i think one of the worst things is that as much as we say, “we never thought stevebucky was going to be canon”….. it could have been canon. i don’t mean it in the my ship is better than your ship kind of way, more like marvel has meticulously crafted an intimate and intricate relationship between two people who love each other so deeply, they’d defy all odds for each other. steve & bucky is THE underlying relationship that the cap movies have revolved around. marvel has placed them in traditionally romantic tropes like the ‘damsel in distress’ trope, the ‘i’ll avenge your death or die trying’ trope, and the ‘i’ll break through amnesia for you’ trope. when bucky died in the snap, he died saying steve’s name. at some points in the films, subtext borders something very different. they ARE the most important people in each other’s lives and always will be. it’s a shame what endgame did to them, especially considering after dedicating 3 movies to their relationship, marvel could have done something groundbreaking. it would have been so easy.