darrellblackmore:
theindefinitejames:
starkravinghazelnuts:
iron-legion-cyborg:
I feel like Tony’s ego is the most legendary cryptid in the MCU
Because I heard reports of it for years. The images of it are usually blurred and easily dismissed as something else to anyone with a pair of eyes and it has yet to actually be proven to factually exist.
I think a lot of people believe Tony is arrogant because of his flippant attitude and tongue-in-cheek blustering, but many of his actions (which speak louder than words) demonstrate a remarkable lack of ego.
I mean, time and time again, Tony tries to be a team player, listens to others, and exhibits self-deprecating behavior. When he was dying in Iron Man 2, he went on a destructive binge to force everyone who loved him away so they wouldn’t care when he was gone. I mean… !??!?!? Like, ego? Where!?
Iron Man is more than a suit of armor. It’s a metaphor for who Tony Stark is as a person: cold and hard on the outside, but warm and soft on the inside. He uses his arrogance as a shield to protect himself–to deceive people into thinking he’s not as vulnerable as he really is.
It reminds me of this quote:
“The difference between ‘Iron Man’ and some other movies is that there’s no spider bite; there’s no magic bullet where a hero is born. We had to build him. We wanted people to remember that there’s a person inside that suit, and it will hurt if he falls.”
It boggles me when that’s lost on some. Like, yeah, Tony’s a messy character, and he’s certainly a hard pill to swallow because he can be downright acrimonious, but he feels so deeply. He’s easily wounded. He’s one of the most emotionally-driven superheroes. That’s why everything he’s done has taken such a toll on him. It’s why he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s why he has anxiety attacks. He wants so badly to do good and save the people he loves – even at the cost of his own sanity and comfort. Every time he fails, it destroys more and more of what little self-worth he has.
What kind of selfish egoist does that?
Tony has a very autocratic streak. He has a tendency to assume his way is the best way;
He builds the Mk 2 and 3 in order to clean up the use of his weapons (particularly the Jericho missiles that Stane had been ‘dealing under the table’) rather than trying to work with his own company to do an internal audit and figure out who the fuck is dropping weapons with HIS NAME ON THEM off the back of the truck for terrorists to pick up.
Rather than actually talk to Pepper, and the top doctors he could certainly afford to try and remedy his condition, he tries to solve his illness himself, and when he fails, starts quietly wrapping up his life and preparing to die until he solves the issue of his palladium poisoning at the eleventh hour with Fury’s help.
Ultron. His fault, working on HIS solution to the prospect of another invasion, and Sokovia suffered for the golem that he created.
Involving Peter in the grownups’ disagreement AT ALL. C’mon man, every time you put that kid in harm’s way, you end up panicking over whether or not he’s going to make it back to his aunt on his feet or in a box.
Tony’s sin is Pride. Admittedly it needs to be, to drive a lot of his story. He may not act in an obviously self-aggrandising way too often, but he keeps making decisions and taking responsibility onto himself that he should not, because he thinks Tony Stark is capable of handling it. And then it blows up in his face and now we’ve got a story.
“Let’s chase away everyone that cares about me instead of communicating with them”
“He doesn’t have an ego problem!”
Yeah right…
… autocratic sure is an interesting spelling for mentally ill. He takes blame on himself for everything bc hes not in a good place mentally. Control issues maybe, but idk why its seen as a moral issue, like having problems he cant help (but does visibly work on!) makes him and him alone a bad person…
And uh yeah, chasing away ppl who care abt u is Not an ego problem. At all. Is it making a decision for other ppl? Yes. Is it right? No. Should he have communicated? Yes. But you wont give a dying man with ptsd any slack, huh?
Like, the number of times ive had to stop myself from going ‘oh I’m a terrible friend i dont deserve to have friend I’m gonna shut friends out and its for their own good bc im awful’… and I just have anxiety and depression. I have a therapist, which is partly why i can say ‘Uh, no, not making decisions for my friends, I’m not awful, its ok’ when my mind gets like that. Im not a bad person or a bad friend. I’m not an egotist either (i also vary between overconfident and self deprecating!)
Tony at that pt is dying, he has terrible esteem for himself (“i shouldn’t be alive”) – and yeah, he still has an attitude with hammer, but thats confidence, its not ego if its true – and he DOES try to tell pepper, multiple times, but fails to for various reasons. But he thinks theres no hope.
He’s not well, he’s physically and mentally sick, and under a lot of pressure, and clearly makes a decision thinking that pushing them away would help them not hurt so much when he dies. He thinks its altruistic to make them hate him/not communicate with them at that pt.
They cant do anything to help him, he doesnt want them to suffer watching him die, and grieve. If theyre angry at him it wont be as bad for them, he thinks.
He didnt tell them sooner bc he thought he could fix the problem before they would have to worry about him, he was putting off the reality that he really was going to die soon, if they knew that wouls make it real. And I’ll emphasize he’s not making these decisions in the best situation.
So its really, really not ego. At all. Not healthy or good behavior, i can totally admit that, but it is a human thing, and not unforgivable. And not an ego thing.
iampinbitch 