SO. SIXTEEN WIPS. WHICH REALLY SHOULD BE SEVENTEEN. OR MAYBE NINETEEN. Because so far the 'Natasha joined Clint's circus instead of turning to contract-killing post-Red Room' fic is still in my head without any real words to it, and there are various ideas for ficathons that are bubbling away, so really it could be over twenty and ahahaha, oh god, what the hell.

And they keep turning all LONG AND EPIC in my head. I have a Supernatural!AU bubbling away (and I may have broken out my season one DVDs and be watching For Research) where Clint and Natasha hunt ghosts and monsters and are incredibly BAMFy and competent, and SHIELD is a shadowy organization who provides hunter-support for a select number and there are silver bullets and speaking of Latin (or however Natasha would know how to do various rituals, given if she's been trained due to Red Room dabbling in black magic, it's not going to be Western European/Catholic based) and Clint shoots things with his bow and they cruise around in Nat's red Cadillac, because I now cannot see her with any other cat. And oh, the fic wants a sequel where one of Nat's Red Room sisters turns up and *headdesks*

There is the post-canon aftermath fic, where both Clint and Natasha heal and learn and adjusts, and end up moving in together (finally, three years after they got married for a joke), which is going to be long and tricky to write, because they are both messes.)

And there is the 'Clint hunts Natasha' fic which is actually more 'InterPol asks SHIELD for help, and Clint and his team have to go after two Red Room girls - Natasha and the OC Olya, whom I adore - and they have to take the women down without the other know it' which is...long and complicated and requires a ton of research and OMG, what (I mentioned the start of this in my fic Congratulations on Your Birthday) (and I have fears no one is going to read it, because there's going to be zero UST with Clint and Natasha, because this is just a job, and they only meet at the end, and they are professionals, and also because Natasha is not the most dangeorus of the pair, but Olya. Because Olya is picking off InterPol on a revenge kick while Natasha is just being her professional self and no longer involved, so I'm messing with the whole 'this job is the most important ever' trope and *headdesks*).

And various Red Room fic that I want to write, but on the other hand, my Red Room is pragmatically malevolent and has calculated on the style of emotional abuse and childhood brainwashing needed to control the girls, and that kind of cold-blooded practicality freaks me out.

And there is the daemon!AU, where all the characters have their souls outside their body in the form of opposite-gendered (usually) animals (Natasha has a daemon in the form of a Siberian cat called Ilariy - Clint's daemon is a red-tailed hawk called Winona) and-

And, and, and.

And oh god, I need heeeeeeeeeeeeeelp.

where both Clint and Natasha heal and learn and adjusts, and end up moving in together (finally, three years after they got married for a joke)

I swear I just dropped my Diet Coke while reading this. I need this in my life like WHOA.

They are so ridiculous, I heart them. And it's probably the next fic I'm going to actually start properly, rather than plan (although I have other fics I'm working on, because I cannot focus), so :D hopefully it'll be up...um...not a stupidly long amount of time away.

:D?

I'm VERY excited by this prospect.

**sprinkles you with productive writerly glitter**

I was happily reading along going 'that sounds great, that sounds great, that sounds - a Philip Pullman crossover? Did I just read daemon?!' I've read daemon AUs for the Sherlock fandom, but Pullman crossovers seem to be a rare breed and oh my gosh, I would read the hell out of an Avengers daemon AU.

Would Steve's daemon be frozen too I wonder? What would happen to Clint's daemon when he was aken over by Loki? Oh my, what would Fury's daemon be? *settles in to wait for fic*

Yes, yes you did read daemon AU! I love daemon!AUs so much, but I haven't found a good Avengers one yet, and there was a prompt on the kinkmeme for first impressions re: daemons and how daemons might change said first impressions of character, and, yeah. I have like....most of the cast now with daemons *facepalms* and it's all epic and I need to rewatch all the movies and take notes, and it should go a bit better now that I've got headcanon re: Christine Everheart to make her treatment in the movies better in my head (Christine Everheart, secretly a plant/agent of SHIELD. She and Natasha can go have drinks some time, whee)

And *cackles* I have answers to all those questions! Once, uh, I finish writing it <.<

But, have a snippet! :D?

---

Natasha comes to tied to a chair. This would not normally be much of an issue, but whoever tied her has been thorough and cautious; even her (now bare) feet are tied to separate chair-legs, and she can barely touch the floor with the tip of her toes. Ilariy is free, at least, and he's been placed next to her right foot. Contact. Comfort. Could be exploited.

She looks up and sees- well, maybe not her captor. Maybe just one of them, whoever they were. A blond man (gun in hand, military boots, civilian clothing but has 'ex-army' all over him, steady gaze) straddling a chair with a Red-tailed hawk on his shoulder. The hawk is more obviously staring while the man is just watching; she has a bristling intensity that could be bluff, but also might not be.

“Hey,” says the man in English, all quiet and casual and American twang.

She watches him for a long moment, mostly just to study him but partly to let the room orientate itself correctly, partly to let Ilariy slide from a sprawl into a crouch. It's only when he's focused on the pair himself, ears pricked and the tip of his fluffy tail twitching slightly, that she speaks.

“Who are you?”

“Barton. And this is Winona.”

She doesn't bother introducing herself. “What's your play?”

“I want to talk,” says Barton, and she raises her eyebrows at the same time as the hawk, Winona, shifts a little. “Got an offer I think you might go for, but we gotta talk first.”

He has a gun, he has a hawk-daemon with sharp eyes and sharper claws; he's tranqed her, taken her weapons, left her tied to a chair that even she'd have a damn hard time getting out.

So Natasha lets her cat-daemon press himself against her foot, and listens to what the blond American has to say.

Edited 2012-07-01 10:59 pm (UTC)

No, I haven't seen any daemon Avengers AUs yet either! (And the Sherlock ones I read were so good as to be intimidating lol.) I loved the daemons and the changes they make to how people view each other and interact. Sod The Golden Compass films though, the books are far superior ;P

SNIPPET! Oh, you tease *grins*.

(Also, here I am chatting away with you in different threads and I had the moment of 'hang on, have I actually friended this person? No? No? This must be corrected!' And so I have friended you. Hi!)

I keep disagreeing with people's daemon-selection *facepalms*

I loved the daemons and the changes they make to how people view each other and interact

Yesssssssssss, me too. Although, ugh, I wish people who do the crossovers would stop their "but servants are dogs and thus dogs are mindless because servants are mindless" thing, because, ugh, ugh, ugh. (and Steve is such a dog-person. As is Pepper - she is so utterly a border collie, sharp as a tack and scary intelligent and a very good organizer and loyal as anything). Anyway. And yessss, I like the movie for the visuals and for Nicole Kidman being the best Mrs Coulter, but other than that, give me the books any day.

*flutters eyelashes* I try, I try.

(ahah, hi! My journal is rather a boring mix of fandom and RL crap, but *friends back*)

I don't think I know enough about animal types to say really, but I love hearing people's explainations for why they chose what they do. There haven't been any that I've hugely disagreed with, but then I haven't read many *shrugs*.

I read one...two?...where John has a dog daeman, although in one it's a cross between a wolf and a dog. And one were Lestrade has a dog daeman. I don't get where people being stupidly subserviant with dog daeman's comes from, maybe because of the people who work at Bolanger (sp?) with dog daemans, but they've been cut... I can see Steve with a dog daeman, definitely. Something friendly and...maybe a golden retriever or lab? Thor...I wonder if they'd have daemons on Asgard and if not, would Thor get one when he comes to Midguard, like Will does? Although Will doesn't get one by going into Lyra's world.... *thinky thoughts*

You succeed *grins*.

I tend to use a mixture of looking up the animal's actual personality + fan-meta on what various animals might mean + symbolism (mostly the former two). So, Natasha is a cat in my books - they are clever, aloof but can be charming (but oh, no, they don't love you, oh no, you are just there for scritches, see, no actual affection <.<) and can be slinky, fluffy and adorable, and dangerous appearing depending on mood and the situation. She's a Siberian in particular because a) Russian, b) they are big, solid cats and very athletic, c) very smart and talkative, and d) fluffy as anything so they appear harmless and adorable (omg, so adorable - but the picture I found for visual reference re: Ilariy is of this gorgeous fluffy cat stalking something in the snow, and the look in the eyes is just pure hunter focus).

The servants tend to have dogs comes from the books, but I think culture has a lot to do with how people settle, just as much as actual personality (and also, Lyra is a snobby, sheltered eleven-year-old for a narrator). I've been looking up the history of servants for various other reasons a few weeks ago, and the sheer numbers of servants is amazingly large - and a lot of them get in before they would have settled. So, I think there is a culture there, too, and biases in hiring practices.

Steve I have as a pit-bull - they didn't have their current (sadly much maligned, poor puppies) reputation when he settled in the thirties, and they are loyal and stubborn. And the picture someone linked me, the dog had such a sincere, Steve-look in the eyes, I couldn't resist. Thor does have a daemon! Asgardians don't have them, as they are alien-god-people, but when he was cast out he became human. He's got a lioness - big, gold, really undignified in family/relaxed settings, part of a group, but when called for really, really dangerous and ultimately a predator(/warrior). And to make things awkward, Eylidr sticks around once he's back to normal, For Reasons (mostly I thought it'd be an interesting spanner in the works, and could help explain his new attitude in a lot of ways).

- oh, yes, hmm. Although, Will's dad got a daemon when he appeared in Lyra's world, so IDK what's up with that. I may need to reread the books again.

I love your explaination for Natasha's daemon. Hope you post links to the inspirational pictures when you post the fic!

Yes, Lyra as an eleven-year-old narrator counts for a lot. I have a similiar argument about the lense of vewing the Harry Potter books through Harry's eyes all the time. Hmm, is it mentioned somewhere in the books that servants with dogs are preferred servants? I seem to recall reading it somewhere, but it may have been fic. Heh, that moment when fic and canon are insperable in your head ;)

when he was cast out he became human. Of course, so yes, he would have a daemon. Logical! I would believe that he keeps his daemon afterwards, because so does Will (although other people can't see Will's daemon I believe when he's in a world where people don't have daemons). I think that would be very interesting, not least because now Thor would be visably different, perhaps drawing comparisons with the fact that Loki is different, but Loki can hide being blue and Thor can't hide a huge lioness? And what would his people think, having a king to be with this vulnerability walking along beside him? Having a future king so different? A reason for Thor to bond with the Avengers, themselves different, perhaps and perhaps a reason to stay on Midguard? Thinky, thinky...

:D! And ahaha, I might just! There are enough of them, and some of them probably need visual reference (like Tony's bowerbird of a daemon).

In the first book, Lyra makes the comment that servants tend to have dogs - I'm extrapolating from that for hiring bias, at least at her university.

And yesss, exactly! I'm poking at the ramifications and things, but it's way too much fun to keep Eylidr around - I think, actually, Thor may end up pitying the Asgardians. They do not have a constant companion, they do not have someone beside them who is both them and independent. After the initial ?!, Thor values and loves Eylidr, and refuses to hide her. Asgard can make of that as it well, which I think will lead somewhere very, very interesting with Thor, who is so much an unthinkingly loyal son of Asgard. But there he is on Midgard, with a daemon like the mortals, and yesss. It'll be very interesting - mostly beyond the scope of the fic I'm writing, but I may have to swoop back and poke at it.

Daemon photoset! :D :D

That's probably where I got it from, but as you said, that's in her opinion and limited (especially at that point) world view.

I'm not a huge Thor fan. I mean, I like the character, he's friendly and great for others to play off in fics, but not one that I've thought or a lot or cared to think much about. The others just seem more fascinating to me. But the more the idea of Thor with a daemon gets poked at the more something in my head goes that's so damn interesting *grins*. I suppose it's the whole cultural implications - people who pick up other cultures, adopt parts from them as it were, can be viewed with suspicion or discomfort or 'yes, alright, shut up about it now' on their return and that's without such a physical representation of adopting that culture, and a mortal culture at that....

I am very fond of Thor! He's not stupid, just very straight-forward, and I feel that fandom doesn't do enough with him, which...partly contributes to my ignoring him, I admit. (Although if fandom did more things like The Stories That Stay With You, I'd be very happy - there does need to be more team + Thor fic, particularly of the kind where you can see him interacting with Midgardian culture and having it reflect back at him, and make him think about things differently.

I suppose it's the whole cultural implications - people who pick up other cultures, adopt parts from them as it were, can be viewed with suspicion or discomfort or 'yes, alright, shut up about it now' on their return and that's without such a physical representation of adopting that culture, and a mortal culture at that....

Ohhhhhhhhhh, I totally didn't follow my thoughts through enough, because I'm staring at this and going *_________* yessssssssss a lot. I didn't think about that aspect at all, but you're absolutely right. And Thor is such a believer, and this'd both be something that he can't not think about re: his attitude and beliefs, and also the 'new convert' aspect, too.

You are going to be terrible re: thinking up ideas and angles for fics, I can tell <3

Edited 2012-07-02 01:54 pm (UTC)

I'm fond of him, I just find myself more interested in the others. I'm all 'Clint and Natasha are the two humans on the team and they're wow' and then 'and Tony, there are so many good Tony fics' and 'hey, Steve, poor guy, transplanted into the future' and 'Bruce being science bros with Tony, so fun!' but then 'what about Betty? Hey, and whilst we're talking about the ladies, what about Peggy and Maria and Jane and Darcy and...' and then it's 'whoops, hi Thor.' Poor Thor. I did read a post on why Thor is not an idiot that has gone some way to making me more interested, but I still seem to like him as, well, a foil for the other characters rather than being interested in him on his own merits. I might get over it *grins*.

*thinky thinky* Thor is at it's most basic an exchange student who's had a life changing trip, but then he's a god who's been a mortal and has this evidence of an aspect of mortality that must then be within all Asgardians... What you said about 'new convert' and this may because the 'Red Room as a cult' is still playing in my mind, but as we thinking here that the Asgardians see Thor as converted to another religion almost when he's a god of their religion? No offence to religion, but like Jesus deciding to be a Buddhist monk? Only worse because instead of a loud, orange robe he has a walking, talking, impossible to ignore LIONESS prowling alongside him... Okay, brain may have gone off the rails here...

Mwahahaha! Ahem.

BETTY. There needs to be more Betty in this fandom, I swear. She'd be so good for Bruce, for...various reasons which I shouldn't get into now because I should be asleep (stupid timezones)

I am interested in thinky!Thor. Sadly, there is...so very little of him *pats him*

I'm still poking at Asgard and religion - because they themselves tend to see themselves as more viewed as gods rather than actually gods (going by first movie - by Avengers, Loki's not exactly on Planet Logical Thinking any more, although he knows how the mortals have treated him in the past, so he knows how they should view him.) So I think it's more....it's like the Prince Has Gone Native rather than anything else, I think (because, let's face it, Asgard is imperialistic liek whoa). They have been raised - all of them, Thor and Sif and Loki and the Warriors Three and everyone in Asgard - to believe that they are better than humans. No question about it, they just are. And then Thor comes back all thoughtful and going "no, we're not" - throw in him now having a human-daemon and...yeah, things are going to get complicated.

I read two brilliant Betty fics recently and now I want more Betty! More Peggy! More Maria and Darcy and all the ladies! Actually, I just joined marvelousladies so hopefully there will be wonderful ladies in my future :)

Yeah, I'm more interested in the cultural than the religious. Steve says, 'there's only one god, m'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that' or something along those lines. Asgardians may feature in Midgardian myth and legend, but I think it is a case of more myth and legend than religion. Kind of 'god' in the way one religion views a god from another, god with a little 'g' - that is not our God with a big 'G', it is a cute story you are telling yourselves, you backwards people.

to believe that they are better than humans Because they have advanced science - sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic, beyond our tiny human brains' understanding type stuff. Humans are primitive and children. Now, in a verse where Migardians have daemons...does having half of yourself, having your soul (?) in the form of an animal scream primitive or what? Bestial. Oh, okay, there's the thing with Loki and a horse? Myths and comics, whatever, let's just look at the films. It's like us looking at cave paintings and how people used to view animals, the importance of them, and now we're all, 'you want cows, we have fields full' and 'oh, what, no, we made those go extinct'. What would Asgardians think of daemons I wonder?

(Okay, I have guilt, go sleep :P )

Joined! :D I'll have to start writing more. Oh, Betty, you lovely fierce woman.

Well, Steve's obviously Christian, too, so I don't think his statement reveals much beyond his own personal faith. I think the Asgardians inspired the Norse religion (back when it was a religion, not a mythos) but they weren't around much, and tales got far more outlandish while the Asgardians went 'lol' a lot (because they are patronizing, imperialistic dicks *coughs*)

I think the humans having animals for souls absolutely marks them as lesser in the Asgardian view, all "closer to nature" while the Asgardians have that glittery techno-magical city. And also, the humans...well, the Asgardians are all together, all formed-as-one-being, while the humans are split and can argue and disagree and be vulnerable-

:D it's going to be fun.

(Timezones! I'm in Australia, so timezones are eviiiil)