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Tony Stark's favourite 80s show
May. 18th, 2021 03:05 pm(grabbed from twitter, which is apparently where I write things these days)
okay so Tony Stark is canonically really good at taking basically whatever's to hand & turning it into what he needs, right
he's also, like me, an 80s kid. yeah, he was at MIT in 1985, I was in middle school, but I will bet you six(6) bucks we had the same favourite TV show:
MacGyver
come ON, of COURSE he watched MacGyver, he & Rhodey would kick back after class & make bets on what kind of improbable thing Mac would put together to save the day this week
... ain't just that, though, & Tony would never admit it, but he wasn't just watching for the geekery. MacGyver's a genius, sure. Know what else he is? A truly gentle, kind, caring dude, who doesn't cuss, doesn't shoot people, doesn't drink alcohol at all, much less get drunk.
In other words, the complete & entire opposite of one Howard "Horrible Dads R Us" Stark.
Tony doesn't think about that too hard. Stark men are made of iron! He doesn't need some treehugging mullet-wearing hippy like MacGyver as a father figure.
He doesn't think about it hard enough that after he graduates from MIT & comes back to the mansion for a couple weeks, he thinks nothing of flipping on the TV one Monday night, tuning it to channel 7, & settling in to watch.
Howard? Loses his SHIT.
Of course he does. A show about a treehugging mullet-wearing hippy who not only dislikes guns but worse, dares to have emotions? Stark men are made of iron!
So of course when Tony's back at MIT, getting his master's & then his doctorate, he watches MacGyver EVERY. WEEK.
Yeah, he drinks some. Yeah, he cusses a lot. He's never gonna be a truly GOOD guy, like Mac, but hey, at least he can make some cool stuff as long as he's got some duct tape & a swiss army knife, & at least he's not making weapons, he leaves that to his father.
Until the accident.
Until the Glencairn glass full of scotch that Obie hands him, after he's heard the news. & the next one, & the one after that.
Until he's suddenly the head of Stark Industries. Until Obie tells him how far the stock's fallen after his father's death, how Tony needs to man up -- Stark men are made of iron! -- & take his father's place, needs to get back to designing the weapons that ARE Stark Industries.
The series ends a year later, anyway. Doesn't matter. Tony's got bigger things to do than watch some show about a treehugging mullet-wearing hippy.
He does happen upon a rerun every once in a while. Usually finds something else to watch. Not like he's anyone Mac would approve of, anyway.
Doesn't stop to wonder why the thought makes him a little sad.
Afghanistan. He wakes up in a cave with a skinny guy he vaguely remembers from ... somewhere or other. Not important; he's got things to make. He & Yinsen sort through the bits & bobs to see what they have to work with.
Tony sets aside a roll of duct tape, next to the swiss army knife Yinsen had found earlier, & stares at them for a long moment. He smiles, just a bit, just for a moment, before he gets to work.
"I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I had more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries."
―Tony Stark
(Couple-three years after the Chitauri invasion, after all the Avengers have moved into the Tower, after Steve's brought Sam in & the two of them have found Bucky, after Tony & Bucky have made their peace, Tony wanders into the TV room one night.
Steve half-turns when he heard Tony walk in. "Have you seen this, Tony? New show about a guy who can get out of anything with just duct tape & a swiss army knife. Kinda reminds me of you."
Tony just STARES at the TV. There's some kid, younger than Wanda, hair short in the front AND the back. "Jarvis," he snaps, "turn this abomination OFF."
Steve looks abashed, then a little angry, & Sam is giving Tony a LOOK, but Tony hops over the couch to sit with them.
"It's been a while, Jarvis," he says. "Cue up the first episode of MacGyver, will you? The REAL one.")
(Jasper: at which point Steve is allowed to chant USE IT UP, WEAR IT OUT, MAKE IT DO OR DO WITHOUT
me: later there's multiverse shenanigans & the Avengers actually get to MEET Macgyver. Tony fangirls Mac. Mac fangirls Steve.)
okay so Tony Stark is canonically really good at taking basically whatever's to hand & turning it into what he needs, right
he's also, like me, an 80s kid. yeah, he was at MIT in 1985, I was in middle school, but I will bet you six(6) bucks we had the same favourite TV show:
MacGyver
come ON, of COURSE he watched MacGyver, he & Rhodey would kick back after class & make bets on what kind of improbable thing Mac would put together to save the day this week
... ain't just that, though, & Tony would never admit it, but he wasn't just watching for the geekery. MacGyver's a genius, sure. Know what else he is? A truly gentle, kind, caring dude, who doesn't cuss, doesn't shoot people, doesn't drink alcohol at all, much less get drunk.
In other words, the complete & entire opposite of one Howard "Horrible Dads R Us" Stark.
Tony doesn't think about that too hard. Stark men are made of iron! He doesn't need some treehugging mullet-wearing hippy like MacGyver as a father figure.
He doesn't think about it hard enough that after he graduates from MIT & comes back to the mansion for a couple weeks, he thinks nothing of flipping on the TV one Monday night, tuning it to channel 7, & settling in to watch.
Howard? Loses his SHIT.
Of course he does. A show about a treehugging mullet-wearing hippy who not only dislikes guns but worse, dares to have emotions? Stark men are made of iron!
So of course when Tony's back at MIT, getting his master's & then his doctorate, he watches MacGyver EVERY. WEEK.
Yeah, he drinks some. Yeah, he cusses a lot. He's never gonna be a truly GOOD guy, like Mac, but hey, at least he can make some cool stuff as long as he's got some duct tape & a swiss army knife, & at least he's not making weapons, he leaves that to his father.
Until the accident.
Until the Glencairn glass full of scotch that Obie hands him, after he's heard the news. & the next one, & the one after that.
Until he's suddenly the head of Stark Industries. Until Obie tells him how far the stock's fallen after his father's death, how Tony needs to man up -- Stark men are made of iron! -- & take his father's place, needs to get back to designing the weapons that ARE Stark Industries.
The series ends a year later, anyway. Doesn't matter. Tony's got bigger things to do than watch some show about a treehugging mullet-wearing hippy.
He does happen upon a rerun every once in a while. Usually finds something else to watch. Not like he's anyone Mac would approve of, anyway.
Doesn't stop to wonder why the thought makes him a little sad.
Afghanistan. He wakes up in a cave with a skinny guy he vaguely remembers from ... somewhere or other. Not important; he's got things to make. He & Yinsen sort through the bits & bobs to see what they have to work with.
Tony sets aside a roll of duct tape, next to the swiss army knife Yinsen had found earlier, & stares at them for a long moment. He smiles, just a bit, just for a moment, before he gets to work.
"I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I had more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries."
―Tony Stark
(Couple-three years after the Chitauri invasion, after all the Avengers have moved into the Tower, after Steve's brought Sam in & the two of them have found Bucky, after Tony & Bucky have made their peace, Tony wanders into the TV room one night.
Steve half-turns when he heard Tony walk in. "Have you seen this, Tony? New show about a guy who can get out of anything with just duct tape & a swiss army knife. Kinda reminds me of you."
Tony just STARES at the TV. There's some kid, younger than Wanda, hair short in the front AND the back. "Jarvis," he snaps, "turn this abomination OFF."
Steve looks abashed, then a little angry, & Sam is giving Tony a LOOK, but Tony hops over the couch to sit with them.
"It's been a while, Jarvis," he says. "Cue up the first episode of MacGyver, will you? The REAL one.")
(Jasper: at which point Steve is allowed to chant USE IT UP, WEAR IT OUT, MAKE IT DO OR DO WITHOUT
me: later there's multiverse shenanigans & the Avengers actually get to MEET Macgyver. Tony fangirls Mac. Mac fangirls Steve.)
