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ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk," and "kintsukuroi."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Nick Fury
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Minor character death. Bullying. Fighting. Suicide attempt (minor character).
Summary: This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. Accidents. Emotional whump. Disability. Sibling relationship. Nonsexual love. Parentification. Manipulation. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Protection. Caregiving. Competence. Toys and games. Comic books. Fixing things. Martial arts. Gentleness. Trust. Role models. Military. BAMF Phil Coulson.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Skip to Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 5
Flip doesn't have a lot of toys. Some kids have a whole room full of them. His family can't afford to buy everything he wants, or to replace everything that needs it, but that's okay. Flip likes keeping his room tidy. All his toys have a place to live, boxes and shelves neatly organized. Flip likes fixing things that get broken and finding things that get lost. He learns how to make simple repairs and how to search carefully. It helps him feel safe in a world that is scarier than it used to be.
Captain America makes him feel safer too. Flip loves the comic books with their bold colors and exciting stories. More than that, though, he loves how Captain America always does what's right, no matter how hard it is. Captain America never acts like a bully even though he is big and strong. He uses his strength to protect people. Flip likes having someone to look up to, especially with his father gone.
Flip also enjoys reusing things that somebody else isn't using. Alexa doesn't play with her dolls as much as she used to. It's hard for her to remember where things go, too. Flip helps Alexa sort out her stuff. He leaves her the few dolls that she still likes, and takes some of the others to his own rooms.
Flip likes to cuddle the baby dolls. He loves the dress-up dolls, too. Sometimes he puts them in beautiful ball gowns and imagines taking them to a dance in the city. Other times he puts them in G.I. Joe uniforms and has them storm the Kremlin. He doesn't have enough soldiers, so the troops need all the support they can get. He has to be careful, though, because if his toys go "missing in action" around the house, Mom holds them hostage until he cleans up the room better.
Not everyone takes care of their things as well as Flip does. Sometimes he finds toys, or worse, parts of toys that other kids have lost or thrown away. It makes him feel sad to see fun things forgotten like that. So Flip picks them up and takes them home. The plastic heroes are missing arms or legs, and one of them has no head. Once in a while Flip manages to put together a whole toy from pieces he has found. That makes him feel warm and happy inside. Then he puts it on the shelf with his other good toys. The rest of the "rescue" toys stay in their box under his bed.
One cold day, a glint of colorful metal catches Flip's eye. He crouches over the frozen puddle behind his grade school. There under the ice lies a Captain America action figure. Flip can just make out the fact that the tin soldier is missing its right arm and shield. He doesn't care. He is not about to leave Captain America trapped in the ice.
Flip has watched television shows about digging up dinosaur bones, so he knows that he needs to work slowly and carefully. He finds a rock with a good point. Then he chips away the ice around the battered toy until he can lift it free. Finally Flip tugs off his gloves and uses his warm hands to melt the remaining ice.
Captain America lies in the palm of Flip's hand. The tin is scratched in places, silver-gray metal showing through the red and blue paint. The shoulder socket is bent a little where the right arm has torn away. But the determined look on Cap's face is unchanged. Gently Flip rubs away the grit and cleans the toy as best he can. He'll need to go over it again with a nail brush and some toothpicks to get all the mud out of the grooves. Flip puts Cap in his pocket and stands up.
He is so late getting home that he misses supper. His mother scolds him. Flip shows her the tin soldier and explains all about rescuing Captain America. Mom's face softens then. "Oh, Flip," she says, hugging him close. "I understand, I really do. You can't stay out so late, though. You really scared me."
"I'm sorry for scaring you, Mom," he says. Flip volunteers for extra chores, and Mom doesn't take him to the park that Saturday. But Captain America sleeps safe under Flip's bed in a nest of fabric scraps, just in case Flip ever finds an arm and a shield for him, so it's worth it.
* * *
Notes:
Organizing things can make people feel more in control when other parts of their lives are in chaos. It also helps people with traumatic brain injury, because they usually don't remember things as well as they used to. There are tips and images for how to organize children's rooms, along with steps for getting organized in general.
Know how to clean and repair toys. There are individual instructions for such things as fixing plastic toys or repairing vehicles. Searching for lost items is another useful skill.
Children need role models and heroes. Know how to talk with your children about heroes, or choose your own role models.
Baby dolls and fashion dolls are just two examples of toys used in doll play. This teaches many skills to both boys and girls. Despite the belief that "boys don't like dolls," at least one study shows that baby boys do. Gendering toys is a disservice to all children.
Toy soldiers may include various subtypes such as tin soldiers and action figures. Although some parents abhor "war toys" they can teach useful skills such as cooperation, planning, and imagination. This is especially true for children who do a little research, and this is exactly how Flip plays with toy soldiers.
Digging for fossils requires a lot of patience and precision. Toys may be frozen in ice for children to remove as a science experiment or superhero game.
Positive discipline includes such things as logical consequences, which are different from punishments. Missing a fun trip is a logical consequence for coming home late. Making amends is more than just a verbal apology; it includes concrete action to make up for the offense. This helps in small and large issues. In particular, offering some kind of recompense rather than waiting for an imposed punishment is a good way of showing genuine remorse. Understand how to apologize and how to regain parental trust after a mistake. Everyone goofs sometimes; good people own up to it and fix it as best they can.
[To be continued in Part 6 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Nick Fury
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Minor character death. Bullying. Fighting. Suicide attempt (minor character).
Summary: This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. Accidents. Emotional whump. Disability. Sibling relationship. Nonsexual love. Parentification. Manipulation. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Protection. Caregiving. Competence. Toys and games. Comic books. Fixing things. Martial arts. Gentleness. Trust. Role models. Military. BAMF Phil Coulson.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Skip to Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 5
Flip doesn't have a lot of toys. Some kids have a whole room full of them. His family can't afford to buy everything he wants, or to replace everything that needs it, but that's okay. Flip likes keeping his room tidy. All his toys have a place to live, boxes and shelves neatly organized. Flip likes fixing things that get broken and finding things that get lost. He learns how to make simple repairs and how to search carefully. It helps him feel safe in a world that is scarier than it used to be.
Captain America makes him feel safer too. Flip loves the comic books with their bold colors and exciting stories. More than that, though, he loves how Captain America always does what's right, no matter how hard it is. Captain America never acts like a bully even though he is big and strong. He uses his strength to protect people. Flip likes having someone to look up to, especially with his father gone.
Flip also enjoys reusing things that somebody else isn't using. Alexa doesn't play with her dolls as much as she used to. It's hard for her to remember where things go, too. Flip helps Alexa sort out her stuff. He leaves her the few dolls that she still likes, and takes some of the others to his own rooms.
Flip likes to cuddle the baby dolls. He loves the dress-up dolls, too. Sometimes he puts them in beautiful ball gowns and imagines taking them to a dance in the city. Other times he puts them in G.I. Joe uniforms and has them storm the Kremlin. He doesn't have enough soldiers, so the troops need all the support they can get. He has to be careful, though, because if his toys go "missing in action" around the house, Mom holds them hostage until he cleans up the room better.
Not everyone takes care of their things as well as Flip does. Sometimes he finds toys, or worse, parts of toys that other kids have lost or thrown away. It makes him feel sad to see fun things forgotten like that. So Flip picks them up and takes them home. The plastic heroes are missing arms or legs, and one of them has no head. Once in a while Flip manages to put together a whole toy from pieces he has found. That makes him feel warm and happy inside. Then he puts it on the shelf with his other good toys. The rest of the "rescue" toys stay in their box under his bed.
One cold day, a glint of colorful metal catches Flip's eye. He crouches over the frozen puddle behind his grade school. There under the ice lies a Captain America action figure. Flip can just make out the fact that the tin soldier is missing its right arm and shield. He doesn't care. He is not about to leave Captain America trapped in the ice.
Flip has watched television shows about digging up dinosaur bones, so he knows that he needs to work slowly and carefully. He finds a rock with a good point. Then he chips away the ice around the battered toy until he can lift it free. Finally Flip tugs off his gloves and uses his warm hands to melt the remaining ice.
Captain America lies in the palm of Flip's hand. The tin is scratched in places, silver-gray metal showing through the red and blue paint. The shoulder socket is bent a little where the right arm has torn away. But the determined look on Cap's face is unchanged. Gently Flip rubs away the grit and cleans the toy as best he can. He'll need to go over it again with a nail brush and some toothpicks to get all the mud out of the grooves. Flip puts Cap in his pocket and stands up.
He is so late getting home that he misses supper. His mother scolds him. Flip shows her the tin soldier and explains all about rescuing Captain America. Mom's face softens then. "Oh, Flip," she says, hugging him close. "I understand, I really do. You can't stay out so late, though. You really scared me."
"I'm sorry for scaring you, Mom," he says. Flip volunteers for extra chores, and Mom doesn't take him to the park that Saturday. But Captain America sleeps safe under Flip's bed in a nest of fabric scraps, just in case Flip ever finds an arm and a shield for him, so it's worth it.
* * *
Notes:
Organizing things can make people feel more in control when other parts of their lives are in chaos. It also helps people with traumatic brain injury, because they usually don't remember things as well as they used to. There are tips and images for how to organize children's rooms, along with steps for getting organized in general.
Know how to clean and repair toys. There are individual instructions for such things as fixing plastic toys or repairing vehicles. Searching for lost items is another useful skill.
Children need role models and heroes. Know how to talk with your children about heroes, or choose your own role models.
Baby dolls and fashion dolls are just two examples of toys used in doll play. This teaches many skills to both boys and girls. Despite the belief that "boys don't like dolls," at least one study shows that baby boys do. Gendering toys is a disservice to all children.
Toy soldiers may include various subtypes such as tin soldiers and action figures. Although some parents abhor "war toys" they can teach useful skills such as cooperation, planning, and imagination. This is especially true for children who do a little research, and this is exactly how Flip plays with toy soldiers.
Digging for fossils requires a lot of patience and precision. Toys may be frozen in ice for children to remove as a science experiment or superhero game.
Positive discipline includes such things as logical consequences, which are different from punishments. Missing a fun trip is a logical consequence for coming home late. Making amends is more than just a verbal apology; it includes concrete action to make up for the offense. This helps in small and large issues. In particular, offering some kind of recompense rather than waiting for an imposed punishment is a good way of showing genuine remorse. Understand how to apologize and how to regain parental trust after a mistake. Everyone goofs sometimes; good people own up to it and fix it as best they can.
[To be continued in Part 6 ...]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-09 05:45 am (UTC)Aaaaagh my heart. I have happy-adorable-sad tears.
It's great seeing the different aspects of Phil developing with Flip.
-Wynjara
Aww...
Date: 2014-06-11 06:04 am (UTC)Aaaaagh my heart. I have happy-adorable-sad tears. <<
*hankie* I'm glad you found this so moving.
>> It's great seeing the different aspects of Phil developing with Flip. <<
Yay! That's what I wanted to explore in this story.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-09 05:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-09 05:55 am (UTC)Also, I love this chapter.
Thoughts
Date: 2014-06-11 07:23 am (UTC)Aww!
>> He also likes trains, and pretending to be a cop, saving the world. My fourteen year old son out-grew baby dolls before I got a phone that could take video, or I would have one of him, too. He liked cars, and Legos. My daughter likes sports, wood-working, Barbie, and boy bands. <<
Parenting: you're doing it right.
>> I hate, hate, hate how regimented the toy section is. Gendered toys are for losers. <<
:( I agreed, gendered toys are not a great idea.
So Sweet
Date: 2014-06-09 06:33 am (UTC)Anyway, my brother played with my dolls and my Barbies, (although unlike Flip, he seemed to enjoy undressing the Barbies more than dressing them.) He played with them with me and occasionally without me. I played with his Legos and Action Figures probably more than he played with my dolls. I really enjoyed reading about the cooperation between siblings in your story.
I think that one of the reasons I really like they way you are portraying Flip's relationship with his sister is because many authors take it for granted that the sitcom portrayal of sibling fighting is pretty much the only kind of relationship that siblings have. Before puberty, my brother and I rarely fought. Even after, our fights were more over my insistence on greater privacy than over objects or privileges. I like Flip and his family and the way they are handling all the obstacles that life is handing them. I also like seeing where Phil's discipline techniques come from. It is very clear that he is taking a pages from his mom's book when dealing with Clint and Tony.
Sincerely,
Firstar28
Re: So Sweet
Date: 2014-06-09 07:07 am (UTC)That makes sense, and it's exactly what Flip and Alexa have been doing.
>> I think it also helped that our parents never allowed us to get too possessive of most of our toys. It was just understood that if we weren't actively playing with an object, it was up for grabs by anyone else. <<
Very sensible. In this story, I think it helps that Flip and Alexa are both pretty laid-back people. It's not like trying to wrangle kids like Clint and Tony who, if they couldn't find any trouble, were always ready to make their own.
>> There were exceptions such as my favorite teddy bear and his stuffed dinosaur. (Those were the toys that were put in the closet during playdates because they weren't "sharing" toys. They were very special and belonged exclusively to us.) <<
I think it's important that children have a right to some things of their very own ...
>> Still, for the most part, toys were kind of a free-for-all at our house. We learned early that fighting over them just got them taken away until further notice and that it was just easier to figure out how to cooperate without involving adults. <<
... and learn to share others.
I'm not always great at sharing. I've made a point of practicing, though; it's a key reason why I write in Torn World which is a shared-world setting. And that contributes to me sharing my settings with other people, which is all awesome, because that means more goodies for everyone.
>> Anyway, my brother played with my dolls and my Barbies, (although unlike Flip, he seemed to enjoy undressing the Barbies more than dressing them.) He played with them with me and occasionally without me. I played with his Legos and Action Figures probably more than he played with my dolls. <<
It's wonderful that you got along and exchanged toys like that.
>> I really enjoyed reading about the cooperation between siblings in your story. <<
Yay! Hart's Farm and Monster House have some really strong sibling relationships, if you want more.
>> I think that one of the reasons I really like they way you are portraying Flip's relationship with his sister is because many authors take it for granted that the sitcom portrayal of sibling fighting is pretty much the only kind of relationship that siblings have. <<
That's really sad. I guess I hadn't realized how pervasive that was, but yeah, it's almost universal. We need more renditions of healthy sibling relationships.
>> Before puberty, my brother and I rarely fought. Even after, our fights were more over my insistence on greater privacy than over objects or privileges. <<
I'm happy to hear that. You're lucky to have a good family.
>> I like Flip and his family and the way they are handling all the obstacles that life is handing them. <<
Yay! It's very hard for them, but they're making a lot of progress.
>> I also like seeing where Phil's discipline techniques come from. It is very clear that he is taking a pages from his mom's book when dealing with Clint and Tony. <<
Absolutely. Some of what Phil does with the Avengers is stuff he discovered later, but the core of it is from his mom.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-09 11:08 am (UTC)Someone has a story where some nozzle had frozen a modern Captain America and like a noob left it somewhere that Steve being Steve saw it. Actually, I think there are at least two. One was at a picnic, another was a SHIELD freezer.
Yes...
Date: 2014-06-24 09:47 pm (UTC)In essence, a blend of Bucky and Steve, a little hint of Flip's future ... but also, an indication of why the toy was so carelessly abandoned. Most kids don't care about broken things. Then there are ones like Flip who seek them out.
>> Someone has a story where some nozzle had frozen a modern Captain America and like a noob left it somewhere that Steve being Steve saw it. Actually, I think there are at least two. One was at a picnic, another was a SHIELD freezer. <<
O_O Wow, that's awful.
If somebody did that to Steve in this series, they could kiss their cyber-life goodbye because JARVIS would find out and hunt them down. And at SHIELD? Agent Coulson is not amused.
half grown up
Date: 2014-06-09 11:52 am (UTC)Thanks for posting this.
Re: half grown up
Date: 2014-06-24 09:48 pm (UTC)Ice
Date: 2014-06-09 12:35 pm (UTC)There are whole worlds of irony and emotion and foreshadowing tied up in this line. It's too early in the morning for me to be coherent about all of it, but just – Wow!
Re: Ice
Date: 2014-06-11 05:51 am (UTC)There are whole worlds of irony and emotion and foreshadowing tied up in this line. It's too early in the morning for me to be coherent about all of it, but just – Wow! <<
Yay! I'm glad you liked this so much. I enjoy putting little bits of symbolism and foreshadowing into the story.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-10 06:17 am (UTC)I love this bit a lot:
"Sometimes he puts them in beautiful ball gowns and imagines taking them to a dance in the city. Other times he puts them in G.I. Joe uniforms and has them storm the Kremlin. He doesn't have enough soldiers, so the troops need all the support they can get."
(They can totally do ball gown one day and battlefield the next day, Flip. Just wait until you meet Natasha.)
Santosha
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-24 09:54 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's frustrating. It's one way to make people buy more stuff. However! The small size of action figures is a very common scale for dollhouse dolls.
>> (They can totally do ball gown one day and battlefield the next day, Flip. Just wait until you meet Natasha.) <<
This kind of thinking outside the box is what later makes Phil so good at handling Natasha.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-10 11:01 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2014-06-12 06:49 pm (UTC)Yay! That's what I'm aiming for.
>> Flip is such a sweet kid. <<
... at least until you pick on his sister.
>> These little hints into his life and development are wonderful. <<
I'm glad you're enjoying this.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-11 04:40 am (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2014-06-12 07:37 pm (UTC)Yay! I'm happy to hear that.
>> I would also love to see some Alexia with adult Phil as well. <<
There is some of that later in the story.
>> But Flip has to be Phil first. <<
Sooth. He'll get there.
>> I also really appreciate how you are portraying Alexia as a disabled person, but first and foremost a person.:) <<
I'm glad you like it. Alexa has to learn what she has left and how to use it, but she's making good progress.
From: The Tadpole
Date: 2014-06-11 05:39 am (UTC)This part was something I related to well. I often find comfort in bringing order to things when I'm upset.
Re: From: The Tadpole
Date: 2014-06-11 05:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-17 08:00 am (UTC)*sniffles* Poor Flip. Poor Steve.
I love how you show Flip growing into the Phil we know.
Thoughts
Date: 2014-06-17 08:04 am (UTC)*sniffles* Poor Flip. Poor Steve. <<
*hankie*
Just remember that they find each other eventually and straighten things out.
>> I love how you show Flip growing into the Phil we know. <<
Yay! I'm glad this is working for you.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-05 12:51 am (UTC)Also feeling all the FEEELS about Cap in the ice. You are mean to our feels in all the best ways. =)
Thank you!
Date: 2014-08-05 01:29 am (UTC)I'm glad to hear that.
>> Also feeling all the FEEELS about Cap in the ice. You are mean to our feels in all the best ways. =) <<
Well, I tipped that bit of personal history in a previous story, so I really wanted to include it here. That was a very important moment for Flip, that continues to influence Phil.