ext_72272 (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
workerbee73.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
be_compromised2012-07-13 02:39 pm
workerbee73.livejournal.com) wrote in be_compromised2012-07-13 02:39 pm
Entry tags:
Promptathon is heeeeeeeeeeeeeere!
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
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
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. :)
Re: FIC: out to get you (rated R for language, sex, mentions of PTSD) 2/2
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
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. ;)
Re: Okay, first things first
(Also, I have stuff to PM you.)
Re: Okay, first things first
(PM away! I'm working on epic meta response right now.)
Re: Okay, first things first
Re: Okay, first things first
Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
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: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
I'll reply to the rest tomorrow - right now it's time for bed! :D
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
THIS. (And that discussion sounds awesome, fyi.) This is one of the things I keep playing with in re: these two (and most all of my OTPs, really, because a similar dichotomy is true of Mulder/Scully and Kara/Lee, too - it's obvious in all three cases that Natasha, Scully, and Kara are deadly, frighteningly competent, and hell-on-wheels but what people often miss is that Mulder can be *just* as in-control, Lee is as violently unstable (or more so) and Clint is just as deadly dangerous.)
Because this kind of pair only works when they're *equals* - whether that means equally competent, equally deadly, or equally fucked-up, well. But they have to have a shifting equilibrium rather than a static disproportion. (There's another word for that and I just lost it out of my head but that'll do, I hope to explain it?) In-equal pairs end up becoming unhealthy in bad ways... I mean, ok, one could certainly argue that these two aren't healthy, but... yeah.
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.
So *my* question to that is, is he wary of her snapping and turning on him, or of frightening her away? Which are two very, very different things, but he could be reacting one way and she could assume and take it very differently. And that could shift from time to time too - except that I can't quite wrap my head around a Clint that's actively scared *of* her rather than *for* her (or of losing her. Because yeah, there's some obsession there. See how my understatement powers are at 400%. ;) )
tbc...
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
http://workerbee73.livejournal.com/144604.html
All the comment over there are gold; the people were bringing massive A-game meta to the table.
And YES to everything you've said about equality and especially those OTPs. It's critical. Just so much yes.
So *my* question to that is, is he wary of her snapping and turning on him, or of frightening her away?
I'd actually say neither. I think it's rejection he fears. Not betrayal or that he's too dark (because he's still very much in denial about this to a larger extent) but the simple idea that she'll realize that he's not worth it, that she is so much better, that he's this tired, worn-down thing and she has the world at her feet. Again, PEDESTAL PROBLEMS.
Also-- concern that he did misjudge her long ago, that she is that monster; not in a threat way, but more in a 'you're more than i can handle' way, more of a 'you could get the better of me' way.
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
::glances::
::wibbles::
::makes a note to go back and give it some serious attention when she doesn't have a company picnic and "mom-time" planned. (Busy weekend is busy.)::
::wonders if it's a 'done' conversation or if she might maybe be able to butt in if it sparks FEELS?::
And YES to everything you've said about equality and especially those OTPs. It's critical. Just so much yes.
I think one of the reasons that this fandom has taken me over so damn hard is because Clint/Natasha is some kind of perfect synthesis of all my previous OTPs combined with the overall Avengers "Marvel-ness" of ethical and moral wrangling that I was raised on and feels like home. (Primarily I got X-Men as a small child and missed out on Avengers, but the same themes are there.)
They have the physicality of Kara/Lee, along with the isolation of Mulder/Scully, and the intellectual chops there-in (because my headcanon is *firmly* on the side of them both having genius-level IQs. Maybe not Tony-level, but spying/assassin stuff requires SO many skill sets and quick learning capabilities I'd think you'd have to be to keep up. I mean, the languages alone, for heaven's sake!) In all cases these are people at the top of their game, used to being without many equals. Except then they find the Other. So these two take the very best of those (and so far, leave out some of the less-favorite bits) and it's just a recipe for WIN.
I'd actually say neither. I think it's rejection he fears.
Also-- concern that he did misjudge her long ago, that she is that monster; not in a threat way, but more in a 'you're more than i can handle' way, more of a 'you could get the better of me' way.
I can see that. Particularly the later. I've always suspected (in the broader headcanon) that his greatest fear or nightmare scenario isn't her getting killed or being taken, but it's that she's going to wake up one day and either a. decide that she's done playing a "good guy" and turn on them, and/or b. she's been playing them all along in some kind of long con.
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
his greatest fear or nightmare scenario isn't her getting killed or being taken, but it's that she's going to wake up one day and either a. decide that she's done playing a "good guy" and turn on them, and/or b. she's been playing them all along in some kind of long con
I think it's also coupled with a fear that she has the power to destroy him; that she is in fact that wild creature that he, due to arrogance and sentiment, let way too close, and that one day the blood she'll be licking off her claws will be his.
(geesh, that got all twisty and poetic all the sudden, didn't it?)
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
(geesh, that got all twisty and poetic all the sudden, didn't it?)
That is a seriously amazing image and I'm kind of in love with it. (I'm not sure what that says about me, but oh well. ;) )
And also a really excellent observation.
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
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.
That works better anyway, because the mind is going to create (potentially) as or more disturbing fills anyhow. ::shudder:: Poor things. :(
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.
It... bothers me that he leaves her alone for so long. I get (on one level) that maybe for her that's the best thing and how she deals with it, but on the other, I want desperately to see him push in, push her, something. Because she's been left alone *too* much, by too many people, but it could also be that I'm just so very much the opposite I can't understand on a personal level how that could be the better approach and that's coloring my reading of it.
Oh wow. That sounds fascinating. As does your term paper. <3
The movie does so much with the whole self-sacrifice/punishment aspect of courtly love - particularly when she looks at him and tells him that it means nothing to say he'll *win* for her - she wants him to *lose* for her. And so he goes and lets himself get the crap beat out of him to prove to her how he feels. (The movie was out in theatres when I took that class so I had to keep going back to watch it since I didn't have a ff/rewind button or anything. Trying to take notes in a dark room, not my greatest plan.)
As for the last few observations in your comment, that was really just me giving context to Bob's words.
:D Now that I see more clearly how things are starting to fit together (at least this bit) I'm all flaily and need to go back and reread all the things.
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
Leaves her alone in this particular fic or in the series as a whole? Here, after doing a bit of research and talking with some folks who know far better than I, it seemed that, especially with this kind of trauma, you can't really force that kind of connection until the other person is ready for it. Tbh, here I had him intervene simply because she had shut down for so long to the point where it becomes a separate health concern (ie, fatigue, exhaustion, etc.) But I think it's also a very valid reading to say that he deals with her primarily from a distance (because hey, he's Hawkeye (ha!) but also b/c he's got pedestal issues where she's concerned. bb's gotta work on that. ;)
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
Possibly throughout, but primarily here... the six hour stretch. And again, I think a fair amount of my reaction is knowing that for me it would be the worst approach, but most likely isn't for Natasha.
Oh, yes, definitely pedestal issues, LIKE WHOA. ;) And I think they're kind of awesome to watch. :D
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
And OMG thank you!!! I'm so glad I'm the only one fascinated with Clint's pedestal issues. Just... yeah. Utterly utterly fascinated.
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D
Oh, you're very definitely, definitely NOT. That level of worshipful obsession that's he's often depicted with - when it's played so that it doesn't dis-empower the obsessed character (but might, in actuality, make them stronger) is just so, SO hot. And utterly fascinating. And it's just exactly what the myth of the Beloved is all about (this whole discussion has me on the verge of pulling out all my Joseph Campbell materials, let me tell you) - speaking of which, I found a quote from him that said "show me to Bee":
It think because it hits on the idea that any small piece of the Beloved can be something to cling to and give one strength no matter the circumstances - even if that scrap is something inherently hurtful or damning.
Re: Epic response to Epic comment of awesomeness. :D