Promptathon is heeeeeeeeeeeeeere!

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

The Good Ship C/N Promptathon
of Magic and Joy: Aka, The Promptathon of All Wonderful Things Involving Two Certain Badass Assassin People Doing Badass Things and Being Awesome. And Badass. And Pretty. And Stuff.

NOTE: The promptathon has now closed, but please enjoy all the lovely fic and fanworks. in our Masterposts below.

Master List of all Promptathon fanworks.  

Master List, Part 2 now with more delicious everything!

**Many thanks to rayruzfor the beautiful graphic.


******************

NOTE: PROMPTING HAS NOW CLOSED, BUT FICS AND FANWORKS MAY STILL BE SUBMITTED THROUGH AUGUST 31ST. THANKS!


Welcome!!!! The time is now upon us. This will kick off a month's worth of prompting and fanworking and all the good things. Not sure what to do? Click below for our handy-dandy Promptathon Guide!

RULES ON POSTING SUBMISSIONS
(please read before you post! <3)


The Rules.  Just follow these three easy steps!

1. Leave a Prompt.
Prompts can be anything--simple or elaborate, words or pictures, songs or poems, lyrics or phrases. Anything that, to you, inspires a C/N fanwork. Use your imagination. Go crazy. All I ask is that you keep it tasteful and warn for anything explicit or triggery. Also, try to be as specific as you can with your prompts--this is often very helpful to those creating the fanwork.

And leave as many prompts as you want. I’m serious. Keep coming back, y’all. We want all the prompts we can possibly get Also, be sure to leave each prompt as a separate comment.

2. Wait a week.
Tailgate and chitchat and keep leaving prompts. And mull over the epic fanworks you are creating.

3. Submit C/N fanwork like there is no tomorrow.
All submissions should either be posted here or linked to this post via a comment. The nitty gritty details of posting your stuff can be found HERE. Please read before you post


Timeframe:
Prompts will be accepted starting today, Friday, July 13th (!!!) and will remain open until Friday, August 10th.  Submissions may be submitted beginning on Friday, July 20th and may continue to be submitted until August 10th.


What we hope to accomplish with all this promptathon-iness:

• A chance to get in the game. Been wanting to jump into the C/N fanwork scene but not sure where to start? Now’s the time. There’s no length requirement on the works submitted, you can focus on drabbles and vidlets and short and sweet projects (or do longer more epic stuff if that strikes your fancy as well).  It’s really entirely up to you. We’re just hoping to provide a fun, no-pressure environment.

• Meet new and awesome people. Because srsly, I love everyone in this bar. It's a good damn bar. Don't be afraid to say hello
• Ship like you’ve never shipped before.
• Tailgate when appropriate. My motto is, if something ain’t a cocktail party, you just aren’t trying hard enough. In that spirit, aurora_0811and I are hosting the tailgate section (which I think at this point just includes random chatter and ridiculousness, cheerleading and tomfoolery, because I doubt our comm’s talkative nature will be suppressed even during the prompting/waiting period.) So pull up a helicarrier-shaped lawnchair, crack open a cold one and settle in for the festivities. And leave prompts.

And most of all, have fun. :)

Comments

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

+

Her issues don't come out until later.

She's just off the plane from Madrid when she shows up at his door. It's not the best plan and certainly not the smartest; it wasn't a good mission and she's not in a good frame of mind. But somehow the fake wood-paneled walls of his shithole apartment sound a lot more appealing than the pristine white walls of hers. She drops her duffel bag at the door, shrugs out of her mud-splattered field jacket and heads straight for the scotch he keeps under the sink.

She doesn't even like the stuff but right now there's an edge that needs smoothing out. He's quiet, watches her, does not speak until spoken to. He's always been polite that way.

"It went fine," she explains.

“I can see,” he says dryly. "Injuries?"

“No.” Nothing visible at least.

It's stupid to feel sorry for herself and it's not a luxury she allows but there are certain things.... She's been trained to do everything and to do it well. To execute a plan perfectly, without hesitation, whether as a weapon or a seductress (and most of the time, there’s no difference between the two) but there are some things....

There are some things she does not care for.

She tries not to dwell on it as she gulps down the last of the whiskey. “Tired,” she murmurs, and nods in the direction of the bedroom; he nods too but doesn't follow.

She toes off her boots and curls up on top of the bed. Stares straight ahead, willing sleep to come. It doesn't. At precisely one hour and twenty-three minutes he comes in. Stands over her, hesitates before resting a hand on her shoulder. She flinches, shakes her head.

“No,” she says, curling more tightly into herself. “No.”

He leaves, but returns six hours later when she hasn’t moved and barely slept. He reaches out again and she’s ready this time, swinging fast and wide, landing the first punch but missing the second. He catches her wrists, pulls her upright.

“Don’t,” he says, rubbing calloused fingers over what have now become permanent red marks, “don’t shut me out.”

He increases the pressure and it seems to bring her back. She takes a shaky breath and nods. It’s not much but it’s an anchor, and for now that’s enough.

He doesn’t say anything else, just picks her up and carries her to the bathroom. She stands there motionless while he undresses her. His touch is far from amorous but there’s something unbearably intimate about it and her eyes begin to sting even though she doesn’t know why. He runs the water and lowers her into the hot bath and closes the door behind him as he leaves. She concentrates for a long time on breathing in and out, on just getting enough air.

When she does come out, he’s gone but there’s a sandwich lying next to the bed and a note that says “Eat.” She smiles faintly, does as she’s told and lies back down again.

It’s dark when she wakes. She finds him on the couch, keeping vigil, and it looks like he hasn’t slept at all. She reaches out with one hand and lets go of the sheet that’s wrapped around her with the other. It falls to the floor.

His face in that moment is a thing of beauty; she wishes she had the words to describe it.

She gives her body to him and he works it slowly, carefully, taking his time. And even if it's nothing more than an orgasm and an empty sigh it feels like relief.

“You’re better than this,” he whispers against her skin afterwards, the words urgent and almost angry. “Better than me, better than all of it.”

He kisses her until she can’t remember anything else, pulls her flush against him in the darkness and rests his lips on her shoulder. “I’ve got your back,” he tells her, and she can feel his arms tighten. “I’ve always got your back. Don’t forget.”

She sleeps, truly sleeps, for the first time in weeks.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[sugar-fey.livejournal.com]

*happy squeaking noises* YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES. I love how this universe is progressing!

With an inaudible sound he turns, holds her in a viselike grip as he presses his face to her breasts and struggles to breathe, clinging to her like a lifeline for god knows what.

*wibble* Oh, Clint.

When she does come out, he’s gone but there’s a sandwich lying next to the bed and a note that says “Eat.” She smiles faintly, does as she’s told and lies back down again.

Oh, Tasha! I want to hug them both.

His face in that moment is a thing of beauty; she wishes she had the words to describe it.

This line is perfection. I love all the references to 'small acts' as well.

Next please!

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

Dude, I'm so insanely pleased that you liked this. It was hard to write, even though I was able to write it pretty quickly.

And oh yes-- they both give me wibbles out the wazoo. I'm keep stumbling over the strange courtly love metaphors over and over again in the way I'm writing them in this story. It's hard to explain, but they kind of skirt the line between the sacred and the profane in this verse, and the dichotomy fascinates me.

The line you pointed out is probably my favorite too. That right there is such a Moment. Neither of them realize it, but it is.

(and again, thank you for looking at this and for your input and for all the discussion leading up to this fic. it was unbelievably helpful.)

((and thanks for still tagging along on this crazy wild ride. i don't even want to think about it being over; makes me too sad.))

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[cybermathwitch.livejournal.com]

Holy shit, Bee. This is gorgeous!

There are all kinds of things I want to pull out and talk about, except it would be almost all of it, but here are a few things (ok, many things):

just said that he had them sometimes and to always keep a knife close by.

This literally made me go "whoa, what the hell?" when I read it, because while the Clint so far in this series is dark and edgy... this is so much the kind of warning that's associated with Nat that it's startling to see it coming from him. And I think it's brilliant.

With an inaudible sound he turns, holds her in a viselike grip as he presses his face to her breasts and struggles to breathe, clinging to her like a lifeline for god knows what.

::wibbles and hugs Clint::


He's quiet, watches her, does not speak until spoken to. He's always been polite that way.

There's a slight edge of scorn to this that I kind of love her having and really emphasizes where her head probably is.


There are some things she does not care for.

I can't decide if I do or do NOT want to know what those things are or what happened to her on that mission. Yikes.


“No,” she says, curling more tightly into herself. “No.”

::wibbles and hugs Tasha::


rubbing calloused fingers over what have now become permanent red marks

I think I'm going to need a moment. OMGuh. Although it feels so much like he's been shutting himself out almost as much as she has, and I really wonder about that, and what's going through his head through all of this.


His face in that moment is a thing of beauty; she wishes she had the words to describe it.

Yes, this line is just amazing, and the image it conjures up is just... no words. And after rereading it after the courtly love comment, wow.
(When I took Myth and Film in college, the first half of the course was on the hero's journey and the second half was on the myth of the Beloved - we read and watched American Beauty - and I ended up doing my term paper on how "A Knight's Tale" turned that myth and the idea of courtly love on it's head. It was great fun, and I have all sorts of FEELS about courtly love. Also a friend of mine has done stuff on courtly love/bdsm relationships and I think she'd seriously love this whole series. Must go rec to her, even though she's not really an Avengers girl.)


She gives her body to him and he works it slowly, carefully, taking his time.

That's just seriously hot and also loaded in so many good ways.


“You’re better than this,” he whispers against her skin afterwards, the words urgent and almost angry. “Better than me, better than all of it.”

I want to wibble and hug Clint again for thinking/saying this, because she's really, really not - no more or less so than he is, but he believes that because he didn't listen when she told him she was one of the monsters and he really is the fucking knight and I don't know how much he realizes what he's playing with. I absolutely don't ever want to see her turn on him, but something about how he says this here almost makes it feel... inevitable maybe? Not in the literal sense, just... I want to look at him and say "don't tempt fate like that, baby. You won't like what happens next."

He kisses her until she can’t remember anything else, pulls her flush against him in the darkness and rests his lips on her shoulder. “I’ve got your back,” he tells her, and she can feel his arms tighten. “I’ve always got your back. Don’t forget.”

I will never not love this kind of moment. Never ever.

Okay, first things first

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

Before I jump into the epic meta you've got going on, I'm going to quote two passages from the stories that inspired this series, Bob's small acts of kindness and road to damascus, because part of what I was doing at the end of this section was a direct callback to those fics (and I'm trying to begin the process of tying these stories together).

This is also my way of not being able to take credit for the really great lines--I was really just giving them context.

-------------------------

Excerpt from small acts (from Nat's POV):

You give him your body. He likes to work it slowly, carefully, and you enjoy how it feels, even if it does not mean more to you than an orgasm and an empty sigh.

Clint is flesh and he is warmth and he is blood. Clint does not speak in terms of emotion but he tells you that you are worth more than this and he will always have your back.

“Don’t forget it, Nat.”

You let him kiss you goodnight. You kiss him back. You break apart and exhale with a hiss of relief and sleep soundly through the rest of the night.


------------------------------

Excerpt from road to damascus (from Clint's POV):

You own very little and you do not ask for much but that does not mean that you don’t know how to take.

She gives herself to you. Her body is her gift and you are grateful. You are gentle. You take your time and you take your pleasure and you try to mend all the broken parts with your hard worked hands and your liar’s mouth.

You take her body and her body responds and you are grateful. You want her to know this.

What you say is that she is better than this. What you say is that you have always got her back.

You tell her not to forget it.

She sighs and falls asleep in your arms. She has never had your memory for details.

-----------------------------------


Notice any similarities? It's easy to write good stuff when you have brilliant source material. ;)

Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

This literally made me go "whoa, what the hell?" when I read it, because while the Clint so far in this series is dark and edgy... this is so much the kind of warning that's associated with Nat that it's startling to see it coming from him.

Yeah, I love it too. You expect him to be the one who has his shit together, who doesn't have too many ghosts in the closet, but it just ain't true of the Clint in this verse. And it kind of goes back to the headcanon discussion quennessa, sugar and I were having the other day about Clint being just as dangerous as she is, although you don't see it as much. And of course one of the main themes of this series, that he's just as dark (if not in fact darker) than she is.


There's a slight edge of scorn to this that I kind of love her having and really emphasizes where her head probably is.

I LOVE that you picked up on this. LOVE. The scorn you sense is actually Nat picking up on something very real--namely, that he is always wary of her. No matter how close they get, he's always holding back, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's a distance he puts between them; part self-preservation, part-trying so hard not to believe what she told him long ago about being one of the monsters. It honestly breaks my heart for both of them.

I can't decide if I do or do NOT want to know what those things are or what happened to her on that mission. Yikes.

Believe me, I only have a vague sense of the details and it's not good. What I wanted to do here with the PTSD is show them both with the same condition, but have it manifest itself in different ways because of the kind of trauma they're dealing with. With Clint, it's combat-related trauma (as my headcanon has him in the military and in Iraq at some point-- helloo thar Hurt Locker fusion). With Nat, I see hers at somewhat combat-related, but also sexual-trauma (no doubt from her wholesome Red Room upbringing). I intentionally kept both vague b/c for one I don't feel like I have enough authority to go into detail on either, and also because I didn't want it to be too distracting. But yeah, same condition, different manifestations.


Although it feels so much like he's been shutting himself out almost as much as she has, and I really wonder about that, and what's going through his head through all of this.

GAH. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. This is such a great observation. It's one of the primary mysteries of Clint in this verse. Bob really sets it out beautifully in road to damascus, which is told entirely from his POV. He holds so much back, even from himself. And as she says, he doesn't really speak "in terms of emotion."

In some ways he feels very simple to me-- he loves Natasha, loves her to the point of unhealthy obsession, has the overwhelming desire to save her, even though (and maybe because) he knows he can't save himself. But in other ways, he's a closed book, not available for observation or introspection.


a friend of mine has done stuff on courtly love/bdsm relationships

Oh wow. That sounds fascinating. As does your term paper. <3


As for the last few observations in your comment, that was really just me giving context to Bob's words. And the "you're better than this, better than me" --- GAH! I love it so much. I love the ambiguity of it. I have my own interpretation, but for now I think I'll keep mum and encourage speculation. I also need to ask Bob what hers is-- we should probably line that up at some point. ;)

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

It’s dark when she wakes. She finds him on the couch, keeping vigil, and it looks like he hasn’t slept at all. She reaches out with one hand and lets go of the sheet that’s wrapped around her with the other. It falls to the floor.

UNF.

He kisses her until she can’t remember anything else, pulls her flush against him in the darkness and rests his lips on her shoulder. “I’ve got your back,” he tells her, and she can feel his arms tighten. “I’ve always got your back. Don’t forget.”

*makes inarticulate sounds of squee*

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

**makes inarticulate sounds of squee with you**

This part srsly gives me all the feels. I'm not kidding. ALL OF THEM.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[sweetwatersong.livejournal.com]

Why are you so wonderful? I love so much about this, about this universe, but mostly I love how his torment is to lash out physically, to inflict pain (even unknowingly) on others and to hurt his demons in the dark - and she retreats into herself, hurts only herself, seeks refuge from the violence in the world around her in the only place she can. Their twin and twain reactions, the Morse code, their adaptions and adjustments to the other's issues... <3

Also, Clint's "You're better than this" makes me want to cry, to wonder how he can see her as 'better' when she's so steeped in blood - is it because she didn't have a choice? Because she was molded this way while he sought his hell out? Oh, my boy...

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

You are such a sweetheart. Thank you. :)

mostly I love how his torment is to lash out physically, to inflict pain (even unknowingly) on others and to hurt his demons in the dark - and she retreats into herself, hurts only herself, seeks refuge from the violence in the world around her in the only place she can

Oh yes. Such a fantastic observation. And I'd never thought about it quite that clearly before. And it's also so much how they see themselves. Clint doesn't do introspection, he doesn't go inward, everything reduces to action, everything gets pushed outward, everything becomes violence (as in violence in it's purest form, that being acting upon something that is not one's self.)

Her violence (for lack of a better term) is completely directed inward--her prison is entirely within herself.


The "better than this" line is a difficult one to parse, and I think it can go a lot of different ways, but I love your interpretation. And I do think that has something to do with it-- the choice and the choosing and who makes it and how it's done. In his eyes, she's just 'a kid who grew up too hard and too fast.'

**huggles your brain**

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[sunny-serenity.livejournal.com]

YES. THIS. it's like you broke into my brain. i never really bought the widely accepted head canon of sleeping in the same bed. no matter the amount of trust and love (or whatever) sharing a bed for slumber is something completely different.

...i'm guessing this is why i should break my rule for this series.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I've fallen prey to the bedsharing thing, mostly in the realm of Disney assassins and well, b/c it's so darn cute. But the more I thought about it, especially in this verse, and quennessa mentioning in the other post about their almost certain PTSD issues and how they'd deal with that... well, I gotta admit, this just makes more sense. And I like how it's earned here. That peace and safety is truly earned. And it's fragile. And there's something really beautiful about that.

**chants**

Break your rule, break your rule. Hey, I can't promise brilliance all the time, but we are pretty damn entertaining. ;)

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[rayruz.livejournal.com]

*wibbles so hard for both of them* God. this left me with an achey feeling in my chest just reading it. They've both gone through so much and they are so damaged but they've got each other.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

**huggles you**

I know bb. This was a tough one.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

THAT WAS DELICIOUS.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm delighted you liked. :D

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[im-ridiculous.livejournal.com]

**STANDING OVATION AND BIG FLASHING 'APPLAUSE' SIGNS**

Seriously, I have no words.
But that's ok, cos you already used all the good ones in this fic anyway :D

...OK, just a couple more words: ALL THE LOVE FOR THE WAY THE MORSE CODE WAS INCORPORATED. Because holy shit, Bee. And I still really love that 'there are some things she doesn't care for' line. It is shudderingly graphic in its understatement. Because if even she can't say it, you know it's bad.

ALL the love. And pom-poms.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

Dude, the Morse code stuff just kills me, first as an SOS and then later as a comfort. And I've been dying to allude to Clint's deafness in a fic for ages now. It brings so much to the table storywise.

You've also pointed out my other favorite line in this section. It basically tells you everything you need to know about Natasha.


**ALL THE TWIRLS**

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[angela-n-hunt.livejournal.com]

*ahem*

First off: *makes sound that only dogs can hear*

Second off: *flail*

Third off: Well. Fucking. Done. Just. DAMN.

I don't even know where to start. It's just perfect. PERFECT. *draws a big red heart around this entire fic*

*continues to flail*

*throws confetti on you and Bob, cues the go go dancers, and tells Richard to pour vodka shots for everyone*

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just really wanted to get the PTSD stuff right and make it feel real and resonate. And damn, this one hurt to write.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[flying-android.livejournal.com]

Oh, they're so broken *wants to hug them*. It hurts even when they're helping each other, because they're not alright yet.

Also the communication by morse code, YES. Fits perfectly.

Your writing is so evocative and full of images and emotion, I adore it.

<3

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

omg this comment!!!!

**wibbles**

This one hurt a lot to write. They are not sunshine and light in this 'verse, but with good reason. Lots of ghosts in the closet, lots of monsters under the bed.

<333333333333333333333

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[lar_laughs.livejournal.com]

And then I read part two because it's late and I didn't see the 1/2 and the 2/2 and now my heart, she is beating much too fast from the love she has for this second part and the way he takes care of her.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

<333333333333333333333333333333333


So much love for this comment. Thank you.

Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2

[inkvoices]

(still working my way through)

...when you said at the start that this wasn't D/S, no, but the trusting someone to take care of you is still reminiscent of that, particularly in the case of Natasha needing some form of physical grounding, but there's that grounding that Clint needs as well. I suppose it's the emphasis on trust. And she gives her body to him although my other thoughts have been in religion, although that tends to come out more, or more explicitly, in Bob's fics for this verse I think. You seem to be more anchor and hold whilst Bob is more the sides to devotion, the good and the feared. Anyway, yeah, thoughs :)