Oh, I wasn't talking about after the shooting, I was talking about more of a what-if scenario where Steve were still alive. Which is a necessary ingredient in the survival of most Steve-related pairings. But frankly, if you're using "doing regrettable things under mind-control" as a place for bonding, the list is way longer than Bucky. Steve and Tony would both qualify, as well as pretty much anyone else in the MU.
Well, firstly, Sharon isn't James Bond. She's a super-spy, okay, but she's never been shown to be a philanderer, or to sleep with men because the mission demands it. Not all super-spies are the same. Black Widow's entire backstory is having her white-picket-fence story torn away by the government and then being manipulated into espionage-- but that white-picket-fence story is still something she deeply wants.
I don't think there's any evidence that Sharon doesn't mean it when she commits. She's a lot more realistic in her expectations, in that she knows relationships end, most of the time, whereas Steve probably doesn't think that way, but that doesn't mean she's not trying to make it work.
And, well, canonically at least, there's always going to be a great injustice. I think that's how superhero comics work. I wouldn't expect either couple to really work out in canon-- successful marriages are really, really rare in serialized adventure stories, simply due to the genre. So, I wouldn't expect any couple to work out in canon. In fic? Well, I can see a lot of stories with happy endings for a lot of couples. That's what it's for :)
The brainwashing stuff was in response to the comments, and sort of in anticipation of anyone making that argument. It's dubious.
Re: never
Well, firstly, Sharon isn't James Bond. She's a super-spy, okay, but she's never been shown to be a philanderer, or to sleep with men because the mission demands it. Not all super-spies are the same. Black Widow's entire backstory is having her white-picket-fence story torn away by the government and then being manipulated into espionage-- but that white-picket-fence story is still something she deeply wants.
I don't think there's any evidence that Sharon doesn't mean it when she commits. She's a lot more realistic in her expectations, in that she knows relationships end, most of the time, whereas Steve probably doesn't think that way, but that doesn't mean she's not trying to make it work.
And, well, canonically at least, there's always going to be a great injustice. I think that's how superhero comics work. I wouldn't expect either couple to really work out in canon-- successful marriages are really, really rare in serialized adventure stories, simply due to the genre. So, I wouldn't expect any couple to work out in canon. In fic? Well, I can see a lot of stories with happy endings for a lot of couples. That's what it's for :)
The brainwashing stuff was in response to the comments, and sort of in anticipation of anyone making that argument. It's dubious.