Story: "No Winter Lasts Forever" (Part 22)
Jun. 1st, 2013 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
This story is a sequel to "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," and "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," and "Birthday Girl."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mind control. Inferences of past child abuse and other torture. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: A mission in Russia introduces the Avengers to the Winter Soldier. Steve wants Bucky back and will stop at nothing to make that happen. Everyone else helps however they can.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Sibling relationships. Fix-it. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. BAMF!Avengers. Bucky!whump. Vulgar language. Drama. Rescue. Hurt/Comfort. Emotional whump. Survivor guilt. Friendship. Confusion. Mind control. Memory loss. Slow recovery. Nick Fury makes stupid-ass decisions. Fear of loss. Arc reactor. Fluff. Nonsexual ageplay. Making up for lost time. Tony Stark has a heart. Games. Trust issues. Safety and security. Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Obadiah Stane's A+ parenting. Food issues. Multiplicity/Plurality. Sleep issues. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Yoga. Personal growth. Family of choice. ALL THE FEELS. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21. Skip to Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27.
"No Winter Lasts Forever" Part 22
Phil spent the next several hours doing what he could to manage Bucky's situation. He started by reviewing the security feed from the garage. Tony had worked on the engine for a while with intermittent assistance from Bucky. Phil was intrigued to see Tony using the same icebreaking technique he had with Bruce: plying them with dried fruit and bottles of gourmet soda. Eventually Tony coaxed Bucky into resting on the couch, though the man never got any real sleep out of it.
Tony called it a night not long after that, but he let Bucky and Steve stay in what they clearly considered safe space rather than insisting they go to bed. It was stunning display of trust and generosity that made Phil worry a little, hoping that Tony wasn't overcompensating after the ugly revelation of Stark weaponry in terrorist hands. Steve chose to stick with Bucky, napping on the end of the couch with his brother's head in his lap. Phil nodded in satisfaction and closed the file.
Next Phil asked JARVIS for Tony's notes about the anomalous power source in Bucky's prosthetic arm. Some of the files updated as he was looking at them, indication of Tony's current line of study downstairs. Phil looked at the wavering lines of energy. He noted how certain parts of the signature matched the Tesseract while others matched Loki's staff.
His left shoulder ached in memory. Phil slipped a hand under his shirt to rub it. There was no scar on his body, because Loki had stabbed the Life Model Decoy instead of Phil himself. It still twinged sometimes, though, a prickly electric sensation that made his skin crawl.
Then Phil went down to the lab levels in search of Bruce. He needed to discuss some of his thoughts about Bucky. He also needed to warn Bruce about the whole tangle of Bucky and Tony and the prosthesis and the arc reactor.
Bruce blew a gasket over that part. "What was he thinking?!"
"It's Tony Stark. I'm pretty sure that thinking was a miniscule part of the equation," Phil said dryly. "He saw the problem Bucky had with feeling like an experimental subject, and he fixed it in the most direct way possible by putting them on equal footing. He wouldn't have paused to consider the social implications or potential collateral damage to himself."
"Gordian knot, meet laser beam," Bruce muttered.
"Tony's aim with a laser beam is less than precise," Phil said, recalling the wreckage of the room in which Tony had created the new core for the arc reactor.
"Tony's aim with his mouth is what's imprecise," Bruce said.
"Actually he wasn't the one to light that particular fire. Right at the end, Bucky complimented him on the beauty of the arc reactor and Tony bolted out of the room," Phil said.
"This cannot be good," Bruce said. "Tony's going to bounce hard from that."
"He didn't with me," Phil said quietly. He still remembered the smooth feel of the arc reactor under his fingertips and the lucent glow in a darkened room. He had been utterly shocked by Tony's willingness to share that part of himself. As far as Phil knew, the only others granted permission had been Yinsen, Pepper, and Rhodey. Obie's devastating violation had turned a moderate reluctance into a full-blown phobia. Phil still had no idea how Tony managed to overcome that enough to ask for help when he needed it, let alone reach out to comfort other people.
"You proved yourself trustworthy long before that," Bruce said. "Bucky is new, and even with all the stories, Tony had to take it on faith that he was safe. And Tony's faith can be a very shaky thing."
"True. We'll just have to work through this somehow," Phil said.
"Somehow," Bruce said. "How are they, really?"
"Tony's functional, though probably still sensitive. He's in his lab working on things related to Bucky," Phil said. "Remember how he came into the common room last night, just as you left? Tony found an anomalous energy source in Bucky's prosthetic arm that probably affects memory and temperament. Bucky is ... marginally coherent. I suspect you noticed the same thing at brunch that I did, with him."
"Portion control, yes, that worries me," Bruce said. "My guess is that Department X fed him some kind of special ration, always the same few things in the same size serving. So then if he got real food on a mission, he'd try to mimic what was familiar." Bruce tugged his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "So we're looking at recurrent amnesia, mood swings, violent reflexes, probable flashbacks, a possible eating disorder, and chronic insomnia which just makes everything else worse."
"Choice paralysis," Phil added quietly. "Bucky froze up on me this morning when I asked what he wanted to do today."
Bruce's glasses clattered onto the counter. "I don't think I can help with that one," he said as he turned away.
"Bruce, be careful with these," Phil said. He cleaned the glasses with proper lens cleaner and a microfiber cloth. Then he handed them back to Bruce. "We can spread out the workload so nobody gets overloaded and Bucky gets what he needs. I just wanted to make sure you had all the pieces. Given that, how much improvement do you think we'll see?"
"Probably close to complete, though there may be some permanent personality shifts and memories Bucky never retrieves," Bruce said. He put his glasses back on. "Bucky took a lot of damage, but every version of the super-soldier serum boosts plasticity -- that's one of its core features. Steve survived drowning and freezing; I survived a bullet in the mouth; Natasha survived brainwashing and all kinds of physical trauma. I concur with SHIELD's comparison to traumatic brain injury, and sometimes unmodified humans recover from that. So Bucky will probably recover from this. It's just going to take time, and the progress is difficult to predict because we don't know exactly what his healing factor is or how much drag that anomalous energy source causes."
"Speaking of the energy source, Steve voiced an interesting idea that the Tesseract and related technology might destabilize nearby minds, making HYDRA agents 'a special kind of crazy.' It seems like a promising line of inquiry," Phil said.
"Yes, it does," Bruce said with a firm nod.
Phil raised an eyebrow. "You sound very confident about that."
"He can feel it, the Other Guy ... he really didn't like what Loki's staff did to us on the Helicarrier," Bruce said. He shuddered. "It's like, I don't know, some kind of emotional undertow. I can't make much sense of it, but he can."
* * *
Notes:
Trust and care are vital parts of human interaction. Tony expresses care through generosity, especially by feeding people. It's a way of earning trust by proving himself a good provider. He has also learned about building rapport from his business activities. It's harder to express care when someone isn't feeling well and when people have damaged emotions. In this case, Tony also uses showing trust as a means of building trust, although it's not his natural inclination and it costs him to do that. There are tips for expanding your trust radius.
A Life Model Decoy is an android designed to mimic a specific person, with a fluent link so that the operator can perceive everything that the LMD does. This is one of the more popular explanations for how Coulson could have survived Loki's attack.
Phil's laser reference concerns the scene in Iron Man 2 when Tony created the new arc reactor core, and cut the room in half trying to get the laser beam aimed in the right place.
Tony's sensitivity regarding the arc reactor comes from multiple scenes in Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2.
Eyeglasses play into self-image and self-esteem much the same way other pieces of adaptive equipment do, such as prosthetic limbs. Like tools, the brain perceives them as part of the body. Children who wear glasses learn how to treat them carefully if their parents are responsible, and there are tips for adults too. Obviously Bruce didn't have responsible parents and missed all this stuff. So, he treats his glasses the same way he treats himself in general: roughly and carelessly. (This really can be a sign of abuse, or otherwise impaired self-image.) Phil doesn't like to see Bruce doing this, so he's starting to teach more appropriate behavior in a matter-of-fact way.
Plasticity refers to a set of scientific circumstances involving expanded capacity for change. Closely related is the concept of fault tolerance, in which a system can sustain a considerable amount of damage before it ceases to function properly. The super-soldier serum makes people more adaptable and resilient, but expresses itself differently based on variations in the formula and in the individual person. Among the more vivid examples is Hulk's dynamic adaptability: he gets stronger and tougher the angrier he gets.
[To be continued in Part 23 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mind control. Inferences of past child abuse and other torture. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: A mission in Russia introduces the Avengers to the Winter Soldier. Steve wants Bucky back and will stop at nothing to make that happen. Everyone else helps however they can.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Sibling relationships. Fix-it. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. BAMF!Avengers. Bucky!whump. Vulgar language. Drama. Rescue. Hurt/Comfort. Emotional whump. Survivor guilt. Friendship. Confusion. Mind control. Memory loss. Slow recovery. Nick Fury makes stupid-ass decisions. Fear of loss. Arc reactor. Fluff. Nonsexual ageplay. Making up for lost time. Tony Stark has a heart. Games. Trust issues. Safety and security. Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Obadiah Stane's A+ parenting. Food issues. Multiplicity/Plurality. Sleep issues. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Yoga. Personal growth. Family of choice. ALL THE FEELS. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21. Skip to Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27.
"No Winter Lasts Forever" Part 22
Phil spent the next several hours doing what he could to manage Bucky's situation. He started by reviewing the security feed from the garage. Tony had worked on the engine for a while with intermittent assistance from Bucky. Phil was intrigued to see Tony using the same icebreaking technique he had with Bruce: plying them with dried fruit and bottles of gourmet soda. Eventually Tony coaxed Bucky into resting on the couch, though the man never got any real sleep out of it.
Tony called it a night not long after that, but he let Bucky and Steve stay in what they clearly considered safe space rather than insisting they go to bed. It was stunning display of trust and generosity that made Phil worry a little, hoping that Tony wasn't overcompensating after the ugly revelation of Stark weaponry in terrorist hands. Steve chose to stick with Bucky, napping on the end of the couch with his brother's head in his lap. Phil nodded in satisfaction and closed the file.
Next Phil asked JARVIS for Tony's notes about the anomalous power source in Bucky's prosthetic arm. Some of the files updated as he was looking at them, indication of Tony's current line of study downstairs. Phil looked at the wavering lines of energy. He noted how certain parts of the signature matched the Tesseract while others matched Loki's staff.
His left shoulder ached in memory. Phil slipped a hand under his shirt to rub it. There was no scar on his body, because Loki had stabbed the Life Model Decoy instead of Phil himself. It still twinged sometimes, though, a prickly electric sensation that made his skin crawl.
Then Phil went down to the lab levels in search of Bruce. He needed to discuss some of his thoughts about Bucky. He also needed to warn Bruce about the whole tangle of Bucky and Tony and the prosthesis and the arc reactor.
Bruce blew a gasket over that part. "What was he thinking?!"
"It's Tony Stark. I'm pretty sure that thinking was a miniscule part of the equation," Phil said dryly. "He saw the problem Bucky had with feeling like an experimental subject, and he fixed it in the most direct way possible by putting them on equal footing. He wouldn't have paused to consider the social implications or potential collateral damage to himself."
"Gordian knot, meet laser beam," Bruce muttered.
"Tony's aim with a laser beam is less than precise," Phil said, recalling the wreckage of the room in which Tony had created the new core for the arc reactor.
"Tony's aim with his mouth is what's imprecise," Bruce said.
"Actually he wasn't the one to light that particular fire. Right at the end, Bucky complimented him on the beauty of the arc reactor and Tony bolted out of the room," Phil said.
"This cannot be good," Bruce said. "Tony's going to bounce hard from that."
"He didn't with me," Phil said quietly. He still remembered the smooth feel of the arc reactor under his fingertips and the lucent glow in a darkened room. He had been utterly shocked by Tony's willingness to share that part of himself. As far as Phil knew, the only others granted permission had been Yinsen, Pepper, and Rhodey. Obie's devastating violation had turned a moderate reluctance into a full-blown phobia. Phil still had no idea how Tony managed to overcome that enough to ask for help when he needed it, let alone reach out to comfort other people.
"You proved yourself trustworthy long before that," Bruce said. "Bucky is new, and even with all the stories, Tony had to take it on faith that he was safe. And Tony's faith can be a very shaky thing."
"True. We'll just have to work through this somehow," Phil said.
"Somehow," Bruce said. "How are they, really?"
"Tony's functional, though probably still sensitive. He's in his lab working on things related to Bucky," Phil said. "Remember how he came into the common room last night, just as you left? Tony found an anomalous energy source in Bucky's prosthetic arm that probably affects memory and temperament. Bucky is ... marginally coherent. I suspect you noticed the same thing at brunch that I did, with him."
"Portion control, yes, that worries me," Bruce said. "My guess is that Department X fed him some kind of special ration, always the same few things in the same size serving. So then if he got real food on a mission, he'd try to mimic what was familiar." Bruce tugged his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "So we're looking at recurrent amnesia, mood swings, violent reflexes, probable flashbacks, a possible eating disorder, and chronic insomnia which just makes everything else worse."
"Choice paralysis," Phil added quietly. "Bucky froze up on me this morning when I asked what he wanted to do today."
Bruce's glasses clattered onto the counter. "I don't think I can help with that one," he said as he turned away.
"Bruce, be careful with these," Phil said. He cleaned the glasses with proper lens cleaner and a microfiber cloth. Then he handed them back to Bruce. "We can spread out the workload so nobody gets overloaded and Bucky gets what he needs. I just wanted to make sure you had all the pieces. Given that, how much improvement do you think we'll see?"
"Probably close to complete, though there may be some permanent personality shifts and memories Bucky never retrieves," Bruce said. He put his glasses back on. "Bucky took a lot of damage, but every version of the super-soldier serum boosts plasticity -- that's one of its core features. Steve survived drowning and freezing; I survived a bullet in the mouth; Natasha survived brainwashing and all kinds of physical trauma. I concur with SHIELD's comparison to traumatic brain injury, and sometimes unmodified humans recover from that. So Bucky will probably recover from this. It's just going to take time, and the progress is difficult to predict because we don't know exactly what his healing factor is or how much drag that anomalous energy source causes."
"Speaking of the energy source, Steve voiced an interesting idea that the Tesseract and related technology might destabilize nearby minds, making HYDRA agents 'a special kind of crazy.' It seems like a promising line of inquiry," Phil said.
"Yes, it does," Bruce said with a firm nod.
Phil raised an eyebrow. "You sound very confident about that."
"He can feel it, the Other Guy ... he really didn't like what Loki's staff did to us on the Helicarrier," Bruce said. He shuddered. "It's like, I don't know, some kind of emotional undertow. I can't make much sense of it, but he can."
* * *
Notes:
Trust and care are vital parts of human interaction. Tony expresses care through generosity, especially by feeding people. It's a way of earning trust by proving himself a good provider. He has also learned about building rapport from his business activities. It's harder to express care when someone isn't feeling well and when people have damaged emotions. In this case, Tony also uses showing trust as a means of building trust, although it's not his natural inclination and it costs him to do that. There are tips for expanding your trust radius.
A Life Model Decoy is an android designed to mimic a specific person, with a fluent link so that the operator can perceive everything that the LMD does. This is one of the more popular explanations for how Coulson could have survived Loki's attack.
Phil's laser reference concerns the scene in Iron Man 2 when Tony created the new arc reactor core, and cut the room in half trying to get the laser beam aimed in the right place.
Tony's sensitivity regarding the arc reactor comes from multiple scenes in Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2.
Eyeglasses play into self-image and self-esteem much the same way other pieces of adaptive equipment do, such as prosthetic limbs. Like tools, the brain perceives them as part of the body. Children who wear glasses learn how to treat them carefully if their parents are responsible, and there are tips for adults too. Obviously Bruce didn't have responsible parents and missed all this stuff. So, he treats his glasses the same way he treats himself in general: roughly and carelessly. (This really can be a sign of abuse, or otherwise impaired self-image.) Phil doesn't like to see Bruce doing this, so he's starting to teach more appropriate behavior in a matter-of-fact way.
Plasticity refers to a set of scientific circumstances involving expanded capacity for change. Closely related is the concept of fault tolerance, in which a system can sustain a considerable amount of damage before it ceases to function properly. The super-soldier serum makes people more adaptable and resilient, but expresses itself differently based on variations in the formula and in the individual person. Among the more vivid examples is Hulk's dynamic adaptability: he gets stronger and tougher the angrier he gets.
[To be continued in Part 23 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-01 05:42 am (UTC)I got annoyed at him over the glasses - are you showing that sometimes he goes overboard on the parenting thing? That's how it felt, as though he were subconsciously treating Bruce as though he's ACTUALLY four years old and can't take care of his glasses by himself.
Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-01 06:05 am (UTC)I'm glad this worked for you.
>> I got annoyed at him over the glasses - are you showing that sometimes he goes overboard on the parenting thing? <<
No, it's not going overboard ...
>> That's how it felt, as though he were subconsciously treating Bruce as though he's ACTUALLY four years old <<
... although it is a case of treating Bruce as a child ...
>> and can't take care of his glasses by himself. <<
... because while Bruce could do that in theory, in practice he doesn't. I found this a brilliant bit of acting in the movies. In The Avengers, Bruce is constantly taking them off, holding them over the lenses, waving them, smacking them around, rubbing them on his shirt, etc. In the end-credit scene after Iron Man 3, he actually drops them. *wince*
For people with impaired vision, glasses tend to be an extension of self, much like other types of adaptive equipment such as a prosthetic arm. It's part of our self-image. We learn to treat our glasses carefully and not lose them. Some people will point with theirs, or clean them on a shirttail -- it does vary -- but in general, we treat our glasses like we treat the rest of ourselves. We care about their appearance and condition.
Bruce treats his glasses roughly and carelessly because that's how he treats his body. He dissociates. He doesn't pay attention. Gentle as he is with other people, he's not gentle with himself, and this is one of the more vivid symptoms. It's not ... quite ... in the same field as self-injury but it's leaning in that direction. Doesn't help that he probably loses his glasses when he transforms. He obviously didn't get proper guidance in how to handle them when he was growing up; either he didn't get them until later, or his abusive family background fucked it up. So, Bruce doesn't have the healthy set of "how to care for glasses" behaviors like "keep them clean" and "don't drop them." To people familiar with the glasses-as-body-part concept, this is a pretty significant tell for abuse.
Some of the other Avengers have noticed this. They are varying degrees of hesitant to push into Bruce's intimate space, because he's been violated enough, but they're getting more aware of and less happy about this over time. Phil is simply the most assertive, partly because he's their handler. He also takes on an adult role in the ageplay, which includes redoing things that were done wrong earlier, and this inclines him to start teaching Bruce more appropriate behaviors for handling glasses.
I'm really glad you mentioned this, because an issue from Bruce's past comes up fairly soon -- and I think this gesture on Phil's part subliminally helped Bruce be willing to deal with that.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-01 06:54 am (UTC)My vision was particularly bad. i couldn't see more than six inches in front of my face before everything got blurry. i never would have even considered treating my glasses how Bruce did in the movie.
so i agree with ysabetwordsmith.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-02 09:24 pm (UTC)I'd miss mine if I had to go without. I tried contact lenses very briefly and hated them. Aside from being uncomfortable, I missed my glasses. I think my face looks better with them than without -- a particular style and shape is flattering on me.
>> i never would have even considered treating my glasses how Bruce did in the movie. <<
Yeah, it made me wince. I've seen plenty of people use their glasses as a pointer, but Bruce is just so rough with his.
>> so i agree with ysabetwordsmith. <<
Thank you! It's useful to get confirmation on this.
visual aids, their care and feeding
Date: 2016-11-10 07:50 am (UTC)Contrast that with my partner, who only in the past 3-4 years has required glasses for close, detail work. He doesn't need them for driving, or doing stuff around the house, or reading tags on grocery store shelves, but if he's going to read a book or an ingredients list, or something written in a small font on a website, he does need them. Since they're *not* a full-time required prosthetic, he is much less picky about how smudged the lenses are and/or where he parks them. I'd estimate that he has to backtrack for them *at least* once a day.
Bruce's handling of his sounds rougher than my partner's, but they do run along similar lines, for similar reasons.
Just my two lenses' worth. :-)
Re: visual aids, their care and feeding
Date: 2016-11-10 08:06 am (UTC)I think I was around that when I got mine, but I liked mine. Always have. They just instantly felt right. *ponder* Like Ansel with the pink hair, I suppose, not something I really noticed missing until I had it, but forever after, I don't like going without.
>>Contrast that with my partner, who only in the past 3-4 years has required glasses for close, detail work.<<
That's an important distinction. The more essential glasses are to someone's vision, the more attached they tend to be. People who don't need them as much or as often may be more careless.
>>Bruce's handling of his sounds rougher than my partner's, but they do run along similar lines, for similar reasons.<<
I really think that Bruce's handling of his glasses is a subtle expression of self-abuse. He's gentle with other people, he's capable of handling objects very gently, but he's very rough with himselves.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-01 12:42 pm (UTC)Yes, glasses are a detachable body part. But Bruce doesn't wear them all the time, he needs them for close work. I suspect that when he needs to look someone in the eye, he can see them better when he takes the glasses off. He doesn't wear them in India - I think the first time we see him wearing them is in the Helicarrier lab.
My mother, who is one of the most meticulous people in the world, fiddles with her reading glasses and continually forgets where she put them.
Maybe I just have a chip about this, and I'm reading too much into it...
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-03 12:53 am (UTC)That's valid. The more essential glasses are for a person, the tighter the connection. People with a lower need aren't always as sensitive.
>> My mother, who is one of the most meticulous people in the world, fiddles with her reading glasses and continually forgets where she put them. <<
People do handle glasses differently. Treating them roughly isn't a guarantee of a problem -- just a clue.
>> Maybe I just have a chip about this, and I'm reading too much into it... <<
Different interpretations are possible, and that's okay. You could always write a different version yourself!
this is just a mess, huh?
Date: 2013-06-01 05:43 am (UTC)as to the whole mess of the tesseract and the staff, and poor thralled loki too... i'm just happy bruce has come around to being aware that hulk may have a one up on him when it comes to emotions and emotional awareness, with the hope that we can see hulk play a crucial part in resolving this situation, so maybe bruce will stop beating bruce-and-hulk up all the time. neither of them deserve it.
as always, thank you for your updates, they make my night a lot better,
- kellyc
Re: this is just a mess, huh?
Date: 2013-06-02 08:00 am (UTC)I figured you meant the situation, for which the phrasing is quite accurate.
>> we're going to see it get worse before it gets better, i think, for everyone involved, and that's realistic, it's just so damned sad. <<
Alas, yes. I have tried to include enough lighter moments to keep the story from getting too depressing though.
>> is fury going to put his foot in it, again, soon? i don't see him keeping quiet for long. him or the wsc <<
Oh, they're going to be ... busy, for a while.
>> or will we see hill as fury's attack dog, since phil has separated himself from being fury's man? <<
Fury is probably looking for that kind of support, but remember that Agent Hill is one of the few people who has called him on some of his stupid-ass decisions.
>> as to the whole mess of the tesseract and the staff, and poor thralled loki too... <<
Yeah, that's a whole nother kettle of very bad fish.
>> i'm just happy bruce has come around to being aware that hulk may have a one up on him when it comes to emotions and emotional awareness, <<
Bruce is, and more importantly, Phil is starting to rely on Hulk's emotional intelligence.
>> with the hope that we can see hulk play a crucial part in resolving this situation, so maybe bruce will stop beating bruce-and-hulk up all the time.<<
You're on the right track, although this aspect will take time to unfold.
>> neither of them deserve it. <<
So very true. The hellish thing about child abuse is that it convinces most survivors that they do deserve all the horrible things that happen to them.
>> as always, thank you for your updates, they make my night a lot better, <<
*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-01 06:00 am (UTC)Anyway, just absolutely adoring this one. *pets it* I had a bit of a hard time getting through "Birthday Girl", not sure why, but this one sucked me right back in. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Yay!
Date: 2013-06-02 08:16 pm (UTC)Woohoo!
>> First off, I absolutely adore how you're handling Bucky in this. Not gonna lie, I was a bit wary of him, just because he has so much potential to hurt so many people in this arc, and not just physically. <<
I'm glad that he's growing on you and the story is working. Yes, Bucky does have tremendous potential to hurt people; there are a lot of tears over him, though rarely from a deliberate hit on his part.
>>I love how you don't just 'poof' characters to 'fix' them, and how even after they've healed, there's still some lingering scars. <<
I'm happy to hear that. It's useful targeting information for me -- so many stories handwave stuff like that, it can be hard to distinguish between authorial sloppiness and real audience preference. I'm glad to see readers responding favorably to somewhat more realistic attention on the fallout from heroics.
>> Coupled with that, I'm very relieved to see that the characters can ask for (and be granted!) one-on-one time with "Uncle" Phil. Don't get me wrong, I adore the group-age play, but sometimes, you just need that parental focus on you, speaking as the eldest of several children. :) <<
I really appreciate the input from relevant experience, thanks. Yes, this is a case where Uncle Phil is working individually with people because they need the extra attention and privacy. You'll see more of that as the story progresses, because Bucky is playing hell with the team dynamics. It's not his fault, just big changes make big waves. So the other members need more reassurance.
>> Anyway, just absolutely adoring this one. *pets it* <<
Hee!
>> I had a bit of a hard time getting through "Birthday Girl", not sure why,<<
That's okay. For some people it hit a little to close to home for comfort; others find that Natasha's reserve makes it hard to connect with her. And some people loved it for the peek inside her walls. In a series, most readers have favorite stories and others they like less well, so it's all fine.
>> but this one sucked me right back in. Thank you so much for sharing this!! <<
Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying this.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-01 06:25 am (UTC)Thanks for the great chapter!
Thank you!
Date: 2013-06-02 09:14 am (UTC)I'm happy to hear that. The next few chapters have more of Bruce, and some hints of his evolving thoughts about Hulk.
>> Hulk's very sensitive and intuitive, and if Bruce can begin to let him in and join his brains to Hulk's senses, "they"'re going to be amazing! (already happening, apparently). <<
I'm delighted to see you picking up on this. Yes, they're just starting to show glimmers and hints of what can happen when they combine their observations. They don't know how to co-front yet, though, not really. I hope I have time to take the series that far, because you're right, together they'll be incredible.
>> Thanks for the great chapter! <<
You're welcome.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-01 07:10 pm (UTC)I disagree. Eyeglasses are a limited resource, and if the kid isn't especially wanted, eyeglasses for the kid are an exceptionally limited resource. Your body heals up over time, but if you break or scratch your glasses or some other kids successfully swipe them then you're good and dicked, because you've not just messed up your ability to see, but now you're in trouble with the adults for it. I think Bruce would treat his glasses far more carefully than he treats himself.
Well...
Date: 2013-06-03 09:08 am (UTC)Re: Well...
Date: 2013-06-03 05:34 pm (UTC)Re: Well...
Date: 2013-06-03 05:44 pm (UTC)One of the things Bruce does with his glasses in this movie is the classic academic habit of using them as a pointer. That's a pretty normal thing to do. Beyond that, though, he tends to wave them and tap them and just generally be less careful than average.
>> I haven't seen Iron Man 3 yet - I want to, a friend whose opinion I trust really raved about it. <<
It's an entertaining movie. Some of the character choices made me uncomfortable, though.
And the end-credits scene, Bruce has a cameo, and actually drops his glasses.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-02 01:12 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2013-06-03 12:59 am (UTC)I'm happy to hear that!
>> The story is becoming more in depth and showing just how much pressure is placed on these people and much they struggle to cope with it. <<
Yes, the farther this series goes, the more intense it gets. Once people feel safe, they bring out issues that don't usually see the light of day. And of course, life continues to rain crap on the Avengers because that is just their luck.
Another thing I'm drawing on is how, in the military, a handful of people get PTSD from their first tour of duty but repeated combat tours run the numbers way up. Going into emergency situations over and over again is really hard on people. So they need ways to relax and recharge, which is a key thing I explore in this series.
>> Wonderful work and once again, I am thoroughly enjoying it. <<
Yay!
>> As an aside, are you a parent because I keep getting this mummy/parental vibe from your notes, replies to peoples comments and just the story in general (which does make sense)? x <<
Not in this life, but I have some ulterior experience that helps cover that base. I'm glad it's working.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-17 08:00 am (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-17 08:29 pm (UTC)That has been slowly increasing over time; the beginnings of it show in the movie canon but it clearly wasn't very functional yet. Now that they're actively working on it, and starting to consider working together more, the clarity is getting better. Bruce is learning more about feelings; Hulk is learning more about words. It helps.
>> Bruce is deferring to Hulk's expertise on a non-smash subject! <<
Yes. I think that incident stands out in Bruce's mind because it was one of the rare occasions where he headed for an incident but stopped short. What he hasn't quite figured out yet is that the science aspect pulled Bruce back to front, because that's his specialty and not Hulk's. But Bruce definitely remembers the feeling of that encounter.
>> That is quite a bit of progress :proud: <<
It really is, and I'm proud of them too. The main thing here is not just Bruce treating Hulk's observations as valid, but actually sharing them out loud with someone else. That's new.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-17 07:01 am (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2013-08-17 07:13 pm (UTC)I'm happy to hear that.
>> And the feeding=trust link was interesting! <<
It's there in canon, just hints and glimmers about how several of the Avengers had very low food security, combined with Tony's generosity and desire to be a good provider.
turns of phrase
Date: 2016-11-10 07:32 am (UTC)<3 <3 <3
LOL!
The concise elegance of that line puts me in mind of some of the more recent Vorkosiverse novels, such as Captain Vorpatril's Alliance. Brilliant!
Re: turns of phrase
Date: 2016-11-10 07:55 am (UTC)If I remember right, Miles said it in A Civil Campaign: "Laser beam, meet butter. Butter, laser beam. Oops."
Re: turns of phrase
Date: 2016-11-10 08:01 am (UTC)mashups
Date: 2016-11-10 10:12 am (UTC)Re: mashups
Date: 2016-11-10 10:17 am (UTC)