Steve Rogers Meta - Blog Posts

steve not taking care of himself in ways that are basically self harm but no one knows because of his healing factor

he'll ignore wounds on purpose and that would get most people infected, but he heals faster than the baseline human and is immune to disease so no one bats an eye when he skips medical again

he drinks enough high proof liquor to give the baseline human alcohol poisoning ten times over but no one thinks he has a drinking problem because they think he can't get drunk, but it's not that he can't get drunk, his body just processes alcohol more efficiently

he's in the gym too much but everyone brushes it off because of course cap is a gym rat, he's an avenger so of course he has to train, he has to keep up with the job somehow, no he's not over-exerting himself, he'll be fine, he's a supersoldier.

My question is: what is Steve Rogers’s body count? … We don’t talk about that a lot because he’s an American Hero ™ and American Heroes don’t ever actually kill people even when they’re, you know, soldiers in the actual fucking Army.  The American Hero has to show mercy and give everybody a second chance and any time the Bad Guy dies, it has to be because he made a mistake that lead to his own death.  The hero can never actually just fucking murder him in our stories because that would be wrong and a true American would never do something like that.

So, like, has Steve Rogers ever shot a dude in the face?  Has he ever snapped anybody’s neck?  Has he ever been struggling for his own life and used his shield to take a life?

If you have either canon comics knowledge or just Opinions and Feelings, please feel free to share.  Because, like, dude was a soldier in WWII on the European Front fighting Nazis, kicking open doors with gun literally blazing, so he’s obviously killed people, but we never discuss this.  How does Steve reconcile killing?  Does he feel guilt?  Is he comfortable with his actions?  Has he killed people since he got pulled out of the ice?  How does he feel about taking human lives?  Does he talk to anybody about it?  Does he just internalize it and let it eat him up inside?

I just had a thought on Steve’s initial argument against the Accords.

What if they send us somewhere we don’t wanna go?

What if they don’t send us somewhere we think we should be?

He already had a point in his life when he knew he could be helping the people who needed it, but was limited to a star-spangled costume and jaunty theme tune. He’s been put on the bench before, and he’s seen people he cared about suffer because of it. If they’d let him out sooner, maybe Bucky and his unit would never have been captured. Maybe Bucky would never have been tortured and hurt and made into Zola’s plaything.

Given the war that Steve fought in, and given that he saw how America hung back until Pearl Harbour happened, I don’t imagine he’s ignorant about how they could end up being put on the shelf while conflicts raged, until they were absolutely necessary. On top of that, he has watched his identity as Cap be used for politicking, to sell war bonds, to encourage patriotism and all that jazz, even after his death.

And here’s a thought: Tony was the one who created and unleashed his weapons on the world. Steve was one of those weapons. It’s the difference between being the seller and being the product. Tony sees it as a quality control. Steve sees it as losing his autonomy and becoming that dancing monkey again.

all this interesting meta on disability going round lately has me thinking about Steve and Bucky and disability 

so here are some varied thoughts/questions about things I don’t really see much in fic/meta: 

Steve spent much longer as a disabled person than an enhanced person so he’d probably have a lot of habits or patterns of thinking that revolve around the disabilities he no longer has, eg: 

waking up every morning bracing for the moment of ‘okay, which of the things is bothering me today?’ and it doesn’t come

spring / big open grassy spaces (like parks) are a problem because of pollen; animals are a hazard because of allergies; fall/winter is a problem because of heating and colds and flu and slippery sidewalks; beaches are good because no pollen but bad because shirtlessness; crowds are bad because of his hearing, and so on. 

Would he still avoid all these environments without realising he’s doing it, or deliberately seek them out because now he can? 

how long after serum did it take for Steve to stop trying to wedge himself into spaces that pre-serum him could fit? 

I’ve long headcanoned that the reason Steve leans on things is because he’s subconsciously still resting a back that no longer needs to be rested. 

(Ditto for why he cocks his head; he’s channelling sound to his ‘good’ ear.) 

if you think about the aspect of disability as a form of living in a world that is not designed/adapted for you to easily navigate, then do both Steve and Bucky, despite being super, still fall into that category? 

Everything around them, that was not made for them, was made for people of a different size and strength than them. So there might be all kinds of adaptations they have to improvise to make their environment livable; like reinforcements of furniture, doors, shelves, drawers, cupboards, eating utensils, vehicles, clothing, weapons. 

(Imagine being so strong that every tube of toothpaste bursts in your hand, door knobs just come off, and every pedal in a car seems to be on a hair trigger.) 

How are you supposed to use a car when there’s a chance you might accidentally rip the steering wheel off? (HILARIOUS, yes, but seriously!) 

How many towels and pieces of clothing have Steve and Bucky torn? 

What about art? Does Steve need metal handles on his brushes and pencils? Firmer brushes or softer? Thicker paper/canvas? 

What about touchscreen technology? How do they not crack screens? 

What about the bed. How does a bog standard flimsy ikea bed survive two enhanced men using it? For purposes.  

As the friend of someone who was once also smaller, weaker, and slower than him, Bucky might have an easier time handling this ‘everything is small and flimsy’ environment than Steve (it might be like living in pre-serum’s Steve apartment.) 

if you headcanon that they both have enhanced hearing and sight, too, then would they also be sensitive to, eg. noise pollution in a way un-enhanced people aren’t? 

Do they have to have extra soundproofing? Ear plugs at night? Avoid crowds? Is the city a difficult environment for that reason? 

If they have enhanced sight, does that mean they can perceive dirt and dust more acutely than a normal person? Are they assiduous in cleaning because of this, or lax because living in dirt and dust can’t harm them the way it can a normal person? 

(Do those two things cancel out? To them it looks like they’re living in a mildly grotty environment but to non-enhanced people it looks spotless? Would them both coming from being in a neat military environment affect this too?)

What about taste/smell? Can they detect chemicals in modern foods that wouldn’t bother an unenhanced person? Do they have to alter their diet to account for that, or again, are they indifferent because those chemicals can’t harm them? 

Would Bucky have diet problems after Hydra? (What was the Soldier’s feeding regimen?)

Sound is one of the common anxiety attack triggers for vets with PTSD, so how would they navigate that + enhanced hearing? 

Speaking of mental disability, hyperarousal is another common side effect of CPTSD - so how would Bucky and/or Steve handle that when their very senses are themselves hyper? 

Flashbacks are another problem for PTSD sufferers, so what are their triggers and how do they each navigate that? 

(If Steve’s bad associations are all from WWII, does that mean old things are dicey for him? If Bucky was tortured in a reclining chair, does he have a problem with modern recliners, or environments with those kinds of chairs, like dentists and hair dressers?) 

And about Bucky’s arm: 

does he experience phantom pain? problems with proprioception? if it’s a removable prosthetic does the join cause pain/irritation?

does he learn how to do things one handed just in case? Consciously or unconsciously? 

does he buy things adapted for one-handed use? 

does he ever forget one of his hands is stronger than the other and damage things because of it? 

does he alter things to be reinforced on the left side? (Does this make them unusable for Steve?) 

How do people treat Bucky now that he has a visible disability? 

does he hide it because of how people treat him, or because it outs him as the Winter Soldier, or both? 

how does he feel about having to hide a disability for that reason? 

does he use disabled services (bathrooms, parking spots) and get shit from karens for not ‘looking’ disabled? 

how does he feel about other disabled people, now? 

given that most people don’t have super hi-tech prostheses like him, how do other disabled people feel about/treat him, especially if they’re poor/er? 

how do he and Steve feel about disability representation, now? 

Can we talk about how Steve Rogers would probably fight to keep abortion legal and safe, because he saw how many people used to die back in the day because all abortions were illegal and unsafe and he knows if a person is pregnant and don’t want to be pregnant they will find a way to not be pregnant?

Can we talk about Steve Rogers telling off right wing politicians who say minimum wage isn’t supposed to be a living wage? Can we have him saying ‘No, I remember when it was instituted. It was supposed to be a living wage, senator.’

Can we talk about Steve Rogers supporting a raise in SNAP benefits, because he knows how it feels to go hungry?

Can we talk about Steve Rogers having problems with this country’s military industrial complex?

Did they ever reveal how Captain America was thawed? Because I’m picturing a bunch of Shield agents with hair dryers and I don’t think that’s quite right.

the thing about “angry chihuahua” pre-serum steve is that on a vacuum, I get why people like it? like it’s cute, smol steve being angry and sassy, it’s funny, not everything in fandom has to be 100% serious and angst-driven etc etc, i understand that

but at the same time… it bothers me so much because it’s just. so. condescending. like… “awww look at this poor disabled man thinking he can stand up to people, haha, so adorable, thank god he has bucky around to keep him alive!111!”. 

(i don’t want to get too much into how this devalues the stucky dynamic bc i don’t even go here, but bucky! respected! pre-serum steve! immensely!! he didn’t see him as a reckless idiot who needed him to survive! it’s like people take the “the little guy from brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight” quote and only remember this part and forget the rest, the most important part, “I’M FOLLOWING HIM”! bucky knows pre-serum steve was way more of a hero than some dude dressed as the american flag shooting a fake gun at movies!!! that’s the POINT!!)

it’s just so… dismissive of steve’s bravery and cleverness. people take ONE scene in the first avenger where steve gets into a fight he’s clearly not going to win, ignoring that a) the framing of the moment when the guy stands up and steve’s face makes very clear that he KNOWS he’s in trouble, he has no delusions about ACTUALLY being able to win the fight; b) the dude is being an asshole and disrespecting others in the theater and steve! gets! him! to stop!!!! The guy LEAVES to beat him up in the alley, thus accomplishing the main point of Steve’s intervention, aka to let the grieving lady watch the tribute to the troops in peace. 

and that’s like… THE ONLY TIME IN THE MOVIE where pre-serum steve does something like this. right on the first enlistment scene, some dude is clearly trying to tease him with the “makes you think twice about enlisting, huh?” talk, and steve just goes “nope” and IGNORES THE GUY AND DOESN’T TAKE THE BAIT. because it doesn’t matter! it’s just some dumbass who isn’t threatening anyone! steve doesn’t need to get into a fight because someone is underestimating him - if he did, he’d fight with everyone all the time, because guess what, as a disabled man in the 40s, steve is barely considered an actual man. there’s a LEGITIMATE scientific view in this time period that argues that people like him should be murdered at birth. he KNOWS how he’s perceived. he’s aware. when he’s talking to the doctor, he’s not brattish - he asks give me a chance and is there anything you can do?. his tone in the latter line specifically is TIRED, not defiant. 

and then!! the One Scene apparently everyone who thinks pre-serum steve was a moron with a macho complex didn’t watch: the training montage! where that hodge guy deliberately fucks with the barbed wire just to get in steve’s way and STEVE! DOESN’T! REACT!!!!!!!! he just grits his teeth and tries to keep going and the officer has to be like “rogers take this rifle out of the mud”. there’s no indication that steve EVER tried to fight this guy in the movie, despite the fact that he’s constantly shown laughing/bullying steve during the training. why? because it’d be a pointless fight to pick. it’d be a fight picked out of nothing but pride and steve can’t afford to do that. he stands up for what’s right, not for everything and anything that pisses him off.

it frustrates me that people don’t seem to get this because it’s like… the very core of steve’s character. he’s not a wannabe bully. he’s kind and polite to others (meeting peggy, talking to dr. eskrine. eskrine isn’t just impressed by the “i don’t like bullies” moment, he’s clearly also very pleased by the fact steve doesn’t show prejudice against him for being german). the only moment where he adopts a “fight me” posture that gets him in actual trouble, it’s to protect and help others who can’t stand up for themselves. i get that in theory the idea of smol bean steve fighting everything and everyone might sound fun, but in reality, a person who craves violence and sees it as a prime way to achieve their goals is the opposite of who steve rogers is meant to be.

(and that’s not even getting into when people write POST-serum steve with this “fight me” attitude which is like… how… do you think… that’d be ok… how do you not see a difference between a ninety-pound disabled man and a literal supersoldier trying to intimidate people physically… which part of “a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion” you didn’t understand…)

so imo, this characterization weakens not only steve’s character, but his arc, and even the story of tfa as a whole? the serum works on steve because he’s already a noble, brave, good man. if he was an asshole who bites off people’s hand for looking at him wrong, none of this would make sense. by this logic, eskrine might have as well picked hodge.