Story: "Green Eggs and Hulk" Part 2
Feb. 12th, 2014 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," and "Happy Hour."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanova, Clint Barton.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Canon-typical violence. This story is mostly fluff.
Summary: The Avengers fight some giant birds. After smashing the ones on the ground, Hulk gets bored. Agent Coulson reads him a story.
Notes: Birds. Teamwork. Team as family. Friendship. Multiplicity/Plurality. Communication. Anger management issues. Storytelling. Reading. Books. Hope. Nonsexual ageplay. Love. Bruce Banner needs a hug. Hulk needs a hug. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1. Skip to Part 4.
"Green Eggs and Hulk" Part 2
"Uh-huh," Hulk says to Agent. He wants company. Hulk watches clouds some more. Come. Go. Nice day, but boring after fight. Hulk does not know what to do with himself. Maybe team will help.
Agent comes, talking to air. "Yes, well, with so many of the major organizations crippled, the small-timers are coming out of the woodwork," he says. "We knew this would happen. Just seal up the lab and wait for the survey team."
Hulk tips his head. Bruce is thinking hard in back of their mind. Birds. Dinosaurs. Eggs. Trouble. Worry-worry-worry.
"Jurassic Park," Hulk says carefully.
"And tell the survey team to check for genetic engineering, possibly using contemporary species to reconstruct extinct ones. Thank god it's only terror birds and not a T-rex," says Agent. "Make sure you find all the eggs."
"Hi," Hulk says. He likes Agent a lot.
"Hi," says Agent. "Did you have fun smashing? You did a great job."
"Uh-huh," Hulk says, grinning. Nice words feel good.
"How many birds did you smash?" Agent asks.
"One, two, three," Hulk counts, holding out his fingers. More? Hulk thinks. He tries to remember words for more. Words are hard.
"Good for you. I think you got more than three, through," Agent says. He counts more fingers. "Four, five, six, seven, eight. Tell me again. How many birds did you smash?"
Hulk unfolds his fingers until his hands look like Agent hands. "Four, five, six, seven, eight," he says.
"Good boy!" Agent says. Hulk grins at him.
Birdie comes. "Nothing happening in the sky, so I came down to walk Black Widow to the ambulance," he says. "Figured I could keep Hulk company now."
"Red okay?" Hulk asks. Inside him, Bruce worries. Hulk worries too. He remembers blood smell and Red limping.
"Yeah, it's just a scratch; a few stitches and she'll be fine," Birdie says.
"Bad Hulk-birds," says Hulk. He remembers that Red heals fast. Bruce is not worried now. Hulk is not so worried but still angry at birds.
"Well, they won't bother anyone again. You sure smashed them flat," Birdie says, looking around at sticky piles of feathers.
Then Hulk smells something other than blood, feathers, and dust. He lifts his head, trying to find it.
"Did you hear something?" Agent asks.
"Smell suit," Hulk grumbles. Hulk does not like suits much. They are mean to Hulk. Sometimes they are mean to Birdie too. That is fault of bad man but also Hulk. Now Hulk is sorry for smash. Suits do not care about sorry. Two suits walk down street. Hulk glares at them.
"Be good, Hulk," says Agent. "Smith and Jones are nice."
Hulk sniffs them. They do not smell mean. They smell like food. Hulk remembers them now. These two do not pick on Hulk and Birdie. "Okay suit," he says. His tummy rumbles.
"Smith, Jones, what have you got?" Agent asks.
"Snacks and drinks," says Smith. He carries things that smell good.
"Ground patrol confirms no more hostiles on the loose here. SHIELD is sending some air support for Iron Man, who found two more condors," says Jones. "It could be a while before the whole op sounds all-clear. We thought you guys might get hungry."
* * *
Notes:
A power vacuum can occur any time the most influential individual, group, or aggregate disappears from the top of the heap. This is why arresting drug lords doesn't always help. The evil power vacuum is an entertainment trope. After doing major damage to several of the global nemesis factions, the Avengers are left playing whack-a-mole with lesser adversaries.
Jurassic Park features reconstructed dinosaurs which wreak havoc on snack-sized humans. That Bruce can discern the similarity of events, and pass this information to Hulk to relay to the team, is a big improvement in their cooperation.
Early math skills include things like recognizing more or less of something. Toddlers should be able to count small numbers, recognize shapes and colors, etc. It helps to play counting games. Here you can see that Hulk has a low starting point, because of his awful childhood and poor opportunities -- but as soon as someone coaches him, he picks up new information quickly.
Most humans are either sight, hearing, or touch dominant. Hulk has enhanced senses, and uses his nose much the way a dog does, far more than humans typically do. Animals can smell pheromones associated with such things as fear, aggression, or arousal; although it works better within their own species than a different one. In comic canon, Hulk and relatives, such as Red Hulk, have been mentioned with enhanced senses. Bruce's quote -- "I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare." -- supports this interpretation.
[To be continued in Part 3 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanova, Clint Barton.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Canon-typical violence. This story is mostly fluff.
Summary: The Avengers fight some giant birds. After smashing the ones on the ground, Hulk gets bored. Agent Coulson reads him a story.
Notes: Birds. Teamwork. Team as family. Friendship. Multiplicity/Plurality. Communication. Anger management issues. Storytelling. Reading. Books. Hope. Nonsexual ageplay. Love. Bruce Banner needs a hug. Hulk needs a hug. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1. Skip to Part 4.
"Green Eggs and Hulk" Part 2
"Uh-huh," Hulk says to Agent. He wants company. Hulk watches clouds some more. Come. Go. Nice day, but boring after fight. Hulk does not know what to do with himself. Maybe team will help.
Agent comes, talking to air. "Yes, well, with so many of the major organizations crippled, the small-timers are coming out of the woodwork," he says. "We knew this would happen. Just seal up the lab and wait for the survey team."
Hulk tips his head. Bruce is thinking hard in back of their mind. Birds. Dinosaurs. Eggs. Trouble. Worry-worry-worry.
"Jurassic Park," Hulk says carefully.
"And tell the survey team to check for genetic engineering, possibly using contemporary species to reconstruct extinct ones. Thank god it's only terror birds and not a T-rex," says Agent. "Make sure you find all the eggs."
"Hi," Hulk says. He likes Agent a lot.
"Hi," says Agent. "Did you have fun smashing? You did a great job."
"Uh-huh," Hulk says, grinning. Nice words feel good.
"How many birds did you smash?" Agent asks.
"One, two, three," Hulk counts, holding out his fingers. More? Hulk thinks. He tries to remember words for more. Words are hard.
"Good for you. I think you got more than three, through," Agent says. He counts more fingers. "Four, five, six, seven, eight. Tell me again. How many birds did you smash?"
Hulk unfolds his fingers until his hands look like Agent hands. "Four, five, six, seven, eight," he says.
"Good boy!" Agent says. Hulk grins at him.
Birdie comes. "Nothing happening in the sky, so I came down to walk Black Widow to the ambulance," he says. "Figured I could keep Hulk company now."
"Red okay?" Hulk asks. Inside him, Bruce worries. Hulk worries too. He remembers blood smell and Red limping.
"Yeah, it's just a scratch; a few stitches and she'll be fine," Birdie says.
"Bad Hulk-birds," says Hulk. He remembers that Red heals fast. Bruce is not worried now. Hulk is not so worried but still angry at birds.
"Well, they won't bother anyone again. You sure smashed them flat," Birdie says, looking around at sticky piles of feathers.
Then Hulk smells something other than blood, feathers, and dust. He lifts his head, trying to find it.
"Did you hear something?" Agent asks.
"Smell suit," Hulk grumbles. Hulk does not like suits much. They are mean to Hulk. Sometimes they are mean to Birdie too. That is fault of bad man but also Hulk. Now Hulk is sorry for smash. Suits do not care about sorry. Two suits walk down street. Hulk glares at them.
"Be good, Hulk," says Agent. "Smith and Jones are nice."
Hulk sniffs them. They do not smell mean. They smell like food. Hulk remembers them now. These two do not pick on Hulk and Birdie. "Okay suit," he says. His tummy rumbles.
"Smith, Jones, what have you got?" Agent asks.
"Snacks and drinks," says Smith. He carries things that smell good.
"Ground patrol confirms no more hostiles on the loose here. SHIELD is sending some air support for Iron Man, who found two more condors," says Jones. "It could be a while before the whole op sounds all-clear. We thought you guys might get hungry."
* * *
Notes:
A power vacuum can occur any time the most influential individual, group, or aggregate disappears from the top of the heap. This is why arresting drug lords doesn't always help. The evil power vacuum is an entertainment trope. After doing major damage to several of the global nemesis factions, the Avengers are left playing whack-a-mole with lesser adversaries.
Jurassic Park features reconstructed dinosaurs which wreak havoc on snack-sized humans. That Bruce can discern the similarity of events, and pass this information to Hulk to relay to the team, is a big improvement in their cooperation.
Early math skills include things like recognizing more or less of something. Toddlers should be able to count small numbers, recognize shapes and colors, etc. It helps to play counting games. Here you can see that Hulk has a low starting point, because of his awful childhood and poor opportunities -- but as soon as someone coaches him, he picks up new information quickly.
Most humans are either sight, hearing, or touch dominant. Hulk has enhanced senses, and uses his nose much the way a dog does, far more than humans typically do. Animals can smell pheromones associated with such things as fear, aggression, or arousal; although it works better within their own species than a different one. In comic canon, Hulk and relatives, such as Red Hulk, have been mentioned with enhanced senses. Bruce's quote -- "I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare." -- supports this interpretation.
[To be continued in Part 3 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2014-02-12 10:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-02-12 01:19 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2014-02-14 06:31 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-02-13 08:11 pm (UTC)Yes, that's how I have tended to interpret Hulk, across many iterations of canon. One thing I've noticed is that he's more often driven by fear and frustration than by anger, despite the verbal descriptions. If you look at the action triggers and the body language, it's there. Mark Ruffalo really plays that up in The Avengers. The only version I've seen that really exudes simmering rage is Edward Norton. The speech patterns in particular, across canon, are distinctly toddler-age.
>> I like that Coulson uses activities appropriate for that age group to help Hulk but is ware enough of Bruce-and-Hulk to know at behind Hulk's rage is Bruce's intellect and education and so doesn't treat them like a child. <<
Coulson uses his handler skills to assess what will help each asset. Bruce-and-Hulk are challenging because they are so layered. Both of them have some emotional "stuck" points at toddler age due to child abuse. For Hulk that's compounded by having very little front time; almost all his experience is either filtered through Bruce, about fighting, or both. Their education was disrupted by childhood issues, but they've got a genius brain, so they managed to compensate for that somewhat. In their own areas of expertise, they're brilliant -- but Hulk's are split again, because his physical skills are well developed but he's been shortchanged on the socialization that would allow him to capitalize on his emotional genius.
Coulson helps by starting where they seem to be, and encouraging them to move forward. You can see that Hulk quickly catches on -- faster than a chronological toddler would -- because he's older and smarter. Once given decent resources, Hulk will make brisk progress. But he has a simplicity and emotional responsiveness that make me suspect he'll be the kind of adult who never outgrows books and movies intended for children.
This is, in my observation, the best approach to dealing with people whose development is spread over a wide range. You work with where they are in each area, provide opportunities for growth, but don't push so hard that it makes them uncomfortable. It's okay to be farther along in some areas than others.
Come to think of it, the first lessons must have ranged from pre-game night through "Love Is for Children," because Coulson mentioned how Hulk used to have a tendency to run off after a fight, and then he stopped doing that. "Don't run off and get lost" is one of the first rules a child needs to learn, as soon as their feet hit the ground. But abused children don't get that; they learn "run and hide when people yell." Hulk was probably baffled at first when the response was "Thank goodness we found you; that scared us!" instead of guns and cages.