posting meme: Steve Rogers
resonant asked: So I see your list of "things I will attempt" has a lot of Steve. What do you love about the character?
I was a latecomer to the MCU, and to Steve, since I never read Marvel comics as a kid (except for Fantastic Four). But the minute I "met" him, I knew he and I were kindred spirits, and I suppose that is what made me love him right away. It's this: when I was young, I was very shy and tender-hearted. And as I got a little older, all that empathy compounded, and I used to get worked up about perceived injustice - man, I had two modes, MAD and simmering rage - and I had a boss who used to tell me that wasn't healthy. He'd ask me constantly: would you rather be right, or be happy?
DUH I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT AND FUCK SHIT UP IN THE SERVICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND VANQUISH EVIL, WHY IS THIS A QUESTION
Uh, he was right, tho, from a life-balance perspective. Pick the hill you want to die on, etc. I've mellowed out since then, and these days I'd mostly rather be happy...but 'fight me' and 'I can do this all day' and 'no, YOU move' would have been accurate descriptions of my temperament until my 40's. Not always in open confrontation; I learned how to pursue my agenda through other means, without it being metaphorical fists all the damn time. My temper has mellowed. My methods have become more subtle. *g*
ANYWAY. So that's part of what I love about Steve: that determination to do what's Right (TM). But there's so much more about the character I love, and those are the reasons I think Cap is resonating with just about everyone these days. To see a situation going south and do what he thinks is correct. To stand up in the face of bullying and mistreatment and people misusing their authority, and to never back down. "If you get killed, walk it off." I love that Steve is stoic, but he feels a lot. There's nobody with more feelings than Steve. You'll never know it, tho, unless he a) loves you or b) he's mad at you, usually because you aren't Right (TM). He's devoted, he's loyal, he's strong and smart, he's courageous (the guy who jumps on a grenade and is like, yeah, I did that...so??). He's self-effacing and awkward around people he loves, and he can be snarky when he's annoyed. He's a smart, capable, natural leader who sees opportunities and obstacles to smash through where other people see mountains they can't cross. (This, ironically, is why he and Tony should get along better; Tony also has never met a problem he believes can't be solved.)
Above all, Steve is a good man, who never forgot what it's like to be the little guy - and who was sticking up for the little guy, when they were the same size.
I mean. What's not to love?????