Dear Natasha

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Fanfiction
Title: Dear Natasha
Author(s): javct
Date(s): June 6, 2012
Length: 3063 words
Genre: Epistolary, Het, Tragedy
Fandom: The Avengers Movieverse, MCU
External Links: FFN

Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Dear Natasha by javct is an epistolary style fic in the MCU's The Avengers fandom, focused on the pairing of Clint Barton/Natasha Romanova. It was an extremely popular sadfic in early Avengers fandom, and plagued the Tumblr tag with sad reactions. It was inspired by Dearest Natasha, a fan song.

Reactions and Reviews

“Dear Natasha” broke my heart. Not quite as thoroughly as “Alone on the Water,” but it’s got serious angst just the same. It’s in epistolary form; Clint Barton is writing letters to a comatose Natasha. I had to read this one a couple times before I was on board with it. At first, I didn’t buy into Hawkeye writing letters to a comatose woman who would never read them. He’s a bad ass spy; why would he get all touchy feely? And then, maybe the third time I read it, I realized that the epistolary form was used quite brilliantly here. It allows Barton to be touchy feely in a way that he can’t actually be in the real world because he is a bad ass spy.

And all us angst-loving fanfic readers just eat these kind of feels up as if they were the last batch of Twinkies on planet Earth.

So yeah, “Dear Natasha” is angsty; it’s not particularly related to anything in the Avengers canon other than Clintasha; and the author unashamedly uses pathetic fallacy to get us to weep in the rain with Barton at the end.[1]

I think “Dear Natasha” should be like an entrance exam to the Clintasha fandom.[2]

So, I opened the clintasha tag

and it was full of people sobbing over 'Dear Natasha' fanfic.

and then, I gave it a shot. I wasn't expecting anything much for I am not much of a crier.

so I read it.

and then the next thing I know, I was sobbing. Like genuine sobbing. No, actually not only sobbing but legit, painful, I-can't-breathe-anymore kinda cry.[3]

you haven't experienced actual pain unless you read dear natasha by javct[4]

Negative Reviews

So. Dear Natasha, the Blackhawk fandom’s pet fic. Got excited. Read it.

Felt nothing.

Believe me, I wanted to. I went into this totally open. I have a habit of finding glimmers of emotion, of potential, even in shoddily written works (see: several movie sequels). And the writing in this story was pretty good, actually. I love the series-of-letters motif. And I have no problem believing that Clint has a softer side. He’s got heart.

I’m sorry, but the tone was wrong, the voice was wrong, nothing quite rang true. I didn’t buy for a second that this was Clint.

And that ruined it for me.

Am I the only one?[5]

Maybe my standards are too high. But truth be told, people hype it up way too much, because frankly it wasn’t what first impressions promised. Typos aside, the voice in the letters just didn’t sound properly like Clint; I’m not sure what it was, maybe the way things were worded and the sappiness hiding just under the skin of the whole piece. Don’t misunderstand, he’s absolutely allowed to be sentimental. It’d be fantastic, actually, but only if it’s very specifically written.[6]

Fanworks Inspired by the Story

Translation

Fanfiction

Art

Graphics

Vids

References

  1. ^ "Fanfic Wednesday: "Dear Natasha" at acollectivemind.com". Archived from the original on 2021-08-28.
  2. ^ "Sept 24, 2012 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2021-08-28.
  3. ^ "Sept 21, 2012 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2021-08-28.
  4. ^ "July 15, 2014 Tweet". Archived from the original on 2022-07-09.
  5. ^ "January 1, 2013 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2021-08-28.
  6. ^ "Just read 'Dear Natasha' Sept 1, 2012". Archived from the original on 2021-08-25.
Retrieved from "https://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Dear_Natasha&oldid=2296380"