Aim for the Sky

[impalementarts]

Name: Ramen
DW username: well my new journal is sadegg.
E-Mail: carolynpoddig@gmail.com
IM: legalgargoyle
Plurk: socalramen

Other Characters: Lindsey McDonald evilhandissues, Selina Kyle imnotsure stand by for proof of activity. (and three is officially my limit for the time being haaha.)
Lindsey Activity: One, Two
Selina Activity: One, and she's about to make an open post. :D

Character Name: Clint Barton (Codename Hawkeye)
Series: Marvel Cinematic Universe (also known as Marvel- 1999999)
Timeline: Clint is coming from post the battle for New York, literally smoking and still carrying battle wounds but walking pretty gosh darn well.
Canon Resource Link:
CINEMA CLINT
COMIC CLINT
Character History:

Clint Barton is another one of those characters with an intense canon history that launches itself all the way back to the sixties and a number of retcons in his personality. given that he's a minor character in the films (so far, although we'e been promised more information in Avengers 2) Clint does not have a lot of background detail available.

What does that mean?: Honestly that means that some of his "relationships" and feelings about characters will be based upon watching Jeremy Renner and the actors reactions to his activities because you can trust that they discussed it. For background detail, there are a few broader strokes added to his personality from the original marvel origin story. They will be small, they will be minute, they are there simply so other characters will know where he came from (because why would he discuss them anyway?) These passages will be clearly marked with bold at the beginning of the paragraph. However the lack of information is simply due to this being primarily MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE.

CLINT BARTON was born into a travelling circus family. He had a brother, a father, and a childhood marked by some of the less-then-stellar traits of growing up surrounded by Americana. His father drank and gambled after his mother's death. His brother was a selfish bastard jealous of his natural talent. The two boys performed together in the Carson family circus and Clint endured moving around without the honor of having a parent with a noble profession. Born a carnie, he was expected to die a carnie and while he embraced his family roots watching his father and brother descend into a spiral of negative behavior made him realize that he'd never be his own man. He left home at 18 to join the military leaving behind his father 'Trick Shot' Barton with a pile of gambling debts and a sad lot of people in a world where they no longer had a place.

Not that Clint knew anything about that.

He joined the US army where he earned top marks for marksmanship and became a sniper of the highest caliber. He earned envious looks from the majority of the recruits for his natural talent and developed a slightly stand off personality where he'd rather make a joke in the back then stand in the front and kiss ass. Of the opinion the whole world was a circus, he began to mold himself into the man he would eventually become - someone capable of doing whatever it took to accomplish the means to an end (if anything just to show up others and keep himself secure). After serving several missions and distinguishing himself he was recruited into a civilian organization with paramilitary intentions. The strange and unusual existed in the world and they wanted an opportunity to combat it with the best and the brightest. Clint fell under the command of a unit commander who encouraged his individuality. Snipers are by default isolated, and SHIELD snipers fall under the classification of special operation forces which requires unconventional thinking and training.

"Guy like you seemed to fit the bill."

Working with Fury and working with SHIELD gave Clint a practical outlet for his skills as well as a place in the world which kept him secure and allowed him to reach out to his father and his brother. Far from callous and able to stand on his own two feet without the judgement of his father or others about what he did for a living he learned to live by his own standards and felt that the time had come for a reconciliation. Falling back in with his father and his brother, Trick Shot confided in Clint that he was in big trouble and that he owed money to some very bad people. Clint, working to help his father come up with the money to pay off his family debts - only to have his brother steal his finger prints and ID passcard, stealing several pieces of equipment and framing Clint for the behavior.

Betrayed and hurt, he set off on a personal vendetta that left his father dead, his brother missing, and the items recovered. He retreated into himself and adopted Fury as a sort of surrogate father with the two having an unspoken bond of respect and friendship. Fury saw Clint as a valuable asset and a sort of protege and began to place him in missions of higher caliber and priority. Having given himself the role of "Rebel without a cause" he kept the wear and tear on his normal funny and outgoing personality to himself. Deflecting all questions with gallows humor, he dug himself deep into the betrayal of his family and resolved that if this was what SHIELD wanted then this was what needed to be done.

His resolve was tested when he was sent after the black widow, a top Russian operative who had been active as a mercenary for a rival organization to SHIELD. Clint was sent in to retrieve objectives and ended up with her cornered in front of him. Apparently having fallen on the outs with her former employer, Natasha Romanoff was cornered. Clint, taking out the guards with his arrows, had the black widow cornered. With his commander telling him to take the shot, he offered her his hand instead, offering to save her life.

"Tell you what. If you come with me I'll put an arrow into anybody who gets in our way as we leave the building."

She accepted and he brought her to Fury - surprised when she returned as his partner for an operation. Having defected, the two began a professional relationship. Posing as husband and wife, brother and sister, friends, colleagues, they travel the world like James Bond and a Bond girl (or, as Clint accurately pointed out, like Maxwell Smart and Agent 99.) Clint trusts Natasha with his life, and accepting that she seemed to feel that she owed him hers the two continued to rely on each other in various missions. Their reliance has become something more, she's a person who accepts him for who he is, doesn't ask him to be more friendly or stranger, and is a willing supporter and participant. They both come from a common background and they are both partners in every sense of the word ...despite occasionally working solo. While Natasha coaxed Tony Stark into accepting a position as a consultant (all while keeping an eye on him) Clint was sent to New Mexico with Phil Coulson acting as a handler. Their objective? A recently lost piece of alien artifact. A hammer, that had buried itself in rock and resisted every attempt of theirs to pull it out for examination.

Thor shortly arrived in the desert in an attempt to storm SHIELD's base to retrieve the hammer. Clint, surviving on his charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent went for a high vantage point and kept Thor in his sights....using a compound bow.

"You'd better call it Coulson. Cause I'm starting to root for this guy."

He didn't take the shot, developing a respect for Thor in the process (a guy against the odds who keeps on fighting. Who couldn't respect that?) he preps to take his first real vacation. He's then contacted by Fury who assigns him to a possible alien crash site in New Mexico. Disappointed that they haven't caught an alien but rather alien artifacts, Clint remains and keeps an eye on his teammates. Coulson, used to babysitting other agents was a good person to work for.

His work continues behind the scenes, primarily involved with Thor related projects (including taking the Destroyer armor into a SHIELD base to be examined) before he is relocated to the New Mexico Desert to keep watch over Selvig and the Tesseract. Which is where his action really begins.

"Well, sir. It's a door isn't it? Doors open from both sides."

"You have heart"

When the Tesseract goes awol, he, Selvig, and a number of other guards remain on point to see if the facility and the research can be salvaged in case of disaster. Disaster comes in the form of Loki, who quickly overpowers the guards and Barton - promptly enslaving a number of them. Clint later describes this as someone cracking open his mind to "Just play", a rather accurate description. It still gives him the opportunity to resist however, while Selvig resists by building a way for Loki's machine to be disarmed, Clint resists by missing his most important shots and covering it up by saying "He's not at his best with a gun." Loki, too vainglorious to miss out on a chance to perform overlooks it - considering it a bit of humanity's weakness. As Loki's servant he acts as bodyguard, enforcer, and assassin and seemingly has no remorse or repentance for any of the crimes that he might commit under Asgardian employ. He hires SHIELD enemy commandos to do everything from break into a secure research facility to lead a raid on the helicarrier to retrieve Loki from imprisonment.


It could be argued (rather easily) that the tesseract exemplifies the traits of a person, the innermost traits of who they are and what they do. With Selvig, it makes him into a genius scientist with an expanded mind. With Barton, it makes him a ruthless soldier, a killing machine who is willing to overlook everything from his relationship with Natasha to his relationship with Fury. The hard part comes later, after his fight with Natasha where he is forced to own up to the fact that he has made himself a monster. It shakes his confidence in a hard way, the man who tried to be a lone wolf and a lone ranger opens up a little bit more then he normally would. He goes after Natasha with brute force and speed before she knocks him out and rearranges what Loki did to him. He's back to himself, living with what he's done will take longer, but having a chance for revenge makes things easier.

Being put into a team can also have that effect. He has a great deal of esteem for the Avengers and is proud to be included in their ranks despite having no super soldier serum or super capabilities beyond never missing. (And even then that does have it's limits.) It's a real confidence booster but it's also a reminder that he has to work twice as hard to be where he is - and it's a reminder that he's glad to take. Natasha and he are both normal humans fighting monsters. And while Clint has a personal vendetta against Loki by this point, he survives the battle for New York City and acquits himself well. It's a bigger difference because he seems happier and considerably more friendly. That's not friendly by much, but he's getting better.

His actions after the Avengers movie remain a mystery, which is why he's coming in directly post Avengers, after Loki is sent away and he and Natasha end up going on "Vacation". The events of Cap 2 are going to be a huge shocker, a foundation shaking event, however instinct time and previous experience mean that he'll be allying himself with Rogers and the Avengers over any other individuals. His reactions will be mixed however in regards to the following individuals:

Loki: While Clint likes and respects Thor, discovering that Loki is in wonderland will require people giving him direct orders and keeping an eye on him - particularly during dangerous events. He hasn't forgiven Loki, and any opportunity where Clint's control could slip means that he'll be targeting the man who tried to control him.

Barnes: Ideally he'll befriend the guy before he gets canon updated to Winter soldier, but once the man returns Clint would see himself under Loki's control and make a real effort to help Cap reach out to the guy as well as befriend him. He'd hesitate, still take him out but hesitate (two snipers in a place like this could never be good.)

Beyond that his reaction to the magic of wonderland would be annoyance followed by sticking close to Natasha followed by acceptance. He's led a weird life, but being turned into children and or mermaids? Turned into birds? It'll take some adjustment and getting used to. Overall while he's not as adaptable as say, Coulson, or perhaps as open to the possibilities of things as Tony, he's enjoying the ride.

Just a normal guy armed with a stick from the paleolithic area.



Abilities/Special Powers: Part of the singular charm of agent Barton is that he's a normal guy with an uncanny talent for marksmanship. He has no superhuman strength, he's not a genius, he's not a master of disguise, he's just a guy with a military bent who has little to no fear of doing things like jumping off buildings. That being said, he does do somethings differently.

IMPALEMENT ARTS Clint is the worlds best marksman, to the point that he was able to aim an arrow at an Asgardian God - and the only reason he missed was because said god caught it before it hit him. He's good with throwing knives, using knives, and aiming knives, He is a first class tactical sniper with considerable patience when on duty but he prefers the bow, and he's deadliest with the bow. Noted weapons include butterfly knives, grenade arrows, hulk-gas arrows, and exploding arrows.

FIRST CLASS COMBATANT Clint is a first class combatant, trained in hand to hand combat. He's Natasha's equal, but she has a particular flare that makes it easy for her to beat him. He's constantly training to keep up with people like her, Captain America, and anyone else who happens to join the Avengers.

SPYSASSIN Clint is a spy/assassin who sometimes functions on mercenary style missions for SHIELD. While he has a degree of devotion to his country, rather then taht extending to himself it extends to doing the things that are needed to keep the country functioning. In attitude he is very similar to Nick Fury - doing whatever it takes regardless of how it might look.
Third-Person Sample:

You go from smoke to silence, stumbling out of the darkness into a different place entirely. All he wants is to set down his bow and his knives and sleep, nothing restful (there's nothing restful about sleeping when you have no solid footing, no common ground, no nothing that anchors you.) He flies like the hawk that is his namesake and waits to fall into nothing. They call this place wonderland, and further investigation reveals that it's the place between death, split from reality, a place where people go to crawl into the cracks and the inbetween spaces.

He doesn't question it. Really he doesn't say anything because all he wanted was to go some place and lie down and if he's dead so be it. The adrenaline from doing the right thing has exhausted himself and he cannot face the petty squabbles of people that do not know how to play well with others here where everything is turned upside down. Some days he questions if he really did die, Or Loki has him in a cerulean blue prison that looks like a castle on the inside. Nothing is firm, nothing is easy, so he goes with what he knows.

Your name is Clint Barton.

He writes it on his mind each day and buries himself in peace and solitude. For a week there are eyes in the sky and someone who essentially lives on the rooftops right until a doorway opens and he's got a knife at his throat. Do they hug? Do they hold hands? He reacts instinctively before Natasha drops the knife, asks him point blank if he's been up here the whole time. She looks worse for wear too, there are circles around her eyes that he has never sen before but she leads him off the roof and he swims. He swims in alcohol for a moment with people giving him weird looks (that was you?) but Coulson is still alive, and somehow...the presence of this place and the ghosts that he now carries with him makes it worse.


It makes it better too. A second chance some might say because theirs is a world that's made for second chances. He makes new friends and people who are happy. He reads, and occasionally there is a visitor in his bed or he's a visitor in hers. Oh he makes wise cracks but he keeps to himself and the team even if Natasha has somehow found all the ways to get to the roof and locked them. Of course he's quiet, he tries to chase it away with training or alcohol or trips to the bar but someone says "Just let it come. Let it happen son. Bad things happen to good people every day, and if there's one thing I've learned it's we can rise above them with help." He toasts the man and at night he finds Natasha waiting for him.

They cannot touch, they do nothing more then sleep sometimes until one night he finds her against his chest and another she finds him clinging to her pillow and they heal until there's a very solid crack. A ghost comes back, a bad one. One that belongs to Steve Rogers, one that Clint met before he'd become a dead man. Advice giver, friend of an ally, decent guy in his own right.

This would be the guy from Iran. Bullet to the torso.
Yep.
This is the same guy who we played the drinking game with?
basically yes.
Okay.

Bucky Barnes was a plucky sidekick worthy of Batman's Dick Grayson not a battle hardened killer who seemed completely unstoppable. Clint can't help but look at the guy and see the fella who days earlier was hitting on Natasha with a determination he called admirable, simply normal. A normal man, now an emotionless, faceless, remorseless killing machine. Most days he shoves it down deep, impossibly deep, deeper then he can fathom but the moment Natasha takes a hit to the chest something snaps inside him. His own experiences are there and he hears the gods laughing and he lashes out. It's not anger but instinct. You run behind you and fire over your shoulder, choosing obstacle after obstacle. He selects one, vaulting over it before landing on the floor in a roll and he and Natasha are on the same level.

It's a tactical blunder because suddenly Batman's sidekick, Robin, (Cap's sidekick, Cap's.) is right there and he's pissed about being maligned all those years? Angry about wearing spandex tights? (that's how the comics went.) So they trade blows, Natasha moving close as Clint tries to sweep his feet out from beneath him. He counters both and Clint's lungs burn. It built up to this, he's never been more at the top of his game and he feels alive. Alive and kicking god help him. He knows Natasha's moves as well as he knows his own, switching places. It's it's own ballet. Knife to the throat, blocked, parried, two opponents one versus the other.

At the center of all things is a dance.

A carnie told him that once, one of the old hoochie cooch girls that his dad employed to take tickets. To dance well you had to feel the beat and when the music picked up you changed the steps. It's the look on the man's face, the look that reminds him of Natasha and Istanbul and all the missions where she let the programming that never left you slide over and he thinks as clearly as he can Did I look like that? When I was killing my friends? That dead eyed white fish stare...

Maybe that's what lets him last a second (literally a second longer.) Natasha is stabbed in the chest and Clint - working off the effects of brainwashing that Hydra could only dream about - picks an arrow and tries to jam it into the man's mechanical arm while aiming a knife for his throat. No saving the fella who'd been Natasha's friend, who was Cap's brother in bond if not blood. You have heart agent Barton, because you understand the things that must be done.

He doesn't get to see if he succeeded, instead his arm is snapped back, broken to so many marbles in a sock before his neck is twisted, head practically twisted off. He and Natasha are in the infirmary beds, side by side later and he...smiles.

He really can't help it. His eyes creep open and he faces the world and says, "...Remind me to buy the guy a drink when he gets better."

Natasha watches him, wary, "Why?"

How to explain that he'd believed since New York that he might be dead and, when facing a fight like that he knew first and foremost that he was alive? More then alive, alive and kicking? Oh sure you heal and you panic but he'd touched the music of the universe. So things were weirder then ever, so what?

"...That was fun."

They laugh because they are tired. They laugh because there's no training that can prepare you for what their world has become or is becoming, but to face it together - is all that anyone can do.

[ooc: how about a fight set to this song ok. this song]

First-Person Sample:
[Clint Barton versus zombies because that's always the best prompt.]

[Hawkeye ladies and gentlemen, situated on the roof of the castle. He's got the camera set up so he can talk at it and still shoot - occasionally there are explosions heard off in the distance, coupled with the sound of moaning.]

I really hate horror movies.

[Another twang.] Just putting them out there now. Uh - [pause] Sooner or later I'm going to run out of low impact grenades, what's the situation on the mansion floor?

[He grins at the camera] Oh sure anybody could aim for the head but it takes skill to take out five or ten with an arrow.

[PRIVATE: AVENGERS COMM CHANNEL]

...Any time one of you guys wants to produce a magic act, I could use some entertainment. [another twang.] and some help. Really am running out of grenades here.

What's that? you say you want more Hawkeye?
Tony and Clint talk on dear_player
Natasha knows what buttons to push to get Barton to cooperate.