>>I have a serious soft-spot for non-sexual age play, so when I stumbled onto the original "Love Is For Children" on AO3, I was super-excited.<<
I think the world could use more family-flavored stories, which is part of the inspiration for this.
>> But somehow I didn't realize there was a series! I spent all last night and this afternoon catching up. <<
Yes, there is plenty more. I have another story drafted and ready to go after "Birthday Girl" concludes.
>>Bruce and Natasha are both breaking my heart in this one.<<
Yay! I'm glad you found it so touching. I think hard about what it will take to knock superheroes off balance, and it's different for each of them.
>> I've been in Bruce's shoes, realizing that something you knew, absolutely, to to be true is wrong. It leaves you needing to re-think everything in your past, which is both terrifying and exhausting. <<
Yea, verily. This is a long plot arc because the topic is so complicated. It has fluffy moments and heartbreaking moments ... sometimes at the same time, like Hulk with the balloons.
>>He totally deserves a mindless movie night before trying to deal with this new, improved Hulk.<<
This is an aspect of hurt/comfort plot dynamics. You can drive the tension higher if you push and release, rather and push and hold. Also I'm trying to get away from the Marvelverse tendency to leave people on duty forever with no real opportunity to relax or recover from emotional damage, because that way lies burnout. I prefer to show heroes being heroic, getting hurt, patching each other up, and then going out to be badass again.
>> (I love your Hulk voice, BTW. He's very child-like, in a lot of ways, but also very smart and self-aware.) <<
One thing I love about Hulk is how easy it is to interpret him in different ways. This version is a combination of parts of the mind that Bruce doesn't use: child self, primal self, artistic self, etc. So Hulk holds most of their feelings and instincts, while Bruce holds most of their thoughts and logic. It makes Hulk childlike without the limitations of interpreting him exclusively as a child. Because I also consider that they're sharing a genius brain, therefore Hulk must be a genius too -- just in different areas than Bruce. And Bruce is about as good at emotions as Hulk is at logic.
>>And Natasha, desperately wanting the childhood experiences she never had, but not even really sure what those experiences are supposed to look like.<<
Yes, exactly. She is so hyperspecialized that it's hard on her to move outside that area. Then she gets confused very easily. At least now Natasha has people to help her learn things that are new to her. Nonsexual ageplay is a terrific way to fill in the gaps from a deprived childhood.
>>I love this 'verse! Thanks so much for sharing these stories with us.<<
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dancing_serpent
You're welcome!
Date: 2013-04-28 06:51 pm (UTC)I think the world could use more family-flavored stories, which is part of the inspiration for this.
>> But somehow I didn't realize there was a series! I spent all last night and this afternoon catching up. <<
Yes, there is plenty more. I have another story drafted and ready to go after "Birthday Girl" concludes.
>>Bruce and Natasha are both breaking my heart in this one.<<
Yay! I'm glad you found it so touching. I think hard about what it will take to knock superheroes off balance, and it's different for each of them.
>> I've been in Bruce's shoes, realizing that something you knew, absolutely, to to be true is wrong. It leaves you needing to re-think everything in your past, which is both terrifying and exhausting. <<
Yea, verily. This is a long plot arc because the topic is so complicated. It has fluffy moments and heartbreaking moments ... sometimes at the same time, like Hulk with the balloons.
>>He totally deserves a mindless movie night before trying to deal with this new, improved Hulk.<<
This is an aspect of hurt/comfort plot dynamics. You can drive the tension higher if you push and release, rather and push and hold. Also I'm trying to get away from the Marvelverse tendency to leave people on duty forever with no real opportunity to relax or recover from emotional damage, because that way lies burnout. I prefer to show heroes being heroic, getting hurt, patching each other up, and then going out to be badass again.
>> (I love your Hulk voice, BTW. He's very child-like, in a lot of ways, but also very smart and self-aware.) <<
One thing I love about Hulk is how easy it is to interpret him in different ways. This version is a combination of parts of the mind that Bruce doesn't use: child self, primal self, artistic self, etc. So Hulk holds most of their feelings and instincts, while Bruce holds most of their thoughts and logic. It makes Hulk childlike without the limitations of interpreting him exclusively as a child. Because I also consider that they're sharing a genius brain, therefore Hulk must be a genius too -- just in different areas than Bruce. And Bruce is about as good at emotions as Hulk is at logic.
>>And Natasha, desperately wanting the childhood experiences she never had, but not even really sure what those experiences are supposed to look like.<<
Yes, exactly. She is so hyperspecialized that it's hard on her to move outside that area. Then she gets confused very easily. At least now Natasha has people to help her learn things that are new to her. Nonsexual ageplay is a terrific way to fill in the gaps from a deprived childhood.
>>I love this 'verse! Thanks so much for sharing these stories with us.<<
*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service!