>> Bruce and Hulk have increasingly marginal life satisfaction if they don't get onto the same page. <<
Yes, that's true. Individually, both of them are forming tighter bonds with the other Avengers. But that creates a new problem, because they better everyone gets to know Hulk as a person, the less willing they are to accept Bruce's snow job about him or Bruce's shabby treatment of him. Naturally this is making Bruce freak out, and Hulk isn't very comfortable with it either.
>> Hulk cannot see how saving Bruce's life makes him miserable <<
This is a classic problem with helping professionals. Everybody wants to "save" the suicidal or self-harming person. But they often fail to provide life improvement or coping skills that change the situation from unbearable to bearable. They just want the person to stay alive, even if life is torture. That's not really okay. Sentient beings have a right to decide they don't want to be here anymore.
The difference is that Hulk is attached to Bruce. While Bruce has a right to decide that he's done with his own life, he doesn't have a right to kill Hulk, and there's no way around that. (Bruce's constant efforts to murder Hulk are a whole different ball of very toxic wax.) I think Bruce just gets sympathy because he acts nice and looks like an ordinary guy, whereas Hulk is loud and green. But Bruce is the one who keeps breaking House Rule #1: Do not attempt to harm the body. Hulk is the one who does most of the work of keeping them alive and safe.
>> and Bruce can't grok that's what Hulk is doing. He's been gaslight so much that he thinks he deserves the bad things that would happen if Hulk didn't run with the ball. <<
Sadly so. Bruce is dislocated from reality, and like any untreated injury of that type, it's half-healed in the wrong position and ripping it lose to fix will be massively unpleasant. He flinches whenever people even tug in that direction.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Phil in Canon- recruiting Bruce
Date: 2014-04-30 06:47 am (UTC)Yes, that's true. Individually, both of them are forming tighter bonds with the other Avengers. But that creates a new problem, because they better everyone gets to know Hulk as a person, the less willing they are to accept Bruce's snow job about him or Bruce's shabby treatment of him. Naturally this is making Bruce freak out, and Hulk isn't very comfortable with it either.
>> Hulk cannot see how saving Bruce's life makes him miserable <<
This is a classic problem with helping professionals. Everybody wants to "save" the suicidal or self-harming person. But they often fail to provide life improvement or coping skills that change the situation from unbearable to bearable. They just want the person to stay alive, even if life is torture. That's not really okay. Sentient beings have a right to decide they don't want to be here anymore.
The difference is that Hulk is attached to Bruce. While Bruce has a right to decide that he's done with his own life, he doesn't have a right to kill Hulk, and there's no way around that. (Bruce's constant efforts to murder Hulk are a whole different ball of very toxic wax.) I think Bruce just gets sympathy because he acts nice and looks like an ordinary guy, whereas Hulk is loud and green. But Bruce is the one who keeps breaking House Rule #1: Do not attempt to harm the body. Hulk is the one who does most of the work of keeping them alive and safe.
>> and Bruce can't grok that's what Hulk is doing. He's been gaslight so much that he thinks he deserves the bad things that would happen if Hulk didn't run with the ball. <<
Sadly so. Bruce is dislocated from reality, and like any untreated injury of that type, it's half-healed in the wrong position and ripping it lose to fix will be massively unpleasant. He flinches whenever people even tug in that direction.