#and so melina knows someone has to kick off the end and that it has to be her after all shes already bodyless
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I go back and forth on being understanding and upset that people don't know/forget that Melina's dagger (Blade of Calling) is found in a one-room, guarded, prison that was built inside the elevator lift that goes to a place no one is supposed to go to anymore (Consecrated Snowfields/Forbidden Lands SoG)
And there's this item on a corpse right outside the room
Official's Attire Grubby blue robe worn by magisterial officials to carry out their grim tasks. Surveillance, executions, gruesome rituals... The darkest duties drive the wheels of mankind.
And here's the description for the Blade of Calling
Blade of Calling Dagger given to one who set out on a journey to fulfill her duty long ago. The power of its former owner, the kindling maiden, is still apparent. The one who walks alongside flame, Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death.
We know that Melina was born at the base of the Erdtree, she was given her duty by Marika, and remembers quotes from her mother. And yet she doesn't remember what it's like to have a loving mother
Melina about Boc: "I think he misses his mother. He wants someone to tell him he's beautiful. Does being born of a mother... Mean one behaves in such a manner?"
I also find it interesting that Melina was given this purpose but now is not doing it for Marika, but for herself and she talks a lot about how she wants to see this world change for the better. Ex.:
Melina: However ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair, life endures. Births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not?
My own personal theory is that Marika knew that her first daughter was destined to burn the Erdtree and that scared Marika, so she locked her away and Melina died in that room. I know that doesn't explain the burn marks on her skin or why Melina has a claw/talon mark over her closed eye that goes away when we don't use Death/Giant's Flame but Frenzied Flame. And no I do not think Melina is/was the Gloam Eyed Queen.
#melina#roodle talks elden ring#elden ring#shadow of the erdtree#i love her so much#i read her as someone who knows the world needs to change#via a self sacrifice since this is elden ring#and also marika did not want her age to end#and every other tarnished that close to burning the tree couldnt because they felt bad for their maiden#i.e. vyke and bernahl#and so melina knows someone has to kick off the end and that it has to be her after all shes already bodyless#but omg she was locked in a secret room with no light and a person always on guard#and its a nice room but omg what a horrible way to live#always under surveillance
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Real Love
Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader
The Loud House Universe
Masterlist
Summary: Reader comes home after a night out with friends
W/c: 2.3k
When Natasha gets a knock at her bedroom door, she’s a bit surprised. She wasn’t expecting any company at this time of night. Not that people came knocking at her door anyway. Natasha’s a lone wolf. She’s content with being by herself. Since joining the Avengers she’s made the effort to embrace the team and everything that comes with it. Group meals, training, maybe even a movie night if she’s feeling up to it. Tonight is not one of those nights. She’s been reading in her bedroom for the past hour. Her legs perched high enough to rest her book. She’s read it a dozen times before.
Pride and Prejudice. A cliche she knows. It brings back good memories for her. Back in Ohio, when she was young, Melina had gone to the library and picked out a few things. She was supposed to play the part of a quiet and observant older child. So, she came back to Natasha’s bedroom with a summer reading list and a pile of books. Most of them were on Natasha’s level. They were things she could read and enjoy. Others were more difficult. The material was hard to grasp. Not only that but she was also not a native English speaker so she struggled for a bit. Nonetheless, she enjoyed the books given to her and picked this one as her favorite. Books distracted her from the world and sometimes she needed that.
The only thing that could distract her from her favorite pastime is you. Considering you’ve been out all night and not texted her it shouldn’t be a problem. Except she’s annoyed by it. Not your lack of response. Not really. She’s angry at herself for caring a little too much. Even a year into your relationship Natasha has to remind herself to calm down. It’s the first time she’s ever been in love. The first time she’d ever cared for someone. She didn’t want to ruin it with jealous or overprotective tendencies. So, she sent one text a few hours ago. Just to check up on you. Then another about something random. To which you didn’t reply. It’s fine. She’s a busy person too. She’s survived without you. Which is why she’s been sitting here for the past hour reading the same page.
When the person at Natasha’s door knocks again, she blows out a puff of air. Surely they knew to leave her alone. Most of the guys wouldn’t dare disturb her. Except maybe Tony. His lack of boundaries pissed her off. It was all love though and she’s learning to understand that too. Natasha closes her book gently and walks over to her door. She grips the knob to swing it open only to find you on the other end.
You’re energetic and bouncy. You’re wearing a short and tight dress that almost leaves nothing to the imagination. Your hair is done up. Makeup is immaculate. Almost the opposite of Natasha right now who's wearing a tank top and shorts. You surge forward, throwing your arms around her, before pulling back.
“Hi, Tasha, your friend let me in,” You provide to her before she can ask.
“Hi,” Natasha is a bit confused but returns your enthusiasm. “Where have you been?” Natasha begins to ask but she’s interrupted by your lips on hers. You give her a few pecks, using a thumb to wipe your lipstick from her lips before you look into her eyes. “Have you been drinking?”
“Have I?” You grin. “I have.” You nod. “I missed you so much. We can talk more. I really have to pee.” You inform her before you rush past her and into her ensuite bathroom. Natasha stands, stupefied, before she closes the bedroom door and locks it. She walks over to your kicked-off stilettos and sets them neatly against a wall.
“Where’s Karen?” Natasha asks.
“Probably somewhere giving a blow job who knows,” You answer back. “Preferably to Steve Rogers.”
“Okay, ew,” Natasha shakes her head. She walks over to her dresser drawer to find your spare clothes. There’s no way she would be letting you go home like this. She finds you a proper outfit and places it on a chair for you. She moves to sit on the bed again, propping herself up against the headboard. She listens to the flush of the toilet and then the running water. There’s silence for a few more minutes before you come out.
You look over at her with a pout.
“You’re angry with me?” You point out. Natasha’s expression doesn’t give away her feelings. Her arms are folded against her chest. “Come on, baby, don’t be mad.” You drawl as you walk over to her. Only it’s not as coordinated with all of the liquor in your system. You lean over Natasha, your arms on each side of her leg, as you lean closer to her face.
“I’m not mad,” The lie slips so easily from Natasha’s mouth that you almost believe it. You’d like to think you know her well by now. You tap her legs, drumming your little beat, and she rolls her eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t text back. My phone died. I forced Karen to come here with me just to show you I was okay.” You stand proudly with your hands on your hips. You make a turn for her, showing off your nonexistent injuries, not missing the way her eyes fall on your ass. Which looks amazing in this dress by the way. You lean over again, not giving her any space, as you speak. “I love you?” You try.
“I love you too,” Natasha says back automatically. No hesitation and your heart soars. You kiss her. Once, twice, and another before you’re pulling back. “I was worried about you. I know you’re an adult.”
“I like that you’re worried,” You assure her. “I worry about you too all the time.” You confess as you begin to strip yourself free of the dress. Natasha watches as you reveal yourself and all your glory. No underwear of any kind. You don’t shy away from her gaze. Instead, you walk over to the pajamas and put them on.
“What did you guys do?” Natasha questions.
“Oh, just bar hopping,” You say. “The usual. I drank a few too many drinks. One more semester of law school. Then I’m free.” You smile. You walk back into the bathroom to grab a few towels and wet them. Natasha holds her hands out to take them when you return. You sit in front of her patiently as she begins to clean your face free of makeup.
“Will you stop moving?” Natasha says gruffly.
“You can’t be mad anymore,”
“I’m not mad,” Natasha sighs. “You turn into a three-year-old when you’re drunk.”
“I resent that,” You argue. “I think I give a modest seven. I didn’t need your help going to the bathroom.”
“You’re right,” Natasha sets the towels aside. “There, all better.”
“Thank you, baby,” You slur. You wrap your arms around her neck and pull her down to the bed with you. You plant wet kisses all over her face. Most of which she doesn’t wipe off. “I love you so much.” You say and Natasha chuckles.
“I love drunk you,” Natasha says.
“I know,” You nod. “I would suggest we have sex. Which, I mean, let’s face it I would honestly love to see you cum right now.” You hold nothing back. “I would much rather cuddle. Mainly because I can feel the earth spinning and it won’t be pretty if I puke.”
“Hmm,” Natasha hums. “Good choice.”
“I’m totally open to morning sex though,” You suggest instead.
“Noted,” Natasha allows you to lie your head on her shoulder. For a few moments you’re too silent, she thinks you’ve fallen asleep.
“Do you love me?” You lift your head.
“I do,” Natasha looks into your eyes.
“Oh, because I was just making sure,” You inform her. “I need to know because when I ask you to marry me I don’t want to be blindsided or anything.”
Natasha’s heart soars and sinks at the same time. The thought of marriage terrifies her. The fact that you’ve been thinking about it? She likes the idea. If she would allow herself to admit it she would want to. Widows are not made for love. Replays in her head for far longer than she’d like.
“Hello, are you going to accept my proposal?” You poke at her belly.
“Is this a proposal?” Natasha raises a brow. “I hoped it would be much better than this.”
“No, no,” You shake your head. You agree with her. “It would be much better. So much better.”
“Good,” Natasha smiles. “You should allow yourself to sleep.”
“I can’t,” You sigh. Your hands travel along her body, resting on her hips, and then her ass. You kiss her again. “I can’t stop thinking about how much fun I’m having with you. How when you’re my wife I’m going to spoil you so much. I promise orgasms every day.”
“Every day huh?” Natasha just may hold you to it.
“I can’t wait to see you with our babies,” You continue. That makes Natasha stiffen. She hasn’t thought about this aspect. Or telling you that she can’t carry. She didn’t think you would get this far. “Don’t worry. We’ll have help. My mom loves you. She would do anything you asked for.”
“We’ve only ever talked on the phone,” Natasha swallows thickly.
“Even still she sees how happy you make me.” You tell her. “And I’m sorry if I’m scaring you with all this. It’s just the liquor is giving me a lot of courage right now and I mean a lot.” You giggle.
“I can see,” Nathasha muses. “I like you like this.”
“Good,” You nod. “Do you know that song by Mary J. Blige?”
“Who?” Natasha dares to say and you surge forward.
“You don’t know Auntie Mary?” You gasp. You look horrified and for a second Natasha is wondering if you’re talking about a real aunt.
“I’m Russian,” Natasha shrugs.
“No, babe, this is, I can’t,” You shake your head. “You have taken this too far.” You sigh. You sit up to look around the room. “Oh, F.R.I.D.A.Y. can you play Real Love by Mary J. Blige?” You call out to the AI system.
“Sure, now playing Real Love by Mary J Blige,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. responds before the first few notes of the song begin to play surround sound. Natasha watches as you begin to bop to the music with a smile on her face.
“Baby, you don’t know real music until you’ve listened to Mary,” You laugh. You stand, dancing around the bedroom, singing along to the lyrics, and all around having a bit too much fun.
We are lovers through and through
And though we made it through the storm
I really want you to realize, that I really want to put you on
I've been searching for someone to satisfy my every need
Won't you be my inspiration?
Be the real love that I need
Real love, I'm searching for a real love
Someone to set my heart free
Real love, I'm searching for a real love
“That’s you,” You point to her. Natasha laughs this time. A full-on belly laugh. “You and Karen and Denise are like my best friends in the entire world. I know I’m always doing work or busy with something but, I enjoy my time with you.” You dance circles around the room before you move over to plop onto the bed.
“Are you not going to sleep tonight?” Natasha asks as you mash your face into the pillows. Your energy seems to have gone as you take a deep breath before turning your head towards her.
“Of course I am,” You say without opening your eyes. “I’m gunning for that morning sex. That requires me to sleep.”
Natasha hums again. She fishes her book out from under you and places it on a nightstand.
“Can I tell you something?” You ask, looking to Natasha for confirmation. She nods. She helps you under the covers and orders F.R.I.D.A.Y. to turn off the music. “You really satisfy me. And I know I’ve had sex before. Great sex even.” Natasha raises a brow. Was there a point to this? “You’re the first person I’ve been with where I’m truly satisfied. Physically, emotionally, all that stuff. I just really enjoy being with you and the fact that you care if I’m having a good time and the orgasms are great. I mean ten out of ten all around.”
Natasha chuckles. She’s sure you won’t remember ninety percent of this night. Though it’s great to know that her skills in bed are a winning factor for you.
“Come here,” You turn to your side and raise your arms for her to come and lie in your embrace. Your hands again return to her ass and she doesn’t mention it. She likes them there. “I know you’re scared sometimes. I know that a relationship isn’t what you’re used to and I know I dropped a lot of shit on you tonight. I may come off a little strong sometimes. I just can’t go without saying it you know? I love you, Natasha. If I get to marry you I’d be the happiest woman in the world.” You begin your butt massage right there for her.
“I know,” Natasha begins. “I love you too. I need you to know that. I want to marry you too.” Natasha says. She’s going to continue but your hands have fallen limp against her backside. She raises her eyes to look up at you but you’re already asleep. She has no idea if you heard anything she’s said. Oh well. She’d save it for later. She rests her head on your chest again, allowing you to hold her, as she falls asleep to the sound of your heartbeat.
#natasha romanoff#black reader#natasha x reader#black widow x reader#black widow x female reader#natasha romanov#natasha x you#theloudhouseau
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Natasha and Yelena Headcanons (Pre-IW, established AU)
(Note: the AU that I’ve established in my stories thus far revolves around an extension of time. Basically, it took Natasha longer than two weeks to receive the quinjet she did at the end of the movie. It also took Melina longer to supply Yelena with more antidote, and she only supplied her a bit at a time)
Despite her reputation of being the cold, calculated, and dangerous Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff herself is actually a HUGE softie. She only ever exposes this side of her when she is among people she trusts to expose her vulnerability too.
Natasha also has a playful and mischievous side of her. Though this is usually reserved to when she is around kids, or adults that act like kids (ie Yelena)
Yelena has a WICKED mischievous side to her. Her personality is revolved around her blunt sarcasm and child-like demeanor. She exposes this ten-fold around Natasha especially, in which she wants to play off the “stereotypical annoying little sister” with her. And usually succeeds
Natasha carries a very large guilt complex, and this can sometimes manifest as being very overprotective and overwhelming with Yelena. Usually she won’t mind, but sometimes it gets to her.
Yelena HATES being called a baby, cute, adorable, etc. She believes it destroys her “tough assassin” persona. However, she tolerates it with Natasha.
Natasha is ironically afraid of spiders. Not necessarily tiny ones, but moreso big ones. She won’t scream when she sees them but she will vicariously leave and avoid a room until it is gone.
Yelena is an absolute bed hog. She sprawls like a starfish when she’s comfortable and will take over the whole bed, kicking off the blanket from various parts of her body. She often ends up with a limb or two draped over Natasha. Natasha suspects that Yelena does this on purpose just for the physical affection but Yelena has never confirmed it
Natasha’s main love language with physical touch is hugs and forehead touches. However, she will often explore other variations of providing physical affection to Yelena such as head kisses and cuddles (anything you would see in a platonic/sisterly relationship)
Yelena puts on a very hardcore, tough-girl act and most pain won’t cause much of a reaction from her. However, she absolutely CRUMBLES when someone tickles her. Natasha knows this and will exploit this weakness whenever she wants her to stop being a brat. Yelena hates the fact that it works everytime.
Natasha is ok at cooking. She only knows a few really easy recipes that don’t require too many ingredients. However, she cannot bake worth SHIT.
Yelena can’t do either. At all. She almost burnt the place down the one time she tried making Mac and cheese by herself when Natasha was out.
Both the sisters LOVE animals. Although Natasha is more of a cat person and Yelena is a dog person. They don’t mind either though.
Yelena is severely touch deprived. When she’s not wearing one of her vests or a large coat/jacket, she is usually wrapped tightly in a blanket or hugging a pillow up to her body. If Natasha is present, she will ditch the pillow in favor of her sister.
Natasha’s go-to nicknames for Yelena are “Lena” and “Mdalshaya Sestra.” When she wants to be extra affectionate, she will call her “sestrichka” (meaning baby sis)
Yelena calls Natasha by her full name at first, but the more comfortable she got, she eventually added an honorific to her name. Her go-to nickname is “Natashka” and when she wants to be extra affectionate it’s shortened to “Tashka” (she usually uses this to get something she wants)
Both of the sisters are extremely overprotective of each other, but Yelena’s goes so far as to wanting to keep her sister safe and craving the love she has for her is actually her greatest weakness.
One of Natasha’s weaknesses is wanting to keep Yelena out of harm.
Yelena suffers from real bad nightmares and occasional night terrors. She often will kick in her sleep if it’s bad enough. Natasha will pull her closer if she catches her and tries to soothe her back down. Natasha wakes up with bruises from the kicking
Despite Yelena’s insane sleep habits, the two sisters share a bed. Natasha doesn’t mind since she is aware of Yelena’s nightmares and touch starvation. But mainly bc the couch in the front room is way too uncomfortable.
Yelena’s trauma causes her severe anxiety when it comes to her relationship with Natasha. She is always afraid of going too far or messing something up. Natasha always reassures her that she won’t leave her again.
Yelena trusts Natasha with her life
And there ya have it! Remember these HC are PRE-INFINITY WAR which means as the story progresses they are SUBJECT TO CHANGE
I may also add more as time goes on. These are based on what has already been established in the storyline and some that haven’t. I’m not done writing for “pre-iw” widow sisters but the story will be progressing to after, as well as new characters getting added 💖
Thanks for enjoying my stories. And hope you enjoy the HC! 💞🥰
#yelena belova#natasha romanov#headcanons#natasha and yelena#widow sisters#pre infinity war#mcu#mcu fanfiction#mcu au#black widow#black widow 2021#post movie#fanfic writer#requests open#I will write for them until I die or I get sick of it whichever comes first
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A dream come true
Short series Fluff
This is part of a series. I highly recommend reading Seven words first.
Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader
Summary: Natasha and Y/n go and visit Melina, Yelena and Alexei, Natasha’s parents and sister. Something unexpected happens. (This takes place about 7,5 months after Seven words, meaning the reader is now about 8,5 months pregnant.) No spoilers!
Warnings: Description of giving birth (nothing bloody or too detailed though)
Word count: 2.2 K
A/n: Part two!
Natasha parks the car on the small farm and you let out a heavy sigh as you feel the baby kick, earning you a worried look from your wife.
“You sure you feel good enough?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, just a firm kick.”
You give Natasha a reassuring smile, allowing her to relax a bit. You move your hand to the doorhandle and open it, you wait for your wife to round the car, so she can help you to get out of the car. You’re almost nine months pregnant by now, which means your bump has grown quite big. Natasha holds her arm around your waist as the two of you walk to the door. Melina immediately answers the door, before Natasha could even ring the doorbell.
“If that isn’t my favorite daughter in law!”
“Привет. Как поживает моя любимая свекровь” (Hello. How is my favorite mother-in-law doing?) You say to Melina in your best Russian. “Ну, кто-то практиковал свой русский.” (Well, someone has been practicing their Russian.)
“Yeah, I got kinda sick of doing nothing. Natasha didn’t even let me walk to the grocery store.”
“Ho, stop. Don’t go there, I was just following the doctor’s orders.” Natasha says as the two of you enter the house.
“I know baby. I’m sorry.” You say, giving her a kiss on her cheek. Natasha takes your coat off your shoulders and hangs it on a hook. You smile at her. You suddenly get a little light headed, reaching for Natasha’s arms. She holds on to you tight, letting you lean on her until you’re feeling well again.
“You guys can sit on the couch. I’ll get you something to drink.” Melina walks to the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water. Natasha sits down sideways on the couch with her legs slightly apart, so you can sit between them, opening her arms. Gratefully you rest your back against her front. You take the glass of water Melina hands you and take a few sips, before handing it to Natasha, who puts it on the side table.
“Sorry about back there. I am really thankful for everything you do. I know I have been quite the pain in the ass lately.”
“What? No baby, you’re no pain in my ass. I love taking care of you, especially when you’re nauseous, sick and throwing up all over my new clothes… It’s cute.” Natasha says with a playful smirk on her face.
“Come on Tash, really? I’ve told you I’m sorry a hundred times.” You whine, putting your head in your neck, so you can see Natasha. She gives you a kiss on the tip of your nose.
“I guess you’ll just have to buy me a new one.” She chuckles, giving you another kiss. You move your eyes forward again, letting your head rest on Natasha’s chest as you close your eyes.
You begin to doze off, when a loud voice startles you awake. You quickly sit up straight, the action causing you to collide with Natasha’s chin, which was resting on your head. After you apologize to Natasha, you look at the source of the noise. Alexei is standing in the doorway, speaking loudly.
“Y/n!”
He walks over to you, pulling you into a tight hug. You gasp for breath as he nearly squeezes you.
“Alexei! Careful, you’re smushing her and the baby.”
“Oh, sorry. I forgot.” Alexei quickly steps away, his face turning slightly red.
“It’s okay. Good to see you too, you smile at him. You then look back at your wife’s scared expression. You reassure her you’re okay, before leaning back again. You make some small talk with Melina and Alexei about the Avengers and about how the farm is doing. You talk about the pigs, the chickens and the new horse they recently bought.
Around five o’clock Yelena comes in. It had started to rain just after you and Natasha had arrived and the blonde entered the house, soaking wet. Melina handed Yelena a small towel and when she was mostly dry again, she greeted you and Natasha.
“Hey sis and her preggy wife.”
“Hey Yel.” You both greet her and she carefully gives you a hug.
“How are the two of you doing?” She asks you.
“We’re doin-” Nat starts.
“No, not you Nat. Y/n and the little guy.” Yelena interrupts Nat. You frown at her words. You slowly turn your head to Nat, to see her looking at Yelena with an angry face.
“Yelena.” Nat exclaims annoyed.
“It was supposed to be a surprise.”
“It doesn’t matter, Nat. I’m sure Melina and Alexei can keep it a secret for the next two weeks or so.”
“Wait! You’re 8,5 months already?” Yelena interrupts you. Shouldn’t you be at home, resting?”
“That’s what I have done for the last few months. I’ve got enough sleep for a lifetime, read every book in the bookcase and watched every film on Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+. So I got a little bored, you know?” "Yeah... of course."
After you talked for another hour or so and Melina finished cooking, you all ate together. Although the food was delicious, you only ate a small amount, earning yourself a few concerned looks from Natasha. You felt her hand on yours as she softly whispered something.
“You okay, honey?”
You hummed in a response.
“I’m just a little tired I guess.” Natasha nodded and after desert she stood up, announcing your departure. You felt Melina’s eyes on you.
“Are you sure honey? You can sleep here if you want. It’s quite a long way home. Yelena is staying over too. You and Nat can have the spare room, you just have to refresh the sheets. Yelena can sleep on the couch.”
“I’m sorr-” Yelena protested, but one look from Melina and she nodded her head.
“I actually think that we would rather sleep in our ow-” Natasha was about to reject the offer, but you pulled her sleeve, stopping her from finishing.
“Actually, we would really appreciate that. Thank you, Melina.”
“You walked your pregnant body down the hall slowly, taking forever. Natasha came after you, supporting you.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go home?”
“I’m really tired Tash and the weather outside is only getting worse. I don’t want us to have to stop halfway the ride, or worse, crash against a tree.”
“Yeah, me neither. Let’s get you to bed.”
Natasha helped you get to bed. She brushed your hair and made the bed, while you sat on the chair. You nearly dozed off and you were almost asleep when you felt Natasha pick you up bridal style, carrying you to the bed. You didn’t protest, you were too tired. You laid your head against Natasha’s shoulder as she let you down on the bed. She gently put the sheets over you. You put one arm above the sheets, laying it over your belly protectively. Natasha gave you a sweet kiss on your forehead and walked to the bathroom. You relaxed your body, ready to fall asleep, when you felt Natasha getting under the blankets behind you, wrapping her arm around you, her hand covering yours on your belly. You gave in to her warmth for a moment before saying:
“Tasha baby, you don’t have to go to bed too just because I’m tired.”
“But…” She protested.
“No baby, get out of bed. I can fall asleep on my own fine.” You felt a kiss on the back of your head, before Natasha got out of bed.
“Sleep well baby.” She whispered, before quietly closing the door.
*** Ow
You opened your eyes, half-awake as you felt a wave of pain going through your body. You put both hands on your belly, the source of the pain. The pain slowly faded as you were still hugging your own body. You took a few minutes to fully wake up. You turned around, reaching out to Natasha. She wasn’t next to you.
“Hey babe.” You heard her voice, you looked up at her. She was sitting in a chair, reading a book. She stood up from her chair, walking to you.
“What’s wrong.” You were about to answer her, when another wave of pain hit you and you curled up in pain. Natasha’s eyes widened.
“Is- is it time?” You nodded as you puffed away the pain.
“Yes… I think… so.” Natasha’s eyes widened even further. Her demeanor suddenly changed. She couldn’t panic right now. You needed her.
“What can I do?”
“Get Melina.” You answered. Melina rushed to your room. She sat down next to you. Her hand on your back. She spoke to you softly.
“When the next contractions hits, I will measure the time between them. All you have to do is puff them away. You probably learned that at delivery training, right? You nod. Another contraction hits. Melina looks at her watch, puffing with you. A minute goes by and the contraction ends. You relax your body and look up at Natasha, who is standing in front of you like a statue, with a pale face. Melina looks at Natasha too and as soon as she sees her daughter, she orders her to sit down.
“Sit down, Natasha. We don’t need for you to faint.”
Natasha listens to Melina’s orders and sits down on a chair.
Ten minutes go by before another contraction hits you, forcing a cry to leave your throat. You feel a wet pool forming between your legs and you grab Melina’s arm.
“I think… my water broke.”
The contraction ends and Melina helps you to get up from the bed. You stand next to the bed, leaning on Natasha, who has stood up from her chair. Melina quickly pulls the sheets off the bed, throwing them in the corner of the room.
“Stay here for a minute. If she has another contraction, puff with her until it ends and measure the time between them.”
Melina leaves the room, going to her own room.
“Wake up Alexei.”
“I’m already awake.” He grumbles.
“Some idiot decided it would be a good idea to scream and-”
“Y/n’s in labor, now get out of your bed and put a pan with water on the stove.” Alexei quickly gets out of his bed, rushing to the kitchen. Not intending to be anywhere near you when you give birth to your son. Melina quickly gets some towels from her closet, laying them on the bed, before heading back to your room. She enters the room as another contraction makes its way through your body. Melina orders Natasha to carry you to her room.
Natasha picks you up bridal style and you hold on to her tight, your screams muffled into her shirt. She lays you down on Melina’s bed and carefully helps you undress you lower body. You make yourself as ‘comfortable’ as possible, letting your back rest against some pillows as Melina stand at the end of the bed between your legs. She tells you it’s time to push and you hold on tight to Natasha’s hand, almost squeezing it.
*** Melina carefully hands you the little guy, after she cleaned him with the water Alexei warmed and wrapped him in a light blue blanket. With tears staining your cheeks, you take him and press him against your chest. After you give the little guy a kiss you look to your left, at Natasha.
Her eyes are red from crying, her chest moving up and down quickly. You give her the little boy. With shaking hands, she takes him from your hands, afraid she’ll drop him. He’s the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. More tears start to fall.
It warms your heart, looking at your wife with your son. She is crying, but you know they’re happy tears. Her dream of being a mother finally came true. The two of you had a son. You knew she would be the best mother ever as she looked up at you, her eyes full of love.
You gesture her to sit down next to you and you wrap her and your son in your arms. Nat lays her head against your chest.
“What do you think of James? After Bucky?” Nat suggests.
“James.” You repeat “James Romanoff. Perfect.”
“Romanoff?” Natasha asks, looking up to meet your eyes.
“Romanoff. After his mom.”
A/n: When it says ‘your son’, ‘your’ is in plural, like Y/n’s and Natasha’s son.
#marvel#marvel mcu#marvel universe#the avengers#natasha x y/n#natasha romanoff x you#natasha x fem!reader#natasha romanoff x reader#natasha x reader#natasha x you#natasha x fem reader#natasha romanoff#black widow x female reader#black widow x y/n#black widow x you#black widow x reader#black widow
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do you take fic requests bc if you do could you do something like how in bw nat flinches when dreykov goes to hit her the first time and maybe when clint first meets her or something all she does is flinch and super submissive??
Hey Anon. Not sure if this is exactly what you’re thinking; I think there’s a strong correlation between why Natasha flinched and Dreykov being the ultimate abuser; I think that she would be able to differentiate him and Clint. I’m not sure she would have as violent reaction to someone she didn’t know, because that reaction (I think) is one borne of repeat trauma. Sooo this is a 5+1 touching on that reaction.
Warnings for: child abuse, child death, red room musings, domestic violence, child trafficking, black widow spoilers, and ptsd. (3045 words)
Forged.
.
1/
Everything is so overwhelming. There are girls screaming, men with guns. She holds on tightly to Yelena and makes her stand behind her.
The guns have lights on them and she can’t follow them all.
There’s so many people, it’s loud, and confusing and Natasha just wants to cry.
Pain only makes you stronger.
But her chest hurts. It’s a ball of panic that hasn’t gone away since Mama Melina said she was sorry.
She tries to school her face so that it’s devoid of panic; but it’s hard. Yelena is holding her hand hard.
It happens quickly.
They grab Yelena and she yells and screams for her, tries to pull her back but they hit her in the face.
Disoriented, she loses track of her sister, the pain in her heart intensifies in panic and she catches sight of blonde hair. She rips the picture in her hand, and runs over to her.
She knew it was going to happen. She didn’t think it would be like this. She thought they could stay together.
“Take it.” She yells. “Take it.” And shoves it into Yelena’s hands. She’s pulled away and so is Yelena.
She can’t help the feral noises that break free from her body.
She doesn’t cry though.
Pain only makes you stronger and she is in so, so much pain.
She’s lined up with the others and is made to step forward.
She sees him; the man from Cuba. The one Papa Alexei embraced. He walks up to her.
He smells of cigars and strong cologne and it takes everything she has to hold his gaze and not turn up her nose.
The man grabs her head, and she flinches hard against his hands. He gets closer and there’s something in her that remembers this man.
“The Red Room is your home now,” he tells her and looks her up and down, gaze lingering.
He pushes her into a line with 3 older girls and she bites the inside of her mouth as hard as she can to stop herself hyperventilating and panicking.
Pain. She reminds herself.
Pain.
.
2/
There’s four girls with her. The biggest of the guards is closest to her and three more stand over the others. Of course, they think it’s her, that she’s the ringleader. They’re not wrong, but it does make her think that she should perhaps try and stay under the radar a little more.
They’re all standing in front of Dreykov who exudes anger. She can count the number of times on her hand that she’s had to stand in front of him, this is the first time in her nightdress. She’s self conscious all at once and she crosses her arms around her body.
“Stand front!” The guard yells, gun in her face. She startles, as she drops her arms down to her sides, fists clenching.
Svetlana glances tentatively at her and she bows her head.
Dreykov hasn’t said anything and they’re all awaiting punishment. She knew she shouldn’t have smuggled in the Nutella but she was so excited about the new taste, the deliciousness of the spread that she could share.
He turns to face her and her blood runs cold.
“Kill them.” He says looking directly at her, his face curled in a snarl.
Her eyes widen and she shakes her head hard.
He laughs.
“Fine.” He looks to the other four.
“Kill her.” He says and ducks his head towards Natasha.
Svetlana is closest, the guards step back as she steps forward, intentions clear and Natasha can see the smile that plays across his face.
Sadists.
She’s old enough now to know to use the environment to protect herself as well, knows this room and, has taken stock of all the things in the room that could be used as a weapon. She assumed, of course, that they would be used against her, not that she would have to use them against the others.
The first punch comes from Odette, a kick from Sevenya, and attempted restraint from Clara and Svetlana. Natasha protects her head, trying to find an opening where she can get one of the girls between her so the other three have to go through her first.
It’s Clara that she throws on the floor in the way of Odette and she narrowly avoids a letter opener thrown at her head. It clatters for the floor and she scrambled back to pick it up. Holding it in front of her, she looks at the others. It’s not malice on their faces but fear.
Dreykov looks on in amusement and then looks at his watch.
Natasha waits for Odette to attack again. She was always the most impulsive. She spins to the side and kneels and feels the letter opener slice across her femoral artery, she knows she’s hit it when the gush of blood accompanies it.
She has no time to ponder it as she tries to pull the weapon out, Clara is on her again. Natasha kicks up catching her under her chin, the sound of skin hitting skin, her bare foot tingling. She pushes Clara back, adrenaline fading and fatigue setting in for all of them. Sloppy punches end up in hair pulling as Natasha swings her legs up and around her neck. Maybe if she knocks her out, she won’t have to do it.
“Enough.” Dreykov’s voice is clear and she detects the anger on it.
He pulls his gun and shoots Clara and Odette.
She flinches at the sound and almost vomits as she sees Clara take her last breath.
“Leave now. You have no place in the world, as such you may take nothing and have nothing. You will be searched on entry and exit.” He says, enunciating every word.
Natasha attempts a glance at the other two girls but they won’t meet her gaze. They all know what being searched means.
The bodies of Clara and Odette are dragged out one door as they leave through another.
.
3/
Natasha stretches. The apartment on the west side is sunny and she lays on the floor basking in the heat like a cat. She should get up and get something to eat, her stomach letting her know that it’s time, but this position is so relaxing and soothing that she ignores it; just for now. Closing her eyes she listens to the lull of slow paced music she put on earlier.
She given herself two days to do nothing. She’s sure that she’s off the radar and knows that her body and her mind needs rest. If only it worked that way.
Being on the run isn’t new. Being a fugitive from the red room and staying low is fine. She just needs to decide what she wants out of life; these are the bigger decisions that she’s putting on the back burner. Just for now.
The sun sets low and the slow growl of her tummy, lets her know that it’s truly time to get up; tend to herself and find the Thai place that knows her order when she walks in the door. A fact that she’s not sure she should be worried about.
Pulling on a jacket, she turns to set her own locks, and then moves to the door to lock it with her keys.
A bang, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and a yell make her flinch hard, dropping her keys to the floor. A flash of a guard and her head whipping back from a punch is almost identical to the sound she just heard, and it takes her a second to get her breathing under control. Natasha feels the hair on the back of her neck stand up, knowing the likelihood of what she’s just heard.
She’s got a choice to make.
Help, and potentially expose herself.
Do nothing, and more red on her ledger.
Bucking courage, she walks inaudibly down the hall. Locates the sound where there’s the faint sound of crying and the low rumble of a mans voice.
She knocks, loudly and confidently.
There’s silence, before the door opens ajar, and she pushes it into his face and walks in.
“Bitch what do you think you’re doin?” Comes the drawl as he follows her.
“Did you hit her?” She asks voice low and dangerous.
“What?”
“Did you, hit her?” Natasha points to the crying woman, whose face is swollen and red.
“Who do you think you are?” The man stands over Natasha and stares down at her. She cocks her head and stares back. He goes to grab her and she turns her body, grabbing his hand and twisting, making him drop to his knees.
She twists again hard, and he grunts and cries out. There’s a strong smell of cologne, the same as Dreykov and she snaps. She breaks his hand and punches him in the face. Hears the crack of fist against cheek and shouts at him.
“How dare you?” She grunts at him, standing over him. She punches him again.
“You think it makes you more of a man?”
There’s blood on her knuckles.
The woman is asking her to stop; and she’s crying harder.
Natasha knows what she’s done, she’s not upset with herself.
She squats next to the man with the broken nose and bloodshot eyes; blood spattered making for a gruesome scene. She gets close to his face.
“Nod if you can hear me.” She says. He nods; a short dip of his head.
“I will kill you if you ever touch her again.” She promises.
“I know where you live.” She nods to the mechanic jacket hanging, “I know where you work.” She stands up.
“I will be watching.”
4/
Clint watches Natasha playing chess against herself and holds up the takeaway.
“Come play against me,” she invites and he laughs.
“You think you can take me?” He asks.
She finally looks up to him and grins.
“Always.”
He puts the paper bag down on the stove and laughs as she sets it up again.
“I haven’t won once, doesn’t it get boring playing against me?” His eyes twinkle at her as he looks at her, both of them smiling.
Natasha opens as she always does by moving her pawn. Clint copies her move.
She’s about to make her second move when they’re interrupted by the smoke alarm chirping and a small flame coming from the paper bag on the stove.
He laughs. Says something about not knowing the stove was still warm and waves the tea towel across the smoke alarm.
It takes him a moment, but he realises she’s not joking with him. In fact.
She’s frozen.
“Natasha?”
There’s a whine and a choked noise.
“No. Nononono.” She looks at him wide eyed.
“Make it stop. Make it stop.”
He’s scrambling now.
“Please?” He looks to where she’s looking, the smoking bag, a flame.
“Make it stop.” She repeats again.
His heart drops and he finally gets the tiny flame under control, dumping it in the sink. She’s staring where it was. Eyes blank, body tight.
He moves over to her and reaches over to her.
Natasha flinches at his touch; his hands retract quickly.
“It’s ok, Natasha.”
The haunted look doesn’t leave her face but she stands and moves away.
“Yeah, it’s ok.”she repeats back.
She leaves for the bedroom and he follows her tentatively,
“Just. Give me a minute.” She requests and shuts the bathroom door.
He sits on the bed waiting for her to emerge. He stays until he hears the tap run, and the door unlock.
When she emerges she looks the same as before, face relaxed, mask on.
“You ok?” He asks, tentatively.
“Fine.” She nods.
Clint nods with her.
“What do you wanna do now?” He asks tentatively, not really knowing what to do next. The fact that she’s freaked out on him and managed to pull herself back together in the space of ten minutes is suspicious, and he feels he needs to walk on eggshells around her.
She shrugs and melts into the couch, knees to her chest.
“Wanna tell me what that was?” He ventures, sitting next to her.
“No.”
It doesn’t leave any space for probing, so he stops talking. Let’s her figure it out herself.
She uncurls herself and stands.
“Actually. I’m just going to go home.” She nods to the chess set. “Thanks for the game.”
He stands alongside her.
“You sure?” He asks, it’s not right he knows. He should keep her here, make sure she’s ok. But. They’re not there. He’s not her confidant. He’s not the one she goes to.
Natasha nods.
“Thanks.” She grabs her coat and makes for the door, passing through the threshold, pausing slightly.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
By the time he reaches the door frame, she’s gone.
5/
Natasha has done hard things in life. She knows she has. Her whole childhood was lucky survival, and she knows it. But this. This is intentional bravery and even if she dies she knows it’s the right thing.
Being in front of him, is possibly the hardest, most confronting and perhaps masochistic move she could have taken, but given the short time frame Melina gave her, she didn’t see another way.
As he talks to her.
As he goes to touch her face.
It takes all of her not to react.
To be still.
To remember to breathe.
She asks about her mother because she can’t help it, and he tears the knife through her soul.
She wasn’t unknown. She was Natasha and all the other mothers who fought for orphaned little girls. She buries it deep, masking her face, unable to stop her eyes watering.
He makes Antonia uncover herself, and she’s ripped apart again.
Natasha carries the scars of her death on the inside. Antonia carries them on the outside.
She can’t believe what she’s hearing, seeing and wants with every once of her being to say she’s sorry. Of all the deaths she’s being responsible for, Antonia’s is the one she needs to atone for the most.
She’s alive and it’s simultaneously the best and worst thing.
Dreykov taunts her as she knew he would and sends Antonia away. It’s enough to make her mind flip back to the plan.
Finally, the opportunity to shove a gun in his face. She knows it won’t work. But the little voice inside her head thought maybe, just maybe she would be stronger than the pheromone lock. She wasn’t strong enough as a child to fight back when they took her from her bed, or when she wanted with every once of her being to protect others; but she thought maybe being separated from him, being older, grown; she wouldn’t be subjected to the same weaknesses.
She was wrong.
She can’t pull the trigger.
She can’t stab him through the heart.
And as he touches her and peels the knife from her fingers, she can feel the panic welling inside her.
She’s traipsed into the lions den, full of confidence but she’s nothing compared to science and manipulation. Despair fills every inch of her as he’s close enough to smell. The old sickly cologne that haunts her nightmares, that makes her snap into rages when she gets a whiff of it on any other man, and as it’s paired with the smell of a cigar, she’s torn back to him grabbing her face and telling her the Red Room is her home.
She is home.
She tries to outrun it but he’s going to turn her back into a mindless automaton. Not with trigger words this time. Not with pain. Or fear, or even threats. It’s all chemical. She has no choice.
Her whole body shudders in visceral pain as he gets closer to her, talking to her, saying her name.
Her voice is low as she keeps up the charade.
Sever the nerve; and it will be ok.
Sever the nerve; and he will have no control.
But.
As he raises his hand to her, she can’t do it. She flinches away and she’s so disappointed in herself. Old habits, isn’t that what they say?
She’s 10 and her eyes are black.
She’s 11 and her body knows not to bruise so easily.
She’s 12 and can take a punch easily.
Natasha bites down heavily on her cheeks drawing blood. It’s grounding. He moves away from her and mumbles something about Melina.
Control.
Control the narrative. Make him say what she needs. This is not about her.
This is not about her trauma.
She breathes heavily as he reiterates the plan to her and she tapers the panic.
Bait him.
Make him cooperate.
She can do this.
She can do hard things.
+1
The television plays and the heater whirs as Natasha sits on the big chair reading her book. She sips the sweet drink she prepared for herself and pulls the blanket up. There’s a softness about the night, and it’s built on not having any competing priorities. Not having to be anywhere the next day.
She’s alone but it’s peaceful, and allows her to mull over the words she reads.
“Being kind to yourself is the greatest kindness.” Is the quote that sticks in her head, and, as she picks up the chocolate on her left, she’s knows it’s the truth.
For once, her brain is calm and she knows the safety of this place. Clint would call it a controlled environment but she prefers to think of it as safety.
In the life of a spy, there’s no place safe enough, no turning off the low level anxiety that always follows her around, but somehow; here, she can.
She looks out the window and admires the trees atop the mountain she can see, marvels in the low fog that gathers around and has a life of its own as it moves around outside in the darkness.
There’s no light pollution, except what’s coming from inside the house.
She glances at the time, glad she made the connection, the phone call she’s expecting not breaking the peace or make her flinch at the unexpected noise permeating peace.
Natasha sets down her book and picks up her phone. One minute.
Right on cue it rings.
She smiles.
“Hey.”
.
All my fic.
#black widow spoilers#the black widow movie#natasha romanoff#clint barton#black widow#widows#Natasha flinching#general dreykov#my fic#ask away#prompts#child abuse tw#ptsd#domestic violence tw#child death tw#tw red room#red room horribleness in this one#black widow fic
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You wanted to sleep with a goddess but instead had to settle for a priestess
Pairing: Yelena / F!Reader
Tags: angst, fluff, happy ending, mentions of alcohol
Rating: PG-15 (I guess?)
Word count: 2.5k
Translation: Pridurok = jerk
Disclaimer: all the Marvel characters mentioned don’t belong to me (if they did, Nat would be alive and Wanda would be hugged and in therapy!)
Synopsis: Inspired on an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S “You and Yelena have been dating for almost 3 years and you plan on proposing on your anniversary, but the universe has other plans and after a game of true or dare game you have to confess who you were actually looking to hook up the night you and Yelena did it.”
AN2: English is not my first language so I apologize in advance for any mistake. I’m also on AO3 as: writinginlesbian
~~~~~~~
The light coming through the windows is the first thing you notice, the warm sensation on your skin rousing you from your deep slumber. Groaning a little, you refuse to open your eyes, instead cuddling further into the cozy feel next to you. Now that sleeps is evasive, the second thing you notice is your bladder demanding you take a trip to the washroom.
Opening your eyes reluctantly, the third thing you notice is the mass of sand blond hair in front of you, tightening your hold on her you smile and hum contentedly, earning a little grunt from the body in front of you.
Chuckling, your lips place a kiss on her bare shoulder before you finally release her. Stretching your body, your neck and back crack a little making you moan softly at the relaxation.
“You better keep quiet y/l/n or I won’t be hold responsible if I keep you hostage in bed all day” a groggily raspy little voice informs you, her Russian accent thicker in the mornings.
Smiling and shaking your head, you get up from the bed and march to the in-suite bathroom, hearing Yelena mumble something similar to spoilsport before closing the door as quiet as possibly.
Yelena Belova. Your girlfriend.
A little angry ball on the outside but a total dorky cinnamon roll on the inside (although she would never admit this to anyone), came into your life like a hurricane. Her sarcastic side and dark humor was one of the things you noticed right away, followed by those musky green eyes, capable of grounding and keeping you in your toes with just one look. How you got her to agree to date you after hooking up one night, is still something you have troubles believing it but here you are, sharing an apartment with her, a dog named Fanny (which she got to name) and just a week away of your three year anniversary… the one where you plan on proposing.
You got the ring ready, specially custom made to your request, paid by Tony (as annoying he can be, he’s been more family to you than your blood family). He squealed (actually squealed) when you told him about your plan for proposing and insisted on being your “best man of honor”.
Finishing your business, you wash your hands and clean your face with cold water, staring at your reflection in the mirror and smiling at the sight of Yelena’s creams and her messy side compared to the organized one of yours. You can’t wait for Saturday to get here soon enough.
The sound of the alarm from your cellphone can be heard through the door, followed by a thud and then silence. You forgot to change it last night, so of course it ringed at 7am disturbing the dreams of the beauty in your bed.
“You better not have broken my phone again Yelena” you try to be serious while walking back to the bed.
“So it’s more important a phone than my sleep time? Okey, I see how it is, pridurok” she says covered in blankets, but you know she’s pouting.
You get back to bed, picking up your phone quickly inspecting it placing it on the nightstand, kneeling in front of her and slowly you take the covers off her face. She’s looking at you with and unreadable expression and you can’t think how it’s so similar to the one her sister often gives you during training sessions.
“No, you’re more important to me love… but this would be the third phone screen you break and I doubt Tony would be happy about it” you said while bopping her nose with your finger.
Yelena looks at you and cracks a tiny smile. You kiss her forehead, standing up you try to leave but her hand at your wrist stops you. You turn to her… only to find her middle finger directed at you.
“Still that damned thing woke me up and you weren’t here, so it deserves the fall” You chuckle as you see Yelena rolls off and pretends going back to sleep.
You go downstairs and start preparing breakfast after turning on the coffee machine. You know Yelena needs a little bit of a kick to fully wake up. While you wait, you open the “just add water pancake mixture” opting to add half milk and half water with a little bit of melted butter for extra fluffiness. After getting the pancakes ready, you go to the fridge to pick some fruit before placing it at the counter to be chopped.
Hearing soft padded steps nearing the kitchen, you grab a plate and put some pancakes on it, grabbing some strawberries and quickly cutting them in four, adding it to the plate along with some blueberries. The coffee pot indicates it’s ready so you grab a blue mug and fill it with the exquisite elixir, snatching some clutter, you place everything except the cup on the table just as Yelena enters the room.
Without a word she grabs the cup form your hands inhaling it before taking a sip. A hum and nod of approval is all you receive before a peck on your lips. Smiling you gather a plate for yourself and proceed to seat with her at the table. You both make small talk while eating before she asks your plans for the day.
“I’m supposed to meet with your sister in about an hour and then lunch with Wands and Bucky. Might get to see Tony in the afternoon though, depending on how my cellphone is” you try to be serious but the smirk on your face gives you away.
“Your phone is fine pridurok, I checked it before coming downstairs”
“Okey, then I shall be back around 6ish. Wanna do something babes? Get advantage of the weekend and that?”
“Maybe”
Before you can propose a plan, Yelena’s phone sounds. She looks at the display before answering.
“Hey mama”
You wave at her and she catches your intention, passing your regards to Melina before leaving the room. You decided to send a quick text to Natasha before texting Tony telling him you’ll meet him quick before heading to your lunch date to pick up the ring.
Cleaning up the table and putting the rest of the pancakes and fruit back on the fridge, you leave the kitchen and find Yelena still talking on the living room. You finish getting ready as you don’t wanna be late with Nat. This might be the most important coffee date you have with her, you know, since you’ll be asking for her little sister hand in marriage, so you don’t want to risk it by making her angry by being late.
Of all of Yelena’s family, Nat is the one you worry must about. She’s so fierce and protective when it comes to her baby sister. Despite being reluctant at first, (she’s your BFF so she knows all your dating history) she approved of you once she saw how happy you made Yelena, not before giving you the scariest shovel talk anyone can give. Melina and Alexei both agreed immediately, both of them giving you a slightly (emphasis on slightly) less frightening talk of “you hurt my baby daughter I won’t hesitate to kill you” talk than Natasha’s. You tried to joke by saying that if you ever hurt Yelena, she would be the first one to chop your head off before them. It didn’t make them laugh.
Grabbing the keys, you check your cellphone to see Tony’s reply consisting of only a thumbs up emoji. Making your way to the living room, you wave in front of Yelena, giving her a quick peck on her lips before whispering a “see ya later babes. Love you” before leaving.
// // //
You can’t help being nervous. In all your life you never imagined thinking of getting married. You liked your space and time alone, you weren’t afraid of intimacy or commitment, but you never quite connected with your past partners in the level you connected with Yelena. Strange thing honestly, considering how you started dating: hooking up after Steve and Peggy’s wedding. You both tried to keep it casual and secret, not wanting to make a huge deal about it. And you were fine with it until one day when you were having lunch with all your friends at Natasha’s place, you saw Yelena and your breath caught in your throat and you knew, you just knew you were in love with her.
“What has you smiling like an idiot?” A raspy voice brings you back to the present.
Noticing just now, Natasha is seated in front of you cup of coffee in her hands. You must have spaced out more than you thought since there is a refilled cup where your last empty one was.
“Yelena” you said it without a doubt, a smile on your lips.
Natasha smiled amused by it. In all of the years she has known you, she never saw you this smitten and happy with someone. And honestly she was happy it was with her baby sister. You both were a cute couple, with their ups and downs, but were still going strong and you both took care of each other.
“So where did you left her? It’s weird to see you without her attached to your side”
“She’s at home. I know she wouldn’t like to be up and out this early being Saturday”
“You asked me for coffee this early on purpose”
It’s meant to be said as a joke but giving the current topic you want to talk with her you don’t laugh.
“I did actually. I wanted to talk with you about something”
Natasha sees the seriousness on your face. She stares you for a little bit before her curiosity gets the best of her.
“Okey”
Your leg stars bouncing and Nat takes notice of it. Your hands grab the cup in front of you to avoid drumming the table with your fingers, a habit you do when your nervous.
“It’s about Yelena”
Nat’s brow furrowed slightly in confusion. You were smiling a few minutes ago so it shouldn’t be nothing bad, right?
“What about her?” You can’t help to flinch a little bit with the hardness of her tone.
Your fingers drum a little on the cup, you open your mouth but no words came out. You sigh.
Nat is silently observing you, giving the benefit of the doubt and actually waiting for you to speak, but since is her little sister you wanted to talk about, she can’t help but get impatient.
You heard her huff in annoyance after what seems seconds but it has been a few minutes, you got lost in your mind again.
“Iwanttoaskforyourpermissiontomarryher” you say in one breath, taking half of your coffee in one gulp and not looking at her.
Natasha blinks in surprise, trying to decipher what you just said. Her mouth opens slightly once she process what you just dropped on her.
“You… you want to marry her. My little sister, Yelena… you want to marry her?”
Finally looking up you see Natasha is a little bit speechless. Something you haven’t seen in like never. You try to gauge her reaction but she’s a master in hiding her emotions, so you opt to answer her honestly any question she might have.
“Yeah, I do”
“Have you proposed to her though?” a fair question.
“No. I wanted to talk with you first”
“Why?”
“You’re her big sister, your blessing is important to me Tasha. I know that we both think that this tradition of asking for someone’s hand in marriage is an archaic thing and that and Yelena would probably get angry if she knew I did this, but you mean a lot to her, she adores you and respects you a lot. I know I could work around your parents but if you were to oppose, I don’t think Yelena would be as happy. Plus you’re my best friend Nat, I care about you”
Natasha stays silent thinking in what you just said. Basically, you gave her a lot of power here, if she were to say no, would you really not propose? She has seen you grow by Yelena’s side and has seen the same with her sister. She knows you never would hurt her.
“So if I would to say no?”
Your stomach hurts at hearing that. You drop your eyes to the table before answering.
“I might postpone proposing but I would still do it”
“You really love her”
“More than anything, I’m in love with her Tasha” the smile on your face and the brightness of your eyes give her all the answers to the questions she might have.
When she found out you were hooking up with Yelena she was so mad and furious with you, more so when you denied it when she confronted you about it. She was on her way to forbid you to see her sister when she caught you both asleep on the couch. Yelena had her head on your chest while you hold her securely in your arms. Both your faces were peaceful and happy.
“When are you planning on doing it?”
You looked up surprised.
“Saturday at-”
“Your dinner anniversary”
“Yeah… how-”
“It’s all I’ve been hearing Lena talk about for the last week, this big dinner plan you have for it and how you won’t tell her what it is, so she doesn’t know what to wear and is a ball of nerves, is kinda annoying actually”
You can’t help but blush at hearing that. You know the Romanoff-Belova sisters are reserved so the fact that Yelena has been gushing about your relationship to her sister has your stomach doing flops and your heart beating harder.
Natasha studies your face and can’t help but smile with you.
“Alright y/l/n, you have my blessing to marry my sister. Don’t fuck it up okey? It’s my baby sister I’m trusting you with”
You are speechless for a moment. You know deep down that she would say yes, but hearing it saying it it’s another thing. You stand up and grab her in a bone crushing hug.
“O…key… need… to breath…”
“Sorry, sorry… thank you Nat, really, you don’t know what it means to me, truly”
“So you have a ring picked yet?”
“Yes. Actually, I’m meeting Tony before lunch to pick it up, wanna come?”
“Of course, I need to make sure my baby sister gets the best of the best”
You laugh and throw the napkin at her, she catches easily but laughs with you. You’re not nervous anymore, at least for the moment.
Now, you only need to ask Yelena… easy right?
#yelena belova x female reader#yelena belova x reader#yelena belova x y/n#first work for this fandom#au#fanfic#ao3 fanfic#cross posted on ao3
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Okay. I’m ready to real talk Black Widow. I don’t want to but as an activist there’s an obligation I have to share and educate. I nerd to forget but I suppose it shows the power of this movie if it brings something real into the light.
*Spoiler Warning. Trigger warning for everything.*
There are some things I want to say that could potentially spoil aspect of the Black Widow film. I also would advise you to skip this post if you have a darker past, if you aren’t interested in getting serious, or wish to skim by, I’m sincerely not judging! I come on here to avoid the universe as well. You do you, I totally still love you if you don’t read this and want to move onto something nerdy or more fun. This isn’t the post for you.
It’s taken me a while to process and organize my thoughts. Skip if you don’t want to hear deep, raw stories.
3
2
Okay. Nerd review first.
The level of girl power and any and all glass ceilings… There is SO much left to do. So much that needs to still be addressed. But seeing 3 women run this show: Yelena, Natasha, and Melina was an absolute joy to observe. This isn’t the end of some hard waged war, it’s the beginning and I beg you; Disney/Marvel. Please give us more of this? It’s so important for young girls to see other girls kicking butt and winning. Quick summary of nerd feelings; Losing Nat still burns. Yelena is a boss.
Okay…Real talk.
I have to get a little deeper here now. My personal story absolutely played into how I felt about this film and I wish I saw some trigger warnings about the material covered. Do I know Black Window’s story? Yes. In and out. I can read it, I can write my FF on it. However. Little to no one knows my story and so absolutely no one is to blame for not warning me. I was not expecting to come out this shook.
I’m sharing this because it’s happening now, today. In the real world. I doubt the film makers had this mind over other social issues, but after feeling like it’s irrelevant, that my pain is somehow less than, I’m realizing through my activism it’s not.
I grew up in a cult where women are not relevant. You matter up to a point. You are useful, to a point. If you’re giving 24/7, you’re not giving enough. If you’re not smiling as you’re doing cult stuff, you’re complacent. In addition to why I’m about to share, my house growing up was not a safe space which is a story for another time. So it’s a stack…this janga-ish game that eventually just comes crashing down.
My trigger started moments after the film started the handing over of the kids. When Alexei chooses the job over the welfare of the girls. Alexei put his two “daughters” in danger to save ‘face’. To put the job ahead of two children…it hit home. In the group I’m from, fathers, mothers, grandparents, siblings will absolutely choose the group over blood. You are nothing and you mean nothing if you ‘defect’. If you break a rule. If you complain. If you say ‘no’. If you put in a bad review for a leader, if you have anything bad at all to say about the organization as a whole. You can confide something deep in someone you trust and it absolutely will come back to hurt you.
The title song shook me completely. This collage of video and images of brainwashing, treating these girls like absolute objects is disgusting in itself. But when you’re raised in this other world, there’s a level of brainwashing that is absolutely unmatched. Videos, books, quizzes, 12 hour lectures, weekly meetings.
People are unified to the point where you lose your own identity. There’s a language- a literally language- words you start to misuse. Verbiage only people in the cult use. Kids of any age will watch any rated film. Frequently the themes are about obedience and or cooperation and the consequences if you do not cooperate/obey. Death is a such a common theme that either you become petrified of your own shadow, petrified of breathing wrong, or turn completely numb. In sharing these videos, the goal is to instill this fear that you will never be enough. That you will die- turn into a charred hot dog of a figure if you do not obey 8 white men - the leaders, in New York. That your friends, classmates, neighbors, family will die if they don’t believe what you do. That you’re held accountable if you can’t bring them to your side.
The song for the credits hit me. I cannot listen to it. I have no idea what it was about.
When I watched the film, I couldn’t focus at this point at gosh barely 15 minutes in. I had already checked out. I heard keywords. “Entertainers,” “I feel stupid and contagious…”
In my world, I did not matter. What mattered was, what was presented to the public. To your group. Meeting some checklist of this perfect family at any cost. You’re not an individual, you’re a number. Literally. Your records are documented by men in the back room- your actions, your track record. But ultimately? You’re part of a numeral equation reported to headquarters. And if you’re a woman, you do not have a say in how you look, dress, act or in what you say. You are as the title song says, …“Entertainers”. You smile. You do your job, and you are ‘happy’ about it. Your job is to dedicate x amount of hours cleaning the room you gather in, and in recruitment of other members…
There’s a ‘job’ in the cult called a “pioneer”. Okay. No, we might not have been trained assassins. But you are trained to manipulate emotionally. To prey on the weak. You get books, magazines, movies, speeches, lectures- you rarely get a free Saturday. Oh and the job isn’t paid. So make sure you’re working (part time because full time secular work isn’t acceptable) at a desk job (because college and getting an education is not allowed). Don’t make friends with the people who work with you, they’re out to get you. Back at the club; You answer questions like it’s some schoolastic quiz every week and quote what your reading. It’s a brainwashing tactic. If you say something enough times, you remember it. You start to believe it. You spend hours reading these things, training… Your job is to target people who have lost- and have lost a lot because they’re vulnerable. You learn to go to cemeteries, and literally stalk people who are grieving. Like Val. If you can catch someone when they’re weak, senses are dulled. They’re desperate. And you bait them with this false promise. This idea that all THEY have to do is change all that they are, join you, and they’ll see their dead loved ones again. That they are doomed if they don’t change. Most pioneers draft 2-4 people per lifetime. If you’re a great saleswoman, you can draft more into this horrific world. And I regret the hours I spent lying, torturing people. For some cult that doesn’t give two cents about me.
I 100% believed of I didn’t convince my classmates, neighbors, to join my side they would either turn me in or they would be killed by a divine being. From 2 years old I was supposedly handing out pamphlets. The doom is not a quick painless death, no. You have visuals. You have men getting up to talk in detail about what your ‘friends’ will look like as corpses. Visually descriptive to the point where I still feel a bit numb to it all. That you will have to bury their bodies after the whole divine destruction. That you will have to “clean up” the earth. You are numb- convinced- bullied to the point where you believe this is true.
If you’re hurt as MANY WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE, and you don’t have two people to testify and say they saw it- it never happened. Abuse is the norm. And if you speak up about it? You’re called a liar. Your friends cut you off. They think you’ll die along with everyone else if you put in a ‘bad review’ or leave. You’re bullied into submission and taught from a young age that you are not in control of your own decisions. You relinquish yourself under the pretense that the men you have such reverence toward are under some divine being’s control.
Your parents hurting you is acceptable. And don’t you dare speak against your father if he’s deeply involved. Don’t even think about approaching if he’s on a phone call. If you’re hit you take it- because you “deserved” it. And you smile. You shove that pain deep down. You hide the bruise, the cut lip, the depression, the bottles of pills you’re swallowing the whatever….You’re screwed if you faint, throw up, pass out, because you’ve missed a meeting. You better be dying for that to happen…
The idea that is portrayed in the movie (IMO) is that you can forgive family who hurts you. I see people forgiving Alexei and what’s her name. Look- that’s great. It’s a fun film. Alexei is funny. Here’s what I saw; it’s a toxic man- nay- father who can’t accept responsibility. He takes pride in what the girls have become- monsters. Not in who they are at their core. He has no idea who they are. And the mom has this photo album…I’m tearing up. She remembers this a certain way, a wishful thought. I’ve confronted my own mother about our past and had an album thrown at me, “We were happy. You were happy.” The fact is I was told the smile. You’re forcing this perception that everything was normal. That it’s okay to go back. (I’m not taking away Yelena’s view that everything was real to her, that’s fine for the sake of the story, and sweet. The moment between her and Alexei..fine. Milena turns and takes their side at the end, great.) The problem with how I saw this, is that’s not how the real world works. I don’t owe my parents forgiveness when I didn’t mean shit to them. When people leave the cult they’re cut off. Treated like they’re dead. I didn’t find these moments cute, I found them horrific. Hugging me, saying he’s proud of me is the toxic sh** my father would pull. Ignoring the holes in the wall, in my skull, the phony impression he gives to the rest of the group. Hugging me…after sweeping everything he did not only to me, but countless others under the rug because the cult…because 8 men in NY will protect him. Legally. Or otherwise.
I don’t need to forgive my parents. If you’ve been mistreated, you don’t owe anyone anything. They can “try” to do the right thing, that doesn’t somehow block out years of mistreatment. Years of trauma. Sheetrock only patches the surface of the broken walls. Wounds heal but some scars stay with you forever. Metaphorically or otherwise.
‘Entertainers’ was a trigger word because if you’re high enough in the ranking system you’re asked to “testify” or share a story. It’s in front of a couple thousand. It’s an “honor”. What it really is, is a three ring circus. You will only see women on the sidelines reading from the cards while only men stand at the main podium. They’re reading what they have told them to say. Stories are manipulated, cut, changed to fit a narrative that better suits the group of a couple thousand members.
Dreykov. I hate this. But I have to go there. I’m neck deep already, might as well. I think the worst part of all of it is that you can’t touch the person who made you this way. Those 6-7-8 leaders are untouchable. It doesn’t matter what you try. What legal entities, ex groups have tried. There’s a term for us and we are considered ‘mentally diseased.’ Members are told to avoid us. And in case you were curious, no, they can’t just break their nose on a table to be free- if only it were that simple. Gosh that got me. I would cut a limb, split my skull open, if it meant I could just cut a chord. It takes years of therapy and I still have nightmares. Urges to just, go. I’m OKAY. But most escapees are not. If you manage to escape with your life and don’t end it because the pressure, guilt, abuse that comes with leaving is too much. (This is sadly the fate of MANY LBGTQ+ members.)
The only hope is either the group eventually runs out of money or they’re taken down legally. Both of which are impossible since many older members will leave all they have to the group rather than to their family. It’s a complex billion dollar publishing company that plays monopoly with people’s investments, homes, and lives.
If you speak up, you’re the liar. So you cannot free your friends, who have turned on you, already cut you off, and discarded you the day you walked out and didn’t come back.
Watching Natasha, and Yelena free their sisters made me think of every woman who is stuck in this cult. For every woman, child, currently being sexually/physically abused and can’t say sh** because they literally believe god will kill them. If I say anything to them, they block me. If I expose what’s happening they will lie in court. That’s what is happening. And it’s not in the news, it’s not talked about. Because you can’t. You’re forced into silence. There’s a block. A literal legal force field that you cannot penetrate. They have their own lawyers. You can’t break into it. You’ll lose every, single, legal battle you try to fight.
Was this a decent movie? Yes. Was I expecting to share this days after release, no. I’ve been forced into silence for so long, told that people have it far worse and that I shouldn’t talk about it. But just today I saw a grown ass couple in an escapee group, talking about how one trigger word sent them into a depressive spiral. Wondering if some god damn lightening will come out of the sky and knock them dead. And we frickin struggle in silence. People will just shrug and go “oh it can’t be that bad,” while my gay best friend can’t catch an effing break. While someone else suffers at home because god wants it that way. Someone else will bury their kid today, maybe not even hold a funeral for them if they were ‘mentally diseased.’
For people like that couple I met today, like me, if you don’t just see a fun film but a darker past or maybe it’s brought up some memories for you, I’d honestly love to chat!!! Message me! I feel like for as painful as this is to hash out not too many people know about what goes on behind a group of smiling, well dressed woman who come knocking on your door. “It’s just a religion.”
I guess I didn’t realize…the criminal aspect of what happened to me. You’re so ingrained to keep quiet. To smile. To ignore, to suppress. I can smile, joke laugh, but visualizing…inadvertently seeing this mirror was so unbelievably uncomfortable. I would always rather help someone else because it takes me out of my head. Live in a bubble where I can call my trauma a ‘fantasy’. What’s real is when someone like me has a bad day? Lol! Look, my husband literally checks his phone to make sure a conversation never touches a couple hundred trigger words that will absolutely send me into the closet with a gallon of ice cream or a bottle of whiskey. I can’t imagine what someone else, what some other traumatized individual goes through. (Maybe that’s why the Bucky stuff makes me all angry She-Hulk too..)
Look, talking people ex members of this group, out of suicide is a daily endeavor to the point where it’s borderline on autopilot. But having this, I suppose, brilliant, piece of cinema turn the camera around left me raw and writhing and angry. Not for me, but for everyone else still stuck. With every year you spend in that cult, add ten more to therapy.
If you feel like me at all, you’re not alone. Not anymore. We were raised to feel alone in the world. That the universe is somehow out to get us and that’s simply not true. You don’t need the people who raised you if they were absolute shit bags. And you DO NOT have to forgive them for keeping you in that environment. Family isn’t family if they’ve hurt you. You owe them nothing. It is healthy to feel your feelings (and you and your feelings are valid. )
Anyways! I hope to be able to talk about more fun Marvel topics soon. But this felt important so thanks for listening. I’m really not hating guys, this is just…it’s heavy. And I beg you to do your research into cults and to help out where you can.
Love and light,
-M
#black widow film#black widow#cult#cult life#cult escapee#ex jw#apostate#mcu#jw#jwfamily#jwfacts#marvel
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Devil’s Sweet Star (28)
Fandom: Dead by Daylight
Ghostface x Female Reader
Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut
***
Do you have a favorite season? I love spring and winter. Ah spring... the most beautiful season, where flowers bloom just like love stories. Cherry blossoms... the petals that fall... a romantic movie scene, isn't it? And winter! a cold a little dry certainly ... but that is where we see the thing that amazes children. I'm not talking about Santa Claus, no. I'm talking about... Snow. There's so much you can do with snow! Snowmen, snow angels, snowball fights etc...
The falling snow brings magic to the scenery, the frozen lakes offer an incredible spectacle that allows you to play and fish... if we're careful not to break it. Because I don't know if you've ever tried swimming in a lake where the temperature is... icy, but if you want to fall into hypothermia, this is a good way to get there. but it's a good place to ice skate. If you are good enough then you will have no problem! but if you start then... you'll often hurt. Generally, what inspires you to ice skating are figure skating competitions. Unfortunately, at the moment, it is not winter. So, no ice skating. Or... You have to go to an ice rink. And that's exactly what Melina had planned to relax everyone. Especially Danny.
What put him in a bad mood? The fact that you went out with Melina last night? No no... You have the right to have fun with your friends from time to time. And he sincerely hopes you had a good time! After all, if you ever come to leave Roseville, with him, if possible, you may not be out again for a little while. No, what put our dear Danny in a bad mood is this asshole who tried to charm you at the restaurant. This wretched little bastard had the audacity to come to you, to talk to you, and in addition to touching you? And the whole thing, like he honestly thought it was going to work?
And the worst part of all this was you and Melina made it clear to him that you were already with someone. But that bastard didn't want to know. Danny finds his next victim. Thanks to you, he knows what he looks like, and when he comes into action, Danny won't miss him. No spectacular staging. A hard-line massacre. A Ghostface classic. No one has the right to touch you, even less seduce you. He doesn't know what he just got himself into. Want a good way to know when Danny's angry? Look at his eyes. They are a piercing blue as normal, well when he is angry or when he goes crazy, they are even more piercing. Like the eyes of a cat.
“Jed? Are you...Are you sure you’re alright?”
Danny came out of his macabre dreams to watch you. Your voice, like a sweet melody to his ears, will give him a smile, his beautiful angel smile.
“Yes, excuse me. I was thinking of something else. Were you talking to me?” He asks, putting his glasses back on his nose.
“No, I was the one talking to you. I told you not to worry about that asshole last night. We said to him to go f*ck himself, (y/n) and me. And believe me, he was doing one of those faces... he won't forget me.” respond Melina, looking in the rear-view mirror.
“I'm surprised you didn't give him an arm wrench. Or a kick where I think... I'm really surprised!” said Mattew to her with a sneaky smile.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Like what, you see that I can perfectly behave as a responsible person and act with tact and diplomacy ... before moving on to the offend. But believe me, it's not the desire that I missed. I didn't want to get banned from this restaurant anyway, it would piss me off.”
“Anyway, Melina's right. You don't have to worry about that jerk, Jeddy. It does not reach your ankle I reassure you! You're a lot sexier!” replied Mattew with a wink.
“You know if Chris finds out you said that, he's going to be jealous? but... Thank you Mattew. You're right, I don't have to get in my head for bullshit like that. But is it really necessary to go ice skating? we still have work to do you know...” said Danny. He was not going to take his head for very long, since he intends to kill him. And just that image made him shudder. He was looking forward to it.
“It's going to be good for everyone! and then we'll have fun! Don't be shy! This is not the first time we have done so. Especially you Jed.” respond Melina.
Indeed, this is not the first time that Danny went ice skating. The Zanesville ice rink is quite large and there are not many people at this time. It's perfect, you're going to have the whole ice rink just for you... for at least two hours. Melina parked in front of the rink entrance and indeed, seen up close she was big. very big.
“How long has it been? Two years? it has not changed in any case .... I wonder if the boss still remembers the falls he took here.” says Mattew before entering, following by the others.
“Don't worry, I think if you tell him, his lumbar will remember it. And his ass too.” respond Danny who makes you laugh.
Each one your turn, you rent ice skates. And one thing that made Danny laugh was that if he wears 40, you only wear 36. How cute, you have such small feet, in a sense it fits perfectly with your body and size. Everything is small in you. It's cute and it's funny, especially when you react to it. So small, so fragile... And yet a hell of a temper!
The ice rink was practically empty at that time, there was only a couple and two teenagers who visibly didn't have class today. Melina entered the ice first once everyone was ready, and if the start was a little difficult, she quickly took the hand. This was not the case for Mattew, who kept clinging to her every time he was about to fall.
“Have you ever done one? Or would you rather I give you a few classes? It looks like I'm a very good teacher...” said Danny to you with a wink.
“Really funny Mr Olsen, but before you teach me, I'd like to see if you can last more than ten seconds without finishing your ass on the ice.” you respond with a little laugh.
“Ok...as you wish miss.” Danny replied with a smile, entering the rink, getting on the ice with a disconcerting ease. “So? Convinced? I am still waiting for an answer to my question.”
“Convinced. and... No. I have never had the opportunity to do it before. So I would need a couple of lessons.” you answer.
“Ok, first...give me your hand. Trust me, I will not let you go. Promise. I know what it's like to fall your ass first on ice and believe me, it's not pleasant at all.”
Hesitating as you step on to enter the rink, Danny gently taking your hand to bring you back to him. Well, he had to quickly catch up with you in his arms because you were slipping. If the beginning was quite complicated, because Danny had to prevent you from falling several times, after several minutes, you start to take your marks. Little by little Danny let you go and gave you more space. And once he feels you're ready, he let you go completely but stood by you just in case.
“You see! it's not that hard in the end! You're doing very well!” He said with a smile.
“I confirm, you're an excellent teacher! Thank you so much Jed!” you respond, kissing him as he kisses you back.
Danny left you for a few moments with Melina and Mattew to skate a little on his side. The agility he had, allowed him to move perfectly on the ice. If he wanted to, he could become a skating champion, but he knows the ruthless world of the sport. All shots are allowed. And he cared a little too much about his legs to lose them in an unfortunate "accident". And then be a sportsman and a killer... don't really go together. Fame is a good thing, the problem is that when you are also a murderer, your private life... is no longer as private. Generally, there is always a clever little journalist who hangs around... And as if by chance always at the right time. At least as a journalist, Danny is quiet in his private life.
During these two hours of tranquillity, the whole small group had fun, laughing every time Mattew fell. And when he fell, Danny was always the first to go to him and pick him up. While you and Melina laughed and chatted on your side. Then the crowd began to arrive. It was time to leave because when it has too many people, it's almost impossible to skate without falling, even when we're as good as our dear assassin. So, you leave the rink, return the skates and get out of the building to get back in the car.
“So, this ice christening? it went well to what I see!” Said Melina cheerfully.
“Speak for yourself! I didn't stop falling to the ground or catching up on the railing!” respond Mattew, a little grumpy.
“ haaawn poor little Mattew! You'll ask Chris to give you a little massage.... If you know what I mean.”
“... the worst part is that I know very well that it will end like this, if I ask him for a massage. If I provoke Chris once... he can quickly become wild.”
“You're not going to complain about it... it's better to be like that than not. At least he is more tactile than before. If I remember correctly, he didn't even dare hold your hand for fear of breaking it.” Replied Danny with a little smile.
“It's true... I'll always remember, he was really too cute.” answer Mattew.
Melina started the car and drove off towards Roseville. The return trip was more enjoyable. Danny felt a little more relaxed. But he didn't forget the other asshole. And he intends to make him regret his actions in a way... irreversible. A good old-time murder will bring back memories. Like when he slaughtered that bastard Doctor who let Carla die. He hadn't missed him that day... or rather that night. That's where his career in murder began. Because of an asshole.
But the past is the past as they say! It is better to move forward. Melina offered a fast food for lunch, all while landing at the park to enjoy the fresh air before the hot days that will arrive. The whole small group moved the rest of the day to the park, chatting and telling old family anecdotes. Except Danny, of course. He had made a cross on his past with his "parents", it was not to talk about it now. He was free of it now. As the last light of day disappeared to make way for the night sky, Melina took Danny and you back to your building.
She greeted you both with a wink not to go crazy, to which Danny answered calmly but with a smile not to worry about it. Then both enter the building laughing when they see Mattew's reaction. As you both arrived at your apartment, a noise was heard from inside. After a brief exchange of gaze, Danny took the keys to your apartment from your hands and opened the door cautiously. Lighting the light of the living room, he did not notice anything strange, for the moment.
“We must have been dreaming... Or maybe it came from your home?” you said looking at Danny.
“No. I checked three times before I left. It's all closed. The noise comes from here.” responds Danny before hearing another noise from the kitchen.
Danny walked quietly to the kitchen, taking something to defend himself. If there’s a thief and he's armed, he's going to spend a bad time too. Arriving in the room, he suddenly turned on the light and raised his arm ready to strike before stopping cleanly in front of the source of all the noise. And this thing emits a very different sound this time.... a meow to be more precise.
“I think we have a little thief in your kitchen.” he said, laying the object he was holding before taking the frightened kitten in his arms.
“Haaawn, poor little guy... How did you get home?” you answer looking at the kitten.
“Hum... It's a girl. And given the room I would say she came through your window. And visibly she enjoys your cakes. You've got two that's gone.”
“Oh... I had left the window open to let them cool and to prevent the apartment from smelling like bananas... But hey the main thing is that you ate well. You don't look like you have a necklace... I think I'm going to keep you!” you replied caressing the kitten who began to purr.
“You're going to have to plan on feeding her and a basket to sleep in... as well as a litter box, a cat tree... I think there's a pet store in Zanesville that owns it all for a cheap. And then she's going to need a name." responds Danny giving you the kitten.
“I'll see all that tomorrow. With a rested head. In the meantime, I'm going to set up a little corner for you in front of my bed. That way you won't be alone. It's convenient to keep old plaids. They're going to be able to re-serve again.”
“In that case, I'm going to let you take care of that kitten. I still have a lot of work to do. Maybe tomorrow we'll see each other? If the boss doesn't make us run in the direction.”
You nod before kissing Danny, who kisses you back. Then he left your apartment to go back to his, locking the door. He sighed; it feels good to be at home. Not that he didn't enjoy the day, but since he knew about this guy at the restaurant, he had only one desire: to find him and massacre him. He went to his office to pick up his things. He took the opportunity to look at his hunting board. You can count yourself happy, Hoggins, to have gained extra life time because of the incompetence of the Roseville police officers... For once, and even if it hurt him to admit it, he felt sorry for Inspector Wilhelm. It's not easy to stay calm when you're the only 'smart' person in the whole police station.
He took his bag, and walked out of the building without making any noise. He got in his van and hit the road to the restaurant where you were last night. He parked a little further so as not to be noticed. When that bastard quits his job, Danny will follow him quietly home. It will do as usual, observe, note, analyse. And he'll do it again and again. Until the day it's time for him to meet Ghostface. And that night...
The massacre will begin.
Let’s the countdown begin.
***
(My little finger says to me that you are 52 people whose following me! From the deepest part of my potato heart, I wanna say thank you to all of you! I never imagine to get so far and please so many people! I hope you will continue to be as numerous or even more numerous! I hope you’ll like this chapter like the others ones! Well, it's time for my brain to rest! Have a great weekend to you all! See ya!)
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The Red Room || Crimes of the Widows || Chapter 9
|| Osleya's Point of View ||
Light.
Why am I seeing a bright light?
Am I dead?
The light moves, revealing it was just a lamp. At least I'm not dead. That wouldn't have been a fun way to die, my own mother-figure-person-fake mom-Red Rooom agent-brainwasher to kill me.
Well, to be fair, that is still to-be-seen. Okay, where the fuck am I? I know that I'm tied down to a... table. I was tased by my mo- Melina. Melina tased me and Yelena, after knocking out Natasha. So we're probably in the Red Room...
Doctors walk in and start to take my blood and shit, hooking me up to a heart monitor, and drawing a line on my head.
"This is a much less cool way to die..." I hear someone say from... behind me? I tilt my head up as far as I can as I am laying down right now, and see blonde hair.
Blonde hair + Russian Accent = Probably Yelena.
Well, that's a good thing. I'm with Yelena. At least I won't die alone...
"What?" I hear Yelena say from behind me. Something is happening. Maybe I won't be dying at all today. Hopefully. "W-What are you going to do to me?" The doctors probably heard. That's great. One of the doctors walks over with syringe, filling it up with whatever they're planning to inject into me, roughly putting the needle into my shoulder.
"Не дайте им уснуть для черепных разрезов." The doctors say, all of them moving around and doing stuff in preperation to kill us.
(Keep them awake for the cranial incisions)
Next thing I know, I hear cutting, grunting, and groaning, so I do what I can to look back at Yelena and see her kicking their asses. They all move to restrain her, and she just kicks and flips them, as I hear her landing on the ground with a thud.
I see one of the doctors get stabbed by Yelena throwing the knife, before she comes over to me.
"Утренняя спящая красавица." She comments, cutting my ropes.
(Morning sleeping beauty)
"Замолчи." I tell her, glaring as I stand up stretch quickly, as we start to walk down the halls.
(Shut up)
"Что ж, не ты бодрствовал большую часть болтовни доктора." She says, looking at the needle in her shoulder.
(Well, you're not the one who was awake for most of the doctor's babbling.)
"Пойдем, сука." I rip the needle out of her shoulder, making her grunt, before taking the needle out of my own shoulder. But we just keep going, I put the needle down and Yelena grabs her vest.
(Let's just go, you bitch.)
"You couldn't have told me sooner?" Yelena says out of the blue, before pointing to her ear. Oh bitch has a com. She's talking to someone. Holy fuck, this was a trick to get us into the Red Room.
"Where did he take the vials?" I ask Yelena, Yelena then asking whoever is on the otherside of the earpiece. My guess, Melina or Natasha. Yelena grabs us both wipes to wipe the stupid line off the top of our heads. We stop at a mirror thing quickly, wiping our foreheads clean.
Might be a waist of time, might cost us our lives? Maybe. But I am not going to kick ass with a fucking line of my forehead.
"Yeah. Sure. Easy." Yelena says as we look down a hall that looks like it could go on forever. Fuck.
Into the vents we went, both of us agreeing that it would be safer if we did so. Not as many eyes able to see you. So, we got as far as we could and as close as we could get to the cold storage.
Yelena drops down first, dropping into the pose Natasha always seems to land in, her fighting pose, with the arm and the hair. Yelena shudders, standing up.
"That was disgusting." She stands up as quickly as posisble, and I jump down after her, doing the same thing. She sticks her tongue out at me, whispering "poser." We both move against the wall, the lights flickering and turning to a green color. Yelena checks the end of the hallway, making sure no one is coming, and I check the room we need to get into. A guard is standing there, so I put my back directly against the wall and wait for him to get closer.
As soon as he's close enough and not looking my way, I head straight for him, wrapping my arm around his neck while I use my momentum to flip myself around, catching him off guard and catching myself on the ground next to him, landing the jump and crouching down, my leg quickly going under his feet and taking him down. I stand up, grabbing the now knocked out guards hand and pulling him towards the hand print scanner, using all my strength. Yelena walks back into the room, looking at the knocked out guard and giving a small applause, so I just glare at her and open the door.
We walk through what looks like a storage room, this storage room being filled with some of the most deadly or mind controlling chemicals on the planet. Fun. Me and Yelena keep our eyes out for the antidote, finally spotting it in a key card locked freezer type thing.
"Melina, I found the location of the vials." Yelena lets her know and we start to look for ways to open the container. A few minutes into it though, the alarms start to blare in our ears, red lights flashing all around us. We quickly get the vials out as the whole building starts to shake and fall, Melina obviously telling Yelena something, because as we run away, she says "fantastic. We're heading to the widows now."
But as soon as we open the door to the room the widows were supposed to be in... they weren't there. No one was there.
"Блядь..." I whisper, at the same time Yelena says "No..."
(Fuck)
We look around the room, as sparks fly around us from the building collapsing. Widows... Weapons... Grenades. Quick and easy way to disperse the serum quickly, to as many widows as possible. So, I rush over and grab one.
"What are you doing?" Yelena asks, following me. I just take the vials from her and wrap them around the grenade, wrapping the rubber band around it twice, making sure we had one of the vials left over.
"Let's go find Dreykov, that's where the widows are heading." I say, Yelena finally understanding as we quickly run off to get to Drekov's office, the whole building shaking and sparking around us as we run through the halls.
We get there just in time, as we see Natasha being attacked by the widows, being held in a head lock and repeatedly beaten. I pull the ring of the gerenade and throw it into the room, it exploding right above the widows, everyone of them getting the antidote.
Me and Yelena stand there for a minute, letting the effects sit in, before rushing over to Natasha and helping her up.
"Are you okay?" Me and Yelena both ask her, taking her away from the crowded group and helping her stand.
"That looks like it hurts..." I say, Natasha groaning as I touch the piece of glass from Dreykov's broken desk in her shoulder. "Okay. I'll take it out on three, ready?" She nods, and I don't count at all, I just take it out quickly Natasha letting out a shocked grunt/gasp thing. "I'm sorry." I tell her, trying to see if there were any shards of glass I had to take out too.
"Mitä me teemme nyt?" One of the widows asks Natasha in Finnish. At least I hope it's Natasha. I'm not the one to ask a question like that-
(What do we do now?)
"Get as far away from here as possible. You get to make your own choices now." Natasha answers, just as we all hear an explosion. This place is going up in flames... it won't even make it to the ground in one piece, will it?
"We gotta get out of here." Natasha says, saying the one thing everyone was thinking.
"We need to find Dreykov. Are you coming?" Yelena asks as me and her head to the door.
"I'm right behind you." Nat says, going back into the office for something. We get outside first, before staying back and making sure all of the Widows get out of the office, before heading in the completely opposite direction to find Dreykov.
Me and Yelena decide to split up, both of us looking for Dreykov and hopeing the other doesn't die. While I didn't find Dreykov, I found a widow staying at her post I'm guessing...
Which, I mean, would have been great, another widow for me to give the antidote to, but she started to attack me, probably thinking I'm an intruder -- Which I am, but not the time-- so she attacks me.
She takes out her batons, immedately swinging them at my head. For fucks sake, can't she be original? I duck down, before standing back up as fast as I could, elbowing her in the face, and grabbing the batons from her hands and kicking her in the abdomen. She quickly regains herself, bring her foot up to kick me, which I quickly block, grabbing her leg, her landing on her back with a thud. I take this chance, quickly taking the antidote and spraying it in her face.
We don't have time to sit and wait for the antidote to take effect this time, so I quickly pick her up and start to help her walk towards where all the other widows went.
"Что происходит?" She asks me, obviously catching her breath.
(What is happening?)
"Мы вытаскиваем вас отсюда ... Бесплатно. Как твое имя?"
(We're getting you out of here... Your free. What's your name?)
"Anastasia." She whispers.
"Okay, Anastasia. The other Widows are going that way and are getting on a jet out of here. Do you think you can go by yourself?" She just nods slowly. "Okay. I have to go make sure my sisters are okay..." I whisper, more to myself then her. She nods to me, her dark brunette hair swinging as she nods.
"Good luck." She says, hope in her light brown eyes.
"You too." I whisper to her, turning around and quickly walking away with a weird feeling. Who the hell is she?
I hear another explosion, so I quickly run out onto the runway, seeing Yelena standing on top of a helicopter, more like on top of the wing and engine, baton in hand, and Natasha yelling at her to "Don't do it!"
"This was fun!" Yelena yells, before quickly lodging her baton in the roator, it exploding and throwing her back, her falling straight down to the ground. I scream "NO!" as she falls, but of course, yelling can't do anything about it. So, I run. I run as fast as I can, past Natasha. Natasha started to follow me and we both just jumped straight off the building, Natasha grabbing a extra parachute on her way.
Natasha falls a different way then me, as I'm headed straight for Yelena. Natasha on the other hand has Taskmaster after her... She's keeping them away from us. As soon as I see it, I angle myself so I fly straight through a falling helicopter, catching myself on one of the bars. I quickly look around the small area, spotting a parachute. I let go to grab that and immedately start to look for Yelena again as I flip through the air.
I regain as much control as I can, a few of the soldiers firing at me, but all of their shots miss. Horrible marksmen if you ask me. I hit a few piece of debris, one of them even hitting my shoulder and cutting through my suit all the way to my skin. Whatever.
I need to reach Yelena.
I get closer and closer to her, tackling her in the air, and working as fast as I can to put the parachute on her. I hold onto her parachute for dear life, smiling at a waking up/passing out Yelena? I'm not sure which one.
And that's how we ended up here. Both me and Yelena landing together, us both tossing and turning, ending up laying next to each other, right inbetween piles of debris, Yelena with her eyes closed next to me. For a minute, I think she's dead and I failed in my attempt to see her, but then her chest starts to slowly rise and fall. I sigh in relief, hearing Natasha yelling.
"Yelena! Osleya!"I open my mouth to let her know we're here, but all I can do is cough. After a few minutes, she finds us, running straight for us. I give her a smile, coughing a bit more, as she takes Yelena's head into her hands.
"Yelena?" She whispers, probably thinking what I first though. That Yelena was dead. But Yelena opens her eyes, looking around to both me and Nat.
"We're all upside down..." She whispers, making me let out a silent laugh, Yelena sitting up, Nat helping her, before they both help me sit up, sitting my back up against the debris as my arm gushes blood. Yelena rips off a piece of her vest, using it as a tourniquet, Natasha never looking away from us. When Yelena finishes, Natasha has us both look at her, her holding onto us both.
"Простите меня, сестренки. I should have come back for you two."
(Forgive me, little sisters.)
"You don't have to say that. It's okay." Yelena tells her, making me smile a little as Natasha hugs us both.
"Hey. Hey. It was real to me, too." Nat tells us, as I let out a sniffle, Natasha putting all of our heads together. And we just sit there, holding each other.
"Thank you..." I whisper to Nat, making her nod before she lets us go, tons of American military vehicles heading our way. We all quickly stand up and start to walk away, Alexei and Melina heading our way too. Melina...
Mom doesn't look so good.
"Everybody good?" Natasha asks.
"I am clearly injured." Mom says, I just shake my head.
"You got something to say?" Nat asks Dad.
"I'd just mess it up." Instead, he puts his hand out for Natasha, her taking his hand for a minute, before she knows our time is running out.
"Here comes the calvary." Nat points out, the military vehicles from before even closer now.
"So what's our plan?" Mom asks, Natasha walking towards the military vehicles.
"You guys go. I'll stay."
"That's insanity. We fight. We fight with you." Dad tells her.
"I'll hold them off." Nat insists.
"Natasha, we fight-"
"We can't split up. You're so pighead-"
"Horrible plan-"
"How are you going to fight them?"
It's just a big mess of us all protesting her plan.
"You guys, go." Nat says, just smiling at us.
"Oh my god." Me and Yelena groan, rolling our eyes.
"Besides, if it can work out for the five of us, you know, there may be some hope for the avengers. Little bit." Nat says, holding two fingers up, having them almost touch to prove a point.
"Okay, well, if you're leaving, then I guess you should take this. I know how much you like it." Lena says, taking her vest off and handing it to Nat.
"Shucks." Nat says, both of them laughing. "It does have a lot of pockets."
"Try fitting two flasks in there for me!"
"Very handy pockets, yes." Lena says, pointing at me after my comment, all of us laughing. Then, the mood became sober again.
"He had widows planted all ove the world. Melina will need to copy the formula, but you should be the ones to tell 'em it's over." Nat says, handing me one of the vials, probably the last vial, of antidote. A jet lands not too far from us, confusing us all. But, the door opens to reveal all the widows inside of it.
I immedately hide the vial in my suit, me and Yelena walking towards the widows.
"You came back for us..." I whisper, Anastasia walking to the front of the pack.
"Мы бы не оставили вас позади." Anastasia says, smiling at me and Yelena.
( We wouldn't leave you behind. )
"Thank you..." Yelena says from next to me. Yelena goes first, grabbing two widows hands to say thank you, before walking through the group. I follow her, smiling at them all. A few of the widows walk over to help Taskmaster, who was also mindcontrolled, onto the jet. Mom and Dad come with us too, all of us sticking together.
As a family again.
Me and Yelena look back at Nat, whistling our secret whistle, which Nat returns. We smile at her one last time, before both of us heading for the jet, getting ready to start our new life.
Free.
#Crimes of the Widows#Osleya Alexsandrova#Yelena Belova#Natasha Romanoff#alexei shostakov#Melina Black Widow#Crimes of the Widows Red Room#Crimes of the Widows Masterlist
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“Queen & Slim“ is, for the most part, excellent
“Queen & Slim” ends how you expect it to. No, Bonnie and Clyde won’t get away this time. Its soundtrack features no mind-blowing cello renditions of “Bitch Better Have My Money” or other mash-ups of strings in an unexpected way. Which is not to say that the soundtrack is not exactly what you want it to be. It is. (Dev Hynes gifts the world with his rendition of ‘Runnin Away’ that is so good all is forgiven.) Even the performances haunt you with a sense of deja-vu lived-in realness. These are people you might’ve seen across from you at a restaurant and never thought about again.
This is a movie, by and large, that feels like a warm blanket but for whatever reason the metaphoric window was left open, letting the cool air in. An imperfect, near perfect, film. And the more I think about it, the more I wonder if that was intentional. But more on that later.
First, the acting. The lead actors are grounded and complicated in the way that good performances make your heart feel all those wonderful pangs. Daniel Kaluuya perhaps has the most impeccable taste in Hollywood and Jodie Turner-Smith breaks out in the lead role with an aloofness that feels like a defense mechanism and totally justified.
Next, the directing. Melina Matsoukas delivers on her reputation as one of the most aesthetic young directors in the biz. The film is beautiful and balanced, navigating the grit of deep south dive bars and trap houses with the same attention given to stately mansions and wide open fields. “Queen & Slim” is familiar, and original, so why is the film not wholly and entirely excellent? The answer is complicated.
We have a breakdown in the final link of the holy trinity (of film-making, that is), the writing. The writing is where this thing falters ever so slightly. And, believe me, it doesn’t feel awesome to criticize the very talented Lena Waithe. But a perfect script this is not. So here it goes...
The story suffers, as most things do, from editing - or lack thereof. Now, I will say, the first 10 minutes of the film are a master class in pacing. The action kicks off almost immediately and at times I felt like I was somehow watching a hidden camera show. Everything felt natural and right and weighted and awkward in all the right places.
We open on a diner where our protagonists are on a first date. Neither of them are in a rush to speak. You wonder, is this going poorly...or are these people already relaxed enough to lean into those silences? The answer is both. (While we don’t know either protagonist’s name until the final scene, I’ll refer to our leads for now as ‘He’ and ‘She’.) He is overly familiar and she’s judgmental. An attorney, she’s reached out to him after several weeks because her client has been executed. His feelings are hurt and he seems to be acting out on purpose, smacking his lips and chewing loudly, even eating her food off her plate (although invited to this is a very bold move) and, moreover, behaving a little too cavalier. These are two people who are not on the same page. And yet as soon as they leave said diner, their lives are turned upside down, together. A traffic stop turns into a self-defense killing. She’s even shot in the melee (though this is somehow not taken very seriously). In spite of the large wound across her leg, she insists they must flee and they’ve got to do it right now.
They know (and we know) this story doesn’t end well for them. What’s done is done. This is America. So, Instead of turning on each other, these near perfect strangers, band together and run. We watch a love story in reverse. They protect each other first then learn to love each other later. Now that premise alone is entirely delightful. It taps into my romantic notions of emotionally complicated people learning to love the crazy in someone else. Plus, it is so anti-authority and overdue to have some retributive justice paid to the police. Why not watch these gorgeous black people inflict some hurt onto the failed institution that is policing in our country?
And, again, this film starts so strong. This all happens in the first 7-10 minutes. We are on their side right away. Yes, he killed someone but this cop certainly would’ve killed him. You can judge their decision to skip town as harshly as you choose to, but I got it. Inertia would mean certain death. So in place of a firm plan, they go. And on their journey we encounter a cast of characters that doesn’t always push the story forward. In fact, I don’t know if I loved any of the characters they come across. The first person who offers help to our protagonists winds up in the trunk of a car which was too bad because I rather liked what he contributed to the story. After that, a greasy-haired white gas station attendant successfully gets Daniel Kaluuya’s charcter’s gun in his hands and playfully (I guess) points it at his head. It’s an unnecessary tension. We know he won’t kill him (we have another 90 minutes of movie left!). And, it makes Daniel Kaluuya‘s character seem stupid in a way that isn’t supported by any other information we know about him. He’s a little naive, you could argue, but he’s not dumb. And I would be willing to let those things slide if it didn’t seem to be such a pattern with the introduction of characters. That leads us to my largest issue with the whole film, the protest scene.
Now, with all due respect, what in the world was that protest scene about? It is, for whatever reason, spliced together with the first (and only) love scene of the film. We’ve been waiting patiently for some tenderness, more specifically, for something romantic to finally happen for our main characters. We’ve endured their constant running for their lives and it feels only fair that they get to enjoy their lives, and each other, before the cops eventually pay them back for killing their brother in blue. So, it made absolutely no narrative sense nor, if the filmmakers were going for a larger political theme here, thematic sense to put that love making scene together with aforementioned protest scene. Up until then, I was on board with all editing decisions. But this one simply won’t stand! Their sex scene is passionate and a little dirty (read: fun!). And the whole thing goes down in a baby blue Pontiac Catalina that is absolutely stunning (read: even better). The car alone makes the colors in the frame mesmerizing. Plus, these actors are so nice to look at I simply could not complain. Plus, I appreciated that there were no rose petals or champagne. This was not a pretty, or safe, or delicate love scene. These are two people who have been growing closer and closer to each other and have been so afraid to let their guards down. So when they finally get intimate you can feel their longing. Clothes are flying. The kisses are sloppy. Basically, this is a good old-fashioned good time. So, with all of that being said, why, oh why, would you interject the murdering of a cop in this one moment of romantic passion? The film has been building to our leads getting together. They deserved their moment. Uninterrupted.
Now that was a lot of criticism for a movie that I said was nearly excellent. And that’s fair. So allow me to now herald the film’s strengths because they overshadow the weaknesses that, while few, are distracting.
What this film does well, very well in fact, is depict a complicated circumstance compounded by the complicated reality of being black in America. We don’t see these stories often (or ever). We’ve seen stories about the trauma of slavery, the Civil Rights era, shootings. But we don’t see the subtle stories of racial violence and we rarely see the capacity black people have to love in spite of it all. So “Queen & Slim” is the first of its kind. The police brutality love story. That sounds like a crude oversimplification but this is a story worth watching. And because it is such a new storyform, we are bearing witness to a truly original film. So, naturally, as is the case with all new things, there are some wrinkles to iron out (which I’ve already gone on and on about, dont @ me). But the larger message is one to pay attention to. Black people are being allowed the space here to screw up and still fall in love. Perhaps not a revolutionary concept for you. But to me, this marks this movie as an instant classic. There will be copycats. Remember that this was the first.
Black people in film are rarely afforded the same frivolity and silliness as white characters are. There’s no black version of Ross and Rachel getting married in Vegas. There’s no black “What Happens in Vegas”. I realize now that all of my examples happen in Las Vegas... But let’s go with it. Las Vegas, the hotbed of bad decisions and overindulgence, has largely been depicted as the white person’s playground. That’s not true in real life. Vegas, if nothing else, caters to everybody’s bad decisions. So why don’t we see that on screen? I don’t know. White executives are simply out of touch comes to mind. But what also comes to mind is the larger responsibility black people carry from childhood on. Black kids are punished harsher. They’re given less strikes. So, their lives and, thus, their art don’t often get to be as free from the weight of the world. They don’t get the reckless Crazy Beautiful moment. What a delight it was to see the lead characters be free in this film. It struck me that they were totally free in light (and perhaps because) of the murder of that cop. Somewhere in the back of their mind they were unburdened by responsibility because they were already dead. How tragically beautiful.
So, in spite of my criticism of the plot and editing, know that this film already occupies a special place in my heart. I’m a grown-up. I can love something and see its faults. Isn’t love about accepting something (someone) in spite of their faults? Isn’t that what we witness with Kaluuya and Turner-Smith’s characters in the end?
And that leads me to the final reason the film is not entirely excellent and the most controversial reason of all: it doesn’t have to be.
Nope. It doesn’t owe you excellence. Just like black people do not have to be excellent to exist in this country. It is not my own idea. It’s an idea thrown out in the first act of the film. Kaluuya’s character retorts to Turner-Smith, “Why do black people feel the need to be excellent...[why can’t they just] be themselves?” And with that, I rest my case.
This film is not entirely excellent because excellent is just another standard, another loop to jump through. Black art doesn’t have to prove anything. This film just is. It is important and honest and deserves to exist.
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I rewatched Eternal Diva and this time I took notes as I went through
Dive under the cut if you dare to experience my mad in-the-moment ramblings (warning for spoilers for pretty much the entire prequel trilogy)
- Don Paolo’s voice sounds like what Papyrus’s voice probably should
- Winter Layton is precious in that giant coat
- Janice is so pretty omg an angel
- Layton geeking out over the Detrogan is goddamn adorable
- I love how everything is greyed out in Janice’s flashback
- Suuuuuuuuper subtle indication that maybe “Janice” seeing how young this little girl was is what prompted her to find a way to put an end to this whole thing
- Whether it’s a moped or the Laytonmobile, Emmy drives like crazy XD
- Bitch you ain’t on Top Gear
- God her big sister relationship with Luke is adorable tho
- Aaaaaaaaaaaah Layton smiling at their banter dad’s so happy for his son
- They did such a good job reusing the game’s music for this movie
- The opera house looks so cool but so precarious – my first thought upon seeing it was “when is this thing going to sink”
- I MEAN IT’S ON A CLIFF
- Janice’s voice is so pretty TToTT
- I like that they kept the Japanese vocals for her singing
- SONG OF THE SEA-SHADOWING
- I hate that Layton and Luke were the ONLY people to honestly applaud the performance. Everyone else is a DICK
- First time I saw this dude, I thought “that’s a puppet, no ordinary person moves like that even in animation”
- Once again, Layton putting a polite and gentlemanly spin on “fucked if I know, my dude”
- Lol I love that even the people who didn’t applaud and thus apparently knew what they were in for weren’t down for dying
- Fuking cowards
- Layton is always DTF (down to fight)
- GROSKY OF THE YARD
- FUCK YES
- This dude’s manliness is infectious
- “Gee, I wonder who’s behind this-“ *Descole’s theme starts playing* “-oh well never mind”
- Honestly who else but Descole would be this fucking extra tho
- Gotta admit I love the twist of the opera house being a ship, I was totally expecting it to just go plunging into the ocean at a moment’s notice
- Aaaaah the CG in this movie is really well done
- Layton’s angry face is kinda ridiculous but I love it
- I love that it’s pointed out like “where tf did all these sharks come from”
- I prefer Cartoon Saloon’s Song of the Sea, but this one’s pretty too
- Lol as if a MAN-EATING SHARK could keep down GROSKY OF THE YARD
- I’m surprised he can see over the top of his chest hair
- God, the detrogan is such a cool instrument and I really wish something like it existed irl
- Ah, it’s only like fifteen sharks, Grosky will be fine
- I love the air of mystery surrounding Oswald Whistler
- Layton’s hat is made of 100% pure uncut husband material
- AAAAAAAAAAAAAH I LOVE HOW PUZZLES ARE USED IN THIS MOVIE IT’S SO GOOOOOOOD
- I’m so glad they didn’t scrap it entirely coz I mean they’re so integral not only to the Layton games, but Layton himself
- This music box tune kinda gives me Gravity Falls vibes tbh
- I think the backing melody sounds pretty identical to the tune’s intro
- I love that this movie actually lets us see inside Layton’s head and his thought process, it’s so much better than just having him put everything together seemingly offscreen
- Tbh any puzzle where “the night sky” is the solution is bound to be a good puzzle
- I just fucking love the implied MASSACRES in this movie
- God Luke is so goddamn precious
- Pffft pumpkin dude is so subtly duplicitous
- Okay I have ot pause for a bit to rant about layton’s design because it’s SO GOOD. Warm colours make him seem welcoming and kinda comfy and the simple facial features, while a bit Ditto-esque, do combine nicely with his overall shape to scream “friend”. Professor Layton is friend shaped. And of course there’s the popped collar to show that he’s cool, the high collared shirt gives a scholarly vibe, his shoes which I stg are plimsolls show a practical side and of course the quintessential top hat shows that he’s a Gentleman first and foremost. Add the amazing voice to that and BOI I DIE
- Although I can’t help imagining that gif with the teddy bear slapping eyebrows onto its face to look angry whenever he gets mad
- Luke is not friend shaped. Luke is son shaped.
- Precious bab shaped
- Wpw a sea captain I would never have guessed other than the “sailor” accent and the fact that you’re wearing a sailor’s uniform
- Ugh I love these quiet moments where things can sink in and characters can just talk to each other, I really wish more movieswould do this
- I love that even if you don’t have a literal look at his thought processes, you can still see Layton THINKINg
- Agh Amelia is SO CUTe this series is so good at designing beautiful women and cute girls while also making them look DISTINCT
- I like that they hinted at her intelligence by having her solve the puzzles by herself
- One advantage a film has over the games is that the visual novel format kinda limits the dialogue, coz it’s hard to convey one charafter talking over another
- I really like the side characters. They’re simple, yes, but they don’t really need to be complex
- I will admit that the limits of Layton’s simple facial features means it can be hard to tell who/what he’s looking at sometimes…
- “that man” asked me to write an opera, huh
- WHY DOES NOBODY ASK WHO
- Fuck descole’s theme is SO GOOD
- WHERE DOES HE GET THE FUNDING FOR ALL OF THIS THOUGH
- And Grosky boards the ship just in time for it to blow up XD I love this dude
- I can only imagine his gigantic pecs act as a flotation device
- Layton preventing Luke from looking at the exploding ship THIS MAN IS SUCH A DAD HE’S SO GOOD
- I love this scene with Emmy investigating because these parent’s appearances are just enough to make it ambiguous whether they’re Nina or Amelia’s parents
- Seeing them all wrapped up in blankets is kinda cute tbh
- LET. THEM. SLEEP.
- I wonder what Layton uses to keep his hat on?
- Lol Emmy pushing a fossil aside to look at the map
- I can only assume, given that they set off from the White Cliffs of Dover, that this island is SOMEWHERE off the coast of mainland Europe in about the same region as Spain
- Ugh I LOVE Emmy’s uppercrust accent, the fact that she sounds like such a refined lady is such a fun contrast to her literal arse-kicking
- Also this is totally BBC news lol
- I love the detail of the historian’s scrapbook being kinda hodgepodge with bits falling out
- And I love the Ambrosia Seal being super detailed but the subtle incorporation of a sheet music design
- Gotta admit I totally thought this little banquet was poisoned on my first watch
- Lol I love that pumpkin guy just KEEPS POURING THE WINE
- Ugh that beach looks SO PRETTY, I want to go there
- Janice is totally crushing on Layton, pass it on
- D’awwwwww luke trying to befriend ‘melina’ is SO CUTE this boy must be protected at all costs
- Layton how did you hear what she was humming from all the way over there
- Why do so many anime characters have inexplicable super senses
- Those wolves’ eyeliner is on point lol
- “I’m not built for running” lol mood
- FUCKING HELL DESCOLE WHO IS FUNDING ALL YOUR SHIT
- HOW MUCH DISPOSABLE INCOME DO YOU FUCKING HAVE
- Admittedly on my first watch I wasn’t as familiar with descole’s theme, but I saw that castle and I just thought “it’s descole, only he can be that extra”
- The twist of using the cages for personal protection rather than to trap the walls is simple, but so clever
- I love that Mr Whistler was one of those accidentally trapped outside. Keeps suspicion off
- And I love Layton saying “well that solved PART of our problem”
- YOU SHUT UP LADY THE PROFESSOR IS AMAZING
- And then he trips and falls lol that’s what you get for wearing old man shoes
- “Even a good gentleman needs to get some exercise!” pfft
- Oh hey, they found the starter house that Descole was using while he was building that castle. I wonder what texture pack he’s using?
- And here Layton puts MacGuyver to shame in the most Ghibli way possible
- I’d love to see someone try to build this thing XD someone call the Mythbusters
- Bjut I adore how even LAYTON isn’t sure how this fucking thing works
- Fucking NERD
- Yeah, these filmmakers were TOTALLY influenced by Ghibli
- This is so Castle In The Sky, it hurts
- “Hang on tight! NOT TO THE PILOT!” – best line in the movie
- You can’t escape it, Layton. You is a dad
- DID YOU GUYS NOT SEE LAYTON LAPUTA-ING HIS WAY IN
- It’s great how all those puzzles seem like they could be ripped straight out of the Layton games, complete with outside-the-box bizarre thinking required to solve em
- I’m so proud of Luke for solving it!!!!! Such a good boy
- RUDE
- Yeah, just stand in the middle of the suspiciously empty room, I’m sure nothing will go wrong
- That’s what you get for shoving Layton aside, bitches
- Lol I guess luke could just step through the bars if his head was a bit smaller
- DESCOLE HOLY FUCK YOU ARE THE KING OF EXTRA
- “humble scientist” GOOD GRIEF WHAT A LOAD OF SHIT YOU DRAMA QUEEN
- I love that Emmy can FLY A PLANE
- Holy shit grosky there are better ways to signal for help
- And LESS GROSS WAYS TO DRY YOURSELF OFF IN A PLANE
- Yeah, see, you lost your knickers
- Ugh, god. I adore this scene with Layton in Melina’s room. It’s so quiet, the soft evening lighting… aaaaaaaaaaah so peaceful, but you can still feel the tension in the air, especially after Melina comes in
- Oh my god, Layton plays like an angel *swoon*
- The lack of background music in this scene is what makes it so perfect, the tension is so REAL
- Lol I love the historian just standing there like ‘welp there they go’
- NOOOOOOOOO LUKE DON’T CRY
- BIG SIS IS HERE
- Oh fuck yes
- EMMY I LOVE YOU
- God she and grosky are so fantastic XD
- WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO FIGHT LIKE THAT EMMY
- Somehow emmy gives me Michelle of the Resistance vibes
- God, I kinda love it when you can tell Layton’s already put it all together and is just biding his time
- AAAAAAAAAAH I love the subtle resemblance between Layton and what you can see of Descole’s face
- In hindsight, that… stole? Is that what it is? The fur thing isprobably to hide his face shape because it most likely ups his resemblance to Layton
- But he’s totally wearing black converse like the extra hipster nerd he is
- God, I can’t even imagine the nightmare of having your memories overridden and personality suppressed
- Aaaaaaaaaaaand here’s the summation. I love this part in pretty much every Layton thing
- “Assisting you was the scientist, Jean Descole!” Descole: lol hi
- LAYTON YOU ARE SUCH A DAD I LOVE YOU
- Him being gentle with kids is so sweet
- Also damn this backstory is a lot. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a loved one, but I’m not surprised a father would do anything he could to keep his daughter alive
- “When did you realise I was involved” “ur an extra bitch who lives for drama, who else could it be”
- That brief bit of Luke without his hat just makes him look even more BABY BOI MUST PROTECC
- Okay real talk when did Janice get hold of the key
- I’m guessing it was in the commotion when Mr Whistler grabbed Luke
- SUCH A GOOD TWIST I LOVE IT
- My heeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaart goddammit
- In hindsight, the hint of Janice wearing Melina’s pendant was really subtle and clever
- GODDAMMIT DESCOLE CAN YOU STOP BEING EXTRA FOR LIKE TEN SECONDS
- It’s kinda cool that he’s an archaeologist too though. It really does run in the family.
- The way Descole and Whistler’s schemes intertwined was really cool
- Yeah, it just wouldn’t be Descole if there wasn’t some over-the-top machinery
- YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS MAGIC MUSIC THIS IS MY SHIT
- When escaping from a crumbling castle, do be sure to grab your boy.
- AAAAAAAAAGH THE SCENERY IN THIS MOVIE IS SO FUCKING GOOD
- Good lord, there it is. Descole just can’t function unless he has some ridiculous Humongous Mecha at his command
- This thing looks especially monstrous and I love it
- I don’t think I’ve seen ANY faults in this movie’s animation, jesus Christ
- Descole, did you learn nothing from the attempted excavation of Troy? It’s very possible that your efforts to unearth Ambrosia will be what destroys it!
- Aaaaaaaagh this flying scene is intense as FUCK
- Layton and Luke are SUCH A GOOD TEAM
- WHAT IS THIS MUSIC I LOVE IT
- Luke you are SUCH A GOOD BOY
- Sorry but you’ll never be mob tho
- Mob is perfection
- JESUS CHRIST DESCOLE ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL A CHILD
- I was about to ask where that explosion came from but then I realised it was probably a petrol-powered chainsaw
- Layton who told you that you could look this goddamn epic
- But I love that he’s taking on the sword-armed Descole with a PIPE
- That footwork tho
- Layton must be an amazing dancer
- So cool that he’s patiently explaining why Descole was wrong
- Sun, stars and sea. I feel like that’s a Dothraki term of endearment meant for oceanfairing
- MORE MAGIC MUSIC I AM BLESSED
- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I LOVE THIS SO MUCH THIS IS THE FUCKING COOLEST
- I’M SUCH A SLUT FOR MAGIC MUSIC GODDAMMIT AND THIS IS DOUBLE TEAMING ME WITH SINGING AND PIANO
- I do enjoy that despite its emergence, Ambrosia is still partially submerged. Some movies would’ve had it rise from the sea completely
- Lol at Descole losing his shit because SOMEONE ELSE found the answer
- Yeah, bad idea attacking someone right on top of your humongous mecha’s control panel
- “DESCOLE!” dude he’s fine you really think he’d die
- I was going to ask why Emmy didn’t use her plane but she probably couldn’t get to it in time
- Yeah, this is SO Ghibli. The gigantic industrialised machine self-destructing on the ruins of an ancient civilisation lost to nature
- Noooooooooo don’t do this to me movie, nothing kills me like sad flashbacks
- Ow my heart
- This hurts
- “I’m sorry, Father. I’ve only ever brought you grief and sadness, haven’t I” as someone who’s struggled with depression this is a whole-ass mood
- NO THIS HURTS STOP IT
- Also the lil detail of Whistler’s waistcoat being the same shade of purple as Melina/Janice’s dress
- NOOO DON’T MAKE LUKE SAD
- “I’m so glad all of you were my very last memory.” Damn that line hits hard
- GIVE THE GIRL A HUG, LAYTON
- I said a hug, not a hand on the shoulder, she needs a HUG
- Seeing the destroyed detrogan really hammers it home, huh
- It’s very kind of Grosky to let Whistler play one last time in memory of his daughter
- When I got into the Layton series, I was no expecting to be hit so hard with the FEELS
- “Do you know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”
- GNU Ambrosia, I guess
- Ugh it’s so PRETTY tho
- Fucking sparkles and shit
- D’awwwww, I love the image of Luke patching up the wolves, he’s so sweet
- Knowing the truth about Emmy and seeing her being so happy with Layton and Luke makes it really painful :’(
- The world needs more of Layton with a big, happy smile
- Awww, Author Lady and Pumpkin Dude kept in touch
- GROSKY GOT HIS UNDIES BACK
- Ugh seeing Layton and Luke peacefully listening to that music is SO CUTE and SOFT
#professor layton and the eternal diva#professor layton#hershel layton#luke triton#pl#The Amazing Adventures of Rainy Meadows#this movie is so good holy shit#delicious finally some good fucking video game movie
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Irresistible--Part III
A/N:: I know I said this was the last part, but I don’t want to rush the good stuff. So there will be one more part to this one. It’s likely that it will come out next Sunday.
Part III
We lay in the center of the ring, both panting as if we’d run a marathon. Colby looked thoroughly pleased with himself. I stared up at the rafters, wondering how I’d let him get me in this position.
“You didn’t hold back at all, did you?” I asked between gasps.
He chuckled. “You wanted a practice run. You’re the one who said full speed, JoJo.”
I groaned, trying to roll over or sit up. Every inch of my body ached. “Yeah, but you’re a dude. I thought you might take it a little easy on me.”
“Get in the ring with Nia Jax and you’ll be glad I went full out.” He smirked and scooted back toward the turnbuckle, sitting up with his back propped against them. “She’s a beast.”
“So are you,” I retorted.
“Oh, you have no idea,” Colby purred.
Something tingled down my spine, setting off a thousand thoughts in my head. I’d seen him without his shirt enough to know that he was hot beyond belief. Being up close to him had only solidified that notion. Daydreams now had form—I knew what he smelled like, what the sound of his voice was like close to my ear, the sensation of his calloused fingers on my flesh.
My fingers twitched at my side. I was overcome by the sudden urge to reach out for him, to touch him. But he was my teacher… no matter how attractive I found him, no matter how much I wanted to find out everything about him… it would never happen. Colby took his work at Black and Brave very seriously.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t bring myself to go further than being near him during training.
~~~~
Training ramped up, going from exhausting to spiritually draining. We worked from dawn to dusk, one match after another, singles, tag, rumbles, every kind of match and move that we could possibly experience in an indie company… we did it. By the time the end of the day rolled around, I wanted nothing more than to sink into a hot bath and cry for days. Every second of it made me question why I wanted to get into this business. Marek tore into me with each and every session—pitting me against the biggest and best in the class. He didn’t shy away from pushing me to the limit when Colby wasn’t there, though he tended to hold back when his partner was present.
After months of training, we finally came to the end of it. Every day had been filled with blood, sweat, and tears. It was a terror and a wonder that we’d made it through. Colby and Marek had done their best to break us of bad habits and turn us into wrestlers who could legitimately get a job at a company. And they did their best to give us a shot at a job outside the academy.
“We’re putting together a show,” Marek said, watching us as we sat along the apron of the training ring. “There are multiple managers and ‘scouts’ from independent companies who we’ve invited to take a look at what you can do. This is a chance for you guys to actually get a job doing this.”
A weight settled on me as I grabbed my bag and headed toward the door. Even with extra training sessions with Colby, I wasn’t entirely sure I could do this. The best I could hope for was to make my partner look good. I could do that.
Just before I slipped out the back door, a hand settled on my wrist. I knew the feel of those calloused fingers. I’d felt them in the ring and dreamed of them in my bed at night.
“Hey,” he said, his voice a little strange. He let go of me as if he’d been shocked. “You’re going to do great in the show, okay. We’re going to put the matches together so that everyone gets to show off their best skills. And there’s no predetermined winner. You earn that win. And you can… no matter who we put you up against.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m glad one of us has confidence in me.”
“Forget Marek. You’ve worked hard, and you’re good at this. Don’t give up before you even see your partner.”
“I can get someone over,” I replied, tugging my bag up on my shoulder. “There’s no way I’m going to let my partner down.”
Colby shook his head. “That’s not even a question. But I want you to have some faith in yourself. You can do this, JoJo. What’s it going to take to get you to give it your all?”
My mouth took the lead before my brain could catch up. “I don’t know. Take me on a date if I win?”
As soon as the words were out, I cringed. I braced myself, ready for him to kick me out of the academy. To tell me to pack my stuff and leave. It was such a stupid thing to say. I didn’t know anything about his life beyond this room—how dare I assume he was single? Or that he even wanted to do anything with me in the first place.
“Done,” Colby said firmly. He gave me a faint smile, one that made his eyes light up. “You win your match at the showcase, and I’ll take you to dinner.”
~~~~
There weren’t any flashy entrances or costumes. It was a pure wrestling show. Eight matches. A mix of singles and tag, carefully chosen and booked so that the participants looked the best. I was in a singles match halfway through the show. We’d been given a fifteen-minute limit to show everything we had.
My partner was one of the other girls in the academy. We’d wrestled before, and we had a decent chemistry in the ring. Once Colby had announced the bookings, he’d encouraged us to plan with our partners—not who would win, but what spots we wanted to show what we could do. Melina was amazing at submissions. I’d become adept at quick escapes and lucha-like style.
When our match began, we locked up in the middle of the ring, moving through a series of holds that took us down to the mat. She locked me into a Labelle, but I was able to roll it into a pin that got a one count. I climbed the ropes and got her with a lateral press, which she was able to carry over into a surfboard submission. It was more painful than anything I’d been in before, and that was saying something. She was going full out, and she was desperate for me to tap out.
I was able to fight my way out of it. I struggled to my feet and threw myself into the ropes. She came at me, and I hit her with the slingblade. We ended up in opposite corners, staring at one another, panting desperately.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marek giving the time signal. We had three minutes to solve this.
I went for the ropes, she caught me. The next thing I knew, I was up on her shoulders, and she was ready to powerbomb me through the mat. This wasn’t the ending that I wanted. My mind landed on Colby’s face—his promise that if I won my match, he would take me to dinner. I wanted more from him, but dinner was a start.
I let out a yell and whipped my body backward, locking my legs around her head. Melina went flying as I landed on my shoulders and rolled through to my stomach. She landed hard, catching herself in enough time to sell the move. I dragged her to the center of the ring and fell atop her, tugging her legs up, stacking her until her body weight helped keep her down for the three count.
The bell rang and I felt like crying. I’d won.
~~~~
“I wish you could’ve seen Marek’s face,” Colby said from across the table. He had a huge smile on his face. “I’m so proud of you, JoJo.”
I felt myself blush. After the match, I’d practically ran from the ring and nearly broke down crying in the locker room. It had taken a few minutes for everything to sink in. Now, I was in a restaurant alone with Colby Lopez.
He had his hair tied back like he always did. I was so used to seeing him in sweats and tees that I could barely comprehend him in a pair of dark washed jeans and a black button-down. I was glad I’d taken the time to put on makeup and do my hair.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, trying not to stutter or act like a fool. “She almost had me at the end to be honest. If it hadn’t been for this… I probably would’ve lost.”
Colby smiled a soft-looking smile that made my heart turn sideways in my chest. He twitched his fingers against the table. I couldn’t help but think about how those fingers felt when they touched me.
“So you just needed a little motivation, hmm?” He said softly.
I shrugged, a little too afraid to look at him. Heat ran across my skin, rising from my collarbones up toward the roots of my hair.
“You know,” he continued, his voice taking on a dark and deep cadence. “You’re the only person I’ve ever really wanted to kick out of the academy. Because then—once you weren’t a student—I could…”
Glancing at him from beneath my lashes, I saw him watching me with a predatory glint in his eyes. It was the same look he had when we sparred in the ring. But this time, it lingered. I could feel the weight of it on my skin, tumbling along the curves of my body. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. The air was stale and stuck in my lungs.
Colby stood up from his side of the table, tossing several bills on the table as he did. A moment later, he took me by the hand and pulled me to my feet. The movement was a whirlwind that dragged me on staggering legs from the restaurant and out into the crisp Moline night. In an instant, I could breathe again. The sky wheeled blue and black above me as—at last—I felt Colby’s arms come around me, his fingers digging into my hair as he tilted my head and captured my lips with his own.
I let out a squeal of surprise and longing, sinking against him, my arms locking around his neck as he splayed his palm out on my lower back, dragging me close. The strength of his body—the pull and tug of muscle, the pure solidness of his form—pressed me into space until my shoulders brushed a wall. Colby curled me over the arm hooked around my back, his mouth sliding hotly from my mouth down my jaw and neck. The nip of his teeth along my collarbone was more than I could bear.
The sound that came out of me was something I’d never heard before. It was a guttural sound that was something akin to a moan, but far deeper. It was a sound that I felt deep in the marrow of my bones.
“Hmm,” he hummed against my throat. “I like that sound. Wonder if I can make you do it again?”
I whimpered this time, a little softer. He tutted, as if that wasn’t quite what he wanted. “I suppose we should take this somewhere private, shouldn’t we?”
________________________________________________________________
Tag List
@colbynatorsforlife
#irresistible#request#colbynatorsforlife#colby lopez#seth rollins#seth rollins fanfiction#wwe#wwe fanfiction
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The A Experience
Hey boys, Im back! So not really a maylor centric chapter but yeh, I love this story so much and I’m so excited cause im getting so close to finishing it!
the taglist goes as follows: @seven-seas-of-why, @twotitsjohndeacon, @dancindeaky, @gee-uloser, @mozzarellamazzello, @mozzie-s, @deracine-dogma-deux, @shutupanddontjudge, @warping-reality, @demianhill , @zodiacal-dust-and-curls
so, on with the chapter boys.
One Month After the Incident;
‘3 queens and one (1) old lady’
The Impostor: u said eggs, milk and what else
The Impostor: ?????
Melina: sugar
Melina: really darling, it’s like the fifth time you’ve asked me
Melina: get a grip, taylor
The Impostor: Fuck You
Diqi <3: Bring some cereal too
Maggie: And some chamomile tea, please. -Bri.
The room dissolved into laughter at the thought of Roger reading the message and angrily cursing at Brian for his texting habits. He and John were shaking with laughter while Brian sat, smiling smugly, on the chair closest to the fireplace. A book in his lap and his cellphone in the other.
‘3 queens and one (1) old lady’
The Impostor: Fuck You, too.
Freddie was comfortably nestled in the sofa, a pen in one hand and the other tangled in his boyfriend’s unruly hair, while a cheesy love song streamed out of the old turntable John had managed to fix up. Their single Billie Holiday record had been playing on repeat for the better part of the afternoon, yet none of them seemed to mind.
These were Freddie’s favourite days, when the rain was pitter-pattering lightly against the window panes, the house smelled of the cinnamon rolls which were baking in the oven, and his boyfriend was draped over his lap.
The only thing that was be missing from the happy scene at the moment was their drummer.
Roger had almost instantly fit in perfectly in their small family, a contrast to Brian and Deacy’s calm and a counter balance to Freddie’s much more animated personality. They had found that in the short months that Roger had joined their group they had grown so used to his presence that not having him there was jarring, to say the least. His absence was a tangible thing, yet in this case it was their own fault that he wasn’t there with them.
They had kicked him out the night before, when the small amount of clothes that he had in Brian’s closet had all been deemed dirty, and all of his contact lenses had been used up.
They had told him to go to his flat, get clean clothes, buy new contact lenses, and get some groceries on his way back. It had started to get ridiculous as he stumbled around wearing Freddie’s old Rolling Stones t-shirt, tripping on the hem of Brian’s too-large pyjama pants. Then there was the day he’d tried to justify a Star Wars shirt and Deacy’s old ripped jeans as the wardrobe of a respectable pre-med student. In fact, it was getting so ridiculous that Freddie had seriously considered just asking Roger to move in with them.
Not that it would make much of a difference except that the rent would be split 4 ways instead of 3.
He had been trying to find the right moment to talk about it with the two other occupants of their flat, but always found himself being cut short by Roger’s arrival or his fear of the request being met badly. Which was quite unlikely, given that they had all become quite smitten with the blonde drummer.
A particularly loud clap of thunder was accompanied by a flash of lightning; the lights in the flat flickered slightly and the record skipped a beat or two. It only lasted a moment, then Freddie looked down and resumed running his hands through Deacy’s hair.
John sat up suddenly, closing his book.
“We should ask Roger to come live with us” he said, as if he had read his boyfriends mind.
Freddie smiles and sighed in relief, “Oh, I’m glad we can agree that it’s about time!”
“It’s just ridiculous not to,” John continued, “We like him, he likes us, and selling furniture and splitting expenses could really help towards recording our first album.”
Freddie frowned, “Selling our furniture?”
John nodded, as if it was the most logical thing in the world, “He has furniture, we have furniture too, we could just see which is in a better and sell what we don’t want.”
“That’s brilliant Deaks!” Freddie took the chance to give John a quick peck, “You’re brilliant. What do you think, Maggie?”
Brian made a pained face, “I like the idea, it’s just—”
“Oh, come on!” Freddie interrupted, “It’s not like he doesn’t pretty well live here already!”
“I know, but—!”
“But?” John asked, “He sleeps in your bed every night Brian! It’s not like you have a problem with him being around!”
Brian made a frustrated noise, “Will you just let me finish?!”
That shut them up, and soon they were both expectantly waiting for Brian to explain himself. Freddie felt especially confused, fully knowing that Brian was currently head over heels for Roger, and couldn’t imagine what possible objections he could have to him moving in. Brian muttered something softly and Freddie frowned.
“Speak up, Bri we can’t hear you.”
Brian nervously tucked his hair behind his ear and cleared his throat, “If he moved in we wouldn’t need to share a bed anymore.”
“Oh,” Freddie’s felt his heart melt a little for his awkward friend, “oh, Brian. That is so cute.”
“You’re utterly fucked, mate ” John added.
Brian glared at Deacy, which lost its effect somewhat when combined with the blush spreading across his cheeks. “Like you two are any better!”
‘3 queens and one (1) old lady’
The Impostor: bri there is no chamomile tea! :((
The Impostor: I’ll bring you some other types of tea to make up for it
The Impostor: sorry <3
“I feel like Roger won’t be keen on sleeping alone either,” Freddie commented as Side B of the record came to an end and Deaky got up off of the sofa to change it, “you could always talk to him about it.”
“Freddie.”
“I know, I know, you’re giving him his time, but you also have to think about how it’s hurting you.” There was a beat of silence, before ‘I’ll be Seeing You’ started to play softly, “This waiting is hurting you, too Bri.”
Brian let his eyes drift over to his phone, which was still displaying Roger’s message on the screen. Freddie watched as his friend’s eyes softened and his shoulders dropped; he couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him, not to mention a little guilty.
He couldn’t imagine what it would be like for Brian, finding someone like Roger, having to pretend for god knows how long, before getting smacked in the face with the reality that they wouldn’t be able to get together because of what Freddie had done.
Yes, he most definitely still felt very guilty for that particular incident.
The younger man’s eyes drifted from the phone to the single photo that had been left on their wall after Tim’s true nature was revealed. It was a snapshot of the three of them, huddled together in the snow, drinking hot chocolate.
Freddie could still remember that afternoon quite clearly. It was back when they weren’t a group yet, back when Deaky was just his friend, and Brian was just a nerdy guy with a strong personality and flair for the guitar. For a second Freddie wondered what their life would have been like if Roger had been a part of that photo.
Would they have already released an album? Would Brian and Roger be a couple? Would they be rich and famous by then? Or would their band have fallen apart before things even picked up?
“I can’t do that to him.” He was taken out of his thoughts by Brian’s voice, “I can’t tell him to hurry up because I no longer want to be single. It doesn’t seem fair. Even if it hurts me to know it was so close but seems so far away.”
“Brian—”
“Let him finish, Fred.”
The guitarist shot Deaky a grateful look, “He needs his space, so I will give it to him. He needs time to get his thoughts in order, so I will wait for him. I can do that, I don’t mind. I’ve survived this long haven’t I?”
Freddie could see the reasoning behind his thinking, but couldn’t help but feel a tug in his heartstrings on behalf of his friend. Brian May, his soul brother, his Maggie deserved the world and more. He did not deserve to have to wait for a love that in the end might not come to be. “Does he knows this?” He asked.
Brian bit his lower lip, then shook his head, “Well, sort of? I told him that I wanted to be his friend and give him time but...” Brian shrugged.
The thought left unfinished, Freddie let it hang in the air until it became clear that Brian wasn’t going to add anything more.
“I think you should tell him.” In the end it wasn’t him who spoke, but Deaky, “Tell him that you are willing to wait for him. Make it clear you aren’t going anywhere if he doesn’t want you to go.”
Brian frowned again, “That’s what I was planning on doing.”
“And what exactly is stopping you?” Deaky pushed.
“I guess..” Brian paused. “I guess I just don’t want to say that and end up pining for someone for years and never getting anything in return.”
That hit Freddie where it hurt, mainly because he knew it was partially their fault that Brian was feeling this way. All of the teasing, in their minds, was always just that, teasing. But on more than one occasion Freddie found had himself wondering if they sometimes took it a little too far.
Clearly they had, far enough for Brian to feel so ashamed about his lack of love life that he had decided to find a fake boyfriend Tinder, of all places.
“Maggie, darling, you have that drummer wrapped around your pinky finger. I’m pretty sure he would wait a thousand years for you, too.” He smiled reassuringly.
Private Chat
The Impostor: freddie
The Impostor: m8
The Impostor: brian likes cheesecake right?
The Impostor: i want to get him something nice
“And if he isn’t willing to wait a thousand years for you, then I guess we’ll just have to kill him,” Deaky said ,with a straight face.
That made Brian laugh, and Freddie took the opportunity to text a quick, ‘yeh’ back to the blonde, before continuing with the conversation at hand. “ I don’t think we have to plan his murder just yet. First you’ll have to talk to him, invite him to move in, and then declare your undying love for him. If all that doesn’t convince him, then we can start planning his murder.”
Brian laughed again, only this time it sounded more like a nervous kind of laugh, and Freddie just wanted to wrap a blanket around Brian’s shoulders, to keep him safe from all the things that affected his sensitive friend so deeply. Finally, the guitarist turned back towards his friends and smiled softly, “Thanks guys.”
“Don’t thank us yet,” Deaky said, “Thank us on your wedding day!” He winked.
Brian chuckled, “Okay Deaks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
The song changed from Billie Holiday’s soft crooning to a long trumpet solo, before Brian spoke again.
“Do you really think he’d wait for me too?”
There was a soft ding from the kitchen, announcing that the cinnamon rolls were ready to be taken out of the oven, and both Freddie and John ignored it in favour of finish their talk with Brian.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Brian,” John said, he might have been the youngest, but he was often the most sincere, “he’d wait an eternity for you, that ridiculous satsuma boy.”
That seemed to reassure Brian, he seemed to relax somewhat at the mention of the nickname and of the ridiculous story they had crafted for the sake of his grand deception.
“Brian, darling, come take my place. I’ll go make sure the flat doesn’t burn down with the cinnamon buns.”
The younger man did as he was asked, crawling over the sofa to lean against Deaky’s back while Freddie went to the kitchen to take care of the baking. He took meticulous care when it came to baking; carefully spreading the icing on every single treat, and lovingly sprinkling them with what little cinnamon and sugar they had leftover. Once they were done he came back to the living room, only to find that the record had finished and his two boys had fallen asleep.
Smiling fondly at them, he placed the treats on the tea table, and turned the vinyl over yet another time. A lovely melody filled the apartment once again and Freddie couldn’t help but wonder how people could possibly prefer phone speakers to the heavenly sound of a record player. Then soft rattling came from the front door as Roger stepped into the flat. Freddie went over to help Roger with his backpack or the shopping bags, and found that Roger was only carrying only one of them.
“Liz, darling, where are your clean clothes? You did do laundry didn’t you?” He gave Roger the serious eye.
Roger smiled at Freddie shaking his hair lightly to rid himself of the few raindrops that hadn’t soaked through his hair. He left the bags on the kitchen counter and smiled at Freddie as he began undoing his coat, “Of course I did laundry! But don’t worry, I’ll go home tonight. Even I know when I’ve overstayed my welcome, Fred.”
Freddie crossed the few steps in between them in the blink of an eye, and started buttoning up his coat. The younger man just stared at him in bewilderment. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t be daft, dear,” he chided Roger, “I’m buttoning your coat again.”
“What for?” Roger asked, still clearly confused.
Freddie smiled brightly, “‘Because we are going back out to get your clothes, lovie. Why else?”
The smile Roger gave him was enough to make the singers chest fill with warmth. He could only imagine how he’d look once they asked him to move in— Freddie couldn’t wait.
#the a experience fic#Brian May#roger taylor#John Deacon#freddie mercury#Maylor#deacury#slash#sharing a bed#fake dating#Queen#fanfic#My writing
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Cutscene: Old Grudges
Major Cobalt Ymir stood beside former police inspector Melina Briar, or as she has been calling herself, “Mother Marianne,” as they walked down the darkened tunnel Robin’s trail had lead them down. “I have been meaning to ask you,” He says breaking the silence, “Why tell me your name if you have been in hiding for so long?”
The old huntress lets out a wheezing sigh through her mask. That was a good question. “Perhaps... I merely wished to ensure someone would know I did not die in that blaze all those years ago in case my chase came to an end. I will not lie to you, Major, I am old and not as strong as I used to be. I only barely stood against your nephew the last time I encountered him and I will not have the advantages I did before.” Neither needed to focus on the trail. It was clear and both had concluded Robin was leading them somewhere. It was almost certainly a trap of some kind. However, a trap is only as good as the inability of the target to see it coming. Neither she nor Cobalt were worried.
Cobalt let out a dismissive huff. “Suit yourself. I have no intention of dying here. Playing martyr will gain us nothing. It’s an old army saying. The point of war is not to die for your cause, but to make your enemy die for theirs. The moment you enter into a fight assuming you will die, you have already lost.”
The tunnel began to open up into a large room. It appeared to be an old basement or work area for the sewers and tunnels in the city’s cliff face, but absolutely nothing but two more tunnels were on the other side.
And the man they were following standing right in the middle.
Robin Goodfellow wasn’t surprised at all with the appearance of both Cobalt and Marianne. They weren’t surprised to see him either. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and lit a cigarette. “Well... ‘Bout time you two showed up. Nice job with the fire by the way. I’ll tell you, that took everybody for a spin.”
“Robin. Had I known you were involved in this earlier I would have tried to stop you- I should have tried to stop you. You know why your father and I came here. Come home.”
“I will not pretend you won’t face substantial prison time for this, but if you surrender we can secure you some leniency. We are already prepared for any trap you have prepared. You can’t take on both-”
“Down!” Cobalt rushed forward deflecting several shots with his saber. They came from one of the tunnels behind Robin. Marianne did likewise. With swords at the ready they strained to see the figure approaching.
Jade Leroux stepped forward out of the shadows with his left arm extended and weapon primed to fire. “Trap? No. Ambush? Well I didn’t assume either of you would fall for that. No, this is merely settling the score.” He turned his attention to the masked huntress for a moment. “Ah, Inspector Briar. So nice to see you again after all these years. I really must thank you for sparing me all the trouble of hunting you down again. I take it you were responsible for the fiasco that just cost me my next star competitor?”
So that’s what this was about. Jade wanted to tie up loose ends and had Robin help. Still, news of Lapis being able to leave with the children was good. Now she could fight at ease.
“Listen, Uncle... I’m goin’ nowhere. Just finishin’ this last job up and then I’m off to do whatever I want. I’m a free man in this equation. All I gotta do is help polish up the mess. You don’t have to be here. Let’s just pretend we didn’t see each other, huh?”
“That would technically complete why I came here, yes.” He paused and ignored a dark look from Marianne. “However... I do not keep my promises only technically.
“And I have my own score to settle here. If I may echo your father, if you do not stay out of my way I will be forced to go through you.”
“So that’s that then? Then let us begin.” Jade darted forward with his arm-mounted blade and met Marianne’s sword.
“One last chance.” Robin says, readying his own weapons. “You let us deal with the old lady and we’ll make it worth-
“SHIT!-” He flings his kukri out to catch a large fireball that continued behind him. He forgot how strong his uncle’s enhanced dust was. “Alright, fine!” He charges forward at Cobalt, who held out his pistol in his left hand.
Cobalt braced and moved to the side when Robin swung, using his mechanical arm to block the sickle in his off hand. He brought the hilt of his saber down against the other man’s face just before he backed up. He’d have to keep that up. It took a lot of skill to be even decent with two weapons. Robin was a lot better than decent.
Jade met Marianne blow for blow and neither were getting anywhere. He spun around and slammed the side of his shield against her. She twisted her weapon to block a few feet shy before the blade pivoted ninety degrees and the rest of the scythe’s handle extended to block just in time. She brought the longer weapon up in an arc to push his arm out of the way.
She was about to deliver a kick as a follow up but Cobalt beat her to the punch, turning his pistol on Jade and letting loose a powerful stream of arcing lightning. Robin in turn managed to get a heavy blow in with his kukri from the side.
He slid his grip from the handle to a solid piece of leather dangling from it and started to spin the blade. It was building up flames as the dust chamber in the weapon activated, creating a ring of flame that he tossed around the Major and to his intended target. She brought up her weapon to intercept and break up the blow, but her cloak caught.
Cobalt brought his mechanical arm back to elbow Robin away as Jade charged forward, poised with his triangular blade again. Cobalt feigns a block and lets his saber catch the blade, only to let it be tossed from his hand. He uses this to duck under Jade’s arm and pulls his pistol back, letting his artificial hand collapse into the rest of the arm, forming a cannon. He slammed the dust magazine of his pistol downward. A vortex of wind starts to charge. “I knew what you were planning with the Reynard girl since before we left Atlas.”
The tornado blew his opponent forward, slamming him into the stone wall.
Jade picks himself up and dusts a few pieces of rock from his suit. “So the sudden Vytal Festival invitation was your doing. I thought as much. For all the good it did you.” He levels his shield to intercept the Major’s next attack.
Marianne swung her weapon in a fury, forcing Robin to keep to blocking and avoiding her attacks. “Cobalt told me everything. You have a sister the same age as those children you kidnapped!” She wasn’t sure how she didn’t make the connection between that Goodfellow and this one. She was on the tournament footage, too, after all. They even looked alike. “Does that mean nothing to you!?”
“Do not!” Robin got in close, forcing his opponent to retract her weapon and robbing her of the reach advantage. “Dare!” He brought up his sickle and forced her weapon sideways. He slammed his other weapon right onto the woman’s mask, carving a wedge into it. “Bring!” He slammed down again. “My sister!” Again. “INTO THIS!” One last blow splintered the mask apart, revealing the old huntress’s burnt face. In her stagger he kicked her down and kept her there with a series of heavy stomps.
Cobalt spun around, blasting a heavy earth shot back at Jade as he blocks, encasing him. “I was hoping you would do that.” He snaps before turning back to his nephew. “Enough, Robin! Because of what you did to help this man you almost doomed Violet yourself! What made you think you were going to be able to have it both ways!?”
Jade grit his teeth and tried to squeeze out of the earth dust. His arm was stuck in the rock. He pulled a device from his pocket. “You have no idea how expensive these are, you know... But failsafes are failsafes, I suppose.” After a click, it was tossed over the earth wall and exploded, sending the rock out everywhere as the dust grenade went off. Military contraband- Cobalt recognized it immediately.
Jade felt his aura fizzle and took a few steps back. “I’ll leave that for you to tell him. I have unfinished business to take care of. Unless, of course, you want to be the one to-”
“Fuckin’ gladly!” Robin flips his sickle over and aims his gun right at Marianne’s face. As he was about to fire two things happen at once. First, the old woman reached up to grab the weapon, the second, Cobalt tackled him.
The still not-dead Mother Marianne rose to her feet wearily. With her face no longer obscured, she stared right at Jade. Like him, she felt her aura reserves all but leave her. She had only a little bit left and she would have to save it.
Cobalt refolded his arm to allow use of his hand and pistol again. “I see... You hate this man as much as I do. It makes sense now.” He calmly walks over to pick up his saber. He points behind Marianne as Robin was about to try another shot before letting off a gravity shot, sending the woman flying back into the tunnel. “Leave her alone.”
Cobalt stared at Robin not with anger or spite, but kinship for his nephew. “You believe yourself beyond redemption after all you have done. Is that why?”
“What the hell would you know about that!?”
“Because I know exactly how that feels.” He didn’t bother to glance back at Jade. This was the reason he came here after all. “I also know that it is not an endless pit of darkness. Now, I am bringing you home. Your father misses you.��
Robin watched over Cobalt’s shoulder as Jade staggered off. He wasn’t going to be able to make a beeline for the wounded investigator in his state. He just readied his weapons. “I can’t go back.” He charges forward.
He knew Robin was holding back before. This was faster than he had originally planned for. Still Cobalt managed to dodge and parry, but he couldn’t get a good shot in. He had one shot left and had to make it count. “Robin, listen to me! We can beat him! We both have people we care about who were hurt!”
Robin had never heard the Major lose his composure before. He, on the other hand, remained unmoved. “Ain’t about him.” He says as calmly as in normal conversation, “I’m no man my old man can be proud of or a little sister can look up to. I was lost a long time ago.” He knew what he did for Jade and how wrong it was. His problem was he didn’t care. In some cases he was actually enjoying himself. That wasn’t the sort of thing that could just be fixed up with some pretty apologies. He moved to the side to dodge a few swings from Cobalt’s saber. His opponent’s aura started to drain into his pistol, charging the last bullet in the chamber. Seeing this, Robin started spinning his own weapon again, arcing lightning. In a wide swing he catches his opponent’s prosthetic, severing it, and tearing up his chest. The shot fired at a corner and covered it in heavy block of ice, sticking out on all ends.
Cobalt staggers back, looking down at his lost arm, pistol, and aura. Under any other circumstance, he would have tried to find a way to retreat. Most general cut-throats took well to bribes or promises of influence or secrets and he had done all of those things in his life during his dealings with Tyrael. This time, none of that came to his mind. He held his weapon defiantly. “Is this really how you want to end this? This is not how you have to be!”
Robin walked up to Cobalt firmly. In his stagger, he wouldn’t be able to bring his sword to bear. “Maybe not, but it is.”
He plunges his kukri through the Major’s chest.
Cobalt tried to choke out a few more words in protest. No, it was already done. His mind drifted partially to his old unit and that ill-fated mission where he and one or two others had managed to survive, and none with all their limbs in tact. They were waving at him.
Robin watched his uncle’s body falter. To be sure, he spun around and slit his throat with his sickle, sending the body backward. “You wanted proof I can’t go back? There you go. Didn’t feel a thing.”
He stowed his weapons and started walking down one of the tunnels opposite the one Jade went through.
Marianne wasn’t sure how much of the battle she missed, but both Jade and Robin were gone.
Apparently, so was Major Ymir.
The poor man had promised he was going to live through this. The old huntress couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed that he broke that promise, but that was the anger part of grief talking. She always had grieved when examining a body- even a little. Far from a weakness, she considered it her resolve to find justice for those who met a fate they didn’t deserve. This one was no different.
She wasn’t going to be able to do this alone, though.
She looked through Cobalt’s bloody pockets and found what she was looking for. Opening the scroll, she found a few contacts who she had confirmation were in the area.
SMS Message to Tyrael Cheshire, Shin Goodfellow: [S.O.S. Officer down.] after also giving coordinates and putting the scroll back away to send the signal to them, she looked around. She was exhausted and there was no telling if Jade or Robin would return.
She would need to find a place to hide again until she recovered. She looked through her own scroll and gave the young man Lapis a call.
#teamoliv#cutscene#Cobalt Ymir - Main#Jade Leroux - Main#Robin Goodfellow - Main#Mother Marianne - Main#Team OLIV - The Red Arena
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For here what is, What is must be.
Whumptober2021 - 2/10 (Masterlist) (Chapter 1)
————
Day 2 - Garotte
(Gif not mine - warnings for canonical violence, and implied child abuse)
Stepping off the plane, Natasha adjusts her sunglasses. The flight was fine and the food passable, she just wanted to get on with it. If this is in fact a dead end, she wants to know and actually take her time off as a holiday.
The intel she had gathered told her to go to Bridgetown and meet with the elusive contact down there.
The spy in the department of transportation has supposedly come here for a quiet life, she’d put him on alert for any women who met Yelena, or any of the widows, description.
When he hadn’t answered her calls, she’d tried the department, after being hung up on three times, with no answer; Natasha knew there was something more. She wasn’t sure if it was something sinister.
She arrives at the beach, and sighs wishing that Clint were here - they could enjoy the beach together.
Instead, she turns into the department, shows faked credentials and requests to see her contact. They put her in a small room and she waits.
.
He doesn’t come.
But someone else does.
The man is just over 6 foot and built like a truck. He locks the door behind him and looks at Natasha with a grin.
“My employer wants you alive. But he didn’t say in what condition.” He advances towards her and she stands, feeling for her bracelet that doubles as a cord when she pulls it.
He looks incompetent and proves it when throws a punch that misses completely. She ducks under his arm and places two quick punches into his ribs then under his chin.
He grunts, winded, as he throws two more haymakers towards her, turning around as he grabs at her. He misses, but a hand glances off her shoulder slowing her down.
She pulls the cord tight and kicks him hard in the stomach. It doesn’t do much, but does give her the opportunity to climb up and pull it right around his neck. He takes two steps back, trying to get her off him by slamming her into the wall. She holds tight feeling his breath slow.
He tries to grab at her with his hands and then reaching down for his gun.
She wraps her legs around him squeezing harder, channeling her anger through her limbs to push harder, hold tighter and kill, kill, kill.
He drops to his knees and feels the cord embed into his neck, blood dripping as he takes his last breath.
Adrenaline pulses through Natasha as she extricates herself from him, nudging him to make sure he’s not playing possum.
Looking around, she panics.
Dead man. Locked door. Government building.
Clint was right. There’s something off about this.
Heaving the man up, she sits him on the chair, takes his ID and wipes blood off her hands, her prints off the table; exiting the room quickly.
Avoiding the cameras as much as possible, she leaves the building, and climbs in her car, she wants to get as much distance as possible between her and the building and get to his house.
In all likelihood he’s dead.
She just has to make sure.
.
His house is on outskirts of town, the white walls blending in with the grey of the day. She parks on the side of the road, gun loaded, safety off as she walks to the door.
It’s ajar.
She knows he’s dead.
But it takes seeing him to confirm it. She clears the rooms and double checks the body. She thinks he’s been dead possibly around 18-24 hours.
She checks him over for anything else and then turns her attention to the folder in front of him
Natasha nudges it open with her gun; stunned to see a picture of Yelena staring back at her.
“Fuck.” She whispers to herself.
.
Yelena pulls the book away, much to Natasha’s annoyance. She’s almost finished and it’s rare that Alexei or Melina leave her alone to sit by herself; let alone to read western literature.
She supposes that because this one had pictures of rabbits on the front, it hid it’s true meanings.
“Play with me? Please?” Yelena is insistent; and as Natasha takes stock of her body, she realises she should probably move. It’s just… she wants to finish the book.
Biting the inside of her cheeks, she shakes her head.
“I don’t want to.”
It doesn’t matter though. She never gets to do what she wants for long anyway.
“You’re always reading.” Yelena pouts, pushing Natasha’s book down again.
“Come and play outside with me.” She whines.
Natasha shakes her head. “It’s too cold.” She complains.
Yelena starts moving around Natasha again, her energy contagious.
“No, it’s not. It’s not even raining, it’ll be fun.” She pauses. “Please?”
In Yelena’s enthusiasm, she accidentally pushes on fresh bruises on Natasha’s arm; making her drop her book, the bookmark falling free.
It’s the picture of Natasha and Yelena together, both of them stoic and standing together just as Melina had dictated.
It makes Yelena pause, handing it back to Natasha in apology.
“You took them?” She asks quietly.
She shakes it off as Natasha stands, putting the picture carefully back inside the book.
“Please come play with me?” Yelena asks again.
Natasha nods, not wanting Yelena to tell on her, “Fine. What do you want to play?”
“Hide and seek?” Yelena says immediately.
Natasha balks. She hates that game.
“No.” She tells her.
“Please?” It’s clear Yelena isn’t going to let it go. Sighing softly, Natasha nods and agrees.
“Ok. But practice your counting in Russian, ok?”
Yelena bounces and nods. “Ok! Ok.” She settles long enough to cover her eyes as Natasha walks outside, looking around and climbing the nearest tree.
Yelena never looks up.
.
Natasha bites on her dry lips, chewing on the bit of skin that’s pulled up from travel and dehydration.
It wasn’t real, their time together, she reminds herself. And even though she thinks about it most days, she can’t help but think that out of all the people she’s saved, this may be the most important.
If she can save Yelena…
She can what? Save herself?
Pretend that she wasn’t just abandoned? That the family she had in Ohio was her real origin rather than a mother that threw her away like garbage?
Pulling out her phone, she calls the one person that knows what this means. Even though he can’t answer, she needs him to know.
It rings and then goes to his voice mail. She almost wants to call it again to hear his voice, even if it’s recorded.
‘Leave a message’ he says.
So she does.
She tells him that Yelena is here. That she’s finally got some tangible leads and lastly; she tells him that she wishes he were here; before hanging up and sitting next to the dead body, thinking about what she needs to do.
It’s taken out of her hands when her phone buzzes again.
A picture of Yelena pops up.
“Watch me.” says the text message.
#whumptober2021#no.2#garotte#canonical violence#implied child abuse#natasha romanoff#black widow#yelena belova#clint barton#my fic#for here what is what is must be#clintasha fan fiction#clintasha#marvel fic#Natasha & Yelena#clintasha fanfiction#whump fic#Natasha Romanoff fic
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For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Today Drew is forced to watch and recap 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, the twelfth James Bond adventure. Bond is on the hunt for a sunken bit of technology that could spell big trouble for the British government. Bond also gets tangled in an absolute badass’ quest for vengeance, and surely that’s going to end well, right? Right?
Keep reading to find out…
Eli, I’m sorry this is so late, but you did a fantastic job with your last two recaps! I can’t believe you’re so close to the finish line! I’m going to keep this extra short to dive right into the action, but I wanted to say again that you’re doing an amazing job and I can’t wait for your next recap!
Buttocks tight!
Screenplay by Michael G. Wilson & Richard Maibaum, film directed by John Glen
We’re old hands at this now, so the standard gun barrel sequence holds no surprises for us. What is surprising, though, is that we open on James Bond bringing flowers to the grave of his late wife, Teresa Bond. Remember Tracy? It’s been a while! Bond doesn’t have long to mourn in peace, though, because a priest runs up to inform Bond that the office is sending a helicopter to pick him up. The chopper arrives, but Bond is suspicious when the priest appears to give his last rights as the helicopter takes off. Bond was right to be suspicious, because just then we cut to Bond’s archnemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld! Well, I mean, I think it’s Blofeld… We don’t get a good look at his face, but I’d know that kitty anywhere. Despite now being apparently wheelchair-bound and sporting a neck brace after his last encounter with Bond, Blofeld still has a trick up his sleeve and sends a signal to the chopper that kills the pilot. Blofeld controls the helicopter remotely and instead of just crashing it immediately and killing Bond easily, Blofeld has some fun and whips him around a bit. This gives Bond time to get control of the helicopter and steer it right over to Blofeld. He hooks onto Blofeld’s wheelchair and drops him into a smokestack while Blofeld babbles incoherently about buying Bond a stainless-steel delicatessen. At leas the cat got away.
After that bonkers opening, we jump to our trippy title sequence where we actually get to see Sheena Easton belting out the undeniable bop, “For Your Eyes Only”. This is a real slow jam, and the standard crew of naked silhouetted ladies even manage to slow down their flips and summersaults to match the mood.
With that banger behind us, we jump to a fishing boat which is actually yet another nautical spy base. The fishermen really goof up and accidentally haul in an old mine which promptly blows the ship, spy base and all, to hell. In MI6, M is informed about the accident; turns out there’s trouble, because the water the ship sank in ain’t that deep and now there’s a chance the damn KGB can get ahold of tech aboard the ship. MI6 hires a marine archeologist to secretly locate the sunken base and get the goods before those damned dirty Russians can get their hands on it, but he and his wife are both gunned down in front of their daughter, Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet). The freshly orphaned Havelock regards her murdered parents and craves vengeance.
Back in London, M gives Bond the lowdown on what exactly is at stake here. The ship that was sunk was carrying the Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC), which can be used to launch missiles from British subs. Bond is filled in on the deaths of the marine archeologist and his wife, and told they were killed by a hitman named Hector Gonzales (Stefan Kalipha). Bond is sent to Madrid find Gonzales and figure out who hired him to ice the Havelocks. Bond infiltrates Gonzales’ villa while some truly unexpected music plays all around him. Bond is almost instantly captured by Gonzales’ men, but then Gonzales is unexpectedly killed with an arrow to the back. Bond makes a run for it and runs into the uninvited archer: the utterly badass and utterly parentless Melina Havelock. Bond and Havelock make for his car but it gets blown up, so they take Havelock’s bitchin’ ride instead and she leads some goons on a chase that would put Bond to shame. The car tips but some friendly villagers right it and Bond, in a move that is as unnecessary as it is unwanted, decides he’s going to drive Havelock’s car now. Through dumb luck and none of Havelock’s cold precision Bond eludes the goons (to be clear, he totally flipped the car at one point, too, but Havelock is a lot cooler than him and didn’t pull a dick move by demanding to drive again because she’s not that petty and she has nothing to prove to this limey showoff).
Bond gives an absolutely insufferable lecture about the dangers of seeking revenge to Havelock who, much like me, has no time for his shit. You’re seriously going to try to warn her away from seeking vengeance after dropping Blofeld down a smokestack, like, half an hour ago, James? C’mon. He finally skulks back to England before he can get in the way of anymore of her awesome plans. Bond is scolded like the overgrown child he is by M and told to use some magical Q tech (which is really just an electronic sketch artist) to identify a man he saw paying Gonzales. Unbelievably, Q’s toy works and the man is identified as Emile Leopold Locque (Michael Gothard).
(How in the world has there not been a Bond character with the surname ‘Gothard’?)
Bond heads to Italy to track down Locque. In his hotel bathroom he finds a message waiting for him on his mirror, and it leads him to his Italian contact, Luigi Mario – No, sorry, Luigi Ferrara (John Moreno). Ferrara introduces him to a businessman and informant named Aris Kristatos (Julian Glover). Kristatos tells him that Locque is employed by a guy named Milos Columbo (Chaim Topol). I feel like we could have skipped a few steps in this introduction chain, but alright. Kristatos and Columbo used to fight in the Resistance together, but they took different paths and now Columbo is a seriously bad dude.
In the village, Bond catches sight of none other than Melina “Motherfucker” Havelock. That’s right, bitches, it took MI6’s most advanced Etch A Sketch technology, a ridiculous string of introductions and absolutely no effort from Bond himself for him to get this far, and this orphan got here before him with nothing but her wits, her thirst for vengeance and the ghosts of her dead parents to guide her way. Please, somebody, give this woman a spinoff!
Bond just can’t let Havelock tend to her own business, so he has to spy on her. Some motorcycle thugs race toward her, and Bond gets in the way of what I’m sure was a carefully laid trap of Havelock’s design. He drags her over to a sled and we find out she’s only here because someone pretending to be Bond sent her a telegraph telling her to meet him here. Aw, come on, writers, don’t nerf her like that! Havelock insists that Bond has no right to tell her what to do, but he slams his arm into her and forces her to stay in the sled. She tries to escape several more times, but he forces her to stay in her dreadful presence. He tells her to be a good girl and wait for him to do all the work himself, because we just can’t have nice things in this franchise.
Some ice skater who looks like she’s fifteen tries to sleep with Bond and he refuses her because even he has some limits. They go off skiing together and he ditches her, only to be pursued by more motorcycle thugs and a sniper taking shots at him from above. Bond manages to ski to safety for a moment, but the thugs, now joined by one of Columbo’s henchmen, are still on his tail. If there’s one thing these movies love more than a boat chase it’s a ski chase, and this one’s really goin’ all out. Bond eventually meets up with Ferrara, who drives to safety and he skates around with that teenaged ice skater some more. The ice skater’s coach drags her away so some hockey players can try to kill Bond.
He escapes in time to find out that Ferrara has been killed by Columbo. This never would have happened on Havelock’s watch. Speaking of, Bond meets back up with her in Corfu and she takes him on a tour of the local sights. Havelock reminisces on the views that her super dead father loved, and Bond unnecessarily comforts her as she processes her grief. Bond meets up with Kristatos in a casino, and Kristatos warns him again about how bad of a dude Columbo is. Unbeknownst to Bond or Kristatos, they’re being recorded by one of Columbo’s goons. Bond decides to make a move on Columbo’s mistress, Countess Lisl von Schlaf (Cassandra Harris). He successfully beds her, and she admits she knows he’s a spy and she’s supposed to get intel out of him.
Bond and the Countess go for a walk on the beach after banging all night long, and suddenly Locque shows up and Red Asphalts von Schlaf with a dune buggy. Locque is about to kill Bond, but suddenly Columbo’s men show up, chase Locque away and capture Bond. Columbo explains to Bond that Kristatos is actually the bad guy in all of this, he hired Locque and he’s working with the KGB to get the ATAC. Bond doesn’t immediately buy this, but Columbo gives him a gun as a show of good faith and the two get smashed on brandy. That night, they head to Kristatos’ warehouses where he’s secretly processing opium. Inside the warehouse they also find some old mines, so it turns out that fishing accident at the beginning of the movie was no accident.
Locque makes a break for it in a car, but Bond manages to shoot him and cause him to swerve nearly off a cliff. In revenge for the death of Bond’s best friend in the world, Luigi Ferrara, he cold-bloodedly kicks the car and causes it to fall to the rocks below, killing Locque. Afterward Bond tracks down Havelock, who’s busy carrying on her mega-dead father’s work in marine archeology and generally has no time for Bond’s bullshit. They head back onto her dead parents’ boat and Bond fills her in on the sitch with Kristatos. Havelock expertly translates some of her father’s notes and singlehandedly figures out where the sunken ship containing ATAC is located. She steers a minisub to the ship’s location while Bond makes himself as useful as balls on a dildo and slows her down at every turn.
The two suit up and head into the sunken ship, but Kristatos is lurking above and knows someone’s messing around near the ATAC. Havelock is naturally startled when confronted by a bunch of drowned sailors, and Bond takes the opportunity to condescend to her and tell her to go back to the safety of the sub. She says fuck that noise, and gets to work finding ATAC while he’s busy jerking himself off in his wetsuit. The two begin cutting ATAC free of the ship, but suddenly one of Kristatos’ men bursts in and knocks Bond aside like the sidekick he is. This allows the henchman to get ahold of Havelock and sever her air hose, much like her parents were severed from their mortal coil. While Havelock valiantly struggles with henchman, Bond manages to slap a bomb on his back and the two swim to safety, ATAC in hand, as he explodes.
Despite Havelock literally growing up around this sort of stuff, Bond takes it upon himself to coddle her once they get back to the sub and even decides to pilot it himself (it’s that car ride all over again!). Unfortunately, Kristatos has a mini sub of its own, and the two subs BattleBots it out for a while before Bond manages to steer them to safety, nearly destroying a priceless archeological site (and by extension, the life’s work of Havelock and the death’s work of her father) in the process. They finally make it back to the surface, but Kristatos is waiting for them and he seizes the ATAC. Havelock is worried about the men she left on the boat, but Bond only cares about being a big strong man and making sure Havelock is let go. Yeah, because she’s definitely going to just walk away from the guy who killed her parents and now apparently fed her crew to sharks, dumbass. There’s an incredibly gross moment where one of Kristatos’ disgusting henchmen cut Havelock out of her wetsuit, then Bond and Havelock are trussed up and dragged through the water behind Kristatos’ boat.
Bond and Havelock get raked over some coral and some sharks almost much ‘em, but Bond manages to cut their bindings and they make it back to Havelock’s dead parents’ boat. Thanks to a pet parrot formerly owned by the late Mr. Havelock, they’re informed of where Kristatos is hiding the ATAC. Bond, Havelock, Columbo and some of Columbo’s men head for an old monastery where Kristatos is holed up. Bond almost dies while scaling the mountain to reach Kristatos, but eventually makes it to the top and sends a basket down to pick everyone else up. That ice skater is here, too, by the way, but don’t ask my why because I haven’t got a clue. A KGB helicopter is on the way to pick up the ATAC, and Bond and co. fight their way toward Kristatos.
Bond wrestles the ATAC away from Kristatos just as the KGB arrive.
Now get ready for some bullshit. Havelock, crossbow in hand, is ready to bring some biblical vengeance down upon the man that turned her mother and father into corpses and orphaned both her and a parrot, but Bond, James “Drop a Dude Down a Smokestack Because Ten Years Ago He Killed the Woman He’d Been Married to For Three Hours” Bond, James “Kicks a Car Off a Cliff and Kills a Man in Retaliation for the Death of a Man He’d Known for Five Minutes” Bond, gets in her way and tells her this just isn’t the way. She hesitates, influenced by Bond’s buffoonery, and Kristatos draws a knife. Then Columbo, fucking Columbo, the guy absolutely everyone has forgotten at this point, gets to save the day and kill Kristatos by shooting him in the back. Right in front of Havelock. The orphan. The vengeful assassin. The ruthless huntress who had gone halfway around the world to unleash hell upon those who had wronged her. The guy who was responsible for the obliteration of her parents is killed by a completely ancillary character RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER, and she was denied the vengeance that was undeniably hers by right of blood and grief because James fucking Bond had to mansplain morality to her two hours after dropping a crippled man down a smokestack and then making a pun about it.
Bond throws the ATAC off a cliff instead of letting the KGB have it. The KGB leave. Bond and Havelock fuck on a boat. Margaret Thatcher talks to the parrot.
The End
~~~~~
I’ve got to say, I’m pretty damn mad right now. This had the potential to be an absolutely amazing movie. The look of righteous fury in Havelock’s eyes as she stood over the bodies of her murdered parents honestly gave me chills. She shot an assassin with an arrow and drove in a high speed chase like a badass. Then Bond came into her story and she was completely declawed. Bond gets revenge on Blofeld for killing Tracy. Bond gets revenge on some dude whose name I can’t even remember for killing Ferrara. But Havelock? No, Havelock doesn’t get revenge. Havelock isn’t allowed to avenge the deaths of her mother and father. And then, as if that weren’t enough, we’re slapped in the face by Columbo being the one to kill Kristatos. If Kristatos was going to die, why the FUCK couldn’t Havelock be the one to kill him? I’ve been confused and frustrated by parts of these movies in the past, but never, in 12 whole films, have I felt this genuinely furious. The writers of this movie took a character like Havelock, who could have been an absolute badass angel of wrath on a holy quest for vengeance, who could have been an equal to Bond and could have elevated him to his best, who could have delivered an incredibly powerful and satisfying story, and then they took a big dump right on her face.
That’s not even taking into account the other things about this movie that suck. The music, aside from the titular song, isn’t good. Why is that ice skater in the movie at all? Why did we need to go through fifty different dudes to get to Kristatos and Columbo? This movie is a mess, and I’m very angry about it.
I give For Your Eyes Only QQ on the Five Q Scale.
It’s the final countdown! Before I post my next James Bond recap, Eli will have posted his recaps of both “Home Again Rose” and “One Flew Out of the Cuckoo’s Nest”, the penultimate and final episodes of The Golden Girls, respectively. We’ve still got a whole season of The Golden Palace to cover, but this will still be a monumental achievement on Eli’s part and I can’t believe it’s come so soon! You’ve done my Golden Girls-loving heart proud, Chief! I can’t wait to read those final recaps, and then after that (and after I’ve wiped a tear or two from my eyes) I’ll be back with my recap of the James Bond film with arguably the most famous name, Octopussy.
Until then, as always, thank you for reading, thank you for nerfing and thank you for being One of Us!
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