That's a fascinating idea! Considering that they're both Master Assassins and Natasha's 'transformation/reclaiming' themes...ooo, shiny! I can see them staying in character for this and it would be a brilliant read :D

Thank you! It's inspired by an art post I spotted on Tumblr, so I can't take full credit for the idea. I'll admit, I'm most worried about making sure they stay in character (especially since it looks like it will be much longer than what I usually write), which is why I'd love a beta, or just even someone to talk to briefly.

And I hope it will be! The scariest part of telling people about it is thinking that it won't live up to the expectations.

If you want someone to check if they're in character according to the films, I'd read through and chat, no worries! I wouldn't rely on me for comics details though and my Buffy background is a handful of episodes and a heap of Angel. (A couple of my friends and me are having a summer dvd swop soon - I'm lending out Dollhouse and Firefly, and should be getting Buffy in return. I keep meaning to watch it all the way through, but could never afford it or have the time, so fingers crossed!)

But yeah, disclaimers aside lol, I can do the reading and talking thing :)

Thank you so much! :D It feels like there are a dozen different ways to go with Natasha's character in particular, and I don't want to reach the point where she's unrecognizable. There are a lot of similarities between her film and AU backgrounds, which you would think should help, and yet I keep second-guessing myself.

I've never read the comics, so my basis is entirely film-related. I haven't had the inclination or the money to get into them - which, when I'm talking to comic 'verse fans, always makes me feel a little guilty.

I'm actually not basing the 'verse in Buffy, because I've never actually watched the series. (Now I feel like a terrible Whedon fan.) I guess saying 'slayer' is a bit misleading, but it feels like the best term for the job that these guys do. Sorry for any confusion. >___>

I think it's fun that we have the space to play though when it comes to Natasha's background and characterisation :) When it comes to writing I work off motivations - why is this character doing/saying this and does that why fit in with what I know about them? Probably because I will read anything as long as the writer makes me believe in it, so bad characterisation for me isn't a character doing something I wouldn't expect from them, but there being no basis for it, no fic set up, if that makes sense?

I'm not hunting down Avengers comics, although I might dabble. I think a lot of comics art is naff to be honest and whilst there's lots of snarky dialogue a lot of the plots and writing are as well. I've been spoilt by Neil Gaiman's stuff and the Joss Whedeon X Men comics, heh.

Haha, I've not watched most of series either, just odd episodes and got info through osmosis. There is a grand dvd swap going to happen this summer between me and a few friends, so I may be getting Buffy to catch up on :) Don't apologise though, because if anything that makes it sound more intriguing :)

See, that's actually very helpful to hear, because my tendency is to see the end point (whether that's how she is when she meets Clint or how she acts at X point in time) and try to manipulate the circumstances to shape her so she ends up like that. When I put aside my notion of what she'll be like later, and focus on what she wants to do now, suddenly everything becomes much easier. The character can drive the action and the consequences, and later chapters are always rewriteable. I've stopped jamming her into a corner, I guess.

I snagged Sandman from my library and read all of it in under a week. It was brilliant. The best part is, I get the feeling I didn't completely understand everything the first time through, so I can reread it over and over and catch more new things.

Osmosis via internet; definitely had that happen before. If only it worked for my classes too...