve - Day 13.5: What Did a Tenement Look Like?
As a follow up to my tenement building post, I've done my best to find a collection of photos to show what apartments Steve lived in could have looked like. As I mentioned in my earlier Sunday Steve post, a lot of tenement pictures were taken specifically because of the poor conditions, so I tried to find pictures that would show a side of tenements we might not usually see.
Tenement playground, circa 1900-1937 (Link)
Contemporary photos
Interior stairwell, 1937. (Link)
Look at the wallpaper! Also I can just imagine children playing in that nook there, using it like a fort or something.
Interior between 1900 and 1910. (Link)
Look at all the pictures on the walls, the patterned and no doubt colourful table cloth and the decorative elements of the stove! This apartment looks like it has a gas stove and lights.
(part of me does wonder if this photo was staged to some extent, perhaps to advertise the new laws going in (?), but that's only a theory.)
Kitchen interior with sink and icebox, 1935. (Link)
You can see the draped curtains, the mirror above the sink and the cloth on top of the fridge. The shelf with all the jars has been recovered with a decorative trim and the floor is patterned linoleum.
Family at kitchen table in a dumb-bell tenement, circa 1935. Note the angled kitchen window by the stove looking into an air shaft. (Link)
(The Barnes family anyone?) Again, patterned, clean floors, a gas stove, what may be a folded up bed in the left-hand upper corner. Five toothbrushes above the sink, a mirror above the shelf, the trim on the shelf itself. I think the dark thing next to the boxes in the lower right-hand corner might be toy pram.
Interior view of dressing table and toilet, 1936. (Link)
Typical small toilet, probably built after the New Law required them. Note the pretty framed photo of religious figures on top of the dressing table, what I think is an electric curling iron next to it, and the sculpting details of the wall pillar.
Reconstruction
But black and white photos don't give us a full idea of what things would be like. Luckily, there is Tenement Museum in Manhattan that has 1910 and 1930 Old Law restored tenement apartments.
Outside of museum and stairs leading up. (Link)
This tenement is 5 floors, which is standard for Old Law. New Law tenements were often higher. The tenement, like many tenements, had a store front on the street level.
If you look carefully you can see the tin-plated ceilings. Note how you can see a painting on the wall across from the stairs. In the tour they discuss how these were people's homes and they decorated them and were proud of them too.
Images of a 1910 style apartment. (Link) (Link)
These tenements are 3 rooms, bedroom, kitchen and parlour. Note the bed in the kitchen where Steve could've slept. This could also be a place for a crib for a baby. These apartments have shared toilets in the halls that were for two families.
Also look at the green and red walls! So much colour! And the pictures hung on the walls! There's a rug on the floor, doilies and a cushion on the couch, a patterned curtain behind the door... I wanted to highlight the homeyness.
Kitchen of 1930s style apartment. (Link) (Link)
With these photos you can see the three rooms of this tenement. A small bedroom by the front door, a kitchen and a living room past it. The apartments for this building were electrified in 1924, so they have lights, and a radio and an electric fan in the living room.
The apartment had coin operated gas, which could be the black box on the wall by the front door. The gas also connects to a water heater for this apartment which can't really be seen, but it is connected to the stove.
The built in shelves by the table was custom built by the father of the family living here. Residents often painted or wallpapered their space when moving in to make it their own. According to the Tenement Museum, linoleum flooring was really common, and you can see how this apartment has linoleum designed to look like a rug.
Living room and bedroom of the same 1930 apartment. (Link) (Link)
The living room isn't very staged, I'm not sure why since I haven't taken the tour. There is a disassembled bed frame against the left wall, so it's possible a bed is usually set up in this room for the parents. Also the former resident of the apartment said it was sparsely furnished, so they may be trying to recreate that.
The ice box for this family is kept on the fire escape, which is not shown.
In the window of the living room you can see green plants. These are morning glories the father planted in re-purposed cheese boxes. According to the former resident, they got the cheese through welfare aid, and cheese always seemed to be in surplus from that program. The apartment has electricity and there is an electric fan on on the dresser with the mirror.
The second photo shows the bedroom, which is that angled room next to the front door in the kitchen. The red cloth covered thing in is a bed that was shared by two siblings and folded up and covered every day.
Look at all the colour! The patterned linoleum floors! The climbing flowers in the living room window! The radio in the nook by the kitchen table! These places were not dreary and brown just because they were old or cheap.
Recollections from the previous resident:
Rosaria [her mother] decorated the apartment by draping fabrics everywhere: lacy curtains at the windows, coverlets in the beds, skirts across the shelving that Adolfo [her father] built into the walls. The family kept birds as pets. They cultivated flowers; morning glories twined at the window. The radio played, day and night, as they laughed with Amos and Andy, hummed along with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, and followed the puzzling, upper-middle-class lives of One Man's Family. (Link)
Also, when the previous resident came back to see the tenement museum of her childhood apartment, she noted that the place was messier than her mother ever kept it, so they fixed that. Tenements could be very clean and well kept, especially since cleanliness and health were something people judged.
I really wanted to show that while small and cheap, Steve’s apartments would have still been full of life and colour.
Tenement Museum hall toilet, circa 1904-1935 (Link)
I don't know what time period the museum has this toilet as, but you can see how small it was, and also that it has bright yellow walls!
This toilet has a leaflet of papers on the back wall, probably for toilet paper. As my toilet paper post discussed, toilet paper became more common with indoor plumbing due to clogged pipes and such, so I imagine this is early 1900s. I'm fairly certain Steve would be used to using toilet paper!
What's with all the indoor windows?
A lot of Old Law tenements have windows leading from one room to another. These are for airflow and light. They are also a sneaky way the landlords tried to get around the law that every room had to have a window. The New Law later required the windows to actually have access outside.
These windows are also known as tuberculosis windows. While they may have been a cop-out by landlords, they were still intended to improve airflow and light in narrow tenements which would otherwise have only one outward facing window.
I hope this overview gave you a broader understanding of what tenements could look like and some appreciation of the ways people brightened up their homes.
Many more tenement pictures found here:
The influence of the New York City tenement is layered upon the city much like the apartments themselves are layered atop each other.
This link has a lot more interior shots, but also some with homicide victims (!), so approach at your own risk.
This link has more images of the Tenement Museum, showing other bedrooms from different eras and different tenement rooms. While some are styled as late 1890s era apartments, they still reflect what rooms and life would and could have looked like.
Kind characters are not boring; in fact, due to the vast amount of people who hold that opinion, kind characters are as edgy as it gets. In this essay I will
You know what, I’m not done! I think that the whole concept that kind characters are uninteresting and vanilla is such a broad generalization and takes kindness to mean lawful or goody-two-shoes, when there are so many ways for someone to a character to be kind.
Kindness does not require passivity or social grace. Kind characters can stick to their guns and stand up for what they believe in. They can yell and scream and curse. Kind characters can be angry and disappointed when others do not show them the same compassion they show others. Kind characters can be tactless, oblivious. They may be rough around the edges (but have a heart of gold).
Kind characters often value justice and strive to stay connected to their humanity, even when the things they must do threaten to strip it away from them. Kind characters sometimes have to make difficult choices. Sometimes, kind characters even behave in a way that is unkind.
Kindness is complex, and it’s only a single solitairy characteristic that contributes to a character’s personality. While it can absolutely present as soft-spoken, honest, and open-hearted (my personal FAVE), it certainly doesn’t have to be.
Spooky story month continues with fics featuring Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers (and a couple with Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson as a bonus!)
Red Thread by Vulcanodon (@rue-the-aardvark) (Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Explicit, 29,154 words)
Summary: "Under three feet of solid ice and nestled tightly in dark roots, it was impossible to tell whether Steve was dead or sleeping. The ice could have been glass it was so transparent, and Bucky could see faint traces of pink on Steve’s nose and cheeks. His eyes were shut, and he was completely and utterly still. There was no possible way that a human could still be alive. But Steve was more than human. And besides, he had survived it before."
Steve Rogers is missing, his last known location a seemingly abandoned little town known as White Oaks. When all attempts to find him fail, Natasha Romanov calls in the services of the Winter Soldier. Until now Bucky Barnes has been lying low in New York and trying slowly to piece together the shattered fragments of his identity. But in order to bring Steve back, Bucky will have to face not only the darkness that lies beneath the placid surface of White Oaks but stay one step ahead of his own demons...
Haunted by ElisabethMonroe (@abarbaricyalp) (SamSteveBucky, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Mature, 12,412 words)
Summary: Seeking refuge in a storm after a fight, Sam, Steve, and Bucky get more than they bargained for from a haunted house
The rest below the cut!
Steve Rogers Ruins Christmas: a Thanksgiving Miracle by AggressiveWhenStartled (@aggressivewhenstartled) (SamSteveBucky, Teen And Up Audiences, 11,520 words)
Note: I know this is a Christmas/Thanksgiving story but again, ghosts = spooky = halloween
Summary: “I know I spent a while frozen in the arctic,” Steve said as he slowly reshut the driver’s side door and stepped back to take in the view. “So I guess I haven’t had a chance to see everything here in the future. But I was not expecting a Bavarian-themed Taco Bell with the KFC guy standing out front wearing lederhosen.”
Also available as a podfic read by quietnight (@quietnighty)
dance with a ghost by crinklefries (@spacerenegades) (Teen And Up Audiences, 11,634 words)
Summary: “Captain America is haunting me,” Bucky says over a bowl of ramen.
His pronouncement is met with a round of silence.
“Captain America,” Natasha says. “As in--”
“The first Avenger,” Bucky confirms. “Supersoldier and hero of World War II. The fabric of the American conscience.”
“But he’s--dead,” Sam says. His look of perplexed concern, ever perplexed and ever concerned, only increases. “You’re aware of that, right?”
“I know,” Bucky says. “That’s why I said he’s haunting me.”
Also available as a podfic read by lightupstars
Ophelia Rising by velvetjinx (@velvetjinx) (Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Explicit, 5,002 words)
Summary: When Steve and Bucky move in together in a small town in upstate New York, they both feel like their lives couldn't get any better. But there's just something about Bucky's grandmother's doll that makes Steve uneasy.
Mandatory Disclosure Not Required by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen) (@leveragehunters) (Teen And Up Audiences, 6,991 words)
Summary: Stigmatised property is property which may be shunned for reasons other than its physical condition. Reasons like a murder or a belief that it's haunted. Most jurisdictions require mandatory disclosure to a buyer where the property's stigmatised nature could affect its value. There's no such requirement to inform renters.
Steve should have asked more questions, but a two bedroom apartment with good light in that part of the city? At that price? He couldn't say no. He needed a place to live at a price he could afford and, well, gift horses and mouths, he wasn't going to look too closely.
There was a reason the apartment was so cheap. There was a reason tenants didn't last. There was always a reason for everything. Steve should have remembered that. He was about to be reminded, because his name might be on the lease, but it wasn't his apartment.
Something already lived there.
It's a Ghost Story (baby just say yes) by moontyrant (Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, General Audiences, 11,262 words)
Summary: There are an infinity of universes in potentia. In one, Bucky Barnes was born in the early twentieth century, followed Steve Rogers into a crusade against Hydra, was captured and became the Winter Soldier. In another universe, Bucky Barnes was born in the 1980s and grew up to spend his weekends busting ghosts.
“And this guy is legit?” Clint asked for the third time, eyebrows making a break for his hairline.Tony threw his hands in the air. “How should I know! He has some reviews online but it’s not like he has a website or anything.”
The Soul That You Used by WillowPerpetua (Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Explicit, 21,412 words)
Summary: Bucky Barnes wandered the earth as a ghost for seventy years. He found solace in the medium, Natasha, who gave him shelter, company, and one day, signed him up for an online dating service in the hope that he might find somebody else to talk to.Steve was the man he found.
"Bucky did not know Steve, no, but he knew Steve’s type. He met many men in hostels and train stations, and while he had never before found the courage to touch them—even through somebody else’s hands—he had discovered the uniquely visceral brand of danger that they all craved in common."
The Afterlife of The Party by neversaydie (Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Mature, 8,433 words)
Summary: "Oh no. Hell no."
Bucky freezes with his hand halfway to the giant ornamental vase the new family have just unpacked. Smashing it would be the perfect way to announce himself on moving day: a big, stylish gesture that's ambiguous enough to leave them feeling only slightly unnerved until he decides things need to escalate.
That is, it would be the perfect way to announce himself if a skinny blond kid hadn't just walked through the living room wall.
"This house is taken, pal. What the fuck?"
"Uh, this is my family." The kid is standing there awkwardly, like they're still corporeal and he might have to duck or deliver a punch in the near future.
"This is my house." He narrows his eyes and slowly gets to his feet. The guy's eyes keep flicking to his missing arm and Bucky is starting to see red. "And I don't appreciate other people living in it."
[in which Dead Dorks in Love, awkward ghost sex, and a whole lot of accidental feelings happen]
Here’s an example of what we call a “soft no”. Sharon turns down Steve’s offer in a way that’s meant not to insult him but never actually uses the word “no”.
Steve clearly gets the message, though, and importantly offers to leave her alone. Sharon’s comment afterwards gives him an opportunity to try again later, but he doesn’t press and respects her rejection of his company even though it’s probably hurt his feelings a bit.
Just in case you ever wonder “What would Captain America do?”; there you go.
I just have to add - I’ve seen interviews with Marvel people where they say that this scene demonstrates that Cap’s awkward with women and doesn’t know how to ask women out on a date. And it drives me crazy, because - as the OP says - Steve behaved perfectly here. It was a very charming, nonthreatening offer, and he accepted her rejection with good grace. You can’t help but feel that to Hollywood, the fact that she said no means he asked badly - which is exactly how I’d expect Hollywood to think, namely, the idea that men should keep pressing and pushing women until they say yes
In fairness, I think there’s a valid point that the offer itself is kind of awkward–there’s a moment where he pretty much takes a deep breath before flinging himself off the cliff, he stammers, his delivery is uncertain, you can practically see the “…:D?” moment where inside he’s going “real smooth, champ, did you seriously just ask her out with a dorky-ass offer about laundry?” And in his haste he accidentally implies a transactional element to the offer–which Sharon calls him on immediately.
The thing is, none of the minor awkwardness is nearly as important as how gracefully he handles the fall. Sharon calls him on the implication that there’s a price, and he makes it clear that yes, he’s asking her out, but no, he’s not asking for anything more than a chat and a chance to get to know each other. Point Number One in Steve’s favor. Sharon drops the skeptical standoffish look, and takes care to smile and be friendly and provide a soft excuse for turning him down. Point two: Steve hears the soft “no” for what it is. Point three: he doesn’t argue with it and assumes it’s her final answer. Point four: he smiles and plays along with the excuse and doesn’t take it personally, even though he’s probably hovering between “disappointed” and “kicking himself” on the inside. Congratulations, Steve, you have just catapulted yourself from “cute but kinda awkward” to “holy shit, she would date the fuck out of you if she didn’t have 6394187 ethical and professional obligations and a possible emergency situation getting in the way.” No wonder she gives him an opening to try again later.
Semi-related observation #1: Dude spent the first twenty-odd years of his life as skinny!Steve–it’s both perfectly logical and kinda sad that he’s a lot smoother at handling rejection than he is at actually asking someone out.
Semi-related observation #2: This entire movie is full of Steve’s faltering attempts to connect with people in a particularly mistrustful, un-forthcoming corner of the 21st century. Most of the time, it kinda feels personal–but getting turned down for a date by a cute stranger is one of the times he’s totally fine with not taking it personally. No wonder he can’t resist a sarcastic comment when she passes him in the hallway at SHIELD after giving Alexander Pierce a full report on the previous evening.
Something I was thinking about since the last time I reblogged this post that I also wanna add is that Steve is pretty careful with his body language here. Since the serum, Steve is a big guy; and we’ve seen him crowd people and get up in their face when he wants to be intimidating (usually when he’s righteously pissed off), so we know he’s aware of his capacity for it. In this scene, he keeps a reasonable distance from Sharon, and though the cropping of the gif doesn’t quite show it, he raises his hands in a very clear hands off/I surrender kind of gesture when she turns him down – the “I’m not a threat, I’m backing down” of human body language. He also angles his body away from Sharon then, turning away and making clear he isn’t following her. This might seem awkward to someone who only expects to see Steve as the confident and physically powerful presence he is when he’s in uniform – but it’s completely appropriate here. As someone who got bullied as much as he did, Steve knows how to read a bully’s body language; and he knows how NOT to adopt that body language, and be physically non-threatening despite his build, in a situation where he doesn’t want to come across as a threat.
Why does Chris Evans always grab his left boob when he laughs?
Hello, anon, and thank you for the question.
This topic has been studied by researchers for years. There are three prevailing theories that I will relay to you now.
1. It keeps him on the ground.
You may notice in the gif above that Chris’ leg starts to rise as he laughs, possibly a precursor to his entire body undergoing a sort of lift off due to his joy. Chris then employs his upper body strength to force himself to obey the laws of gravity.
2. To check on his physique.
As you may be aware, anon, it takes a lot of hard work to maintain a superhero body. Chris is concerned that in the time he has spent sitting down, sans working out or eating, he has lost muscle mass. Understandably, he feels the need to make sure that he is still a specimen.
3. Object permanence.
Object permanence is a term applied to the understanding that an object still exists even when you cannot see it. Chris closes his eyes when he laughs, making him unable to see that he has not disappeared. By grabbing his left boob, Chris knows that he has not somehow ceased to exist.
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