#alexei should have lived

[anonym1sblog]

I decided I needed to make more fics about eagle’s nest+ Alexei

[writerslittlelibrary]

Mob!Natasha x daughter!reader headcannons

masterlist

a/n: I figured writing some headcanons was a bit less pressuring, and I enjoyed this so much! I’ll definitely be writing more headcanons in the future :)

You do not have my permission to repost, copy or translate my work

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Mob!Natasha who found you when you were just a baby. She heard crying coming out of the closet after she had just killed her target. Turns out, he had already found his next victim, you. Luckily, Natasha was just in time to save you from that horrible life and raised you herself

Mob!Natasha who raised you in the safety of her Russian home. Protected, hidden, and far away from the dangers of the world

Mob!Natasha who only allowed Melina, Alexei, and Yelena to see and know about you the first 5 years of your life

Mob!Natasha who started training you for active combat the moment you could stand, wanting you to be able to protect yourself, should you ever end up being mixed into one of her ‘jobs’

Mob!Natasha who loves you more than anything in the world, getting you whatever you want whenever you want it, yet still making sure you’re not becoming a spoiled brat

Mob!Natasha who puts her trusted bodyguard, Bucky Barnes, on any and every outing you go on. You leave the house for a walk? You better count on the fact that Bucky is coming. You want to go shopping? Don’t worry, Bucky will simply come to help you carry your bags. You want to have dinner with someone? Bucky will simply sit a few tables away from you, giving you privacy yet keeping a close eye on you

Mob!Natasha who is terrified when your existence becomes known after you and her are spotted going for a little shopping trip. She will upgrade her security everywhere, putting multiple bodyguards by your side every time you leave the house. Of course, she still trusts that Bucky is the best at keeping you safe, but just to be sure, you get a few more of her men

Mob!Natasha who sometimes allows you to sit in on her meetings, letting you sit next to her, or on the ground, whichever you prefer. It’s not like any of the people she is meeting with can say anything. That is if they want to keep their lives of course. Sometimes, if you forgot to bring something she will slide you her notepad for you to doodle on, or she’ll just stop the entire meeting and order one of her men to fetch you whatever you wish. She gets to decided how her meetings go, of course

Mob!Natasha who knows you adore her henchwomen more than anything. Your personal favourite is Natasha’s assistant, Maria. You know her and your mom have some more going on. You are not blind to the lingering touches and the sneaky looks they send each other. Of course, you are a big fan of Carol. She is just so cool and nice to you, even though she can kill someone with basically a glare. To you, she is the sweetest human on the planet

Mob!Natasha who knows you adore your aunt Yelena more than anyone on the planet. Because of that, she makes sure Yelena gets the opportunity to visit more than enough. Everytime Natasha has to leave for a slightly bigger ‘job’ she simply calls Yelena to keep you company. Natasha knows you don’t need a babysitter anymore, but she likes the idea of you not having to be lonely. Besides, it is much safer for you to be accompanied by your aunt Yelena

Mob!Natasha who knows how much you adore playing board and cards games, so she told her people to never deny you a game, were you to ask. Luckily, you mostly gravitate towards Carol and her girlfriend Valkyrie, and who were they to deny you a game? They loved your company, and they loved playing your card games with you

Mob!Natasha who, when you start dating someone, runs thousands of background checks, does hundreds of checkups throughout the day, and makes sure to give whoever you decided to date a little talk, letting them know exactly what’s waiting for them were they ever to hurt you

Mob!Natasha who had the best private tutors coming to your home to teach you everything you needed to know, giving you the highest level of eduction you’d ever need

Mob!Natasha who knows that you are financially set for life, but who still allows you to go to college if you would ever want to. Of course it would be an expensive, high security private school, but still

Mob!Natasha who takes you on the multiple holiday trips during the year. You want to go to Spain? Pack your bag because Natasha will have planned a trip next week. Obviously you both will simply take her private jet, but she needs a week to book some fancy holiday home for you two to stay at

Mob!Natasha who, despite her fortune, often books small, low budget holiday trips. Everyone knows those small holiday homes are the best and the cosiest. What kind of mother would Natasha be if she didn’t give you that experience?

Permanent tags: @marvelnatasha12346 @lesbionion @nova-kyle @darkstar225 @saraaahsstuff @marvelwomenarehot0 @screechcat @iheartjohansson @tia-thesimp @swaqcenix @karmasgxrl @marvel-lous3000 @hor1zond1ar1es @lorsstar1st @superlegend216

[scar-lie]

No One's Savior [Natasha]

Summary : Life is cruel, God gives you the life you wonder if you deserve, a life were you have no one and have to stand up by your own feet

Pairing : Natasha Romanoff x Fem ! Reader

Warning : Being tortured, blood, death, crying

World Count : 2,777

No one has permission to repost my work anywhere, if you see it please let me know.

"Please, Nat, let's go play around,” you beg her while following her down the stairs. Their mom adopted you a year ago, seeing you in the street trying to make amends to feed yourself and survive another day in the street.

“Your mom said we could play or bike around, please? ”You give her puppy eyes that you know she can't say no to.

"Fine, fine,” she groans, but you jump on happiness and quickly drag her to the garage to get yours and her bike around the neighborhood.

You smile while biking side by side; you never imagine your life will be like this. I mean, you grow up on the street with no one, stealing people’s food, money, clothes, or anything else you can use to exchange for some money.

You were 6 years old when you learned how to steal things, but when you reach the age of 9, you steal something from Melina, but she catches you. She's hesitant at first to get you arrested or put you in the system, but you beg her to let you go, and that's when she decided to adopt you right there and then, and now it's been a year since that day.

Sure, you try to run away after a few days of staying with them, but after a few days away from them, you realize that it's much better to live with them and their strict rules, and you push yourself to adapt to their lifestyle. 

At first, Melina's daughters disagree, but with the command of their father, they don't have a choice but to accept it, so they try to get to know you until they accept you and become friends with them.

Even though Melina didn't get the papers for you to be their legal daughter by law, they still treat you like family, and you're happy to be a part of their family.

But Yelena’s sister, Natalia, is the one who makes you stay with them; she's kind, caring, and looking out for you, even if she tries to hide it.

She also catches your eyes, which makes you want to look at those emerald eyes forever. It's mesmerizing you where you sometimes zone out.

But the happy life quickly washed away when Melina and Alexei took the three of you to the Red Room. You thought it would be fine, but once they took you away, you knew that the happy life you had was now over.

“I don't want to be here, Nat,” you whisper, whimpering in the middle of the night, where only you and Nat are awake. Yelena, beside your bed, is sound asleep.

“It's ok, shh,” Nat whispers to you and reaches out to touch your face and wipe your tears. She wants to hug you and cradle you, but the handcuffs on her right hand are preventing her from doing it.

“We will get out, I promise. I’ll get you out of here. Now stop crying,” she whispered, and you nodded and made yourself comfortable.

“Promise? ”She nodded, smiling at you while she squeezed your hand.

“I promise,” she whispers, then kisses the back of your hand.

You sigh in relief, finding a safe place and comfort in the Red Room after everything you've been through for over 9 years. She still provides you comfort and a safe place, and you already fall for her, and so does she. Even though she won't admit it, she still loves you deep inside.

As long as she's here with you, you'll be okay at the end of the day. Even if your foot will bleed again from ballet, you killed someone, or they give you a punishment, you know you will be okay, and you've been holding on to Nat’s promise over the years that someday you three will be free.

But again, you should have learned the first time that not everything will stay the way it is and that promises—as someone says—are meant to be broken, and they are right.

Promise really meant to be broken, like how Natalia broke hers, how she just left you behind those bars, locked up, begging her to let you come with her.

"Natalia, please don't…don't leave me here.” You begged her when she turned around to leave this place and start her new life.

"Nat, please, I don't want to be here anymore. Please let me come with you, please.” You cry out for her, so she turns around again and puts her hands on your cheeks while she tries not to cry like you, and she smiles at you.

“I’ll come back for you, I promise... I will be back, ok? ”She whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“No, no, please, Nat.” You grip her wrist, not letting her go, but she forces herself to get her wrist back and turns around.

“NAT NO…PLEASE….YOU PROMISED…NATALIA,” you scream, bagging the metal bars and watching her walk away from your sight until she's gone, so you drop on your knees and cry to yourself.

You just wish that you didn't make a little mistake on your ballet so you wouldn't be here in this cell alone, that maybe you're now with Natasha getting out of here.

But you still hold on to another promise, the promise she didn't—again—fulfill, and you're so stupid to believe that she will come back for you.

If you have a thought past in the RedRoom, now your life in there is hell. Since Natalia escaped, they put more security, they doubled the training, and you—your life has become hell.

Why? Since she escaped, you've become the target of everyone. When you were sleeping, they tried to suffocate you. Since the handcuffs are now gone, they can do whatever they want.

They even beat you up, and for the high staff of the Red Room, gosh, they also give you a hard time. They believe that you know the whereabouts of Natalia, so they tortured you.

Drown you, beat you up, hand you up with your hands tied up on your back, and do everything they can to break you, but since you didn't say anything, they turned you into one of the greatest black widows on your program.

And since then, you hate Natalia; you blame her for everything that had happened to you, so you become, though, a cold-hearted person and a killer machine. Dreykov wants

“Uhuh…you're ready! ”He smirked, standing on his chair behind his long table, where you were standing in front of him, emotionless. 

“You've become the greatest widow I can imagine! ”He then lights up his tobacco and goes around his table and to your back, whispering in your ear.

“One of my pride and joy,” he giggled to himself, then went in front of you and sat on his table. 

“What do you think about a mission—a highly top mission, huh? ”He then took a folder, looking inside to see if it's the file he's talking about.

“I’m gladly accepting whatever mission needs to be done, sir,” you said in monotone, so he gave you the folder, and you took it.

“That's what I wanted about you; no second guessing,” he says, smirking and urging you to open up and take a look at the mission he's given you.

When you read what it is, your heart stops for a few seconds, a feeling you didn't know you would be feeling again, but thanks to the training you had, you cover it up pretty well, and then you close the folder and look at Dreykov.

“I will not let you down, sir.” 

“That's what I wanted to do here; no, go and prepare.” With that, you get out of his office and go get the things you need for the mission, to kill Natalia.

“Update to everybody? ”Steve said on the coms while he brought down four guards of the Red Room.

“Clint, east wing”

“Tony, east sky.”

“Thor, at the Helipad.”

“Lower ground in the north, Wanda.”

“Top south, Clint.”

Everybody took their update, but Nat and Steve's hearing nothing makes him worried about the redhead—not that he didn't trust her and her abilities, but still, that's his teammates in the field, fighting. 

“Nat, update? ”He reminded her, and after a few minutes, she replied.

"Underground.” Then Steve nodded to himself and went back to fighting the enemy.

“Augh! ”Natasha then coughs up the dust when she tries to open the locked gate of one of the cells in the underground. 

“I think there's no one here,” she mumbles to herself, and when she turns around and walks a few steps to go back up, there's a sound, coming to the end of the hallway, a cough. It's not audible since she's far from the source, but she's a spy, and her senses are highly activated every time.

So she quickly took her gun out, pointed to the hallway in case someone suddenly jumped on her, and slowly and carefully walked towards the sound.

Then she pointed her gun inside when she finally got to the last cell at the end of the hallway, seeing a woman tied up in the chair, blood and deep, superficial wounds littering all over her body.

She quickly put her gun down and slowly but surely walked closer, but once she's close enough to see her body up close, she freezes, seeing the birthmark on her shoulder. 

“Y/N? ”You then scoff, recognizing her voice—the same voice you've despise the most, the same voice you wanted to get revenge on.

"Natalia,” you look up at her eyes—the same eyes you've adored for years, the same eyes that gave you comfort and a safe place before, but now? Now all you see and feel is her broken promises and the betrayal she has done.

When you look into those eyes for the past few months, all you see is you being tortured over and over again. You wanted her to feel the same way you felt.

You wanted to kill her with your bare hands, but every time you tried to, she dodged it. She always fought back. She will always be greater than you.

That's why you're here now, bleeding to death because you can't kill her, so Dreykov chooses to slowly kill you, making sure to make you feel how unworthy and a failure you are that you couldn't kill the black widow herself.

“What are you waiting for, huh? ...You can now kill me,” you snarl at her. Your left eye is blurry because of the swelling and bruise, and your eyes are bleeding, making it harder to open your eye.

“No, don't say that…” Natasha quickly put her gun to her holster and kneeled in front of you, inspecting every inch of your body, making her shudder in horror.

“What have they done to you? ”She looks up at your eyes; her eyes are glistening with tears, not wanting to cry in front of you, but once you see the pity in her eyes, you scoff.

“Don’t act like you don't like what you're seeing.” You then cough up blood, making you feel even weaker than before.

“Wh-what? What are you talking about? ”She's worried that seeing coughing up blood makes her blood run cold.

“It breaks me seeing you like this,” she then proceeds to untie you while, deep inside her, she's panicking.

“You don't have to pretend like you fucking care! ”You weakly growl, getting angry at the moment.

“I do, I do care, my love, I do,” she firmly said, looking up at you. Her eyes say it all, and now tears run down her cheek, but you don't have anything in you to believe her, maybe because you already learned your lesson and don't want to be fooled once again.

“Really? Then why did you leave me here? Huh? ”Natasha, swallow the lump on her throat and go back, untying you to avoid the question.

“Why didn't you come back like you promised? ”And since your body weight is all forward, Natasha caught you when your limp body got freed from the restraint.

“I waited for you, like a fucking dog waiting for their master to come back! You betrayed me! ”She then put you down, taking you on her lap.

“And don't you fucking dare call me'my love'? I’m not the same person you once knew! ”You spat; you wanted to push her or get out of her arm—the same arms that calm you down—but now it feels like burning.

“Shhh…. You'll be OK. I promise. I’m here now…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She sniffs and wipes away her tears while she caresses your cheek, and then again you cough more blood.

“No, you're not fucking sorry, and we both know your promise meant nothing! If it's not, you should have gotten me out of here the first time, like you promised! ”She hugged you while tears streamed down her face.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Y/N, I’m sorry,” she keeps chanting while your breathing is shallow and you're slowly losing consciousness, and Natasha notices it.

“No, Y/N, don't close your eyes... Please...” She quickly taps her intercoms to send someone to her.

“Wanda, Tony, Steve, anybody, I need back up ASAP.” She then keeps tapping your cheeks to keep you awake.

“Hang on, my love... You're going to be okay; just keep your eyes open, please. I'm not going to leave you. Again, just please...keep your eyes open,” she whispered, beg caressing your cheek like she did before.

“You know that I fucking hate you?”She gasped, hearing it from your own mouth.

“I fucking want to hurt you…..I wanted to hurt you like you hurt me. I want to make you feel what they have done to me! ”You look up at her eyes, tears streaming down both sides of your faces.

“Because you fucking left me here alone! ....I begged you…I called out for you. I even waited for you to come back…but you never came…you didn't fulfill your promises. Instead, you turned your back on me. You left and left me here alone, suffering.” You put your hand on top of her cheek and squeezed it the best you could.

“I was scared, Natalia. I’m scared, and you're not there anymore…I’m always scared” You put all of your strength on your hand to take her hand, move it to your lips, kiss her palm, and put it back on your cheek, squeezing it.

“I know… I know, and I’m sorry, my love….I’m sorry I left you behind….I’m sorry. I didn't mean to leave you, I didn't mean to.” She cries out, and you smile at her, a genuine smile you never did for over a year, but Natasha quickly panics when you close your eyes and your hand drops.

“No…no no no…please dekta…open your eyes…please I’m begging you…open your eyes” she tried…she tried to wake you up but you didn't show any sign of waking up, and now every second the warmth of your body is fading and thinking of them makes her wanna die too, instead she hugged and rocked you back and forth while she cried, savoring the warmth of your body that she knows she'll never feel again.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” she whispers, putting her cheek on yours, and that's when Wanda barges into the room, worried.

“Nat? ”Wanda stopped on her track, hearing and seeing Nat cry.

“What happened? ”She slowly walks towards her and keeps a distance to give Natasha some space.

It broke Wanda seeing her like this; she knows her as a tough, wise, and smart woman who never shows any weaknesses or lowers her ground, but now that Wanda sees her at her lowest, it breaks her.

“She's gone,” Natasha chokes at her own words. It hurts to admit it and get it out of her own mouth that you're gone. She knows she has to accept it whether she likes it or not

A.N : guys I made a video of this one shot, anyone wants to see it?

[woman1festo]

on the day of Nov 14th 2019, Daniil Zasorin, 19, had been denied entrance into the classroom due to him being late.

Students told local media that a teacher had twice asked the attacker to leave a classroom, because he was being disruptive.

Zasorin returned with a pump-action shotgun (which he had snuck through school security) and entered his homeroom.

He opened fire in the room, shooting victims at their desks. where he pointed his weapon at his classmates and forced the teacher to leave the room.

The shooter then opened fire indiscriminately, targeting everyone in his crosshairs.

Most of the class hid under tables, but some stood their ground. One classmate stood up, catching the gunman’s eye.

“Hey, are you immortal?” the shooter asked, moments before shooting his unarmed victim at point blank range with the comment: “Let’s check it out!”

Before the shooting, He was spotted by another student who entered the toilet. For some unknown reason, the gunman decided not to open his body count at that time. He told the witness to jump out of the window if he wanted to live. The student survived the fall but broke both arms.

A police officer said that when a cop went up to the second floor of the institution, he saw the armed teen - who tried to shoot the officer.

The police shot back at him, wounding him in the process.

Shortly after, the shooter turned the gun on himself, ending the rampage with just one more body added to the count.

Two people had died by then, himself and one other. three others were left wounded.

Student Alexey Golubnichy, 19, survived the shooting and was rushed to hospital in "grave condition", but died during emergency surgery.

Those wounded were named as Egor Stasyuk, 17, Kasiyan Kamanets, 19, and Vladislav Rozhkov, 20. All were rushed to the hospital and survived.

According to witnesses, the classroom was covered with bullets casings. Additional ammo was found in the toilet of the bathroom.

In a recording found by police, Zasorin says an unspecified group of “those people” should have been responsible for stopping past school shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, as well as present shootings like his own. 

[diedraechin]

[Sneak Peek] What Chapter are we on now????

Chapter 52? Really? Damn.

Anyway, I have like one half of a scene to write before giving this to Io to edit, but I didn't want you all to think I've forgotten you since we're in the midst of the Grand Prix series. Besides the spills in the Skate Canada Men's Short (I'm still in the process of watching) reminded me of the even splattier place I left you hanging... So I thought I'd give you some fan chatter from the stands as a treat!

I did cut a bit out for length because I needed the set up but wanted to end on a specific punchline. So just know that there is more back and forth as a certain pole dance instructor gets a Katsuki lesson... 😉

“Ok. I found it.” Tabitha squinted at her phone. “He’s skating in the second to last group according to Skate Trails.” She looked away from her phone and over at her wife. “I don’t really keep up with Men’s though, so I can’t tell you anything about Katsuki.”

Jade just shook her head and leaned back into her seat. “That’s fine. I just wanted to see if we’d missed his skate because it’d be nice to see how he does.”

“I didn’t realize that you were a Katsuki fan!” One of the women behind them leaned forward. Jade and Tabby had chatted with her during the Pairs event earlier before going off on their antiquing adventure with the friends they were staying with during the break between the Pairs event and the Men’s. Though they’d ended up missing most of the first two groups all together since dinner had gone long. Still, it was kind of nice to see a familiar face. While Jade had known this was going to be an all day thing, it was really an all day thing.

<snip snip for excerpt length>

“I heard that a Grand Prix thing is coming to Detroit.” Jade was just happy to have something to add to the conversation.

“Really?!” Tabitha looked at her. “To Detroit? I haven’t looked to see where Skate America was going to be next season yet.”

Katsuki fan nodded. “Oh yeah. And I really hope that Yuuri gets assigned since he trains in Detroit because I will definitely drive down from Guelph if he does. I’d love to see him live again. And when the events are smaller like Grand Prixs, it can be easier to meet the skaters if they have the time and inclination.”

"Time and inclination? Katsuki?" No one could miss the snark from Newcomer, but given that she knew Yuuri wasn't the most...forward person, Jade didn't exactly disagree.

Katsuki fan smacked her hands on her thighs. "Let me dream!" Then she broke out into a wide smile and laughed.

“Looks like they’re going to let them onto the ice.” Katsuki fan’s friend said as she shook her friend's arm.

Jade and Tabitha turned around in their seats and sure enough, almost as soon as they settled, the announcer was declaring the start of the group and the skaters all took off onto the ice, some handing things off to the people standing on the other side of the boards as the six skaters scattered across the ice.

“I can’t tell who is who.” Jade said.

“Fluffy hair in the Japan jacket is Murata, he’s the other Japanese skater. Slicked back hair is Yuuri.” Katsuki fan said.

Over the speakers, the announcer started calling out the names of the skaters and the country they represented and each skater was greeted with cheers and applause even though none of the skaters broke from their warmup to acknowledge it. Behind them, Katsuki’s fan cheered for each skater but was especially loud when Yuuri’s name was called, shouting “Yuuri, Ganbaaaaa!”

On the ice, Yuuri unzipped his jacket as he headed to the boards and he handed it over to someone there.

“Oh my god! Is that Kai Tamm?! Kai showed up?! Hallelujah!” Katsuki fan certainly sounded overjoyed. “Should have been checking the forums, I bet her showing up was already mentioned.”

So did her friend. “My prayers have been answered! Do you think if I pray hard enough, he’ll come to his senses and go back to Alexei?”

Jade glanced over her shoulder at them.

“Kai is the assistant coach at the Detroit Skate Club that Yuuri works with. She’s the tiny Hawaiian woman next to the idiot Italian with the big hair who is supposed to be Yuuri’s coach. Sorry, I’m just from the side of Yuuri’s fandom who isn’t really pleased with how Cialdini is coaching our boy.”

And when Jade looked back, it was the woman who was talking to Yuuri as he nodded. Another skater came up and stopped in a way that sprayed Yuuri with ice, but Yuuri just leaned over and brushed the crystals off his black pants without looking away from the woman.

“Rude.” Tabitha muttered. “Shouldn’t he get in trouble?”

“It’s Michele Crispino. It wouldn’t be a competition where they competed together without Yuuri getting sprayed by a Michele hockey stop.” And as Newcomer finished their commentary, Michele left the boards, but not without patting Yuuri once on the shoulder. Without looking Yuuri held out a thumbs up to the other skater which Yuuri’s coach seemed to approve of since he looked like he was laughing.

“Michele is going to regret that because KAI IS HERE!” Katsuki’s fan cheered. A few people around them chuckled.

“Using the Goncharov (1973) soundtrack for his Free is reason enough for Mickey to come ahead of Katsuki!” someone commented.

“Are you a Mickey fan or a Goncharov fan?” Newcomer asked.

“Does it matter?” came the reply.

[goldenpinof]

putin: *has elections*

putin: *finally kills the only opponent he feared*

putin's regime killed Navalny?! if this is true and people won't do anything-

[mariacallous]

In March, a little-known volunteer organization dedicated to “reviving the religious and secular unity of the Russian people” escorted agents from the Internal Affairs Ministry and the Russian National Guard on a raid in the remote city of Orenburg, a city of 500,000 near the Kazakh border.

Their target was a bar called Pose, which was locally famous for its drag shows. The volunteer organization, called Russian Community Orenburg, posted videos of the raid online, highlighting people in skimpy outfits, asking attendees why they were in a “faggot bar,” and showing clubgoers cowering on the floor as agents conducted their search.

“This is not [a scene from] the decaying West, this is from within the ranks of a country that is at war for a third year,” the group lamented when it posted the video online.

Conservatives in Orenburg had been outraged about Pose since it opened in 2021, according to the Russian outlet Mediazona, and a local media outlet published a sensationalist article about the club, complaining that laws like Russia’s longstanding “gay propaganda ban” did not give local law enforcement the tools to shut it down. That law, enacted in 2013, only bans materials made available to minors and carries light penalties.

The agents in Pose that night were armed with a major new weapon in Russia’s long crusade against its queer citizens. Last November, in a secret proceeding sealed to observers, Russia’s Supreme Court decreed the “international LGBT movement” to be an “extremist” organization, adding it to a list of banned entities that includes terrorist groups and the political operation of the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny. The decision is so broad that it can potentially be used against anyone who has—or simply “promotes”—a “nontraditional sexual orientation,” including people who are not LGBTQ but support queer people’s rights. People convicted under the law face up to 10 years in some of Russia’s harshest prisons, where queer people fear sexual violence or worse.

“This is not a decision to punish you for a few years. This is the death penalty, and it’s clear for everybody,” one longtime activist said, referring to the harsh conditions in Russian prisons. (The activist asked not to be named due to security concerns.) “We will not have a chance to survive there.”

Pose’s owner and two of its employees are now awaiting trial. A court announcement on Telegram notes they are accused of “being persons with nontraditional sexual orientation … who also support the views and activities of the international public LGBT association banned in our country.”

Others close to the bar are now living in fear. Only one regular Pose patron would agree to speak with me, and he said his friends had mostly stopped communicating with one another, afraid they could be discovered. Several had left the city or the country. He thinks he should maybe leave the country, too, but doesn’t have a passport or the money to go into exile, nor a safe place to flee to.

Pose, the patron said, “was my whole life. It was the only place where they accepted me.”

Homophobia became a major part of President Vladimir Putin’s political strategy in 2013. That’s when the Duma passed a national version of the “gay propaganda law.” The legislation was domestically useful to Putin, who was seeking to reinforce his political support by cozying up to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The law, which went into effect just before Russia was due to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, provoked an international outcry, and Putin detected homophobia could also be a tool of foreign policy. His government leaned into the controversy, portraying Russia as a defender of traditional values against a degenerate West that had lost its way. Kremlin allies also began using it in a more targeted way in Ukraine, where an oligarch close to Putin ran an ad campaign warning closer ties to the European Union would force the recognition of same-sex marriages. His decade-long strategy has used homophobia to try to drive a wedge between Eastern Europeans and the West, as well as to delegitimize fundamental notions of human rights and democracy.

To some Russian LGBTQ activists, it was inevitable that the Russian government would double down on going after queer people following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Swiftly, the Russian government made a broad effort to dismantle the last spaces for opposition to his regime. Other steps have included shuttering Russia’s remaining independent media outlets and effectively banning any speech critical of the war or of Putin.

The organization Coming Out, which held an eight-day annual public event in St. Petersburg as recently as 2021, decided to move its whole team outside the country almost as soon as Russian tanks rolled across Ukraine’s borders.

“A few weeks after the war started, I understood that things were not going according to the plan,” said Aleksandr Voronov, Coming Out’s former director, who led its relocation to Lithuania. “I understood that they were going to start looking for new enemies.”

Putin also justified the war partly as a crusade against the LGBTQ movement, which he initially derided in a speech announcing the full-scale invasion as part of a Western plot to “destroy” Russia’s traditional values. Then, in September 2022, he referred to the movement as “satanic” in a speech illegally annexing four Ukrainian regions.

As the war continued, the regime’s propaganda machine pushed outlandish stories, rushing a state television crew to an LGBTQ center in decimated Mariupol that it claimed was “practically under the direct patronage” of U.S. President Joe Biden. Russian lawmakers also responded, expanding the gay propaganda ban in November 2022 and enacting a draconian anti-trans bill in 2023 that would outlaw gender confirming medical treatment, prohibit people from changing their gender on legal documents, and prohibit trans people from adopting children.

“A special military operation is taking place not only on the battlefields, but also in the consciousness, in the minds and souls of people,” said Aleksander Khinshtein, a member of the Russian parliament and an author of the updated gay propaganda law, in a speech to the Duma in October 2022. “LGBT today is a tool of hybrid warfare. And in this hybrid warfare, we must protect our values. We must protect our society and we must protect our children.”

Despite many threats to Russia’s queer movement—the original gay propaganda law, a state requirement that forced many LGBTQ organizations to register as “foreign agents,” growing vigilante violence—Russia’s queer movement had remained vital throughout most of Russia for most of the past decade. (A notable exception is Chechnya, where local officials have detained, tortured, or murdered dozens of queer people.) Queer organizations continued to work and even hold major public events like St. Petersburg’s long-running QueerFest, a multiday festival of LGBTQ-themed talks and exhibitions ending with a large public concert. But the extremism designation is far more dangerous than any previous threat.

Part of the danger comes from the court’s secrecy around the ruling. It not only closed the proceedings, but also barred LGBTQ organizations from participating when they tried to challenge the Ministry of Justice’s petition. Technically, any group the government seeks to declare extremist has a right to respond to the allegations against it, but the Ministry of Justice brought its petition against the “international LGBT movement,” which meant no specific organization would have standing to respond. And even when a group of LGBTQ activists formed an organization called the International LGBT Movement in an effort to intervene, the court refused to allow them to participate.

In fact, the Supreme Court never officially made the order public. It only reached LGBTQ activists in their lawyers when prosecutors in the city of Nizhny Novgorod attached it to their filings in a case against a woman who was arrested for wearing rainbow-colored earrings. (The six-color pride flag and other LGBTQ symbols were banned by the order, and the court sentenced the woman to administrative detention, despite the fact that the woman’s earrings were not discernible pride symbols—they had seven colors and were shaped like frogs.)

Olga Baranova, who has been executive director of an LGBTQ community center in Moscow since 2015, told me that the movement is now backpedaling after years of encouraging people to come out. They used to believe visibility would gradually make Russian society more supportive of LGBTQ people. Now it’s just dangerous.

“We’ve worked all these years just to be [out] and to be in the mainstream. And now we just say, ‘Okay, stop, stop, stop!’” Baranova said. Most people she knows who were visibly out have left the country, Baranova said—as has she—and she and other activists now advise people living in Russia to stay in the closet for their own safety.

Natalia Soloviova, chair of the Russian LGBT Network, a federation of more than 20 queer organizations from across the country, called the decision “absolutely horrifying,” but said that even despite it, the reality is that most queer people are not able or don’t want to flee Russia. The war has made it harder for LGBTQ people to reach countries that promise the most safety to LGBTQ refugees—like the United States or members of the European Union—because those countries have radically restricted visas for Russians. Georgia, which allows Russians to enter without visas, has become an important haven for Russian dissidents of many kinds in the past two years. But Georgia’s ruling party has advanced its own laws attacking LGBTQ people, one of many initiatives to bring the country closer to Moscow’s orbit.

Still, Soloviova estimates a significant exodus, with “hundreds” going abroad. Almost 40 percent of the Russian LGBT Network’s member organizations have relocated at least some members of their team abroad, generally visible activists or people in senior management. And many other queer people have been displaced internally, fleeing threats in their hometowns for larger cities where their pursuers are less likely to find them. Baranova acknowledged that if queer people all either leave the country or live in the closet, as she and others counsel them to do, “the movement will expire.”

Soloviova is one of those who’ve left the country. She first spoke to me in April from Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, but has since left Georgia. (She feared that country’s new propaganda law and also knew of three queer Russians who were attacked on the street.) She is from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk—Russia’s third-largest city—and said she’d never thought she’d live outside Russia until the extremism designation.

Even today, key details about the Supreme Court order remain secret. For example, the order refers to a list of 281 individuals and 40 organizations considered part of the outlawed movement, but no one knows who is on those lists.

“The hardest thing here is that you have no opportunities to protect yourself,” Soloviova said. “You never know if you’re going to be prosecuted or not, and you will know only when the police come to your house directly and get you to prison directly.”

The charges in Orenburg are the first to reach court, but police appear to be flexing their new muscles across the country. In February alone, Mediazona reported several raids on “private parties” and a night club. LGBTQ activists told me they knew about several other similar incidents but didn’t want to share details, fearing publicity would put those involved in greater danger.

The arrests in Orenburg are just the beginning, worries Stanislav Seleznev, a lawyer with the Russian human rights organization Net Freedoms Project. Regional security officials generally have quotas for making significant arrests, and now LGBTQ people are an untapped pool of so-called “extremists” that can help them reach their goals.

“I’m compelled to assume that we are currently witnessing a model process that will be spread as much as possible all over the Russian regions,” Seleznev said. “Many more people are in a very dangerous situation now.”

Additional reporting contributed by a Russian reporter who asked not to be named, fearing that this article could lead to their arrest under the extremism law.

[rxmqnova]

Hi, I have this idea.

Nat x Fem Reader, where yn isn't an avenger and they were living happily until what we called "infinity war". Because of Nat's condition, yn was the one who tried to get pregnant because they wanted to have children, but Nat with this mission needs to go and help the others, yn knew about the avengers and that the world needs Nat too, so they had to say goodbye to each other, until they don't know about the time.

What Nat didn't know was that Yn was pregnant and she didn't want to tell her because she knew how important the mission was.

When they killed Thanos, and Nat is alive, she didn't know what to expect about Yn, thinking she maybe was with someone and she was at her house, she was shocked when she saw a boy, like five years old(i don't remember the timeline) and after that she saw yn, her hair was red, she decided to have it in that way after gave birth, and you know Nat said like "Hi baby, I'm back" and maybe you could write some of Nat talking with her child and he telling her about his name (something like Alexei or Ivan) Nat and Yn having a conversation and Nat thought maybe she has a partner, and them being a happy family after all this time

Five years apart

Y/N: 27/32 years old ——————————————————

NO ONE'S POV Y/N smiles widely, admiring the table she just prepared for a romantic dinner. She wanted to prepare something special and tell her girlfriend the great news.

Y/N and Natasha have been trying to start a family for a while and finally, after so many failed attempts, it happened and Y/N is pregnant.

"Baby, I'm home!" Natasha calls, shutting the front door.

Y/N smiles, rushing to greet her girlfriend with a kiss. She practically jumps into Natasha's arms and pulls her in for a kiss on which Natasha can't help but chuckle.

"What's gotten into you, детка?" Natasha asks, chuckling at her girlfriend's excitement. (baby)

"Nothing, just happy to see you" Y/N smiles warmly, trying not to reveal anything just yet. "You must be hungry, let's go to eat" The girl says excitedly, already pulling Natasha to the other room.

"Wait, wait. I need to tell you something first" Natasha sighs, knowing what she's about to say won't make her girlfriend happy.

"What's wrong?" Y/N asks, noticing the change in Natasha's behaviour.

"Something happened… There's this alien who's planning an attack on Earth and-"

"And you have to go and save the world" Y/N says, looking slightly disappointed.

She knows Natasha could never sit at home when the world is in danger and it's one of the things she loves about her, but did it have to be now? Now when they can finally have what they've been wanting for so long?

"Y/N, I'm sorry. I know we wanted to start a family and I really want to, but-"

"I know… the world needs you, Nat" Y/N sighs, wrapping her arms around Natasha and burying her face into Natasha's neck. "When do you need to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning" Natasha sighs and kisses her girlfriend's head. "Promise you'll come back to me" Y/N asks seriously, looking into Natasha's eyes.

"Honey, you know how-"

"Promise" Y/N repeats, waiting to hear the same word from her girlfriend.

"I'll try my best to come back to you" Natasha smiles, cupping Y/N's cheeks with her hands and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

——————————

5 years later…

It's been a little bit over 5 years since Natasha left for a mission and hasn't returned home yet. Y/N's been waiting for her everyday, hoping she'd return and they could finally live the life they always wanted.

Y/N even dyed her hair red as it reminds her of Natasha. She's been watching news everyday and knows her Avenger girlfriend is safe now that the Avengers finally defeated Thanos. She just hopes Natasha will show up someday.

Meanwhile Natasha's been thinking whether or not she should find Y/N again. She has no idea if the girl she loves isn't with anyone else now. It's been 5 years after all.

After a long discussion with her friend Wanda, she decided to find the love of her life. Maybe it's not too late and Y/N is still waiting for her, right?

"Alright, my little prince. Mama will be right back with dinner" Y/N smiles and presses a kiss to her son's head.

The little boy's been playing with his stuffed animals in his fort the entire afternoon, only coming out when Y/N calls, so she's not afraid to leave her little boy alone for a bit. Especially when their house is far away from everything.

Natasha pulls over a little further from the house, deciding to wait if Y/N isn't already living her happy family life with someone else. The last thing she wants is to ruin Y/N's happiness.

"Sir Snuggles, you betrayed our kingdom, so you have to leave!" Little Alexei orders, stepping out of his fort with a pout on his face and carrying his teddy bear on the porch.

Natasha's eyes widen when she sees the little boy that looks exactly like a mini version of Y/N. Few seconds later Y/N steps out of the door, two plates in her hands. Natasha smiles when she notices the hair color change.

"Dinner's ready, little prince" Y/N smiles, placing the plates on the table outside.

"Mama, I'm the king, not little prince" The little boy pouts and climbs the chair.

"Oh. I'm sorry, your majesty" Y/N jokes, sitting opposite her son. "No, no. Go wash your hands, honey" Y/N orders before Alexei can even start eating.

She receives a whine from the little boy, but he listens and goes to wash his hands. Natasha takes it as an opportunity and walks over to the now redhead.

"Hi, baby. I'm back" Natasha informs on which Y/N looks up, not believing her own eyes.

"… Natasha?" The girl's eyes fill with tears on the sight of her girlfriend standing there.

She immediately stands up, running to Natasha and jumping into her arms. She's been waiting 5 years for this and it's finally here.

"Why the hell did you not visit me even once over the 5 years?" Y/N asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Mama?" The little boy suddenly appears behind his mom, hiding behind her legs and looking up at her.

"Natasha, let me introduce you your son" Y/N smiles, lifting Alexei up and sitting him onto her hip.

"M-my son?" Natasha asks if she heard that right, her eyes filling with tears. "B-but how?"

"… I might have planned to tell you we were expecting a baby the same evening you told me you needed to leave on that mission. Before you ask why I didn't tell you… I know you, Nat. You can't sit still when the world needs help and you would never forgive yourself for leaving me alone either, so I decided not to tell you" Y/N explains and Natasha stays quiet, processing everything. "… Are you mad? Please don't be mad at me, I-"

"No, no, I'm not mad. I just… Does he know?"

"He does. I've told him a lot about you… Can you say hi to mommy, bubs?" Y/N smiles, encouraging the little boy with a kiss on the head.

"Hi" Alexei mumbles shyly.

"Hi. I'm so happy to meet you, buddy" Natasha smiles, tears rolling down her cheeks. "What's his name?" She asks and wipes her tears away.

"I'm Alexei!" The little boy grins.

"… Alexei? Did you really name our child after… well, my dad?" Natasha asks, raising an eyebrow on which Y/N furrows her brows.

"Your dad? You've never really told me much about your family. You said you don't know your real family. How was I supposed to know your dad's name's Alexei?" Y/N says confused, they've never really spoken about Natasha's family, even though Natasha planned to tell her girlfriend before the Thanos thing.

"I guess I gotta explain you some things. But Alexei suits him, the right name for a little king" Natasha smiles at her son who blushes and hides his head into Y/N's neck which makes both women chuckle.

"Oh. Dinner. Go to eat, honey" Y/N remembers, standing Alexei back on the ground. "Will you have dinner with us? I cooked just for the two of us, but I can cook more? It'll take a while, but I'll be happy to cook for you. Or I can share mine if you want?" Y/N suggests nervously, hoping Natasha won't disappear again.

"Y/N, calm down" Natasha chuckles. "I already had some food, you don't have to cook anything or share your dinner with me. But I'd be really happy if we could talk about everything later?"

"It's Alexei's bedtime soon, so we can talk then if you don't have anywhere else to be?" Y/N suggest on which Natasha smiles and nods.

———

The boy fell asleep quite quickly as all the playing today worn him out. Y/N gives him one last kiss on the forehead before walking downstairs to have a talk with Natasha.

"He's asleep already" Y/N informs, slowly sitting down next to Natasha on the couch. "… Nat, I was worried about you. Why didn't you visit me or at least called me over the 5 years?"

"… I don't know, I… I was worried you found someone better with whom you'd be living a happy life" Natasha admits, playing with her fingers.

"I could never find anyone better, Nat. You are the best one for me. I love you" Y/N smiles, placing her hand on top of Natasha's.

"Y-you do? After all the time?" The Avenger asks, looking Y/N in the eyes.

"Yeah, of course I do" Y/N smiles warmly.

"I love you too, you have no idea how much" Natasha smiles back on which Y/N moves closer and hugs her girlfriend tightly. "And I love the new hair color, by the way" Natasha smirks suddenly, making Y/N chuckle.

"Yeah, it reminds me of you, so I dyed my hair. But I think it quite suits me, don't you think?"

"It does, you look beautiful" Natasha smiles lovingly. "I. Hm. Now that my mission is over and the world is saved… I was wondering if we couldn't continue where we ended? Now that we have a son, we could finally be a family"

"I would love nothing more" Y/N smiles, looking up at Natasha who returns the smile and leans in, kissing her girlfriend passionately.

"You know… when Alexei and I get to know each other a bit better… we could maybe start thinking about giving him a little sibling" Natasha smirks.

"You would want another baby with me?" Y/N smiles, loving the thought already and to be honest, the little boy has been begging her for a little brother quite a while already.

"Yeah. I would love to have another mini Y/N running around" Natasha smiles and presses a kiss to Y/N's forehead.

"Well then, I guess you gotta tell me about your family first otherwise our second baby might be accidentaly named after your mom or something" Y/N jokes, making Natasha chuckle.

They sure have a long evening full of explaining ahead of them…

----------------------

Natasha Romanoff masterlist

Masterlist

[missmarveledsblog]

It's just pretend right ? ( bucky barnes x reader ) part 7

summary : the team come to the ranch , bucky and kitty are realising some shared feeling , yelena is excited to meet more family ,kitty finally stands up to the family members that made her life hell . bucky tries to make his move only it doesn't go to plan or the reaction he was expecting.

warnings : none it's goofy and fluffy

previous part

The fickle bitch that was the universe seem to be out for her , from the revelations  of the century or in her opinion it was . New family members and slight identity crisis as well as the feeling of being so close and yet so far from what she done nothing but dream about since  the day she met Bucky barnes even the  part of  him being a dick at that time , she wanted him , since coming to the ranch when the hardest thing she had to face was to pretend to be his girl. Those small moment at first she thought it was in her head , a selfish conjure of her mind but it wasn’t  he wanted what she did and then it was making more things clear how close she’s  been all this time and yet so far .  she should of been greeting the team as they stood of the jet and yet she couldn’t  no she was thinking of every single minor interaction the two had wondering what else she missed .  she didn’t know which member of the team she was hugging too lost in her own mind little did she know  wanda was smirking seeing the two teammates almost thinking the same thing .  how their eyes kept finding each other  well that was til kitty was knocked on her ass and out of her own head staring up at the blonde widow smiling down at her . 

“ hiii little sister” she cooed . 

“ hey lena “ she groaned as nat pulled them apart laughing . 

“ hiii big brother “ she went to run at jessie only he moved and caught her instead. “ impressive ohh more of you” she turned to a now nervous izzy and jack . “ i always wanted big family “ she bounced around happily. 

“ lena down “ nat chuckled . “sorry “ she turned to kitty's parents . 

“ hey my children it’s papa “ the voice called as she turned to nat. 

“ what’s he doing here .. i told him to wait” the widow growled . 

“ he wouldn’t let go of the wheels on the jet” clint rolled his eyes . 

“ even when it was in the air i even tried to shoot him off” yelena nodded . 

“ she really did .. hi sorry name kate bishop nice to meet you all “ the girl stood nervously . 

With in a second she was pulled against a body stank of stale vodka and god knows what else . 

“ my little girl and strong boy” alexei gushed only for kitty to stomp on his foot to let her go. 

“Dude no “ she grimaced as she felt herself being pulled in the different direction more safe one.  

“ you look like a young me it’s like a mirror “ alexei pulled and pushed jessie's face . 

“ oh my god he does” izzy squinted . 

“ kate bishop this is my little sister look how cute she is “ yelena smiled honestly reeling it was best news she gotten in long time . 

“ we know each other yelena “ kate rolled her eyes , smile on her face. 

“ this is new sister izzy and jack but they are not adopted but still  , my new brother jessie and more parents  they smell better” she walked around . 

“ that’s not how that works but ok anyways shall we go inside and deal with the actually problem “ tony snorted .

“ wanna talk after” bucky smiled his eyes darting to her lips as he licks in own  as sam and steve share a glance . 

“ you can have her after we run the data help bring in equipment “ tony pulled her away . 

“ hey did something happen between you too” sam asked excited . 

“ not yet “ was all bucky said heading off the jet as two followed after. 

 She, bruce and tony worked in the living room  each set on their own task as fury sent the files once she never new existed  on herself while using what she could find to see what hydra wanted with her now  , why now of all times did they attack .  impeccable timing she would give them that when she heard the chaos filling the entrance of the ranch , the shrill shrieks and whining  grumbles. A part of her wanted to stay where she was not even indulge on what it was but again  it wasn’t on the cards as she watched her aunts and uncles  , terror twin all stormed into the room . 

“ of course our lives would be in danger because of you “ her aunt linda was first to speak as rest followed each telling her some of abuse spilling from her tongue and now she was done she wasn’t scared anymore. 

“ hey lady watch your tongue that is my little sister” yelena came barging in . 

“  i got this go mama has some mac and cheese in the fridge and hotsauce” she winked. 

“ i can kill in different ways “ she called as she headed  .

 “ look honestly i’m trying to work and ok you don’t like me i know that it used to bug me i used to care but now honestly it last on the list of shit so call me whatever you want  and scream til your blue in the face how much you hate me  cause even as fucked up as is i love you i mean i don’t like you people your horrible and self fish but  i still love you ,  whether blood or not  your my family so go hate me somewhere in the house so i can work in peace  and makes sure your safe “ she said completely silencing them  as each walked out of the room stunned . 

“ i’m not so nice next time one of you dipshit disturb my work i fire my repulser at her head “ tony looked up making them move quicker. “ good on you kid” he added before his eyes went back to the screen . 

“ proud of you kiddo “ bruce squeezed her shoulder. 

“ it was either kill em kindness or barbeque and i love my mama so kindness won” she shrugged. 

“ hey mr stark .. um could i go out to see the horse “ peter parker stood nervously .

“ parker your over twent… yeah go ahead feed the horse and touch grass “ he rolled his eyes . “ wear a jacket” he added .  

“ we’re gonna race them against quicksilver how cool is that” jack excitedly said . 

“ kids literal children “ tony scoffed . 

“ you wanna watch don’t you “ bruce smirked . 

“ i mean if you do ?” tony eyed up the fellow science brow . 

“ jesus christ both of you go i got this “ she laughed as the two genius almost flew out the room  setting on the work ahead . 

“ go she on her own “ sam nudged his head.  

“ we can guard the door “ steve added. 

“ have those two not made progress  i mean sargent if you won’t maybe i will “ loki smirked . 

“ i can do it .. without you guys guarding the door that’s weird i can lock or shoot the next person that interrupts” he walked off new found confidence as he headed to the  dinning room , closing the door the second he entered and locking it  honest in his words he would shoot the next person that interrupted at this stage so many missed opportunities over the span of the four year … four  that he didn’t do it . honestly how held him back all this time was a mystery barely even taking a chance any more  he sauntered over as  she stood her eyes wide as she saw him coming what he didn’t expect was her to dive to door unlocking it and running down the hall and puking her gut up loudly . 

“ so it went well?” steve grimaced. 

“ sorry “ she came out looking as they stood looking at her . “ i know why it’s happening now they wanna repeat history in more ways than one “ .

taglist: @vicmc624 @babble28 @scott-loki-barnes @ozwriterchick

[arlana-likes-to-write]

It’s Okay. Let Me Go.

This is the same as the older sister AU but a What if? version. This follows more canon events of the MCU. In this story, Yelena does not join our reader and the sisters aren’t as close. This is not cannon to the main stories that I’ve written. I just have been sitting on this idea since the first one shot and I knew I had to write it. 

Summary: You didn’t expect a phone call from your sister, Natasha. But she is asking you for a favor to fight an off world threat that is threatening her family. 

Warning: multiple character death, survivors guilt, canon type violence, canon type injuries 

Word count: 4.8k 

Serbia, 2018

No one called you on this phone. You had two. One was used when Melina had another Widow locked down or Red Room associates needed to be dealt with. You also gave the number to Widows to use when they needed help transitioning into the world. The phone that was ringing now was the number you gave to your sisters. You pulled out that phone and looked at the caller ID. It was Natasha. “Sestra,” you answered it, looking back down at the scope of your sniper rifle. “To what do I owe the pleasure ?” She was silent. You heard muffled voices in the background. “Natasha, are you there?” 

“Remember when Yelena and I agreed to help you take down the Red Room I said you would owe me one.” You remembered that conversation. It felt like a lifetime ago but it was only two years. “I need your help.” You sat back from the scope. 

“Where do you need me?” You asked without hesitation. 

“How fast can you get to Egypt?” You were in Serbia. A normal person would take them 10 hours but you were resourceful in a pinch. 

“Give me 5 hours,” you said, looking back down the scope. “Send me the exact coordinates.” 

“I will.” She paused. “Thank you.” There were two things you knew for certain about Natasha; she never asked for help and she rarely thanked anyone. You were a little worried. 

“No need to thank me,” you told her. “We’ll debrief in person.” You took a steady breath and fired your shot. 

“Was that a sniper rifle going off?” She asked. You began to disassemble the gun. 

“I was in the middle of something when you called,” Natasha chuckled. “I’ll see you soon.” You hung up before she could reply. You put the gun in the case, picked up the shell casing, and descended the roof. You had no idea what you were heading into but you were ready for the fight.  

*

Upstate New York; Avengers Compound, 2018

Natasha ended the call and turned to face her team. The team was a loose word to describe this group of people as it's been 2 years since they had all been together and that ended in a fight. “I’ve called in a favor,” she told them. “We need to make a pit stop before heading to Wakanda.”  

“Who did you call?” Steve asked. She looked at Yelena. She was standing next to Wanda. There was a small cut on her forehead from their most recent fight. 

“Our sister,” she said. “She’s older than us.”

“You have another sister?” Bruce questioned. “Did anyone else know about that?” He asked around the room. They couldn’t know wouldn’t know about you because Natasha tried to forget you. 

“We haven’t seen each other in a long time,” Yelena said. “We ran into her on the run. She got us out of a sticky situation.” That was an underestimate. 

“Look, she’s a hell of a fighter and if Thanos is as big of a threat as Bruce says he is, an extra fighter isn’t going to hurt,” Natasha sighed. “Just trust me.” Steve nodded. 

“We should get going,” he said. “Let’s meet in the Quinjet in 15.” Natasha walked to the armory with Yelena close behind. 

“Do you think I made the right call?” Natasha asked. The youngest Widow sighed, picking up her Widow bites. 

“Yeah, this is going to be the fight of our lives,” she said. “I'd rather have both of you by my side.” 

*

Cairo, Egypt 2018 

You weren’t sure what you were expecting when the massive jet landed outside the capital in an off-the-grid town. “Where was this when we broke Alexei out of prison?” You asked yourself as the ramp lowered. You came out of the shadows pulling your hood down and watched Natasha and Yelena descend the ramp with Captain America by their side. It’s been two years since you’ve seen your sisters. You’ve kept in contact, short text messages here and there to assure everyone was alive. But seeing them in person was a different feeling. Natasha died and cut her hair and Yelena was wearing a few new bruises. “You're late,” you said with a smile. Natasha rolled her eyes. 

“You just like to be early for everything.” She said. You gave her a quick hug. Yelena’s hug was longer, she hugged you tighter. 

“Good to see you again, malen'koye solnyshko (little sun),” you whispered. You ended the hug and stared at Captain America. 

“Steve, this is our sister, Y/n,” Yelena introduced. You shook the man’s hand. His handshake was strong. You could tell a lot about a man by how he shook hands. 

“We appreciate the help on such short notice,” he said. You smiled 

“Of course, Captain,” you said, following them up the ramp. “Any chance to show the Avengers I’m the better Widow I'm gonna jump on it.” The super soldier chuckled at your joke. 

“Suka,” Yelena said, elbowing you in the ribs. You met the rest of the team as they explained who they were after. You found yourself glancing around the Quinjet. This group was the one your sisters chose. They had so much time with them. A weird feeling began to form in your chest. It became difficult to breathe. But you pushed it down. You had a mission to focus on. 

“So, if this alien were to get that stone,” you said, pointing to Vision. “How many casualties are we looking at?” 

“Half the Earth’s population,” Bruce answered. Shit. You whistled. 

“Understood, alien is not to get that stone,” Steve ordered everyone to try to relax, that you would be landing in Wakanda soon. You sat away from everyone, going through the weapons you had. You didn’t have much with you as it was a last-minute mission but you would make do. 

“Mind if I join you?” You looked toward the voice. It was Wanda. You nodded and she sat down next to you. “Thank you for helping by the way. Vision,” she looked towards the man. He was talking with Burce. “He’s important to me.” 

“You love him.” You said. It wasn’t hard to see. When Steve was talking about Thanos, Wanda was looking at him. Wanda nodded. 

“I do.”

“Then I’m glad I’m here.” She looked back at you. 

“Have you ever loved someone like that?” You shook your head. The Red Room conditioned you to believe that love was for children, a weakness, a way for someone to exploit you. But you’ve been free from them for 2 years. You knew the truth as you watched couples all around you interact. 

“No,” you finally said to her. “I’ve never had the chance to find someone to love.” Your entire life was controlled. You were told when to sleep, when to eat, and when to bathe. “But I do know it’s important to tell the people you love that you do love them. Life can be very uncertain.” Wanda sighed. 

“Don’t I know it,” you didn’t question it but you saw the sadness radiating from her. “When Natasha called you to come to help us no one knew they had another sister.” You weren’t surprised by that. For years, they thought the Red Room was destroyed and you were off living your life without them. “But I knew you existed.” 

“They told you about me.” She smiled. 

“In their own way,” you were lost and a little confused. ‘Hi.’ You jumped at the sudden voice in your head. You were definitely out of your element here. 

“You can speak through people’s minds?!” She giggled. 

“It’s a little more complicated than that but yes.” Her fingers glowed red. “I don't do it intentionally but sometimes people’s thoughts are loud. We didn’t cross paths a lot, your sisters and I. They broke a few of us out of the raft and random check-ins here and there.” You did your research on why the Avengers weren’t talking to each other. The Accords. “But you are a constant thought in their minds.” 

“Really?” You whispered. She nodded. “What are they thinking about?”

“Natasha feels a lot of guilt for whatever happened.” 

“You don’t know?” She shook her head. 

“Not my place to dig through that,” she said. “Yelena misses you. She wants more time.” You smiled, looking at your sisters. They were sitting with Steve, no doubt coming up with a plan. “I also came over here for another reason.” You looked at her. “It’s okay to be jealous. It’s a valid human emotion. It means you're free.” 

“Free.” You whispered the word. Freedom was a concept you never dreamed about. It was just out of reach. Freedom was like smoke when you tried to hold onto it slipped through your fingers. “Thanks, Wanda.” 

“Anytime,” she smiled, standing up. “Maybe when all this is done we can hang out when the world isn’t ending.” You smiled. 

“I’d like that.” 

*

Wakanda 2018

You were a little bit out of your element as you stared at the force field surrounding Wakanda and Thanos' army attacked. Your sisters by your side and the Wakandan army at your back. “You know,” you said to them. “If you missed me that much we could have gone for ice cream or something.” You had a few guns attached to your hips, widow bites on your arms, and Shuri gifted you an assault rifle. Natasha laughed. 

“That doesn't seem like our speed. This is more fun,” you chuckled, shaking your head.

“You both are going to be okay out there, right?” You asked them. Yelena nodded. 

“Of course, we’ll be okay.” There was so much more you wanted to say. Your warning to Wanda echoed in your head. But T’Challa gave the order to open the barrier then all hell broke loose. 

*

The battle was happening around you. You moved across the battlefield fighting with Okoye, covering your sisters, fought with a god, and stood back to back with a man you haven’t seen in a long time; the Winter Soldier. You looked at the man. His hair was still long but well kept and his blue eyes had more light to them. “You’ve grown up,” he said, once there was a moment to breathe. 

“No shit,” you laughed. “You look better than the last time I saw you, Soldat.” He winced at the title you gave him. 

“Bucky. Call me Bucky.” You nodded. Before you could respond, you heard your name yell out. 

“I gotta go,” you ran off towards Yelena’s scream. Her back was to a small cliff with a horde of Thanos’ army around her. You never saw so much fear in her eyes. You killed one of the creatures and stood in front of her. You made quick work of killing the others you heard Yelena gasp as she grabbed onto your suit. She lost her footing and fell backward. You dropped the gun you were holding and protected her hand as you both rolled down the cliff. She landed on top of you. 

“You're heavy,” you groaned, pushing her off of you. She fell onto her back with a grunt. You lay there, looking up at the Wakandan sky. It was beautiful here. 

“Thank you,” she said, sitting up. You looked up at her. “I’m losing count home many times you’ve saved me.” 

“It’s not a competition, malen'koye solnyshko (little sun),” she smiled at the nickname. “We are family.” You stood up, whipping the dirt off your pants. “It’s what we do.” She stood up and you put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. 

“I’m glad you're here,” she said. “I’ve missed you.” 

“Missed you, too sestra,” You started to walk towards the cliff you fell to ascend back up to join the fight but Yelena stopped. You turned to face her. She was looking down at the ground, holding onto her stomach. “Yelena, what’s wrong?” 

“Something is wrong,” she stumbled backward and fell to the ground. You knelt in front of her, grabbing onto her hands. She looked at you and slowly you watched your sister turn to dust in your fingers. 

“Yelena!” You yelled. But she didn’t respond. She couldn’t. You felt sick to your stomach as you scrambled up the cliff. Across the battlefield, you watched as members of the Wakandan army fell to their knees and disappeared. “No,” you whispered. You knew what this meant. He got the stone and Vision. No. You couldn’t think about that. You had to find your sister. “Natasha,” you said through the coms. “Natasha, where are you?” There was no answer. 

“Wooded area, east side of the palace.” She finally answered. She sounded so tired. 

“I’m coming,” you broke out into a sprint, stripping off the weapons as you run. They were just slowing you down. You made it to the woods and let out a whistle. You whistled again when you didn’t hear her. Finally, you heard her whistle back. It was faint but you headed in that direction. You found her in a clearing, standing next to Vision’s body clenching her stomach. Steve was on the ground as his hand rested on Vision’s chest. Rhodey, Bruce, a raccoon, and the God of Thunder were standing behind them. She looked at you, her green eyes were glossy with tears. 

“Where is-?” You didn’t let her finish her question as you pulled her into a hug. It took her a second for her to hug back but when she did it was strong as if she was afraid you would turn to dust. She was shaking against you. You didn’t know what to say. No words could make this situation better. So you held onto her tight, not wanting to let her go. 

*

Upstate New York, Avengers Compound 2018 

You moved into the compound and stopped searching for Widows and let Sonya and a few others that didn’t get blipped lead. Melina helped them. She had to fill the quiet because Alexei was part of the population that was gone. You didn’t expect your first time to be at the compound; it would be so quiet. When Thanos was killed, the remaining Avengers scattered as they dealt with the guilt. But Natasha stayed. You watched her try to hold together a new team as the world adjusted to this new normal. There was little you could do to help as she grieved for her lost friend, Yelena, and friend that lost his way. 

You tried to be the strong one but there was guilt eating at you. You found yourself using the training room, working your body to the brink of exhaustion so you could sleep. The image of Yelena dusting away was haunting. Natasha found you a few nights asleep on the mat. You were grateful that you had her and in silent ways, she was grateful too. A small smile every time you put food down in front of her. She would curl up next to you when you were watching a movie and on nights when the nightmares got too bad she’d come to you. 

*

Upstate New York, Avengers Compound, 2023 

You were in the kitchen making Natasha food as you knew she survived on peanut butter sandwiches when you were away. It wasn’t often but sometimes Melina needed your help. Natasha was in a meeting with Okoye, Carol, Rocket, and Rhodey. She asked if you wanted to be a part of these calls but you weren’t an Avenger. You heard Rhodey’s voice end the call and you walked over to her. She had her hands over her face, eyes closed, and she let out a shaky breath. You placed the bowl of pasta down in front of her. “Eat,” you said, sitting down. She uncovered her face, staring at the bowl. Her eyes were bloodshot. It broke your heart to see her like this. She barely cried in the Red Room or Ohio. Now she was wearing her heart on her sleeve. 

“Not hungry,” she mumbled. 

“Please eat,” you said. “For me.” That got her to pick up the fork and twirl the noodles around it. She ate slowly. You weren't going to force her to eat the entire bowl but she needed something in her system. 

“How’s Melina?” She finally asked. 

“Good. She misses you.” The Blip changed the older Widow. She showed more emotions than before. 

“I’ll call her.”

“I was going to offer to cook you both dinner,” you looked toward the voice of the super soldier. “But it looks like you got that covered. Besides, I'm pretty terrible in the kitchen.” 

“Are you here to do your laundry?” Natasha asked. He nodded. 

“And to see my friends.” You bite your tongue before the snarky comment leaves your mouth. You stood up. 

“Vy zakonchili? (Are you done?)” She ate half the bowl. She nodded. You took the bowl and went back to the kitchen. You cleaned up the mess and put the leftovers away. You had to focus on something else before you lost your mind on Steve. You weren’t mad at Steve, your rational mind knew this. But you wanted to take your frustrations out on something and the sandbags weren’t cutting it. The super soldier was the one you saw the most over the past 5 years. But everyone else didn’t see the guilt and the stress Natasha carried. She began to fall back into Red Room behaviors because a mission failed. Those nights scared you the most. 

“If I’m not going to do this, who will?” You heard her ask Steve. You weren’t trying to eavesdrop. You poured yourself a glass of water. “This job,” she continued. “Made me believe that I was better than them, the people who tried to make me a monster.” You closed your eyes. “I was given a second chance from the fate that was written for me. I can’t waste it.” You took a sip of water and pulled out the tablet Natasha gave you. It was equipped with FRIDAY’S AI. You pulled up the security footage of the front gate. 

“Hey Nat,” you said to her as you walked back over. The conversation between the two stopped. “You need to look at this.” You sent the footage over to the screen. A man was standing in front of a brown van. 

“Hi, hi,” he said. “Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. We met a few years ago at the airport.” Steve stood up. 

“Is this an old message?” He asked you. You shook your head. 

“It’s the front gate.” 

*

Scott Langs’s ridiculous, outrageous idea brought the Avengers back together. Natasha even got Clint home. A plan was made, the machine was tested, and the team was divided. You were in your room changing into a white tech suit. You were going to Vormir with Clint and Natasha. Nebula described it as a dominion of death and the place Thanos murdered her sister. As a Widow your instincts were your best weapon it kept you alive. You had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling about this. You went to your desk and pulled out a pad of paper. You clicked a pen and began to write. 

A knock on your door pulled you out of your thoughts. You folded the letter and went to open the door. Natasha smiled at you. “Ready?” She asked. You nodded. 

“Born ready.” You closed the door behind you. 

*

You stood on the platform between Steve and Natasha. A circle formed of people that you barely knew but were ready to risk their lives to rewrite the loss. “You know your teams. You know your mission,” Steve said. “Get the stones. Get them back. One round trip each, no mistakes, no do-overs. This is the fight of our lives and we are going to win,” he looked at everyone. “Whatever he takes.” 

“He’s pretty good at that,” Rocket said. You chuckled, shaking your head. He gave Clint a shrunken version of his spaceship. Bruce got the machine ready as Natasha squeezed your hand. 

“See you in a minute,” she said with a smirk. Your helmet activated and the platform opened sucking you into it. It was a weird feeling. You were never on a rollercoaster but you imagined this was what it felt like. Your stomach was moving up and down. 

You were tasked with dropping Rhodey and Nebula off. After their spacecraft was unloaded, you watched Rhodey hug Natasha. 

“Take care, okay?” She said. 

“Get the stones and come back. No messing around,” he said to her. Clint shook his hand. “Hey Big Red,” it was the nickname he gave you. You didn’t know why. You walked over to him. “Watch out for these two idiots,” he said. You smiled. To your surprise, he hugged you. “Come back home too,” he whispered. 

“Of course,” you said good luck to Nebula and re-boarded the ship. The coordinates for Vormir were inputted into the ship’s navigation. Clint and Natasha sat down in the seats and you stood between them. The colors that flew by you were indescribable. Clint laughed. 

“We’re a long way from Budapest.” Natasha smiled. 

“You made a mess of that city.” You told him. He looked at you. 

“Did she tell you about that?”

“I was there,” confusion was all over the archer’s face. You laughed, placing your hand on his shoulder. “A story for another time, my friend.” The ship slowed down as the planet came into view. You stood by the window as Clint and Natasha unbuckled and joined you. It was straight out of science fiction. “You know this would be awesome under different circumstances.” You said. 

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Clint added. 

“Come on, you dorks.” The ship landed and you began the journey to the top of the mountain. 

*

Vomir 2023

It was a hike. You were grateful that you were in decent shape but the air was still knocked out of your lungs. “I bet the raccoon didn’t have to climb a mountain,” Natasha groaned. 

“Technically he’s not a raccoon, you know?” Clint said with a smile. 

“Whatever,” you rolled your eyes and stretched your side. “He eats garbage.” 

“Welcome,” you pulled your gun at the mysterious voice. “Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Clint, son of Edith.” He looked at you. “Y/n, daughter of Ilya.” You kept your face neutral at the mention of your father’s name. You took a step forward. 

“Who are you?” You asked. 

“I am a guide to you and to all who seek the Soul Stone,” Nice. That was convenient. 

“Amazing,” Natasha said. “Just tell us where it is and we’ll be on our way.” He sighed. 

“If only it was that easy,” he stepped out of the shadows. His face was red, with no skin covering it. You lowered your gun slightly as he pushed past you and walked toward the edge of the cliff. You followed him. “What you seek lies in front of you as does what you fear.” You looked down. 

“The stones down there.” You said, looking at him. He nodded. 

“For two of you,” he looked towards the vast landscape then behind you. “But for one of you, to take the stone you must lose what you love. An everlasting exchange.” He paused. “A soul for a soul.” You looked down at the ground. Thanos killing his daughter made a lot of sense now. The three of you walked away from the cliff. Thanos sacrificed his daughter and for what? Natasha sat down on a rock, resting her chin on her hands. 

“Maybe he’s making shit up,” Clint said. You shook your head, crossing your arms against your chest. 

“I don’t think so,” you said. “Thanos left here with the stone and without his daughter. Not a coincidence.” You wished you knew what was going on in Natasha's head. 

“Whatever it takes,” she whispered and walked over to the edge. You stood next to Clint, watching her. “If we don’t get that stone, billions of people stay dead.” You nodded. Yelena. Wanda. Sam. Alexei. 

“You know,” you said to the man standing next to you. “Thanks for not killing her.” He looked at you. “And you gave them a second chance.” You held out your hand. 

“You gave them it,” he shook your hand. “Tell my family I love them.” You smiled. 

“Tell them yourself,” you shot him with your Widow Bite. He fell to the ground with a groan. You took off running towards the edge. The commotion got Natasha’s attention and she saw what you were doing. She ran after you, tackling you to the ground. 

“What the hell are you doing?” She asked. You looked at Clint. The electricity was wearing off. You didn’t have much time. 

“It has to be me,” she shook her head. 

“No!” She said. “Absolutely not.” You smiled.   

“Sorry, sestra,” you flipped her off of you. “I am the better fighter.” You sprinted for the cliff and jumped. But you were stopped. Natasha was holding onto your hand, attached to the wall by a grappling hook. You looked up at her then down below. 

“Clint,” she called for him. “Clint, help me.” The archer appeared above you, his eyes wide as he looked down. He reached for her hand. 

“It’s okay,” you said. 

“No, no, please,” her voice cracked. Her green eyes were glossy with tears. 

“It has to be me,” you told her again. 

“Stop talking,” she yelled. She was pleading with you. “It’s not fair. You, me, and Yelena were supposed to be a family again.” You felt your own eyes burn with tears but you couldn’t cry. Her hand was slipping. 

“I wrote letters for you, Yelena, mom, and dad. Everyone. They are in my room on my desk.” She looked at you in disbelief. “I had to have a backup plan, you know?” You smiled. “Sestra,” tears were running down her cheeks as the realization set in. “No more guilt, okay? Not about this or all those years ago. I love you.” 

“Please,” she whispered. 

“It’s okay. Let me go,” you kicked off the rock wall and slipped out of Natasha’s grasp. For so many years you were afraid of death. Death meant the end of the deal. Death meant no one would watch out for your sisters. But now you’ve met the people that were there for them when you weren’t. They were kind and good. You weren’t afraid of death. You welcomed it. 

*

There was nothing Natasha could do. She wondered if you’ve ever felt this helpless. Is that why you made a deal with him? So you didn’t feel helpless. The sky lit up a beautiful orange. Natasha opened her eyes and she was laying in a pool of water. She heard footsteps walking over to her. She sat up, looked around, and opened her hand. An orange rock rested in the palm of her hand. Clint fell to his knees next to her and hugged her. Natasha cried. She cried and screamed and beat her hand against his chest. Clint held her tight. 

*

Upstate New York, Avengers Compound 2023

They did it. They won. The ashes of the compound settled around Natasha. Everything hurt; her body, her mind, and her heart. She fell to her knees. The letter she found survived the blast felt heavy in her pocket. “Natasha!” Yelena’s voice called out for her. But the redhead didn’t move. Not even when her sister was standing in front of her. “Nat,” she finally looked up. 5 years. 5 years since the last time Natasha saw her sister but for Yelena, it only was a few minutes. “Where is-?” Natasha couldn’t help the sob that escaped her. Yelena’s eyes widened in shock but she didn’t hesitate to bring her sister into her arms. Natasha felt tears on her skin. She didn’t have to say anything. Yelena knew and maybe one day she would tell her what happened. But right now she cried and hugged her. She didn’t care who heard her cry, it didn’t matter. Her sister was gone. 

*

Upstate New York, Avengers Compound 2020

There was a memory that Natasha liked to think about. For the past 5 years, you were her support line. It was a Friday night and you were in the kitchen baking cookies as Natasha sat at the island breaking in a new set of pointe shoes. “If we manage to bring everyone back, would you join the Avengers with Yelena and me?” You stopped rolling the dough into balls. 

“I’m not a hero, Nat,” you said. Natasha allowed you to finish the tray and place it in the oven. 

“Yes, you are.” She finally said as you cleaned up the floor. You looked at her. “To Yelena and me, you are a hero.” You smiled. 

“Then that’s all that matters. I don’t need the world to call me a hero. You and Yelena are all I care about.” 

Fin. 

_

Boy, that was sad to write. If you want to support my writing you can buy me a kofi

[foreverinthepagesofhistoryy]

Since it's Olympic season, did OTMAA play any sports?

Ooh what a fun ask!!! Sorry for answering this so late too, I prepared footage gifs for this but they wouldn’t export and so I procrastinated ☹️

Unlike the Olympic athletes of todays world, OTMAA and many other royals did not devote their entire time to playing one sport for their whole lives and making it their career, they more so had side hobby sports. Some of OTMAA’s favorites were

1. Tennis (not exactly like the tennis we know today but the Romanovs had tennis courts set up on their summer home Livadia in the Crimea and also played a lot when they were vacationing in the Finnish Skerries!)

2. Swimming (having vacationed near the sea, the Romanovs loved swimming and always found joy in the sea. They also had quite fun on there as we can see from their photos)

3. Cycling (OTMAA (besides Alexei who had a special bicycle where he could ride in the front while one of his Dyadka, or sailor nanny, could ride) rode bicycles from very young ages and was a continuous way to blow off steam on their older lives)

4. Horseback Riding (riding would’ve been a sport that all Royal children would master from a young age and OTMAA certainly did know how to ride horses!)

5. Dancing (dancing for royals was quite popular and there were many dances invented that were made for royals to dance to, OTMA loved dancing at balls and on the Standart and loved the sport as any girl should!)

OTMAA certainly weren’t Olympic level at any of these sports, but photos and footage provide us with insight on what they would’ve been doing to get exercise in their daily lives!

Thank you for asking!

[writerslittlelibrary]

Were you expecting someone?

masterlist

summary: thinking it’s a day like any other, you simply busy yourself with some homework and your hobbies, until there’s suddenly a gun pointed at your head

pairing: Natasha x daughter reader, Yelena x niece reader, Melina & Alexei x granddaughter reader

warnings: a gun? 

genre: fluff

words: 1265

a/n: I thought there should be way more content about the Widow family. I love to see more of the concept of Melina and Alexei with a grandchild

You do not have my permission to repost, copy or translate my work 

 |——————————— ⴵ ———————————|

When you woke up this morning, you were not expecting the situation you were currently in. Because you were wearing your headphones, you had not heard anyone enter the house. Your mom told you she would be gone until late afternoon, and while you were busying yourself with some drawings, you had completely forgotten the time.

Not that it mattered, really. Usually, when your mom comes home she’d always let you know, whether she’d send you a text or simply come into your room and say hi. 

This situation however, was slightly different. One moment you were peacefully sketching some ideas you were working on, and the next moment you could feel the cold metal of a gun pressed against your temple. You slowly looked up from your sketchbook, not making any sudden movements. 

You thought the woman in the room was simply another Widow from the Red Room, sent to assassinate you. You’d been dealing with those ever since you escaped two years ago. 

When you didn’t feel the woman relax her grip on the gun, nor feeling a bullet piercing your skull, you decided to handle the situation yourself. You turned around swiftly, grabbing the gun and pulling it towards yourself, managing to yank the woman forward and knee her in the gut. You pushed her to the side, holding the gun tightly as she let it go in surprise. 

She made a move quickly, hitting you across the face. You replied by swiping her legs from under her, letting her fall to the ground as you ran out the room. 

You made a run to the stairs, moving to get down as fast as possible. When you did, you saw two other people standing in the living room. It was a man and a younger woman. She couldn’t have been older than 25. 

Your eyes widened in surprise as you made a move to run to the front door. You could hear the woman from upstairs making her way down as well. Once you reached the door however, it opened, revealing your mom standing in the doorway holding some groceries. 

She smiled at you, then frowned when she saw blood on your face. 

“We have to go,” you said quickly, grabbing her hand and trying to run away. She however, didn’t move. You turned around to see her stifling a laugh. 

“Were you expecting someone?” you asked her, letting go of her hand and looking at her. “I’m sorry,” she just told you, letting a laugh escape. 

She grabbed your arm and dragged you into the living room, setting her bags down before pushing you onto a chair, making a move to grab the first aid kit. “Natasha, Who is that?” you heard the woman from before ask in a strong Russian accent. “I should have warned you,” she said, sitting next to you and carefully cleaning up the blood from your face. 

“Yeah, you really should have,” you told, wincing slightly when she pressed the alcohol cloth onto the wound. 

“I’m not too pleased you injured her though,” Natasha told the woman. “She attacked first,” the woman replied. You frowned and looked at the woman. “You held a gun to my head!” you told her. The younger woman grinned, clearly finding the situation amusing. 

“Y/N, meet my family, guys, meet my daughter,” Natasha said, putting a band-aid on your forehead before cleaning up the things she used, stashing the first aid kit back into the cupboard it came from. 

“How?” the younger woman simply asked, sitting down on the other side of you. “Dreykov created her using my eggs after I was sterilized. I didn’t know about her until two years ago,” Natasha explained, grabbing you a glass of water to help with the headache she knew was going to form. 

You thanked her for the water and looked at the other two people standing in the room. They hadn’t made a move to sit down yet. 

“Y/N, meet Melina, Alexei and Yelena,” Natasha introduced, motioning to the person she meant when she said their name. “Yelena’s my sister-” “And now an aunt too,” Yelena interrupted, also having a heavy Russian accent. She seemed ecstatic by that fact. You smiled at her and simply drank some of your water. “Are you going to stand and glare or…” you said slowly, referring to Melina and Alexei. 

Slowly they sat down. The moment they did, Alexei smiled. “Welcome to the family!” he said excitedly, motioning his hands up a little. 

Melina now smiled too, getting up and moving towards the fridge. “We need to celebrate,” she simply said as she opened it and reached for a bottle of vodka. She opened some cupboards until she found the one holding the glasses, and grabbed some shot glasses. 

She put them on the table and filled them. There were five of them, but you decided not too say anything. Natasha would never let you drink it anyway.

Melina put a glass in front of everyone, you included. 

She lifted her glass, as if to make a little toast. “Welcome to the family,” she said as she drank the vodka. Yelena and Alexei did the same, while you just looked at Natasha and smiled awkwardly. 

She returned your smile, grabbing her own shot of vodka and drinking it. You didn’t touch yours. “You are not drinking?” Melina asked, stating the obvious. You smiled at her and shook your head. “I’m 16,” you told her, and Melina frowned. 

“So?” 

“We’re in the United States… It's illegal here. Besides, it's like three pm…” you told her, glancing at the clock. “It is always good time for a drink,” Melina simply replied, pouring herself another glass. You smiled and grabbed your water, finishing the glass. Of course you drank vodka before. You were a Russian after all, but your mother didn’t need to know that.

After Yelena swiped your glass and drank it herself, you turned to your mother. “Can I go now?” you asked, wanting to get out of the awkward family get together. 

Natasha smiled and nodded. You got up from your chair and made your way upstairs, immediately jumping onto your bed and grabbing your phone, wanting to tell Wanda everything that just happened. 

You talked with Wanda on the phone for a while, explaining how Melina had you at gunpoint and about how bad you felt you threw her on the ground. Wanda laughed at certain things you told her, feeling as though it was a situation you could both laugh about, and you didn’t actually feel bad about something. You two talked for a few hours, simply enjoying hearing the other talk. Then Wanda had to go, saying her dinner she ordered had arrived. 

A few minutes after hanging up the phone, you heard a knock on your door. When it opened Yelena walked inside. 

“So this is your room huh?” Yelena said as she looked around your room, picking up some stuff and flipping through your sketchbook. “Cool,” she said, sitting down on your desk chair. “Natasha told me to come get you because the food is here.”

“Thanks,” you told her, rolling from the middle of the bed to the side, so you could plug your phone into its charger and get up. 

“I think we’ll be good friends,” Yelena said, getting up herself and exiting your room, followed by you. You smiled. This definitely wasn’t how you expected meeting Natasha’s family, had you known about them, but you couldn’t deny you were excited to get to know them better. 

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Alexei  navalny did not like tragedies. He preferred Hollywood films and fables in which heroes vanquish villains and good triumphs over evil. He had the looks and talent to be one of those heroes, but he was born in Russia and lived in dark times, spending his last days in a penal colony in the Arctic permafrost. A fan of “Star Wars”, he described his ordeal in lyrical terms. “Prison [exists] in one’s mind,” he wrote from his cell in 2021. “And if you think carefully, I am not in prison but on a space voyage…to a wonderful new world.” That voyage ended on February 16th.

Mr Navalny’s death was blamed by Russian prison authorities on a blood clot—though his doctor said he suffered from no condition which made that likely. Whatever ends up on his death certificate, he was killed by Vladimir Putin. Russia’s president locked him up; in his name Mr Navalny was subjected to a regime of forced labour and solitary confinement. Mr Navalny will be celebrated as a man of remarkable courage. His life will be remembered for what it says about Mr Putin, what it portends for Russia and what it demands of the world.

A man of formidable intelligence, Mr Navalny identified the two foundations on which Mr Putin has built his power: fear and greed. In Mr Putin’s world everyone can be bribed or threatened. Not only did Mr Navalny understand those impulses, he struck at them in devastating ways.

His insight was that corruption was not just a side hustle but the moral rot at the heart of Mr Putin’s state. His anti-corruption crusade formed a new genre of immaculately documented and thriller-like films that displayed the yachts, villas and planes of Russia’s rulers. These videos, posted on YouTube, culminated in an exposé of Mr Putin’s billion-dollar palace on the Black Sea coast that has been watched 130m times. Despite the palace’s iron gates, adorned with a two-headed imperial eagle, Mr Navalny portrayed its owner not as a tsar so much as a tasteless mafia boss.

Mr Navalny also understood fear and how to defeat it. Mr Putin’s first attempt to kill him was in 2020, when he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok smeared inside his underwear. By sheer good luck Mr Navalny survived, regained his strength in Germany and less than a year later flew back to Moscow to defy Mr Putin in a blast of publicity.

He returned in the full knowledge that he would probably be arrested. On the way back to confront the evil ruler who had tried to poison him he did not read Hamlet. He watched Rick and Morty, an American cartoon. By mocking Mr Putin, he diminished him. “I’ve mortally offended him by surviving,” he said from the dock during his trial in 2021. “He will enter history as a poisoner. We had Yaroslav the Wise and Alexander the Liberator. And now we will have Vladimir the Poisoner of Underpants.”

Mr Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in jail on extremism charges. He turned his sentence into an act of cheerful defiance. Every time he appeared in court hearings via video link from prison, his smile cut through the walls of his cell and beamed across Russia’s 11 time zones. On February 15th, on the eve of his death, he was in court again. Dressed in dark-grey prison uniform he laughed in the face of Mr Putin’s judges, suggesting they should put some money into his account as he was running short. In the end there was only one way Mr Putin could wipe the smile off his face.

In his essay “Live Not by Lies”, in 1974, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a Nobel-prize-winning Soviet novelist, wrote that “when violence intrudes into peaceful life, its face glows with self-confidence, as if it were carrying a banner and shouting: ‘I am violence. Run away, make way for me—I will crush you’.” Mr Navalny understood, but instead of running he held his ground.

His great strength was to understand Mr Putin’s fear of other people’s courage. In one of his early communications from jail he wrote that: “it is not honest people who frighten the authorities…but those who are not afraid, or, to be more precise: those who may be afraid, but overcome their fear.”

That is why his death portends a deepening of repression inside Russia. Mr Navalny’s murder was not the first and it will not be the last. The next targets could be Ilya Yashin, a brave politician who followed Mr Navalny to prison, or Vladimir Kara-Murza, a historian, journalist and politician who has been sentenced to 25 years on treason charges for speaking against the war. The lawyers and activists who continue to defend these dissidents are also in danger. Since Mr Putin’s return to the presidency in 2012, the number of prisoners has increased 15 times. Even as the remnants of Stalin’s gulag fill with political prisoners, professional criminals are being recruited and released to fight in Ukraine.

Mr Navalny’s death also casts a shadow over ordinary Russians. In Moscow and across Russia, people flooded the streets at the news. Before the police started to arrest them, they covered memorials for previous victims of political repression in flowers. Yet that repression is intensifying. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, 1,305 men and women have been prosecuted for speaking out against it. A wave of repression is also swallowing up people who never before engaged in politics. The president will shoot into the crowds if he must.

For the West, Mr Navalny’s death contains a call to action. Mr Putin considers its leaders too weak and too decadent to resist him. And for many years Western politicians and businessmen did much to prove that fear and greed work in the West, too. When Mr Putin first bombed and shelled Chechnya in the early 2000s, Western politicians turned a blind eye and continued to do business with his cronies. When he murdered his opponents in Moscow and annexed Crimea in 2014, they slapped his wrist. Even after he had invaded Ukraine in 2022, they hesitated to provide enough weapons for Russia to be defeated. Every time the West stepped back, Mr Putin took a step forward. Every time Western politicians expressed their “grave concern”, he smirked.

The West needs to find the strength and courage that Mr Navalny showed. It should understand that Mr Navalny’s murder, the soaring number of political prisoners, the torture and beating of people across Russia, the assassination of Mr Putin’s opponents in Europe and the shelling of Ukrainian cities are all part of the same war. Without resolve, the West’s military and economic superiority will count for nothing.

Western governments should start by treating people like Mr Kara-Murza as prisoners of Mr Putin’s war who need to be exchanged with Russian prisoners in the West or prisoners of war in Ukraine. They should not stigmatise ordinary Russians living under a paranoid dictator and his goons, or put the onus on ordinary people to overthrow the dictator who is repressing them.

The best retort to Mr Putin is by arming Ukraine. Every time America’s Congress votes down aid, Russia takes comfort. The leaders assembled at the Munich Security Conference, who heard Mr Navalny’s wife, Yulia, speak of justice for her husband’s death, need to stiffen their resolve to see through the war. For their part Ukrainian politicians must see that standing up for Russian activists and prisoners is also a way of helping their own country—just as Mr Navalny called for peace, for rebuilding Ukraine and the prosecution of Russian war crimes. Liberating Ukraine would be the best way to liberate Russia, too.

The voyage ends

After he had been poisoned, Mr Navalny returned home because he believed that history was on his side and that Russia was freeing itself from the deadly grip of its own imperial past. “Putin is the last chord of the ussr,” he told The Economist a few months before he took that last fateful journey. “People in the Kremlin know there is a historic current that is moving against them.” Mr Putin invaded Ukraine to reverse that current. Now he has killed Mr Navalny.

Mr Navalny would not want Mr Putin’s message to prevail. “[If I get killed] the obvious thing is: don’t give up,” he once told American film-makers. “All it takes for evil to triumph is the inaction of good people. There’s no need for inaction.”

Mr Navalny’s death has seemed imminent for months. And yet there is something crushing about it. He was not alone in believing that good triumphs over evil, and that heroes vanquish villains. His courage was an inspiration. To see that moral order so brutally overturned is a terrible affront. ■

[natasharswifey]

How we were

Summary:"I don't blame you for not loving me," Natasha whispered, her voice hoarse as she peered up at the woman who she once called her mother.

"I blame you for pretending you ever did.”

____☆____

A/N: This work was inspired by a prompt from Charlie_Balle who is literally my favourite Ao3 author <3

Tags: Angst, Abandonment issues, Arguing, Natasha needs a hug, Melina needs a hug, Emotional hurt/comfort.

W/C: 850

Link to fic on Ao3

Natasha steps out into the cold air of the night. It's supposed to be clearer out here, but she can't appreciate it with the weight on her chest. It stifled the constant thump thump that reminded her she was still here after so long.

Her mind won't let her rest, and being trapped in that farmhouse with Alexei and Melina isn't helping whatsoever. They seem determined to act as if no time has passed, as if their old lives were real.

When she called them out on their bullshit she'd upset Yelena. It wasn't her intent, but in hindsight she should've known there wouldn't have been a good reaction.

She hasn't been standing alone for ten minutes before she hears the back door open and shut. Their footsteps are too light to be Alexei's, and not quite deft enough to be Yelena's, leaving only Melina.

“You should really wear a jacket out here.”

Natasha simply scoffs and doesn't bother turning around, focusing on the dark outlines of the landscape and fog her breath creates.

At first Natasha tries to ignore her, but when she hears high pitched squealing from close by her curiosity overtakes her better judgement, and she follows the noise until she finds herself in front of Melina sat down bottle feeding a piglet.

It was... weird to see her in such a nurturing situation after everything. The last memory she had of Melina being so soft was in the backyard of their old home, comforting her little sister after a scraped knee when Natasha couldn't.

“It's mother rejected it.” Melina explains quickly, keeping her eyes on the small creature suckling aggressively. “I didn't crate her soon enough.” she mutters, mostly to herself.

The crickets and occasional frog fill in the silence between them. As well as the piglet’s oinks. She notices an empty crate nearby and decides to sit on it, the fatigue of the prison escape and half marathon to the farm creeping in on her.

Natasha remembers a lot of silences like these from years ago. With Yelena Melina had to constantly answer her endless array of questions, her curiosity of the word abundant. But with Natasha they could simply exist together and be content.

“So, this is what you do now, rescue orphaned piglets?” She asks, her eyes trained on the small thing with black patches of fuzz.

Melina doesn't answer for a moment, placing the bottle to the side once the gluttonous creature drains it. “My work is more important than that.”

The red-haired woman's anger is flared at the remark, but there's never any point arguing with her. When Natasha was younger any arguments were immediately shut down with an air of almost unquestionable authority and followed by an apology. Except when it came to Alexei, of course.

Finally, Melina looks up and at her daughter's face. So riddled with betrayal and hurt. A face she never thought she would see again.

“I did my best, Natasha. You know that I had no choice.”

“You could’ve done something.” She snaps back, but deep down she knows she's being unfair. Even if Melina had taken the girls and ran, they would have been hunted relentlessly like animals.

“I prepared you in every way I could.” That was, in the ways she was authorised to do so. If she had been allowed to teach them combat and stealth in their time together, she wouldn't have hesitated.

The Iron Maiden raises to her feet slowly, keeping the black and pink blob close to her chest, and places it down gently in a small bed of hay.

She glances down at Natasha to see her crouched over her lap picking at the small, white flowers on the ground and can't stop herself, “You're slouching again.”

The younger woman frowns and looks back up at Melina. “Stop pretending you give a shit.”

“I care about you. I raised you.”

“No, you didn't.”

Melina can't help slightly raise her voice at the swirl of emotions, “You blame me for this, but it was out of my control and yours.”

“I dont blame you for the past decades- I can't blame you for it. I don't blame you for being one of Dreykov's puppets...”

The Widow stops and inhales, driving her fingernails into the leather strap on her suit.

“I don't blame you for not loving me.” Natasha whispered, her voice hoarse as she peered up at the woman who she once called her mother.

"I blame you for pretending you ever did.”

Melina stops then cautions a step closer to Natasha and takes a knee to be level with her.

“It was never pretend, Natasha. I loved you dearly for every second I knew I should not have, and I do not regret it.”

The younger Widow scrubs at her face furiously and doesn't reply to Melina’s affirmations, ready to get up and leave before a tear betrays her, until she feels a hand on her cheek which she instinctively leans in to.

“I'm sorry, my dear.” She murmurs just loud enough for her to hear.

“…I know.”

____☆____

“Villain and violent

Infant and innocent

Baby, both arms cradle you now”

-Forwards beckon rebound, Adrianne Lenker

Gotta love that Melina and Nat angst, thank you for reading and please send in any requests!

[castawaycat]

The Tales of a Little Tiger: Chapter 19- Finding Home Again

Summary: Wanda and Natasha struggle with themselves while they deal with you still missing from their lives.

It had been two weeks since you had disappeared and your mama’s were not faring well. Natasha had turned into a raging mama bear. She had busied herself with doing side missions which was damaging to her relationship with Wanda.

Wanda had locked herself in her room searching through timelines trying to find you through thousands of alternate timelines. It was painful to see versions of herself with her boys, Tommy and Billy. It was also painful to see Vision. Sure, she absolutely loved Natasha; but her and Vision had a special bond and she once loved him. Tears streamed down her face as she heard her boys laughing, she constantly had to remind herself that having her boys was not meant to be in her timeline and that the mission was to find you and bring you home.

Everyone on the team was worried about you and your mama’s. Alexei and Melina had tried to offer comfort to Natasha and Wanda, but both women were stubborn in handling your disappearance.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You need to get through to Wanda. She hasn’t come out of her room in two weeks. I know you’re hurting; but Wanda is also hurting. She must feel that she has no family. Nat, please don’t let this bring you two apart. Y/n will need both of her mama’s.” Yelena said as she walked beside her sister. They had just returned from a mission.

Natasha sighed as she bit her lip. She knew her sister was right… She was being stubborn and it was hurting the woman that she loved. It was just easier for her to ignore everything and fight bad guys to get out her frustration and panic. “You’re right, sestra. It’s just when I see her… I don’t know how to comfort her or be enough for her. Without y/n here it’s just so hard.” Natasha clenched her fists as she tried to stop her tears from spilling over. “I’m so fucking tired of crying! I just want to find my baby!” Before she could stop herself she had sunk down to her knees and sobs wracked through her small frame.

Yelena dropped down to her knees and pulled her sister into her arms and began to hum a soothing tune that Melina had hummed to them when they were children. “We will find her sestra. I have faith that y/n will be back with us.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha used the key Wanda had given her and walked into Wanda’s room. Her heart broke when she saw how thin, tired and weak her girlfriend looked. Wanda was glowing red with her eyes closed while she sat in the middle of her bed. She approached slowly and whispered, “Wanda. Can you hear me?”

Wanda’s eyes opened and she turned to Natasha surprised to see that she was actually talking to her. Her lips trembled as the weight of everything was starting to affect her. Her eyes were bloodshot red and she had dropped a ton of weight from not eating, bags were under her eyes and her hair was messy. “I thought… I thought you had left me.”

The red glow of chaos magic dwindled down to nothing as Wanda began to sob. “I thought I had lost you too.”

Natasha climbed on the bed and pulled Wanda into her arms and kissed the top of her head, “I’m so sorry. I would never intentionally leave you. I just didn’t want you to see me so angry… I hurt the people I love when I’m angry and scared. And I’m not angry at you… I’m angry at myself because I should have grabbed her… but I wasn’t fast enough. And I’m angry at myself for leaving you alone… you’ve lost a family before and I can’t imagine how you felt with me gone as well and I’m sorry.”

Wanda clung to Nat as she listened to the woman she loved express her emotions and reasons for leaving her alone. It didn’t make the pain go away, but she understood where Nat was coming from. She had pushed everyone away as well and had avoided her own needs. In her mind she was just so focused on finding you that avoiding meals was like a punishment for her not being able to save you.

“I’m sorry I pushed you away… and everyone else. I just got obsessed with locating y/n. I think I’m close but I just don’t know.” Wanda leaned her head on Nat’s chest and focused on her heartbeat. The strong rhythm was comforting.

“Come, let’s go see everyone and get something to eat. We need to all work together in order to find y/n. From now on let’s come together instead of handling our emotions without each other. I love you, Wanda. We’re going to get our baby girl back.” Nat said as she helped Wanda out of bed.

The whole team stood up and hugged Natasha and Wanda as the two walked into the lounge room. Alexei and Melina were the first to hug the women. “My girls are finally together!” Alexei said as he squeezed them tightly. —---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda tried everything she could to try to comfort you but you would not stop crying. “What is it, little one? Do you miss your mama?” Wanda asked as she tried to console you. Your cries were breaking her heart.

You missed your mama’s and you wanted them back but didn’t know how. You started to think about your mama Wanda and your mama Nat and your little hands started to glow blue.

Wanda’s eyes grew big as she felt really strong powers coming from you. Before she could call for Vision a giant portal opened up in front of her.

America ran into the room at the sound of a portal opening up. “That looks like the portal we came through! I knew it wasn’t my power that opened it last time.”

As your hands glowed blue you could see your mama’s through the portal and it made you happy. “Mama!” You squealed happily.

Vision gave a knowing look to his wife, “I think this little one has decided it’s time for her to go home.”

“What! But how do we know that she will make it home? She’s just a baby… I don’t want to just shove her through the portal alone!” Wanda shouted as she felt protective over you.

“I’ll go with her. I’ll make sure she gets home safe.” America said bravely as she reached her arms out to you.

“America, you don’t have to put your life in danger, you could stay here with us.” Wanda said as she felt protective of her as well. She felt torn.

America felt warmth at hearing that Wanda wanted her to stay and live with them. It was a hard choice; but she knew what she needed to do. “I know what it’s like to lose my parents… no one should go through that pain. Thank you for loving us and keeping us safe.”

Wanda and Vision both hugged America tightly before placing you in her arms. “Please take care and please be safe.”

America took a deep breath before stepping into the portal with you in her arms.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A giant blue portal opened up in front of all the Avengers including your mama’s. Everyone was arguing about who was going to go inside and investigate it.

Before Nat could walk near the portal she started to see someone coming out of the portal, she squinted her eyes to see if she could make out who or what was coming through.

America clutched you to her chest tightly as she finally made it through the portal, she felt scared as she looked around and saw several people watching her.

“Oh god it’s y/n! She’s back, our baby is back!” Wanda said as she walked up fast to the girl that was holding you. She didn’t know who the girl was, but she was just happy to see you alive and safe.

America tilted her head at realizing that the woman in front of her was a different version of the Wanda she had just said goodbye to. She didn’t know if she could trust this version of Wanda so she stepped away from the woman and clutched you tighter in her arms. “Please don’t hurt us.”

Wanda and Nat both softened their gaze as they eyed the young girl holding you. Nat got down to the girl’s level, “we’re not going to hurt anyone. The baby that you’re holding is our baby. Her name is y/n.”

You perked up when you heard your mama say your name and you made grabby hands towards them.

The girl looked down at you and then to the two women that looked relieved to see you. It was the same look her mothers had made when they saw that she was safe. She took a deep breath before handing you over to them.

Wanda and Natasha took you into their arms and began kissing you and hugging you. You made happy noises as you babbled to them. Everyone joined in on the celebration of you being reunited with your parents.

America stepped aside feeling overwhelmed by everything, she missed her moms and she missed the other Wanda and now that you were back home… she wondered where home would be for her.

[gegengestalt]

Actually, the Brothers Karamazov is the worst book of all time. It's 1000 pages of the author's reactionary nonsense and mental illness. For a book preaching about how good God and free will are, it sure shows a lot of people being shitty and leading shitty lives. Don't even get me started on the protagonists... Aristocrats who don't know what it's like to actually struggle in life, aside from their psychosexual problems. Dmitri is a chauvinist who should be locked up or euthanized like a rabid dog. Ivan thinks his education gets him respect, but he's nothing but a hypocrite who thinks he's hot shit after he read three big books and made up Jesus fanfiction. Alexey is a loser who only blushes, trembles, preaches things other people have said and changes nothing around him. Smerdyakov, the only member of the working class, is depicted as misanthropic and effeminate (read: gay. Dostoevsky is very homophobic) because the author hates socialism. The women in this book are no better: one may be a lady and the other a fallen woman, but both are venomous vipers hiding behind smiles and declarations of love. They are the same, completely flat characters. Don't even get me started on that teen girl. Most unnecessary Dostoevsky character ever created.

The themes are all over the place because this crazy guy can't make up his mind about the message he wants to give. This book is self contradictory. The fact that so many people like it should make it obvious that it's inconsistent. In theory Dostoevsky champions Russian Orthodoxy, but Zosima is a hack and spits out so much heresy. The plot is also all over the place, with sidequests that nobody cares about, long tangents, a ridiculously big cast and a weird structure. What kind of madman starts his book with an infodump? Clearly he needed to tell the characters' sob story first to make us not hate them. But he failed. The last part of this book made me want to kill myself because it's just a boring recap. My favourite book is Book VIII because it doesn't have the long boring ramblings, and I get to see Dmitri suffer pathetically as a treat (because he deserves it).

The romantic relationships are extremely unrealistic. Dmitri and Grushenka just had the hots for each other for a while and will probably try to kill each other the minute they elope. Ivan and Katerina have zero chemistry and the author just made that up for the Victorian fangirl. Alexey is a CREEP, but this is obvious to any reader with common sense. The familial relationships also seem forced, and they all just come across as love starved mentally ill people who just want to ramble nonstop and dump their nonexistent problems on Alexey instead of going to therapy.

The only character I can get behind is Rakitin, because he's the only one who sees through everyone's bullshit and calls them out on what they are: a bunch of PERVERTS using big words and pretending they're anything more than that. Rakitin is honest about what he wants and I respect that. No wonder Dostoyevsky hates people like him. If his intention was to represent his country with this book, he succeeded, painting such a horrid town filled with insufferable and selfish people.

Easily the worst Dostoevsky book. Aside from Bobok and The Village of Stepachinkovo for a chuckle, all his work is worthless.