"Well. I am. Mostly. What else is new? Here's the thing--" Tony took a swig from his water bottle, needing to wet his throat. "You say things like, "Stark, I'd go to war for you" or "Stark, I'd die for you" and it...it gets to me. Like in a, 'oh that's so flattering way' but it's really fucked when I think about it because that's not who I am." Tony glanced up at Thor's face, gauging his attention.
"I'm Iron Man, but I'm also the kinda guy who cannot wait to hang it up, retire in some remote village in France and die surrounded by my family and some cats and some goats. And..." He sighed. "And it's not like I had some fantasy of us sharing this future. But when I hear you make all these--these declarations, it's like you don't see a future with you in it. And then it just, I dunno, made sense. You, me, the accusations, the flagrant hypocrisy." His hands were everywhere, gesturing at Thor, himself, Thor Jr., the tent, the desert, the greater universe. He took a deep breath, slowing down.
"There's this thing called 'projection.' Psychological term. Found it in my bid at playing therapist for myself, that's not important. Defense mechanism. Basically, when you've got thoughts or feelings that are just too much to cope with, you project them onto others and go after the target as a proxy." All of his attention was back on Thor at this point, and his hands were still. "There's something else you're not telling me, Big Guy. And I'm the proxy. That's what I think."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2018-09-20 06:26 pm (UTC)"I'm Iron Man, but I'm also the kinda guy who cannot wait to hang it up, retire in some remote village in France and die surrounded by my family and some cats and some goats. And..." He sighed. "And it's not like I had some fantasy of us sharing this future. But when I hear you make all these--these declarations, it's like you don't see a future with you in it. And then it just, I dunno, made sense. You, me, the accusations, the flagrant hypocrisy." His hands were everywhere, gesturing at Thor, himself, Thor Jr., the tent, the desert, the greater universe. He took a deep breath, slowing down.
"There's this thing called 'projection.' Psychological term. Found it in my bid at playing therapist for myself, that's not important. Defense mechanism. Basically, when you've got thoughts or feelings that are just too much to cope with, you project them onto others and go after the target as a proxy." All of his attention was back on Thor at this point, and his hands were still. "There's something else you're not telling me, Big Guy. And I'm the proxy. That's what I think."