This is for Gemfyre. I realized that I couldn’t find my original post about Steve’s uniform deficiencies, so I rewrote it.
Looking closely at Cap’s war uniform (the Eisenhower jack dress uniform, not the spangly getup in tights), I would like to do a meta breakdown of his ribbons, and then point out a few deficiencies. Hopefully this will provide context for fan artists and fanfic writers.
To start us off:
Here we see the creature Stevus Adorablus Serious in his natural habitat.
This is his insignia from shoulder to hip, right to left.
His rank he wears on his shoulders. This is typical placement for Officer insignia back in the day. Modern Officer uniforms get an actual shoulder bracket. Steve’s a CPT so he gets railroad tracks. His CPT’s insignia is not centered on the shoulder tab. Tisk tisk. Strike one.
Next you see his U.S. lapel pins that all officers wear. The left one is pinned at the correct angle and distance; the right (not pictured) is a bit off. Oh well, pobody’s nerfect. Also, note how they differ from Bucky’s. Bucky is enlisted, which means he wears the rounded US lapel pin on his right our left, and his MOS branch on his left our right. (Bucky is an 11bang bang, or infantry of course):
You’re a beautiful sub, Buck; now straighten your cover
.
Next up, on the bottom lapel, you see Steve’s branch pins. Only Officers wear these, because we branch a career rather than perform an MOS (military occupation specialty). Steve’s branch pins are the SSR logo, which of course is fictional. Again, the right one is a little off in both distance and angle. The left one is correct.
Here’s where it gets fun! Steve has jump wings. But why you ask? He only had like, a week of basic training before receiving the serum! When did he have the time to go to jump school? Fun fact: back in WW2, the only requirement for a soldier to earn jump wings was to perform a combat jump, which Steve did when he went to rescue Bucky. So he would not have had to attend jump school. The jump wings however are my biggest pet peeve when it comes to his pins. They are way too close to his ribbons. There should be a 4th of an inch away from his ribbons, and centered on his pocket. But they are practically touching the ribbons, and aren’t centered on a damn thing. Strike two.
Steve’s ribbons! Steve has a purple heart for valor. The oak leaf represents being awarded the purple heart twice (if it was silver, it would indicate 5 times btw). The purple heart is awarded for extreme valor that results in injury. In this, I’m going to have to show extreme skepticism. I will award Steve 1 purple heart, maaaaaybe, for the pain associated with the serum transformation. But the second one makes no sense. He does not appear to get injured while liberating the 107th, and then is almost immediately wisked away to London for a briefing. Unless he’s spotting a GSW we the audience don’t see, I can’t imagine a scenario where Brass would give him a second purple heart. There is an argument to be made that it was given for meritorious service, in order to be inducted into the Legion of Merit, but I find that unlikely Strike three, you’re out.
The second ribbon is simply a campaign ribbon. Fairly standard. Bucky would have one too. I’ve got one for the global war on terrorism. Any soldier who serves during wartime gets one. However, the campaign ribbon Steve wears is wrong for him. It’s the American Defense Service Medal and they stopped giving them out in ‘41. Steve enlisted in ‘45. Strike…wait, you’re all out of strikes. For shame.
Both ribbons are not well spaced between his jump wings and his CIB btw.
His CIB, combat infantry badge. Standard badge given to an infantryman for taking hostile fire (or going through infantry AIT or IBOLC.) Bucky would have one too.
His gig line isn’t straight! (Belt should be aligned to the edge of the jacket, flush)
Steve has a Presidential Citation Badge that he wears on his right, over his pocket. It’s centered. The PCB is given to a unit that serves under difficult situations. My unit has one for time in Iraq. Fun facts: you are forever authorized to wear the PCB if you serve in the unit at the time it is issued. You are also authorized to wear it if you serve in the unit at any time afterwards, even if you weren’t present at the time it was given, but you must take it off if you change units.
So there you have it. Steve’s uniform in a nutshell. It’s something to note, that pins and insignia are extremely hard to get right, and cause no undue frustration on the part of the soldier. I have a melt down every time I have to pin my uniform, and cry for hours until reaching a point where I use up all my fucks and resign myself to looking like the shitbag I am. It’s also a point of note that most new Officers look completely dicked up in their formal uniforms. It’s just paying your dues, I suppose. And make no bones about it—at this point in his military career, Steve is very much a new Officer. Bucky would have no doubt straightened him out though, the second he got a chance, as is his role in life as Steve’s NCO component. Because while Bucky cares not for decorum, he does care for Steve, and he wouldn’t tolerate him looking dicked up in uniform. And I wrote a fic about that exact thing, go read it.
So: in summary
Steve: -1 point
Costuming: -10 points
Bucky: -2 for cocked cover and sloppy salute, +1 for correct insignia placement.
I leave you with a softly smiling golden retriever
Can we talk about Steve here? The way he’s looking at the Tesseract. He must be thinking “how could something this small cause so much pain?” The war it started, the years it cost him… the friends he lost…
can I just-
this is the only closure Steve gets for the war. That the weapon that fueled Schmidt’s maniacal search for power beyond what the Reich could give him, the weapon that created the backbone of Hydra’s weaponry, the weapon that contributed to Bucky’s fall, to the bombs on the plane, to Steve’s decision to down the plane {ten days} and then everything he lost because of that-
this is the only closure Steve gets for losing everything.
Look at him. Steve Rogers is not the kind of guy who experiences hatred, but he fucking hates that thing.
Not just that but it nearly cost him his home, again. The Avengers movie for Steve is that the war is now at home. He went to Europe and fought there. This is now on his turf. In the aqueduct sequence he didn’t even need to think about where the battle lines needed to be drawn. He knew the way a native New Yorker knows where to hold fast.
The movie isn’t clear how long Steve has been awake from the ice for, but it clearly hasn’t been really long. He sees the war reduced down to this one object – something that is rarely true of a war.
It is commonly believed that Steve cannot lie. Much like Washington, he has this weird reputation for being totally honest all the time.
Like with Washington, this is a total myth.
Steve is actually a very good liar, provided he knows he’s going to lie and has his lie down before he tells it.
No one knows Steve’s ability to lie better than Bucky, though there was a time when he was as blissfully unaware as everyone else. There was a time when Steve was able to successfully hide health issues and emotional problems, insecurities and fears. That ability shattered the day Bucky came home to him collapsed on the floor, barely able to breathe and utterly incoherent from fever.
there was a moment where bucky thought steve was dead and he never forgave steve for that
After that, Bucky was more aware. He was able to figure out Steve’s tells, or just know when things didn’t add up. He knew when Steve needed him to wrap an arm around his shoulder and when Steve needed him to stay home. Steve never stopped lying, but Bucky lied too. Now they were on even ground, since Steve was rarely fooled. There were days where Steve felt worthless, pointless, like a burden. Those were the days where Bucky held him close and ran his fingers through Steve’s hair and talked about all the ways Steve was good and how much better Bucky’s life was because of him, until Steve was sobbing into Bucky’s shoulder but they were good tears.
Years later, Steve is still lying. Nat says he’s not a good liar, but that’s not true. He’s lied successfully for ages, pretending that he was okay. Sam was the first to see through it. Nat saw that he was lonely, but not that he woke up screaming more often than not. Not that he still dreamed about Bucky falling, or about being so cold he couldn’t move. Not that the better nightmares were the ones where he jumped off and followed Bucky into oblivion.
Bucky’s there, but he’s not Bucky anymore. Not really. Bucky wasn’t that quiet, or that serious. Bucky didn’t keep so much distance from everyone. Bucky didn’t look at Steve like Steve was a stranger.
It hurts to look at Bucky these days. Things pile up. Ugly missions that stick with him. Failures he can’t forgive himself for. Smile. Keep calm and carry on, as the queen used to say.
One night, after a mission, he’s sitting quietly in his living room. It’s something he does, and it never helps. Usually it just ends with him feeling utterly worthless, because thinking turns into an ugly cycle of guilt.
Bucky is too quiet. Steve doesn’t even realize he’s in the room until he sits down next to Steve on the couch.
“I’m fine.” Steve says automatically, because he’s been saying it to almost everyone since they got back from Moscow. Bucky’s expression doesn’t change, it’s a blank mask. Maybe his eyes narrow just a little, but Steve looks away. “I’m fine.” He says again.
Bucky reaches out slowly, like he’s not sure of what he’s doing or thinks Steve will want him to stop. Steve’s too startled to protest as Bucky starts running his fingers through Steve’s hair.
“I’m fine.” Steve protests weakly. Bucky keeps up his movements, and they’re so careful and gentle that they break Steve’s heart. Bucky doesn’t say anything, and Steve doesn’t think his expression, or lack thereof, changes.
“I’m not going to be fine if you keep this up.” Steve tries to joke, but it’s more broken than he means it to be. Bucky pauses, and for a second, Steve’s sorry he said anything because it was so nice to be fussed over, even that little tiny bit.
Then Bucky’s fingers start carding through his hair again, and Bucky seems a bit more confident in that movement.
“It’s okay,” he says, very quietly. “To not be fine."
Steve finds himself curled up in Bucky’s lap, sobbing, his arms wrapped around him with Bucky still petting his hair. He feels stupid, but also lighter, better. Bucky could always tell when he was lying.
Who else wants to come and and just pinch a bit his cute badass chubby cheeks? 😀
(some times when I have an ask proclaiming that petvengers are cute or adorable or variation on the theme I answer with Bucky correcting that they are badass. This time I went a bit overboard :D)
No matter how far Bucky runs, or how much progress he makes in rebuilding his life, he can’t shake the feeling that Hydra are following him and working to control him again.
I couldn’t stop myself – I just had to give him a pin with Steve’s wings for his jacket ;).
Everyone who has headcanons about Steve and/or Bucky being awkward with babies and/or small children,
I understand the impulse I truly do I get it, however have you instead considered them growing up poor in the Great Depression and thus in a crappy apartment complex where every adult is working their fingers to the bones when they can find work
and thus a young Steve caring for many an infant when he was well enough to be responsible for anything other than lying in bed and breathing?
and thus a young Bucky watching over dozens of under five year olds at all ages over ten?
And later, Steve taking care of neighbors’ kids when the parents were sick because that’s what had happened for him when Sarah was sick and dying and dead?
And Bucky being a huge hit not just with the ladies he took out but also their little siblings who he’d play with when he arrived to pick her up early and she wasn’t finished getting ready?
Steve and Bucky accepting child-wrangling as a totally normal life skill, just like shining shoes and darning socks, makes 1000% sense to me.
Steve tries to be slightly too Cheery at them a lot of the time, so he’s better with younger kids; meanwhile Bucky is mildly unsettled by this becoming a rarified skill.
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