I said I won’t say anything, and I really do appreciate that tony got a break but considering his whole arc in the avengers/captain america movies, the fact that he just gave up and went to live his happy life was so ???
but the thing is, I get it, but in order for it to make sense to me, it all has to come back to steve and the argument they have the moment tony comes back from space
in that moment, seeing steve after years, seeing him for the first time since their fight and steve leaving him in siberia, since steve lied to him (steve, who hates when teammates keep things from him), while being eaten by a survivor guilt, remembering his vision from age of ultron, by thinking that if steve trusted him, if steve signed the accords, none of that would happen, the earth would be safe blah blah they argued again and tony aired all of his frustration and pain and “i needed you” and he gave steve his suit/reactor, pushing steve away, giving up iron man, and he collapsed and it most likely took weeks for him to recover from malnutrition and dehydration, and at that point he’d be too stubborn and embarrassed and angry to face steve again (and steve would leave him alone), but pepper was there, and maybe his dream wish was actually real and she was pregnant already
and so he married her like he planned to because it’s not like he could be around steve, because steve lied to him and left him, and they just never talked about it and it was too late, and the avengers fell apart, so the home and family he used to have with them didn’t exist anymore (underlined by the fact that the only photo he kept in his house was of peter, and not the avengers team)
and he could finally have the family and the house he dreamt of since age of ultron
and yes, what i’m saying is, that if he and steve didn’t fall apart, if they managed to talk after thanos, tony wouldn’t just seclude himself and become a househusband (ETA: by this i don’t mean he wouldn’t marry pepper)... on the other hand, he might also just not recover and be eaten by guilt of his loss and peter’s disappearance...
so like i said, i get it, but in order for tony to get this break and time off, another big disagreement with steve needed to take place
i just don’t know if it was the actual intention, another disagreement with steve being the final push for tony to “give up”
and then, of course, steve coming back, steve reaching out, was the push to let him come back
do you trust me?
i do.
(and it has to go for steve’s decision to stay in the past as well. it was a selfish decision that stemmed from tony’s words, but also from the fact that tony and natasha weren’t alive anymore. why sam or bucky weren’t enough is a question i have no answer to, but in a way, steve staying in the past meant he saw no future for himself in his present anymore... because those 5 years were hard for him...)











