Nirvana

"This is not an expedition. It's an execution."

I carry this water bottle around on purpose because I know the kids will ask me why I have a pink one. This is how every convo has gone:

Kids: Mr.C Why do you have a pink water bottle?

Me: Because I like pink, why?

Kids: Pink is for girls

Me: Why?

Kids: ummmmmmm

Me: Do you know why it’s for girls?

Kids: No it just is

That’s when I go into a brief lesson about how pink is JUST a color (I am the art teacher so they think I am the authority on colors) for everyone.

We are not rabid animals living off of pure instinct

We are capable of rational thinking and understanding. 

Just because someone is cooking food doesn’t mean you’re entitled to eat it. 

Just because a banker is counting money doesn’t mean you’re being given free money.

Just because a person is naked doesn’t mean you’re entitled to fuck them. 

You are not entitled to someone else’s body just because it’s exposed. 

And had a very sad realization (shocking? Not a bit)

Mid-fight with Steve, FRIDAY says “You can’t beat him hand-to-hand,” and Tony replies, “Analyze his fight pattern.” And then we actually *see* FRIDAY run the analysis in real-time. I’m talking:

Analysis of Steve’s fighting form and the shield,

an in-depth scan of the suit, and finally

Analysis of the literal impact force of Steve’s hits. 

You could read into this in a lot of different ways. But I’ll tell you what it meant to me. 

It meant that in every interaction Tony could conceive of with Steve, in every contingency Tony ever thought through, in thousands of possibilities Tony Stark never once thought he’d have to fight Steve Rogers. Not seriously.

He didn’t have a plan for it. He didn’t have a preset protocol for FRIDAY to call up. Not even close.

Because ready-for-everything-always Tony Stark — the creator of the Iron Legion; the maker of Veronica and the Hulkbuster; the guy who installed an instant kill mode in Peter’s suit; the guy who slept with his suit at his beck and call every night for months; the guy who has been thinking about Thanos since before he could put a name to the imminent threat he foresaw; Tony my-middle-name-should-be-paranoid (with good reason) Stark — never once considered that he’d be up against Steve Rogers.