X-Men First Class COMPLETE fic: Late Bloomer (33/33)
Phew. Done. This final chapter is almost certainly full of mistakes, absolutely definitely full of angst and may not make sense, but, you know, DONE. YAY.
I think the whole fic clocks in at around 80,000 words all told. Never again. Seriously. Not ever doing this again.
Chapters 1-28:
Late Bloomer on
( Read more... )
I think the whole fic clocks in at around 80,000 words all told. Never again. Seriously. Not ever doing this again.
Chapters 1-28:
Late Bloomer on
( Read more... )
I FINALLY SAW AVENGAAAAAZ. [Redacted] and I watched it in Sydney on our way home! We had a ten-hour stopover and we'd had no sleep, so that might have dampened the experience, but I found it quite average, and so, so very long. I felt like there were several very good interactions between the team that could have been lifted from the middle, and then they could just CUT THE WHOLE FIRST HALF OF THE FILM and started with that. Or better yet, instead of a film, it would have made a very good TV series, with whole episodes to introduce them all and flesh out the feelings and stories, because there just wasn't the time or audience patience to deal with them properly. OH STEEEEEEVE. ALL MY FEELINGS. BABYYYY LET ME HUG ONE OF YOUR GIANT ARMS.
And I came out of it shipping only Tony/Bruce, is that normal or is there fic for that? Also, Steve/Woman Whose Name I Can't Remember. The one who's swaggering bum ended the film. The badass one who wasn't Black Widow. But Clint/Coulson is the big name pairing? Hmmm, unexpected... but it sounds like it would involve a lot of office romance, which is a huge kink of mine. Also yes, that relationship would be a WONDERFULLY stable change from the Erik/Charles Emotional Murdercoaster. I have got to get into this fandom, there are so many things to explore! Can you point me towards any good authors/rec lists?
There's probably been new developments by now, but sorry to hear the flat situation is so bumpy. The 1890's place sounds adorable, fireplaces and shutters! Eeee, yes please! I hope it's warm enough, though. Living in a character house is great until the first frost hits and you can see your breath inside and your heating bill triples and your flatmate gets constant nosebleeds because the air's so dry. You can probably tell I'm speaking from experience.
HOPE YOU GOT PAST THE DEADLINES AND THAT THE CHOCOLATE WAS DELICIOUS. MY BRAIN IS STILL FIVE HOURS OUT OF SYNC AND I JUST REALISED IT'S 3:30AM. I think I have lots and lots of other comments to reply to, but I better leave those until tomorrow... how's The Women coming? ;D Haha don't worry, I have been chipping away quite unsuccessfully at a sequel to the Angel/Demon AU, though I remember now that I REALLY like writing Lestrade, and I desperately want to get to at least a couple of conversations between Sherlock and the devil...
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Yeah, that was pretty much my feeling about the avengers before fandom took over. A few good Joss Whedon lines (that aren't actually much related to the characters), the joy that is Pepper barefoot in her tiny little shorts, and a whole heap of confusing and unnecessary plot. The whole "we're making shiny weapons powered by BLUE and Fury is an evil liar who lies" plotline could have just fallen by the wayside if you ask me. I barely noticed it first time around and wasn't much interested the second.
Tony/Bruce is definitely one of the few pairings that gets reallt pushed by the film itself, everything else comes out of fandom, and fandom is GLORIOUS. Did I mention that Clint likes to hide in the ceiling ducts and jump out at unsuspecting SHIELD interns? Or that Coulson has a terrible addiction to reality TV and a TiVo crammed with Super Nanny? Or that Steve and Tony adopt a baby Peter Parker and are like WTF KID, THIS IS NOT A FAMILY BUSINESS when he turns into Spiderman? I don't think anyone knows where this shit comes from, but it still comes.
And Clint's backstory in the comics. Read up on it and you will never have any hugs to spare for Steve.
Yes, there are lots of C/C office romance fics, though most of them are exceedingly silly AUs with wars over donuts, or equally silly established relationship fics (I think this one is my favourite: http://archiveofourown.org/works/397785 Read it and tell me they are not adorable.) There is also a plethora of h/c and some very amusing AUs (including the one where Phil is a SHIELD agent who keeps ripping his suits and Bruce and Clint run a tailor's shop and it all ends in a happy threesome) and pining and obliviousness of epic proportions. THIS IS MY SHIP AND I SAIL IT INTO THE SUNSET. Except for the fact that I'm perfectly happy to have all the avengers in any pairings or multiples you choose, because the true wonder of this fandom is its incredible flexibility.
The one where Tony keeps calling in more and more people to see if he can make Steve break a sweat during sex? Yeah. I didn't read that one. Not even a little bit. Definitely not twice.
Oh boy, rec lists? I will work on that one for you, but honestly I don't know. Rec lists are strangely not my thing, though I have a few pinboard pages for completely random people that I visit. It's a bit of a lucky dip because they keep changing fandoms. I have read Hockey RPF because of this habit, I kid you not.
The flat situation turned out to be a waste of effort in the end since some conditions of the leasehold made it impractical. *siiigh* I did like it but it kind of got coloured by all of the stress, so maybe it's for the best. And yikes, nosebleeds? But this is New Zealand where everything is rugged and harsh and octogenarians herd sheep on snow-covered mountaintops, right?
I am looking forward to the Angel/Demon AU but dude, I DO NOT DESERVE IT considering how pathetic I'm being about writing.
OK, there are more comments to reply to but it's late and I have to reconsider Irene's COMPLEX MOTIVATIONS, because I can't seem to make the story go anywhere from her POV while I don't know exactly why she's doing what she's doing. Except that she wants to get Mary into bed, ovbiously. MORE TOMORROW. I'M HAPPY YOU'RE BACK. BACK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD, BUT STILL BACK.
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LOLOLOLOL that's the most accurate way to explain that plot thread! Hahahaha still laughing...
Oh man, I love the sound of this fandom :DDDD. There's just so many permutations, and everybody is so distinct and therefore every combination of pairings/OT3s/OT5s/OT8s is exciting (omg seriously? Only Whedon could squeeze that many cool characters into a single film). I have been trawling the kinkmeme a bit (always my first stop in a new fandom) but I think I need to rewatch the film once more. I keep losing track of who's talked to who and how much of what I'm reading is even loosely based in canon scenes and which parts are comic canon and which parts must be a fanon thing. Internet piracy, here I come. Also, hey what, where is a link to this "Tony keeps calling in more and more people to see if he can make Steve break a sweat during sex" thing. You can't just throw that out there unattached!
Yes fanon does seem to be focusing on Clint as a bit whumped, let me go read-- *reads wikipedia* CLIIIIINT ;_; BEBBE LET ME HUG YOU TOO. I HAVE ROOM AGAINST MY BOSOM FOR YOU BOTH. Argh, I wish they'd kept the thing where he was deaf, though! That was a fantastic chance to chuck some diversity in there >:( they didn't have to make it a big thing, since he has hearing aids in the comics anyway, they could just have had one or two scenes where he takes them out and Black Widow talks to him in ASL or something. Missed opportunity.
I'm terrible at rec lists, because if I ever made them, I would feel obliged to make it all fics that are objectively good, that I think show skills like good writing, but those aren't always the fics I bookmark - it's usually the things that are either ridic hawt (and sometimes the worst writing is still hilariously sexy) or just make me have all the sadness and feelings. I don't think I even WANT other people to know what I like in fanfic.
Sad to hear about the flat :( I'm sure something better will turn up! Yeah, flats that miserable are really standard in Dunedin, because it's a student town and the landlords can get away with charging anything they like without making their flats healthy or safe to live it. I'm actually really glad I can afford decent housing these days.
Haha NZ's not tough, we just have this awful attitude called "she'll be right" where we totally ignore serious problems or hazards because we can't be bothered or don't want to look weak. I guess a lot of countries do that, especially the pressure on men. But some of the guys at our fortnightly feminist drinks have horrible stories about when they've been really, really sick (from serious flu/respiratory illness to eating disorders and mental illness) and haven't sought treatment because they feel like "real men" wouldn't kick up a fuss. SEXISM HURTS EVERYBODY :((((
I will get a working version of the A/D AU if it kills me, I never abandon a challenge. All I want is for John to be an avenging angel with a pistol and a slow-burning rage, is that too much to ask of my stupid muse?
I HOPE YOU MADE SOME PROGRESS ON IRENE'S COMPLEX MOTIVATIONS, THOUGH PERSONALLY I THINK SHE COULD PROBABLY SAVE ENGLAND AND THE ECONOMY FOR NO OTHER MOTIVATION THAN THE REWARD OF BEDDING MARY. Good luck with offline stuff too, though! Take care of yourself way over! (Ha, I can see the bottom of your shoes).
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The "Tony keeps calling in more and more people to see if he can make Steve break a sweat during sex" thing? That would be this one:
http://archiveofourown.org/works/417286
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I think I want to write an avengers High School OT6 to this prompt. Tell me I'm wrong. Also I will never be able to do a HS AU like you but you inspiiirrrre meeeee.
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OH MY GOD, the 'no biggie' ASL scene would have made that movie. FIIIIIIIICCC *hyperventillates* *grabby hands* *faints*
I would be deeply interested to read your recs, especially because I expect they'd be vastly different from mine. It would be on a level with the Angst/Fluff challenge that spawned the adorable birthday fic and forced me to write Sherlock fic completely out of my comfort zone. Though I don't think I'd like anyone knowing my recs either, because if I was honest they'd all be shamefully fluffy, and if I recced stuff that was objectively good I'd feel terrible about giving people PAINFUL FEELINGS.
Yay, I'm glad you now live in a nosebleed-free zone. Oh, I just visited a friend who's got a room in a truly bizarre and wonderful old house where you have to feed the electricity meter with £1 coins (provided, bizarrely enough)and there is no proper heating and the kitchen is one of those baby belling ovens that sits on a table, and it's owned by a grandmother who basically lets it out to her granddaughters and their friends-of-friends for company (and charges almost nothing) and used to be (is) an artist, and EVERYTHING is painted and it's all tatty and run-down and eclectic and GORGEOUS. I want it.
Wow... "she'll be right" sounds fairly terrifying. The poor menfolk, that really is awful. I suppose it's the same with the "stiff upper lip" mentality here, but I think that's dropped away somewhat. But I guess it means that any stereotyping can be damaging, even the little things (like calling one of your kids 'the family troublemaker' or some such - self-fulfilling prophecy). It's so complicated, HOW DO I LIFE?
THAT IS NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK, COME ON MUSE, GET OFF YOUR ARSE. AND GIVE MINE A GOOD KICKING TOO WHILE YOU'RE AT IT. (My muse, not my arse. Or maybe both.)
Irene is... Goddammit, why can I not decide how much she cares about Sherlock? *sigh* But on the upside, there is the potential for much description of Mary's beauty and Irene fantasising about what she likes in bed. CAN THAT BE THE WHOLE CHAPTER? Because OMG the plot.
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*ahem* okay, enough pimpin' of ridiculous kids shows. In conclusion: Clint should have been deaf in the film for many reasons including but not limited to ableism. I will write you deaf!Clint one day but I will probably fuck it up because I'm able bodied. That's not meant to sound sarcastic I am genuinely concerned I will fuck it up.
Spoiler: most of my recs are porn. It's because I like two types of fic - novel-length, plotty, action-filled, often-grim, amazing AUs and short, simple porn. It is much quicker and easier to write and read the latter, so they are both more abundant and easier to consume and bookmark. It's embarrassing to admit, but at least I can explain it with science.
Oh that is ADORABLE, I want to live in a house that quirky! Well, maybe not for a long time, but still. Imagine how much creative material you would get out of a house like that! It would be so inspiring.
Yes, I think it's very similar to the 'stiff upper lip'. I don't know whether it's getting better or not - there is a strong macho culture underlying it, which even women are expected to conform to to some extent (one of the classic "kiwi woman" images is a farm girl who can carry a 90 pound lamb under each arm and drive a tractor in any weather), which in today's NZ basically turns into a way to beat down people who "whine" about social injustices. It's gross but I have to believe it's getting better.
HOW DO LIFE? indeed. How do life indeed, so_shhy :(
Irene, oh dear, it sounds like she's as tricky with you as she is with everyone else. She just wants to do her own thing. That is the worst kind of awesome character :( "dammit woman, get into my pen." I am looking forward incredibly to descriptions and fantasies of Mary's beauty, yes please. That can absolutely be the whole chapter.
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Yes, I love Clint in all his incarnations, most of which I know nothing about. Huh. I have no idea how this happened.
*grin* Porn! definitely easy reading. Though I gotta say, I'm fine with lack of plot but I find there needs to be FEELINGS in porn for me to enjoy it. Angsty feelings are the bestest, obviously, but fuzzy feelings work to. Without them it's all just descriptions of grinding bodies and I only skim the dialogue.
I'm trying to scientifically describe what I read too... but failing. I read too much stuff these days, so basically if it's different and it doesn't make me want to cry I'm all for it. And if it reads like a romance novel, all the better.
Ah, deaf!Clint. There's too much stuff to fuck up in the world as a writer, seriously. I think the only thing with writing about a disability is that if you get it wrong it's insulting. Whereas if I get the logistics of a high school prom wrong nobody is going to care. I'm a firm believer in writing what you know, it takes SO MUCH LESS RESEARCH. Hence the love of comic book science and fantasy worlds. But if you wrote me deaf Clint I wouldn't know if you fucked it up and we could shamelessly enjoy our imagined version of reality in secret.
There must be some theory somewhere about the need to suspend your own disbelief as a writer. The handwavy 'I don't know how they got from point A to point B, LET'S JUST CUT THERE' that I guess most people do and most readers don't even blink at always manages to spoil things a bit for me when I'm writing. If I can't work out the details I can't quite believe it. So maybe deaf!Clint wouldn't be fun to write. Though he'd still be super-fun for me to read.
I have to believe it's getting better. Oh god, this world we live in. You can struggle to change things, but sometimes you just gotta sit back and hope.
I didn't get The Women as finished as I wanted to on holiday because I forgot to copy your last chapter onto my laptop, but it's nearly there. Just a few things to sort out! And Mary's beauty will not be the whole chapter, but it does crop up once or twice. Or three times.
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There definitely needs to be feelings in porn, definitely, definitely! Nothing is sexier. Even the tiniest touch is better than a full-on gangbang if there are ~~*feeeeelings*~~. Also, I admit I find dialogue really, really hard (heh) to deal with in a lot of written porn. Some people have the skill, but most of the time I'm just like *recoil* "guh! Captain America would never use such language!" Which is weird, because dirty-talk is definitely a turn on for me in real life. At this stage I'm pretty sure all the rules of human sexuality are just God fucking with us.
if it's different and it doesn't make me want to cry I'm all for it.
Same here, only the opposite with the cry part. BRING ON THE CRIES. Okay, I admit, I also totally love it when the author pulls a happy ending out of their butt.
I think the only thing with writing about a disability is that if you get it wrong it's insulting. Whereas if I get the logistics of a high school prom wrong nobody is going to care.
Super true. I think the problem is that as you say, it takes more research, and lots of people either don't realise that (like, when they treat disabilities/minorities as some kind of fantasy race like elves and they just make it up as they go along) or are simply too lazy to do the research. Also people want to link disabilities into themes for able-bodied people, like people in wheelchairs are just lessons for the rest of us about living your dream despite your limitations, or deaf people are just here show us the beauty of colours. Or whatever. Point is, THAT'S GROSS, DON'T DO THAT.
But I still want to write deaf!Clint. I remember a prompt on the kinkmeme a while back about Clint being the only one unaffected by an assailant attacking the Avengers with the paralysing sonic screwdriver from Iron Man. That sounds badass.
I think one thing I still haven't got the hang of as a writer is the kind of slight-of-hand where there's plot holes or fact gaps, but the audience doesn't even notice it. I respect that skill, because to some extent it's got to be necessary if you want to write anything shorter than the Lord of the Rings, right?
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And the costume. OH GOD, the EMH costume's pointy mask is a thing of beauty. And the miniskirt one in that picture? Just... what? I mean... what? I think my brain is stuck on a loop of baffled, delighted disbelief.
Aw, I love the idea of Steve not wanting to say dirty stuff. I can just imagine him blushing like crazy at some of the stuff coming out of Tony's mouth, and then finally stopping dead and saying "Tony, I don't mind you describing body parts but please don't blaspheme. How about saying 'Oh golly, yeah' instead?" And Tony would totally facepalm except that his hands are tied to the bedframe.
WHY DO PEOPLE WANT TO CRY?? A few people commented on DMDM and said it made them cry and I felt like, WHAT? NOOEEE, I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU SAD! IT'S A HAPPY FLUFFY FIC! THERE ARE JOKES! IT'S MEANT TO MAKE YOU LAUGH. There are only a handful of fics that have honestly made me cry and while they make an impact they also make me REALLY MISERABLE for like, two days.
Oh god, the disability-as-a-life-lesson thing. No. NO.
The paralysing sonic screwdrivdr plot sounds awesome. And then hypothetical!author would just write totally unrelated fics in the same 'verse, since Clint's deafness was already established. And it would just be a fact. I think it would be a real test of an author, especially one who doesn't have personal experience of deafness, to consider how it might have shaped Clint's character and keep that in another story in the verse where it's never actually mentioned or overtly referred to. Challenge definitely not accepted for me, that shit is hard.
Hmm, sleight of hand? I only read it once because it was SAD, but there was a fic of yours written in interview transcripts and journal entries and stuff. I can't remember if there were plot holes or anything, but I feel that it was much more roughly sketched than most of your stories and it still worked really well. And it stretched across twenty years or something, but it was short. So... uh. You can definitely do it, is my basic point.
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Btw, just to illustrate how much I love the Hawkeye costume, here's my favourite screen shot from EMH (the ellipsis was added by me when I originally emailed it to Tessa). Either the artists love the hood too, or Hawkeye himself is channeling his spirit through their fingers.
"Tony, I don't mind you describing body parts but please don't blaspheme. How about saying 'Oh golly, yeah' instead?"
ARRRGGHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*snorts*. Yeah. That's Steve. Definitely. And with his stamina, he never gets so worked up he doesn't still have the breath to scold Tony.
Aw man I'm sorry to hear that sad!fics made you miserable :( now I feel bad for writing "cry!" all through DMDM. I swear I meant it as a good thing! I'm sure those readers wouldn't have told you they cried unless they enjoyed a good cry. Stuff that makes me depressed for two days (like this movie I saw in the film festival last week, it was called Lore, omg don't watch it) never make me cry, they just make me dead inside. The stuff that makes me cry is cathartic, it's stuff where the emotions are uplifting even while they're distressing, where it's horrible because it suddenly makes clear how much has been lost and how wonderful the lost thing was (*cough*Boden's Mate*cough*). Wait, or am I just a masochist? Anyway, your readers were probably just crying with joy when Coulson came back.
Yeah, deaf!Clint would be such a hard thing to shape because you want to keep him in character (and changing him too much feels like it sends the wrong message, because you don't want to imply that being deaf turns someone into a totally different person). But I'd want to write him being deaf from childhood, because that seems much more interesting, and that obviously would have a huge effect on the person he became. So maybe it would be easier to have the deafness be as the result of an injury during SHIELD operations. But then how did he learn sign language at such a late age, and why would he bother if he has enough sensation left to use a hearing aid? Did Nat know sign language from her time as a spy, did she teach him?
Wait, I bet she did, I bet they stayed up every night after missions, and he took his hearing aid out so that he had to guess from her lips what her hands were saying. It was the first time he really interacted with someone without hearing them, since SHIELD had given him the uber-sweet aids right before he got out of the hospital. It made him realise how much people say with their faces and bodies, how little the spoken word really mattered to communication. CLINT AND NAT <3 BUDDIES FOREVER.
Heh heh, it was White Noise and writing it was like trying to convince a cat to have a bath. I'm glad it held together. Lol, I just went to check that it was called "White Noise" and I wasn't thinking of something else, and it was the fill where we had our first big conversation! ~~CUUUUUTE~~ ...ew, now past!me is self pimping. I'll stop reading there.
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Ahahaha, yes, Steve never gets out of breath during sex and he never shuts up either. Also he has learned that this is the only time he can get Tony to hold still long enough to have a serious conversation about Avengers matters, so half the time he's saying "Tony, please don't swear" and the other half it's "So Hawkeye was underused in that last battle, we need to review our strategy on that. Do you have any thoughts? No? Ok, I'll just wait while you think about it." And he refuses to do anything further until Tony has made a valid contribution.
Aw, I assumed CRY was a good thing... and I got all happy when you laughed at the jokes too, heeee, I write them and I snigger at them but I'm surprised when other people do too. IRL I can't tell a funny story to save my life, thank god for the written word.
The stuff that makes me cry is cathartic, it's stuff where the emotions are uplifting even while they're distressing, where it's horrible because it suddenly makes clear how much has been lost and how wonderful the lost thing was
Arrrrgh, I know exactly what you mean, that is incredibly powerful... but unfortunately my brain focuses on the IT'S LOST aspect rather than IT WAS WONDERFUL, so it's pretty much the thing I hate reading the most. Which is awful, because it's really good stuff. My emotions just can't take it, unless I actually want to cry and eat ice cream all day (which.. everyone needs to sometimes). Also I have serious problems consoling myself with but it's not actually real. Because it is, goddamnit.
Yeah, I read a deaf!Clint ficlet where he'd been deaf from childhood and he basically didn't talk, which kind of makes him - well, not Clint, anyway. I think it might be interesting to write him as deaf from before SHIELD, especially if it were the comic book style verse where he was taken under Natasha's wing quite early on. Possibly it happened when he was beaten and left for dead by the first bunch of circus folks. So he's coping with being deaf when he sets up his act as The Amazing Hawkeye, but it's not until he meets Nat that he learns sign language, and suddenly she's the person that it's easiest for him to communicate with. (And since he's a carnie and then basically a criminal it's hard for him to get his hands on a decent hearing aid.) Oh, if only I could click my fingers and have a fic magically appear from all of this. Why are they such hard work?
AND WHY MUST THERE BE CONFLICTING HEADCANONS? Because yes, she totally taught him after missions or when they were in safehouses, having made him take his aids out, and that's why he has superspy people-reading skills as well as marksmanship. And in exchange he made her throw playing cards and shoot rubber bands until she was almost as good as him. And now they sit next to each other in briefings so they can talk under the table.
AWWWWW, yeah, I remember that conversation - Alphas and Omegas, right? Hahaha, no, I don't want to go and reread myself trying desperately to have worthwhile opinions, but I am very glad both that fic and that conversation exist :-D When I read it I remember thinking... wow, I'll never be able to do that. So it was worth the pain, dude. AND OUCH, DEAR GOD, now I remember exactly how it ended, that one was a punch in the gut. But very, very good.
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I mean, what the hell kind of hawk is that supposed to be?
Well, out of interest I googled a few combinations of "bird" and "fuchsia" and I don't know about birds of prey, but the Purple Martin of North America looks like a sassy little fucker.
Hahaha omg Steve noooo, don't blueball Tony into aligning with your policy ideas. SLEEPING YOUR WAY INTO A POSITION OF POWER IS WRONG, STEVE. Oh, wait, now I'm imagining pre-serum!Steve being in the line up position for the serum, but they're going to pick one of the regular soldiers... until Steve seduces Colonel Phillips and Dr Erskine and sexes them into giving him the serum. And he looks so innocent in public! The little scamp!
CRY is definitely a good thing. It means "I HAVE FEELINGS U MAKE ME REMEMBER I AM HUMAN". But I'm not writing that every time.
Aw man :( I totally understand that you'd avoid that stuff, even though I gotta admit I love it. If it's really well written or tells a really new story or makes me love a pairing I hadn't considered before than I want my grubby fingers all over it. Also it totally is real. Okay, no, it's ultimately not, but it's like... almost all the ways we experience the world around us consist of stories in one way or another, whether it's on the news, or gossip in the office, or talking about the past with our friends, or even the way we put our own memories and experiences together in our minds. Fiction comes from the memories and experiences of other people, but we assimilate it into our selves the same way we incorporate most of the non-fiction world, so to us it might as well be as real. That's where the danger of culture lies (the inbuilt stories that contribute to things like racism) but it's also essentially the only way for us to learn and empathise with other people, so it's a tool that can be used for a lot of good, too.
Also for porn. It can be used for porn. Damn I'm wordy tonight :/ it's probably because I'm sick. My brain isn't inhibiting properly.
A Clint who doesn't talk (either vocally or with his hands)?? BUT WHERE WILL THE SASS COME FROM???
Oh yes, we need magical fic machines that create fic from our minds. Yesssss.
Aw yes he taught Nat to become the bestest sniper ever and she uses it to enhance her knowledge of physics and thus improve her hand-to-hand combat, and he's all, "Stop using my teachings to kick my arse ass on the sparring mats >:(". And ahaha Clint and Natasha talking under the table XD and Fury's like "Will you two shut up!" and everyone else is really confused because they hadn't noticed anything.
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the Purple Martin of North America looks like a sassy little fucker.
It really does! Oh man, there are a few Clint-gets-turned-into-a-hawk fics out there, but THIS. LOKI'D. Coulson is like *sigh* OK, fine, you're a bird, let's work out how to get you changed back. And Clint is all oooooooo, dude, I'm PURPLE! THIS IS AWESOME. And he escapes and flies around the tower for a few days and shits on Tony's head before Nat lures him into a box with a trail of donut holes and they cart him off to Asgard to be de-birded. And he's all ;_; until Phil feels sorry for him and lets him have a RIDICULOUS PURPLE FIELD SUIT WITH SPIKES ON THE MASK to make him feel better.
Ahahahah, oh god Steve. "A medical exam? Really doctor? Why yes, just pull that curtain closed..."
I find story tragedies so much more affecting than the real thing. If someone says "My cat died" in reality there's the whole Oh poor cat but, shit, what do I say? Is this a hug situation? Dammit, I wanted to go read porn and now I have to be comforting. Why am I obsessing about myself when this person's cat has just died, I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON, thing to go through. (At least, for about half the universe I'm sure that's the case. The other half actually are decent caring human beings. Bah, weirdos.) Whereas if it's a story my heart can break with impugnity. And it does. And it hurts. I am not sure if it's good or bad. But anyway, stories are very freeing in that regard. They let us be selfish.
Do special ops guys get taught sign language? Surely it'd be really handy to know.
I love the idea that Clint and Nat are sometimes really childish together. Like, they trust each other enough that they don't have to be badass. I bet Clint's the only person who gets to see Nat giggle. And she's the only one who gets to see him relaxing sprawled on the carpet on his back, rather than taking his breaks crouched somewhere up high. BROMANCE. EPIC BROMANCE.
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And yes, MCU Clint is definitely wearing a purple thong under his field suit. It's how his bum achieves such a perfect profile. No panty lines on this assassin. Heh heh. Assassin.
Phil feels sorry for him and lets him have a RIDICULOUS PURPLE FIELD SUIT WITH SPIKES ON THE MASK to make him feel better.
CANON. OR AT LEAST BETTER BE CANON IN THE NEXT MOVIE WHEN COULSON COMES BACK.
Oh gosh yes, that's a wonderful way to put it: Stories let us be selfish. And yes, it is really, really hard to know what to say in real life when someone's anything dies, cats and upwards. God forbid it's a human, then all you can do is pretend to have a bundt cake in the oven and run for the hills. I'm terrible with other people's grief and no nothing about expressing it myself.
It would be super useful to know sign language! I think maybe special ops guys might learn a small vocabulary of military signs? (I don't know, I'm just hoping it's true.) Have you read about Martha's Vinyard Sign Language? I came across it when I was helping a friend do research for her masters and I was like "Omg I wish everyone learned NZSL in school". So. Cool.
YES. They totally are childish together all the time, and spend half their time in each other's rooms in Stark tower. And without everyone else they're stone-cold badasses but with each other they're like, "Na-a-at I got a paper cut under my nail, oh my fucking God this hurts, help meeee," and "Cli-i-int if you love me you'll make me a cup of tea," etc, etc.
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Oh, the complexity of human interactions. I wonder now if there's anyone who isn't made uncomfortable by grief. I mean, it feels like being ok with it would mean... I don't know. Maybe that looking after a grieving person was somehow satisfying or enjoyable, which is insulting to the grief and the griever, even though I guess people like to be looked after so what's wrong with enjoying it?
That was a very convoluted paragraph, my apologies.
OH MAN, that sign language thing is amazing!
AAAND, I think that at this point I absolutely have to go to sleep. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, sleep. I's almost been worth this hellish week to have the bliss of falling asleep and being able to stay asleep until whenever the fuck. Goodnight!
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