dear_mun | Canon review as the mun considers games.

I don't need anyone to clean up for me. [Kind of firm there.]

I can handle it. Of all the things that go wrong, I can clean up my own messes. No matter what happens, no one knows my tech better than I do.

In your time, yes. In mine, we know your tech better than you do. It's the value of hindsight. And in order to clean up a mess, you need to know it's happening before it hits the point of no return. If you don't, or won't - time travel tense trouble is kicking in - then we step in.

You're ahead of your time. But you're not precognitive.

So you're a type of enforcer for the peace? Or a time janitor? Either way, I know my work. I built it. I can figure it out.

I appreciate the concern, but really. I have it handled. There have to be bigger world-shattering crises without heroes around.

...time janitor. [He runs a hand through his hair.] Sure, why not? It's a lot less awkward than pre-Indrustrial Revolution assignments where people come up with truly pretentious titles for what I do.

I wouldn't know. I don't work with your universe often, actually; mostly you're a self contained bunch. I'm just saying you can't be expected to catch everything. And yes, I usually deal with things significantly worse, but every now and again I get light work like genocide prevention or something inbetween the heavier stuff.

Oh. Right. Light work... [He's almost cringing with distaste. Genocide prevention. Of course that's no big deal...]

We like to be self-contained. We do better that way. Keep people safer.

[Well, when you've stopped whole planets from going to war with each other, everything is skewed. Virtually never existing on the physical plane is doing wonky things to his perception of what is and is not horrifying.] They try not to overload any one worker with too many heavy assignments in a row. The burnout rate for this job is already rather high, as I'm sure you'll understand.

No place is truly self contained. But yours does an admirable job in continual containment of danger; assuming no one does anything truly unstoppable in the next two centuries, you've got a good two thousand years left in you, easily.

[He is never going to be used to those kinds of things. It's too much death for him to stomach.]

I can imagine. You don't seem too broken up.

[Actually, he kind of reminds him of Reed.]

We haven't run into anything we couldn't fix yet. we have good people out there, taking care of whatever comes our way. That's why we're around... and I know they can manage. Not too worried.

We have a lot of emotion suppressants in the future. I do at least wake up often enough to take my medication. Otherwise, things get to be too much.

[Given how many theories there are about him being descended from someone in the Marvel universe, it's not the first time he's been compared to Reed. It won't be the last.]

Yet. Always a key word in my profession. I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you. Things can go south in a matter of seconds.

The future is full of enhancements and sociopaths, mm?

[He's clearly joking. And he likes Reed, so Tony isn't really that put off by the clinical approach.]

Yet. We haven't lost yet either. That's what contingency plans are for.

I agree with that first part. The second... depends on what sector you're in. Lawyers and politicians are still as wonderful as ever.

[Well, his last name is Richard. According to mutual fandoms that could make him Reed's far flung relative. That said, he can still crack jokes about his time.]

You know, Mr. Stark, I have a feeling you would've been quite good in my profession had you been born in my era.

Hey, I've known some pretty good lawyers. They're driven, but not that bad. Sometimes.

[The Richards' blood dilutes over time? Tony would actually believe that.]

Well, from what you're saying it sounds a lot like what the Avengers do in our time. So you probably aren't too far off.

They're still sort of acceptable targets. Well, that and people who colonize new planets. They're like our rednecks.

[He blinks at the comparison. Being put on the same level as Avengers, who have at least some physical prowess, when he hops around in astral projection form most of the time? It's flattering, but he doesn't see himself that way.]

Avengers put themselves in danger. I'm never in the line of fire. I think my job is a touch safer.

You have to start somewhere. Space exploration is still a big adventure for us. We're looking into the unknown.

[Tony isn't all that hung up on the differences. The analogy is still good.]

But you're helping. You're protecting people from danger by making a difference. That's your purpose.

The sense of adventure is a bit lost on me. I guess I just don't see the appeal. Also, space rednecks. Think on that concept.

[He raises an eyebrow at Tony. He does not have a lot of self confidence... which is the greatest counter-argument for him being related to Reed Richards ever.]

It's a no-fail job. If things go wrong we just go further back. I can't be hurt because I'm not there physically. I help, but my life is never on the line. There's levels of bravery here, and I'm a dozen steps down from an Avenger.

Well, if you're stuck in a fish bowl I guess you wouldn't. That's part of the excitement, you know, The experience. The discovery.

[Tony can still talk about these things with a sense of wonder. Okay, so maybe future-cop isn't exactly Reed Richards, but he's got a little bit of the same distance from his work.]

So if something goes wrong you just do it over until you're happy with it? What happens if you're never happy?

I don't really experience excitement. Even before I got into this business, I had a pretty high apathy level. It's not an uncommon condition in the future.

[Wonder isn't his thing. Tiredness prevails over everything else, but there's never any rest, since he's technically always asleep.]

We thought of that. The solution is to just change things enough that the world doesn't go to war and humanity doesn't wipe itself out. If those criteria are met, it's a success and everybody goes home... or in my case, I go into another mission. In any case, the goal is minimal interference.

You never feel excitement? Then why do anything?

[That's something Tony can't imagine. He's so dedicated to what he does that not feeling would probably count as torture.]

Minimalist tampering. I guess I can't complain about that, since it's not hurting anyone... but what do you get out of it?

Because I don't like the idea of letting timelines and all the innocent people in them suffer. I still have a conscience, even if I'm not very emotional. Besides, all my life I wanted a way out of the world I was born into. Out of the overcrowding and media overload... anyway, it's hard to explain. We're a very different society.

[The trade off for technological leaps: rampant mental illness, apathy and a shallow culture that makes the past look beautiful in all its' grimy glory.]

We don't know what universe we're originally from before our ancestors made the leap into the one we currently inhabit. Since our only historical clues are it was an Earth, all Earths have to be protected, along with as many people as possible. We also can't time travel back to the point where we switched universes - or at least, nobody comes back alive when we try. Something big happened back then we've never figured out or recovered from.

[Tony tilts his head. He's still very much involved in everything he does no matter how different he may be to people. He's always been deeply involved in everything and everyone, even when he tries not to be. A world where empathy is that low is hard for Tony to adjust to.]

No, I think I get it. Even advancements have their limits sometimes...

[Usually his answer here is to build something better, but maybe not at this point.]

Hey, sometimes less is more. I get it. And I appreciate it. The Avengers are always the first line of defense. So far, I think we're keeping up. And maybe a hands off policy is better for you.

Sometimes, Mr. Stark, the advancements are the limits.

Our current policy is as hands-off as we're going to get, I think.

Maybe we're the ones with the limits... No, you're probably right. Sometimes.

I like that policy. Enforcement always gets tricky when it becomes too invasive.

Enforcement has been tricky. Too loose with the rules and things go wrong, too many and things go wrong in the other direction. I've learned to leave the office politics and the philosophizing to other people.

It's always tricky, but that's what we have to decide. That's part of the deal for keeping people safe.

Someone has to make the hard choices. And I'm not sure we can always trust the ones who get the job.

Canon review as the mun considers games.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject