“oh but steve deserved a happy ending” and why couldn’t it have been simple and realistic instead of an assassin of his character? for example, passing the mantle to sam and going on a road trip with the man he’d spent years fighting to get back. after saying goodbye to sam, they get in beat up truck with nothing but two small packs, a few novels, and steve’s sketchbook. “so. where to first?” “I was thinking jersey” — they share a laugh, and drive
THEY deserved a happy ending. the foundation of their relationship was “til death do we part”/that they’d always be there for each other. and it would have been so easy to maintain that if they wanted bucky in future projects but not steve. “where’s steve?” bucky rolls his eyes and says “where do you think?” (helping with disaster relief, hunting down hydra cell, doing a shift w daredevil). steve texting sam to put more weight on his left foot when he throws the shield. a five second phone call where steve tells him he better be back in time for the dodgers game. a photo of them laughing at the grand canyon. instead.
steve wouldn’t have stopped fighting until his heart stopped, but that didn’t mean the battlefield couldn’t have changed. perhaps going from fighting aliens, to the streets. social activism. community service. etc. his ending could never end with “rest” like the writers tried to hard to defend why he wouldn’t stop hydra or save bucky in the past. but it could have ended w him being content in the present with his friends
