do you understand how big of a deal it is that bucky told sam he loves him. that after literal decades of not being allowed his feelings (and coming from a time when he would have been encouraged to squash them down like a man), after he never even tells STEVE those words, after he is so emotionally constipated that he resorts to arguing and then, later, jokes with sam to let him know without so many words that he cares for him. that after all that, he still said it. not even just 'love you'. he said 'I LOVE YOU'. full sentence. no hesitation. that is such a huge deal for him as a character, and shows us just how much bucky truly does love sam wilson, and is devoted to him. in this essay i will
ik its probably a coincidence/reference that default ilitw mc's name is devon hunter, but i think itd be cute if somehow they were a descendant of dominic hunter.
dom and devon who are both witty and charming and also has so much game. (where devon can end up with 6/7 of their childhood friends plus connor).
dom and devon who can turn into powerful creatures that may act against their will (dom being mind-controlled by hex, redfield!devon losing their mind as a shadow creature). on the flip side, there's dom and devon doing everything they can to rescue their best friend and fighting against a dream version where they can be together (dom being tempted with a reality where kenna wasn't a princess or he wasn't a fire-user. alive!devon being tempted with a reality of noah + the rest of their friends being alive and happy)
dom and devon possibly ending up with their best friend from childhood (who they might've loved since they were 6) after long years of being torn apart, after so much loss and sacrifice, they can finally be in love together :')
ok so. Bucky's enhanced sense of smell right. what if at the end of a day, especially a day where Sam has had events to go to that had people hugging him, kissing him on the cheek in greeting, shaking his hand, clapping his shoulders, maybe even dancing with him if it's some kind of gala, bucky can smell everyone all over him. and while he loves how loved sam is, he also feels jealousy and possessiveness creep across his skin. and the desire to get sam in the shower and get the smell of everyone else off him, then make it so that he smells exclusively like bucky......he cannot resist it. so he does just that. gets his mouth on every inch of sam, rubs him all over, fucks him real good. makes sure that even people without enhanced senses would know. then after, sam wears buckys clothes to sleep, because he likes smelling like bucky too💖
personally am a huge fan of the concept of Sam mostly calling Bucky 'baby', while Bucky goes between like a dozen different petnames constantly. Sweetheart, honey, darlin', sugar, doll, baby, babydoll, angel, the list is endless, and each and every one makes Sam feel loved and cherished and desired
putting aside raynor's horrific disregard for patient confidentiality, I think it's so funny that canonincally bucky talks about Sam a lot in therapy, even when the two of them are in that phase where they're not really talking much. like, he's just sitting there yapping about Sam wilson, cannot get him off his mind. raynor's like, you're here for the winter soldier stuff u know that right? and buckys like AND HIS EYELASHES, DOC, THEYRE OUTTA THIS WORLD IT'S NOT RIGHT-
I try to stay out of a lot of TB discourse, bar rebogging excellent takes from mutuals/fellow rational sambuckies.
However. I just can't stop thinking about this and I need to write this for catharsis.
I have been a huge Bucky fan for a LONG time. Like, a massive fan. He was my blorbo. My number 1. And i am just mindblown by how Bucky Stans/new Bucky fans really think that what happened in TB is Bucky's idea of......a happy life? A happy ending? A GOOD situation?
I have spent TEN YEARS as a Bucky fan wanting nothing but family, peace, stability, and love for that man. I literally have a mug that my dad made for me that says LET BUCKY BE HAPPY. I wanted him to not have to fight anymore. To never have to say "it always ends in a fight" ever again. To never be exhausted, on the run, used, fighting wars he didn't choose. I wanted him to have a family, to be accepted, chosen, loved. And at one point, THAT'S WHAT EVERY OTHER BUCKY FAN WANTED TOO. We wanted him to rest!! To LIVE!! To have a chance at his own life and peace and family and happiness!! To not just be spiralling in the wind, alone and feeling like he would never get better or have a family ever again! WE WANTED HIM TO BE CHOSEN!!!!
And then...HE. FUCKING. GOT. THAT.
The ending of TFATWS? Fills all those boxes. With Sam and the Wilsons, he's recovering. He's part of a family who chose him, who trust him, who call him out on his bullshit, who love and cherish him, who expect nothing of him and just want him for his presence. They don't ask him to fight. They aren't just there because of his skills in battle. He found peace, belonging, stability with them. ACCEPTANCE.
And none of that even came at the expense of him giving up the fight. He chose to remain in it - with Sam. Because he believed in Sam, was devoted to him, and even though he's been fighting his whole goddamn life, he had a choice to keep fighting and he decided to to use his skills for good by Sam's side. Which being Sam's partner fully allowed him to do -- AND gave him the other things: family, peace, acceptance, etc.
But now, these Bucky Stans™ are acting as if his ending in TB is what's FINALLY given him all of the things I mentioned above. As if he didn't already have that. As if his C A N O N dynamic with ANY of the TBs is even CLOSE to what he had with Sam and his family. (I swear, these people have no idea what "found family" actually means. They think it means "people he has met".)
It's just wild to me that these people, who claim to love him, clearly do not actually want the best for him. And look, I'm a fic writer. I like making Bucky suffer in my writing, even though I love him. But that's not the same thing as tearing him out of the happy ending that he canonically got--or, if you will, the happy beginning!!--and saying:
"NO, actually that wasn't it, I want him with this random group of mostly white assholes, one of whom literally tried to kill Sam with the Captain America shield right in front of Bucky. I want to put him there, and not only that, have him working FOR the CIA that is being run by a corrupt woman who 5 minutes ago he was so desperate to take down that he sacrificed his whole career as a Congressman to get back in the fight to try and get rid of her.
Let's put him there, back in a fight he would never choose, stealing the legacy of Sam--his ACTUAL found family, who know, love, and cherish Bucky in exactly the way he deserves--and shitting all over Sam's heart and job and character. Yep, that's Bucky's happy place. That's where he's happiest. That's what we want for him. And at last, he has it!"
LIKE ??????? HE HAD THE FOUND FAMILY. HE HAD IT. HE HAD IT HE HAD IT HE HAD IT and my Bucky-loving heart was SATISFIED for the first time in like 10 years!!! and at this point, I'd have preferred if we never got any more Bucky content; if we'd just left him peaceful and happy in his life with the Wilsons. That's what I always wanted for him, after all, and even though it would've been really sad for me to never see him again, it would have been better than...this.
Than watching him become someone I don't recognise. And still being asked to consider him the same guy. To love him in the same way.
Sigh... The thing is, though, is that I know WHY they're acting like this.
They say they wanted all of this for Bucky. Everything that Sam and the Wilsons/people of Delacroix canonically gave to him. But then when he got that, it wasn't good enough.
Because what they actually meant was that they wanted him to have all that, but not with Black folks.
And Bucky Stans™ claiming that that's not the reason: what the hell is it, then? Because I've explained pretty thoroughly above just why, in fact, Sam was Bucky's happy ending. And if you love Bucky like you say you do, and want what's best for him...why isn't that enough for him?
Why isn't that enough for you?
I know why.
EDIT: and A L S O. I'm so sorry I didn't even mention Bucky's ties to Wakanda. People who ALSO fought for him, were there for him, took him in and accepted and cared for him. AND HE'S ALSO FUCKED THEM OVER TOO AND PEOPLE ARE LIKE YAY!!!!
(to be clear, Sam's character is more than just Bucky's family and happy ending lmao, i don't want to just reduce him to being there FOR Bucky's happy ending. but just. u know what i'm saying)
