I agree with you, I don't see Clint being a big fan of bad weather. As you said so well, the poor guy is usually on a roof somewhere, which means rain, and lightening too, if there's a thunderstorm. Wind also would make it harder to aim (not that Clint would struggle with that, but even though he probably likes a challenge, I'm not sure he'd always welcome the complication during a mission). And he needs a good range of motion for his shoulders, so he probably can't use cold weather gear all that often.

But, it's easier to imagine Natasha in bad weather...strangely enough, I just realized, I have a harder time picturing her on a beach, in the sunshine. She could pull it off, undoubtedly, but...something about bad weather seems to fit her personality more easily.

Though, I do wonder if she associates snow and cold with some bad memories...since the Red Room probably used the cold in Russia for survival training at some point.

Edited 2013-04-27 06:06 am (UTC)

YES! on the Red Room memories. I have them using the cold for punishment -- see comment and link below.

But rain? Hawkeye couldn't care less... he didn't even blink in Thor.

Now you're giving me ideas! Different weather bringing up different memories for Nat. (and Clint as well). I think both can endure craptastic conditions - they wouldn't be successful at what they do if they couldn't deal with weather. For some reason I think Nat likes spring and summer, while Clint enjoys fall. (Winter is perfect for snowball fights or cuddling under blanket. LOL.)

He might not have blinked, but that could be less "I don't mind," and more, "I'm totally used to this." :) I imagine having to stand for hours on a roof in the rain wouldn't be fun, even if one is particularly tough, like Clint. If the rain is hard enough, you'd get soaked through. And if it's cold on top of it, that would be miserable.

I don't think he'd complain or bulk at it at all, but enjoy it...that's something else. :)

Edited 2013-04-27 09:29 pm (UTC)

Oh, I agree. Nobody said anything about enjoyment -- only that he couldn't care less. He's a professional, and that kind of thing he'd just punch through.

Now snow ... that's a different story. That I see him actively loathing.

I agree, he'd defintiely punch through it. I just meant that there might be some grumbling in his mind, on occasional, lol. :)

I agree, I think he would hate snow too - it's like an archer's worst nightmare, if it's bad enough. Freezing cold, wind, low visibility...

I only remember the one scene in Thor with the rain and Clint didn't seem to care much about the rain. Not sure how he really feels about it but my feeling told me that he doesn't care much about the weather.

I kind of feel like weather might inconvenience Clint, but is pretty irrelevant to Nat. Of course, when they're on vacation they might be annoyed by the weather by anyone else. Do you think Nat's different personas have different views on the weather?

Also, Breathe, by shenshen77, has the aftermath of a snowstorm. http://archiveofourown.org/works/702196?view_full_work=true

ETA: Oops, forgot warnings. Rating is Mature, warnings for injury, blood, language. Gen.

Edited 2013-04-27 12:46 pm (UTC)

Hey hey, thanks for mentioning my fic, I love that one :D

And I'm with you on weather inconveniencing Clint, he might be a perfect marksman, but he'd still need to be able to see to make the shot. So I'd think howling storms, sleet, fog and the likes would make that pretty much impossible. Because laws of nature apply to him as well :)

Well it's comics/ movies, so some laws of nature :P

Yeah, true ;) Point taken ;P

I don't think either of them has much use for winter. Natasha because of bad memories from the Red Room, where freezing cold would have been used as a punishment for less-than-perfect behaviour (readily available, cheap to administer) and Clint because of a traumatic childhood memory. Plus, his fingers freeze when it's too cold and it can throw off his aim.

I wrote a story about this little bit of head canon for the Secret Santa exchange -- as a tree gift to the comm since I came in too late to participate. It's called Warmth (http://archiveofourown.org/works/594646). My tag line on my FFN profile page for this one is "the weather sucks. Really, really sucks." :-)

So yes, spring and summer is much better for both of them, and they both -- to me -- take pleasure of being out in the open, breathing the air. In The Skies Over Manhattan (http://archiveofourown.org/works/574373) I have Clint enjoying a summer walk through Central Park, and Natasha letting the wind whip her hair on the helicarrier.

Edited 2013-04-27 01:28 pm (UTC)

Yes! I agree that they are both rather more... outdoorsy types. Natasha because being part of a secret assasin training centre as a child doesn't really lend itself to independence and the ability to leave the building like.. oh ever, if it's not for missions. And Clint.. well, because he's from Iowa with open skies. And then the circus with open roads. And then because he's a sniper with open sightlines. I think he just needs and likes the space.

I think Natasha's training through the Red Room means that she can ignore things easier (though yeah, shitty "punishments" and stuff thought up by the Red Room means she doesn't like the cold - but I think these same things are the reason she can cope better than others. Just as all the horrible training methods used by the Red Room made her a better spy. It was all horrible and cruel but it worked and that's why they used those methods). I don't think she likes the cold, but I also think weather, on the whole, has less effect on her job; she is, first and foremost, a spy. On the whole I see her either inside somewhere warm, scoping places/schmoozing/being badass, or in some surveillance place, keeping an eye on things/being badass. I think she can ignore it better and has it affects her work less.

Clint, on the other hand, will have trouble with certain... climatic variables. Wind would be shitty. He can work with it, sure, but it makes everything harder and he'd rather not, if it's all the same to you. Similarly, sunrise/sunset can be a bastard – especially sunrise/sunset on wet days immediately after rain, or in cold and snowy places where you get a buttload of glare and possibly snow blindness. I think actual temperature changes would be less problematic. In the really cold, he'd use a sniper rifle, because bows don't lend themselves to warm clothing. In hot weather, well that would suck for everyone.

I think Natasha likes autumn. And Clint likes spring.

Edited 2013-04-27 02:35 pm (UTC)

I literally just wrote up there that I think Nat likes spring and Clint likes the fall. LOL - but I think it works other way around too.

Your points are really really good - weather would be much more of a problem for Clint, especially extreme weather conditions. Few days ago I watched a documentary about Titanic and there was a lot about how weather played a big part in what happened to the ship and why a nearby ship (Californian I think) didn't come to aid. Because of the weather and extreme cold and different air temperatures on different parts of the sea, people on Californian didn't see what was happening to Titanic (aka that it was sinking). My point is, extreme heat or extreme cold are hard on teh body (and we know a sniper has to wait and be still, and it really sucks when it's too hot or too cold), but also, extreme weather creates optical illusions which sucks bigtime for Clint.

Now I want a fic about that, I think.

Aah my reason for Natasha liking autumn is that think she is built better for cooler weather (e.g. like many northern Europeans and us Britishers. :P) but doesn't like winter all that much. In autumn it's getting cooler but is still sunny and can still be quite warm. Clint and spring is the same, just the other way round; Iowa is warm, but again, I don't think he would like the extremes. So spring is getting warm, but not really hot yet. And I just see Clint is warmer weather anyway. This little prick with his bow and arrows in a trailer park somewhere, picking off empty bottles sat on fence posts and pissing everyone off, surrounded by the smell of hot earth. *shrugs*

I also think Natasha would like autumn because she can wear coats and scarves and hats and gloves and cover herself up - she can bury herself under clothes and not put herself on display. And also because c'mon, all those reds and browns and tans and yellows. Lovely Natasha colours. :P

All of that works! :D I can see that too, just as having it other way around - that Nat enjoys warmth because Red Room was cold, cold cold; that she likes when she can uncover herself because it's her choice to do so; because that's a freedom she has now. She both covers and uncovers herself for herself, not for someone else, or per someone's command.

That picture you painted with Clint and old bottles, oh. SIGH. GORGEOUS. And for some reason I'm picturing late summer and wonderfully warm days (but not too warm) and evenings are just a bit chilly and yes. It's lovely and he's free. :)

Late summer. Indian summers. Yes yes yes.

We just watched Avengers (ahem) again -- it was a lousy week at work and I needed to watch things get blown up -- and that shot Clint takes at the helicarrier is truly epic, when you consider the wind conditions -- thin atmosphere, shooting from the open back of an airplane at another thing in flight. You can see his eyes wander, from the target to where he needs to shoot in order to get the right trajectory in those conditions, and then back to the target when he lets fly. His eyes don't follow the arrow at all when it makes a crazy curve in the wind.

So, wind? I think he'd thrive on it, as a challenge and a way to demonstrate what he's capable of, if only to himself. As for Natasha, the feeling of wind in her hair in an open place would give her everything the Red Room did not: freedom.

I'm not so sure. Well first, YES it is a truely epic shot that makes me happy even if it's totally CGI, but I think... it wasn't the type of shot that needed to be absolutely perfect. Land it in generally the right area and the rotor will be destroyed. But for sniping, when you're aiming for a head or heart or something much smaller, wind will make everything much more difficult. And I think yeah, Clint enjoys the challenge, but not at the expense of the shot. When doing that, there's so many other variables that you have to look out for anyway, I think strong wind would be an extra annoyance. Especially as it has a tendancy to gust. And especially in built up areas where the wind can be ridiculously unpredicable.

Yeeeeep. Agreed. So when he's dealing with really strong wind, I have a feeling a gun would be a better choice than an arrow. I think? I'm not a weapon expert. (Also, that shot is one of the instances where I could go all narrow eyed at the movie, because it strikes me as a bit unrealistic, but with a movie like Avengers something like that is best handwaved.)

You know, it does make me wonder if it's realistically possible to make that shot, considering the laws of physics and everything. I'm no expert, also, when I watch movies I don't pick them apart for details like that - but wind, thin atmosphere, cold, possibly ... we are talking details here and I'm wondering if it's physically possible to shoot an arrow with that kind of wind and hit the target. (Never shot arrows, obviously, but I did shoot from guns and I know wind is pain in the a**). :)

Yes to all of that. As Franz says above, the shot was totally CGI but in a movie with repulsor technology, super soldier serum, hulks and alien mind control (among other things) I found it to be among the more realistic and "actually doable" things.

And that's why I think it would be a challenge for Clint that he'd like -- he gets to be "super".

I am going to say... that shot could potentially be do-able. But I am only saying that because of this. And I know it's not an arrow, but in terms of what the wind does, and what the projectile does, it's very similar. Also because that vid is amazing. :P

As an American living in Russia, the thing I am struck by re: Russians and weather, is that they like to claim they are impervious to cold, but they dress warmer than any culture I've ever encountered. I've had babushkas tell me I should be wearing a hat when it's 40 degrees (F) out. Russian babies wear snowsuits until it goes over 35 (F)...In any story I've started (but never really gone anywhere on) I tend to think of Natasha as talking big, but actually being a bit wussy when it comes to cold (so much the better to snuggle up to someone.)