Hello to everyone who signed up to Secret Santa this year! Also a shout out to the people who have volunteered so far to pinch hit if needed <3

The next step is to make your choices...

Below is an anonymised list of what people have said they would like to receive as a gift in this year’s Secret Santa exchange. Can everyone taking part in this exchange please reply to this post by 12:00 / MIDDAY GMT Sunday 16th October with your FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD choices for what gift you’d like to create. We’ll use these choices to help match people up. All comments will be screened.

For example:
FIRST: twenty-four
SECOND: three
THIRD: sixteen

A few things:
- you're not guaranteed your choices, but we WILL keep to your choices as much as possible
- you have until MIDDAY GMT Sunday 16th October to comment with your choices or we'll match you up without one. (If everyone comments with their choices before the deadline then we’ll try to send assignments out earlier if offline life permits!)
- your assignment will be sent to you by email, so please check your emails including your spam folder for anything that comes from be_compromised@hotmail.com You should already have received a notification email from this email address about this Choices Post, so let us know if you didn't!

And onwards to the main event…

ONE

Prompts:
1. Clint having to explain the strays he seems to keep collecting.

2. AU where the local mystical shop also has the most magical café attached

3. “When giving treats to friends or children, give them what they like, emphatically not what is good for them.” G.K. Chesterton

4. How did they end up responsible for the gingerbread cookies?

5. AU – an odd house shows up in Central Park, but only the characters can enter. Once inside, they’re trapped – no exterior doors or windows will let them out. Each room they go through sends them to another era’s Christmas celebrations. Author’s choice on why and how they can get out.

6. The Avengers save Christmas

Yes please: Touch starved characters, friendships, kids, fluff, soulmates, winter holiday themes/situations, all the pets, team as family

No thank you: Explicit, smut, PWP, unhappy endings, character hate, Clint as a disaster, Natasha/Bruce, character death, Civil War anything, rom-com, Loki as a good guy, no politics please!

Characters/Pairings:
1. Ships: Basically any blend of Clint, Natasha, Bucky, & Darcy, pairs or polys. Clint/Laura, Natasha/Clint/Laura. Background ships: Steve/Peggy, Any of the characters not used in the main ships.
2. Characters: Clint, Natasha, Bucky, Darcy, Laura, Kate, Yelena, Wanda, Maya, Shang-Chi, Katy, Sersi, Dane, Thena, Druig, Makkari. I like all of the original 6 in gen fics.


TWO

Prompts:
1. “i will die protecting you. no question about it. i care for you more than anyone else in the universe and even though i act like you’re a pain in the ass i love you so much. you dweeb.”

2. Two members of an OT3 have sex while talking about the third member of the OT3. Can be established relationship where the other person is not currently present and they miss them or it could be pre-OT3 where they are fantasizing about the other before they all get together (brownie points if you go with the last one and then write the relationship negotiation!)

3. Clint and Natasha have been friends with benefits for awhile, but oh no! Now there's feelings! Now the two most emotionally awkward people ever must negotiate a relationship.

4. “we drunk-kissed but you forgot about it and i don’t know how to act around you anymore wtf”

5. Sharon, Maria, and Natasha become bffs by bonding over SHIELD gossip and judging each others love lives.

6. Five times Clint Barton came out of retirement and the one time that he didn’t

Yes please: Go create what you'd like, but I enjoy good natured/gentle teasing, domestic moments, relationship negotiation/getting together, and banter. The team all being friends and especially the ladies all being friends would be very appreciated. I'd prefer something with a happy/positive ending. Endgame didn’t happen unless everyone lived.

No thank you: Character death (especially Endgame canon character death).

Characters/Pairings:
My big ones are ClintNat and ClintNatLaura, but I’m fond of Clint/Nat/Bucky and Nat/Yelena (I like both platonic and romantic Nat and Yelena). I’m for Nat/any female character. My only real notp is Nat/Bruce.


THREE

Prompts:
1. I get emails from a raccoon...

2. After the Congressional Hearing, Natasha goes looking for Clint. (Non-AU compliant please)

3. Tony's first efforts at solving time travel were NOT a success; Clint and/or Natasha isn't/aren't thrilled to be called in to do clean-up. And who does that Shakespeare fellow [feel free to substitute other historical figure(s)] think he is anyway?

4. "You two deserve each other," Coulson says. "And that is NOT a compliment."

5. Mission!fic (can have AU elements, i.e. Clint or Natasha are on mission, the other just works there) - set in a winery.

6. Natasha and Clint have disappeared; Kate and Yelena go look for them. They wish they hadn't.

Yes please: banter, slow burn, friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-friends, angst, humour, fluff, classic 2012 tower shenanigans/Clintasha, mission!fic, competency porn, outsider perspective, SHIELD colleagues, 5+1, AUs and canon divergence, reasonable crossover/fusion, urban magic, fantastic realism - bring on the tropes!

No thank you: graphic violence, character death (unless fixed), non/con, curtain!fic (unless there's a twist), three-or-more-somes, A/B/O or D/s and other forms of woobiefication of strong characters, and let's leave the farm behind this time, shall we?

Characters/Pairings:

1. Clint/Natasha
2. Clint & Natasha
3. Others: Kate, Yelena, the Black Widow fam, random Avengers/Guardians/AoS/MCU characters are welcome to pop in and make themselves at home, including by pairing up.


FOUR

Prompts:
1. Clint or Natasha celebrating a birthday or anniversary

2. A mission right before the holidays goes awry and they end up celebrating Christmas in the hospital

3. Baking Mishap after Clint gets distracted (or is a distraction)

4. Natasha's first Christmas

Yes please: Angst, Hurt/Comfort (particularly of Clint), Fluff

No thank you: Please no acknowledgement of Endgame unless AU where Nat lives, Major Character death, Sad endings

Characters/Pairings:
1. Clint/Natasha as both friends and romantic
2. Clint/Natasha/Bucky (and variations)


FIVE

Prompts:
1. Natasha’s first Christmas with the Bartons.

2. Every time Clint and Natasha end up together it creates a nexus event, a branch in the ultimate timeline that must be pruned. The reason? Every time they are together, the strength of their love prevents either one from allowing the necessary sacrifice on Vormir. Or any other reason you can think of.

3. SHIELD (and/or Avengers) do a secret Santa exchange every year. Perhaps they exchange real gifts or gag gifts or both.

4. Clint and Laura’s first Christmas with Cooper doesn’t go exactly as planned.

5. If love is for children, then so is Christmas. Clint’s determined to convince Natasha otherwise.

6. Anything else that strikes your fancy.

Yes please: Clint/Laura, the kids, and the farm. Old school Clint/Natasha. Fluffy Christmas. Angsty Christmas but with a happy ending. SHIELD. Pre-Avengers. Any and all Christmas firsts. Sharing of Christmas traditions. Starting new Christmas traditions. Or completely ignore Christmas. Canon, or mild canon divergent. I love canon. Gen Fic.

No thank you: AUs. Laura and/or farm bashing. If you don’t care for her, that’s fine, just leave her out of the story. But please don’t bash her. PWP

Characters/Pairings:
1. Clint/Natasha or Clint & Natasha. OT3 with Laura if it’s mild and not explicit.
2. Clint/Laura


SIX

Prompts:
1. "I don't usually mind isolation, I like being by myself. Only now and then... I don't know. If only there was a way to order occasional companionship like you do a pizza."
"Prostitution. You literally just explained the unique selling proposition of prostitution."

2. "At this point, you practically live here. I think you have more clothes here than at your own place." One of them quietly moves in without the other realizing it. Others may or may not have noticed.

3. Weapon Hiding & Finding ala any portion of this post - https://galahadwilder.tumblr.com/post/684964751753838592/reblogging-once-because-good-and-a-second-time - OT3 or single pairing

4. you look so hot but i can’t go near you with all these people around so i’m just going to send you dirty texts until we get an opportunity to leave without looking suspicious (they are not fooling ANYONE.) ((OT3 or single pairing))

5. A story centering on the Galve Goat. Maybe Clint reveals he was bow and arrow santa

6. I don’t know who you think you are, but you really can’t make this your office unless you’re going to order more than one drink for the eight hours you stay here. (AU or mission fic)

Yes please: romance, mission fic, all the friendships, smut, ot3, au, fantasy, happy endings, mash up of movies & comics & tv shows, ALL OF IT

No thank you: no character death (unless its a fix it) and no unhappy ending (they at least need to be HOPEFUL), no abo, no babies or kids (except for existing barton children & morgan stark),

Characters/Pairings:
1. Clint and Nat can be any darned way you want them - I am ridiculously easy to please. If OT3ing, it can be with Bucky or Laura. Or Steve. Or Tony.
2. Steve/Sharon, Steve/Maria, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Valkyrie, Thor/Jane, Kate/America, Kate/Yelena, Alexei/Melina, Darcy/Anyone - go wild with whatever pairings you want. See note about being ridiculously easy.


SEVEN

Prompts:
1. someone has a cold or the flu and the other takes care of them. Person A is a terrible patient and Person B has to delve into their bag of tricks to get A to go along with it

2. "don’t be ridiculous, there’s enough room on this bed for both of us."

3. Clint/Nat keep missing each other and an entire conversation takes place via texts/emojis

4. "Having been in your position, my first reaction is to tell you everything gets better. However, I may or may not have keyed someone’s car while I was in this position."

5. Natasha lends a hand while Clint is in New York to deal with the Track Suit Mafia and helps mentor Kate.

6. Clint/Natasha finds out the other is secretly a social media influencer. Bonus points if Clint/Natasha wasn’t actually trying to hide it, they just didn’t really think it was that big of a deal.

Yes please: I would love a combo of comics/movies but either one is perfectly fine as well. Also positive women friendships are the best. Also fluff between Clint and Natasha is the best, but not required. And if you would like to make it sexy go for it, or work in Clint being deaf that would be awesome, but not required. If you would like to work in the Farm Family that's cool, but you can leave it out if you want to!

No thank you: I'm still in denial about Natasha's death in the movies so would prefer to not have that in the fic.

Characters/Pairings:
1. Friends to Lovers
2. ignoring Age of Ultron and Endgame


EIGHT

Prompts:
1. Dead Again AU — the 1991 film about past lives, memory loss, and murder.

2. Star Wars AU — Natasha was raised/trained in the Empire, Clint is the rebel who gets her out.

3. Natasha celebrates Christmas with Russian Orthodox traditions.

4. A fic from the point of view of Natasha's cat. An adventure/mystery in the style of That Darn Cat, or an introspective character study of Natasha and the people around her as viewed by Liho, or an undercover comedic romp at a cat show, or Liho knows Clint's in love with Natasha before either human figures it out. This can be set in movieverse if you want, just give Nat a cat. Lucky’s alternative pov also welcome.

5. Laura thinks Natasha is lonely and convinces Clint they should do something about it.

6. Something, anything, set in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures universe.

Yes please: I especially like curtain fic, introspective character/relationship analysis masquerading as fic, Found Family, kid fic/legacy, road trips, angst and fluff, hidden identities, touchy-feely physicality, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Besties with Benefits. I am familiar with both comics and mcu and love both. Plot is not as important as feelings.

No thank you: Nothing E rated, please. No character or relationship bashing unless it’s tongue in cheek or Clint being an arsehole on purpose. No Natasha/Steve or Natasha/Bruce.

Characters/Pairings:
1. My favorite version of Clint/Natasha is platonic soulmates who have sex sometimes. But I’m good with a more traditional romance. I also ship Clint with: Bobbi, Wanda, Laura. I also ship Natasha with: Bucky, Sharon.
2. Other ships I love include Bucky Barnes/Jessica Jones, Wanda/Vision, Wanda/Steve, Tony/Pepper, Daisy/Sousa, and Carol Danvers/Peter Parker in timelines where they are age appropriate. My other favorite characters are Yelena, Lokis, Wanda, Bucky, Jessica Jones.


NINE

Prompts:
1. While in Ohio teenage/young Natasha decides that she doesn’t want to go back to the Red Room, so she runs away with Yelena. They end up joining a carnival/circus which is also home to one Clint Barton. (Could be that they’re all teenagers in the circus, or they meet when they’re older. Could be no one joins SHIELD, or they all end up getting recruited. Could be the circus is gritty and can be mean, so it’s them against the world, or could be that it’s a wonderful community. Just CIRCUS.)

2. Nat (or Nat and Bucky) owns / works at a cat cafe. Clint spots this one day and thinks it’s a nice looking pet friendly cafe, so he goes in with Lucky. They try to explain and he doesn’t get the hint, or they’re too busy/tired to bother for this one guy and Lucky is well behaved so they don’t care, or whatever. But then Clint becomes a regular and still doesn’t realise that this is a cat cafe.

3. “For once, just let me take care of you, okay?” Someone has a bad day, or is drowning under responsibilities, and they get some TLC (Tender Loving Care). (As some suggestions: Could be a nice massage. They could get a sexual fantasy fulfilled. Could be that someone organises Christmas / holiday season stuff for them, cooks dinner and sorts a tree and everything. Could be a group effort like, Clint Barton is a community fixture (volunteers at the food bank, arranges rooftop BBQs, ran a first aid course at the local youth group, dog sits for people…). When something happens (bad guys show up, crazy shenanigans, whatever) Kate Bishop or the people in his apartment building don’t know that Clint’s Hawkeye, they just want to help the guy who’s always helped everyone else.)

4. I was listening to an audiobook with my headphones in [in the gym / on public transport / in the library / wherever] and there was a sex scene or steamy bit, and I didn’t mean to end up staring at you while I was listening to it (although maybe you were a good choice).

5. Five Times Clint and Natasha Didn’t Make It To The Christmas / Holiday Party (And One Time They Did). As ridiculous and as fun as you like! SHIELD missions, comics book style shenanigans, locked overnight in IKEA… Could be the SHIELD party, Avengers party, Avengers Charity party and they’re making excuses, whatever, have fun!

6. Allow me to enable you - FINISH A WIP (Work in Progress).

Yes please: If any of this works for your fic I especially enjoy sass and banter, found family, friendships, happy or at least hopeful endings, hurt/comfort that’s heavy on the comfort, intimacy, diversity of all kinds, deaf!Clint, identity porn / amusing misunderstandings, and AUs (canon divergent, fusions, magical realism, supernatural, space, coffee shop, AUs of any kind). When it comes to sexytimes feel free to include them or not; romantic, platonic, sub/dom, or sex being ridiculous and messy all welcome, and sexuality as infinite varieties in infinite combinations.

No thank you: (permanent) major character death, pregnancy or weddings as a main plot point, non-con, dub-con, cancer, or terminal illness. I’d rather not have anything lockdown/pandemic related, Endgame related, or time travel please.

Characters/Pairings:
1. Clint/Natasha - any form of Clint and/or Natasha, as friends, partners, queerplatonic, lovers, enemies to friends, married... it’s all good!
2. I'm also a fan of poly relationships, in particular Clint/Nat/Bucky (feel free to turn any prompt into OT3). All other characters and pairings welcome! I enjoy group dynamics for found families and friendships. If using characters from the tv shows please just make sure anyone can understand your fic even if they haven't watched the shows yet (because I haven’t watched most of them, although I get the general gist).


TEN

Prompts: in no particular order! These all say Christmas but just wintery vibes are fine :) You’re also welcome to whip up something else you think I’d like!

1. Trust Natasha to make even the most mundane Christmas traditions competitive.

2. Natasha channels her unrequited love/sexual frustration/general feelings into a LOT of Christmas cookies. Like... a LOT.

3. Everyone knows that the holiday season is the best time to execute a heist.

4. Hijinks-y cross country (or cross global) trip to make it home for Christmas (canon or AU)

5. Stranded at a posh ski resort, but [insert your favorite trope here: fake dating, only one bed, whatever!]

6. Any unusual workplace AU

Yes please: enemies to friends to lovers (or just friends to lovers), banter, wintery/holiday related shenanigans, Kate Bishop and America Chavez, mission fics, Natasha interacting with Maria, Pepper, and/or Melinda May. Natasha and Steve or Natasha and Tony friendships are also deeply beloved, especially when she goes to one of them for life or dating advice! The more rom-com tropes, the better :D

No thank you: death fics, ABO/anything particularly kink-based, kid/pregnancy fics, horror/gore

Characters/Pairings:1. I prefer my Clint/Natasha canon divergent/denial: I’m fine with the farm, but I’m not interested in Laura or the Barton fam and very super extremely not interested in Bruce/Natasha. Also cool with AUs and I love when comics canon comes into play! 2. For this exchange I’d like Clint/Natasha to be the main focus, but I also like Steve Rogers/Maria Hill, Thor/Valkyrie, and America Chavez/Kate Bishop.


ELEVEN

Prompts:
1. Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere

2. An epistolary story. Can be AU or non-AU

3. Clint is Summer down to his bones. He finds winter incredibly difficult. Natasha (and Bucky?) helps.

4. “Confused? Unsure what to do? Wow, sounds like you’re human. Good luck.” Welcome To Night Vale.

5. A gets B a Christmas present. The Christmas present is C.

6. Something based on this: https://i.redd.it/3ucfkxst7k691.jpg

Yes please: both non-AUs and AUs (esp. dystopia, urban fantasy, magical realism), interesting worldbuilding, female friendships (and friendship in general), badass ladies, competency porn, banter and snark, relationship negotiation, polyamoury, friends to lovers, cameos, pining, and UST.

No thank you: rape/non-con, dub-con, incest, abuse, curtain fic, kid fic, characters bashing, marriage proposals, canon-compliance past Black Panther, Bruce/Nat, Sam/Bucky, Barton Farm, Coulson, Darcy Lewis.

Characters/Pairings:
1. Clint/Natasha and Clint/Natasha/Bucky. As side pairings I like Steve/Bucky, Steve/Peggy, Bruce/Betty, Tony/Pepper, Kate/America, Carol/Maria. If you want to go really wild; Clint/Nat/Bobbi, Clint/Nat/Sam, Clint/Nat/Steve.
2. Faves include Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, Pepper Potts, Kate Bishop, America Chavez, Maria Hill, Claire Temple, Sam Wilson, Miles Morales, Bobbi Morse, Jen Walters (though I know nothing about the She-Hulk show so more comics focus here please)


TWELVE

Prompts:
1) 'And we can lay here one last time
Don't slip away, leave me behind
I'm on my knees, I'm begging you
Don't break the heart
That's loving you'
(Tom Grennan - Don't Break the Heart)

2) "There are certain moments where I consider you someone with brilliant ideas and a good future. This is not one of those moments."

3) 1920s AU, whichever way you want to take it - all swinging twenties and pomp and fun, noir detective adventures, a sad and tragic period piece... whatever you like!

4) familiarity
/fəmɪlɪˈarɪti/
noun
1. close acquaintance with or knowledge of something
2. relaxed friendliness or intimacy between people

Yes please: Mundane AU, scifi, fantasy or magical realism. And smut. Smut is good, either as part of a longer story or a as a PWP. Kink is more than welcome. Canon is great too, and moving along the timeline for either comics or MCU.

No thank you: Anything related to AOU or the Barton farm and family, and importing comics characters into movieverse fic and vice versa. Also please no crossovers to non-Marvel canons either, no excessive fluff, no marriage or kids. Oh and no Coulson and please avoid Loki. And please no fusions or crossovers with other fandoms either.

Characters/Pairings: For movieverse, aside from Clint/Nat, I would also love poly Clint/Nat/Bucky, Nat/Bucky, Sam/Bucky, Steve/Bucky, or Steve/Sam. For comicsverse, platonic Clint & Nat rooted in their deep and long connection as exes, or romantic Clint/Kate.


THIRTEEN

Prompts:
1.Natasha is de-aged and they lose track of her.

2.Natasha matchmakes Clint and Laura.

3.Clint (/Laura) matchmakes Nat. Open to any rate of success or outcome.

4.SHIELD during Natasha’s early days.

5. What-if Nat is dropped into 616.

6. For some reason, people go to Natasha (or Natasha and Clint) for life advice. (Quality of such advice is of the writer’s choosing.

Yes please: Strong friendships (++ for friendships between women), LGBTQIA/ PRIDE representation or themes

No thank you: Horror (as the central genre), Relationship cheating (by a main character), Unrequited pining/ one-sided relationships, Budapest mission (as portrayed in the Black Widow movie), Nat/Tony or Nat/Bruce

Characters/Pairings:
1.Pretty much anything as far as Clint and Nat goes (except enemies)
2.SHIELD characters are a strong plus, especially May, Morse, Hill, Coulson, and/or Fury.