Story: "Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 1

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," 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.

This story takes place long before The Avengers and "Love Is for Children." It shows how Phil acquired a lot of his skills and interests. It's based in large part on a discussion between myself and dialecticdreamer about why Phil has the particular types of abilities that he does. Because it spans a long time, there are segments, and those are all different lengths. The shorter ones can stand, but the longer ones will need to be divided, so it's going to wind up with posts of different lengths too. This story fills the "original characters" square on my 12-8-13 card for the genprompt_bingo fest.

I also have a list of photogenic scenes from the whole series for fanartists to consider, a series landing page, and an archive of images.  The perk story "Brotherlove, Brotherlust" Part 2 is still open for participation.

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.

Anonymous commenters: You don't have to specify exactly who you are, but it helps to have a first name or a username from some other service, so I have some idea of who's saying which and how many different "Anonymous" folks there are. You can just type some kind of identifier at the end of your comment.

Warning: The first chapter is a sad one.

Read 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, Part 30,Part 31, Part 32, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35.

( Read more... )

Human Proportions

I found this awesome website today, Human Ideal Proportion Calculator for Artists.  It lets you use height to calculate numerous other body proportions.  There are settings for both sexes and multiple ages.  Sadly it gives only an average body type; I'd love to see this add a "skinny, average, muscular, fat" menu.  I found this really useful for estimating not just other proportions, but also relative  heights.  Frex, knowing that one character is 6' tall and the top of someone else's head comes to his shoulder means that she is about 4'9.

Here is an artistic discussion of human proportions.  This one has more detailed instructions for drawing human frameworks, and a little comparison of body variations in shoulders.  This set compares normal, idealistic, fashion, and heroic models.  This artist discusses advanced proportions varying across sex, age, ethnicity, and other factors.

I found one proportion study of a full-figured person.  This tutorial explains how to draw big & curvy girls using circles.

Faces come in different shapes too.

Overcoming Limits (or not)

Here's a post about overcoming limits, or not.

What it does not mention are limits that one could, but should not,  push past.  That is, a body/mind has things it can do safely, things that can be done but are unpleasant or harmful, and things that cannot be done at all.  That middle range is where most people get into trouble, and they are far more likely to do so with other people yapping, "Go on, try!  You can do it!"  

It's like mad science.  Just because you CAN do something, does not always mean you SHOULD.  Always think about the cost-benefit balance.  Don't hurt yourself on account of other people urging you forward where it's not safe, or because you really want to do something that is not safe for your body/mind.  Know yourself.  Know your limits.  Understand which ones are soft limits that you can push sometimes but not routinely, and which ones are hard limits that will do real damage if you smack into them.  Treat your limits with respect and your self with compassion.

Disabled Superheroes

Here's an interesting post about disabled superheroes with attention to combinations of disabilities and superpowers. 

One reason I think supports such combinations is that the acquisition of superpowers is often violent.  If you don't get some kind of regenerative ability, you are rather likely to sustain permanent damage: Dr. Laser has disfiguring scars.  Other times it may be transient but still really uncomfortable: Aquariana has hypersensitive skin so she can't wear clothes comfortably, which might or might not improve.  Certain causes that may be less violent can still have negative side effects: Koroleva is a supervillain whose powers probably came from radiation -- her parents were evacuated from Chernobyl -- and her right hand has fused fingers.

Another obvious reason is that superhero work is dangerous.  Soldiers, police, firefighters, etc. all work high-risk jobs and have a consequently high rate of retiring due to disability.  Cheersquad has Super-Speed but is mostly paralyzed now; he used to drive a zoom ambulance until someone crashed into it.  Then again, some people keep working despite disabilities.  Dr. Doohickey lost his legs and kept going.  Valor's Widow deals with monumental grief.

Factors can combine, too: Groundhog has Flight, but never uses it due to agoraphobia, acrophobia, and weak lungs.  It manifested when he was an infant, he went sailing up into the sky, and the altitude injured his lungs before anyone could get him down.  Then his parents kept him indoors while he was growing up.

Make a Captain America Shield

 On Instructables.  This version calls for a heavy-duty plastic dish sled as the base.  If you want a metal shield, just buy a metal sled; most of the instructions will work, although you'll need stronger tools for the drilling and etching.