#vonherder

So I'm one of those people that loves family relationships. I love the idea of parents who love the hell out of their children and are willing to do anything to make sure their kids are happy, healthy, and set in life. I am all about that. Which makes you wonder why I would care to read a story about Howard and Tony Stark.

In "Compensation", Howard Stark finds an old letter on his desk, and it opens his eyes just a teensy bit.

This is a short fic so, if this post seems short, that's why. Howard Stark is canonically a neglectful father, and he is even known to be abusive in some iterations. He's not the worst parent, but he is rarely ever good at the whole being a dad thing.

What I like about this fic is that Howard is faced with that fact. He finds a letter from his son that has been on his desk for 8 years, and races to fix something that is almost too late to fix. And he is defeated by this. It’s not so much that Howard Stark was incapable of fixing his relationship with his son, it’s that he allowed the reality of the situation to discourage him. And he gave up. I think that that captures their relationship perfectly. 

This fic is for those of us who love a short fic that grabs at your heart. It is for those of us who like to think about what would have happened if Howard had made the attempt to be a better father to Tony. It is most definitely a good read.

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