onemuseleft

Title: Presumed Dead
Author: Nightwalker/Onemuseleft/I don’t know whatever you want to call me is cool.
WARNING: There are spoilers for IM3 here, pretty massive ones and also some smaller ones for Cap 2 (based solely on gifs I’ve seen, but still) Also, if you haven't seen the movie and want to read this anyway, please be warned of implied main character death.
Summary: The Mandarin’s attack on Malibu was broadcasting live. Millions watched while Iron Man fell; it’s only reasonable to assume some of them were his friends. This is Steve’s reaction to watching the attack on the Malibu house.
Beta: Thanks Amaronith, for the quick and dirty beta read!
Universe: MCU

On AO3
On Tumblr

So, you know what drives me crazy? "I'm sorry you were offended."

Because, um. No. Either you're sorry that you* (general you) OFFENDED me. Or you aren't.

It's like if I punched my roommate (Hi, kahn!) in the face. And she was all "What the fuck?!" And I said, "I'm sorry you got punched in the face."

Does that sound even the slightest bit sincere to anyone? No, it doesn't. Because it isn't.

(Now, if Person A punched my roommate (sorry, kahn!) in the face and I heard about it later when she came home (or, much more likely, after I went to the police station to bail her out of jail for breaking Person A's neck) and I said something like "That's terrible, I'm sorry that happened!" that's sincere. I had no control over her getting punched, so I'm basically saying that I'm sorry she had to experience something so unpleasant.)

But that's not how the phrase is normally used, is it? Most people who say "I'm sorry you were offended" aren't actually sorry they offended anyone. It's a non-apology. They have basically said "Well, I'm sorry you're so fucking oversensitive, GEEZ."

And perhaps I should give people the benefit of the doubt - and for the most part I really do - but you know what? Sometimes it's really obvious exactly what they mean.

And yes, I have been reading sf_drama all night, why do you ask?