That's what I thought too, Nora.

Sorry. More CA:CW (which I always read as "CAW CAW!") babble. But! I keep thinking about the contrasts in grief and trauma we get here, I just can't get away from it and Steve and Tony are both fucking swimming in it at the worst possible moment. And, well, Steve and Tony process it so fucking differently.

Steve's been described as the guy who won't bleed all over someone else--and we've seen it twice now: people in his life die and he basically isolates himself as his first response (interesting Bucky and Natasha parallels here in the post-funeral scenes for both, each actively seeking him out and refusing to let him do that entirely). Tony just sort of hemorrhages all over the place (I don't say this as a criticism: he's not actively trying to spray arterial trauma, but his methods of coping-by-avoiding are often so very, very, very loud and shit gets messy fast). Neither coping mechanism--because not bleeding all over someone else basically means you're busy walking around with emotional internal bleeding--is especially healthy. They've grown to like each other, but man, they so, so, so do not understand each other.

God, they're both falling apart at the seams here. It's a lot more obvious--especially with Steve--on the second viewing (not being in 3D helped a lot). And it's just so fascinating to watch them both shatter in that last fight. Three solo movies, two Avengers movies, we've seen Steve angry a lot--but it's almost always been righteous or focused and channelled into a fight. I think this is the first time we've seen it actually go into seriously primal territory. It's just, ultimately, such a violently human fight.

And it's just so fascinating to watch them both

Man, yes. All of this. I don't think I've ever been as shocked-but-not-really by anything in any of the MCU movies as when Steve slammed his shield into Tony's chest (Iron Man suit, okay).

Another thought:

It seems like Tony has been actively trying to deal with his grief over his parents' death, and regret over not being a better person or a better son or whatever. That was the whole point of the simulation at the beginning, right? And then to have that thrown back in his face, that they were murdered by the person who's the cause of his disagreement with Steve? Ow.

I wonder how many people are annoyed that their summer blockbuster popcorn movie is making them think about motivations and "Maybe nobody is the good guy."

Bucky still needs hugs.

And a headband.

#TeamHeadband

Dana, he has been, and it's clear that he's trying to figure out how to put his life back together. I'd still argue that the cause of final schism remains Wanda--Steve was about to sign on after bringing Bucky in until he found out about what had been done with her--but Bucky's clearly why he went and remained rogue.

Also, how many times do we see Steve fall in this? Because it feels like a lot. Which feels important.

Another thought, based loosely on something Victoria said in her DW yesterday or the day before... she'd been looking at Steve going into the water in situations related to a flying device, each time not expecting to live, and I keep thinking... this time, that last fall, pulling himself out, pulling Bucky out: Steve Rogers survived, but that's really where we see the death of Captain America. Because that's kind of what this is, just not the literal kind. (DO NOT DO THE THING, MCU. YOU HAVE PROVEN YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO IT.)

NO HEADBAND! #teamflowinglocks

Buffistas: Civil War.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking in terms of the final schism, but why Tony reacted so viscerally when shown that video. Objectively, he has to know that Bucky, the person, isn't responsible for what he did while brainwashed and under HYDRA's control. But to know that the Winter Soldier killed his parents, which lead to Obadiah Stane, which led to his capture by the Ten Rings and Yinsen's death and probably the beginnings of his PTSD...

And of course, Steve having to deal with Peggy's death, the one other thing that connected him to his life in the 40s, leaving Bucky as that last thing for him to protect as fiercely as he can...

Buffistas: Civil War.

I knew it would come to this. t cracks knuckles