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wolfgiselle · 9 months ago

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Character Reaction Fanfictions (watching the show/movie or reading the books) -Recs -

One of my favorite tropes in fanfiction is characters being forced to watch/read/react to their own stories. Unfortunately, a good majority of these are crap. Readers looking for these stories often have to dig through a lot of coal to find just one diamond in the rough. Here's a list of the ones I’ve managed to find. Ones that aren’t just a written recreation of their source material.

Is This The Way It Ends Now? by Seastar98 (Death Note) (Finished) This is one of my favorite Death Note fanfictions for a reason. It doesn’t make us watch or read the dialogue or action of the show along with the characters; It assumes we’ve already seen it and focuses on the character’s reactions (what we’re actually here for) and gives more character development to some of its minor characters (Mello, Near, and Matt being clear examples. I was happy about this in particular since my favorite characters in Death Note are Matt and Matsuda). L and Light end up together, but romance is not the focus.

Hunter x Hunter / Assassination Classroom by EternalQuestForGoodFics (Finished) Basically, Killua ends up in the Assassination Classroom world. To go home, he must eventually allow his classmates to watch the HunterxHunter series to learn more about him and where he came from. These two fandoms are a great matchup, and Killua is one of the best characters to end up in the AssClass world. Seeing Killua bond and make a new friend out of Nagisa made it worth reading alone. Their reactions are part 2 of the series.

MHA X Hunter by makifinity (My Hero Academia / Hunter x Hunter) (In progress) This is a good fanfiction where the My Hero Academia characters watch the HunterXHunter anime together instead of their own show. What makes ‘this’ great is how different the two worlds are and the morals that hold them together. I love that the villains are also involved in this viewing room since, in most My Hero reaction fics, the villains are left out of the experience and don’t get to have their own voices and opinions about what is happening on screen.

The Journey of the Unholy Trinity by Arremi (Code Geass) (In progress) If you’ve been in the Code Geass fandom long enough, you’ve probably seen a few of these stories. This one is the longest, most well-written, and most complete I’ve found.

Code Geass: The Blame Game: by AllHailThe99th (Code Geass) (In progress) One thing I like about this Code Geass reaction fic is the author’s obvious and stated hate of the character Suzaku. Suzaku is on my list of most hated characters; I like reading people judging and calling him out constantly on his shit. It’s a very therapeutic read. I recommend it to anyone who felt a similar rage when watching the show.

Appearances by McKinney_Wylis (Marvel / Avengers) (Finished) This story has the Avengers going to Asgard to check on Loki when they find a weird video clip online that scares them into believing Loki may have broken free. It turns out the video clip was from a different universe (our universe), and they suddenly had access to the Marvel movies that were available at that time. They watch the Thor movie and learn things about Loki, unknown before. The watching of Thor actually doesn’t take up the whole fic, but this story still counts. It takes place during the Thor: The Dark World storyline.

In terms of pairings…well, I’ll read any pairing if it’s written well enough. Even a story with Loki and Steve shacking up. I don’t like Steve, but I like how he was written in this fic. The way he and Loki interact is cute enough that I can look past it.

Part of the Journey is the end by hunkahulkaaburningfudge (Marvel / Avengers) This series starts with the characters watching Infinity War and has been going through the continuing movies and TV shows; with great writing and lots of material, this is definitely one of the best. I loved the Wanda and Loki reactions. And the ‘What if?” storylines were hilarious.

Avengers Watch Snippets by Ifihadatardis (Marvel / Avengers) As advertised, the characters watch little snippets of scenes of each other’s lives. Sometimes, these fics are preferable because the characters can learn about each other without going through their entire movies.

All the Days of Our Lives Series by ElrondScribe (Marvel / Avengers) This series has the characters react to Captain America, Iron Man 1, and Iron Man 2. It takes place after Civil War and has them watching the movies in Wakanda. I like the Tony Stark and Pepper focus in these fics, and I thought the writer did well with the other character voices, even for the ones I didn’t like.

School Watches Assassination Classroom by TheSteinsGateFormula (Assassination Classroom) (Finished) This is not just one of the best reaction fanfictions of all time but one of the best, period. The author not only had the original class and teachers watching the show but the entire school (baring the Principal, thank god) yet still managed to keep everyone in character and give everyone a distinctive voice when trying to keep up with so many people.

Attention is given to situations that were mostly glossed over without consequence in the actual show, like the students who came from abusive households. My favorite characters, Nagisa and the younger Asano, get a good amount of attention.

The only negative of this fic is how long it is. Over 700,000 words. It takes some serious reading time, but it’s worth it. Trust me. But once you start, you might not want to stop. Make sure you have the time to dedicate to it.

Lucifer Reacts to Supernatural by SilverWolf7 (Lucifer/Supernatural) As much as I love Supernatural and wish I had more good recs for it, this is one of the best options I can offer in this category. I haven’t seen the show Lucifer yet (I’ve been meaning to), but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this fic. Seeing Lucifer’s love of Sam’s character and hearing him rage about many of the things in the show that frustrated me or he thought were inaccurate were giant highlights of this story. Warning: If you’re a Dean fan, you might get defensive about how much Lucifer bashes him (I live for it, but that’s me). One of the other characters that he’s watching it with even rage-quits on him for how much he was dissing her favorite character. If that doesn’t bother you, this might be the fic for you.

Watching You, Watching Me, Watching You by trippedandfellintopurgatory (Supernatural) This is one of the only good Supernatural watching-the-show fics I’ve found. So, of course, it only has 19 chapters, sits at 30,000 words, and has a slow updating schedule.

Blank Disc by TheFallenArchangel (Supernatural) Another of the few good Supernatural watch-the-show fics. This one hasn’t been updated since 2014 and has only seven chapters. Dean and Sam are teenagers, and their father and Bobby watch with them.

The Void by iAnneart (Yugioh: Duel Monster/ Yugioh Abridged) This fanfiction was one that I used to love, and I hate that it still hasn’t been updated and doesn’t look like it ever will be. The characters of Yugioh react to their own abridged series to hilarious effect. This fic was the entire reason I watched the Abridged Series by LittleKuribo - still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and admittedly much better than the actual show. Another fanfiction is more popular and has them watch more episodes. But this fic was much better written with only ten chapters.

Under a Watchful Eye by my secret thoughts (Harry Potter) A story where the Harry Potter characters read the books. It focuses on Harry and Sirius. There is no actual recitation of the books (thank god), but it’s written well enough to tell what they’re reacting to. So far, this is the only reaction fic like this in the Harry Potter fandom I’ve liked. It takes place during their 5th-year, and the other characters are mostly Order of the Phoenix members.

Truth Revealed by Lucifer swift (Full Metal Alchemist) One of the first reaction fanfictions I ever read. It's been reuploaded on fanfiction.net. In this reaction series, the characters are forced to relive the pain they witness themselves having on screen. Any of you who have seen Full Metal Alchemist know that is leading to an agonizing time.

No such thing as a painless lesson by RoseJennison (My Hero Academia) The best My Hero Academia fanfiction that’s actually still going and might eventually catch up with the episodes…maybe. The characters in this are also forced to suffer the pain they see themselves experiencing onscreen. Think about all the times Midoriya breaks himself and imagine him having to feel all that again continuously.

In the Grasp of Schadenfreude by ThoughtSpinner (My Hero Academia) The parents and teachers/heroes watch the show and find out what's been going on with their children and at school. Needless to say, these parents have a lot of thoughts.

Reaction Ritual by PreshByPyre (Naruto) This is only six chapters, but I hope the author returns to it. It’s a good idea, and well-written Naruto reaction fics are rare.

A number of fragments by eliscool (Naruto) Exactly what the title suggests. Instead of watching Naruto episode by episode, the characters are watching random fragments of the show and have to try and put together what’s happening. This occurs when Naruto and the kids are still in the Academy - but before Itachi commits the massacre.

Old stories, new discoveries by Daniablazin (Discontinued) (Miraculous Ladybug) This is my favorite Miraculous Ladybug reaction fiction. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go past the first season. It’s been discontinued because the author said they didn’t like where the show was going. A real shame. The writing on this was amazing, and it had serious potential.

What are our children up to? by o0Lithium0o (Teen Wolf) The parents of Teen Wolf from earlier in the timeline get to see what their children are up to and their future. The kids aren't actually in the room with them. Probably for the best. They are so grounded for the foreseeable future once they all get back.

As Above is Below by kswriter (Shadowhunter Series)The characters of the Shadowhunter series (pretty much all of them) sit down to read the books. This goes by the book canon, not the show canon. I mainly love this series for the Mangus and Alec content. This is the only reaction fic I've seen with these characters.

Reaction: Six of Crows by error_404_gender_not_found (Six of Crows) Characters from Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone reading the Six of Crows books. This ignores the TV show canon.

Honorable Mentions: 1.Watching Hunter x Hunter by catnip_riceball 2.HxH watches Hunter x Hunter by bb_bubblepopb33 3.I Have Regrets, but this Just Might be the Worst of Them Series by by IzuochaRay (My Hero Academia) 4.Cheat code central by orphan_account (My Hero Academia)(Villains react to the show) 5. Mansion Of Time: Watching Season 1 by Perez_K (My Hero Academia) 6. Watching as Hope is Lost by GeorgeFredSlytherin (Code Geass) 7. The Trials and Tribulations of Spider-Man, the People's Hero by ironfidus (Marvel/Spiderman) 8. Glee meets Glee By: babeitscoldoutside (Glee) 9. when the teacup shatters by SolusMormont (Hannibal)

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cerealboxlore · 2 years ago

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i just remembered another small idea for de-aged billy thats been playing in my head

so like billy’s been very bitter around the league for the whole time they’ve seen him de-aged and end up taking him out of the watchtower for whatever reason (or he finds a way to leave himself if the league doesn’t let him because they think it’s unsafe for him or whatever) and villainous shenanigans ensue, theres a lot of damage and a very, very, scared child

of course our dear billy goes to help said child (maybe the league try to stop him since they don’t think he can comfort the child in his current bitter state but can’t really stop him?) and that’s the first time they really see captain marvel in him

like they’ve seen his physical similarities (eyes, hair, ect.) but now they see him put on a big cheesy grin for this kid, his posture becomes so much more open and friendly, and he just manages to look like he can handle anything despite the fact that by all means a boy so malnourished should not look that way

i also imagine that the way he talks suddenly holds so much wisdom and kindness (he was very mean to the league lol)

also it’d be so cool if the moment the child’s safe and out of sight he just switches up immediately and looks so weary and tired, the moment he notices the league so much as glance at him funny he switches again to super feral

(seems i had more to say than i thought dear cereal)

I always love answering your asks, sorry that I end up procrastinating so much!

Now time to cook this baby 🔥

De-aged Billy (but not really) is one of my favorite things ever, and it brings forth so many opportunities for this small child to open up and talk about his traumas and problems to the world. (Once more people has seen the newest movie I will be creating my own post about Billy's traumas and how they affect him despite being coined as the immature, childish superhero by every other superhero in his world.) But the beauty and tragedy about Billy having every opportunity and chance to open up and be vulnerable with others, is that he's too scared. Too convinced that what he wants to discuss isn't going to be important to others and that his problems are his problems alone to face and conquer, when he's just a kid. A kid who's grown up too fast for his own good.

I imagine if the league tries to keep little mortal Billy Batson in the watch tower, he'd definitely try and fly the coop. The zeta beams, trying to hitch a ride with another hero back home, or just straight up using a spell he saved to float in a hamster bubble back to Earth in space. (Superman stopped him from that last one).

Ultimately deciding on letting this small and feral child version of Captain Marvel outside in his own city for some fresh air is the smart decision. There may be some of his villains looking for him for any opportunity to strike at him, but I trust that the Justice League wouldn't leave him alone without a partner/chaperone, as they joked. It was supposed to be just Billy and Green Arrow accompanying him while things got sorted out.

Unfortunately Plastic Man hitched a ride on the zeta beam at the last second and completely threw plans WAY off.

They end up getting spotted by a villain, Dr. Sivana possibly, and things get messy, as you said. Green Arrow shoots down his mechanical dummies while Plastic Man deals with dangling the bald man upside down a lamp post. But the catastrophic effect to the clean and nice street was evident. Buildings were crashed into and torn apart by Dr. Sivana, nearly killing off innocent civilians, had it not been for Billy Batson guiding them to safety routes and easing their escapes.

In the chaos of it all, I like to believe that Billy will still find calmness and ease in it, after living a life so full of it for so long. He'd still remain focused, especially when he hears the cries of a familiar voice. A classmate.

They don't know that he's secretly Captain Marvel, and he doesn't know their name. But what does that matter? They're both kids. They're both too young for any of this to be happening to them. Guiding them away from all the falling debris and rubble, Billy keeps his classmate calm enough to bring them away from the dangers of the battle close to them.

Green Arrow and Plastic Man manged to shoot/sneak a concerned and worried look over to their supposed de-aged teammate's way, only to be surprised when they see that Billy is smiling as confidently and with his big cheesey grin as before.

That's when they realize. Even if it wasn't real or a moment in bad vision, it felt like Billy's shoulders were much broader than they seemed. Like the weight of the world was on his shoulders more than they should have been, but that the boy would never complain and only ask for more weight to hold in return. Just like their regular Cap.

It's strange. They never noticed this side of Captain Marvel before. They were meeting so many new sides of him in just one day, despite knowing him for years at this point. Just how much of their friend had they not known?

"Hey, come on, hold my hand! I'll get you out of this, maybe you'll still have time to help give me the math homework answers for tomorrow!"

"B-but! I'm too scared to move!! Everything is falling, a-and I-"

"It's going to be alright. You have to make the first step if you want to keep moving forward. I'll be with you, I promise. Let's get out of here. Together."

At the end of the terrible, no good, very bad day for Billy Batson, and Dr. Sivana is dealt with and his classmate is sent home to their family safe and sound, Billy just collapses, intending to hit the grass and sleep off everything, had it not been for the swift and caring stretched arms of Plastic Man catching him in time.

Billy wants to argue and maybe even tries to scratch at Plastic Man to let him go, but Plastic Man is already swinging and rocking him in the air in his super stretched arms, singing loudly and annoyingly an out of pitch made up lullaby.

Green Arrow gets them zeta beamed back to the watch tower before Plastic Man can start on the next chorus, but at least they were able to give the de aged Captain Marvel some free time for once (even if that was ruined halfway through).

Billy looks so peaceful and soft when sleeping. Malnourished and scruffy, yes, but right now, he was safe, and that was all that mattered. They'd figure out how to age him back to normal soon, and Billy would find a way to get out of this troublesome situation....eventually. But for now? Billy can enjoy this well-earned sleep.

Whew. It feels like I had a lot more to say than I thought, Markus.

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worldseer · 9 months ago

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Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

Oh lord, top ten of ALL media I loved? Fuckin' hell. Alright, just to cheat, I'm choosing to do this in no particular order and sticking to one media because I frankly do not have the capacity to process top favorites all at once. TOP TEN OF MARVEL COMICS/MCU IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier - Heavily relate to his issues, I've been told I look like him, and overall I love his character. Been obsessed with his character for years now, and I want nothing more than for him to be happy.

Moon Knight/Mark Spector/Steven Grant/Jake Lockley - Steven Grant is heavily relatable to me, and Moon Knight in general has always been interesting to me. I learned about the character before the show itself, and even his design itself draws me in. I'm a sucker when his cape makes the crescent shape too.

Ghost Rider - Nonspecific simply because all the Ghost Riders I know are badasses. If I had to be a hero/have the powers of any Marvel character, I'm choosing this one. Love the idea of the character, and wish it gets a good adaptation for film/tv show soon

Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner - Gender Envy. Also heavily relate to him because of similar issues. Consistently struggle if I want to be him or be with him.

Gambit/Remy LeBeau - I love a sarcastic man with a bit of fruitiness, and a smug ass face. Also his powers are interesting as well, and he's frankly a genius for using playing cards as his usual weapon (mass produced and several on hand).

Spider-Man - Also nonspecific, since I grew up on watching Spider-Man cartoons so I love Peter Parker, but also after ATSV I've gained an interest in Miguel O'Hara as well. Peter in the comics always has my heart however, some of the lines he has in them are iconic as hell.

Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto - He's a villain I can't ever hate, and probably has the second power I'd choose if I had to choose a power from a Marvel character. I too would cause mass destruction if it meant that me and people like me would stop fucking yknow- being killed and persecuted. And bro is (usually) old as fuck as he does this, still kicking ass.

Matt Murdock/Daredevil - Once again, relate due to similar issues. Also what's more funny than a sarcastic lawyer going out to beat the shit out of criminals every night? Plus it's a bit unfair that he looks hot beat up. . . iykyk.

Wade Wilson/Deadpool - Self explanatory.

Loki Laufeyson - Similar thing to Bucky and Kurt: obsessed with character for years and a part of me wants to be them. Might have kickstarted my discovery into being nonbinary honestly now that I think about it. . .

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cnwolf-brainrot · 2 months ago

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🍬, ❤️, or 💥 for the fic ask game?

🍬 Do you write for multiple fandoms? If yes, what is your favorite fic of yours for each fandom?

Yes, I have written for multiple fandoms, but that also depends on what you define as a "fandom" because almost all of my stuff is Marvel adjacent lol X'D If you count Avengers, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc as separate fandoms than I've written for a lot, but otherwise it's literally just been Marvel and a dash of TMNT. For the sake of a more fun answer I'm going to count those as separate!

Avengers/MCU: That's got to be the "Hurts to Heal, Helps to Hide" series!! I love the concept of the Healer!Clint AU and I like a lot of the ideas that are still to-be-written, it's been a fun AU to mess with! Guardians of the Galaxy: As much as I love "In The Walls", I think my favorite Guardians fic is "Like an Echo". It's a lot shorter, but I love the parallels in that story and I feel like it gave me a bit of catharsis in the face of the movies never showing us a post-Blip reunion for the Guardians. X-Men: As a surprise to no one, it's "Weapon by Name". I honestly think Weapon by Name is some of the best writing I've ever done, and it's length has allowed me to build up some super fun plot points that feel so gratifying to be tying together as we start coming closer to the end!! On top of that, the community that has sprouted up around this story is insane to me, one of the best experiences I've ever had online!! Daredevil: This is super specific but it's the "Ghosts" prompt from AU-gust 2022. This particular AU (Matt as a ghost that haunted Foggy's dorm room) has stuck in my head for some reason, and I'd really love to write a full-length story with it some day! TMNT: I've only posted two TMNT one shots, however I do have a few drafts lying around that I'd like to finish eventually! My favorite of those is one called "Splintered Sons", which is a TMNT 2003 foster care AU. It features human versions of the turtles, all of whom were put into the foster care system on the same night, though they all grew up in separate homes. Now they're all attending the same after-school dojo (all for their own reasons) and they slowly begin to realize that they were meant to be together all along... Ninjago: Same sort of thing here; I don't have any public Ninjago fics, but I have one in my drafts called "Deniable Darkness" that I would LOVE to finish up some day! It's a superhero/supervillain/vigilante AU focused around the brotherly relationship between Lloyd and Kai, with Kai being an ex-vigilante that is now working with the ninja/hero team while Lloyd is a young vigilante that is trying to take down his father, Garmadon. It's a super fun story, but one I haven't had the chance to sit down and finish.

A close follow-up to all of these of course is "Far too Young to be This Old", but I'm disqualifying that because it's a crossover fic (and because I'm not sure I can pick between that and Weapon by Name lol) <3

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

Ok, this is HARD. I honestly have a lot of lines that I'm pretty proud of, especially in the bigger fics. Off of the top of my head, I'm thinking of two:

"Without his visor every single thing that he looked at was preserved in bright, clean, shocking clarity. And every single thing he looked at was utterly destroyed." (Far too Young to be This Old)

"There you are, Kurt." (Weapon by Name)

I really liked that bit of description from Far too Young, and as for the Weapon by Name line I think it's been one of the most memorable lines from the fic so far and has so much emotional depth to it (and, hopefully soon, it will have even more...)

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

Give. Scott Summers. A decent character arc. In anything. '97 did right by him, but I'd love for the movies to give him an actual character arc. It would honestly fix a lot of the problems I had with the X-Men movies.

Or, for something more specific, I'd change Sean Cassidy's death. That was stupid, there was no emotional impact because the characters never reacted, holy cow I'm still furious at Marvel for that.

And of course I would expand on the whole "Nightcrawler was part of Weapon X" plotline from X2, but that's what Weapon by Name is for!! :D

#writing fanfic #fanfic writing #fanfic ask game #writing ask game #cn rambles

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visionsthatdance · 11 months ago

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Matt Hawk/Leibowicz Reading List

I've made a list like this before, but the blog I made it on got shadowbanned or something and none of my original posts are showing in the tags.

Matt Hawk/Matt Leibowicz is a gunslinger from 1873 who is also a defense lawyer. He's best known for his gay little situationship with Hawkeye/Clint Barton, but he's an interesting, fascinating, layered character in his own right.

This list, specifically, is aimed at people who just want to know what to read if they want to know more about Matt. My other list examines every single appearance of Matt's, while this one will only list issues I considered at least decent or are essential to understand his history. (accounting for period-typical nonsense). This list doesn't include content warnings, and some of the issues I list here go into some heavy topics, so if you need content warnings, check out my more in depth list here (x)

Issues marked with * are issues that are bare-bones necessary to understand his basic history, ! marks my personal favorites. Italicized entries are one where Matt only appears in a couple pages.

This list is in roughly chronological order.

!*Two-Gun Kid #60-62 (Kirby-Lee run)

Two-Gun Kid #63-64, 65D, 68, 69

Rawhide Kid #40

Two-Gun Kid #70-71, 73-74, 76

*Kid Colt #125

Two-Gun Kid #77, 81, 84

!Two-Gun Kid #85

Two-Gun Kid #87A, 88A, 90

Rawhide Kid #66B

Two-Gun Kid #103A

*Avengers Forever #4, 6

*Avengers Vol 1: 142-144, 147 (hawkeye)

Marvel Tales Vol 1: 100B (hawkeye)

!Ghost Rider Vol 2: 27 (hawkeye)

*Avengers 168, 175 (hawkeye)

!Indestructible Hulk Vol 1 12

Hulked Out Heroes 1

!*Marvel Fanfare Vol 1 49B

*West Coast Avengers 18-19, 20-21, 22, 23 (hawkeye)

Thor Corps Vol 1: 3

!Black Panther Vol 3: 46-47

!*Two-Gun Kid: The Sunset Riders

!*Blaze of Glory

*She-Hulk Vol 2: 3, 5

*Marvels Project Vol 1: 1, 8

#marvel #avengers #matt hawk #matthew leibowicz #reading lists #comics

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evilwickedme · 2 years ago

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Hi so. As someone who is vaguely into comic book adapted media, but hasn’t read any superhero comics ever, what sort of like. Super basic suggestions would you have for some favorite characters/runs/series you’ve read? Sorry for the SUPER broad question

So I'm waiting for my doctor's appointment and it's taking forever and my earphones are out of battery so sure why not let's give some recommendations. As usual keep in mind I'm literally just a guy and plenty of people will disagree with me or have read comics I've never touched. Also I've read a very random collection of stories like I've never sat and read any specific spider man run but I've read random specific spider man stories you know? Anyway

Marvel

I've been reading Marvel comics for a long time now, so I'm most solid about these recs.

Deadpool

This is obviously the subject I know the most about and I've been very clear about this in the past but my favorite Deadpool run/story is the 2012 run by Posehn and Duggan, and it was one of the first comics I ever read so obviously I think it's pretty good for beginners. It's got some solid humor, a healthy balance of violence vs story for a Deadpool comic, and it's got some serious heart too. It's also a soft reboot of the Deadpool canon, only has a few references to previous events, so it's really readable for newcomers. If you like Deadpool and are willing to pick up an ongoing I also warmly recommend the new ongoing by Alyssa Wong. We're only three issues in right now but it's delightful and we've officially got our first non-woman love interest for Wade, Valentine Vuong, who's non binary!!!! Super recommend.

Kamala Khan

The original Ms. Marvel run for Kamala from 2014 by G. Willow Wilson is both delightful and incredibly beginner friendly. I haven't kept up with her but she's got a relatively easy catalogue to follow and she interacts with a lot of other heroes which means she's also a good way to get to know the marvel universe at large.

Jessica Jones

Alias is a bit of a darker, more adult series, but it's also entirely a standalone story that requires, in my humble opinion, no knowledge of the marvel universe at large to read, and is ridiculously well done. If you've seen the show, season one is a relatively faithful adaptation in that it covers the spirit of the comic and includes most of the main characters but does not adapt the story beat for beat. Definitely look up the trigger warnings if you're going to pick it up but it's a truly excellent story.

Hawkeye

I'm not as much of an expert in Hawkeye comics as @not-the-blue is (who's currently attempting the truly Herculean task of reading every important Hawkeye issue ever for her lecture, wish her luck) but Hawkeye (2012) by Matt Fraction is a really well done self contained story that includes both Kate Bishop and Clint Barton, and has an issue from the POV of a dog named Lucky the Pizza Dog who is so good! The Hawkeye tv show was based on this run but the comic is considerably better. My one problem with it as a beginner's comic is it does assume familiarity with Clint's personal history, so if you don't know that Clint used to be married to Bobbi Morse, now you know have fun.

I'm much much newer to DC as y'all know but here's how I got into it at least!

Superman

All Star Superman is the easy answer and therefore the answer I'm going to give! It was conceived specifically as a story that could be read outside of main continuity, a sort of definitive story that includes all of our main Superman cast and deals with a lot of Superman's mythology without being bogged down by needing to fit in with the mainline DC universe. It's not my favorite Superman story I've read but it's really beginner friendly. My one gripe with it, and I'm not the only one by any means who feel this way, is that I think the art is butt ugly. A lot of people think it's gorgeous and I just cannot see it. I follow ppl on TikTok who refuse to read it bc of the art like. Idk. Story's great but I wish literally anybody else had drawn it

Batfam

Honestly I'm not sure there's an easy way to get into batman. Most of the elseworlds stories* I've come across for batman are either completely disconnected from the main universe in a way that makes them unrecognizable or not very good for beginners. One thing I'd do is check out the webtoon Wayne Family Adventures; it's free, and it'll get you familiar with the names of pretty much every batfamily member. The problem with WFA is that it's based on fanon interpretation of the characters and character dynamics, so even though it'll loosely reference the occasional canon event, for the most part you can't really trust it for anything more than civilian names, vigilante/superhero names, and basic appearances of, well, honestly pretty much everyone, including people I haven't even begun getting into for real. From there it's pretty much just diving into it. For Red Hood, I recommend reading A Death In The Family (the print edition I own also has A Lonely Place of Dying, which introduced Tim and is honestly a better story) as a prelude for Under the Red Hood, which, you know, reintroduced Jason as Red Hood. The first Batman story I read was Batman: Black Mirror, which features Dick as Batman and focuses on the Gordons a lot, it's a really good story, my only gripe with the story is the changing art style, the two artists do NOT mesh well. Batwoman: Elegy is a really, REALLY good standalone story, might actually be beginner friendly now that I think about it, cause it's basically her introduction (not literally but very close to it) and it doubles as her origin story; also it's written by Greg Rucka, and I'd trust him with writing my life story, fr.

*elseworlds stories are DC's term for any story that does not take place in the main multiverse and is entirely non canonical. Marvel doesn't really have this concept except I guess what if? stories, most of the non-canonical stories marvel chooses to tell simply take place in another universe within the main multiverse. All Star Superman is an elseworlds story

Watchmen

Is Watchmen beginner friendly? I genuinely have no idea, I'm incredibly biased bc it's literally the first comic I read, before I even had my webcomic phase. It's a DC comic in the sense that it was published by their imprint, but I don't even know if it counts as an elseworlds story, it's just... Completely unconnected to anything. It tells the story of the second generation of heroes in a world that is closer to ours than Marvel or DC's. There's only one truly super person in this world. Because vigilantes really did appear and rise to some kind of prominence in this world, comics look very different than what we know, and the main story is interspersed with an in universe comic about a pirate. There's a lot of political commentary in this and some of it arguably didn't age well, but it's a really interesting deconstruction of the superhero genre and one of the most notable of its kind. For better or for worse, modern comics are what they are at least partially because of this comic, and I think it's worth a read

Indie comics

I know you said you wanted beginner's recs for superhero comics, but I want to give a couple of recs for indie comics because they're worth checking out as well

Lumberjanes

Y'all know their work from She-Ra, but before they were the creative mind behind one of the most successful queer cartoons ever ND Stevenson was a well known indie comic artist and writer. They've created a number of comics I love, including the Graphic novel Nimona which I also warmly recommend, and they're also the reason I picked up lumberjanes, which is a story of a girl scount-like summer camp which is deeply weird. It's queer and a lot of fun, sort of Night Vale vibes at times. If you're looking to get into indie comics this is definitely one of the best

Giant Days

This one is a lot lighter than Lumberjanes since it's a slice of life comic about three college girls, not that Lumberjanes is exactly heavy duty. Honestly don't have much else to say about it I think it's really good!

And that's it for now! By no means a comprehensive list of... Anything, and not even a list of my personal favorite comics (although I did only include comics I genuinely enjoyed). Good luck!

(mutuals feel free to add on to this!)

#comics #superheroes #marvel #dc #marvel comics #indie comics #gail speaks #ask #page-vacat

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lapseinrecs · 10 months ago

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Marvel Cinematic Universe tag

Comments: I’m a definite Tony Stark stan over Cap, which may colour the fics that I recommend. Spidey’s my second favorite hero after Nightwing, though, so he’s probably never going to appear in a negative light. Been getting into Matt Murdock a bit so he's liable to show up. Due to the nature of these posts, there may only be one fic for any given character, but whatever.

There is a Marvel tag with a directory post here that's mostly just to organize alternate worlds. But like most things are tagged under MCU idk what to tell you it's what I'm most familiar with.

Jimmy Woo, Wong, Shang-Chi, Katy Chen, Yelena Belova, Odin, Frigga, Sharon Carter,

The Avengers has its own tag for Avengers related fics.

Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Thor Odinson, T’Challa, Sam Wilson, James Buchanan Barnes, Nick Fury, Loki Laufeyson,

The Defenders is a tag that exists under MCU if you’re more into them specifically, but for example, if it’s just Matt Murdock, it’s not going to be there.

Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, Claire Temple, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Ward Meachum, Trish Walker,

Guardians of the Galaxy has its own tag now tho it’s pretty empty.

Peter Quill, Rocket Raccoon,

The Moon Knight System has a tag for the system and also tags for each alter and also Layla because we love her.

Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Jake Lockley, Layla El Faouly,

Spider-Man is it's own tag seperate from the MCU although both tags may be listed. You might find the Peter Parker tag helpful though if you don't care if it's the MCU Spidey.

MCU crossovers:

Power Rangers, Percy Jackson, X-Men, Batman, Supernatural, Bleach, The Man From Uncle,

#directory #mcu #the defenders #gotg #the avengers #the moon knight system

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stackthedeck · 2 years ago

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could i get your like top 10 marvel comic must reads? I'm dyslexic and have a huge issue reading comics so i cant read a ton of them and i want to know which ones are worth the struggles to read.

oooh okay so here's the thing, most of my favorite comics are considered bad by the comic community at large and I mostly read spider-man and also I have no idea what genre you prefer to read in so take these with a grain of salt and judge for yourself if it'd be something you'd be interested in

I really like the spectacular spider-man run that began in 1988 which actually continues the spectacular spider-man series that began in 76. I wouldn't say this is beginner friendly but there are some really excellent moments and I'm a Harry Osborn stan and this run gives him a lot of attention

Jonathan Hickman's run of the fantastic four is considered to be one of the best and yeah it absolutely is! (the numbering for it is a little weird because there's a title change so it's Fantastic Four #570–588, FF #1-23, Fantastic Four #600–611) I love this run because it's a huge scifi adventure but always at the core is how important the fantastic family is (also Spider-Man is there) no spoilers if you do read it, but I ugly cried the first time I read it

I adore the Spider-Gwen story, it's a self-contained story with a gripping universe. Because it's its own thing, it's easy to get into but also if you have the context of 616 Gwen Stacy, it's made all the better. I wouldn't call this a must read because it doesn't affect the main universe but I adore it and the art is gorgeous. It feels like a fun YA novel in the best way

In that same vein, I adore the Spider-Man Noir comics. Again not like a must read, but if you want something darker and gritty but not hopelessly grimdark this is the best marvel has to offer. If you like mysteries it's definitely a go-to and I adore the aesthetic, it's really a creative spin on the characters. Like they could have just told a simple noir detective story and they told a great one and so much more

This definitely isn't a must read but I need more people interested in Gwenpool so read Unbelievable Gwenpool! It's fun, it's bubbly, it oozes joy and a genuine love for the comic medium, the art is adorable. Gwen is a wonderful character to get invested in because she really feels so fragile and human in this world of super humans

While we're talking about relatable deeply human stories, G. Willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel series is so excellent. I actually really like Wilson's novels, she excels at magical realism and it shows in the way she writes superhero stories. Her writing of Kamala comes from a place of love for the character and it's so clear that she's embedded so much of herself into the character and it's beautiful. It's such and fun and touching coming of age story, like it really deserves the hype

And while your there you've gotta check out the Champions, there's the full team that started in 2016 but then there's also the outlaws in 2020 that are a smaller team. I really like the direction outlaws goes but you gotta read the 2016 run because it's also fantastic. I don't love team stories but I adore the champions!! It's all my favorite heroes and they've got such a passion and they usually tackle heavy social issues and generally it's pretty well done. But the friendships really shine in this, this is a found family kind of team

Oh if you're going to read Daredevil, the Waid run is my favorite! It's still emotionally heavy like all Daredevil comics, but Matt is trying to make himself better and he fights his depression with a joy for life, reminiscent of the camp of older comics. Even though it has a more whimsical approach, the darker moments still feel real and heavy. It's a very well balanced story with Matt's friendship with Foggy highlighted as well as a lot of new wonderful character

Okay back to Spider-Man, I feel like Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2019) is a really beginner friendly story that is easy to read. I adore it because the story highlights Peter working with individual people, showcasing him as street-level hero. He's so kind to normal people and it really shows that being a hero is about more than punching problems away. There are also a lot of familiar faces helping him out and I just love to see Peter accepting help

okay that's 9 so far and there are a lot of Spider-Man comics I could recommend, but they're not beginner or dyslexia friendly (I'm also dyslexic btw, and you'd think comics would be easier to read but sometimes the layout of text is physically painful so I feel you) so I guess I'll just give you some fun short team-ups. Spider-Man and the Human Torch, Spider-Man and Deadpool, IronCat, Mary Jane and Black Cat, and oh you should definitely check out Black Cat's solo series, they're absolutely excellent

#asks #long post #feel free to roast my comic taste

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mischief-lies-and-stories · 1 year ago

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Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight

I tried to get Thor: Tales of Asgard on one of my streaming sites, but it's unavailable (Google's a liar). But I did find this ridiculous Christmas special, and Christmas starts November 1 for me, so I'm gonna watch this and report back. My screenshots are not great quality, apologies in advance.

Spoilers for Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight!

I hope I get some Frostiron fodder from this because I'm a fucking fool. [EDIT: I did not. :( ]

Oh fuck I forgot Thor is voiced by Travis Willingham

MATT MERCER IS CAP HOLY FUCK

Fuck hang on now I'm sidetracked by the voice actors. Okay, I just recognized Ironman because he always voices him. Captain Marvel was Delilah Blackwood in Vox Machina!!! Why are there so many Critical Role voice actors in here??!! And Loki is ALSO in Vox Machina what is happening?? The Avengers to Vox Machina/Critical Role pipeline is fucking bewildering y'all.

Reptil, why are you in civilian clothes?? The only hero stuff he has are his wings and I know nothing about him so I can't tell if they're organic or technical but either way they are the thinnest wings I've ever fucking seen. Listen to Cap and stay out of this. Your mentors couldn't even be bothered to suit you up as a precaution.

Who took the time to cross off "on duty"?? Was it Tony? I bet it was Tony.

Yes!!! My boi my love my darling is heeeeeeerrrrrreeeeeee!!!!!! (Caption by me, obvs)

Reptil, you don't have any armor!!!

Loki just called Reptil, "childasaurus" which was not funny at all but I definitely laughed because I'm fucked.

Oh no (not in a shipping way). I'm in tremendous danger of rooting for Loki throughout this movie.

"I'm trying to remember all the positives of a big hole in the sky. Nope. There are none." TONY STARK I'M CRYING.

CAPSICLE!!!

He. He just. I am not kidding, Cap just defeated the frost giant by kicking a shard of ice UP ITS ASS. LITERALLY cause of death: pegged too hard by Captain America. I can't even.

So Reptil gets hit in the head by the frost giant while trying to outfly the vortex caused by the portal. He gets knocked out, the frost giant goes into the portal, and the portal closes. And then IRONMAN TRIES TO YELL AT HIM TO WAKE HIM UP. YOU'VE GOT THOR WHO CAN FLY WITH MJOLNIR, STARK WHO CAN FLY, AND CAPTAIN MARVEL WHO CAN FLY all there on the beach, and NOT A ONE thinks to fly to his rescue. Hulk yells at him and he wakes up. What is this movie??

Ymir get off Loki's throne, you upstart!

Santa is part elf and part frost giant??!!

"Santa Claus is beloved, celebrated. Songs are sung in his name." Loki, I'll write a song for you.

Please I need just ONE episode of Loki where Tom Hiddleston has to say "The hunt is on for Santa Claus." Just one. That's the funniest thing I've ever heard come out of Loki's mouth. [We've gotten a Guardians Christmas special; gimme a Loki Christmas special, Marvel, I'm fucking begging you.]

Can we get this boy [Reptil] some other pants? These sweats are why he's tripping so much.

TONY why are you still in the suit while it's being washed? THIS DOESN'T COUNT AS A SHOWER.

"Hulk that's not shampoo." WAS IT REALLY FOOT CREAM TONY OR IS IT JUST THE PG ANSWER?

ROCKET FUCK YES SECOND FAVORITE SUPERHERO MY LOVE

Damn Loki's discovered outsourcing.

REPTIL SITTING ON HULK'S SHOULDERS IS SO CUTE

Loki: *puts a massive bounty on Santa's head and frames him for multiple crimes*

Thor: 'Tis merely a funny jest! My brother loves his pranks. Have I told you about the time he stabbed me?

"It isn't impossible if you believe." Reptil do not turn this into The True Meaning of Christmas: The Movie.

Okay I'll take some stony shit if we don't get frostiron.

Reptil aren't you a little... old to still believe in Santa?

Why does Santa live on the Candyland game board?

If this movie doesn't end with the Avengers and Loki exchanging presents around the Christmas tree because The True Meaning of Christmas led a LITERAL NORSE GOD to set aside his villainy for the day in the name of kindness and generosity and Christian cheer, I'm going to be sorely disappointed.

TONY MEETING THE ELVES AND IMMEDIATELY LAYING INTO THE MICRO AGGRESSIONS, JESUS

Yeah why didn't you bring Thor? He wouldn't have been racist--actually I watched Thor 1, he absolutely would have.

"Time to separate the boys from the other boys." Captain Marvel I love you.

"Okay this is why I love it. You've heard of Santa, right?" HULK HE'S CENTRAL TO THE FUCKING PLOT, MAN

Reptil, aren't you cold in that t-shirt? Are you able to regulate your body heat?

Why is Loki's only power this damn scepter? Marvel, Stop De-powering Your Cunning God with a Talent for Magic Challenge

Why is Mount Jolly the only name you're using the English sound for the letter J with? Shouldn't it be Mount "Yolly"?

Is Loki's heart gonna grow three sizes? I hope so

"Go easy. We're on the same side." CAP you THREW A SHIELD at them. FIRST.

The b-plot is Thor and Hulk encouraging a random shop owner named Nick to steal Santa's identity (but like, the plot twist is 100% gonna be that he's pulling a Miracle on 34th Street and Nicky Boy is actually Santa).

"The greater the youth, the greater the truth." I CANNOT believe we've reduced (ha. reduced) the light elves to fucking Santa's helpers.

"Evil doesn't observe holidays." CAP. First of all, LAME. Second of all, Loki isn't evil. Third of all, IT'S BECAUSE LOKI ISN'T CHRISTIAN.

Okay so now that they're in the Arctic, Reptil is cold. Why wasn't he cold in the ice cave on Alfheim?

Cap just like waltzed into Santa's house. I don't think he even knocked.

Mrs. Claus drives like a Floridian retiree and she's almost given Rocket a heart attack twice

NOW THE AVENGERS ARE DRINKING SANTA'S COCOA WHEN HE'S NOT THERE

Cap has the SADDEST Christmas story ever.

I spoke too soon. Tony's is the saddest. Obviously he's in the "seeing is believing" camp.

ILLUSION MAGIC FINALLY

I have my new phone background.

I'M DYING. Loki's got Reptil and is holding the scepter to his head. And Cap is like, "You won't do it" and Loki's like, "Yes, I will!" And Thor's like, "End this madness, brother" and Loki's like, "Oh, I'm about to!" And THEN Reptil JUST! slips out under Loki's arm!! He wasn't even holding the kid that hard!!! I'M CACKLING

LISTEN. I've seen pandaredd's video about Santa. I know he's OP as all hell. I FORGOT. He just showed up and Loki fired magic (from the scepter AGAIN) at him. And he barely moved at all! He just swiped the magic away with the back of his hand like he was SHOOING A FLY. WHAT THE HELL

Loki: *gasps* You can control space-time.

Santa: And you can be nice, Loki.

I'M LOSING IT I'M CACKLING SO HARD I'M GOING TO LOSE MY VOICE.

SANTA PLEASE SAY HE NEEDS TO GO HOME AND WRITE "I am very sorry for what I did to the Avengers" a hundred zillion times.

"The power of Santa Claus, all mine!" NEVER thought I'd hear a Loki say that

So far everything he's done with Santa's power he was already able to do. Use your imagination Loki, c'mon!

We packed the cheesy, obligatory Christmas movie lines into the last ten minutes.

Oh, and Groot turned into a fir tree somehow.

I should have saved this as a Christmas post.

#loki #frost fight #marvel super hero adventures: frost fight #spoilers for marvel super hero adventures: frost fight #animated avengers #starting the christmas posts early apparently #this show was wild #and i watched that one about ironman raising all the hero's kids after ultron killed their parents

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amberlynnmurdock · 1 year ago

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Wait spill the tea with Sebastian?👀👀👀

WARNING LONG STORY TIME POST LOL:

I had tickets for a photo op and autograph with him in 2018 at Wizard World. I was so excited because at the time Bucky (and Matt, always Matt lol) was one of my favorite characters from Marvel EVER. If you look on my Master List you'll see my Bucky fic count is as much as my Matt fics. I also tried to watch every single movie Sebastian had ever been in (as one does when they become obsessed with an actor LOL) so my point is I LOVEDDD and respected him so much. So I was really excited to meet him. The photo op wasn't as bad as the autograph... he was COMPLETELY silent during the photo op. You read so many stories about how Charlie Cox greets every fan and says hello, but Sebastian didn't say a word or smile. It went super fast and he didn't even look me in the eye. But at the time I thought nothing of it because it was my first photo op with a celebrity so I didn't really have any standards then lol. Come autograph time, I was working up the courage to tell him we both have the same zodiac sign. I remember they slid our photo op pic down the table and his assistant (ex-assistant lol) was all smiley and then when I finally got to him, this man DID NOT look up from the pic. He didn't greet me, he didn't even look up to smile. So I swallowed my fear and I told him we were both leos and so he wrote something on my photo acknowledging what I said but then proceeded to look up and give a blank grin. I really gave him the benefit of the doubt after that, but I was truthfully crushed. There was a HUGE difference between post-when I met Charlie Cox in 2016 and how I felt after meeting Sebastian Stan. After Charlie, I was glowing and elated all day but after Sebastian, I was truthfully really hurt and disappointed. There's nothing that hurts more than meeting your hero and him being unpleasant.

I understand celebs can be overwhelmed at cons, but no one forces them to do them. Charlie was overbooked in Philly in June 2023 and he still was super nice and friendly to every person he met. Not to mention that I also met Jon Bernthal the same day as Sebastian, and we got in line towards the end of the day. He made a joke about us being his favorite because we were the last ones he was meeting LOL which was funny, and he was super friendly. HUGE difference between cranky Sebastian Stan lol.

And to any Seb stans reading this please do not come for me in my asks, this was my experience meeting him. I respect him as an actor for what he's done for Bucky Barnes but it doesn't mean he can't also be kind of a mean person sometimes lol. Plus, I know plenty of people who have met Sebastian on the street and at cons and they all had amazing experiences with him. I got him on an unlucky day.

#clearly i still am hurt by this LOL #ask #anon #answered #story time #TLDR he was cold and unfriendly

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catnipkdodowrites · 2 years ago

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Clint Barton and Midoriya Izuku deserve good things, and here’s why.

Look, I may have an agenda in saying this but in Marvel x MHA crossovers I fully believe Clint Barton and/or Kate Bishop should get to interact with Midoriya at any opportunity, because there is so much narrative potential! (But especially Clint because he’s my favorite. Did I mention I might have an agenda?) Have them interact please, I am begging you! Even if it’s just for one scene and has no real influence on the plot, or if it’s just Midoriya finding out about Hawkeye's existence and getting excited! Midoriya deserves to have quirkless role models, okay!? (The same goes for Iron Man and other characters who rely on their skills and intellect, but I am the Ultimate Hawkeye Fangirl, alright?)

If you took these characters and stayed true to their canon personalities (or as true as you can with Marvel comic continuities), had these two characters meet, and wrote out a scene with them in it, both characters could benefit from each other and would have a good relationship if their canon characters ever got to interact. Conversely, if you tweaked their characters a bit or just one of those characters or went with a different canon version of one of those characters they would make excellent foils to each other. They have a lot in common, and there’s so much untapped potential between these two. So much untapped potential there are like five fics on Ao3 tagged as the two of them having an interaction significant enough to be worth tagging. FIVE.

Disclaimer, I believe you can and should write whatever you want for the most part, opinions be damned, but some of the phrasing I use in this post may seem like I’m trying to dictate how others should write MHA x Marvel crossovers. Please understand I am not trying to sound like an asshole, I am just very autistic about both these pieces of media and I express my opinions in very specific language.

I’m going to focus on Clint for the purposes of this rant because… look at my icon for Christ’s sake. Plus, I may or may not have an agenda. Well, okay, the actual reason is that I think Clint and Midoriya interactions have more potential than Kate and Midoriya, but it’s like comparing the value of platinum to gold. Both are extremely valuable, but one is more valuable than the other. Now, please, allow me to explain. (Significant word vomit incoming, 4700+ words, there are footnotes at the end plus a TL;DR.)

Look, Clint is literally just a guy who works his ass off. Sure, he’s a super-talented marksman but that talent would be meaningless if he didn’t constantly work for it! Midoriya and Hawkeye are both surrounded by people with extraordinary/supernatural abilities for significant parts of their stories even if Midoriya does get superpowers. Both of them get to where they are in their stories through sheer determination and hard work, even if it was for wildly different purposes. This applies even more so in fics where Midoriya stays quirkless! They are the powerless heroes in worlds filled with heroes who have powers! Characters like Black Widow, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Falcon are way closer to having powers than Hawkeye. Widow was enhanced by the Red Room program, Iron Man and Ant-Man are defined by their gear, and Falcon... it changes from media to media. Sometimes he has a psychic connection to an actual falcon named Redwing, other times his gear is a lot more advanced, and sometimes both. Iron Man has infected himself with nanites to gain a form of technopathy in multiple stories! (1) Hell, Spider-Man was originally Marvel’s “Everyman” character but Clint sniped that title right out from under him. Few things highlight how defining Normalcy is for Clint better than the opening panels from Hawkeye 2012 Issue #1 (also I will take any and every excuse to promo Matt Faction and David Aja’s Hawkeye it’s just so good.)

No matter what, Hawkeye has always been the normal guy on a roster of people with superpowers, super-intellect, fancy weaponry, and magic, and I love it! Ironically, that’s what makes him and Kate stand out, their normalcy.

Side note, have you ever fired a bow? I have. (Did I mention I have autism and am obsessed with Clint?) It’s fucking hard. Forget aiming and hitting your target, have you considered repeatedly pulling back and holding the bow steady for an entire battle? Ouch ouch owie owie ow, my fucking muscles. The human body was not designed to handle that kind of constant repetitive motion, Clint and Kate have arm muscles for days, not to mention the dedication it takes to have aim that good. Aiming with a bow is hard. Sometimes Clint is depicted as being such an excellent marksman he uses the bow and arrow specifically to flex how good his aim is. There are other reasons (Versatility of trick arrows, non-lethality, having been an archer since he was very, very young) but this is objectively the funniest one. He’s also used coins and pebbles when he needs to make a shot that an arrow is unsuited for or when he doesn’t have his bow, i.e. in his civvies.

In fact, Hawkeye (2012) focuses almost exclusively on what Clint gets up to when he’s not superheroing. In the first issue, Clint gets out of the hospital and heads to his apartment. Clint can afford the rent jacks because of his Avengers and Shield pay, his neighbors cannot. We are explicitly shown the landlord mafioso Ivan evicting a single mother of two after tripling her rent. (2) We are shown Clint witnessing this. He knows that neighbor and she trusts him enough to have him double-check the lease to make sure that what the landlord is doing is legal. (It is.) Clint cares about his neighbors, enough that he regularly attends the semi-potluck grill night they have on the roof of the building. In fact, he doesn’t regularly eat except when he’s with the Avengers or on potluck night. So what does he do?

He puts on a cheap suit and tie, heads over to an underground casino, and he gives a slice of pizza to a dog on the street. This dog belongs to the guards of the underground casino. He convinces them to let him in and he hunts down the landlord. He drops a duffle bag and gives the mafia a shit-ton of money in a duffle bag to pay rent for all of his neighbors tax-free. The mafia refuse the deal because they are jacking up the rent so they can evict people for not paying rent on time. This is because they want to sell the building. Clint then beats up the mafia until they accept the money. (3) Well, okay, not exactly. The mafia attack him first, but Clint uses a playing card as a projectile to disorient one of the guards with a gun, and room devolves into chaos.

Clint gets thrown out the front window of the laundromat and runs for his life. As the outer guards fire on Clint, the dog he gave pizza attacks them for it. They then throw the dog into traffic and he turns around to beat the shit out of them because, and I quote “What kinda man throws a dog into traffic? *punches sunglasses off of tracksuit Mafioso* Seriously I ask you.” Clint takes a Nickle out of his pocket and throws it with enough force to shatter the door windows of the car that’s about to hit the dog in a desperate attempt to get the driver to swerve. The dog still gets hit.

Oh yeah, allow me to introduce you to Hawkeye 2012 Issue #1 page 4.

Unrelated note, Faction and Aja do a masterful job of storytelling in issue 1. The story is told out of order, but the proper context is given at the perfect moments so you can easily piece the story together, most of the flashbacks and flash-forwards are one-page long, when they aren’t things from one time period seamlessly blend with another, and the entire color pallet changes to signify what point in the timeline the panels are occurring... and that’s only issue 1! I am refraining from doing a keyboard smash here, as that is the only thing that can properly convey how much I love Hawkeye 2012.

Anyways, he takes the dog to the vet, and the tracksuit mafia show back up while he’s in the waiting room. He once again rocks their shit, and they take it outside. (4) We cut to Ivan sitting in a cab while Clint is outside. It’s raining. Ivan has a handkerchief to his bloody nose and- actually, I don’t think a cliff-notes does this justice. I’ll transcribe the dialogue below here because my attempts to do a scan of the page came out poorly and I’m unsure if there’s a high-quality scan online, just know you’re missing some of the pacing of the scene.

Ivan: “Bro, what kind of Avenger does this? I broke no laws, bro. Allowed to raise rents. Is touch luck for you and your friends but I know my rights.”

Clint: “Hold that thought, ya Tracksuit Dracula. You asked about the Avengers. Y’wanna know the best part about being an Avenger? having Captain America around you all the time He just-- the guy brings out the best in people. You... want to be good when he’s around. You really do.”

“Ivan, Look around you real quick. Because, right now? Captain America ain’t here. I’m going to pay you everything everyone in that building owes you and another 12.5 for the building outright. And that’s it. Negotiations’re over. You wanted to sell it? I want to buy it. I take care of my people and you get rich. The end.”

Ivan: “I had buyer.”

Clint: “I don’t care.”

He turns to the cab driver, hands him a wad of cash, and tells him to take Ivan to JFK. Fast. The vet tech calls Clint back inside. The dog has a broken pelvis, broken leg, two broken ribs, and lost an eye, but will recover fairly well with proper care and rest. Clint pets the dog while he’s laying on the table after surgery. Clint keeps the dog after this. The name on the collar says “Arrow,” but Clint decides to come up with something better.

This whole story is really just Clint trying to do the right thing as best he can. At first, he’s just going for the first solution to the problem that he thinks of, but he adapts once Ivan turns him down. He saves Lucky because A. he likes dogs. and B. the dog saved him. Hell, the whole reason Lucky tried to save him was that he gave Lucky a piece of pizza because, again, he likes dogs and Lucky just happened to be standing there, looking cute. He cares about his neighbors. In later issues of Hawkeye 2012 Clint repeatedly is shown helping out his neighbors or just providing entertainment at the potluck.

Clint also had a really, really rough childhood. His dad was an alcoholic, his parents died in a car crash because of that, before they died his dad beat both him and his older brother Barney, he and his brother ran away to join the circus, Clint was beaten and left for dead by one of his parental figures after he caught him stealing money from the ticket box, his relationship with his brother really fell apart after that- and that's the cliff-notes version! It varies somewhat based on continuity but the most consistent part is runaway orphan joining the circus. Personally, when writing Marvel stuff, I adapt it to “Foster care was shitty and my brother and I wanted to stay together, so we ran away, and the circus happened to take us in,” to modernize it a bit.

So in short, Clint is kind, determined, and has had a lot of hardship in his life, particularly his childhood. Hmm, kind, determined, a lot of hardship during childhood? Now, who does this remind me of? Oh yeah, fucking Midoriya!

A huge part of what I think makes MHA so interesting is that its main character is fairly untraditional as far as Shonen protagonists go. Hell, he’s kinda untraditional as far as superhero protagonists go in general. Midoriya is defined by his kindness, he is emotional, he wants to save people above almost everything else. The most iconic battles Midoriya has been involved in thus far are motivated heavily by his drive to save. Think Muscular, Overhaul, and Gentle. (Kouta, Eri, and Eri’s chance to smile again.) (I’ve only seen up to Season Four, although I’ve seen manga spoilers. Don’t ask.) Funnily enough, this all reminds me somewhat of Hawkeye’s traditional origin story. I shall now give you the cliff-notes version that spans multiple years of comics. (At least I think it does, I’d have to double-check and I only have so much time, y’know.)

Clint is inspired by Iron Man to use his skills to fight crime instead of just being a circus entertainer. Unfortunately for Clint, on his first outing after he stops a thief and picks up the money they stole to return it, he gets mistaken for the original thief. Then Iron Man shows up and beats him up. Clint is forced to go on the run, falls in with Black Widow, becomes a recurring Iron Man villain with Widow, falls in love with Widow, gets kind of depressed when Widow disappears (actually recalled to Moscow and reprogrammed), saves Jarvis (the Avenger’s butler, originally just Stark’s Alfred) from a muggers, gets Jarvis’s help to demonstrate to the Avengers that he’s trying to change, and has been an Avengers mainstay ever since. Clint later played a significant part in breaking through Black Widow’s programming and helping her defect to Shield, saving her.

It’s a very unconventional origin story. Redemption arcs have been done, but not many involve wanting to do the right thing from the beginning of a character’s story. My personal favorite adaptation of this backstory is from the cartoon Avengers Assemble, where Clint was a member of the Circus of Crime, but never felt good about it. He triggered the alarm on their biggest heist ever, getting them arrested by Shield, but Fury saw something in him and gave him a chance to make amends, becoming Hawkeye. I understand I am very biased on this though, so I will not argue for it being the best. That aside, it’s unconventional mainly because of how integral to the Avengers Hawkeye later became to the point where the Avengers have very few adaptions without him. So many story arcs involving Clint are based in his desire to do the right thing. All of Hawkeye 2012. His backstory. Widow’s defection. His near divorce over his wife killing someone. (It was justified and accidental.)

There’s another parallel between Midoriya and Clint one could draw, although it depends somewhat on your interpretation of quirklessness in the MHA world. If you think about it, both Clint and Midoriya are disabled. Clint is Deaf. Depending on the continuity, he had progressive hearing loss as a child, had surgery to fix his hearing when he was older (11?), then his ears are injured in a fight, making him lose about 80% of his hearing. Most depictions of Clint’s deafness that I’ve seen stem from Fraction’s Hawkeye Issue #19 but Clint being deaf and wearing hearing aids dates back to 1983 and there’s some comic history after that as to why it didn’t become a frequent part of Hawkeye’s depictions until Fraction but we’re not getting into that right now. (5)

Ignoring Red Shoe theory, (I don’t subscribe to it but it’s still an interesting premise) the interpretation of being quirkless as a disability is a completely valid reading of the text! The pity Midoriya gets after his diagnosis, people treating him as lesser and weaker, his mother apologizing to him, these are all things people in the disabled community have dealt with! I’m not even pulling from fanon, that’s all canon stuff there. Clint has frequently used ASL and lipreading in comics since 2015! He’s worn hearing aids in various depictions on and off since 1983, when he first became a deaf character! He is disabled and a total badass! If you’re doing a story where Midoriya becomes a quirkless hero, well there’s a hero in the public eye whose main thing is trick arrows, i.e. support gear! In addition, the disability interpretation of Quirklessness would be an excellent parallel to utilize in a story that mentions or features disability advocacy.. And this is ignoring the possibility of them both being quirkless in a blended reality crossover. They could bond over having to grow up with quirklessness in a world that discriminates against the quirkless! Midoriya could have grown up idolizing the world-famous archer!

On the other hand, if your Midoriya has OfA, Clint becomes a foil to Midoriya and a great one at that. Clint is a badass member of the Avengers who doesn’t have powers but rather kicks ass with trick arrows and a weapon from the Paleolithic era, plus some martial arts training. He’s what Midoriya could have been. Hell, Hawkeye showing up in the MHA dimension asking for help and hanging out with the next generation to give them some pointers while he’s there could lead to Midoriya doing some serious soul-searching. This isn’t a very far-fetched idea, he mentored Kate Bishop and has led several branches of the Avengers over the years, primarily the West Coast Avengers.

Another way Clint serves as a foil to Midoriya is his impulsiveness and brashness. Clint is generally trying to do the right thing, but he doesn’t always think it through. Again, the mafia thing. His origin story. The serious clashes he had with Cap when he first joined the Avengers. The times he’s been seriously tempted to kill his abusive father figure Swordsmaster. His tendency to flirt with every woman he meets. (6) The shotgun wedding with Mockingbird in the eighties comics (the issue he marries her in is also the issue he is deafened in.) I could go on. To contrast he’s also insanely loyal, once you've earned his respect. (Cap, but Widow as well. And Mockingbird. Kate Bishop.)

On the subject of Ronin, that gives you a pretty good excuse to put Clint n Japan, he could be taking care of unfinished business for the previous holder of the Ronin moniker. (7) This works best in a blended universe of course, but could be tied into a dimension travel fic as well.

But back to the foil thing, Clint does tend to act on his anger as well. This is an excellent contrast to Midoriya. When Midoriya is emotional and expressive, it’s generally his sadness and stress, or his excitement. When Clint is expressive, it’s anger or self-loathing. Parallels, people! Parallels!

Another parallel/way they foil each other is how unhinged they can be. Look, Midoriya grabbed onto All Might’s leg, he rushed the Slime Villain to save Bakugo, he counteracted Eri’s rewind by breaking his bones faster than she could erase him. But Clint is his own brand of crazy. I mean, you have to be pretty nuts to fight superhumans with a bow and arrow, but sometimes Clint takes it to another level. One of the craziest things he’s done, though, is use a combination of a Life Model Decoy, a small-scale time machine, and careful planning to masquerade as his alternate persona Ronin while leaving most of his coworkers and friends under the impression that he was not, in fact doing that. He has on several occasions and in across several media fired a shrunk-down Ant-Man on an arrow (Pym and Lang, although this originated with Lang), in one incarnation had a distraction arrow that when triggered unfurled a “Bang!” flag, frequently utilizes boomerang arrows, and well, you read my summary of Hawkeye Issue 1.

Listen, if you don’t want to write Hawkeye into your story that’s completely valid but the opportunity is right there! It just- it’s just a pet peeve when someone does a hybrid universe and just writes Clint as having a “Perfect Aim” quirk. It’s not a deal-breaker for reading a fic if the rest of the story is interesting enough but it always hurts my heart because that’s just such a disservice to his character. I would take him having literally any other quirk over that. Because his whole deal is that he’s just a guy who’s really, really, good with a bow. That’s what makes him such a badass to me. He’s got a good head for tactics, some martial arts training, and perfect aim that he has cultivated his entire life. If you give him perfect aim as an actual power you have proven to me that you fundamentally do not understand the character you are working with. (Related note, I have mixed feelings about the version of him that appears in the Ultimate universe. Not a point I wish to delve into at this time, but worth mentioning nevertheless.) And you don’t have to understand him write a good story, I just… it’s just a waste of potential. And comics are so vast and the MCU version is so bland I don’t blame anyone for not knowing his character that well! It’s understandable! I’ve long since expected it since I became a Hawkeye fan!

I have read fics where the author is doing perfectly, I am completely engaged by and loving whatever universe they have set up, they have written these characters in such a way that it feels like a totally believable version of how their stories could have gone, and then BAM! Marksmanship quirk for Clint and I just... have to take a break and come back later. I understand this is not a normal reaction, but I am incapable of being normal about him, so here we fucking are. It’s just such a waste of potential.

Listen, you have every right to do what you want with your fic, but I promise you your story will be more interesting if you just let Clint’s character exist in the way he was meant to, as a guy who’s super dedicated to his training and very skilled. I would be happy if there was just a moment, particularly in fics where dimension travel is involved, if whoever Midoriya’s mentor-figure-of-the-day is was thinking about how to deal with Midoriya’s frankly abysmal self-esteem, and essentially went “Hm, my favorite sunshine green bean really needs some encouragement and positive quirkless role model. What if I told him about the quirkless badasses from my reality who, to my knowledge, haven’t been enhanced by magic/genetic modification/cybernetics and still go toe-to-toe with people who have those things! Frequently! I bet he’d think they’re really cool and would maybe be able to hold his head a little higher knowing there are people like him out there who are heroes. He’d really start to believe that he can be a hero too and that he’s just as capable as his peers!”

Or, or, or! in blended reality fics, if Clint had a quirk that was just something kinda dumb like, I dunno, Binocular Eyes, and Clint just uses the bow instead, (Or he’s openly quirkless, IDGAF, just not Perfect Aim please for the love of god) and mentor-figure-of-the-day has a similar train of thought but instead of just telling Midoriya about them they cash in a favor or two that Clint owes them to have Clint meet with Midoriya. And Clint, being the somewhat kind-hearted person that he is, would absolutely be a good sport about it! He would encourage Midoriya! He’s been a mentor and leader before and encouraged other members of the Avengers to guide the Young Avengers rather than try to shut them down!

Alternatively, and this is only something you could pull off in a fic where Clint is a central focus and not part of the backdrop, Clint is faking having a “Perfect Aim” quirk. Or several of his colleagues are aware of it in order to help him conceal it, and mentor-figure-of-the-day spills it in while swearing Midoriya to absolute secrecy. Clint himself telling Midoriya would be really cute though, and perfect for a Mentor fic! Or Clint stumbling onto Bakugo (8) and co harrassing Midoriya and telling them off/threatening them! He would do that, he’s impulsive enough! Clint makes bad jokes, Midoriya is kind and sunshine incarnate, they would get along!

There’s so much, I could go on and on and just- Oh goddammit, I was saving Clint and Midoriya interactions for my long fic that eventually devolves into has dimension travel as a part of the plot but I guess I’m adding a fic where Clint properly mentors Midoriya to my fucking to-do list. I only have myself to blame. Happy Valentine’s Day to me.

This is a cross-media thing too! It happened in Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Y’know, the one where he, Rhodey, and Pepper are all teens at the same high school and Tony is basically this world’s Spider-Man! Actually this is on brand for Armored Adventures, having watched that show. Very chaotic storylines, condenses like decades of comic books storylines into two seasons while staying unquestionably rated TV-Y7. It was actually pretty good, was the first animated series to feature Pepper Potts as Rescue, and also contains one of the best modern adaptions of Hawkeye’s original introduction. I’m not kidding. Oh, and the Avengers are formed at the end of the series, in a sense. I think they just wanted to leave themselves with some potential future storylines in case they got renewed past a second season while still having a satisfying ending. They did not get renewed.

Her name is Simone, in issue #12 of Fraction’s Hawkeye Clint watches cartoons with her kids while she uses Lucky as a pillow. He falls asleep watching the cartoons with them and Simone pulls a blanket over him as she takes her kids back to their apartment. Oh yeah and the whole thing takes place during Kwanzaa because the issue is a winter holiday special that uses the cartoon to tell a story that’s an allegory for Clint’s role in the superhero community. Very wholesome moment, I love Simone.

This marks the point part-way through writing the first draft of that paragraph, I went upstairs to grab my Hawkeye volumes to reread issue 1 and brought all four of them back to my desk to keep them on hand for easy reference. I also wished to make the point I was writing at that time more articulate. I also brought down my Hawkeye vs Deadpool volume and Marvel-verse Hawkeye volume. I had no intention of referencing either of them I just like having all my Hawkeye comics in one place.

This is quite possibly one of the hottest Clint Barton moments ever. I’ll probably upload a scan of it sometime in the future but it ends with him pinning Ivan to the wall by the throat. The next page where he threatens Ivan into selling him the building is also pretty hot, but you’ve already seen the dialogue for that. Ah great, now I’m tempted to a make post ranking the hottest Clint Barton moments across all his different incarnations, for fucks sake.

I can talk comic history of Hawkeye and how Hawkeye has evolved as a character all fucking day. I vibrate with joy when I get to info-dump about this shit and vibrate with stress when I have to dial it back. When I am both talking about it and dialing back, I cease to vibrate as all of my focus goes into scientifically measuring out the maximum amount of info dumping I can get away with. Please ask me questions about Hawkeye, I beg you. I know so much about his many incarnations across different media and I am waiting for any excuse to talk about them or do more research.

His character evolves out of this but classic comics Hawkeye is all about the ladies, and he frequently has minor storylines involving his romantic endeavors. I can’t say I blame him, I’ve seen the women he rolls with. Unfortunately for him they never seem to go well.

The previous holder of the name was Kingpin’s daughter. It’s a long story.

I wanted to talk about using Clint as a foil to Bakugo and/or Todoroki with his impulsiveness/anger issues but having better control over it and being quirkless but I just did not have the energy or the time. Could also be a foil to Eraser or All Might as a mentor figure but I would have to think on that some more and my cats are getting between me and the keyboard. :/

TL;DR: Clint and Midoriya are both characters defined by their determination, their kindness, their lack of power in a world full of powers, and I just think that’s neat.

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