#it took me 32 ktinutes to write this

[ruffbun]

Let's talk about Tony Stark

Now, this is a matter of my opinion, and I I'm not saying you have to love Tony, but I think he should afford more respect than is given to him by some people.

So the most common thing I hear from antis is "Well he sold weapons", "He was a warmonger" , etc.

First of all that's from the FIRST movie, why are you still on that bullshit? But let's talk about it anyway.

"He made that choice he could have stopped" "He just wanted to profit off of it he only cares about himself!"

May I remind you, that Tony inherited head of the Stark Industries company at a very young age, an age young enough where, honestly, I couldn't even dream of running a multibillion dollar compsny. I'm nearly 22 and can barely feed myself. So let's think about that, how stressful that would be for him, on top of dealing with loss and grief over his parents. Now, let's add in another key factor that people seem to forget about. Obadiah Stane. Think for a moment here, who was REALLY running things? Who was REALLY profiteering off of the war? Was it Tony? A kid who just wanted to pursue his science career and grow and learn and grieve for his parents ? Or was it this man, who he looked up to as a second father, who he TRUSTED to help him and make all of the big decisions for him? How do we even know that Tony was aware of what was going on behind the scenes? When you trust someone like that, you don't check in on them 24-7 to make sure they're doing things the right way, hell especially if you're young and naive.

People like to forget that it wasn't really all just Tony doing these things. They forget that he was a puppet on Obadiahs strings. A man he loved and trusted and was betrayed and backstabbed by.

Now let's move past that point for now. Let's go to "Oh he's arrogant" "He's a Playboy" etc.

Let me remind you again of some things. Let me remind you that he was young. That he was grieving, and let me also remind you who he had as a father 😒

I'll also lend you some information from personal experience, that kids with parents who often neglect to give them the attention they need, are always going to try to fill that void in some other way. There's a very very good possibility that Tony is such a "Playboy" because he is still looking for all of that love and affection he missed out on as a kid. Think about how much he grew as a person once he finally started to get it.

Now, moving on. "Oh he makes so many mistakes!" "He fucks up all the time!!"

Don't we all?

We all make mistakes, we all fuck up sometimes, just because his mistakes may be bigger or more public than ours sometimes, doesn't make him an awful horrible person! Everyone makes mistakes!! Including the other Avengers.

However we elect to ignore and forgive everyone else's mistakes, yet crucify Tony for his. That just isn't fair.

I'll also remind you that every "big mistake" Tony has made, had good intentions. All of Tony's mishaps have come from him trying too hard to help and protect his friends, loved ones, and the entire world. All of these things he's done "sO" wrong, were him trying so hard to fix what he had previously messed up. He doesn't always go about things in the best ways but he's trying his fucking best to protect people. To help people. And I don't think anyone ever stops to think about this.

Tony is a very passionate and emotional man, and yes sometimes that blows up in his face, but Steve is equally as passionate and emotional, yet we put him up on this godly pedestal of "can do no wrong". If we're going to bitch about people's mistakes, bitch about everyone's. Not just one man's.

Now I've also heard people complain about Tony being a "typical heterosexual white male"

Is... Steve not.. also this? Clint? Thor? Bruce? No you just choose to dislike Tony because he has what? The most money? Because he *looks* like the men we fear in today's society? Because he has emotions? Because he gets cranky sometimes?? I don't get it. I don't get why we choose to complain about one man and ignore everyone else. Complain equally, or not at all. Don't crucify one man for his wrong doings and ignore everyone else's.

And yes, these things have lessened up quite a bit since the release of Endgame. However, I am saddened that it took Tony giving up his LIFE in order to protect his friends, family, loved ones, and all of humanity, for people to realize that he is, in fact, a good man.

We can also talk about "oh well he was mean to Peter." As I do recall, Tony was harsh on Peter in that ONE scene in homecoming, because he wanted Peter to be BETTER than him, he wanted Peter to be SMARTER than him. He wanted to keep Peter from making the same mistakes as he did and he wanted to be there for Peter in a way that Howard never was for him.

Now we can talk about "oh well he tried to kill Bucky"

Oooh boy. Okay listen, Bucky Barnes is my absolute favorite character in the MCU. I adore him and would kiss the ground he walks on. However, I'm not going to give Tony shit for reacting the way he did.

Here Tony is, trying to help his friends again, trying to right his wrongs, fix his mistakes, etc. And he finds out that this man, this man that his best friend has become a criminal to protect, is the one responsible for his parents deaths.

Now yes, Bucky was brainwashed by HYDRA, and no, it was not Bucky's fault for doing what he did. And given proper time to grieve and reflect, Tony would have known that too. However, Tony did not receive any time to grieve, reflect, and come to terms with what was going on. All he knew in that moment was 'this strange man in front of me is the one responsible for my life of hurt and pain and the loss of people I love dearly, and my lack of childhood'

Don't come here and tell me you would not have also panicked and lashed out in that moment. Stop berating human beings with emotions for reacting to harmful situations like you're a perfect angel and would never react that way under duress. You're lying if you say you wouldn't have at least been angry.

So when it boils down to it. I'm not saying the man is perfect, I'm not saying he's never made dumb decisions or stupid mistakes. But what I am saying is that he deserves a lot more respect than some people give him.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. Asks and inbox are open for further discussion if you wish to communicate respectfully.