05 September 2014 @ 08:56 am
ATTF: Imprinting  
Happy Friday, everyone!

So one of the things I find interesting when dealing in a particular pairing is how fanfic writers 'imprint' so to speak on some of the first epic fics we love for that particular pairing. Otherwise known as, I fell in love with many pairings due to reading epic fics and have met other fanfic writers for those pairings that imprinted on the same fics I did. Certain headcanons are never the same after you read certain fics.

My friends dragged me kicking and screaming (by accident) into the Avengers fandom and Clint and Natasha in particular, but as much as I accept most major branches of characterization for the characters, I imprinted hard, hard, hard on ohladybegood's series, forgeries and fire. Though other fics for these characters have struck me as so, so right since, I've noticed that the ones that work the most for me, that hit me the hardest in reading or writing are the ones that fall in line with the characterizations in these two fics. (Her writing style didn't hurt either.)

Did you imprint any characterizations of Clint and/or Natasha at the beginning of this fandom? Are there any fics that to you are just right or that you strive to match in your own writing?

Obviously, we all write our own headcanons and characterizations and make the writing our own, but care to share your influences or the authors and fics that gobsmack you with their perfection?


Things to remember:
1) Always label NSFW (Not Safe For Work) stuff in the title and post under a cut.
2) Fic and artwork needs to have a rating and warnings (or you can say that you’ve chosen not to use warnings).
3) For people with annoying internet connections, say in the title if a comment is graphic/images/gif-heavy and post picspams under a cut.
4) Have a damn good time! (Because if that’s not happening then this post has clearly failed.)
 
 
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i was born difficult for myself: Avengers Clint roof[personal profile] geckoholic on September 5th, 2014 09:58 pm (UTC)
Although I've been on the fringes of this fandom for like four years or so, I didn't *really* dive in until this year, and I'm still kinda in the imprinting phase I guess. Though for me it's less a certain fic with this ship; I've found the hivemind for them to be pretty consistent (which is impressive, given how we have so little actual canon from the MCU and so much pick-your-poison backstory from the comics) so it's more about imprinting on that? Or maybe I just landed in the 'right' corner and there's more versions out there, lol.

Edited 2014-09-05 10:01 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] happilydancing.livejournal.com on September 5th, 2014 10:52 pm (UTC)
Yeah, its crazy, we know more about Justin Hammer than Clint Barton lol.
i was born difficult for myself: Avengers Hawkeye[personal profile] geckoholic on September 6th, 2014 06:40 pm (UTC)
IKR? That's just so WRONG.
[identity profile] alphaflyer.livejournal.com on September 6th, 2014 03:45 am (UTC)
You're right about the hivemind thing -- at least in the Clint/Natasha corner of the fandom. In other shipping 'verses there are some creatures that I barely recognize as either Clint or Natasha, except for the names. (Although that can arguably be because the hivemind imprinted me?)
i was born difficult for myself: Avengers Clint/Nat fake[personal profile] geckoholic on September 6th, 2014 06:42 pm (UTC)
Yeah, same. Maybe that's a testament of just how much of an imprint we received? But yeah, for example, if a fic treats Clint and Nat as vague acquaintances, I'll start side-eyeing. No matter if one ships it or not, these two ARE important to one another, and brushing that away just makes me go bzuuh??
scribblemyname[personal profile] scribblemyname on September 8th, 2014 03:41 am (UTC)
I do like this corner of fandom, but even here I find some of those "branches": like those who write a little Fraction in their Clint (coffee addict, prone to disaster), those who write super competent, mature, self-controlled Clint (more my thing), those who write quiet, socially awkward, somewhat more sentimental Clint, those who write socially forward, friendly, more sleeps around type Clint. Then there's Natasha who comes in flavors still working on figuring out emotion, super competent working but not so much personal life, then way ahead of the game in personal life, more fun and snarky, more serious and quiet, etc., etc.

I like most branches, but I have the one that I lean toward believing in, which I'd love to say came solely from the movie and my logic applied to said movie (and does in a way?) but I think was also influenced heavily by how I entered fandom.

But yes, this is a lovely spot of fandom and I aim more for be_compromised writers because overall, the quality is muuuuch better.
i was born difficult for myself: Marvel Clint Noto[personal profile] geckoholic on September 8th, 2014 08:32 pm (UTC)
Sure, there's nuances. /nods/ I'm with you on the preferred Clint, at least when it comes to the MCU version, since I'm actually trying to keep my Clints apart (I'd actually say my favorite is the comics/616 version, maybe partly because I just *know* him better, but I don't really ship THAT Clint with Natasha, so he's sort of not so relevant when it comes to my entanglements with Clint/Nat). So I don't like it when they're too mixed, and the same goes for Natasha. But I'm generally weird and figure each character out anew for every fic I write, it's not, like, all part of some overarching headcanon. Lol, chances are I'm making this all much more complicated than it has to be. Point is, yeah, there's always bound to be variations, simply because no two people have the exact same headcanons, but I've encountered pleasantly little of that 'omg who even ARE these people' within the Clint/Nat I've read so far.

Heeh, I found a majority of the Clint/Nat I've read lately (as in, since Marvel actually became my main playground) either through this comm or through bookmarks of the fav writers I found here, soooooo. XD Not generally big on venturing from a safe space, once I found it, when it comes to sources for fic.
[identity profile] alphaflyer.livejournal.com on September 10th, 2014 12:41 am (UTC)
I am so with you on finding a fic "safe space". I don't have a lot of time to read, so I can't really afford trawling through dross to come up with a pearl. I adore the folks on this comm, and when I venture out beyond their writing, it's to their recs ([livejournal.com profile] astridv has the best ones!). Plus a handful of others I've subscribed to, and bookmarks or (on FFN) favourites of people I trust.
i was born difficult for myself: Avengers Nat BW[personal profile] geckoholic on September 10th, 2014 09:58 pm (UTC)
OMG you're so evil, I went to investigate her recs and spent a good hour and a half in her AO3 bookmarks this afternoon. (Which is to say, thank you. XD)