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inkvoices
[be_compromised]
02 November 2012 @ 06:56 pm
All The Things Friday: Popular Culture  
Welcome to another All The Things Friday! Popular culture is usually something that people discuss in terms of Steve or Thor, specifically their lack of recent pop culture knowledge, but I find it interesting that when it comes to Clint and Natasha every fic I’ve read seems to have a different take.

For example, there are fics where the Avengers have film nights and Natasha doesn’t recognise the films, or she likes black and white movies, or she likes to correct the moves in martial arts films, or she likes musicals, or… When it comes to Clint and music we’ve had great discussions over what music he likes and if he can play the guitar, but then sometimes Natasha recognises the music, sometimes she doesn’t, sometimes she likes it, and sometimes she prefers classical. And so on.

What books, films, television shows, music, etc. do you think our Master Assassins like? Does Natasha like American pop culture, Russian pop culture, or hate pop culture, or hate aspects of pop culture? Was she familiar with American pop culture from her early training, or did she miss out as a kid and she doesn’t care, or she missed out and Clint teaches her? Is she more international in her pop culture tastes? Does she even see the point of pop culture?

What about Clint? If there’s any pattern that I’ve seen it’s that Clint is the more knowledgeable of the two about American pop culture at least, but at the same time SHIELD is often depicted as sending him all over the globe. Has he picked up on international pop culture himself? Has he missed out on pop culture whilst he’s been busy at SHIELD or whilst he may have been out of the country in the Armed Forces or what have you in the past? Does he care about pop culture, or not care, or care about some aspects in particular?

I have a lot of questions, folks, and no answers, just lots of ideas, because I love that all of these and more can be true considering the little that we know about Clint and Natasha from the films. So bring your thinky thoughts, your recs of creative things in which pop culture is a thing, your graphics, new fics or fic ideas, all of the things! Or just grab a drink, settle in, and have a happy Friday :D
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inkvoices: avengers:C/N mission is a go[personal profile] inkvoices on November 3rd, 2012 12:00 am (UTC)
May or may not know Elvish, but she's a utter linguistics-geek, so..... I... I love Natasha as knowing a ton of languages. I don't have absolute headcanon on it, but Natasha knowing loads of languages including sign language and lip reading and basically all communication is a huge thing with me, and the idea of her going on to learn languages like Elvish after she's done with Latin, oh my gosh, I LOVE that. (And can you just see her messing with Tony after she finds out how much him not understanding her Latin peeved him off?)

And I love the radio plays the perfect song - recced it above myself :D For the record, her ipod is called Scheherazade. <3

My Natasha spent seven years between the Red Room and SHIELD Again, I don't have fixed headcanon on this, but since we technically know the ages of the characters from the extra info and it's the same as the actors this makes sense. I just for some reason keep drifting into thinking that when they met Natasha was younger and hadn't been on her own long at all, if at all (and if she was on her own she was following the old patterns, but they were degrading). I don't know why. I read all things, just, that's the way my brain keeps floating *shrugs*. I absolutely like the idea though that she stood alone, reclaimed/remade herself. (When I think of Clint helping I think more in terms of him prodding her, or dropping by with things for her to try, rather than him dragging her into pop culture liking land by her boot straps anyway.)

SHIELD + paperwork = OTP ;D

Yeah, I don't see Clint as really caring for pop culture. Maybe because I don't see him as materialistic or possessive? So not owning huge amounts of DVDs or getting attatched to things when he's always going to be moving and won't be able to keep up with them, just picking up on things as he goes and being all 'yeah, liked that' calm.

Any particular reason for the X-Files?
Ashen Key: la la la[personal profile] ashen_key on November 3rd, 2012 12:34 am (UTC)
I don't actually see her knowing how to sign (because then, what language is she signing in, how useful is it, etc - my Clint doesn't know how, and it's not likely to come up in her work, and she does know a lot of languages already), but she sure as hell knows how to lip-read. But she just...loves language, loves words, loves ideas and communication. Latin was purely for her, and I can see her playing with Elvish just for some fun.

we technically know the ages of the characters from the extra info and it's the same as the actors this makes sense

Well, only if you accept that as canon, which I don't. My Natasha is either 34 or 35 in Avengers, but naturally looks younger and she boosts that with make-up when needed (such as when being Natalie Rushman from Legal). But mine...if she wanted to purely survive? She wouldn't have become a contract-killer. As she did, she didn't want to just survive, she wanted to live, so she spent a lot of time exploring herself and finding out who she is. And, yeah, I can see Clint dropping by with things for to try (or inflict on her, or educate her, because honestly, Natasha, no western music, this is blasphemy, goes Clint) - just the extent of 'he's the sole person to get her to find herself' makes me twitch with too much influence from one person on another who doesn't yet know who she is. But that's me, I admit.

SHIELD + paperwork = OTP OF ALL TIME (particularly when Natasha shot someone in Tokyo. ALL. THE. PAPERWORK.)

X-Files because it came up in a fic I'm writing (slowly, very slowly; but it's in dictionary form, so it's fuuuun) as Clint being slightly weirded out by 'oh, I'm pregnant' Natasha when they were pretty certain she couldn't have kids. So:

geek, n.

“And medical is sure it's all...natural?” you asked, and I blinked at you.

“It's not unheard of, and I guess that bodies...do repair themselves. Why?”

“I just don't want you going all Dana Scully on me.”

“...what?”

“You know, X-Files? The red-headed agent with the alien baby? That possibility didn't occur to you?”

“...not until you mentioned it, no.”

Which is the only reason I have X-files. But I figure Clint knows a bit of sci-fi, particularly TV sci-fi from the 90s. But, I'm with you on him not being particularly materialistic - mine, not because he moves a lot (he doesn't, not outside jobs) but he doesn't like spending a lot of money.
inkvoices: avengers:C/N mission is a go[personal profile] inkvoices on November 3rd, 2012 01:40 am (UTC)
Point. Maybe just the hand signals for SHIELD then? And comment military ones, for the military types she comes across in the job. Definitely body language and cues. It's communication that the major selling point for me. I think that you've got to be able to speak the language - and everything that entails, getting idioms and enough pop culture that you can follow meanings - to get inside someone's head or to become other people the way that I believe she can.

And also I think that she's reaching for understanding? I kind of see Clint as questioning his orders, wanting to know why his marks are marks, wanting to know, whilst Natasha was always aimed and fired, so she has to learn to want to know and she wants to, to know everything. To be the player and not the played, I guess, to have the power?

just the extent of 'he's the sole person to get her to find herself' makes me twitch with too much influence from one person on another who doesn't yet know who she is. I can see that, and I don't think he's the kind of person that would do that. Unless we're talking the darker fics ;) Just more 'I hear you're figuring out what you like, I brought things for you to try, your opinion is your own' only not saying it, just waving things in front of her or encouraging her.

When Thor, Cap, and Iron Man damaged that forest with their cat fight the Forestry Commission/whatever just sighed, because the paperwork has claimed way more trees, heh.

...not until you mentioned it, no. And now that you've mentioned it I can't unthink it...