#black widow: deadly origin

[icepandawarrior]

I WANNA KNOW WHO THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE BOTH PREDATORY ASS MEN IN NAT'S LIFE TO BE HER FATHER FIGURES IN THE MCU!?

ALEXI (BEFORE I STARTED READING BW COMICS) WAS ALREADY NOT GOOD IN MY DAMN BOOK WHEN HE EFFORTLESSLY GAVE UP CHILDREN TO BE TRAFFICKED AND THEN YEARS LATER ACTED LIKE IT WAS JUST A WHOOPSIE DAISY AND ALL WAS FORGIVEN... DAVID HARBOUR IS NOT SAVING HIS TRASH ASS

BEFORE I EVEN GOT TO READING THE COMICS, AN EDIT OF THE (UNDERWHELMING) BLACK WIDOW MOVIE SHOWED UP ON MY FYP TRYING TO MAKE NAT, YELENA AND THEM OTHERS LOOK LIKE A BIG HAPPY FAMILY... WHILE SCROLLING THROUGH COMMENTS SOMEONE TALKED ABOUT HOW GROSS IT WAS THAT THE MCU TOOK SOMEONE SHE WAS MARRIED TO AND TURNED HIM INTO A "FATHER FIGURE" INSTEAD... TRUTH BE TOLD, I WAS SHOCKED AND APPALLED

THEN LATER DOWN THE YEAR OR THE YEAR AFTER THE BLACK WIDOW MOVIE CAME OUT, I STARTED ON FINALLY READING THE COMICS. AS MUCH AS I WAS AMAZED FOR MOST OF HER SOLO COMIC RUNS, I HAD THE MISFORTUNE WITH READING ONE OF HER WORST THAT BEING DEADLY ORIGIN... AND JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT HOW BAD CAN IT POSSIBLY BE REALLY (APART FROM THE MAIN STORY'S WEAK WRITING AND IT'S HORRENDOUS ART STYLE) THIS WASTE OF FUCKING OXYGEN SHOWS UP. THIS ALONE BARELY SCRATCHES THE SURFACE OF HOW FUCKING TERRIBLE HE WAS TO NAT

AND THEN THERE'S THE OTHER ONE, IVAN WHO WAS MENTIONED ONCE IN AVENGERS ENDGAME BEFORE THE COMPLETE FUCKERY HAPPENED AND WAS REFERRED TO IN THE BLACK WIDOW MOVIE. DESPITE NOT BEING PHYSICALLY PRESENT HE WASN'T EXACTLY GREAT EITHER CONSIDERING HE GAVE UP NAT AS A BABY TO SOME SICK FUCK TO BE GROOMED AS A CHILD SOLDIER... BUT IT'S OK BECAUSE AFTER THAT HAPPENED HE WENT LOOKING FOR HER AND GOT KILLED IN THE PROCESS

AND MAN DON'T ME STARTED ON HIS COMIC COUNTERPART... I WAS GIVEN NOT EVEN A SPEC OF INFORMATION ON HIM. AND THAT'S BECAUSE UNLIKE ALEXI HE'S NOT ALL THAT RELEVANT... HE'S AT LIKE A D LEVEL OF RELEVANCE AT BEST

AND I AM GRATEFUL FOR THAT CONSIDERING READING DEADLY ORIGIN (THE SAME COMIC ALEXI HAS AN APPEARANCE IN). HE'S JUST AS BAD IF NOT WORST AND WORDS FROM ME PERSONALLY CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT THOROUGHLY... MANIPULATIVE AND REPULSIVE AS FUCK ON BOTH ENDS

LUCKILY, HE'S DEAD AND HASN'T MADE AN APPEARANCE SINCE THIS COMIC... REST IN PISS 😊 AND HOPEFULLY ALEXI WILL MEET HIS MAKER TOO

[daydreamerdrew]

The Avengers (1963) #29

[palelittleadaptoid]

🏳️‍🌈

[fryingpan1234567]

so what if the Bats were Spiders instead?

in a different universe, Bruce Wayne grew up with arachnophobia instead of chiroptophobia. he found secret experiments in a lab beneath their family estate, and it didn’t take him long to pick up the family business.

neurotoxin experiments. spiders.

in a different universe, Bruce Wayne became Spider-Man.

in a different universe, Dick Grayson didn’t need to be bitten by a spider to pick up the Spider-Man mantle. he grew up knowing how to do all the acrobatics and combat anyways— all B had to do was give him web shooters and a suit. but there couldn’t be two Spider-Man’s. so he became Nightwing. but with a blue spider on his chest instead of a bird!

Nightwing’s webs come from his escrima sticks. they’re packing some serious voltage, so sometimes in a pinch he’ll use them instead of his police-issued taser. his favorite part about the whole spider thing is that he can fully just… throw himself off of buildings. and not die. he’s an adrenaline junkie, what can he say?

in a different universe, Jason Todd did everything the same. tried to steal the wheels off the vehicle of the most famous vigilante in Gotham. B picked him up and let him choose the spider and gave him the power to do good.

Robin “giving him magic” didn’t stop the Green Goblin from caving in his skull. although spiders you thought you’d killed do have a way of disappearing.

and returning. in a different universe, the Red Hood took the black widow as his mascot and nobody could do anything in Gotham City without him knowing about it. he single-handedly put down all the arms dealers in the city.

in a different universe, Tim Drake made his own spider. he’d been a fan of Thomas and Bruce Wayne’s work for his whole life, or at least since he learned how to read— and he figured he could get Spider-Man’s attention if he was able to replicate the project as young as he did.

oh, he got Spidey’s attention all right. befriending and adopting an alien symbiote will do that. player 4 has joined the game.

in a different universe, Venom is co-piloted by Tim, who really does like aliens. B thinks it’s a tiny bit weird, but while Tim is tiny his alien companion is very much not. it’s extra armor.

Tim works at the Daily Bugle. nobody knows how exactly he gets the quality kind of photos he does of Gotham’s Spider-family situation, but who’s complaining? he’s just really good at his job.

in a different universe, Cassandra Cain was bitten by a spider before she even met Bruce Wayne. her mother had trained her for combat for her whole life. she couldn’t prepare her for superpowers.

B was happy to help. in a different universe, rather than Cass becoming Blackbat, she took on the alias Black Widow. watch your back for her, though. she’s got the same deadly instinct in every universe.

in a different universe, Stephanie Brown became the first Spider-Woman. of course, she wasn’t the only one, but there’s something about being the original, isn’t there?

she knows she’s funny. she thinks it’s part of the job; it feels right. she’s the closest to the average canon Spider-Man. she could’ve been recruited to the Society at any point in time. and there’s something about that too.

in a different universe, Damian Wayne was born with superpowers. he’d inherited Bruce’s from birth. Talia was quick to hand him off once she realized her baby could crawl on walls and ceilings. the Spider Cave was getting a bit crowded, but what’s one more dangerous, unpredictable, biologically enhanced child? bring it on.

aside from Hood, Tarantula is the only Spider willing to kill a man on the field. yeah, as in. bird-eating tarantula. Robin. get it?

of course, in a different universe, he still had his katana. wouldn’t be Damian Wayne without it. his favorite thing is to swing down from a skyscraper with his webs and run through bad guys like kebabs. B says it’s immoral, but who can be mad about stabbing Doc Ock’s goons?

in another universe, Duke Thomas is the most famous member of the family. he’s the other closest to canon Spider-Man. he takes the day jobs, he talks to the press, he’s the least-hated at the Daily Bugle.

his webs glow. that makes night ops harder. so he sticks to the sunlight. people started calling him the Spider-Signal. which doesn’t make a lot of sense? but Duke is the kinda guy to just kinda shrug it off, because he’s not gonna take on the entire city’s press on his own.

Miguel O’Hara stayed the bleeding hell away from this universe. this group of bats spiders were too unpredictable to have in the Spider Society at all. there were no missions there, but constant surveillance. (until. you know. Miles Morales rocked up with a proposition to take down a tyrannical system with horrible judgement and a corrupted leader. and then Miguel couldn’t ignore the Wayne family anymore.)

how I love the multiverse. endless possibilities, amirite?

(please ask me to write more for this au. drabbles. more characters. PLEASE)

[burningfudge]

Black Widow, Winter Soldier, and WinterWidow reading list

I made this list for another post, but I thought I'd put it here too.

Black Widow (1999) by Devin Grayson - Natasha's first solo. It's only three issues, and it's the start of modern Black Widow. It introduces important aspects of her character, like the Red Room. Yelena is introduced for the first time.

Black Widow (2001) by Devin Grayson - Another three-issue comic, which I thought was a fun read. It's a Natasha, Yelena, and Matt team-up comic. It's a part of Marvel Knights, which told more mature and darker stories so I have a soft spot for the 1999 and 2001 runs for this reason.

Black Widow: Pale Little Spider (2002) by Greg Rucka - Another three-issue comic. While not focused on Natasha, it's a Yelena solo. It's part of the Max comics line, which was an attempt to tell adult-only stories, and it definitely shows because Yelena visits a bondage sex club. A very important comic for Yelena.

Black Widow: Homecoming (2004) by Richard K. Morgan - I think this comic was extremely influential for modern Black Widow. A lot of her mythos originated from this comic. The movie took a lot of inspiration from this comic as well, like the pheremones thing.

Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (2005) by Richard K. Morgan - This one is decent. It's not entirely important, but I think it's worth a read. A classic Black Widow story where Natasha is on the run and doesn't know who to trust. While it's overdone at this point, I think this was the first comic to portray it. Yelena and Matt show up in this one too.

Captain America (2005) by Ed Brubaker - VERY IMPORTANT. Bucky is reintroduced as the Winter Soldier and shows up in #1. While it's long, every issue is worth it. Natasha doesn't show up until #27, but #27-#50 is peak buckynat. This run is one of my fav comics of all time.

New Avengers #48-64, Annual #3, Finale (2005) by Brian Michael Bendis - Natasha isn't super important in this, and she barely shows up, but Bucky shows up frequently. I wouldn't say it's entirely important, but it's during Bucky's time as Captain America, and when he interacts with the Avengers, so I recommend it just for that. Also, I'm a little biased because New Avengers (2005) is probably my favorite comic ever.

Black Widow (2010) by Marjorie Liu - The best Black Widow story ever written. I don't think anyone has disliked it. 10/10, I always love to reread it.

Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2010) by Paul Cornell - A miniseries about Natasha's origin. Not entirely important, but it's a solid Black Widow story. Appearances from Bucky and Wolverine.

Captain America #600-619 by Ed Brubaker - Again, it's very important for both Bucky and Natasha. It's a continuation of Captain America (2005).

Captain America & Bucky #620-624 (2011) by Ed Brubaker - Pretty important. It's a retelling of Bucky's life. #624 is all about buckynat and how they met. A lot of iconic buckynat content that the fandom gushes over is in it.

Widowmaker (2011) - Not super important and Bucky isn't in it. A fun team-up story about Clint and Natasha with Bobbi. I enjoyed reading it.

Winter Soldier (2012) by Ed Brubaker - I cannot tell you how much I love this comic. It's the best Bucky's ever been written and I don't think anyone will disagree when I say that no one has ever understood Bucky like Ed Brubaker. Extremely important for buckynat.

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March (2014) by Rick Remender - I'm not going to lie; I don't really remember much from this comic, but I know people like it.

Black Widow (2014) by Phil Noto & Nathan Edmondson - Another popular comic for Natasha. It's probably my second favorite Black Widow comic after Liu's. Another Black Widow is on the run story, but Liho is introduced in this! Bucky is in #8, 15, 17-18. A must read.

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier (2014) by Ales Kot - This isn't my favorite, but the art is absolutely beautiful. I don't think it's essential. Natasha is not in this.

Black Widow (2016) by Mark Waid - I enjoyed reading this comic. I'd rank it third after Liu and Noto. Bucky is in #9-10. Essential Black Widow comic.

Tales of Suspense #100-104 by Matthew Rosenberg - A Winter Soldier and Hawkeye team-up where they look for Natasha after she was killed by Hydra Cap in Secret Empire (no need to read it; SE is trash). A fandom favorite, and I absolutely love it. Winterhawk exploded in popularity after this run.

Winter Soldier (2018) by Kyle Higgins - Natasha does not show up in this, but it's very important for Bucky. It's a short five-issue miniseries, and it's probably the best Bucky has been written since Brubaker.

Black Widow (2019) by Jen and Sylvia Soska - It's a miniseries, and it's a fairly dark one. Natasha is back from the dead, and she's PISSED. Bucky doesn't show up in this one, but Steve does, and it's after her murder at Hydra Cap's hands.

Web of Black Widow (2019) by Jody Houser - Another Natasha miniseries where she's on the run and her friends are worried about her. Bucky shows up in #2 and #5.

Falcon and Winter Soldier (2020) by Derek Landy - A fun team-up comic with Sam and Bucky. Natasha doesn't show up. Not essential.

Black Widow (2020) by Kelly Thompson - It's...not great. Many people have already talked about what they didn't like, so I won't go over it, but it has some fantastic buckynat moments. However, I will say that I really love Natasha, Yelena, Clint, and Bucky teaming up in this comic. That group together is highly entertaining. It doesn't seem like anything from this comic will be paid attention to in the future, but I would still read it.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (2022) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Really trash. I didn’t like this at all. Bucky isn't written well, and I think Natasha shows up like twice. Skip.

Captain America: Cold War (2023) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Another trash event. Skip.

Thunderbolts (2023) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Buckynat FINALLY get back together after they broke up in Winter Soldier (2012). A boring comic otherwise.

[jamestasha]

Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2009) Black Widow: Name of the Rose (2010) Thunderbolts (2023)

[wntrsnat]

Was Natasha a kid when she met Bucky?

It’s a widespread misconception outside of winterwidow fandom that Bucky and Natasha have known each other since she was a kid. I’ve seen a handful of people object to their relationship for this reason or (sometimes in a humorous manner) comment on how weird it is. And I'd have to agree with them. Bucky dating Natasha despite having trained her since she was a child would have been utterly inappropriate, if not immoral and disgusting. However, the assumption is not only incorrect but also fundamentally impossible.

Let’s go back to the beginning to clarify why that assumption is fundamentally impossible. Different universes equal different realities, and different realities equal different characters. Sometimes characters' counterparts across multiple realities only differ in details, not the basics. MCU characters have a similar correlation with their What If counterparts but not comics’ ones, which is a grave mistake cinematic fans make. I believe that’s why we have this absurd assumption as well, from someone thinking that 616 Black Widow and Winter Soldier are the same age as their more famous counterparts.

MCU’s Natasha Romanoff was born in 1984, and Bucky – 1917. Thus, an adult-kid dynamic is plausible. If we consider cryostasis, Bucky was still pushing 30 when Natasha was born. The situation, however, is significantly different for their 616 counterparts. Let’s start with Earth 616’s Bucky Barnes, who was born in 1925, making him nearly a decade younger than the cinematic one. But that isn’t what disproves the aforementioned belief. What disproves it is that Earth 616’s Natasha Romanoff was born around 1928, making her 56 years older than her cinematic counterpart and just 3 years younger than 616 Bucky. You will find this information on the following page from Black Widow: Deadly Origin, a 2009–2010 graphic novel (which I will be using as a basis today):

This alone debunks the adult/child misconception, but I want to go one step further and discuss the timeline of Natasha's time in the Red Room and the early years of the Winter Soldier.

At the young age of 20, Bucky Barnes "died" alongside Captain America in late 1945, in last days of the war. The Russian submarine discovered Bucky's preserved body after the war while hoping to retrieve Captain America’s remains. And with that, the Winter Soldier story began, along with his role as a super soldier trainer at the Red Room for Department X.

Now, one might say, "Ana, if he was 20, Natasha was 17, which is still kind of wrong, no?". My answer is yes; it would’ve been rather inappropriate. "Would’ve been" because there’s a catch: Natasha wasn’t part of the Red Room when he joined.

I know what you’re thinking: What the fuck, wasn’t she...? Didn’t she…? So let me explain that one from the beginning.

Natasha Romanoff, then 10 years old, was brought to the Red Room in 1938 by her father figure, Ivan Petrovich (a terrible piece of shit about whom I'll write a blog), Taras Romanov, and Joseph Stalin himself. After her trainer, Wolverine, killed Taras in 1940, she let Wolverine go, fled into the woods, and was found three months later by Ivan, possibly going back under his care, which can be seen below:

She returned to the Red Room only at the age of 28, ironically enough, becauseof Ivan, which is depicted on the following page:

There, we find a collapsed building with a bleeding Ivan and a sobbing Natasha, who have been approached by …. *DRUM ROLL* ….  the Winter Soldier, who has been sent by his superiors. They were both offered the super soldier serum that would save Ivan in exchange for their newfound loyalty, which Natasha accepted despite Ivan's protests.

Here we are, then: Natasha, 28, meets the Winter Soldier, roughly 31, who’ll soon be her lover and her trainer. Two adult people who met when they were both adults. And with that, we conclude our blog, disproving the infamous “she was a kid when they met!” argument.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you have questions or have found a mistake, let me know. I'll be happy to answer and discuss <3

[sailor-iris]

Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2010) #1

Art by: John Paul Leon

[theladyregret]

Drow Name Tables

Something I did as a special favor to @kimmurielsscryingmirror (@eldritchmist ) who showed interest. Because it’s...pretty big I decided to make it into it’s own post.

These are a few Drow naming tables that were originally found in an issue of Dragon Magazine. It’s two d100 tables of prefixes and suffixes commonly used in first names. The second couple of tables is a list of common house name prefixes and suffixes.

EDIT: Just a little something for those who care which I didn’t add before because it took me so long to finish the transcription I just wanted to post it lol. The gender difference is noted in the related Dragon Magazine article as being significant. Non Drow may not notice but a Drow will notice the difference. Female names sometimes borrow parts that are normally only considered male and this is considered fine...but a male with a name that borrows a typically only female part would be seen as extremely taboo.

Prefix (Female/Male) - Meaning

Akor/Alak                 beloved, best, first

Alaun/Alton             lightning, powerful

Aly/Kel                     legendary, singing, song

Ang/Adin                  beast, monstrous, savage

Ardul/Amal               blessed, divine, godly

Aun/Ant                   crypt, dead, deadly, death

Bae/Bar                      fate, fated, luck, lucky

Bal/Bel                       burned, burning, fire, flame

Belar/Bruh                 arrow, lance, piercing

Briz/Berg                    graceful, fluid, like water

Bur/Bhin                     craft, crafty, sly

Chal/Chasz                earth, stable

Char/Kron                  sick, venom, venomed

Chess/Cal                  noble, lady/lord

Dhaun                          infested, plague

Dil/Dur                         cold, ice, still

Dirz/Div                       dream, dreaming, fantasy

Dris/Riz                        ash, dawn, east, eastern

Eclav/Elk                      chaos, mad, madness

Elvan/Kalan                 elf, elven, far, lost

Elv/Elaug                     drow, mage, power

Erel/Rhyl                      eye, moon, spy

Ethe/Erth                    mithril, resolute

Faer/Selds                   oath, sworn, vow

Felyn/Fil                       pale, thin, weak, white

Filf/Phar                     dwarf, dwarven, treacherous

Gauss/Orgoll              dread, fear, feared, vile

G'eld                              friend, spider  

Ghuan                           accursed, curse, unlucky

Gin/Din                         berserk, berserker, orc, wild

Grey/Gul                       ghost, pale, unliving

Hael/Hatch                   marked, trail, way

Hal/Sol                           deft, nimble, spider-like  

Houn/Rik                       magic, ring, staff

Iiv/Dip                             liege, war, warrior

Iim                                   life, living, spirit, soul

Illiam/Im                         devoted, heart, love

In/Sorn                           enchanted, spell

Ilph                                  emerald, green, lush, tree

Irae/Ilzt                           arcane, mystic, wizard

Irr/Izz                               hidden, mask, masked

Iym/Ist                            endless, immortal  

Jan/Duag                       shield, warded

Jhael/Gel                       ambitious, clan, kin, family

Jhul/Jar                         charmed, rune, symbol

Jys/Driz                         hard, steel, unyielding

Lael/Llt                           iron, west, western

Lar/Les                          binding, bound, law, lawful

LiNeer/Mourn            legend, legendary, mythical  

Lird/Ryld                   brand, branded, owned, slave

Lua/Lyme                       bright, crystal, light

Mal/Malag                     mystery, secret

May/Mas                         beautiful, beauty, silver

Micar                                lost, poison, widow

Min/Ran                           lesser, minor, second

Mol/Go                            blue, storm, thunder, wind

Myr/Nym                       lost, skeleton, skull

Nath/Mer                        doom, doomed, fate

Ned/Nad               cunning, genius, mind, thought

Nhil/Nal                 fear, gorrible, horror, outraged

Neer                                  core, root, strong

Null/Nil                             sad, tear, weeping

Olor/Omar                       skin, tattoo, tattooed

Pellan/Relon                    north, platiunum, wind

Phaer/Vorn                      honor, honored

Phyr/Phyx                        bless, blessed, blessing

Qualn/Quil                        mighty, ocean, sea

Quar                                   aged, eternal, time

Quav/Quev                        charmed, docile, friend

Qil/Quil                               foe, goblin, slave

Rauv/Welv                         cave, rock, stone

Ril/Ryl                                 foretold, omen

Sbat/Szor                           amber, yellow

Sab/Tsab                            abyss, empty, void  

Shi'n/Kren                          fool, foolish, young

Shri/Ssz                             silk, silent  

Shur/Shar                          dagger, edge, stiletto

Shynt                                 invisible, skilled, unseen

Sin/Szin                              festival, joy, pleasure

Ssap/Tath                          blue, midnight, night

Susp/Spir                           learned, skilled, wise

Talab/Tluth                        burn, burning, fire

Tal/Tar                         love, pain, wound, wounded

Triel/Taz                           bat, winged

T'riss/Teb                           blade, sharp, sword  

Ulvir/Uhls                           gold, golden, treasure

Umrae/Hurz                       faith, faithful, true

Vas/Vesz                            blood, bloody, flesh

Vic                                       abyss, deep, profound

Vier/Val                               black, dark, darkness

Vlon/Wod                           bold, hero, heroic

Waer/Wehl             deep, hidden, south, southern  

Wuyon/Wruz                      humble, third, trivial

Xull/Url                                 blooded, crimson, ruby

Xun                                       demon, fiend, fiendish

Yas/Yaz                       riddle, spinning, thread, web

Zar/Zakn                             dusk, haunted, shadow

Zebey/Zek                        dragon, lithe, rage, wyrm

Zes/Zsz                              ancient, elder, respected

Zilv/Vuz                             forgotten, old, unknown

Suffixes (Female/Male) - Meaning

a/agh                  breaker, destruction, end, omega

ace/as                                savant, scholar, wizard

ae/aun                             dance, dancer, life, player

aer/d                                    blood, blood of, heir

afae/afein                         bane, executioner, slayer

afay/aufein                        eyes, eyes of, seer

ala/launim                          healer, cleric

anna/erin                            advisor, counselor to

arra/atar                             queen/prince

aste                                      bearer, keeper, slaver

avin/aonar                           guardian, guard, shield

ayne/al                       lunatic, maniac, manic, rage

baste/gloth                         path, walker

breena/antar                   matriach/patriarch, ruler

bryn/lyn                               agent, assassin, killer

cice/roos                             born of, child, young  

cyrl/axle                               ally, companion, friend

da/daer                                illusionist, trickster

dia/drin                                rogue, stealer

diira/diirn                             initiate, sister/brother

dra/zar                                  lover, match, mate  

driira/driirn                         mother/father, teacher  

dril/dorl                                 knight, sword, warrior

e                                           servant, slave, vessel

eari/erd                                 giver, god, patron

eyl                                       archer, arrow, flight, flyer

ffyn/fein                               minstrel, singer, song

fryn              champion, victor, weapon, weapon of

iara/ica                                 baron, duke, lady/lord  

ice/eth                                 obsession, taker, taken  

idil/imar           alpha, beginning, creator of, maker

iira/inid                                 harbinger, herald

inidia                                     secret, wall, warder

inil/in                                     lady/lord, rider, steed

intra                               envoy, messenger, prophet

isstra/atlab               acolyte, apprentice, student

ithra/irahc                         dragon, serpent, wyrm

jra/gos                                 beast, biter, stinger

jss                                          scout, stalker

kacha/kah                            beauty, hair, style

kiira/raen                              apostle, disciple

lay/dyn                               flight, flyer, wing, wings

lara/aghar                         cynic, death, end, victim

lin                                         arm, armor, commander

lochar                                   messenger, spider

mice/myr           bone, bones, necromancer, witch  

mur'ss                                   shadow, spy, witness

na/nar                                 adept, ghost, spirit

nilee/olil                             corpse, disease, ravager

niss/nozz                           chance, gambler, game

nitra/net                              kicker, returned, risen

nolu                                 art, artist, expert, treasure

olin                                   ascension, love, lover, lust

onia/onim                           rod, staff, token, wand

oyss/omph                       binder, judge, law, prison

qualyn                                 ally, caller, kin

quarra/net                           horde, host, legion

quiri/oj                                  aura, cloak, hide, skin

ra/or                                     fool, game, prey, quarry

rae/rar                                   secret, seeker, quest

raema/orvir                         crafter, fist, hand

raena/olvir                            center, haven, home

riia/rak                       enchanter, mage, spellcaster

ril                                 bandit, enemy, raider, outlaw

riina/ree                     enchanter, mage, spellcaster

ryna/oyn                         follower, hired, mercenary

ryne/ryn                      blooded, elder, experienced

shalee/ral                 abjurer, gaze, watch, watcher

ssysn/rysn          artifact, dweomer, sorcerer, spell

stin/trin         clan, house, merchant, of the house

stra/tran                             spider, spinner, weaver

tana/ton                           darkness, lurker, prowler

thara/tar                             glyph, marker, rune

thrae/olg                          charmer, leader, seducer

tree/tel                         exile, loner, outcast, pariah

tyrr                    dagger, poison, poisoner, scorpion

ual/dan                                speed, strider

ue/dor                                  arm, artisan, fingers

uit/dar                                  breath, voice, word

une/diin                         diviner, fate, future, oracle

uque                              cavern, digger, mole, tunnel  

urra/dax                       nomad, renegade, wanderer

va/ven                             comrade, honor, honored

vayas                         forge, forger, hammer, smith

vyll punishment, scourge, whip, zealot  

vyrae/vyr                     mistress/master, overseer

wae/hrae                           heir, inheritor, princess

wiira/hriir                           seneschal of, steward

wyss/hrys                          best, creator, starter

xae/zaer                             orb, rank, ruler, sceptor

xena/zen                         cutter, gem, jewel, jeweler

xyra/zyr                             sage, teller

yl                                          drow, woman/man

ylene/yln         handmaiden/squire, maiden/youth

ymma/inyon                      drider, feet, foot, runner

ynda/yrd        captain, custodian, marshal, ranger  

ynrae/yraen                       heretic, rebel, riot, void

vrae                                   architect, founder, mason  

yrr                                         protector, rival, wielder

zyne/zt                                finder, hunter

House Name Prefixes - Meaning

Alean                        the noble line of

Ale                             traders in

Arab                          daughters of

Arken                        mages of

Auvry                        blood of the  

Baen                          blessed by

Barri                           spawn of

Cladd                         warriors from

Desp                          victors of

De                               champions of

Do'                              walkers in

Eils                              lands of

Everh                         the caverns of

Fre                              friends of

Gode                          clan of  

Helvi                          those above

Hla                              seers of

Hun'                           the sisterhood of

Ken                            sworn to

Kil                               people of

Mae                           raiders from  

Mel                            mothers of

My                              honored of

Noqu                         sacred to

Orly                            guild of

Ouss                           heirs to

Rilyn                           house of  

Teken'                        delvers in  

Tor                               mistresses of

Zau                              children of

House Name Suffixes - Meaning

afin                              the web

ana                               the night

ani                                the widow

ar                                   poison

arn                                fire

ate                                the way

ath                                the dragons

duis                              the whip

ervs                              the depths

ep                                  the underdark

ett                                 magic

ghym                            the forgotten ways

iryn                               history

lyl                                  the blade

mtor                             the abyss

ndar                              black hearts

neld                              the arcane

rae                                 fell powers

rahel                             the gods

rret                                the void

sek                                 adamantite

th                                    challenges

tlar                                 mysteries

t'tar                                victory

tyl                                   the pits

und                                 the spider's kiss

urden                             the darkness

val                                   silken weaver

viir                                  dominance

zynge                             the ruins

[wnterslder]

If he isn't hydra what is he?

re : hydra

hi anon , great question! let me preface this with that , this is only my interpretation of bucky / james / tws , and even then , i take my pick on what i take from the mcu and the comics as a blog using mixed media as reference. i do not condone his actions as the winter soldier , but i do emphasize how i portray him on this blog is not / was not working under hydra. the only link to hydra being where he got the super soldier serum.

with that , take this content warning of : soviet era , manipulation , violence , etc.

he was affiliated with the kgb , department x , the red room as a sleeper agent , assassin , and teacher. there is this , the winter soldier: a bitter march (issue #3) where he is referred to by a s.h.i.e.l.d. agent as “the soviet“ at the bottom of the panel. the winter soldier then proceeds to take out a bunch of hydra ppl later in this issue.

tws is also often seen speaking russian during these years , seen here in soviet barracks in black widow: deadly origin (issue #2).

there's other panels too , where bucky himself talks about how he'd trained soviet sleeper agents and talked to them about the cold war , or how he used to train people on how to act more american. important to note that he was experimented , manipulated , and tortured after his fall into becoming the winter soldier — he , at that time , likely thought he was in a deep cover in acting american until the kgb / dept x / red room needed him. in short , my interpretation of tws / james has never worked under hydra , taking this from comics rather than the m.cu.

if you have any other questions , i'll try my best to answer !

[icepandawarrior]

WHEN I SAY THE FLASHBACKS (+ WINTERWIDOW CRUMBS ) WERE THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THIS RUN... I MEAN THAT

[daydreamerdrew]

one thing that is strange to me with how the sliding timescale has affected Nick and Natasha is that it’s integral to Nick’s character that he’s a WWII war hero turned secret agent in the 60s, so he’s been maintained as a really long-lived unaging character while other parts of the Marvel universe have been moved to have happened later. like, for example, in his first S.H.I.E.L.D. story it’s Tony Stark that brings him into the organization and I’m assuming that that was later changed to be Howard Stark. and Natasha would have first met Nick in comics that were published in the 60s. but her early stories involved Tony Stark and Hawkeye and can’t be kept to that time without seriously aging them, so instead she has also been made into a really long-lived unaging character in order to maintain her Soviet Union base, with the amount of time she spent working as a spy against the United States being stretched out to be a lot longer (like, by decades) than it was originally portrayed to be, and her defection portrayed as happening in the more recent past… despite the fact that, as a Russian character, the existence and then fall of the Soviet Union was relevant in her stories published in between the 60s and now, which involved Nick. I guess we’re just supposed to pretend otherwise? but it’s weird because that’s a lot of history between Nick and Natasha that’s been condensed to a shorter period of their lives.

[the-wize-1]

Thawing the Widow (A Natasha Romanoff Story): Chapter 4 - Friendly Conversation

Chapter Summary: Cat's left alone with this Natasha lady, who's kind of scary but not that much anymore. Awkward conversations commence

Chapter Warnings: Hints of child abuse (not explicitly described)

Notes: Again, incredibly sorry for not updating in like a year. I’ll try to be more consistent. Please reblog/like/comment if you’re enjoying it! Also, you do not have permission to repost this anywhere.

Thawing the Widow Masterlist

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

To Cat’s surprise, Natasha had readily agreed to let her free from the chair.

“Make sure you stay still,” she’d said.

Probably because the woman was no longer threatening her at gunpoint, she was a lot less threatening. Her demeanor had done a complete one-eighty. Previously, she’d been terrifying and angry, like she had caught Cat doing something she wasn’t supposed to. Now, she was still distant and businesslike, but not an immediate threat to Cat’s life. In fact, she was almost pleasant, as if she hadn’t just been training a gun at her head a few minutes ago.

Now that she had time to study her, Cat realized that the woman was much less physically threatening than she’d originally thought. She was compact and muscular, like a fighter, and shorter than Trevor, but Cat would bet that this woman could take Cat’s uncle out in a heartbeat if she wanted to. She moved with a deadly gracefulness— somehow, her feet didn’t make a single sound against the wooden plants— and with such confidence that it added a few inches to her height.

Cat had come to the conclusion that Natasha wasn’t going to kill her— if that was her plan, she would’ve done it already. Cat still regarded her with a little bit of unease, but since she could be certain that the woman wasn’t randomly going to stab her with one of her very sharp knives, she felt much better about the whole situation.

Cat guessed that she and the Arrow Man— Barton— were definitely spies. They’d mentioned a “mission,” and they were dressed in black leather, which was definitely suspicious. It was sort of surreal and exciting, to be caught up in some sort of movie-like scene. But what had Natasha meant by “get rid of her”? Cat still had to figure that out, and also how to get out of this place as soon as possible.

“So,” Natasha said, as she sliced one of the ropes that bound Cat’s legs to the chair with her knife, “you speak Russian.”

“Yeah, so?” Cat asked defensively. “Doesn’t mean I’m some sort of terrorist.”

“I don’t think you’re a terrorist.”

“Really? Because it kinda seemed like it five minutes ago.”

“We’ve moved past that.” Natasha shrugged. “I just think it’s interesting.”

“Why?”

“Most kindergarteners don’t speak Russian.”

Natasha’s eyes flickered up, just in time to catch Cat rolling her eyes. She wasn’t bothering to dignify that with a response. She’d given up on correcting her, even though it should’ve been blatantly obvious that she was much older than some puny kindergartener. She was nearly ten flipping years old, for god’s sake.

“How’d you learn?”

“Why do you wanna know?” Cat asked suspiciously.

“Just making conversation.” Her gaze sharpened, turned more calculating than curious. “Did your parents speak Russian?”

At the mention of her parents, Cat’s guard went up. Her knee involuntarily jerked up, just as Natasha was reaching up with the knife to free her from the wrist restraints. It happened so suddenly, the woman only had just enough time to pull back her arm so that the knife only grazed her knee. It was a shallow cut, but it still stung. Cat was unprepared for how sharp it was. She had to bite her lip hard to suppress the cry of sudden pain.

Natasha frowned up at her. “Didn’t I tell you to stay still? I’m holding a knife.”

Cat was startled by her tone of voice. She knew it was ridiculous, but for a moment it had sounded almost like a mother, scolding a child. It’d been so long since she heard that tone used against her. It made her feel so uncomfortable and squirmy that she didn’t know how to react.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“We’re going to have to put disinfectant on that.” In one smooth motion, the knife sliced away the bonds that held Cat’s wrists together. They were sore. Cat moved them around a little, sighing in relief, immediately jumping up and flopping down onto the sofa instead.

“Thank god. I hate that stupid chair.”

Taco, who had been waiting by the floor, immediately jumped into her lap. He licked her hand excitedly, barking. Cat held back a smile. He had been spectacularly unhelpful throughout the entire interrogation, but now he decided that he actually cared about her? He had completely ignored the fact that Cat was in obvious need of rescue— not that he could do much to help her, but an attempt would’ve been nice. She was sort of mad at him, but knew she wouldn’t be able to stay that way as long as his adorable face stayed that way.

Natasha straightened from where she was crouching and reached towards Cat. There was something in her hand, flashing in the light like metal. Like a knife. Lightning fast, Cat flinched back, her fists raising in front of her face, preparing to ward off an attack.

“Hey, relax,” Natasha said, holding up a faint yellow bottle. It glimmered in the light again. It was labeled DISINFECTANT. “Just trying to help you not get infected and die.”

Cat relaxed a fraction, her fists lowering. “Oh. Okay.”

Natasha’s gaze raked her up and down. “Jumpy, aren’t you?”

Cat scowled at her in the most unladylike way possible. “I most certainly am not . I’m just ADHD. Like, I get hyper and super energetic. You know.”

“Okay.” Natasha managed to sound both skeptical and uninterested.

“And my parents didn’t speak Russian,” Cat rushed on, eager to change the subject. “I’m just a genius, that’s all.”

Self-appointed genius, but she didn’t need to know that.

Natasha tore open the hole in Cat’s leggings a little more to expose the cut. The fabric ripped with startling ease, being so worn and old. The cut didn’t hurt— Cat knew she had a high pain threshold— but she was surprised by how much blood such a small cut could produce. Perhaps she wasn’t a very good clotter.

Natasha dabbed the red away with a white cloth. Cat noticed that sometime during their conversation, she’d pulled out a first aid kit. “A genius, huh?”

“Yep. I can memorize loads of things. Books, maps, the periodic table. My third grade teacher—” Cat threw Natasha a significant glance, as to remind her that she was, in fact, older than a kindergartener. “— didn’t believe me when I told her I could remember it off the top of my head, but I showed that— ow!” She hadn’t been able to hold back her hiss of pain.

As Cat was speaking, Natasha had smeared the disinfectant over the cut on Cat’s knee. It stung like crazy. Cat swore a little, not too much, and she nearly saw Natasha’s lips twitch at the corners. Cat remembered that she wasn’t supposed to say those kinds of words in front of adults. She recalled how Mrs. Barington had sent her to the principal’s office— five times!— when she had.

She waited for the lecture, but all Natasha said was, “I think those words are a little too big for you.”

“Well, I don’t.”

She pressed a Hello Kitty band-aid on the cut. “Suit yourself.”

Cat frowned. “Are these the only kind you have?”

Natasha raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think you’re in much of a position to be making demands. You were the one stealing from me, after all.”

“I was not making demands,” Cat retorted indignantly. “And I was not stealing.” Under her breath, she muttered, “I didn’t actually leave with anything.”

“Because you didn’t have a chance to leave at all,” Natasha pointed out. “Being in the process of stealing is still stealing. Not to mention, you ate all of the peanut butter cookies and I haven’t heard an apology yet.”

Cat glared at her. “I’m sorry,” she said insincerely.

Natasha snorted.

“They were really good, though,” Cat admitted. She looked at the Hello Kitty band-aid, peeking through the hole in her leggings. “Are you sure you don’t have any other band-aids?”

“What exactly do you have against Hello Kitty?”

Cat huffed. “I just think it’s a little undignified.”

“Clint got them at the store. He claims they were the only ones there, although that’s debatable.”

Cat stiffened at that. Clint. She had to be talking about the Arrow Man— Clint… Barton. And the woman’s name was Natasha. Clint Barton and Natasha Someone. The names struck a chord in her memory. She’d read those names before, she was sure of it. It took a couple of seconds, like it usually did, but the memory came to her like she knew it would. It was three years and thirteen days ago, 8:32 a.m. She’d been six. Her father— she pushed aside the twinge in her chest at the thought of him— had been reading the newspaper. He’d always preferred holding the papers rather than checking his phone. The New York Times. She could nearly smell the coffee and bacon in the air, the lemon scent of her mother’s freshly washed hair.

Her father always let her steal his newspaper before he had his coffee so she could read a couple of passages aloud to him.

Look, there’s Iron Man, he’d said, pointing at the wide picture that spanned the entire half of the page, with the Avengers. Cool, huh?

Cat had been more interested in the words. She liked reading. She liked absorbing the information like a sponge. She’d dutifully scanned the passages, all about how the Avengers had saved New York again. There was Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, a couple other mentions, and… Hawkeye and Black Widow.

Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff.

Cat had never been as good as memorizing faces as she was with words, but she did recall seeing a flash of red hair and that black leather catsuit associated with Black Widow. And Hawkeye’s arrows and black getup were unmistakable. Everything made sense. Everything clicked into place.

What the hell is going on, Cat thought wildly, caught up in a frenzy. Did I really get interrogated by two Avengers?

She was so stupid! It had been so obvious. The arrows, the iconic red hair with the suit, the “secret agent” stuff— how had she not managed to figure it out?

“Oh my god,” she whispered to herself.

“What?”

She remembered that Natasha— who was the Black Widow— was still staring at her. Cat thought back to everything she’d ever learned about the Black Widow. She’d saved New York with the rest of the Avengers, but she was also a spy. An accomplished, deadly, and ruthless assassin. She’d killed dozens of people, probably without even batting an eye. She could probably do a lot more to her uncle Trevor than knock him out. Cat stammered for a little before saying, “Nothing.”

Natasha didn’t look convinced, but also like she didn’t particularly care. She closed the first aid kit and walked away from the room.

“Where are you going?” Cat called after her. “What’s going to happen to me now?”

“Still figuring that out.”

Natasha disappeared around a corner and disappeared into a room.

Cat’s eyes darted around the room. She needed to get out of here. Natasha had been neutral and non-murderous towards her so far, but there was no telling what she’d do to her in order to “get rid of her.” Cat had already found out their secret hideout, she knew their identities, and who knew what other confidential information she might’ve accidentally picked up. That gave them more than enough reason to get rid of her in a not-so-nice way.

They’re the good guys, Cat reminded herself. They wouldn’t kill a kid. That’s ridiculous.

She was being ridiculous. But she’d be safer out in the streets than she was in here.

Cat bit her lip, wondering what Natasha might do if she caught Cat trying to escape. Her backpack was hanging off the edge of the couch, but all of its contents were still scattered across the floor. Taco might bark or protest if she tried to drag him with her while he was dozing. Would Natasha try and tie her up to make sure she didn’t escape.

Cat didn’t have time to make a decision. Natasha was walking out of the room, a chunky laptop in hand. It had a logo emblazoned on the front. An eagle in a circular shape. Natasha set it on the coffee table and began typing furiously. Cat wondered what she was doing. She could’ve been watching funny animal videos, for all she knew, but Natasha didn’t strike her as the funny-animal-watching type. She noticed the woman seemed a lot less dangerous when she was frowning at the computer screen.

Cat swallowed hard. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?” she blurted. “Or hurt me, or maim, or anything?”

Now she had Natasha’s full attention. The woman looked annoyed. “Why the hell would you think that?”

“Well, I don’t know! You’re the Black Widow! You didn’t have any trouble pointing a gun at my head!”

Natasha paused. This seemed to surprise her. “So you know,” she said.

“Yeah, and that Clint Barton guy is Hawkeye. The arrows pretty much gave it away,” Cat said, not choosing to mention that she’d only figured it out a couple minutes ago.

“Huh. We should really do a better job of hiding our identities.”

“Yeah, you guys kind of suck at that.”

“We weren’t preparing to find a little girl in the safehouse.”

“I’m not a little girl.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you are.”

“I hate to break it to you , but I don’t usually trust people who try to kill me.”

“Would you get over that already? That was twenty minutes ago.” Natasha paused. “Think about this: why would I go through all the trouble of disinfecting a teeny tiny wound on your knee if I had plans to kill you right after? That seems counterproductive.”

“Okay, fine. You’re not going to kill me.” Cat sprang up from the sofa and arched her neck to see the computer screen. “So what are you doing?”

Natasha looked back down at the screen. “Just looking at your files.”

“I have files? What do they say? Can I see?”

“Everyone has a file.” Natasha pulled the laptop away from her view, and Cat pouted a little. “I’m seeing if it matches up with what you’ve told me already.”

“I haven’t told you anything!”

Almost as soon as she said it, Cat remembered that this wasn’t true. She’d basically spilled her entire life story to them. But hopefully she’d been talking so fast that Natasha hadn’t remembered everything.

“And all that ‘file’ stuff is a bunch of bull,” she continued hastily. “Who would even keep, like, official government files on me? I bet it’s not even accurate.”

Natasha clicked a couple times and read from the laptop. “Your name is Catalina Gray. Your birthday is August 19th. You were born in Manhattan Beach, California. You’re an orphan and a runaway. Your social security worker is Kimberly Kingston. Your favorite color is green.” She raised an eyebrow. “Still think it’s not accurate?”

Cat gaped at her. “How did they know my favorite color?”

Natasha smirked. “Lucky guess.”

“That is creepy!”

“Even better— look what I found.”

Natasha turned the screen towards her. It was a pdf of a flyer. A picture of Cat, taken from her second grade school photo, was taking up the majority of the space on the page. Underneath, big red letters spelled out MISSING! The description was: Short blonde girl with brown eyes. Wearing a pink backpack with butterflies. May be carrying a box of fruit loops. If found, contact this number.

“Short,” Cat grumbled. “I am not short. I am an average height for my age. And that’s a terrible photo.”

She had been smiling painfully in it. To be fair, it wasn’t that unflattering of a photo. It just brought back memories that she wished would stay hidden. That day, her mother had made her shower— twice— and sit as she brushed her hair into neat braids and tied them off with small black ribbons. Cat had been dressed in her nicest seafoam green dress and shiny hard shoes, even though they pinched her feet. She had no idea why school picture day was such a big deal to her mother. She tried to explain that the photo would only be a mugshot, so wearing such a flouncy dress and uncomfortable shoes didn’t even matter, but her mother had outright gasped when Cat suggested wearing Converse instead.

Natasha turned the screen back towards her. “The good thing is, now I know what to do with you.”

Cat didn’t like the sound of that. “And what would that be?”

“Send you back to your social security worker. This Kimberly Kingston woman.”

Cat shook her head. She had already started backing away. “I have a better idea. You let me and Taco go back to living on the streets, and you’ll never have to see me again. I won’t breathe a word to anyone, I swear, and if I did no one would believe me anyway. See? Everyone’s happy.”

She grabbed her backpack and started gathering her things from the floor and shoving them in. She leaned down and grabbed a fistful of cash that had fluttered down underneath the sofa. Her hands were shaking again at the possibility of ending up back in the system, which she hated. She was so weak.

Natasha didn’t try to stop her. She just did that silent long judgemental staring thing she did. “Why did you run away?” she asked suddenly.

Cat slowed in her frantic movements. She straightened a little. “It doesn’t matter,” she said fiercely.

“It does if you don’t want me to take you back there.”

Cat worked her jaw. She couldn’t believe that she was here, with an Avenger— not only an Avenger but with the Black Widow herself— having this conversation. It was easy to forget that the woman wasn’t a dangerous assassin, a killing machine, when she was sitting right there, in front of Cat.

“If you take me back, there’s a chance that my uncle will get custody again. And there’s also a chance that I might be in the foster system. And I don’t want either to happen, so living on the streets is my best bet.”

“Your parents died, didn’t they?”

Cat tried and failed to stop herself from wincing. “What does that have to do with anything? I’m not a sad little orphan, okay? I don’t need your pity, or your help.”

“And then you moved to New York, started living with your uncle,” she continued ruthlessly. Cat wanted her to stop. Natasha watched Cat’s reaction like a hawk watching a rabbit. Bluntly, she said, “Your uncle— he hit you, didn’t he?”

Cat’s eyes flashed. “No!”

“I saw the way you flinched,” Natasha said steadily. “I’ve seen that before.”

“You’re wrong. You’re so wrong. It’s not like that at all.”

“You’re too young to be looking out for yourself. You’ve been living on the streets for what, less than a month? Trust me, you’re going to want to be in the foster system later, when you’ve run out of money and supplies. You’re going to need to go to school, get an education—”

“I don’t need to go to school,” Cat interrupted. “I can learn everything I need to know from the library. I can buy Fruit Loops from the grocery store. And I don’t need anyone taking care of me. I have Taco, and Taco has me, and we’re good on our own.”

Natasha shook her head. “Trust me, kid. It’s a rough world out there. You’re going to need everything you can get, and you can’t get it by yourself.”

“No,” Cat insisted stubbornly. “No. A thousand times, a million times no.”

“I’m trying to do a good thing here. You’re going to regret this later on, I promise.”

Cat stood up, all her supplies zipped up in that childish, bright pink backpack. She started towards the door. “Don’t try. Don’t promise. You don’t even know me. You don’t want to help me. And you can’t make me. So I’m leaving now. Thanks for not killing me and all, but I’m going. So bye. I’d say it was nice meeting you, but it was really the opposite, so c’mon, Taco.”

The beagle was still dozing lightly, which was both cute and extremely inconvenient. Cat shook him a little.

“ C’mon, Taco.”

The beagle yawned and blinked his large brown eyes at her. He didn’t budge, even when Cat tried tugging at him. He let himself be dragged over the couch, looking a little bemused. He made no move to stop her from moving him, but also made no move to get up and get the hell out of there.

Cat sighed, trying not to glance up at Natasha. “This is really awkward. He’s usually really obedient.”

“That dog is a ‘she’.”

Cat met Natasha’s eyes, astonished. “Really?” Then she remembered that this was getting the way of her being storming out of the room. She looked back down, trying to nudge Taco into action.

“Let me take you back,” Natasha tried again. “If you’re worried about being placed with a horrible home, I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. And I’ll make sure your uncle doesn’t step in a fifty mile radius of you.”

“I told you, I don’t need your help,” Cat said through gritted teeth. “And I don’t understand why you care.”

“Just trying to wipe some of the red out of my ledger.”

“If you really want to do that, then don’t try and stop me.”

Cat couldn’t believe she just said those words— don’t try and stop me— to the Black Widow. It was kind of ironic because if she wanted to, the Black Widow could stop her as easily as lifting a finger. Use one of her electric zappy thingies to zap her senseless or knock her out with a single punch. Maybe the fact that she hadn’t already tried doing so was what made Cat feel so bold.

Taco finally got the hint. Not very impressively, he— wait, she— staggered to a standing position. Blinking her eyes tiredly, she followed at Cat’s heels as Cat finished her very dramatic storming out of the room.

To her disappointment, she realized that she wouldn’t be able to slam the door because it was so damn heavy. Instead, she did a very awkward pull at it until it started grinding against the floor, slowly shutting.

“Need some help with your dramatic exit?” Natasha called from inside.

Cat was straining herself with the effort. “No! I can… do it!”

She came to the door anyway. As she was helping Cat close the door, Cat said, “Thanks for not killing me again. But not-thanks for trying to take me to that Kimberly person. But also, thanks for not stopping me from leaving. And I really am sorry I ate all those cookies. And I hope I never, ever see you again.”

“Ditto,” Natasha responded, voice muffled.

With a final heave, Cat yanked the door back into its place. She was sweating a little. Cat fell back against the wall, chest rising and falling as she breathed heavily.

“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “That just happened.”

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Notes: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

[steelbluehome]

Marvel

Sam Wilson Takes Flight in First 'Captain America: Brave New World' Trailer

Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford star in the new Marvel Studios film, hitting theaters February 14, 2025.

BY DEVAN COGGAN July 12 2024

Captain America is ready for takeoff.

Marvel Studios has shared the first teaser trailer for Captain America: Brave New World, unveiling a new look at Sam Wilson’s next mission. Anthony Mackie returns as the high-flying hero, who’s officially taken up the mantle of Captain America.

The trailer kicks off with a tense White House meeting, as Sam comes to face with newly-elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross. Harrison Ford makes his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Ross, a role originated by the late William Hurt.

Ross and Sam have a bit of a history: In his previous role as Secretary of State, Ross was responsible for arresting Sam and his fellow Avengers during the events of Captain America: Civil War. Now as president, Ross is eager to work with Sam, hoping to make Captain America an official military position.

But that tentative alliance is jeopardized when Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident, with friend and retired super-soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) as the prime suspect. Sam’s investigation send him on a dangerous chase, and the trailer ends with a deadly showdown and a tease of the menacing Red Hulk.

The trailer also features a few familiar faces: Danny Ramirez returns as former Air Force lieutenant Joaquin Torres, who’s picked up Sam’s old wings and taken on the role of Falcon. Tim Blake Nelson is also back as Samuel Sterns, AKA The Leader, appearing in the MCU for the first time since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk.

New to the cast is Shira Haas, who joins as Ruth Bat-Seraph. A former Black Widow, Ruth is now a high-ranking U.S. government official who has the trust of President Ross. Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, and Xosha Roquemore also star.

The film is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.

[jasminegazer]

I was just thinking about the amazing girls and women that the Tmnt franchise has produced over the years. But then I realized how the younger generation doesn’t really have that in Tmnt mutant mayhem (yet we are still waiting on Tales of the Tmnt). So I thoughts of a plot-lines for my four favorites in the mutant mayhem series.

Venus de Milo/Mei Pieh chi: Venus was born alongside her siblings in a pet shop. But when someone tried to take them home, they tripped on the sidewalk and accidentally dropped the baby turtles into the sewer. When splinter found them, they had been living in the sewer for about a day and the ooze can had been dropped onto them just a few minutes before. As splinter was loading the coffee holder he used to transport them in Venus slipped away from his sight and into the depths of the sewer. There she was mutated into a baby alone in a cold sewer tunnel and as babies did when they were scared started crying. That’s when a little girl who was wandering nearby heard her and came to the rescue. That little girl was Lotus. She had been left in the care of Dr Rockwell while her mother, Big Mama, was busy with “important business attributes”. Lotus brought Vee to Rockwell who continued to use her for experimentation and even though he hated to admit it to take care of her. Eventually big mama whisked Venus away after banishing the doctor from New York. Venus continued to live under the “care” of Big Mama constantly trying to make deals to protect her from going into the battle nexus. (To be clear big mama did not like Venus one bit. She (as far as big mama knows) was the mutation of one of her arch enemies. She constantly reminded her that she was a mistake and abused her for making mistakes such as asking for food or calling Big mama her mom instead of her aunt.)One of these deals was to go on a scouting trip with her sister for TCRI trying to find the turtle brothers. But she was never told that was who they were looking for. Long story short Venus finds them before the foot and disses her responsibilities to hang with them. Eventually lotus finds out what Venus is doing and is not happy about it. Venus has an excess of chi in her. Chi is the life source that fills most yokai but very few have excess too it and even rarer few can make it visible like the fire Venus creates. Although this usually only come in outbursts of emotion she eventually learns how to control it.(But not until a while after she meets the boys and splinter)

Lotus: Lotus is the biological daughter of Big Mama. Though she was originally a mistake due to her mothers many affairs, she was raised to know that only perfection is except able. In her early life her mother ignored her and she would usually be dropped off at her “uncle” Dr Rockwell’s lab/home for months on end. That is how she met Venus and brought her to Dr Rockwell. When she and Ve were about 8 or 9 and 10 or 11 years old Big Mama had his lab burned to the ground and started to raise Lotus to be as ruthless and perfect as her. She also made deals with her mother (unbeknownst to Venus) to protect her little sister from being exterminated or put into the nexus permanently. When she found out that her mother was working with TCRI she offered her skills to help seeing this as a perfect opportunity for bargaining chips and leverage when making deals. Eventually her sister Venus found a way to persuade Big mama into letting her help too. After week or two of working with the foot and TCRI soldiers and Venus acting super strange she found out her sister ditched responsibility for hanging out and befriending the enemy (aka Leo Raph Donnie and Mikey).

Big Mama: Big Mama is a spider yokai called a jorogumo. Although these creatures appear as flawlessly beautiful women they possess the same strength and brutality as a tarantula and the ruthlessness and deadliness of a black widow. She started up her hotel for all yokai kind with its own battle arena known as the Nexus. She is known as 2nd deadliest crime boss only in comparison to the Shredder. Although she can be frivolous she is also manipulative and very strategic. Every move is thought through carefully based on how harmful it is only to her opponents. She even does the same thing to her own family. Dr Rockwell was one of her past fiancée’s brothers and worked with resources that were funded by her. But when she asked if for the warriors that he promised were being made for the nexus, failed to comply. He argued that these were living beings and still infants at the time whom he would not allow to go into her brutal war games. Enraged by this action against her name she had his laboratory burned with him and most of the embryo and infant mutants still inside. When her daughter Lotus started to fuss, Big Mama told her if she would stop her useless crying then she save Venus and let them both live. Big Mama spent the rest of her life from that day forward mastering her skill of bending people to her will by practicing on and manipulating her daughter and unwanted niece.

Lita May: During the time that Venus spent growing up with Dr Rockwell he spent much of his time taking blood tests so he could use her ooze to create warriors for Big mamas battle nexus as promised for the funding of his research. One day Venus asked why they followed this same routine everyday. Rockwell told her it was because he was making more mutants just like her. Venus said that she always wanted a family like the ones on the tv. Rockwell felt pitiful for the toddler so he created an entire batch of clones that could be Venus’s baby siblings. And that is how Lita was made. Even though she was albino and premature she was the oldest and only survivor of the clone batch. She was ready to be taken out of her tube the day before big mamas attack. Both Dr Rockwell and Venus spent their first hours with Lita and last hours before the attack taking care of her and loving her like any family loving its new member. After big mama took Venus away she snuck Lita into an old forgotten attic of the hotel and raised her from there. Even though she didn’t have much Lita had her older sisters love and a happy childhood compared to what Venus had to endure. They made the most of what they had and loved each other. When the boys met her, she was a little shy and shocked at first but immediately started to warm up to them. Lita is a trans girl and feels very uncomfortable when being referred to as a boy or Venus’s brother. Venus gets very defensive when someone does this to her knowing that it is one of the only peace’s of freedom Lita will ever have: To choose what she wants to be.

[samwisethewitch]

15 Days of Freyja Devotion

Day 12: Aesthetics you associate with this deity

I'm not huge on aesthetics, but I associate Freyja with beauty, sensuality, and luxury. I see her in art that features women and femmes being sexy, confident, and comfortable. I see her as someone who enjoys the finer things in life and enjoys being surrounded by finery. She's definitely the type to sip champagne in expensive lingerie.

On the other hand, I also associate her with art that depicts women and femmes as dangerous. I see her in all depictions of the monstrous feminine. I see her in fictional women who are deadly. I think of her and I think of that one quote that I think originally comes from a Black Widow comic: "Wolves and girls. Both have sharp teeth."

I don't see these sides of her as contradictory, but as two sides of the same coin.