you know I'm normal about this fandom when I start learning Russian to write fics properly
Ok so with Bucky driving and crashing that van into a building in thunderbolts, Is it too much of me to ask/ imagine that:
Bucky just wordlessly takes the steering wheel with him after. It’s not like they’ll need it anyways, the vans likely not drivable after that, so Bucky just rips it off its hinges so casually and carries it with him out the van, leaving the rest of the thunderbolts kind of confused,
Because really, who just does that??
Bucky notices their confused faces, looks down at the wheel in his hand as if he hadn’t even realized he’d done it, and just shrugs “oh, it’s an inside joke.” And we don’t get an explanation for it at all, very IYKYK
And the last scene in the movie is just bucky coming home to sam, “got you a souvenir since you missed all the fun.”
How good are all of the Thunderbolts(Yes I'm still calling them that I don't care) at sparring? This is what I think. List is from worst to best(Bob not included)
5. Alexei Shostakov: Yes, I know he's a super soldier, here me out. Alexei is very strong, but in a group like this, being strong isn't as big of an advantage as you would think. He can throw someone around yes, but does he seem like he has the amount of training everyone else has? No. Against unenhanced people he's amazing, when fighting with trained assassins? I actually think he would lose first.
4. John Walker: Yes, he's like, the best in the military, that's also not super cool compared to some training the others have. I do think he would beat Alexei in a fight because he has the same strength but more training, but he would lose to some of the others because they are trained better, have different skills, and have more control over their strength. I do like to think he's somewhat still learning how to control his strength. Even though he has military training, with the serum he seems like he would rely more on his strength than skill to take down an opponent.
3. Ava Starr: She would be so much higher if she could throw a punch better. With her skillet, she doesn't even need to fight and she would be absolutely amazing at dodging. I think she would easily beat John and Alexei by dodging and trowing a few well aimed punches. Though I don't think she is the best and hand to hand fighting. With a weapon? Amazing, you're probably not winning. Hand to hand? She probably needs a little bit of practice. She seems more of a spy with a gun than a soldier.
2. Yelena Belova: She's a widow, what else do you want? I think she would be able to beat both previous super soldiers because her fighting style is so different and she's very quick on her feet. I think she could also beat Ava because quick enough reflexes would be able to get her before she phases again. She was an assassin, she could definitely beat around a lot of people.
1. Bucky Barnes: I headcannon that he trained the young widows in the Red Room so yes, I think he could beat Yelena in a sparring match. Maybe it would go back and forth a bit, but for the most part I think Bucky would be able to win. He was an assassin for far longer, has the super soldier serum, and has a vibranium arm.
These are just my thoughts and how I write the characters, I would love to hear how anyone else interprets their fighting styles!!!
keep reading Thunderbolt fics where Bucky drinks tea a lot. No idea who started that idea but it's fun
I like to think the habbit started with Zemo
Sometimes a family is two recovered brainwashed assassins, a girl who moves through walls, two discount Captain America rejects, and the recovering meth addict they all collectively adopted. And a Guinea pig (not pictured). I love them dearly.
a small collection of recent sambucky doodles
Because they're a family and you can't change my mind.
Bucky: Mom. But also older brother to Yelena, Ava, Bob, and John. Friends with Alexei. Ava and Bob are the youngest siblings, he protects them at all cost. Yelena is the younger sister that can take care of herself and beat him up but he still likes to look after her. John is the brother he makes fun of but still loves. Alexei is trying to co-parent Yelena and it's working somewhat.
John: Older brother to Yelena, Ava, Bob, younger brother to Bucky, some kind of cousin to Alexei kinda deal. Loves the girls, will protect them with his life because they're his little sisters. Bob is the younger brother, he is very protective and loves him, but he also gets quite a bit of the teasing. 100% goes 'you're not my mom' to Bucky, then rebels, then finds out Bucky was right. Is annoyed with Alexei a lot but sees that he's a useful member of the team and respects him(most of the time).
Yelena: Older sister to Bob, best friends with Ava, younger sister to John, daughter of Alexei, little sister of Bucky. Protects Bob with her life because he's just a little guy and she feels responsible. Ava is her go-to person for gossip and all matters of family drama, they make fun of John together, besties forever. John is the annoying older sibling she makes fun of but secretly is very fond of him. Alexei is her dad, like literally. Bucky is the older brother she's very close with because they have similar backgrounds.
Ava: Friend of Yelena, older sister-in-law of Bob, tries to ignore Alexei, little sister of John and Bucky. Gossip bestie/mock John together type of friend with Yelena, they share everyone else's embarrassing secrets. More distant with Bob, but is a friend in law and ends up getting to know him better and caring for him. Thinks Alexei is ridiculous but secretly loves watching him bother Yelena so she has blackmail for later. Bothers Walker non stop sibling like but will protect him. Mocks Bucky for being a mom but does listen to him.
Alexei: Self-proclaimed team dad. No one else thinks so. Father of Yelena and Bob, tries to be father of Ava and John(not working), biggest fangirl of the Winter Soldier. Even if he's a little eccentric he does care for Yelena, and adopted Bob too because he sees how much they love each other. Tries to help Ava and John but he's just a bit much at times. Acts like Bucky is his best comrade and will tell him every story he can think of. Is team morale, but no one wants the morale.
Bob: Younger brother to Yelena, Ava, and John. Son to Bucky and Alexei. Tends to look to Yelena for support and questions, will also look to Ava if Yelena isn't there. Despite bickering and teasing, he has grown closer to John and does see him as a brother(bother) figure. Likes Bucky and Alexei and loves that he has father like figures in his life who care for him and actually want him on their team.
This is how I write/interpret their relationships and these are just some of my thoughts, I would love to hear yours!
Favorite 4 marvel things in no specific order:
Black Widow
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Thunderbolts*
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
I love these so much please talk to me about them
I'm plagued by the thunderbolts, have some randomly assorted headcanons
Ava, Bob, and Yelena yell cucumber instead of "bless you". They especially like yelling it at John because he finds it dumb and annoying. Bucky and Alexei are confused.
Ava and Yelena end up getting really close. Neither of them have had friends since childhood, so it's nice to connect with one another. They bully John together 💕
John gets his kid for the weekend. While he was a distracted father, he still knows HOW to take care of a kid. None of the others besides Alexei do and he can't believe how incompetent they are. Alexei likes John's kid because toddlers are easy to impress lmao.
You know the "life changing field trip with Zuko" thing from ATLA? Life changing field trip with Bucky. One way or another, Bucky either comes to an understanding or gets closer to the others on the team. Bob was thoroughly startled to find out that Bucky wasn't scary, just socially awkward
No one but John and Bucky knows how to cook. They don't even cook WELL, just passable. How everyone else has made it this far on take out and frozen meals is beyond them. Ava and Yelena go "how hard can it be?" And now they're yelling at Alexei to follow the recipe as he insists that he knows better and this will taste WAY better. Bob is quietly ordering pizza.
If things turn into a genuine screaming match on the team, Bob going "can we please calm down?" Makes everyone very bitterly simmer down because they know this a bit triggering for Bob
In general, I think they start to learn one anothers triggers and start being more mindful of them. Barely even consciously, but they've all felt that void inside them and don't like being the reason someone else feels it again.
Everyday Bob is blown away by what's happening around him and what's happened to these people. Like, while Bob had a rough life, it was a "normal" kind of rough. No experimentation, no super powers, no government plots. Just a normal guy dealt a terrible deck in life. He's spent the vast majority of his life with no powers.
Ava, Yelena and Bob decide to hang out one day as normal people. They are very bad at this and they come home with torn clothes and a cat.
I'll stop yapping for now, I just love them
Thoughts on Bob's powers in Thunderbolts
(cut because major spoilers and also it's kinda long)
I don't know much about the thunderbolts comics(feel free to correct me), but from what I understand he has the power of reality manipulation(like Wanda, I want to do another post talking about their similarities)(side note: he also had a dog he was really close with in the comics and that wasn't put in the movies??? Marvel give your characters their emotional support animals back)
This means that he can do just about whatever he wants. Anything he wants to do, he can manipulate things around him to do it.
As seen in the fight between the thunderbolts and sentry, talking with Val, and becoming the void, he can do many things, including: change the temperature of objects(boil water, melt Walker's gun), teleportation/super speed, telekinesis, super strength, being indestructible, flying, causing people to relive their memories, some sort of darkness??, telepathy(? I do not know about this one, the only evidence I have is that he was in Yelena's shame room the first time, but there is also evidence that he cannot read people's minds, so I am undecided. This may have to do with what I will talk about next), and there's a good chance that's not all his powers. Like I said, he can probably do whatever he wants to.
But he doesn't seem to do that often, this may be because he doesn't know what he can do before, or he lost his memory afterward, it's hard to tell because we don't see the 14 months to understand better, but I have some theories that may play out in Doomsday.
When can he do this?
I think it has to do with the fact that he's bipolar
(disclaimer, I am not bipolar, I do research for writing purposes but I may be wrong, please correct me if I am)
When he's sentry, that's mania, he feels unstoppable, like a god, like he can do anything. So he does. He is unstoppable, he beats the thunderbolts up and shows off his powers.
But I also think we see another instance of his powers in a mania episode. When he's at the vault.
This may not make much sense at first, hear me out.
In the vault, underground, he says the team is better off if they leave him behind, he doesn't care if he dies and he thinks he's worthless. That's pretty depressive.
But then the team cares for him. Yelena drags him around but makes sure he's alright, she shows that she understands how he feels, they're somewhat similar, and that may be the closest thing to a friend Bob has had.
And then they're driving out, they're being questioned, they're gonna get caught.
And what does Bob do?
Sacrifices himself for them.
He goes out and attracts people's attention to save his friends. This may look like a suicidal depressive thing, because he's pretty sure he's gonna die to save them, and it probably partly is, but I can see mania there.
You can have mixed symptoms, both manic and depressive symptoms at the same time. In this instance he's: making poor decisions on the spur of the moment, looking like he's having quick thoughts and actions, and being very confident in a bad situation. These are all symptoms of mania. But he's also putting himself in a situation where he knows he'll die. Suicidal.
But he looks like he knows what he's doing. He's not scared, he's not agitated, he looks into the guns, and he looks confident. Like he's accepted that he's gonna die and he doesn't care.
And he's not hurt.
Both times he's had a manic episode, he's not able to be hurt. He's confident. In one instance he know's he'll die but he's still confident he's doing it for a good reason, and in the other instance he's absolutely sure that he's gonna win.
So he does.
He feels indestructible, he is indestructible.
Flip side, if he's in a not-quite-the-void-but-still-pretty-depressed situation, I'm pretty sure that he is able to get hurt.
Now, we don't see this in the movie, I can't think of a time where you can see him visibly hurt, but then again, I'm speculating on his powers, so humor me.
If he's depressed, sad, thinks he's worthless and can't do anything, I think his powers will reflect that, he'll lose his powers, not be able to do the same things, and be able to get hurt.
Now the void? I'm not sure. That looks pretty much like a direct embodiment of his depression rather than him feeling depressed. It almost skips right past the ability to get hurt back into the indestructible phase again. It's hard to hurt someone who's hurt so much that they don't care.
But it's weird in a way. When he's in the final shame room, when Bob attacks Void, the void smiles, looks at him confidently, talks like he owns the place, and doesn't get hurt.
Is it mania again? Maybe, I don't have the experience or qualifications to say for sure, but then again, if only just a little bit, it sure looks like it.
So his powers play directly off of how he's feeling at the moment.
Manic? He feels unstoppable? His can do anything, manipulate reality in a way that he'll always win.
Depressed? He feels worthless? His powers aren't there, he gets hurt, and he's just as human as the rest of them.
Again, these are just my thoughts, I may be wrong, you can correct me, we can have a discussion, we can come to an agreement or think our own thoughts. I would love to hear anyone else's takes on this, I think it's really interesting because there are so many ways to think about his powers!