Okay, I just couldn't keep quiet. (I'm feeling like I've just found my people!) You don't know me, and you may not even want to friend me back (because seriously, if ya'll can have this kind of freaking awesome discourse about IM, you all must be on my flist), but I just have to dip in and speak because I ... I can't stop myself.
Maybe Tony was groomed from the start to be the dimwitted face of Stark Industries
Oh, I think definitely this. I think Obediah quickly, deftly, and purposefully stepped into Dad's shoes. Of course he provided love and comfort to the grieving son ... but he also started providing everything needed to induce/feed any and all addictive tendencies in an emotionally-damaged, immature young man (booze, sex, gambling, you-name-it). Because what better way to control Tony? What better way to prevent him from ever actually maturing ... keeping him the "boy genius" who was satisfied with playing with his "toys": the engineering feats that made SI shareholders rich and the addictions that kept him in line.
And it worked. Until Afghanistan. Until Tony, in his mid-30's, did in 3 months what should have happened at a younger age over a longer period of time ... he "matured". He came back a changed man (though still and even more so messed up) ... to an unchanged world. He unwittingly fell into old habits (the whole sinking gratefully into Obie's care and embrace before the press conference) but expecting something different, something that fit his new "reality".
The first real kick was Rhodey's rejection in the hangar. Totally blind-sided Tony. Like a kid who's best friend had been happily playing with him one minute and then slapped him, made fun of him, and kicked him out of the treehouse the next. Serious ow.
And then he actually "saw" Pepper for the first time. Fell into his old habits of stalk-and-acquire. But his old habits didn't sit right with his new self, though he didn't consciously realize it. I loved the scene on the balcony where Pepper succumbs to his unholy magnetism and leans in for the kiss, but he's the one who stands there like a deer in the headlights, not jumping on the opportunity (like normal). Then gratefully running away to get drinks while trying, on some level, to process what in the hell had just happened ... and then the photos. Getting ripped from his confusing "new" world to be thrown with PTSD-intensity back into captivity/survival world.
Finally, he puts two and two together, which intensifies the conflict and confusion in his head and tosses in an increasing dose of pain. And then Obie tells him the truth. With a no-longer-caring "embrace" ... in a mean, ugly voice ... and with eyes that no longer try to hide his true feelings for this stupid child-in-a-man's-body who had always been a nuisance and had now actually messed with Obediah's world. "Bled out" is such an accurate description of Tony's shock.
Can I just say now that when Obie called him "a little prick" later, my heart hurt a lot. I can imagine that some part of Tony probably didn't care if the blast from the reactor killed him (Tony).
[sighs heavily] Thank you for letting me join, if only for a moment.
Re: second time through = golden. i'm thinking about going time #3.
Maybe Tony was groomed from the start to be the dimwitted face of Stark Industries
Oh, I think definitely this. I think Obediah quickly, deftly, and purposefully stepped into Dad's shoes. Of course he provided love and comfort to the grieving son ... but he also started providing everything needed to induce/feed any and all addictive tendencies in an emotionally-damaged, immature young man (booze, sex, gambling, you-name-it). Because what better way to control Tony? What better way to prevent him from ever actually maturing ... keeping him the "boy genius" who was satisfied with playing with his "toys": the engineering feats that made SI shareholders rich and the addictions that kept him in line.
And it worked. Until Afghanistan. Until Tony, in his mid-30's, did in 3 months what should have happened at a younger age over a longer period of time ... he "matured". He came back a changed man (though still and even more so messed up) ... to an unchanged world. He unwittingly fell into old habits (the whole sinking gratefully into Obie's care and embrace before the press conference) but expecting something different, something that fit his new "reality".
The first real kick was Rhodey's rejection in the hangar. Totally blind-sided Tony. Like a kid who's best friend had been happily playing with him one minute and then slapped him, made fun of him, and kicked him out of the treehouse the next. Serious ow.
And then he actually "saw" Pepper for the first time. Fell into his old habits of stalk-and-acquire. But his old habits didn't sit right with his new self, though he didn't consciously realize it. I loved the scene on the balcony where Pepper succumbs to his unholy magnetism and leans in for the kiss, but he's the one who stands there like a deer in the headlights, not jumping on the opportunity (like normal). Then gratefully running away to get drinks while trying, on some level, to process what in the hell had just happened ... and then the photos. Getting ripped from his confusing "new" world to be thrown with PTSD-intensity back into captivity/survival world.
Finally, he puts two and two together, which intensifies the conflict and confusion in his head and tosses in an increasing dose of pain. And then Obie tells him the truth. With a no-longer-caring "embrace" ... in a mean, ugly voice ... and with eyes that no longer try to hide his true feelings for this stupid child-in-a-man's-body who had always been a nuisance and had now actually messed with Obediah's world. "Bled out" is such an accurate description of Tony's shock.
Can I just say now that when Obie called him "a little prick" later, my heart hurt a lot. I can imagine that some part of Tony probably didn't care if the blast from the reactor killed him (Tony).
[sighs heavily] Thank you for letting me join, if only for a moment.