![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithHere ends "Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques." Next in the chronology is Thursday.
This 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,""kintsukuroi," "Little and Broken, but Still Good," "Byzantine Perplexities," "Up the Water Spout," "The Life of the Dead," "If They Could Just Stay Little," "Anahata," "When the Wheels Come Off," "Against His Own Shield," "Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Building Towers," "Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations," "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day," "Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears," "What Little Boys Are Made Of," "Rotten Fruit," "Keep the Homefires Burning," "Their Old Familiar Carols Play," and "Fluffy."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, JARVIS, Agent Sitwell, assorted new SHIELD recruits, Sean O'Toole, Pepper Potts, Dr. Samson
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Indecision, PTSD, nightmares, food issues, boundary issues, teamwork, SHIELD, rude humor, mental health care, facing the past, interpersonal dynamics, intrapersonal dynamics, emotional challenges, memory issues, frustration, and other angst.
Summary: The Avengers help each other cope with challenges, including Steve's nightmares, Tony's new sleep dynamics, and Bruce-and-Hulk attempting to get along.
Notes: Team as family. Competence. Friendship. Comfort food. Emotional first aid. Nostalgia. New hobbies. Hurt/comfort. Science. Music. #coulsonlives.
A note on feedback: While it's not necessary to comment on every post I make, remember that I don't know who reads/likes things if nobody says anything. Particularly on long stories, I've discovered that I get antsy if there's nothing but crickets chirping for several posts. So it helps to give me feedback at least once, even if it's just "I like this" or "This one doesn't grab me." First and last episodes are ideal if you rarely feel inspired to comment in the middle.
I also have a list of favorite photogenic scenes from the whole series for fanartists to consider, partly compiled from audience requests.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
Story: "Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques" Part 9
Natasha began clearing the dishes. Betty headed to sink to wash them. Tony stepped up for drying.
Steve rinsed out the empty sour cream containers, then dithered over what to do. "I know I shouldn't keep all of these. It's stupid. We have plenty of storage tubs for food, better ones," Steve said. "But it still feels wasteful to me. It hurts to throw them away."
Tony pulled open a cabinet to reveal the color-coded bins inside. "You don't have to throw them in the garbage. The tower has a very sophisticated recycling system," he explained. "Drop things in here, and the system puts them to good use."
Bruce joined them. "I know it's a bit more complicated than what you remember, Steve, but that's okay. You'll get used to it," said Bruce. He took the sour cream container from Steve and pointed to the bottom. "Look, plastic things have a number on them to tell whether they can be recycled and how."
"But you don't need to worry about that, really, because the tower system does the fine sorting," Tony said. "Just separate the landfill garbage, the clean paper from the offices, and then all the other recyclables together like the bins say."
This wasn't the first time teammates had explained the process to Steve and Bucky. Steve had been so shellshocked when he first moved into the tower that nothing really registered for a while. Bucky's memory still skipped and stuttered, making it difficult for him to handle complexities. They're both learning, though, Phil thought as he watched the scene play out again.
Steve rubbed a thoughtful finger over the sour cream lid that he still held. He walked over to the cabinet that held empty storage tubs, some plastic, others high-impact crystal. Phil could see Steve's lips moving as he silently tallied the materials. He's reassuring himself of the supplies, Phil realized.
Then Steve went back to the recycling center and put all the sour cream containers into the relevant bin. He turned to Tony and Bruce. "Can you ... maybe go over the recycling science with me again? I think I'm ready to listen now. You guys do great work with this stuff, I've heard you talk about it, and I want to understand more about it."
"Sure thing," Tony said. "Stark Industries specializes in the green frontier now. Tell you the truth, though, it's never really recovered from shutting down the munitions branch. We could use a boost from someone more respectable than yours truly."
"It's not all fancy science stuff," Bruce added. "I've spent years making do with whatever junk I could scrounge. I built a centrifuge out of a bicycle wheel once. It's like my dishtowels say, you know? Reduce, reuse, recycle, replenish, restore." Bruce's had little acorns embroidered on them. Tony's favorite dishtowel, currently draped over his shoulder, was embroidered with motherboard lines. Both were Betty's handiwork.
"Okay," Steve said, "and thanks for being so patient with me."
After they finished the cleanup, everyone gathered in the common room. Tony and Bruce curled up on the loveseat. Bucky, Steve, and Phil had the couch. Betty and Natasha took the chairs. Clint perched on the back of Natasha's chair, humming quietly.
"Isn't that the song Kacey Musgraves wrote for you?" Phil asked.
Tony looked up. "Kacey Musgraves wrote you a song?" he said to Clint.
"Yeah, she uh ... is a fan of the Amazing Hawkeye," said Clint. "If I had my guitar, I could play it for you."
"So go get it," Phil said. "We haven't done a music night in a while."
Clint nodded and left to get his guitar. Tony ambled into the kitchen and came back with a pair of spoons. Bruce gave a thoughtful hum and fetched a pair of plastic tubs. Natasha shifted onto the floor so that Clint could have the chair.
When Clint came back, guitar in hand, he surveyed the changes in the room with a smile. He settled into the chair, then began to sing, "If you save yourself for marriage, you're a bore. If you don't save yourself for marriage, you're a horrible person ..."
Phil smiled, his foot tapping in time. He liked this song.
At the chorus, Clint raised his voice. "So, make lots of noise! Kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls if that's something you're into. When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight, roll up a joint, or don't. Just follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah, follow your arrow wherever it points." His fingers danced over the strings.
When the song ended, Tony asked, "Does she actually know you're ace?"
"I don't know," Clint said. "It's not something I usually talk about. I just like how flexible the song is, you know? It leaves me a lot of wiggle room."
"Wiggle room is good," Bruce said, his fingers softly tapping on the plastic tubs that he held between his knees.
"So what've you got there?" Clint said, nodding at the tubs.
"Oh, just --" Bruce said, his hands stilling. "I guess it's silly, but I listened to a lot of music in India, and I really like the tabla rhythms."
"You guys wanna jam with me?" Clint offered. "I see Tony brought spoons."
"Yeah, I was always banging or tapping on something, so one afternoon I taught myself to play spoons. It's a good fidget," Tony said. "I never had anyone to play with though."
"I'll play something easy, then," Clint said. "Just follow along however you like." He played 'Rainy Day Woman,' looking at Natasha the whole time. He smiled at her, because he loved her, despite her often-dour disposition.
It didn't take long for Tony to start rattling his spoons along with the music, smacking them against his thigh with expert motions. It took a little longer for him to get the hang of playing with someone else, because Clint's style was expressive rather than metronome-perfect. Tony obviously did not care. He played with exuberant abandon.
Bruce was more precise, or trying to be, as he tapped the tubs with his fingertips. The larger tub produced a low note and the smaller one a high note. He frowned a little as he played.
Clint followed that with 'Gentle on My Mind.' This time he played to Phil, and it made the handler remember how he'd won Clint's loyalty by holding him close, but never holding him back or holding him down.
Natasha took a turn next. She sang the folk song 'Have You Seen Petruskha?' while Clint picked out the notes, trying to make his guitar sound like a balalaika.
Then Tony gave a soulful rendition of "Hanging Tree." Phil couldn't help but remember how Tony had gotten roped into first arms production and then superheroics, when he would rather build things to help people.
Bruce gave a growl of frustration. "I can't get this right."
"Music isn't about getting it right, it's about having fun," Clint said.
Phil noticed that Bruce was starting to turn green at the fingertips, and his shirt had gotten tighter. "Bruce, do you need --" Phil began.
Betty whisked past him and plopped herself on top of Bruce. "I know you're frustrated, love. Focus on me instead." She stayed with him until her soothing presence washed away the green tinge.
When Betty moved to get up, Tony shook his head. "You stay here with Bruce. I can move to my chair," he said as he stood. "Hey Steve, do you play or sing anything?"
"Not by myself," Steve said in a low tone. "All the guys in my barbershop quartet are dead."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring down the mood," Tony said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I like to listen," Steve said. He snuggled into Bucky's side and looped his other arm around Phil, seeking comfort in their close contact.
"Okay, time to lighten it up a little," Clint said with a smirk. Then he played 'Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road.'
Tony laughed so hard that he dropped his spoons. "Good one," he said.
Then Clint looked up at the ceiling. "Hey, JARVIS, you wanna take a turn?"
"I do not play guitar," JARVIS said.
"So? Neither does Tony," Clint said. He pointed at the engineer who was trying to retrieve the spoon that had slipped down into the innards of his media chair.
"How do you choose what to play if no one makes a request?" JARVIS asked.
"Well, you can play one of your own favorites, or you can pick something like whatever the other folks have been playing," Clint said.
A few soft piano notes drifted down from the ceiling. Phil recognized 'Always on My Mind.'
Clint grinned. "Yeah, I can play along with that." He picked up the tune with short downstrokes on the strumming.
"Aha!" Tony crowed, finally retrieving his spoon. He set the pair against his leg and began playing again.
So the evening went, with people playing and singing -- or just listening. Clint chose most of the songs, although he made a game attempt at some of Tony's favorite rock songs. Tony got better at following him with the spoons. Bruce never did pick up his tubs again, but relaxed enough to sprawl across the loveseat in Betty's grasp.
Finally JARVIS played a nocturne, gentle hint for the drowsy superheroes to seek their beds, and they all drifted away to their own quarters.
* * *
Notes:
Recycling is a way of turning waste products back into usable materials. Many things can be recycled, but that depends on the program you are using; most accept only a subset of all possible recyclables. JARVIS is as good at sorting as a human, or even better; certainly it is faster and safer for him to pick through Stark Industries output, so they can recycle just about anything that can be recycled at all. Learn how to recycle things.
This is Bruce's recycling dishtowel.
See Tony's motherboard dishtowel.
Music strengthens social bonds through self-other merging and additional methods. A jam session is less formal than a concert and involves musicians playing together in a cooperative and free-flowing manner. Read about how to listen to music, learn to play an instrument, and jam with other musicians.
Spoons can be used to play music. Learn how to play the spoons.
"Follow Your Arrow" is a song recorded by country music singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves. The song is featured on her major label debut album, Same Trailer Different Park. If you look at the Grammy performance, you can see the kind of animated lights that Stark Industries would be helping with.
Here are some play sheets for easy guitar songs.
"Rainy Day Woman" by Waylon Jennings
"Gentle on My Mind" by Glen Campbell
"Have You Seen Petrushka"
"Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road" by Loudon Wainwright
"Always on My Mind" by Willie Nelson
~MISSION ACCOMPLISHED~
This 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,""kintsukuroi," "Little and Broken, but Still Good," "Byzantine Perplexities," "Up the Water Spout," "The Life of the Dead," "If They Could Just Stay Little," "Anahata," "When the Wheels Come Off," "Against His Own Shield," "Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Building Towers," "Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations," "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day," "Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears," "What Little Boys Are Made Of," "Rotten Fruit," "Keep the Homefires Burning," "Their Old Familiar Carols Play," and "Fluffy."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, JARVIS, Agent Sitwell, assorted new SHIELD recruits, Sean O'Toole, Pepper Potts, Dr. Samson
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Indecision, PTSD, nightmares, food issues, boundary issues, teamwork, SHIELD, rude humor, mental health care, facing the past, interpersonal dynamics, intrapersonal dynamics, emotional challenges, memory issues, frustration, and other angst.
Summary: The Avengers help each other cope with challenges, including Steve's nightmares, Tony's new sleep dynamics, and Bruce-and-Hulk attempting to get along.
Notes: Team as family. Competence. Friendship. Comfort food. Emotional first aid. Nostalgia. New hobbies. Hurt/comfort. Science. Music. #coulsonlives.
A note on feedback: While it's not necessary to comment on every post I make, remember that I don't know who reads/likes things if nobody says anything. Particularly on long stories, I've discovered that I get antsy if there's nothing but crickets chirping for several posts. So it helps to give me feedback at least once, even if it's just "I like this" or "This one doesn't grab me." First and last episodes are ideal if you rarely feel inspired to comment in the middle.
I also have a list of favorite photogenic scenes from the whole series for fanartists to consider, partly compiled from audience requests.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
Story: "Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques" Part 9
Natasha began clearing the dishes. Betty headed to sink to wash them. Tony stepped up for drying.
Steve rinsed out the empty sour cream containers, then dithered over what to do. "I know I shouldn't keep all of these. It's stupid. We have plenty of storage tubs for food, better ones," Steve said. "But it still feels wasteful to me. It hurts to throw them away."
Tony pulled open a cabinet to reveal the color-coded bins inside. "You don't have to throw them in the garbage. The tower has a very sophisticated recycling system," he explained. "Drop things in here, and the system puts them to good use."
Bruce joined them. "I know it's a bit more complicated than what you remember, Steve, but that's okay. You'll get used to it," said Bruce. He took the sour cream container from Steve and pointed to the bottom. "Look, plastic things have a number on them to tell whether they can be recycled and how."
"But you don't need to worry about that, really, because the tower system does the fine sorting," Tony said. "Just separate the landfill garbage, the clean paper from the offices, and then all the other recyclables together like the bins say."
This wasn't the first time teammates had explained the process to Steve and Bucky. Steve had been so shellshocked when he first moved into the tower that nothing really registered for a while. Bucky's memory still skipped and stuttered, making it difficult for him to handle complexities. They're both learning, though, Phil thought as he watched the scene play out again.
Steve rubbed a thoughtful finger over the sour cream lid that he still held. He walked over to the cabinet that held empty storage tubs, some plastic, others high-impact crystal. Phil could see Steve's lips moving as he silently tallied the materials. He's reassuring himself of the supplies, Phil realized.
Then Steve went back to the recycling center and put all the sour cream containers into the relevant bin. He turned to Tony and Bruce. "Can you ... maybe go over the recycling science with me again? I think I'm ready to listen now. You guys do great work with this stuff, I've heard you talk about it, and I want to understand more about it."
"Sure thing," Tony said. "Stark Industries specializes in the green frontier now. Tell you the truth, though, it's never really recovered from shutting down the munitions branch. We could use a boost from someone more respectable than yours truly."
"It's not all fancy science stuff," Bruce added. "I've spent years making do with whatever junk I could scrounge. I built a centrifuge out of a bicycle wheel once. It's like my dishtowels say, you know? Reduce, reuse, recycle, replenish, restore." Bruce's had little acorns embroidered on them. Tony's favorite dishtowel, currently draped over his shoulder, was embroidered with motherboard lines. Both were Betty's handiwork.
"Okay," Steve said, "and thanks for being so patient with me."
After they finished the cleanup, everyone gathered in the common room. Tony and Bruce curled up on the loveseat. Bucky, Steve, and Phil had the couch. Betty and Natasha took the chairs. Clint perched on the back of Natasha's chair, humming quietly.
"Isn't that the song Kacey Musgraves wrote for you?" Phil asked.
Tony looked up. "Kacey Musgraves wrote you a song?" he said to Clint.
"Yeah, she uh ... is a fan of the Amazing Hawkeye," said Clint. "If I had my guitar, I could play it for you."
"So go get it," Phil said. "We haven't done a music night in a while."
Clint nodded and left to get his guitar. Tony ambled into the kitchen and came back with a pair of spoons. Bruce gave a thoughtful hum and fetched a pair of plastic tubs. Natasha shifted onto the floor so that Clint could have the chair.
When Clint came back, guitar in hand, he surveyed the changes in the room with a smile. He settled into the chair, then began to sing, "If you save yourself for marriage, you're a bore. If you don't save yourself for marriage, you're a horrible person ..."
Phil smiled, his foot tapping in time. He liked this song.
At the chorus, Clint raised his voice. "So, make lots of noise! Kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls if that's something you're into. When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight, roll up a joint, or don't. Just follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah, follow your arrow wherever it points." His fingers danced over the strings.
When the song ended, Tony asked, "Does she actually know you're ace?"
"I don't know," Clint said. "It's not something I usually talk about. I just like how flexible the song is, you know? It leaves me a lot of wiggle room."
"Wiggle room is good," Bruce said, his fingers softly tapping on the plastic tubs that he held between his knees.
"So what've you got there?" Clint said, nodding at the tubs.
"Oh, just --" Bruce said, his hands stilling. "I guess it's silly, but I listened to a lot of music in India, and I really like the tabla rhythms."
"You guys wanna jam with me?" Clint offered. "I see Tony brought spoons."
"Yeah, I was always banging or tapping on something, so one afternoon I taught myself to play spoons. It's a good fidget," Tony said. "I never had anyone to play with though."
"I'll play something easy, then," Clint said. "Just follow along however you like." He played 'Rainy Day Woman,' looking at Natasha the whole time. He smiled at her, because he loved her, despite her often-dour disposition.
It didn't take long for Tony to start rattling his spoons along with the music, smacking them against his thigh with expert motions. It took a little longer for him to get the hang of playing with someone else, because Clint's style was expressive rather than metronome-perfect. Tony obviously did not care. He played with exuberant abandon.
Bruce was more precise, or trying to be, as he tapped the tubs with his fingertips. The larger tub produced a low note and the smaller one a high note. He frowned a little as he played.
Clint followed that with 'Gentle on My Mind.' This time he played to Phil, and it made the handler remember how he'd won Clint's loyalty by holding him close, but never holding him back or holding him down.
Natasha took a turn next. She sang the folk song 'Have You Seen Petruskha?' while Clint picked out the notes, trying to make his guitar sound like a balalaika.
Then Tony gave a soulful rendition of "Hanging Tree." Phil couldn't help but remember how Tony had gotten roped into first arms production and then superheroics, when he would rather build things to help people.
Bruce gave a growl of frustration. "I can't get this right."
"Music isn't about getting it right, it's about having fun," Clint said.
Phil noticed that Bruce was starting to turn green at the fingertips, and his shirt had gotten tighter. "Bruce, do you need --" Phil began.
Betty whisked past him and plopped herself on top of Bruce. "I know you're frustrated, love. Focus on me instead." She stayed with him until her soothing presence washed away the green tinge.
When Betty moved to get up, Tony shook his head. "You stay here with Bruce. I can move to my chair," he said as he stood. "Hey Steve, do you play or sing anything?"
"Not by myself," Steve said in a low tone. "All the guys in my barbershop quartet are dead."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring down the mood," Tony said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I like to listen," Steve said. He snuggled into Bucky's side and looped his other arm around Phil, seeking comfort in their close contact.
"Okay, time to lighten it up a little," Clint said with a smirk. Then he played 'Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road.'
Tony laughed so hard that he dropped his spoons. "Good one," he said.
Then Clint looked up at the ceiling. "Hey, JARVIS, you wanna take a turn?"
"I do not play guitar," JARVIS said.
"So? Neither does Tony," Clint said. He pointed at the engineer who was trying to retrieve the spoon that had slipped down into the innards of his media chair.
"How do you choose what to play if no one makes a request?" JARVIS asked.
"Well, you can play one of your own favorites, or you can pick something like whatever the other folks have been playing," Clint said.
A few soft piano notes drifted down from the ceiling. Phil recognized 'Always on My Mind.'
Clint grinned. "Yeah, I can play along with that." He picked up the tune with short downstrokes on the strumming.
"Aha!" Tony crowed, finally retrieving his spoon. He set the pair against his leg and began playing again.
So the evening went, with people playing and singing -- or just listening. Clint chose most of the songs, although he made a game attempt at some of Tony's favorite rock songs. Tony got better at following him with the spoons. Bruce never did pick up his tubs again, but relaxed enough to sprawl across the loveseat in Betty's grasp.
Finally JARVIS played a nocturne, gentle hint for the drowsy superheroes to seek their beds, and they all drifted away to their own quarters.
* * *
Notes:
Recycling is a way of turning waste products back into usable materials. Many things can be recycled, but that depends on the program you are using; most accept only a subset of all possible recyclables. JARVIS is as good at sorting as a human, or even better; certainly it is faster and safer for him to pick through Stark Industries output, so they can recycle just about anything that can be recycled at all. Learn how to recycle things.
This is Bruce's recycling dishtowel.
See Tony's motherboard dishtowel.
Music strengthens social bonds through self-other merging and additional methods. A jam session is less formal than a concert and involves musicians playing together in a cooperative and free-flowing manner. Read about how to listen to music, learn to play an instrument, and jam with other musicians.
Spoons can be used to play music. Learn how to play the spoons.
"Follow Your Arrow" is a song recorded by country music singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves. The song is featured on her major label debut album, Same Trailer Different Park. If you look at the Grammy performance, you can see the kind of animated lights that Stark Industries would be helping with.
Here are some play sheets for easy guitar songs.
"Rainy Day Woman" by Waylon Jennings
"Gentle on My Mind" by Glen Campbell
"Have You Seen Petrushka"
"Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road" by Loudon Wainwright
"Always on My Mind" by Willie Nelson
~MISSION ACCOMPLISHED~
Yay!
Date: 2017-11-02 10:40 pm (UTC)Re: Yay!
Date: 2017-11-03 03:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-03 01:50 am (UTC)This is GOOD and warming.
Thank you!
Date: 2017-11-03 03:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-03 02:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-03 03:43 am (UTC)You're Welcome
Date: 2017-11-03 03:45 am (UTC)I think this is a key reason for LIFC and Polychrome Heroics becoming so popular. People want something positive, and there's not much of that in the mainstream right now.
Sweet!
Date: 2017-11-03 05:33 am (UTC)I liked how Bruce wanted to get it exactly right, and was getting frustrated that he couldn't. And how perfect of Jarvis to end the evening with a gentle hint for everybody to go to bed.
And Betty can embroider, too? It seems like she can do everything, and do it well! In these LIFC stories, she comes across as somebody who sails through life in a thick, all-enveloping cloud of competence. (Now I'm the one getting frustrated and jealous.) I know she's not really one of Phil's main six, but now I'm seized by a sudden and almost violent desire to see a story about her NOT being able to do something. Especially if she gets caught up in, say, some kind of alien attack (thinking of bilgesnipe or those Jurassic Park-type birds) and has to be rescued by the Avengers, ending up with broken bones or some other injury that make it next to impossible for her to immediately resume her ordinary life. And she increasingly finds she hates being dependent on others.
Or maybe your interpretation of Betty's character doesn't lend itself to such a story. I don't know. It was just a thought.
Speaking of frustration, though, I also had another idea that you can read and eventually reject. What if one of the team got de-aged to about age four or five? I'm thinking Tony, but it could be anybody. Anyway, he (or she) is very different as a real child to what Uncle Phil expected from spending time with his littles. Maybe the Mini does a lot of things that annoy Phil almost as much as bad paperwork. He picks his nose, picks his scabs, chews his fingernails, whines the most annoying whine, bites other people, steals stuff, would be good at hiding if it weren't for Jarvis ... poor Phil wonders if he's up for the challenge, but somehow perseveres until the de-aging wears off.
But basically, I'd just like you to write more LIFC. :-)
Zelofheda
Re: Sweet!
Date: 2017-11-03 07:56 am (UTC)I think I've mentioned little bits and pieces of music, particularly Clint and the guitar, but I'm sure of JARVIS playing piano. Tony and Bruce were new additions, I think.
>> I liked how Bruce wanted to get it exactly right, and was getting frustrated that he couldn't. And how perfect of Jarvis to end the evening with a gentle hint for everybody to go to bed.<<
Yay!
>> And Betty can embroider, too? It seems like she can do everything, and do it well! In these LIFC stories, she comes across as somebody who sails through life in a thick, all-enveloping cloud of competence. (Now I'm the one getting frustrated and jealous.) <<
Betty is good at many things. Nobody is good at everything, though. She only knows a few "feminine" skills and most of that is fragmentary bits that stuck because she was trying to do the girl thing and most of the rest didn't fit at all. One thing she consistently struggles with is anger management -- she can be ruthless to the point of scary, and only some of that is appropriate. I'll try to keep an eye out for other things Betty isn't so good at.
>>I know she's not really one of Phil's main six, but now I'm seized by a sudden and almost violent desire to see a story about her NOT being able to do something. Especially if she gets caught up in, say, some kind of alien attack (thinking of bilgesnipe or those Jurassic Park-type birds) and has to be rescued by the Avengers, ending up with broken bones or some other injury that make it next to impossible for her to immediately resume her ordinary life. And she increasingly finds she hates being dependent on others.<<
You realize Hulk would go completely apeshit if anyone hurt Betty.
>>Speaking of frustration, though, I also had another idea that you can read and eventually reject. What if one of the team got de-aged to about age four or five? <<
So far, I don't have plans for a de-aging story.
>>But basically, I'd just like you to write more LIFC. :-) <<
I have some more written, and would enjoy doing more as I have time.
Re: Sweet!
Date: 2017-11-03 08:40 pm (UTC)Re: Sweet!
Date: 2017-11-04 12:25 am (UTC)Music night!
Date: 2017-11-03 01:43 pm (UTC)Re: Music night!
Date: 2017-11-03 05:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-04 12:35 am (UTC)~A
You're Welcome
Date: 2017-11-04 12:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-04 09:03 pm (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2017-11-04 09:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-04 09:20 pm (UTC)You're Welcome
Date: 2017-11-04 09:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-05 04:53 pm (UTC)(Heads up that the link up top for part 8 links to part 5.)
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-26 03:24 am (UTC)Aww ...
Date: 2017-11-28 11:15 am (UTC)One thing we do here at Fieldhaven is drum workshops. Several times we have made drums from PVC pipe and clear duck tape (not duct tape). The tone is surprisingly good, and when you put several together, it makes a fantastic drum jam.
Coming in from the cold Thursday
Date: 2018-10-08 05:46 am (UTC)Re: Coming in from the cold Thursday
Date: 2018-10-08 05:52 am (UTC)https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/11193995.html
Re: Coming in from the cold Thursday
Date: 2018-10-08 05:56 am (UTC)