Love Is For Children Landing Page
Apr. 27th, 2014 04:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis is the landing page for the series Love Is For Children. A similar page appears on AO3. Note that this is a spoiler-rich environment if you have not seen all the movies yet. See also my post "A Brief Guide to the Avengers" for some fandom background.
Summary
In The Avengers, Natasha Romanova says "Love is for children." It's an expression of life as she knows it, and fits the harsh background most of the Avengers have experienced. Trouble is, people don't do very well without love. In particular it's impossible to form a good team if the members don't care about each other.
So Phil Coulson comes up with a teambuilding exercise to resolve that problem. If love is for children ... then he'll arrange that experience for them. The result is an exploration of nonsexual ageplay to allow a group of very powerful, very broken people to patch up some of the gaps in their lives.
Most of the stories are very sweet in tone and make for good comfort reading. However, canon gives these characters some very unpleasant pasts, and that comes up as they process the aftermath. So the tone does vary, and some stories are more intense than others. They deal with different characters, relationships, and sensitive issues.
Some folks have avoided this series for fear that it goes into sexual territory; it doesn't. Same with embarrassment, very low on that.
Nonsexual ageplay offers relaxation through imagination. It is related to various therapies including regression, inner child work, and reparenting. Most ageplay is private, but it's coming into public view more nowadays. Frex, there is an adult preschool where stressed people can relax with kiddie activities. Over on Archive of Our Own, there are about 5543 sexual and 429 non-sexual ageplay entries, or about a 10 to 1 ratio. Sexual ageplay is squicky for a lot of folks, so I wanted to write something that would expand the nonsexual repertoire.
A key feature, as in some of my other writing, is that the literature is followed by nonfiction notes with links to supporting materials. I don't like to raise difficult topics and then leave people hanging.
Oh, and check out what Clark Gregg says about Phil's relationship to the Avengers.
Posting Order
These are the stories in order of posting.
"Love Is for Children" (February 14, 2013)
...Now available in podfic by RyukoAkari! (August 26, 2015)
... Now available in podfic by Yuurei (7/14/22)
"Eggshells" (February 28, 2013)
"Dolls and Guys" (March 6, 2013)
"Turnabout Is Fair Play" (March 19, 2013)
"Touching Moments" (March 25, 2013)
"Splash" (April 2, 2013)
"Coming Around" (April 9, 2013)
"Birthday Girl" (April 22, 2013)
"No Winter Lasts Forever" (May 11, 2013)
"Hide and Seek" (August 12, 2013)
"Kernel Error" (December 23, 2013)
"Happy Hour" (January 6, 2014)
"Saudades" (January 27, 2014)
"Green Eggs and Hulk" (February 10, 2014)
"Hairpins" (February 19, 2014)
"Querencia" (May 2, 2014)
"Am I Not" (May 5, 2014)
"Blended" (May 16, 2014)
"kintsukuroi" (May 28, 2014)
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" (May 30, 2014)
"Up the Water Spout" (August 27, 2014)
"The Life of the Dead" (October 17, 2014)
"If They Could Just Stay Little" (January 6, 2015)
"Anahata" (February 17, 2015)
"Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Building Towers" (May 23, 2015)
"Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations" (June 13, 2015)
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day" (June 28, 2015)
"When the Wheels Come Off" (November 30, 2015)
"What Little Boys Are Made Of" (April 1, 2016)
"Against His Own Shield" (April 7, 2016)
"Rotten Fruit" (May 30, 2016)
"Byzantine Perplexity" (September 6, 2016)
"Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears" (October 31, 2016)
"Pointing Toward Power" (April 3, 2018)
"Keep the Homefires Burning" (December 6, 2016)
"Score" (January 8, 2017)
"Their Old Familiar Carols Play" (February 11, 2017)
"Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Skills" (April 1, 2017)
"Fluffy" (September 29, 2017)
"Coming in from the Cold: Thursday: Digging for Answers" (November 23, 2017)
"Trying to Find Prui" (January 12, 2018)
"A Leg Up" (August 7, 2018)
"Wabbit Season" (November 6, 2018)
"Life in Quicktime" (December 4, 2018)
"Coming in From the Cold: Friday: Bug Hunt" (December 24, 2018)
"Duende" (January 10, 2019)
"Sunday Dinner" February 6, 2019)
"Cafuné" (April 28, 2019)
"Unworthy" (written April 14, 2019, posted April 29, 2019)
"What It Means to Me" (July 31, 2019)
"Fatherboards and Other F-Words" (August 6, 2019)
"The Artists Among Us" (September 3, 2019)
"A Painful Process" (October 1, 2019)
"Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Revisiting the Past" (January 25, 2020)
"Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Thanks for Taking Care of Me, Tiny" (April 5, 2020)
"The Truth Is" (April 21, 2020)
"Colossus" (May 5, 2020)
"It's Not Easy" (July 21, 2020)
"Plugging the Pipe" (August 4, 2020)
"And You Became Like Coffee" (September 1, 2020)
"No Quarrel with a Boot" (September 21, 2020)
"Cool Digs" (December 1, 2020)
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Renovations" (December 25,2020)
"Everyone Should Be Free to Choose" (January 21, 2021)
"White Chrysanthemums" (February 2, 2021)
"The Only Difference Between Screwing Around and Science" (April 6, 2021)
"Taken" (August 3, 2021)
"Gentleness Is ..." (August 17, 2021)
"Carefully Considered and Respected" (November 2, 2021)
"Flipping Expectations" (February 2, 2022)
"Everyday Birds" (August 2, 2022)
"Poetic Affections" (January 3, 2023)
"Poetic Events" (January 19, 2023)
"Coffee and the Willingness to Be Wrong" (June 6, 2023)
"Fulfillment and Joy" (July 4, 2023)
"Half My Potential" (October 3, 2023)
"Life, Libertines, and the Pursuit of Happiness" (January 21, 2024)
"On the Surface, Everything Seems Normal" (June 4, 2024)
"Played by Two Guys Who Can Barely Run Their Own Lives" (July 2, 2024)
"Science Bros" (August 6, 2024)
"Tiggers are Cuddly Fellas" (November 5, 2024)
"A Process of Emotional Repair" (December 3, 2024)
"Something About Bread" (January 17, 2025)
"User Interfaces" (December 2, 2025)
Chronological Order
These are the stories in approximate chronological order within the series. Be aware that some of them overlap or nest or do other odd things timewise.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" (scenes span Coulson's early life before the movies)
This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot. It's background, not required for understanding the rest of the series, but explains a LOT about why Phil is the man he is with the skills he has.
"Byzantine Perplexity" (prior to The Avengers)
Phil Coulson's pet peeve is poorly designed paperwork.
"Colossus" (prior to the Iron Man movies)
Rupert Rhodes meets Tony Stark in college.
"What Little Boys Are Made Of" (prior to the Iron Man movies)
According to canon, Tony Stark is a blacksmith. This is how that happens.
"Happy Hour" (prior to the Iron Man movies)
Happy Hogan meets Tony Stark for the first time, and they more or less rescue each other. It's background, not essential for later stories, but highlights the relationship between the two men.
"The Truth Is" (after the Iron Man movies)
Tony + JARVIS = Iron Man.
"Saudades" (scenes span times from after the Hulk movies into "Dolls and Guys")
Bruce mulls over experiences from his life that correlate to different aspects of this Portuguese word. It's background, and while not essential to later stories, it does explain a great deal about how Bruce feels about Hulk.
"Querencia" (scenes span times from after the Hulk movies into "Dolls and Guys")
Hulk muses about his sources of inner strength that correlate to different aspects of this Spanish word. It's background, and while not essential to later stories, it does explain a great deal about how Hulk feels about Bruce.
"Am I Not" (after Thor and The Avengers)
Frigga and Loki talk in his cell. This is setup, in hopes of bringing Thor and Loki back with the Avengers eventually.
"Unworthy" (after Thor and The Avengers)
Thor wonders why Odin is never really pleased with his sons.
"Blended" (after the Hulk movies and The Avengers, shortly after moving into the tower)
Bruce Hulks out and smashes half the common kitchen. JARVIS helps Hulk calm down. This is backstory which establishes the relationship between Hulk and JARVIS, and why Hulk considers the tower a refuge.
"Science Bros" (shortly after moving into the tower)
Tony introduces Bruce to the "Candyland" lab for the first time.
"Love Is for Children" (after The Avengers) (cover art bypattrose)
Phil Coulson looks at the mangled wreck of his team, searches through his bag of tricks, and comes up with a teambuilding exercises that finally manages to start repairing the damage. Here begins the series proper, and this story is the linchpin on which everything else depends. If you read this one, most of the rest will make at least some sense, in case you want to skip around.
"Hairpins" (takes place between chapters 3-5 of "Love Is for Children")
Tony told his teammates about JARVIS when they moved into Avengers Tower, but it didn't really sink in. Here is how Phil gets to know JARVIS for real. Not essential, but important for the relationship between Phil and JARVIS, and it also shows how much work Uncle Phil puts into taking care of his littles.
"Eggshells"
The Avengers celebrate Easter together by coloring eggs. This is one of the fluffiest stories, part of the main storyline but without much later fiction relying directly on it.
"Dolls and Guys"
Phil finally convinces Betty Ross to accept his help in escaping her father's reach so that she can reunite with Bruce-and-Hulk. This is when Betty joins the Avengers, and you need it to understand her place in the later stories.
"Duende"
Bruce and Tony explore the importance of art.
"Turnabout Is Fair Play"
A mission goes to pot in ways that leave Phil a nervous wreck. The Avengers think of a way to put him back together again. Here's where the team has matured enough for reciprocal caregiving, which is important in later stories. The first couple of chapters have most of the hurt, and the rest is the comfort.
"Touching Moments"
Clint's new archery equipment messes up his back. Bruce fixes it for him. This is the story that establishes Clint and Bruce as touch-buddies, which you need for later development of their relationship.
"Splash"
The Avengers fight some bilgesnipe, and then need to clean up afterwards. This story is written from Hulk's point of view, in present tense. Hulk meshes with the whole team here, so it's crucial to his evolving relationships. Mostly fluff.
"Coming Around"
Phil sits with Bruce, who is wrecked after the transformation in "Splash." Bruce and Hulk are having a hard time as their relationship with each other evolves in context with the team. Phil tries to help Bruce work through some of that tension. This is heavy psychological stuff on Bruce's messed-up feelings about Hulk, important to their internal storyline.
"Birthday Girl"
Natka gets a birthday party, something she missed as a child. While not as important as some of the other stories, it does advance Hulk's relationships with Clint and Natasha, along with Natasha's relationships with the team.
"No Winter Lasts Forever"
On a mission to Russia, the Avengers cross paths with the Winter Soldier. Steve recognizes Bucky, and they rescue him. But it takes a lot of work to reconstruct Bucky from the ruins of the Winter Soldier. This is one of the major stories, with a lot of dark intense stuff, but some fluff for leavening too. It's crucial to everything later because it introduces Bucky.
"Hide and Seek"
Bucky still has memory problems that stress him and his teamfamily, and in the aftermath of one particularly bad head day, a simple game goes awry. Another important story, this one shifts relationships between Tony and several teammates, and between Phil and JARVIS; it also details Bucky's memory issues. Roughly even mix of fluff and angst.
"Kernel Error" (JARVIS-eye view of a scene within "Hide and Seek")
This is what went on inside JARVIS while Tony was off the grid. Not essential because it's summarized in "Hide and Seek," but this is the first subjective look at JARVIS. All high angst.
"Green Eggs and Hulk"
The Avengers fight some giant birds. While waiting for the all-clear signal, Hulk gets to enjoy a story. Battle, then fluff; it continues developing Hulk's thread of the story.
"kintsukuroi" (scenes span times from before the movies through Love Is for Children)
Natasha is broken, and so are the people she loves, but they're learning to put each other back together. Not essential, but gives added insight into Natasha's personality.
"Up the Water Spout"
Sometimes the Black Widow needs to hunt, and sometimes she needs help settling her personality afterwards. Uncle Phil arranges an extra ageplay session.
"The Life of the Dead" (multiple points in time spanning the two Captain America movies, Bucky's own experiences in captivity, and then Love Is For Children from "No Winter Lasts Forever" forward)
Bucky experiences life in fragments as his memory cycles through past and present.
"What It Means to Me"
Bucky struggles to identify certain expressions and emotions.
"User Interfaces"
JARVIS learns how to work with Loki.
"If They Could Just Stay Little"
Uncle Phil appreciates spending time with Tony and the other Avengers for ageplay.
"Anahata"
Betty admires Bruce doing yoga in his clingy yoga pants.
"Flipping Expectations"
Phil, Betty, and Natasha need some downtime so Bucky steps in to help. Phil has some surprising skills.
This is the Saturday before Memorial Day, with some new teamwork dynamics during the day and then Game Night.
"Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations"
On Sunday, Steve and Bucky cope with some influence from Bucky's prosthetic arm. Uncle Phil uses a private ageplay session to help Steve with his feelings. JARVIS, floundering with his own emotions and interpretations of other peoples' motivations, asks Phil for assistance. Steve is still struggling to get a handle on what's happening to him. They finish up the day with a movie.
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day"
The Avengers celebrate Memorial Day together. It has its ups and downs, due to their checkered history.
"Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears"
Several of the Avengers visit SHIELD for a variety of professional and personal reasons. It helps to have friends at your side while facing challenges.
"Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques"
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.
"The Only Difference Between Screwing Around and Science"
Based on a previous agreement, Bruce provides a new episode of Kitchen Chemistry with Dr. Banner. Tony and Phil help him wrangle the Starklings.
"Coming in from the Cold: Thursday: Digging for Answers"
Phil manages the household as Tony takes Steve and Bucky to a baseball game, and later spars with Betty and Bruce. Later that day, Bruce helps Bucky figure out some things about his body.
"Coming in from the Cold: Friday: Bug Hunt"
A mission to shut down drugrunners in Brazil goes wrong. The Avengers fare pretty well against the drugrunners, but less well against the swarms of insects guarding the compound.
"Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Revisiting the Past"
After the mission to shut down drugrunners in Brazil, the Avengers recover in the Tower.
"Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Thanks for Taking Care of Me, Tiny"
Phil, Steve, Bucky, and Clint visit SHIELD to work with the new recruits. Later that evening, an unexpected trigger throws Bucky into a panic attack.
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Renovations"
Tony widens the doorway between the common room and the kitchen, so Hulk can fit through it more comfortably. The Avengers talk over what happened between Hulk and Bucky.
"Everyone Should Be Free to Choose"
Clint and JARVIS talk about asexuality.
"White Chrysanthemums"
Tony reads about asexuality and aromanticism.
"Taken"
Clint and JARVIS are growing into each other as an asexual couple.
"Carefully Considered and Respected"
Tony talks about sex/romance orientations with Clint and JARVIS, with attention to Stark Industries diversity.
"Poetic Affections"
Clint and JARVIS explore poetry together.
"Poetic Events"
Clint and JARVIS choose poetry events, while Steve and Phil decide to tag along.
"Fulfillment and Joy" (July 4, 2023)
Tony comes to the conclusion that he needs to talk about this aromantic thing, and it's awkward.
"Life, Libertines, and the Pursuit of Happiness" (January 21, 2024)
Tony meets some other aromantic people. It helps.
"Something About Bread" (January 18, 2025)
Clint and JARVIS bake bread together.
"On the Surface, Everything Seems Normal" (June 4, 2024)
The Avengers don't really know what normal is, so Uncle Phil brings out a game on that topic.
"A Process of Emotional Repair" (December 3, 2024)
Sam Wilson visits the Avengers. Crafts and repairs happen.
"Gentleness Is..."
Bruce-and-Hulk exchange some tender moments.
"Rotten Fruit"
The Avengers hunt down HYDRA agent Nick Spencer and clean up the mess he's made.
"Trying to Find Prui"
A bullying incident inspires Agent Coulson to lead a new teamwork activity at SHIELD.
"Life in Quicktime"
JARVIS sees the world differently than the other Avengers.
"Score"
Agent Coulson finds Hulk trying to tally up past damage.
"Played by Two Guys Who Can Barely Run Their Own Lives"
Tony helps Steve and Bucky catch up on board games they missed while in the ice.
"Sunday Dinner"
Steve and Bucky come up with another tradition for the Avengers and their friends.
"It's Not Easy"
Rhodey points out that Hulk is a man of color.
"Plugging the Pipe"
Tony solves a problem without using a single invention.
"Tiggers are Cuddly Fellas" A fight leaves the Avengers cold and wet. Uncle Phil suggests snuggling up to watch a movie.
"Everyday Birds"
Turkey and goose are common meals in Avengers Tower.
"Cafuné"
Hulk loves Betty.
"Half My Potential"
Bruce defends Hulk's humanity.
"Fatherboards and Other F-Words"
Betty gets tired of Thor's mess.
"The Artists Among Us"
The Avengers are craftier than most people realize.
"Cool Digs"
Loki needs his own workspace in the Tower; Tony throws in an apartment.
"Keep the Homefires Burning"
Snow makes the Avengers want to stay indoors.
"Their Old Familiar Carols Play"
Steve's friends talk him into taking up Christmas caroling again.
"Fluffy"
Hulk finds a litter of kittens.
"A Leg Up"
The Avengers deal with an injury.
"Wabbit Season"
Steve and Bucky catch up on cartoons they missed while trapped in ice.
"No Quarrel with a Boot"
Phil finds Loki watching Tony's virtual ant farm.
"And You Became Like Coffee"
Loki tries coffee, and likes it, but the heat causes problems for him.
"Coffee and the Willingness to Be Wrong"
Tony makes a peace offering.
"A Painful Process"
Loki struggles with gender identity in a new persona.
Suggested Reading Order
I strongly recommend that you read "Love Is for Children" first. It was originally written as a one-shot, so it's meant to introduce the whole concept of nonsexual, therapeutic ageplay along with the characters as I have interpreted them for this series. Beyond that, there are certain things that may make more sense if you read the stories in the order written, based on character development and audience discussion. But if you prefer chronological order, you can follow that; just be advised that the earliest stories are not so fluffy because prior to the team forming everyone got raked over the coals a bunch.
Movie Timeline
Special thanks todialecticdreamer for starting the discussion about the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline and how it connects with this series. I tend to imagine that events in a movie happen the year the movie is released, unless the movie itself specifies otherwise.
The largest portion of inspiration came from The Avengers. Some other movies contributed heavily. However, I have also drawn from other sources. In particular, I've been a Hulk fan for decades, across pretty much every iteration I've seen, so Bruce-and-Hulk are the most patchworked characters. For some others I've added bits from comic canon or whatever else seemed relevant. I use the Marvel wiki and Wikipedia fairly often to reference characters or other components, and sometimes that gives me more details.
Here are the movies in release order:
Hulk (2003)
"The Consultant" (2011)
Iron Man (May 2, 2008)
The Incredible Hulk (June 13, 2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (May 6, 2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011)
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer" (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
-- Love Is For Children begins
Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013)
Thor 2: The Dark World (November 8, 2013)
Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014)
The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015)
Now let's look at these events in their probable chronological sequence within the Marvel Cinematic Universe ...
Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011) -- This movie is canonical in Love Is For Children.
Hulk (2003) and The Incredible Hulk (June 13, 2008) -- These movies are partially canonical in Love Is For Children. In particular, a lot of Bruce's horrible childhood comes from the first, and much of Betty's BAMF nature comes from the second. Canon divergences include the fact that LIFC Bruce lost his mother when he was a toddler, and Betty never betrayed Bruce to her father because she knows what a bastard General Ross really is.
Iron Man (May 2, 2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010) -- These movies are canonical in Love Is For Children.
Easter Egg Security Breach: At the end of Iron Man, Nick Fury has gained (probably by breaking & entering) access to the Malibu house. That’s set in 2008 as well.
Coninuity Snag and Repair: According to the trivia page on IMDB, the events of the attempt to capture Hulk at Culver University are playing on monitors in SHIELD headquarters during the events of Iron Man 2, making them concurrent in the canon timeline. This may be explained as the scenes playing from records for analysis, rather than playing live, thus leaving them in the past. Also, the events of Thor are beginning as Iron Man 2 ends.)
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer" (2011) -- This short is canonical in Love Is For Children. It happens between the events of Iron Man 2 and Thor, as Agent Coulson heads out to deal with Thor's hammer.
Thor (May 6, 2011) -- This movie is canonical in Love Is For Children.
The Avengers (2012) -- This movie is canonical in Love Is For Children.
-- Love Is For Children begins. The first story written, "Love Is for Children," describes the Avengers moving into Avengers Tower shortly after the Battle of New York, and primarily focuses on events several months later as they finally scrape themselves together enough to bond as a team. Subsequent stories have carried through spring of the following year thus far. There are also some installments which detail backstory events prior to what happened in some or all of the aforementioned movies. This threshold, after The Avengers, remains the main divergence point between canonical MCU and LIFC timelines. Yes, I apply quantum physics to writing fanfic, ask Bruce if you need the math because I'm doing it by intuitive geometry the way Steve throws his shield.
Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013) -- This movie is NOT canonical in Love Is For Children. I found it to be a hatchet-job of characterization, a mess of a plot, and a whole pack of -isms flung messily together. Parts of it were entertaining to watch but very little was usable for my purposes. I kept primarily scenes which canonized things already implied by previous movies. For example, Tony and Pepper's romantic relationship is mutually dysfunctional but they still care about each other even though it is obviously falling apart. Tony has horrible PTSD nightmares, can't sleep well, and has no discernible circadian rhythm. Tony continues to work on improving the Iron Man suits, and Pepper hates them. In LIFC, Tony still has the arc reactor and the shrapnel; those are staying because he welded them to his personality and then papered over that with whatever was left of Yinsen's lifelist, so yeah, not going anywhere.
(Not part of LIFC, but worth mentioning in the context of Pepper's portrayal in the Iron Man movies: For awesome!Pepper, see "Saving the Heroes." For a scathing indictment of Pepper's treatment of Tony's PTSD nightmares, see "Those Little Slices of Death.")
Thor 2: The Dark World (November 8, 2013) -- This movie is NOT canonical in Love Is For Children. I loved the dialog and have saved many scenes and implications for use in handling Thor and Loki with regard to LIFC. But I deeply resent a movie stuffing a strong female character into the refrigerator; that is shit up with which I will not put. So Frigga remains alive and (Can we call it 'well' when she's in an abusive relationship? I don't think so.) active in LIFC. Among the things I'm keeping: Thor is suffering from rather dramatic depression after his brother's suicide attempt, and trying to pretend he's fine. Odin is an abuser and an appalling racist who considers Jane equivalent to a barn animal, which logically implies Thor/Jane as bestiality. Frigga is an accomplished sorceress, of which my interpretations include seiðkona (spellcaster) and spaewife (seer).
Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014) -- This movie is not canonical in Love Is For Children, but primarily because of timeline divergence instead of plot/characterization. It was an excellent movie full of many useful things that I plan to port over. Among those are the openwork shelves in Steve's apartment, Sam Wilson/Falcon, some improvements indicating that Nick Fury is not a total waste of carbon atoms, and further HYDRA machinations. The Winter Soldier is a terrific match for the way I have conceived and written him in LIFC; just imagine that the Avengers encountered him a lot sooner in "No Winter Lasts Forever" and he was fresh out of cryo, therefore unable to remember anything yet. Also this went by fast, but Black Widow was using her Widow's Bite, what looked like the form of light gloves and small stick-on devices; I have a version of that in mind for later as well.
The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015) -- This movie is NOT canonical in Love Is For Children. However, I'm likely to weave in elements of it that seem useful. Black Widow's interactions with Hulk were particularly adorable.
Further Notes
Read about why I write fanfic and making fanfic work. Fanartists may want to browse a list of photogenic scenes from the whole series. These include some of my personal favorites along with things that have made various readers say, "Aw, I wish I could draw this!"
Images associated with Love Is For Children appear in my LIFC scrapbook folder on LiveJournal. So far I have several Easter egg pictures contributed by a fan, inspired by Clint and Natka. I also want to upload some images from links that have gone dead after their original posting.
If you like the team-as-family and Fury-is-a-jerk themes in this series, you might also enjoy "Damaged Defenders" by Sherza, which was somewhat inspired by ideas herein. The tones are very different, but much of the thematic approach is similar.
If you like the nonsexual ageplay, I recommend "This Is Me Not Praying" by Lostinthefire, also somewhat inspired by this series. It's written from Natasha's perspective and begins with her exploring the precious, perilous territory of childhood first by herself and then with company.
"These Folded Pages" by Kasan_Soulblade was posted as a gift for me, partially inspired by my writing on touch avoidance.
"Hiding" byshiori_makiba was directly inspired by this series, evocatively written in haiku verses that describe each of the Avengers.
"A Little Avengers Christmas Poem" byshiori_makiba was inspired by this series, for noncanon holiday fun.
"I Meant What I Said and I Said What I Meant" byshiori_makiba was inspired by this series and a prompt from me. Steve Rogers still believes in the importance of keeping your promises.
"Influence" bysingingwithoutwords is an inside look at Director Fury's perspective in Love Is For Children. What he believes is not necessarily all true, but he acts as if it is, and this fits his actions.
"Tunnel Vision" byshiori_makiba is a two-part story, half from Nick Fury's perspective and half from Phil Coulson's. It is a heartbreaking look at a relationship gone horribly wrong, and spot-on for my interpretation of Nick Fury.
"Childhood Games" byshiori_makiba has 7 parts, each featuring one of the Avengers, exploring their favorite games when they were growing up.
"A Good Man" and "It Ain't So" byshiori_makiba relate to "Rotten Fruit" and concern the characterization of Captain America.
"Bathing Issues" by A_very_confused_one was inspired by "Hide and Seek" Chapter 35.
The last chapter of "Broken" bysiberian_skys was inspired by Love Is For Children, particularly the relationship between Clint and JARVIS.
Not part of LIFC, but worth mentioning in the context of Pepper's portrayal in the Iron Man movies: For awesome!Pepper, see "Saving the Heroes." For a scathing indictment of Pepper's treatment of Tony's PTSD nightmares, see "Those Little Slices of Death."
I also have a missing scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, "Going Down."
References
My series of articles on touch and trust includes "What Is Skin Hunger?" "Touch Aversion," "Primates Need Touch," "Self-Soothing and Self-Control," "Compassion and Gentleness," "Creating Safe Space," "Building Trust," "Healthy Vulnerability," "Coping with Emotional Drop.
My series on nonsexual intimacies has five parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
I wrote a Safety Tracker for folks who have trouble distinguishing whether or not they are safe.
See my AO3 stats for June 13, 2018. LIFC is the runaway favorite.
Summary
In The Avengers, Natasha Romanova says "Love is for children." It's an expression of life as she knows it, and fits the harsh background most of the Avengers have experienced. Trouble is, people don't do very well without love. In particular it's impossible to form a good team if the members don't care about each other.
So Phil Coulson comes up with a teambuilding exercise to resolve that problem. If love is for children ... then he'll arrange that experience for them. The result is an exploration of nonsexual ageplay to allow a group of very powerful, very broken people to patch up some of the gaps in their lives.
Most of the stories are very sweet in tone and make for good comfort reading. However, canon gives these characters some very unpleasant pasts, and that comes up as they process the aftermath. So the tone does vary, and some stories are more intense than others. They deal with different characters, relationships, and sensitive issues.
Some folks have avoided this series for fear that it goes into sexual territory; it doesn't. Same with embarrassment, very low on that.
Nonsexual ageplay offers relaxation through imagination. It is related to various therapies including regression, inner child work, and reparenting. Most ageplay is private, but it's coming into public view more nowadays. Frex, there is an adult preschool where stressed people can relax with kiddie activities. Over on Archive of Our Own, there are about 5543 sexual and 429 non-sexual ageplay entries, or about a 10 to 1 ratio. Sexual ageplay is squicky for a lot of folks, so I wanted to write something that would expand the nonsexual repertoire.
A key feature, as in some of my other writing, is that the literature is followed by nonfiction notes with links to supporting materials. I don't like to raise difficult topics and then leave people hanging.
Oh, and check out what Clark Gregg says about Phil's relationship to the Avengers.
Posting Order
These are the stories in order of posting.
"Love Is for Children" (February 14, 2013)
...
... Now available in podfic by Yuurei (7/14/22)
"Eggshells" (February 28, 2013)
"Dolls and Guys" (March 6, 2013)
"Turnabout Is Fair Play" (March 19, 2013)
"Touching Moments" (March 25, 2013)
"Splash" (April 2, 2013)
"Coming Around" (April 9, 2013)
"Birthday Girl" (April 22, 2013)
"No Winter Lasts Forever" (May 11, 2013)
"Hide and Seek" (August 12, 2013)
"Kernel Error" (December 23, 2013)
"Happy Hour" (January 6, 2014)
"Saudades" (January 27, 2014)
"Green Eggs and Hulk" (February 10, 2014)
"Hairpins" (February 19, 2014)
"Querencia" (May 2, 2014)
"Am I Not" (May 5, 2014)
"Blended" (May 16, 2014)
"kintsukuroi" (May 28, 2014)
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" (May 30, 2014)
"Up the Water Spout" (August 27, 2014)
"The Life of the Dead" (October 17, 2014)
"If They Could Just Stay Little" (January 6, 2015)
"Anahata" (February 17, 2015)
"Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Building Towers" (May 23, 2015)
"Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations" (June 13, 2015)
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day" (June 28, 2015)
"When the Wheels Come Off" (November 30, 2015)
"What Little Boys Are Made Of" (April 1, 2016)
"Against His Own Shield" (April 7, 2016)
"Rotten Fruit" (May 30, 2016)
"Byzantine Perplexity" (September 6, 2016)
"Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears" (October 31, 2016)
"Pointing Toward Power" (April 3, 2018)
"Keep the Homefires Burning" (December 6, 2016)
"Score" (January 8, 2017)
"Their Old Familiar Carols Play" (February 11, 2017)
"Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Skills" (April 1, 2017)
"Fluffy" (September 29, 2017)
"Coming in from the Cold: Thursday: Digging for Answers" (November 23, 2017)
"Trying to Find Prui" (January 12, 2018)
"A Leg Up" (August 7, 2018)
"Wabbit Season" (November 6, 2018)
"Life in Quicktime" (December 4, 2018)
"Coming in From the Cold: Friday: Bug Hunt" (December 24, 2018)
"Duende" (January 10, 2019)
"Sunday Dinner" February 6, 2019)
"Cafuné" (April 28, 2019)
"Unworthy" (written April 14, 2019, posted April 29, 2019)
"What It Means to Me" (July 31, 2019)
"Fatherboards and Other F-Words" (August 6, 2019)
"The Artists Among Us" (September 3, 2019)
"A Painful Process" (October 1, 2019)
"Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Revisiting the Past" (January 25, 2020)
"Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Thanks for Taking Care of Me, Tiny" (April 5, 2020)
"The Truth Is" (April 21, 2020)
"Colossus" (May 5, 2020)
"It's Not Easy" (July 21, 2020)
"Plugging the Pipe" (August 4, 2020)
"And You Became Like Coffee" (September 1, 2020)
"No Quarrel with a Boot" (September 21, 2020)
"Cool Digs" (December 1, 2020)
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Renovations" (December 25,2020)
"Everyone Should Be Free to Choose" (January 21, 2021)
"White Chrysanthemums" (February 2, 2021)
"The Only Difference Between Screwing Around and Science" (April 6, 2021)
"Taken" (August 3, 2021)
"Gentleness Is ..." (August 17, 2021)
"Carefully Considered and Respected" (November 2, 2021)
"Flipping Expectations" (February 2, 2022)
"Everyday Birds" (August 2, 2022)
"Poetic Affections" (January 3, 2023)
"Poetic Events" (January 19, 2023)
"Coffee and the Willingness to Be Wrong" (June 6, 2023)
"Fulfillment and Joy" (July 4, 2023)
"Half My Potential" (October 3, 2023)
"Life, Libertines, and the Pursuit of Happiness" (January 21, 2024)
"On the Surface, Everything Seems Normal" (June 4, 2024)
"Played by Two Guys Who Can Barely Run Their Own Lives" (July 2, 2024)
"Science Bros" (August 6, 2024)
"Tiggers are Cuddly Fellas" (November 5, 2024)
"A Process of Emotional Repair" (December 3, 2024)
"Something About Bread" (January 17, 2025)
"User Interfaces" (December 2, 2025)
Chronological Order
These are the stories in approximate chronological order within the series. Be aware that some of them overlap or nest or do other odd things timewise.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" (scenes span Coulson's early life before the movies)
This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot. It's background, not required for understanding the rest of the series, but explains a LOT about why Phil is the man he is with the skills he has.
"Byzantine Perplexity" (prior to The Avengers)
Phil Coulson's pet peeve is poorly designed paperwork.
"Colossus" (prior to the Iron Man movies)
Rupert Rhodes meets Tony Stark in college.
"What Little Boys Are Made Of" (prior to the Iron Man movies)
According to canon, Tony Stark is a blacksmith. This is how that happens.
"Happy Hour" (prior to the Iron Man movies)
Happy Hogan meets Tony Stark for the first time, and they more or less rescue each other. It's background, not essential for later stories, but highlights the relationship between the two men.
"The Truth Is" (after the Iron Man movies)
Tony + JARVIS = Iron Man.
"Saudades" (scenes span times from after the Hulk movies into "Dolls and Guys")
Bruce mulls over experiences from his life that correlate to different aspects of this Portuguese word. It's background, and while not essential to later stories, it does explain a great deal about how Bruce feels about Hulk.
"Querencia" (scenes span times from after the Hulk movies into "Dolls and Guys")
Hulk muses about his sources of inner strength that correlate to different aspects of this Spanish word. It's background, and while not essential to later stories, it does explain a great deal about how Hulk feels about Bruce.
"Am I Not" (after Thor and The Avengers)
Frigga and Loki talk in his cell. This is setup, in hopes of bringing Thor and Loki back with the Avengers eventually.
"Unworthy" (after Thor and The Avengers)
Thor wonders why Odin is never really pleased with his sons.
"Blended" (after the Hulk movies and The Avengers, shortly after moving into the tower)
Bruce Hulks out and smashes half the common kitchen. JARVIS helps Hulk calm down. This is backstory which establishes the relationship between Hulk and JARVIS, and why Hulk considers the tower a refuge.
"Science Bros" (shortly after moving into the tower)
Tony introduces Bruce to the "Candyland" lab for the first time.
"Love Is for Children" (after The Avengers) (cover art by
pattrose)Phil Coulson looks at the mangled wreck of his team, searches through his bag of tricks, and comes up with a teambuilding exercises that finally manages to start repairing the damage. Here begins the series proper, and this story is the linchpin on which everything else depends. If you read this one, most of the rest will make at least some sense, in case you want to skip around.
"Hairpins" (takes place between chapters 3-5 of "Love Is for Children")
Tony told his teammates about JARVIS when they moved into Avengers Tower, but it didn't really sink in. Here is how Phil gets to know JARVIS for real. Not essential, but important for the relationship between Phil and JARVIS, and it also shows how much work Uncle Phil puts into taking care of his littles.
"Eggshells"
The Avengers celebrate Easter together by coloring eggs. This is one of the fluffiest stories, part of the main storyline but without much later fiction relying directly on it.
"Dolls and Guys"
Phil finally convinces Betty Ross to accept his help in escaping her father's reach so that she can reunite with Bruce-and-Hulk. This is when Betty joins the Avengers, and you need it to understand her place in the later stories.
"Duende"
Bruce and Tony explore the importance of art.
"Turnabout Is Fair Play"
A mission goes to pot in ways that leave Phil a nervous wreck. The Avengers think of a way to put him back together again. Here's where the team has matured enough for reciprocal caregiving, which is important in later stories. The first couple of chapters have most of the hurt, and the rest is the comfort.
"Touching Moments"
Clint's new archery equipment messes up his back. Bruce fixes it for him. This is the story that establishes Clint and Bruce as touch-buddies, which you need for later development of their relationship.
"Splash"
The Avengers fight some bilgesnipe, and then need to clean up afterwards. This story is written from Hulk's point of view, in present tense. Hulk meshes with the whole team here, so it's crucial to his evolving relationships. Mostly fluff.
"Coming Around"
Phil sits with Bruce, who is wrecked after the transformation in "Splash." Bruce and Hulk are having a hard time as their relationship with each other evolves in context with the team. Phil tries to help Bruce work through some of that tension. This is heavy psychological stuff on Bruce's messed-up feelings about Hulk, important to their internal storyline.
"Birthday Girl"
Natka gets a birthday party, something she missed as a child. While not as important as some of the other stories, it does advance Hulk's relationships with Clint and Natasha, along with Natasha's relationships with the team.
"No Winter Lasts Forever"
On a mission to Russia, the Avengers cross paths with the Winter Soldier. Steve recognizes Bucky, and they rescue him. But it takes a lot of work to reconstruct Bucky from the ruins of the Winter Soldier. This is one of the major stories, with a lot of dark intense stuff, but some fluff for leavening too. It's crucial to everything later because it introduces Bucky.
"Hide and Seek"
Bucky still has memory problems that stress him and his teamfamily, and in the aftermath of one particularly bad head day, a simple game goes awry. Another important story, this one shifts relationships between Tony and several teammates, and between Phil and JARVIS; it also details Bucky's memory issues. Roughly even mix of fluff and angst.
"Kernel Error" (JARVIS-eye view of a scene within "Hide and Seek")
This is what went on inside JARVIS while Tony was off the grid. Not essential because it's summarized in "Hide and Seek," but this is the first subjective look at JARVIS. All high angst.
"Green Eggs and Hulk"
The Avengers fight some giant birds. While waiting for the all-clear signal, Hulk gets to enjoy a story. Battle, then fluff; it continues developing Hulk's thread of the story.
"kintsukuroi" (scenes span times from before the movies through Love Is for Children)
Natasha is broken, and so are the people she loves, but they're learning to put each other back together. Not essential, but gives added insight into Natasha's personality.
"Up the Water Spout"
Sometimes the Black Widow needs to hunt, and sometimes she needs help settling her personality afterwards. Uncle Phil arranges an extra ageplay session.
"The Life of the Dead" (multiple points in time spanning the two Captain America movies, Bucky's own experiences in captivity, and then Love Is For Children from "No Winter Lasts Forever" forward)
Bucky experiences life in fragments as his memory cycles through past and present.
"What It Means to Me"
Bucky struggles to identify certain expressions and emotions.
"User Interfaces"
JARVIS learns how to work with Loki.
"If They Could Just Stay Little"
Uncle Phil appreciates spending time with Tony and the other Avengers for ageplay.
"Anahata"
Betty admires Bruce doing yoga in his clingy yoga pants.
"Flipping Expectations"
Phil, Betty, and Natasha need some downtime so Bucky steps in to help. Phil has some surprising skills.
"When the Wheels Come Off"
Clint and Bruce play together on game night. Bruce is easily upset. Clint's coping skills are farther along, and Uncle Phil is happy to help.
"Against His Own Shield"
Steve is not happy with the state of affairs at SHIELD.
This is the Saturday before Memorial Day, with some new teamwork dynamics during the day and then Game Night.
"Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations"
On Sunday, Steve and Bucky cope with some influence from Bucky's prosthetic arm. Uncle Phil uses a private ageplay session to help Steve with his feelings. JARVIS, floundering with his own emotions and interpretations of other peoples' motivations, asks Phil for assistance. Steve is still struggling to get a handle on what's happening to him. They finish up the day with a movie.
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day"
The Avengers celebrate Memorial Day together. It has its ups and downs, due to their checkered history.
"Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears"
Several of the Avengers visit SHIELD for a variety of professional and personal reasons. It helps to have friends at your side while facing challenges.
"Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques"
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.
"The Only Difference Between Screwing Around and Science"
Based on a previous agreement, Bruce provides a new episode of Kitchen Chemistry with Dr. Banner. Tony and Phil help him wrangle the Starklings.
"Coming in from the Cold: Thursday: Digging for Answers"
Phil manages the household as Tony takes Steve and Bucky to a baseball game, and later spars with Betty and Bruce. Later that day, Bruce helps Bucky figure out some things about his body.
"Coming in from the Cold: Friday: Bug Hunt"
A mission to shut down drugrunners in Brazil goes wrong. The Avengers fare pretty well against the drugrunners, but less well against the swarms of insects guarding the compound.
"Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Revisiting the Past"
After the mission to shut down drugrunners in Brazil, the Avengers recover in the Tower.
"Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Thanks for Taking Care of Me, Tiny"
Phil, Steve, Bucky, and Clint visit SHIELD to work with the new recruits. Later that evening, an unexpected trigger throws Bucky into a panic attack.
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Renovations"
Tony widens the doorway between the common room and the kitchen, so Hulk can fit through it more comfortably. The Avengers talk over what happened between Hulk and Bucky.
"Everyone Should Be Free to Choose"
Clint and JARVIS talk about asexuality.
"White Chrysanthemums"
Tony reads about asexuality and aromanticism.
"Taken"
Clint and JARVIS are growing into each other as an asexual couple.
"Carefully Considered and Respected"
Tony talks about sex/romance orientations with Clint and JARVIS, with attention to Stark Industries diversity.
"Poetic Affections"
Clint and JARVIS explore poetry together.
"Poetic Events"
Clint and JARVIS choose poetry events, while Steve and Phil decide to tag along.
"Fulfillment and Joy" (July 4, 2023)
Tony comes to the conclusion that he needs to talk about this aromantic thing, and it's awkward.
"Life, Libertines, and the Pursuit of Happiness" (January 21, 2024)
Tony meets some other aromantic people. It helps.
"Something About Bread" (January 18, 2025)
Clint and JARVIS bake bread together.
"On the Surface, Everything Seems Normal" (June 4, 2024)
The Avengers don't really know what normal is, so Uncle Phil brings out a game on that topic.
"A Process of Emotional Repair" (December 3, 2024)
Sam Wilson visits the Avengers. Crafts and repairs happen.
"Gentleness Is..."
Bruce-and-Hulk exchange some tender moments.
"Rotten Fruit"
The Avengers hunt down HYDRA agent Nick Spencer and clean up the mess he's made.
"Trying to Find Prui"
A bullying incident inspires Agent Coulson to lead a new teamwork activity at SHIELD.
"Life in Quicktime"
JARVIS sees the world differently than the other Avengers.
"Score"
Agent Coulson finds Hulk trying to tally up past damage.
"Played by Two Guys Who Can Barely Run Their Own Lives"
Tony helps Steve and Bucky catch up on board games they missed while in the ice.
"Sunday Dinner"
Steve and Bucky come up with another tradition for the Avengers and their friends.
"It's Not Easy"
Rhodey points out that Hulk is a man of color.
"Plugging the Pipe"
Tony solves a problem without using a single invention.
"Tiggers are Cuddly Fellas" A fight leaves the Avengers cold and wet. Uncle Phil suggests snuggling up to watch a movie.
"Everyday Birds"
Turkey and goose are common meals in Avengers Tower.
"Cafuné"
Hulk loves Betty.
"Half My Potential"
Bruce defends Hulk's humanity.
"Fatherboards and Other F-Words"
Betty gets tired of Thor's mess.
"The Artists Among Us"
The Avengers are craftier than most people realize.
"Cool Digs"
Loki needs his own workspace in the Tower; Tony throws in an apartment.
"Keep the Homefires Burning"
Snow makes the Avengers want to stay indoors.
"Their Old Familiar Carols Play"
Steve's friends talk him into taking up Christmas caroling again.
"Fluffy"
Hulk finds a litter of kittens.
"A Leg Up"
The Avengers deal with an injury.
"Wabbit Season"
Steve and Bucky catch up on cartoons they missed while trapped in ice.
"No Quarrel with a Boot"
Phil finds Loki watching Tony's virtual ant farm.
"And You Became Like Coffee"
Loki tries coffee, and likes it, but the heat causes problems for him.
"Coffee and the Willingness to Be Wrong"
Tony makes a peace offering.
"A Painful Process"
Loki struggles with gender identity in a new persona.
Suggested Reading Order
I strongly recommend that you read "Love Is for Children" first. It was originally written as a one-shot, so it's meant to introduce the whole concept of nonsexual, therapeutic ageplay along with the characters as I have interpreted them for this series. Beyond that, there are certain things that may make more sense if you read the stories in the order written, based on character development and audience discussion. But if you prefer chronological order, you can follow that; just be advised that the earliest stories are not so fluffy because prior to the team forming everyone got raked over the coals a bunch.
Movie Timeline
Special thanks to
dialecticdreamer for starting the discussion about the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline and how it connects with this series. I tend to imagine that events in a movie happen the year the movie is released, unless the movie itself specifies otherwise.The largest portion of inspiration came from The Avengers. Some other movies contributed heavily. However, I have also drawn from other sources. In particular, I've been a Hulk fan for decades, across pretty much every iteration I've seen, so Bruce-and-Hulk are the most patchworked characters. For some others I've added bits from comic canon or whatever else seemed relevant. I use the Marvel wiki and Wikipedia fairly often to reference characters or other components, and sometimes that gives me more details.
Here are the movies in release order:
Hulk (2003)
"The Consultant" (2011)
Iron Man (May 2, 2008)
The Incredible Hulk (June 13, 2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (May 6, 2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011)
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer" (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
-- Love Is For Children begins
Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013)
Thor 2: The Dark World (November 8, 2013)
Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014)
The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015)
Now let's look at these events in their probable chronological sequence within the Marvel Cinematic Universe ...
Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011) -- This movie is canonical in Love Is For Children.
Hulk (2003) and The Incredible Hulk (June 13, 2008) -- These movies are partially canonical in Love Is For Children. In particular, a lot of Bruce's horrible childhood comes from the first, and much of Betty's BAMF nature comes from the second. Canon divergences include the fact that LIFC Bruce lost his mother when he was a toddler, and Betty never betrayed Bruce to her father because she knows what a bastard General Ross really is.
Iron Man (May 2, 2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010) -- These movies are canonical in Love Is For Children.
Easter Egg Security Breach: At the end of Iron Man, Nick Fury has gained (probably by breaking & entering) access to the Malibu house. That’s set in 2008 as well.
Coninuity Snag and Repair: According to the trivia page on IMDB, the events of the attempt to capture Hulk at Culver University are playing on monitors in SHIELD headquarters during the events of Iron Man 2, making them concurrent in the canon timeline. This may be explained as the scenes playing from records for analysis, rather than playing live, thus leaving them in the past. Also, the events of Thor are beginning as Iron Man 2 ends.)
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer" (2011) -- This short is canonical in Love Is For Children. It happens between the events of Iron Man 2 and Thor, as Agent Coulson heads out to deal with Thor's hammer.
Thor (May 6, 2011) -- This movie is canonical in Love Is For Children.
The Avengers (2012) -- This movie is canonical in Love Is For Children.
-- Love Is For Children begins. The first story written, "Love Is for Children," describes the Avengers moving into Avengers Tower shortly after the Battle of New York, and primarily focuses on events several months later as they finally scrape themselves together enough to bond as a team. Subsequent stories have carried through spring of the following year thus far. There are also some installments which detail backstory events prior to what happened in some or all of the aforementioned movies. This threshold, after The Avengers, remains the main divergence point between canonical MCU and LIFC timelines. Yes, I apply quantum physics to writing fanfic, ask Bruce if you need the math because I'm doing it by intuitive geometry the way Steve throws his shield.
Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013) -- This movie is NOT canonical in Love Is For Children. I found it to be a hatchet-job of characterization, a mess of a plot, and a whole pack of -isms flung messily together. Parts of it were entertaining to watch but very little was usable for my purposes. I kept primarily scenes which canonized things already implied by previous movies. For example, Tony and Pepper's romantic relationship is mutually dysfunctional but they still care about each other even though it is obviously falling apart. Tony has horrible PTSD nightmares, can't sleep well, and has no discernible circadian rhythm. Tony continues to work on improving the Iron Man suits, and Pepper hates them. In LIFC, Tony still has the arc reactor and the shrapnel; those are staying because he welded them to his personality and then papered over that with whatever was left of Yinsen's lifelist, so yeah, not going anywhere.
(Not part of LIFC, but worth mentioning in the context of Pepper's portrayal in the Iron Man movies: For awesome!Pepper, see "Saving the Heroes." For a scathing indictment of Pepper's treatment of Tony's PTSD nightmares, see "Those Little Slices of Death.")
Thor 2: The Dark World (November 8, 2013) -- This movie is NOT canonical in Love Is For Children. I loved the dialog and have saved many scenes and implications for use in handling Thor and Loki with regard to LIFC. But I deeply resent a movie stuffing a strong female character into the refrigerator; that is shit up with which I will not put. So Frigga remains alive and (Can we call it 'well' when she's in an abusive relationship? I don't think so.) active in LIFC. Among the things I'm keeping: Thor is suffering from rather dramatic depression after his brother's suicide attempt, and trying to pretend he's fine. Odin is an abuser and an appalling racist who considers Jane equivalent to a barn animal, which logically implies Thor/Jane as bestiality. Frigga is an accomplished sorceress, of which my interpretations include seiðkona (spellcaster) and spaewife (seer).
Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014) -- This movie is not canonical in Love Is For Children, but primarily because of timeline divergence instead of plot/characterization. It was an excellent movie full of many useful things that I plan to port over. Among those are the openwork shelves in Steve's apartment, Sam Wilson/Falcon, some improvements indicating that Nick Fury is not a total waste of carbon atoms, and further HYDRA machinations. The Winter Soldier is a terrific match for the way I have conceived and written him in LIFC; just imagine that the Avengers encountered him a lot sooner in "No Winter Lasts Forever" and he was fresh out of cryo, therefore unable to remember anything yet. Also this went by fast, but Black Widow was using her Widow's Bite, what looked like the form of light gloves and small stick-on devices; I have a version of that in mind for later as well.
The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015) -- This movie is NOT canonical in Love Is For Children. However, I'm likely to weave in elements of it that seem useful. Black Widow's interactions with Hulk were particularly adorable.
Further Notes
Read about why I write fanfic and making fanfic work. Fanartists may want to browse a list of photogenic scenes from the whole series. These include some of my personal favorites along with things that have made various readers say, "Aw, I wish I could draw this!"
Images associated with Love Is For Children appear in my LIFC scrapbook folder on LiveJournal. So far I have several Easter egg pictures contributed by a fan, inspired by Clint and Natka. I also want to upload some images from links that have gone dead after their original posting.
If you like the team-as-family and Fury-is-a-jerk themes in this series, you might also enjoy "Damaged Defenders" by Sherza, which was somewhat inspired by ideas herein. The tones are very different, but much of the thematic approach is similar.
If you like the nonsexual ageplay, I recommend "This Is Me Not Praying" by Lostinthefire, also somewhat inspired by this series. It's written from Natasha's perspective and begins with her exploring the precious, perilous territory of childhood first by herself and then with company.
"These Folded Pages" by Kasan_Soulblade was posted as a gift for me, partially inspired by my writing on touch avoidance.
"Hiding" by
shiori_makiba was directly inspired by this series, evocatively written in haiku verses that describe each of the Avengers."A Little Avengers Christmas Poem" by
shiori_makiba was inspired by this series, for noncanon holiday fun."I Meant What I Said and I Said What I Meant" by
shiori_makiba was inspired by this series and a prompt from me. Steve Rogers still believes in the importance of keeping your promises."Influence" by
singingwithoutwords is an inside look at Director Fury's perspective in Love Is For Children. What he believes is not necessarily all true, but he acts as if it is, and this fits his actions."Tunnel Vision" by
shiori_makiba is a two-part story, half from Nick Fury's perspective and half from Phil Coulson's. It is a heartbreaking look at a relationship gone horribly wrong, and spot-on for my interpretation of Nick Fury."Childhood Games" by
shiori_makiba has 7 parts, each featuring one of the Avengers, exploring their favorite games when they were growing up."A Good Man" and "It Ain't So" by
shiori_makiba relate to "Rotten Fruit" and concern the characterization of Captain America."Bathing Issues" by A_very_confused_one was inspired by "Hide and Seek" Chapter 35.
The last chapter of "Broken" by
siberian_skys was inspired by Love Is For Children, particularly the relationship between Clint and JARVIS.Not part of LIFC, but worth mentioning in the context of Pepper's portrayal in the Iron Man movies: For awesome!Pepper, see "Saving the Heroes." For a scathing indictment of Pepper's treatment of Tony's PTSD nightmares, see "Those Little Slices of Death."
I also have a missing scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, "Going Down."
References
My series of articles on touch and trust includes "What Is Skin Hunger?" "Touch Aversion," "Primates Need Touch," "Self-Soothing and Self-Control," "Compassion and Gentleness," "Creating Safe Space," "Building Trust," "Healthy Vulnerability," "Coping with Emotional Drop.
My series on nonsexual intimacies has five parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
I wrote a Safety Tracker for folks who have trouble distinguishing whether or not they are safe.
See my AO3 stats for June 13, 2018. LIFC is the runaway favorite.
Thank you SO MUCH for this
Date: 2014-04-27 02:44 pm (UTC)Re: Thank you SO MUCH for this
Date: 2014-04-28 06:35 am (UTC)I'm happy to hear that you find this so much worth revisiting. Feel free to quote or reference my work if you need it for your meta.
>> but I have a hideous problem keeping things ORDERED in time and space. Several comment posts were delayed by HOURS because I had to quickly click through each story to establish WHEN it happened. <<
I have to do that too, so this reference will be useful to me. But it's also just plain part of my nature. I'm fey. The consensus timespace continuum simply can't get a firm grip on me. This has advantages, as in stretching or compressing time when I want to. It also has disadvantages, like making it very difficult to keep anything in sequence. I think this series is probably the longest I've gone writing something in order, without skipping around, so that was really useful experience ... while it lasted. Now of course I'm hopping all over the place, writing oddments to keep up the flow while working on the hugeness of the next main inline story.
By the way, I've updated and expanded the landing page. I may do that for a while as I think of other stuff it needs to include.
Re: Thank you SO MUCH for this
Date: 2014-04-28 01:05 pm (UTC)You make it work. Most of the time I feel like I've suddenly mislaid an arm, or equally integral body part. The next story is underway? YAAAY!
Re: Thank you SO MUCH for this
Date: 2014-04-28 06:32 pm (UTC)That's because I know what happens, why it happens, how the magic relates to the science, and how much I can control it (which is nowhere near total). You're looking at several decades worth of ass-busting work I've done to master my abilities.
I was still getting lost in time-loops when I was twelve. Even today I can drift out of alignment with the consensus timespace continuum if I'm not paying attention. My partner trips over me about once a month.
>> Most of the time I feel like I've suddenly mislaid an arm, or equally integral body part. <<
It can feel like that. Practice. Pay attention to what you notice and feel. Learn what your eigenvector feels like -- your home plane, your body. You can snap back to it. You can stack things on it.
Putting things in order is like working a jigsaw puzzle. Look for little things that match at the edges. Ask yourself what must happen before or after each piece. Hold them together in your mind to see if they match, or move them around if necessary.
>> The next story is underway? YAAAY! <<
I actually have several short ones completed. I'm currently working on the mega, and one other.
New paradigms
Date: 2014-07-05 10:20 pm (UTC)Spotted today on Imgur
Date: 2014-07-08 11:22 pm (UTC)And the top comment?
IDontKnowWhoIReallyAm: Mr Rogers said it: The very same people that are bad sometimes are the very same people that are good sometimes. We need to see the good...
I love this series
Date: 2014-08-11 07:35 pm (UTC)Thanks for writing these fics. If there are going to be new instalments (I sure hope there are), you can count on me reading them.
Sincerely,
Ratser
Re: I love this series
Date: 2014-08-13 01:31 am (UTC)I am deeply flattered. Thanks for telling me.
>> I found it on Ao3 after realizing that a few docs I'd really liked all had the same kind of long-ass footnotes. <<
Those footnotes grew out of audience reaction. People found them useful, so I expanded the feature, and I've done more of it in my original work since.
>> Then I decided to go read the series in order. And although the ageplay bit squicked me a little, I read the fic anyway and I have to say that it's definitely warmed me up to it. <<
Yay! I'm glad I could expand your interests a bit.
>> Thanks for writing these fics. If there are going to be new instalments (I sure hope there are), you can count on me reading them. <<
Yes, there are more. Watch here and you'll see them first. I repost later on AO3.
Inspiration
Date: 2014-10-09 10:09 pm (UTC)write poetry. Kudos as I am very rarely inspired to write poetry.
Here is the link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/2430638
(If that doesn't work, the pen name is Shiori_Makiba and work is called Hiding, on Archive of Our Own).
Re: Inspiration
Date: 2014-10-10 07:35 am (UTC)write poetry. <<
Thank you! It's a beautiful bit of haiku verse. I have linked to it here and on AO3. If you cite it on AO3 as inspired by LIFC, I'll confirm that.
>> Kudos as I am very rarely inspired to write poetry. <<
That makes me happy. I love encouraging people to write poetry.
Shy ramblings
Date: 2014-10-25 02:31 pm (UTC)They really do make me happy. Uncle Phil is so... right. They all are.
For some reason I have this headcanon thing for this universe (sorry) that they make those calm jars/mind jars/glitter jars/ whatever you call them from Tony's Fabulous Unbreakable Glass and glitter glue and stuff on game night. I have one and I use it a lot as kind of a chill out aid. (Sorry, I'm not asking you to write a story on it, just saying that it's there. In my head.)
...I also write fanfic of Love Is For Children although I don't put it anywhere or show anyone. I definitely don't so it justice but I do love the whole universe so much.
So generally what I'm trying to say is thank you!
Ducky
Re: Shy ramblings
Date: 2014-10-25 05:36 pm (UTC)I'm so happy to hear that. Thank you for commenting! You can leave feedback at any time, and it's always welcome but never required.
>>For some reason I have this headcanon thing for this universe (sorry) that they make those calm jars/mind jars/glitter jars/ whatever you call them from Tony's Fabulous Unbreakable Glass and glitter glue and stuff on game night.<<
New headcanon: accepted. I know just the place to put it! I have seen those jars and they are very clever.
>> ...I also write fanfic of Love Is For Children although I don't put it anywhere or show anyone. I definitely don't so it justice but I do love the whole universe so much. <<
That's wonderful! You don't have to share it if you don't want to; writing can have other purposes, so as long as you're enjoying yourself, it's all good. If you ever decide to post any of it, you can tell me or mark it "inspired by" on AO3 and I'll include a link for acknowledgement.
>> So generally what I'm trying to say is thank you! <<
You are most welcome.
Tony Stark
Date: 2014-11-18 01:52 am (UTC)http://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/robert-downey-jr-saved-grandma/
Proof Robert Downey Jr. is perfect for the role of Tony Stark in more ways than one.
More please
Date: 2014-11-25 02:22 am (UTC)loveeee it!!
Date: 2015-01-23 07:46 am (UTC)YOU ARE A GIFT
Date: 2015-01-23 08:05 am (UTC)Link on main page?
Date: 2015-03-02 01:36 pm (UTC)The thing is though is that the menu page is very hard to find, I accidentally wiped my favorites, and it took me a couple of weeks to work out how to find the page to favorites again.
I found your main page but there doesn't seem to be any quick way of finding the stories and then when I did find the stories there was no easy way to get to the menu page. I could and did favorite the stories but it seemed very cumbersome and frustrating especially when I knew there was a menu available to use.
Angela m
new chapter?
Date: 2015-05-14 01:08 am (UTC)I am awaiting most patiently and thank you for the wonderful book of work you've given us.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-06-20 03:37 am (UTC)Kyuubi_wench, AO3
Thank you!
Date: 2015-06-20 04:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-08 10:07 pm (UTC)Are you still working on the series, or have you put it to one side to focus on your also awesome original works?
(no subject)
Date: 2016-03-13 06:04 pm (UTC)could you please put Coming In From the Cold: Sunday and Monday up on AO3? I'd like them for my offline collection. I have all the others already :) Love this series.
Firedancer885 on AO3
(no subject)
Date: 2016-05-08 08:39 pm (UTC)I gave up on avoiding spoilers for the movies when I missed Winter Soldier; now that I've seen the older ones, that's next. (TV's another matter: I still hope to see Agent Carter someday, and don't tell me what happened in the last 2 or 3 episodes of Agents of SHIELD, which is how far behind I think we are in the UK.)
Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to watch Age of Ultron onwards without
waiting for my friends to get the discs so I can see it for freechecking my brain at the door.I'm particularly struck by Abigail Nussbaum's review of Civil War, and where commenter Chelsea says "They need group therapy and counseling. These heroes are walking PTSD victims with super suits and serums and skills. They need to sit down and process their grief, their experiences, their losses, their battles, etc." That's what's wrong with the MCU, and why I prefer the LIFC continuity so much. They have the special effects and explosions, you have people who don't just treat one another as tools most of the time. In the absence of professional help, they do what they can with what they've got.
Thank you!
Date: 2016-05-25 06:55 am (UTC)Yay!
>> I gave up on avoiding spoilers for the movies when I missed Winter Soldier; now that I've seen the older ones, that's next. (TV's another matter: I still hope to see Agent Carter someday, and don't tell me what happened in the last 2 or 3 episodes of Agents of SHIELD, which is how far behind I think we are in the UK.) <<
I gave up on Agents of SHIELD early on, couldn't even make it as far as the Thor crossovers I wanted to see.
>>Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to watch Age of Ultron onwards without waiting for my friends to get the discs so I can see it for free checking my brain at the door.<<
That one was at least largely enjoyable. Civil War was 2 hours of domestic violence. 0_o
>> I'm particularly struck by Abigail Nussbaum's review of Civil War, and where commenter Chelsea says "They need group therapy and counseling. These heroes are walking PTSD victims with super suits and serums and skills. They need to sit down and process their grief, their experiences, their losses, their battles, etc." <<
Yes, that's true.
But something else in that review really bothered me: the claim that a world with superpowers would necessarily be a dystopia. At the root of it, superheroes and supervillains are just people. Sure they have extra abilities. So does a billionaire, who can choose to be a philanthropist or a misanthrope. To assume that powers automatically make people evil is to give up on humanity, because face it, we have nuclear power, it's just super-gizmology, we could charbroil the planet. We have, somehow, barely, managed not to do that yet. So there's hope. Here. Marvelverse has largely given up on that, and garishly so in Agents of SHIELD, which is one reason I ejected from that series.
Power doesn't corrupt. It reveals. "Good becomes great, bad becomes worse." Don't blame the superpowers for the fact that some people are assholes.
>> That's what's wrong with the MCU, and why I prefer the LIFC continuity so much. <<
I am flattered.
>> They have the special effects and explosions, you have people who don't just treat one another as tools most of the time. In the absence of professional help, they do what they can with what they've got. <<
Sooth. Though to be fair, as the series goes on, I have given them Leonard and am working Sam, so they will have the option of actual counseling. It's just that they have limited options due to the nature of their trauma -- much of it classified, and all of it nightmare fuel that might not be safe for civilians -- so finding the right kind of help is not easy. So aside from that, they're working with peer counseling, and it helps. Just supporting each other helps.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2016-06-19 03:52 pm (UTC)It turns out non-sexual hurt/comfort is my catnip. My favourites are the original Love Is for Children and "Little and Broken, but Still Good". I also love Happy Hour, What Little Boys Are Made Of (hm, a back-story theme ...), Turnabout Is Fair Play, Hairpins (... or perhaps I just enjoy tormenting Phil), and all the Hulk stories.
I'd like to see more of Betty, Maria Hill, and Sam. Bucky (who I knew next-to-nothing of to start with) has grown on me.
I guess you're tired of people asking for news of Coming in from the Cold, but speaking of that, it looks as if Monday is missing from AO3: Sunday links directly to Rotten Fruit.
On another topic entirely, is my memory playing tricks or did you write a Schrodinger's Heroes & Doctor Who crossover? Off to the SH index I go!
Thank you!!! Gift of a writing!
Date: 2016-09-05 08:01 pm (UTC)You are a very talented writer and I can't wait to read more!
Re: Thank you!!! Gift of a writing!
Date: 2016-09-05 08:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-01 07:49 am (UTC)https://photos.app.goo.gl/QWNAqgGln0ojHDfv1
I have to admit that I cheated a little with the ones with people in them. All the people I try to draw freehand look like the clay figure on Shaking Foundations! So I got some images off of Google stock photos so that I could get some outlines. And the cover for Hide and Seek is generic, since as many times as I have read it, I couldn't think of an picture that would represent the theme of the story.
Thank you for your time! :p
Thank you!
Date: 2017-11-02 04:27 am (UTC)These are awesome. :D I think "Turnabout Is Fair Play" is my favorite, closely followed by "Building Towers" and "Hairpins."
I have linked to the page with all the cover art from my photogenic scenes post. How do you want to connect them to the stories on AO3? I've never figured out how some people include images in their uploads. So we've got two options there: I can link to the individual cover pictures, or you can upload them as your own entries and use AO3's connection feature to mark them as related to the LIFC stories. That'll send me a notice so I can confirm the connection.
>> I have to admit that I cheated a little with the ones with people in them. All the people I try to draw freehand look like the clay figure on Shaking Foundations! So I got some images off of Google stock photos so that I could get some outlines. <<
They're fine.
>> And the cover for Hide and Seek is generic, since as many times as I have read it, I couldn't think of an picture that would represent the theme of the story.<<
I tend to think of Tony in the trunk as the key scene for that one, but it's a bit spoilery for a cover.
>> Thank you for your time! :p <<
You're welcome. Thanks for all the art!
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2017-11-02 07:15 pm (UTC)I'll be uploading the covers over the next couple of days.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2017-11-02 07:17 pm (UTC)Please keep an eye on this and help me remember to finish the links. I have a Poetry Fishbowl coming up on Tuesday, and if this project isn't done by the time that one starts, I predictably lose track of non-fishbowl things during a fishbowl week.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2017-11-04 09:49 am (UTC)Re: Thank you!
Date: 2017-11-04 06:52 pm (UTC)from bunnigirl74
Date: 2018-01-08 12:49 pm (UTC)missing story
Date: 2018-04-11 04:05 am (UTC)thanks
From Ace_Fan
Date: 2019-02-17 12:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-29 06:55 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2019-09-03 02:35 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-09-03 04:40 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-09-03 04:45 pm (UTC)Okay, that may be doable. But today is fishbowl, so if you say it now, it won't register. Wait a few days or a week and then it might. *ponder* Or if it's related to creativity of any kind, today's theme is "craftership" and LIFC prompts are good freebies.
>>He's very human, and makes mistakes, and it isn't like I can write *him*, is it? <<
LOL
>> And I'll confess to being entirely too invested in the entire 'verse when I've just been rereading.<<
<3
>> Canon went off in a direction that isn't very satisfactory, so I'm taking the taste out of my mouth with favorite fanons, and LIFC is one of mine.<<
Good plan. I quit watching Marvel movies.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-09-03 10:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-07 02:54 pm (UTC)