dear_mun | Looking at Fear Itself again.

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canon: marvel comics

Looking at Fear Itself again.

Can we stop highlighting the low points of my life? I wouldn't mind forgetting, but you don't know when to stop. Resilient was a good place. Things were better. Not great, but better.

No, I don't want to weigh out which war was worse, but if you're making me choose, I'll stick with the one I've got.

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Asking which war you lived through was worse seems a bit rude, if we're being frank. Don't listen to her.

It's got practical purposes, but I've already got a place. This time, I'm going to stick with it.

[He's trying to treat this responsibly.]

Sure you will. We all seem to say that, and then at the last second they change their minds, and there's nothing we can do about it. Kind of crummy, if you ask me.

[Tony you are a ball full of optimism today aren't you.]

I'm not going to change this time.

[He says each word carefully, just so his other self understands. This isn't up for negotiation.]

It's not-... worth forgetting. [Wording.]

Isn't that usually their MO? Focusing on the worst parts of our lives, just for "fun".

That's the way most people are, Pete. If it's big, it's interesting, and suffering is big.

They can focus on it if it makes them happy. But that doesn't mean I'm going to let them move things forward.

[The great canon point debates.]

And we've always got to be at the receiving end of it.

[just...resigned to it. marvel doesn't do happy endings anyway]

So if you had your way, what's the last thing you'd want to remember?

That's our lot in life.

[Ah, Peter. His perpetual bad luck at least seems to give him perspective.]

None of it. If this were an ideal world I could just forget it all. The last thing would be an arbitrary moment working with the Avengers to prevent some national catastrophe. I'd erase it all.

But I don't want to abandon this life.

Aw, but some of those low points of yours Mr. Stark are your best defining points.

[Skuld's going to behave and not point out there's more to come because she saves that for Thors]

Falling off the wagon isn't a defining point.

[There's always more to come. He knows that. He has personal reasons for wanting to stay where he is.]

Not in the last case, but other times it's helped you get back on the right track.

[Have a deep sigh. There is so much irony here it's almost nauseating.]

I have never had so much encouragement to do the wrong thing before in my life. Do you powers that be get off on this or what?

[But Tony, Tony, you are actually more stable drunk.]

[She giggles a little] Never said it was a popular ideal. And I'm just calling things as I see them Mr. Stark.

It'll be fine in the end you'll see. Will probably hurt some friendships, but they will mend in time.

[Mun agrees he is, and glares at Skuld because really she should go easy on the visions around him. At least she's trying to stay vague.]

Calling it like you see it. Right. That's easy to say if you get to shape how you see it.

[But better is good. Or, maybe not good, but... yeah.]

Doesn't everything? It seems like I can't go a month without someone being pissed at me.

I wish I could shape what I see. Millions of moments to weed through at once and hope that I follow the thread the right way. You get to shape it... I try to guide it so that there is always one.

Hey that's what you get for being famous, and a hero though. At least you get a month. Usually I get twenty seconds before I'm seeing someone wanting to kill me.

[Just because really, they think the way to get the future they want is taking the place of a Norn? Oh if the mortals only knew]

That must be a pain.

[ Pardon him if he's not exactly sympathetic. He kind of holds a grudge against the beings that shape the world around him. It's outside of his comfort zone, so he gets irritable. ]

That's what you get for being anal about our futures. Gods or whoever else, we don't need anyone breathing down our necks to do what needs doing. We've got it. That's why heroes are around.

[Not like she was part of that but hey she'll let him have it.]

Hey not like I have a choice in that because really, the role I play was chosen for me when time began.

[He's not actually blaming her. He's just freaked about higher powers in general. It's hard losing control.]

... You should tell them to do their own work.

[Which means he's sorry for being harsh. He didn't intend to lash out, and he does understand her dilemma.]

[She shrugs.] What is it that cartoon meercat says. "Hakuna matata"

Think we can agree that both of us were dealt shitty cards? You're a little luckier I think there's a way for you to get do overs.

I don't believe do overs exist for anyone. Especially not normal humans.

You also don't see things like I do. Though, out of everyone on the planet you might come close. Just not as many branches of the future as I can

War is always worse. The evils of it cannot truly compare to one another; who are we to quantify a ruined home against a slain soldier, against a field made fallow or a tyrannical law?

Sometimes there's no choice. There is worse. Losing is worse. Dying without fighting is worse. We do what we have to do.

So we do.

So what's the right answer?

If I have learned anything, Mr. Stark, is that you cannot look to the past for your answers. My words may stir your heart, but they were not written for your troubles.

That sounds like a cop out. [Nah. He knows better. He's just running his mouth again.]

There are good reasons. Principles. People. But at the end of the day? Sometimes it really is easier to forget.

[ It is a cop-out. But perhaps he can forgive Thom his eccentricities; he did well enough for his own time, after all, and that's more than anything a man can expect to achieve. ]

Forget your principles? No, Mr. Stark, for principles are a thing of blood and bone. A man is born with them or without them, and to lose or to gain any must be at a terrible and bloody cost. You cannot forget your principles. You can only ignore them, to regret it later.

[ He's seen the rough end of things, so he can't really blame him for saying that. Tony doesn't rely on others when he can help it. The advice makes sense. He just has to be sarcastic. It's genetic. ]

You'd be amazed by what you can forget when you try hard enough. People change, and if there are things we don't like, we change them. Our environment, our minds... It's all relative to what we want.

[ Of course, it comes back later, so it's not like he actually forgets. But he's the type to argue the point. ]

And what do you want, then?

What does anyone want? Peace. Hope. Home... I don't know.

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Looking at Fear Itself again.

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