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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
The code words are actually realistic: Completely random words that no one would ever accidentally say outside the exact context of trying to control a brainwashed soldier. None of that crap from The Manchurian Candidate where the soldier gets activated by a casual conversation.
Writing a post-post apocalypse LitRPG on RR. Also fanfic stuff.It just occurred to me that now not only will we probably never know whether the trigger words had significance to Bucky (the theory I saw most often was that each word was tied to a memory) we'll also never know if they went all in and included "Sputnik" (the word in the comics that was used to shut him down).
And speaking of things we'll never know: what about Tony's B.A.R.F. thing? They went out of their way to show it to us in Civil War, and then it apparently never comes up again. The genera consensus seemed to be it would be the key to curing Bucky's triggers, but Shuri did that in Black Panther, and it was so easy for her they didn't bother to mention how she did it. So, why even bring it up? Did it only exist to show us Tony's relationship with his mother? Although I did think of one really sadistic use, if Marvel wanted to permanently break the hearts of the entire fanbase. Avengers 4 happens, and they manage to get it together one last time and kill Thanos and fix what he did... and then it all fizzles out and disappears, and we find out that the whole movie was really Tony using the B.A.R.F. obsessively to 'create' a better outcome because in reality all their efforts were for naught. The end of Infinity War was indeed the end; this is the new normal and there is no way to fix it. Hence the former Iron Man slowly driving himself insane with his own wish fulfillment machine, while Rhodes worries and wonders how long it'll be before he has to stop a suicide attempt.
BARF was an attempt to show not tell how messed up Tony is about his parents deaths and then used to illustrate his overall emotional state coming into Civil War when right after showing it off he learns that Pepper ditched and then he's accosted by grief mom
Forever liveblogging the AvengersSince when is it out of character for Tony to make his emotional problems everyone else's problems?
It's his signature move
Forever liveblogging the AvengersThere are also a bunch of them and they're so arbitrary that it'd be really difficult to actually remember the activation sequence unless you're reading it directly off the codebook. Which makes it easier to control who can and cannot trigger the Winter Soldier based on simply by controlling who has access to the codebook.
Not perfectly, mind you. But easier.
So, yeah. Good on them. They gave the Winter Soldier a really complex activation phrase that's hard to leak or accidentally trigger, and in return, the Winter Soldier program worked out perfectly with zero flubs or errors for decades.
It's easy to forget 'cause we only get to see the last couple days before everything went to pot. But the fact that Hydra was able to keep both his and their existence secret for so long speaks wonders for the effectiveness of their espionage methods. They demonstrably knew what they were doing.
I mean.
Tying each word to a memory would be an odd choice if you were regularly wiping his memory because you didn't want him remembering those things.
edited 29th May '18 11:41:36 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Unless the words are designed to make him repress the memories out of fear/negative connections.
But honestly, this is stuff for fanfic writers. Wo G is that the words were randomly chosen.
It's fun to speculate but I think the Russos confirmed the words are not meant to have any significance at all, including "homecoming" which was an odd but genuine coincidence.
I was hoping that BARF would come back in the context of being used to fix Bucky as a sign of change or moving on from Tony ("Sorry for trying to kill you even though it wasn't really your fault but those HYDRA assholes, to make up for it I'll try to give you some peace of mind"), but Shuri took care of it already (I assume it's safe to talk about Black Panther spoilers now?). I mean they could still use it as a plot point in the future since he's had such a long life and witnessed a lot throughout it, but certainly not in the near sense.
edited 29th May '18 2:32:19 PM by AlleyOop
"Since when is it out of character for Tony to make his emotional problems everyone else's problems? It's his signature move "
Sure but revealing those memories is not, Tony is controling as hell but at the same time, dude is as close as is armor.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"This is also the man who couldn't keep secret about being Iron Man for ten minutes
And yeah much of his emotional arc in Iron Mens 2+3 are about him not telling people about his feelings but he learned that it's ok to make his problems someone else's problems
Specifically Bruce
But without a Bruce, an MIT class looks a lot like him
What with the smarts and all
Oh god he misses his Bruce so much
Forever liveblogging the AvengersI actually liked that scene from Dr. Strange, because it was sweet and cute how much the Cloak had gotten fond of Stephen in such a short time period. It was a subversion of the typical badass suit up scene, but I found it more heartwarming than humorous because it was a subversion that addressed the elephant in the room that would've been there if it had been played entirely serious, which was that the suit itself is sentient and might have its own feelings on the matter.
Also, Wonder Woman is certainly more serious, but there is bathos in the film, mostly coming from and towards the supporting cast. Also, the scene at the end where she goes on a rampage and starts killing people and changes her mind like half a minute later is pretty dumb.

What were the Winter Soldier's handlers on when they chose those codewords? Bath salts? Lithium?
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!