Why do you ship BruceNat? Not at all hate, I'm just very curious. What's makes the ship work for you? Pros? Cons?
Hi, Anon! I donāt mind the question at all! If youāre just getting into the ship (welcome!), I have an insane amount of brucenat meta all collected here on ao3. Itāsā¦a lot. This long meta in particular sums up the potential I see in the couple: brucenatĀ + hearts of darkness.
Essentially, what makes the ship work for me is that these are two characters on a similar story journey. Both of them (besides being major, unrepentant dorks) are heroic, tragic figures. Their arcs can be boiled down to redemption from past deeds and a synthesizing of the dark and light parts of themselves. These are lethal, fearful people who just want to do good.
I started lowkey shipping them in Avengers because I really, really liked their tension. They quickly saw into the heart of each otherā the good, the bad, and the ugly. By coming to terms with each other, they recognize their own place on the team. The Avengers ācould use a little worse.ā Bruceās rage. Natashaās manipulations. The parts of themselves they hate the most applied to saving the human race.
AoU has its faults, but there is a lot to love in terms of the exploration of Bruce and Natasha as a unit. I like that the narrative lets them be sweet and hesitant, while also taking them to some very dark placesāJohannesburg and the Red Room. Iām a fan of angst, so the way they part works for me on a lot of levels.
Infinity War gives us only a glimpse into what might come of their relationship, but itās clear to me that theyāre both in great places to start (finish?) something. Bruce is rejuvenated, in a sense, and committed to āgo be a hero.ā Natasha is part of a found family, sheās confidently ānot alone.ā Weāve been promised aĀ āshowdownā between Bruce and the Hulk. Weāve been promised more screentime for Natasha. So Iām very excited to see what comes of it next year!
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Iām posting an extended meta on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Bruce/Natasha in bite-sized pieces. Discussion welcome!
pt. 1: Hearts of Darkness & Threats / Honesty
Flaws / Compassion
The affect of the Mind Stone is something that the brucenat haters love to cast away in their quest to vilify the ship. But The AvengersĀ and, later,Ā The Age of UltronĀ makes it very clear that the Mind Stone is one hellaluvah paranoia machine. All the worse because it works on all the bad stuff thatās already there.Ā
As described earlier, Natasha and Bruce have been able to play nice on the Helicarrier ā but theyāre showing signs of strain.Ā
Natasha is on task as ever, getting information out of Loki ā but she confronts him earlier than the movie implies Nick Fury ordered. Sheās up against her toughest advesary and highest stakes yet, a trickster god who has her best friend under his thumb. Yes, she completed the mission. But she doesnāt follow orders to the letter, she has to get personal to get the mission done. This isnāt Natasha-as-usual.
Bruce is bristling over Tonyās āpoke the bearā approach to friendship and the lies that he knew SHIELD was hiding. They, like the General, donāt want heroes. They want weapons. But, at the same time, he likesĀ being in the lab with Tony. He misses teamwork. Heās at odds with himself.
When Natasha comes in to confront Bruce, itās with the intention of getting him away from the Scepter but her attempt at professionalism quickly devolves when Bruce starts in with the sarcasm. The Mind Stone has already gotten to them. Natasha is effected, but sheās better able to withstand it because her mind is made of marble, slippery but still strong where there are cracks. Bruce bares the brunt of it. His mind is a river, two streams that flood and recede.Ā
[Even my short parts are too long...more under the cut.]
All bit-back righteous fury, Bruce asks her if she knew ā an echo of āAnd Fury tells you everything?ā A passing glance in Kolkata is now a bite to the jugular. She isnāt that naive; but she isnāt happy, either. Theyāre all on threat watch.
But even as they go at each other, thereās compassion, too. When Bruce tells the team about his failed attempt at suicide, Natasha puts her hand on her gun and takes every square inch of him in. Heās telling the group, but heās telling her most of all. Sheās scared, but even when he reaches for the scepter ā just like Lokiās plan ā she doesnāt go on the offensive, she doesnāt run. She lets him get a hold of himself. When the moment passes and he ducks away from her, she sticks close. Her fear is not bigger than her mission and will never be.
Thatās whatās so fascinating about Natasha.Ā Her whole life has been about survival ā she graduated from Red Room at the expense of others and herself; she made a name for herself before she worked for SHIELD. Sheāll purge and sacrifice herself, whatever it takes to survive (to an extent that gets shorter as she becomes more heroic), because thatās how she was raised. Sheāll make calculated risks on her life, but (because) the thought of losing it (to The Hulk, to the Winter Soldier) terrifies her. But, even so, sheās loyal to the mission.Ā
Bruce doesnāt have a mission; he has an ideal ā science should improve lives ā that gets more/less ambitions the better/worse he feels about himself. Bruce is a survivalist against his will. The suicide reveal is absolutely pivotal to his character. BruceĀ wonāt let his monster get control of him. He doesnāt see an end so he tries to end himself. Heād rather take his own life than take othersā lives. He values life, because all he wanted as a child was for his mother to stop hurting. Heāll take a calculated risk and use the monster (starting in TIH), but heās able to do that because heās constantly sacrificing pieces of himself for the sake of control.
Theyāre faced with these horrors in themselves at a moment of truth. After the confrontation literally explodes in their faces (moments before Bruce saves the day by finding Loki; not that anyone but Natasha has time notice), Bruce and Natasha are separated from the team. Whatever the haters like to say, the Bruce/Natasha dynamic is just as present as Steve/Tony ā antagonists who learn to work together as a team. While Steve/Tony are learning to work together on an engine, Bruce/Natasha are working out their issues in a much more visceral way.Ā
Bruce is about to change, and Natasha is trapped. Natasha (after waving away help, because she does value other peopleās lives and because she knows theyād be no use) uses the only weapon she has at her disposal. She tries to talk Bruce down:
Natasha: I swear on my life, I will get you out of here. Youāll walk away and never ā
Bruce: Your life?!
Bruceās response is essentially, āWhy should I care about your life?ā or āWhat does a monster care about life?ā That stops her.
Does Natasha mean what she says? She probably doesnāt realize it when it comes out of her mouth ā but all of a sudden sheās not lying to save herself. She is sorry she dragged him into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. She watches him change, sees the pain of it. How hard heās fighting it, even though heās right. He shouldnāt care. But he does, and she does.
Thereās so much compassion and agony between them when Bruce looks over the moment before he loses his mind and himself. āBruce,ā she says, because she sees the person inside the monster. But Bruce is puny and the Mind Stone is infinite, and so the monster wins.Ā
Thereās definitely a monster-movie approach to the rest of the scene. We need to feel that the Hulk is scary to buy the premise that adorable Bruce is a potential liability. And we need to see how the teamās least powered member (barring zombie Clint) can stack up against the teamās most powered member. She obviously canāt beat him (even Thor canāt) but she holds her own admirably.Ā
The other thing the rest of the scene does is show us that the Hulk is not an intentional killer. He attacks when provoked, but the Other Guy still hesitates before the killing blow. Natasha, as observant as she is, would never miss a thing like that.
when his hair falls in his face ... color coded speak ... Iām such a fool for sacrifice ... Iām unforgiven ... I found a martyr/he told me that Iād never/with his educated eyes/and his head between my eyes ...ācause heās off paying for his crimes/and heās got no time for mine ... every night I pray the sun will rise ...Ā
AH!
Full lyrics under the cut.
"Coming Down"
I found God
I found him in a lover
When his hair falls in his face
And his hands so cold they shake
I found the Devil
I found him in a lover
And his lips like tangerines
And his color coded speak
Now we're lost somewhere in outer space
In a hotel room where demons play
They run around beneath our feet
We roll around beneath these sheets
I've got a lover
A love like religion
I'm such a fool for sacrifice
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I've got a lover
And I'm unforgiven
I'm such a fool to pay this price
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I found a martyr
He told me that I'd never
With his educated eyes
And his head between my thighs
I found a savior
I don't think he remembers
'Cause he's off to pay his crimes
And he's got no time for mine
Now we're lost somewhere in outer space
In a hotel room where demons play
They run around beneath our feet
We roll around beneath these sheets
I've got a lover
A love like religion
I'm such a fool for sacrifice
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I've got a lover
And I'm unforgiven
I'm such a fool to pay this price
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
Every single night pray the sun'll rise
Every single time make a compromise
Every single night pray the sun'll rise, but
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I've got a lover
A love like religion
I'm such a fool for sacrifice
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
I've got a lover
And I'm unforgiven
I'm such a fool to pay this price
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
Every single night pray the sun'll rise
Every single time make a compromise
Every single night pray the sun'll rise, but
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down
It's coming down, down, coming down