Story: "No Winter Lasts Forever" (Part 30)
Jun. 9th, 2013 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis 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, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29. Skip to Part 32, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35.
"No Winter Lasts Forever" Part 30
The Avengers missed their next game night. They spent Saturday morning and afternoon fighting giant purple primates that some mad scientist released in the concrete jungle of New York. They spent Saturday evening at SHIELD debriefing. Since nobody sustained serious injury, they took the time to report in full detail. Director Fury was fortunate that they had responded at all, the way he'd been treating them; but the Avengers would never stand idly by while anyone trashed their city.
Phil felt intensely grateful for Betty, who stayed at Bucky's side in the tower keeping him anchored in the here-and-now. Her calming influence helped him remain stable even without Steve and Natasha to serve as his living memory. There were so many challenges, so many things needing to be covered -- but the team finally had people to take care of everything.
Everyone came home sore and grouchy, except for Bruce. He was still a bit stiff from the transformation, but with a cheerful air left over from Hulk's delight at fighting enemies whose preferred locomotion -- brachiating, scrambling, and bounding -- so closely matched his own. Their exuberance had mangled part of the High Line, a park made from an old elevated train track. Phil regretted the damage but silently approved Bruce finding even the slightest joy in Hulk's activity.
Tony complained about the battered state of his armor, as the enemy had repeatedly jumped on him in midair and knocked him into buildings. Clint was covered in scrapes and bruises from the apes tackling him on rooftops. One livid welt underscored his right cheekbone. Steve, tired from chasing after enemies whose motion did not match his at all, carried Natasha home. The rolled cuff of her pants left her right ankle bare except for the sport bandage on it.
"You guys don't look too good. Come and sit down," Betty said.
"It's not broken, it's just not working. I twisted my ankle when a couple of the grape apes jumped on my shoulders," Natasha said. Clint had called them that once, and the name stuck.
Bucky stepped up to Steve and said, "You're tired. Give her to me." He slipped his left arm under Natasha's shoulders and his right under her knees. Steve leaned forward a bit, Bucky tilted back, and when they separated Natasha rested securely in Bucky's arms.
It's like a dance, Phil thought, realizing that they must have perfected this exchange in the war when dealing with injured teammates. Oh! Muscle memory! We should explore that and see if it holds better than autobiographical memory. He hoped that Bucky's attention wouldn't annoy Natasha, because injury always made her touchy. She had spent too much time in places where any weakness brought punishment or attack. That made it hard for her to accept genuine care now.
"Where are you going?" Bucky asked Natasha.
"I'm going to bed," she replied. Without another word, he carried her away.
Clint stared after him. "Did she just ... not argue with him?"
"Evidently so," Phil said. He strove to figure out how it had worked, and why, and whether they could ever replicate the effect.
"There was nothing for her to argue about," Betty observed. "Bucky didn't ask what she wanted or needed, or what he should do. He asked where she was going. He explicitly put her in control and presented himself as, hm, her substitute mobility. If she's anything like the soldiers I've known, it's the limitation that makes her irritable, not necessarily the injury itself. Find a way to relieve that and she should feel a lot more comfortable, thus less prickly."
"Wow," Clint said. "I could not do that. She tends to snipe at me."
"That's because you tease her," Phil said. Then he realized something else. "In fact, I think it's because you call attention to it when she's not at her best." Bucky's approach was so self-effacing that it avoided the problem. Phil wondered how Natasha felt about that. It was hard to tell because she showed so little outwardly.
Phil pulled out his Starkphone and quietly noted the new discoveries. He didn't want that kind of thing announced out loud, but silent reminders could prove helpful. With deft strokes Phil paged through Natasha's mood trackers. He compared the ones he kept with what she reported herself. Natasha tended toward neutral almost all the time, except for sharp swings of aggression and alarm when ill or injured. As Phil had thought, this was indeed the first recorded time when that hadn't happened. I hope we can replicate this, he mused.
"I'll just exercise the better part of valor and stay out of her hair until she falls asleep. I've had enough of grape apes and arguments and whining for one day. I'm exhausted," Clint said. "Movie night?"
"Sounds great," Bruce said. He was sitting down, but his left foot flicked back and forth like the tip of a tiger's tail. "King Kong?"
Clint shoved him. "Ugh, no, why won't you wind down? You should be half-asleep like usual and instead you're acting like you've had too much sugar. Well, okay, you did eat half a box of donuts and a liter bottle of Coke on the way home ..."
"Sorry, just, the Other Guy had fun today. I'm sorry it sucked for everyone else. This is weird for me -- usually all I get from him is anger, and having his warm-fuzzies spilling all over me is very disconcerting," Bruce said. His hands patted the air in a conciliatory gesture. "Look, if it's bugging you, let me make it up to you somehow. I could fix popcorn?"
"Ooo! With the white cheddar!" Tony said.
"You can kiss up to me with something spicy," Clint said.
"Going," Bruce said. He headed for the popcorn machine in the kitchen. With so many people -- some of them with enhanced appetites -- watching movies regularly, Tony had sprung for a theatrical appliance. It had its own rack of flavored butters, cheese powders, and other condiments along with cardboard buckets to hold the popcorn. You could even leave it going during the movie and go back for refills after everyone inevitably finished the first batch.
"Can we watch King Kong another night, though?" Steve asked wistfully as they settled into the common room. "I'm not in the mood for it now, but ... I saw the original when it first came out. It was amazing. Some people screamed and ran out of the theater!"
"Yeah, stick with that and not the Jackson monstrosity," Tony advised.
"You rarely like anyone's special effects, Tony," said Phil. "Cut the man some slack. Not everyone can be a technogenius."
"It's not Peter Jackson's special effects that I resent -- Andy Serkis played a brilliant King Kong under the CGI -- it's his complete lack of anything approaching editing skill," Tony said. "Rhodey talked me into seeing the new Kong movie with him. It ran over three hours and my butt nearly became one with the theater seat."
"Huh, I would've thought you'd like all the engine scenes," Clint said.
"The first one, yes. The repetition, no, snip-snip already," Tony said.
* * *
Notes:
Knowing what anchors you in life helps maintain emotional stability. There are ways to keep yourself and others calm under stress.
The High Line Park is an attraction in New York City.
"It's not broken, it's just not working." -- This is a Russian joke based on their language's grammatical structure, in which it's possible to indicate whether a verb applies permanently or not; and on their economy, in which things are often out of order. Not working means it isn't operational at the moment but could be someday; broken means it's never going to work again.
The Great Grape Ape Show was a cartoon show about a giant purple gorilla.
Muscle memory sometimes survives amnesia better than other memory types, because each type is stored differently.
A mood tracker records information about feelings over time, and there are different kinds. This one simply tracks high, middle, and low mood and this one details more specific effects. Natasha needs something like this because she's usually stuck in neutral, and when she's not, sudden bursts of high violence can also cause problems. Over time she is developing a wider range of emotions, so it helps to look at a funnel chart. Feeling words may also help, although Natasha doesn't recognize very many emotions. There are daily picture charts and block charts for mapping specific emotions experienced and what caused them. Understanding emotions can help manage them. Natasha is still at the stage of trying to figure out what emotions are and how to keep on not killing people.
Intrusive ideation is a problem when certain thoughts or feelings make it impossible to concentrate on anything else. Usually this happens with negative concepts. Bruce has learned how to cope with Hulk's pervasive anger. This instance of intrusive ideation is positive rather than negative, but it's still driving Bruce a little nuts.
The original King Kong dates from 1933 and the Jackson version from 2005. Andy Serkis played King Kong in the later movie.
Bruce's offer to make popcorn is an example of his fawn response. He responds to even mild disapproval with submissive, ingratiating behavior. Many abused children develop a driving need to be of use, in hopes of getting hurt less. Tony's compulsive inventing is a differently flavored version of the same impulse.
The Avengers' popcorn machine looks something like this. Flavored butters are tasty with popcorn: think of things like garlic powder, gourmet pepper, chili powder, curry powder, etc.
[To be continued in Part 31 ...]
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, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29. Skip to Part 32, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35.
"No Winter Lasts Forever" Part 30
The Avengers missed their next game night. They spent Saturday morning and afternoon fighting giant purple primates that some mad scientist released in the concrete jungle of New York. They spent Saturday evening at SHIELD debriefing. Since nobody sustained serious injury, they took the time to report in full detail. Director Fury was fortunate that they had responded at all, the way he'd been treating them; but the Avengers would never stand idly by while anyone trashed their city.
Phil felt intensely grateful for Betty, who stayed at Bucky's side in the tower keeping him anchored in the here-and-now. Her calming influence helped him remain stable even without Steve and Natasha to serve as his living memory. There were so many challenges, so many things needing to be covered -- but the team finally had people to take care of everything.
Everyone came home sore and grouchy, except for Bruce. He was still a bit stiff from the transformation, but with a cheerful air left over from Hulk's delight at fighting enemies whose preferred locomotion -- brachiating, scrambling, and bounding -- so closely matched his own. Their exuberance had mangled part of the High Line, a park made from an old elevated train track. Phil regretted the damage but silently approved Bruce finding even the slightest joy in Hulk's activity.
Tony complained about the battered state of his armor, as the enemy had repeatedly jumped on him in midair and knocked him into buildings. Clint was covered in scrapes and bruises from the apes tackling him on rooftops. One livid welt underscored his right cheekbone. Steve, tired from chasing after enemies whose motion did not match his at all, carried Natasha home. The rolled cuff of her pants left her right ankle bare except for the sport bandage on it.
"You guys don't look too good. Come and sit down," Betty said.
"It's not broken, it's just not working. I twisted my ankle when a couple of the grape apes jumped on my shoulders," Natasha said. Clint had called them that once, and the name stuck.
Bucky stepped up to Steve and said, "You're tired. Give her to me." He slipped his left arm under Natasha's shoulders and his right under her knees. Steve leaned forward a bit, Bucky tilted back, and when they separated Natasha rested securely in Bucky's arms.
It's like a dance, Phil thought, realizing that they must have perfected this exchange in the war when dealing with injured teammates. Oh! Muscle memory! We should explore that and see if it holds better than autobiographical memory. He hoped that Bucky's attention wouldn't annoy Natasha, because injury always made her touchy. She had spent too much time in places where any weakness brought punishment or attack. That made it hard for her to accept genuine care now.
"Where are you going?" Bucky asked Natasha.
"I'm going to bed," she replied. Without another word, he carried her away.
Clint stared after him. "Did she just ... not argue with him?"
"Evidently so," Phil said. He strove to figure out how it had worked, and why, and whether they could ever replicate the effect.
"There was nothing for her to argue about," Betty observed. "Bucky didn't ask what she wanted or needed, or what he should do. He asked where she was going. He explicitly put her in control and presented himself as, hm, her substitute mobility. If she's anything like the soldiers I've known, it's the limitation that makes her irritable, not necessarily the injury itself. Find a way to relieve that and she should feel a lot more comfortable, thus less prickly."
"Wow," Clint said. "I could not do that. She tends to snipe at me."
"That's because you tease her," Phil said. Then he realized something else. "In fact, I think it's because you call attention to it when she's not at her best." Bucky's approach was so self-effacing that it avoided the problem. Phil wondered how Natasha felt about that. It was hard to tell because she showed so little outwardly.
Phil pulled out his Starkphone and quietly noted the new discoveries. He didn't want that kind of thing announced out loud, but silent reminders could prove helpful. With deft strokes Phil paged through Natasha's mood trackers. He compared the ones he kept with what she reported herself. Natasha tended toward neutral almost all the time, except for sharp swings of aggression and alarm when ill or injured. As Phil had thought, this was indeed the first recorded time when that hadn't happened. I hope we can replicate this, he mused.
"I'll just exercise the better part of valor and stay out of her hair until she falls asleep. I've had enough of grape apes and arguments and whining for one day. I'm exhausted," Clint said. "Movie night?"
"Sounds great," Bruce said. He was sitting down, but his left foot flicked back and forth like the tip of a tiger's tail. "King Kong?"
Clint shoved him. "Ugh, no, why won't you wind down? You should be half-asleep like usual and instead you're acting like you've had too much sugar. Well, okay, you did eat half a box of donuts and a liter bottle of Coke on the way home ..."
"Sorry, just, the Other Guy had fun today. I'm sorry it sucked for everyone else. This is weird for me -- usually all I get from him is anger, and having his warm-fuzzies spilling all over me is very disconcerting," Bruce said. His hands patted the air in a conciliatory gesture. "Look, if it's bugging you, let me make it up to you somehow. I could fix popcorn?"
"Ooo! With the white cheddar!" Tony said.
"You can kiss up to me with something spicy," Clint said.
"Going," Bruce said. He headed for the popcorn machine in the kitchen. With so many people -- some of them with enhanced appetites -- watching movies regularly, Tony had sprung for a theatrical appliance. It had its own rack of flavored butters, cheese powders, and other condiments along with cardboard buckets to hold the popcorn. You could even leave it going during the movie and go back for refills after everyone inevitably finished the first batch.
"Can we watch King Kong another night, though?" Steve asked wistfully as they settled into the common room. "I'm not in the mood for it now, but ... I saw the original when it first came out. It was amazing. Some people screamed and ran out of the theater!"
"Yeah, stick with that and not the Jackson monstrosity," Tony advised.
"You rarely like anyone's special effects, Tony," said Phil. "Cut the man some slack. Not everyone can be a technogenius."
"It's not Peter Jackson's special effects that I resent -- Andy Serkis played a brilliant King Kong under the CGI -- it's his complete lack of anything approaching editing skill," Tony said. "Rhodey talked me into seeing the new Kong movie with him. It ran over three hours and my butt nearly became one with the theater seat."
"Huh, I would've thought you'd like all the engine scenes," Clint said.
"The first one, yes. The repetition, no, snip-snip already," Tony said.
* * *
Notes:
Knowing what anchors you in life helps maintain emotional stability. There are ways to keep yourself and others calm under stress.
The High Line Park is an attraction in New York City.
"It's not broken, it's just not working." -- This is a Russian joke based on their language's grammatical structure, in which it's possible to indicate whether a verb applies permanently or not; and on their economy, in which things are often out of order. Not working means it isn't operational at the moment but could be someday; broken means it's never going to work again.
The Great Grape Ape Show was a cartoon show about a giant purple gorilla.
Muscle memory sometimes survives amnesia better than other memory types, because each type is stored differently.
A mood tracker records information about feelings over time, and there are different kinds. This one simply tracks high, middle, and low mood and this one details more specific effects. Natasha needs something like this because she's usually stuck in neutral, and when she's not, sudden bursts of high violence can also cause problems. Over time she is developing a wider range of emotions, so it helps to look at a funnel chart. Feeling words may also help, although Natasha doesn't recognize very many emotions. There are daily picture charts and block charts for mapping specific emotions experienced and what caused them. Understanding emotions can help manage them. Natasha is still at the stage of trying to figure out what emotions are and how to keep on not killing people.
Intrusive ideation is a problem when certain thoughts or feelings make it impossible to concentrate on anything else. Usually this happens with negative concepts. Bruce has learned how to cope with Hulk's pervasive anger. This instance of intrusive ideation is positive rather than negative, but it's still driving Bruce a little nuts.
The original King Kong dates from 1933 and the Jackson version from 2005. Andy Serkis played King Kong in the later movie.
Bruce's offer to make popcorn is an example of his fawn response. He responds to even mild disapproval with submissive, ingratiating behavior. Many abused children develop a driving need to be of use, in hopes of getting hurt less. Tony's compulsive inventing is a differently flavored version of the same impulse.
The Avengers' popcorn machine looks something like this. Flavored butters are tasty with popcorn: think of things like garlic powder, gourmet pepper, chili powder, curry powder, etc.
[To be continued in Part 31 ...]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-09 05:47 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2013-06-10 09:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-09 08:12 am (UTC)I wouldn't want to watch King Kong either after fighting apes!
It's so great to see Bruce react in a new, happier and more accepting way, to Hulk's actions and feelings!
Thanks for a rich chapter!
Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-10 06:10 am (UTC)Yes, probably. Natasha always expects people to make an issue of it when she is sick or injured. It used to be a survival threat, and that's always the first thing she thinks of, which causes problems. Now it's Phil and Clint (followed by the other Avengers) wanting to make sure she's taken care of, which is still nerve-wracking. So she's waiting for the penny to drop ...
... and it doesn't. That can be very disorienting.
>> Bucky's way of treating her is perfect and there's a lesson to learn there :) ! <<
It's really clever, and subtle. It will work as long as he can keep his head, and as long as the damage isn't too serious to take care of with a minimum of fuss. This is, if nothing else, a significant improvement.
>> I wouldn't want to watch King Kong either after fighting apes! <<
*laugh* Me neither. But Hulk had fun with it, so Bruce is riding on that.
>> It's so great to see Bruce react in a new, happier and more accepting way, to Hulk's actions and feelings! <<
Well, Bruce can feel the happiness, at least. He doesn't quite know what to do with it yet. This is a sign of how things are changing for them.
>> Thanks for a rich chapter! <<
You're welcome!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-09 11:20 am (UTC)Sincerely,
A Grateful Little Sister
Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-10 10:24 pm (UTC)Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying this so much. I have a lot of other writing both here and some on AO3 if you want more.
>> It is very captivating and I love the relationships and I love Uncle Phil. <<
Yay! I wanted to explore those aspects because when you put a group together, that creates a tie between each person and every other person. The Avengers are different things to each other and that affects how they work together. Uncle Phil is basically the hub of the wheel that keeps them stable.
>> I also wanted to thank you, I have a big age difference with my sister and reading fanfiction is one of the only ways we can communicate with each other.<<
I'm glad I could help with that.
By the way, it's a relationship common in one of my fantasy cultures, the tribe of Waterjewel. I work with constructed languages so I have the vocabulary for it:
jeyan (noun) – In Waterjewel use, means “sibling parent,” “mother-sister,” or “father-brother.” Elves commonly have children decades apart, so that the older sibling is an adult by the time the next is born. Older siblings often help their parents raise the younger ones, and in such cases the term for the older sibling is jeyan. The related term for the youngster is kiyin (“child sibling”).
>> This series has been part of our discussions for a while now. She has been trying to get me to read it for a while. <<
I'm pleased that it's worth recommending!
>> I am truly glad I read this not only for the entertainment value and the characters that suck you into their world and make you laugh and cry with them, <<
That's one of my goals in writing this series ...
>> but for giving me and my sister another subject to talk about. It is rare that we find a series we love this much and can talk to each other about it as much as we have and will continue to do. <<
... but this is another, encouraging folks to spend time with friends and family. Yay!
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-13 04:05 am (UTC)>>Older siblings often help their parents raise the younger ones<<
This is exactly what happened here. I am a decade older than her, and she really is my kiyin. Did you know it also happens with some species of birds of prey? The longer-lived ones, anyway. They are pretty much self-sufficient about a year/year and a half before they become sexually mature, so they hang around the nest, and when their parents hatch another brood, will help feed and protect their younger siblings. It not only ensures that their siblings survive, it gives them practice for their own broods.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-13 04:05 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-15 07:51 pm (UTC)You're welcome!
>> This series is definitely worth the recommendation, and is affecting the way that I deal with all my family relationships, in a positive way. <<
Wow! That's exactly what I was hoping for with this series, a little positive inspiration in people's lives.
>> This is exactly what happened here. I am a decade older than her, and she really is my kiyin. <<
That is so cool. Thanks for sharing.
>> Did you know it also happens with some species of birds of prey? The longer-lived ones, anyway. <<
Not sure I've heard about it with birds, but it's common with wolves.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-06-23 04:19 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-06-23 04:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-09 03:23 pm (UTC)I'm glad to see Bucky stepping in to help Natasha. I know for me, feeling "useful" and doing things for others was a huge part of healing. He may not be able to join the fight, but there's plenty of ways he can help out "behind the scenes".
Meg
Thank you!
Date: 2013-06-10 07:37 pm (UTC)Hulk is just beginning to explore the idea of fun. He likes smashing, so that's a natural connection for him. There are less violent pleasures gradually coming to his attention, though; you'll see more of that later in this story.
>> And yay for Bruce being able to enjoy Hulk's fun. I'm a little surprised, but very pleased, that he isn't freaking out about it. <<
It's a little of both, really. Bruce can't help but be uplifted by Hulk's exuberance. He doesn't know how to handle it, though, and is quietly flibbering a bit over that.
>> I'm glad to see Bucky stepping in to help Natasha. <<
Part of that comes from his established connections with Steve and Natasha, the way they fit together. Bucky is comfortable in a support role, and a good caretaker.
>> I know for me, feeling "useful" and doing things for others was a huge part of healing. He may not be able to join the fight, but there's plenty of ways he can help out "behind the scenes". <<
Yes, precisely. Bucky has a strong need to pull his own weight. He feels better if he can contribute something, even little things. (Though taking care of Natasha is not "little" -- it qualifies for hazard pay.) It helps someone get back into action, doing everyday tasks. So you'll see Bucky doing more things as the story progresses.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-10 03:06 am (UTC)The marvelous popcorn machine -- the description, not the picture -- reminds me of something I thought up when my kids were kids and I played a lot of D&D with them. I have the writeup somewhere, but it was something like this:
Orvl's Inexhaustible Casket
This is a box about 1 foot wide x 8" front-to-back x 6" high. It is covered with untarnishing gold, silver, and copper, embossed with designs of some kind of plant and its curious fruit, which looks like a cylinder paved with squarish cobblestones. On the top are three sliding buttons, one in each of the metals, shaped like those cobblestones:.
Whenever it is opened, the box will be full of very light, puffy, yellowish edible objects, each about the size of a human's thumb or finger joint, warm and aromatic. The flavor can vary, controlled by the sliders: The gold one adds butter, the silver one salt, and the copper one a mild kind of hot spice. The substance is tasty, filling, and refreshing, although not very nourishing.
Most marvellous as all, as the artifact's name implies, this small box is never empty. In fact, it seems bottomless: No matter how deep you reach into its six-inch depth, you will never strike bottom, and you can scoop out as much of the substance as you like. In fact, if you turn it upside down, an endless stream will pour out until you right it or close the lid.
*laugh*
Date: 2013-06-12 06:37 am (UTC)Thank you! Team needed a chance to unwind.
>> The marvelous popcorn machine -- the description, not the picture -- reminds me of something I thought up when my kids were kids and I played a lot of D&D with them. I have the writeup somewhere, but it was something like this: <<
Oh, I love this! I used to introduce anachronisms like that occasionally.
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2013-06-16 04:05 am (UTC)I wanted to have a fair number of powerful female NPCs, especially since my kids were a girl and a boy. One of them was a magic-user, Mistress Coli... first initial "E.". :-) She wasn't nasty or infectious, I was just having fun with the name.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-11 06:26 pm (UTC)And I liked the Peter Jackson movie, even if it was so long that by the time Kong finally showed up in NYC I was ready for a break. Honestly, I really would like it if he reintroduced the concept of an intermission.
As I grow older I find that the most cynical Russian attitudes jive perfectly with how I've come to feel about my society and government. That's a new proverb for me though; I'll have to remember it.
Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-13 04:20 am (UTC)It just seemed like his kind of movie.
>> And I liked the Peter Jackson movie, even if it was so long that by the time Kong finally showed up in NYC I was ready for a break. <<
Yeah, me too. And hey, I learned a lot about editing from it. That was the first movie, rather than written material, that roused my editing instincts.
Honestly, I really would like it if he reintroduced the concept of an intermission.
>> As I grow older I find that the most cynical Russian attitudes jive perfectly with how I've come to feel about my society and government. That's a new proverb for me though; I'll have to remember it. <<
I've always had a fond understanding for Russian perspectives, although it's only been in the last couple of decades that I really turned most of them on America.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-24 09:31 pm (UTC)Anyway, as always, this is lovely. I have been wrapped up in Bucky feels all day but it is worth it!
Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-25 06:26 am (UTC)More damaged than destroyed, but it's okay for you to hate the park. You're entitled to your own opinion.
>> Anyway, as always, this is lovely. I have been wrapped up in Bucky feels all day but it is worth it! <<
Yay! I'm glad you found this so touching.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-30 09:26 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2013-06-30 09:44 pm (UTC)I'm glad this helps.
>> sounds like Natasha also suffers from alexithymia. <<
Yes, she does. Bruce does too, though not quite as bad. If you can't feel much, it's very difficult to identify what the emotion is. Natasha has a very blunted affect, which is an improvement from the flat affect she had when Clint and Phil met her. Bruce has a tendency to live in his head and fob off all his emotions on Hulk, later exacerbated by trying not to feel anything so as to avoid letting Hulk out.
Natasha is aware of the problem and actively working on it, just making very slow progress. She uses various kinds of mood tracker to help with this.
Bruce's emotional intelligence is very low. I get the impression that he resorted to the pulse monitor as a shortcut because, even though Hulk is actually brought out by emotions, Bruce couldn't figure out a mood tracker well enough to make it work. Bruce understands biology and numbers a lot better than feelings.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-08-18 10:04 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-08-19 06:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-24 03:11 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-06-24 06:38 am (UTC)The Avengers are using real flavored butters, instead of butter substitutes. They need the calories, and Bruce prefers natural to synthetic foodstuffs when he has a choice. For popcorn think of flavorings such as garlic powder, gourmet pepper, chili powder, curry powder, etc.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-26 01:52 am (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2014-09-26 01:59 am (UTC)Re: Yay!
Date: 2014-09-26 02:04 am (UTC)