#clint barton appreciation

[ahsokatanos-lightsabertechnique]

A Clint Barton Appreciation Essay/Analysis

Disclaimer: Hey! Movie Clint wasn’t great! MCU Hawkeye is a disservice to Jeremy Renner and Clint Barton. Kind of unfortunate casting in my opinion, bc I love Jeremy Renner and I love comics! Hawkeye.

Clint Barton’s life started out normally. And by normally I mean it started out sucky (how much suck-ier it got after that was not normal, and arguably spiraling into increasing levels of suck is Clint Barton’s superpower). He and his older brother, Barney, were regularly beaten by the drunken waste of a human they called a father. Their mother was caught in the same situation, so it’s not really fair to call her out (and I’m not trying to!). However, it’s worth noting that the boys didn’t get much protection from her either (not trying to victim-shame, just saying the dynamics of the situation had an impact on Clint and his brother). One day his father beat him so badly that he lost most of his hearing. Not long after this, his parents died in a car crash (his father was driving drunk, big surprise), and the boys were kicked into the foster system. That was a mess. Enough said. So, at this point, Clint has never known any adults that didn’t let him down somehow. Actually, scratch that, he never lived with an adult that didn’t abuse him in some way or another. Eventually the foster system was so bad that they ran away and joined a nearby circus. They were taken in by two acts called the Swordsman and Trick Shot. The boys were trained by the two men, and for a short period things went well for Clint, since he found something he was really really good at (arrows and throwing knives, yippee) and was praised for it. This didn’t last long though, since Swordsman and Trick Shot were both criminals that were using the boys to make more money in their theft/gambling/racketeering/etc. ventures. Depending on which comics you read, each one tried to kill Clint when he wouldn’t do the crime thing, betrayed him, left him, or some combo thereof. His brother, Barney, did the same. This was particularly devastating to Clint because Barney had been the only real family that had, at any point, loved and protected him. 

That was just his CHILDHOOD. What happens after is long and complicated, and we won’t go into that here. The point is, all of his personal relationships fail (with the exception of Kate Bishop). Why? Well, after all that shit that went down before the age of, like, twelve, Clint doesn’t trust anyone. He doesn’t trust himself. He has a deep-seated case of insecurity and self-hatred. He doesn’t trust other people that get close because, of course, they’ll hurt him and then leave him. The self-hatred, in my opinion, is because all of those people that abused and betrayed him told him that their actions were HIS fault. I think he knows logically that they aren’t, but on some level, he thinks they’re right. He can’t have a meaningful relationship of any kind when every instinct, conscious or not, screams to show the other person how horrible he is before they do any damage. They can’t blame what they do on him if they already know what a piece of shit he is, right? It’s not his fault if they leave. But then they do, and it hurts anyway, because he’s lied to them or cheated on them, and when they leave they blame him. Because this time it actually was his fault. “Burn them before they burn me” only ever works in theory, never in practice. His self-sabotage is an especially toxic defense mechanism. Paired with a spectacular case of commitment-phobia, it means that he has no one. No one. Absolutely nobody. He knows the Avengers from work. He knows some people in passing. But he is alone in the world. If he was dying, the only people that would care would also be just so tired of him, because they love a person that has made himself impossible to love. And, being people trying to make good relationship decisions, they’ve not only left him. They’ve given up on him. He has made himself unlovable, and sees believes that he’s a living disease to anything good. At least, this is how he sees his relationships.

It’s horrible, but also absurdly ironic. He’s not walking trash. He’s a golden retriever of a man that would help a fucking CRICKET cross the street. When a dog gets hit by a car because its owners are assholes, he willingly GETS SHOT to get to the dog, take it to the vet, and save its life. He then proceeds (after being beaten to hell, shot, and bled/dripped on from dragging a soaking wet and bleeding dog for god knows how long through the rain) to kick the ever-loving shit out of the people that owned the dog. Not because they’re mafia. Not because they hit him or hurt him. Because of the DOG. He spends every spare moment of his time and money fighting to keep his neighbors from being forced into homelessness by the crime lords that own their building. He hates himself so intensely, blames himself for every time he fails to help someone so completely, that he is totally blind to the fact that he is beloved. The man is a goddamn saint in every way that matters. He’s painfully flawed and ridiculously kind. 

To top this all off, he deals not only with emotional insecurity but also with physical and professional insecurity. He’s an Avenger. The man is so fucking lame. He shoots stuff with arrows. And then gets whaled on by aliens and gods and science experiments and lands in traction in the hospital AGAIN while everyone else drop-kicks the bad guys into the sun or whatever. That’s how he sees himself. He’s useless, a pity case. Nope. Nope nope nope. He’s so far past olympic-level athlete it isn’t even funny. He’s clever. He really is more accurate with projectile weapons than ANYONE ELSE IN MARVEL COMICS. That’s the most dope thing. It’s a simple thing, and it isn’t spectacular, and any person can shoot a bow and learn gymnastics. It isn’t about WHAT he’s doing. It’s about the LEVEL HE’S DOING IT AT. Sure, he’s no Thor, but he can hold his own against the vast majority of Marvel characters. It isn’t flashy, and he’ll look like he’s gone through a meat tenderizer (with a concussion thrown in for good measure), and he’ll probably look ridiculous doing it, but! The man is human. No super soldier serum. No magic. No super-human abilities. He’s the very personification of humanity in a league of people that aren’t really human anymore (if they ever were). Like, if anyone was ever to be an avenger in real life…they’d be Clint. But maybe not with a bow and arrow (we must allow some whimsy in our comics, after all). He’s amazing because of what he can do, sure. But what makes him truly wonderful is how hard he’s trying. He’s given up on himself, but every day he tries, and tries, and tries. He takes out his hearing aids and closes his eyes every now and then, because he just can’t bring himself to face any consequences that day. Sometimes he just lives off of coffee. There are days where he just lies on the floor and doesn’t move. But he drags himself out of bed, drags himself out the door, drags himself through LIFE simply because he cannot resist the ever-present impulse to make it a better place. And in so many ways, at least all the ways that matter, that is the most deeply human way to be good. I’m not saying he’s the best avenger, but you know what, fuck that, he’s my favorite. 

[stxar-pvnk]

Natasha: you know, Tony I should really start training you, you need to defend yourself. I'll teach you

Tony: all...right?

Tony the next morning rocking up to the training area with the other avengers with tight yoga pants on and a compressed shirt as he does stretches

Steve: holy crap.

Natasha: ...this turned out better than I planned.

Clint: the butt, man. The butt.

Thor: he must be my new queen! Immediately!

Bucky: I...am going to go learn how to flirt. For like..no related reason..

[shewhohangsoutincemeteries]

tony stark fixing steve's shield even though he's retired.

tony stark upgrading clint's arrows.

tony stark upgrading natasha's widows bite.

tony stark building the avengers personalised rooms in the tower.

tony stark building an entire compound for the avengers to live and work in for free.

tony stark funding bruce's research.

tony stark building peter multiple suits so he'll always be safe.

tony stark building rhodey specialised leg braces to help him walk again.

tony stark building sam an upgraded set of wings.

tony stark building bruce his own private lab where he can work safely.

tony stark helping bruce build his own bar by hand.

tony stark undoubtedly giving vision the money to build a house for wanda.

tony stark (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ✲ﾟ｡⋆

[amaranthmori]

[transexualpirate]

why can't marvel write women the way they write men? so many marvel men are just pathetic little meow meows but every marvel woman is either a girlboss slay high heels tight black catsuit draw the eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man or insane unhinged evil woman that eats puppies for breakfast and both are fine but where are my girlfailures? women that are just a tiny bit stupid and that's okay? that trip over themselves and fall flat on their faces and it's as endearing as when clint does it?

[clintbarton-thearrowguy]

Aaaaaaaaa I don’t like it but whatever :)

It looks very nice,

[beaxtrice-newme]

I'm like deadpool right now. I fell in love with hawkeye.

Just look at him! My lovely idiot <3

WELCOME TO: MY NEW BLORBO APPRECIATION POST! 😂

[loomontoia]

Always my baby girl

[navybrat817]

Not Clint about to get stabbed and shot. 😂

*Clint as a zombie*

*Tippy and Jewel*

Listen, nonnie. 😂 We know Clint can defend himself, but that's a risk he has to take when he decides to try and scare Steve and Bucky's girls. They don't mess around. 🤣

Love and thanks. ❤️

[mastcrmarksman]

asking if you have top energy isn't very top energy of you, clinton. 🤨

The thought does dawn him about two hours as he sent a text to Carol asking if she at least thought he had true top energy. Why did this matter? He really didn't know, considering he was the man who argubly was comfortable with the kind of energy he put out; didn't think he had that unhealthy of an idea of masculinty. He's worn a mini-skirt for fuck's sake and he'd wear it again if the team wouldn't get all up in arms about his undercarriage area.

Clint's half way to texting Tony about this because he's always been the villain of Clint's story (that's a long running joke) about this whole thing. Or it's the other way around, either way Tony doesn't suffer enough. However, the text message is put on pause as he waits for Carol to.... well, she's ignoring him, isn't she?

[ sent ] ⸺ you think i have a top energy right?

That's totally something normal to ask a friend with an easy answer of yes and let him go. Except when has his friends ever lied to him and sending Tony Stark.

[ sent ] ⸺ Nothing wrong with bottoms but I can and do top

Would only result in his phone being shut off or something, given that Tony likes to think he is phone jesus or something. He flunked religion at St Iggy's, the nuns would be very disappointed in every thought that he was having right now.

asking if you have top energy isn't very top energy of you, clinton. 🤨

Oh great, it's that voice again. Now he doesn't mind when the faceless, disembodied voice pops in to question all his bad decisions or challenge him to legitmately challenging self introspections. It'd make the therapists in his life proud (or thoroughly concerned as if they weren't that already).

Would a top question if he was a top? A top would just go out and top, wouldn't he? Clint's not exactly looking to go find some random stranger to sleep with and he really shouldn't use the Avengers, Defenders, Thunderbolts, and what other teams he's been on as his dating and/or sex pool. That's how he gets HR called on him. He could see if anyone is up for a repeat, yet the people he's already slept with before in his life.... know him and avoid repeat mistakes.

Natasha's normally open but one look at Clint and Natasha; you know whose in charge there. Hitting up his ex-wife to rock her world would be a little more out of the blue than he'd like it to be, and anytime they are both single gets his hopes up (or crushed if she's not single). The other exs are off the table normally too.

❝ Look, Anon, Nonny, Voice? Are there multiple of you? ❞ He should figure out what to call them or where they come from (Wade probably knows or Gwen or Jennifer; they talk to dismebodied ideas of their own thoughts all the time. That's what they are, right? Right?)

❝ I'm not... insecure about this stuff; I just... ❞ He raises his arm up and flexibles, muscles constricting and hardening. No longer looking like flab or fat but revealing it is muscle. A finger pokes to them for emphasis and he can't get his hand around the bicep; he can do that with other parts of his body too. Clint does this for no one in the apartment. ❝ I've lead teams, I have confidencee and spunk; I am a top, I mean 'm both, but like I'm a top guy. I enjoy topping. ❞

He doesn't just receive, but he gives too. That's the point; he's not only a taker.

❝ I shouldn't send this text to Tony, right? ❞ He really shouldn't; he's okay if people thinks he's lying about a top and is only a bottom. They were wrong, but it would have been nice if Carol gave him his affirmations.

[melles1276]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Sarah Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Sarah Wilson (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), Sam Wilson's Family Members (Marvel), AJ Wilson, Cass Wilson Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Fluff, Love is in the Air, can't you feel it, First Impressions, Slow Burn, aren't they a cute couple, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Awesome Sarah Wilson (Marvel), Protective Sarah Wilson (Marvel), Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Sam Wilson is a Gift, Captain America Sam Wilson, Episode: s01e05 Truth (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV) Series: Part 1 of Moments in time Summary:

Missing scenes from "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" series ...

Episode 5: Sarah's thoughts after waking up the next morning (sort of).

[gotlostonmywayhome]

Title: Coming Home (And Finding You) Pairing: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson Word Count: 1.4K Tags: Pre-Avengers, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, Clint is an awesome husband, Fluff

Summary:  Phil has a rough mission. When he gets home, Clint has all of Phil’s favorites ready.

Written for @clintcoulson

Coming Home (And Finding You) is available to read on AO3!

[amaranthmori]

[callmemoonlight123]

A Clint Barton application post best he just deserves it!!!

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

[as-thoughts]

they just added some more issues of solo avengers to marvel unlimited! you can now read #1-20 along with a handful of issues of avengers spotlight (which is what they renamed it after #20)

[buckymcbuckbarnes]

Hey hi hello.

Can you lot also do me a huge favour and thank the authors for their work, they NEED to know they're appreciated, loved and cherished among their fandoms. Seeing so many people create such amazing work on this app gives me life, and I've been on this godforsaken thing since idk 2012?? This is my safe space with amazing fanfiction.

So please. Praise the authors, reblog their work, leave comments, they deserve to know they're doing good, they deserve to know that their hardwork is worth it. So this post is for you authors of tumblr. I love you. You're amazing, and I sincerely hope that you have a good morning, goodnight or good afternoon, from one blog to another.

Lemme give you a little forehead kiss too. You deserve that.