#early shield days

[quietlyimplode]

Kiss the Dread

Natasha asks to defect, on the provisor that Shield helps her kill General Dreykov. Only it’s never that easy. Two days in the vents and ten days in Budpest is a story that both of them would rather forget.

A/N: the last of the black widow fest and the next chapter of kiss the dread. What a fic this has turned out to be. Just so you know this is one of the heaviest chapters I’ve written- the next chapter will be as well but full disclosure this holds the warnings at the beginning of the chapter, and none of them are kind. It is as such locked and you will need a login - if you don’t have one let me know and I can send an invite when ao3 is restored. Should you chose to continue and offer comments or kudos, I will forever remember. <3

“Stay here?” she requests and he shakes his head.

“Sorry, can’t,” he shrugs, the apology empty.

“Didn’t think so, just thought I’d ask.”

Opening the gate, she ties her hair back and he looks at her strangely.

Her ears weren’t pierced like that last time he saw her and now he’s only just noticed.

She glances back and frowns.

“What?”

Clint recovers, falling in line behind her, and shakes his head; saying nothing.

She’s changed in the thirty seconds since walking through the gate, she looks… dangerous, different; her walk now a strut and the pause she gives to let him catch up looks more like he’s her underling.

It’s disconcerting how much she’s changed.

“Do as I say, and whatever he says, don’t react. Ok?” she says it in a hushed whisper.

“What?”

His question goes unanswered as a tall European man appears at the door.

“Natalia,” he greets, “is that you?”

“Da,” Natasha responds, her smile fake as she kisses both his cheeks.

“This is Miro,” she introduces Clint and then swaps to English. “My handler.”

“He doesn’t speak English, and I have a favour,” she starts.

“Come in,” the man sneers, looking Natasha up and down.

“I need papers,” she announces.

“And what, are you going to do for me?”

The retort is like a game, an old one Clint thinks, but not a good one.

“Dreykov says he’ll pay, you just need to bill him,” she answers smoothly.

The laugh is deep.

“Then I’ll need collateral until he pays, won’t I? Maybe the same bargain as last time. I’m sure your handler won’t mind. We fuck, I do my work, you wait in my bed until I get paid, then you leave?”

He laughs, “wasn’t that the bargain last time? I could do whatever I want with you, as long as I produced the goods?

Clint is livid.

The man isn’t finished as he points towards the city, and then back at them.

“It was you? Wasn’t it? The explosion, three days ago? You’re the ones they’re looking for.”

[celestisappho]

this. this is so maria and natasha.

no im not saying which is which.

[scavengerssuccotash]

What are some of your early SHIELD days headcanons?

Ohhhh! I looooove early SHIELD days headcanons, so thank you for asking!!

Natasha’s defection was definitely the talk of the town! She caused a huge ruckus when she did, from whispered chatter around the water coolers to speculations on the training field her name was inside everyone’s mouth. She reveled in it though. One doesn’t carry the moniker of Black Widow (a whispered legend in its own right in the intelligence field) without a bit of pride. Natasha was smart too, she used the reputation that came from Black Widow to keep most everyone at bay and at a distance. Once she was cleared of the possibility of being a dangle and allowed to roam relatively free she stalked the corridors of SHIELD with an air of awe, shock and fear. Some Agents avoided her completely, the smart ones coward but the dumb ones…the really dumb ones jeered.

That’s when Clint stepped in. His name was also inside everyone’s mouth, alongside Natasha’s on the account of the whole bringing her in thing. For a good four months everyone really thought he was dead because he wasn’t on base and no one knew where he was. So when he landed himself in medical after a fistfight with a fellow agent his first day back it really shocked everyone. Needless to say the speculation of just how Clint got Nat to defect has been a long standing guessing game. Sometimes even Clint and Nat join in, feeding the erroneous rumors by letting something “slip” about that day because they think it’s funny. Only Nat, Clint and Phil know the truth. Fury knows the basics but that is it.

SHIELDs cafeteria is a fucking shit show, some days the food tastes like an outhouse shitter and other days it’s a five star meal. No one really gets why. So, most just avoid it. There’s a running email exchange between Phil, Clint, Nat and the head of nutrition stretching back years. (Seriously, google the CIA and their Cafeteria food, some very hilarious email exchanges got released a while back!)

A fandom favorite of course is that everyone at SHIElD definitely thinks they are fucking, have fucked or that it’s just a matter of time before they do. And I do think that was the case, but after Phil chewed out an Agent in the middle of a crowded lunch room (Italian was catered) no one has been dumb enough to get caught saying it. If it’s out fear of Phil or Nat or a very elaborate blackmail ring run by Clint no one knows and they sure as hell aren’t gonna speculate while on campus.

(There is a bar in the middle of queens though where a janitor will tell you about the time he walked in on Clint and Nat having a quickie in Fury’s office. For a price of course!)

Just some thoughts I have PLENTY more but figured this was getting a bit long 😅

[sillyfairygarden]

spent all say rereading old overwatch fanfic from when i was involved in that. ouuurrghhh d.va hana song i will commit crimes against the state for you

[hollow-jack]

finally my sweet daughter jason derulo is here

[dilfkuza]

watching Nishitani's death scene always leaves me devastated. like noooo king you can't die you haven't gotten your rocks off in a decent fight yet

[lith-myathar]

I genuinely grew up believing that society was going to collapse and that we would all be living in mad max wasteland future by now and like. Yes all of us grew up feeling like we didn't have a future but my upbringing actively told me over and over that The End was coming soon. It's literally doomsday cult shit, but instead of revelations I got peak oil and climate change. And like at the very least those things are real, but the world has not ended, society has not collapsed, and that narrative running through my entire childhood fucked me up bad and left me completely unprepared to function. Like why make any plans? Why have dreams? Why strive for anything in the society we have now when we knew this was coming? But at the same time my parents weren't DOING anything about it. We weren't preppers, we weren't moving to another country, we were just staying put and waiting and worrying, there was always an immediate reason we couldn't act but a long term view of the world that said disaster was coming soon. And at the same time extreme pressure to achieve, because there was this sense that time was running out, money was running out, that I would only ever be safe if I was able to get good grades and degrees and a career that paid well.

I have no point to this post exactly except that I'm still just sort of astounded that that's how I grew up

[blue-eli]

Ink October day nine: Convalescent

To recover health and strength gradually after illness or injury, often by staying off your feet.

[retiredcultistredux]

"That's it. He's not listening. I'm going to have to do something drastic." I hit kirby over the head with my shield. "I hope this will knock some sense into you buddy."- 🛡 anon.

Upon being hit in the head, Kirby lost the Poison ability and stumbled forward a bit, stunned and dizzy. Meanwhile, the shadow behind him...

...Yeah, it was Ester. He seemed to be able to control Kirby physically to an extent, yet his hold over the puffball was easily broken with enough force, making him lose his concentration, and therefore his control as well. This caused him to pop up from the shadows, experiencing the same pain as Kirby.

[...Well, you've managed to momentarily stun both Ester and Kirby.]

[moonlayl]

hey I'm not sure if this is unpopular to say but why did we ever really like Lance hunter? he wasn't that great and really rude to the absolute queen that is Bobbi Morse. like, did he redeem himself? he's not bad, but annoying without many great qualities. honestly it might just be the way he treats bobbi, it just rubs me wrong and gives me the ick.

Hello anon! Sorry this is about a week 4 months late. (I’m awful at this, I know)

So there are several instances in the show where Hunter pisses me off (when he talks about Bobbi behind her back, when he “advises” Fitz not to save Will (which is really inexcusable) when he refuses to say “don’t die out there” to Bobbi because he’s angry she wants to handle ward—the guy who hurt HER—herself, etc…)

But I disagree about him not having good/redeeming qualities. One of his main qualities is his loyalty to the people he cares about. He tells may “shield’s all about the mission, not the person next to you”

And even though I’m the kind of person who thinks that sometimes (not always though) a mission could actually be that important, I have to admire the way Hunter is dedicated to helping out his teammates. He drops everything to rush and help Fitz in s5. Even at the possible expense of his life, or Bobbi, he doesn’t betray the other members in “parting shot”. During a time when he hardly knew Daisy, he still tries to offer her the kind of advice he thought would be helpful, so she wouldn’t get too attached and hurt.

Hunter is also unique in the sense that he actually criticizes shield, and never stops doing so. It is such a relief to have a character in those two seasons so unafraid of calling literally anyone out. When Mack is reasonably angry that Trip died over a mission Coulson refused to share details about, and May tells him to remember his “rank”, Hunter immediately says “really? Rank at a time like this?”

And, for May, especially at that time in the show, going back to the rules and protocols made sense for her. It offered her a certain amount of comfort and familiarity and if she distances herself from emotion and focuses on work, it helps her. I get that.

But what Hunter said is true. One of their members was dead, and while WE, the audience, understand what was going on and why Coulson did what he did, the other members of the team didn’t, and they all had to grieve for Trip without even knowing much of what was going on (Also, Mack literally got possessed by some mist). So he’s right. It really wasn’t the time for pulling the rank card.

This isn’t the first time he’s distrustful of shield (and reasonably so! I wished more characters would call out shield and the director, even if it was Coulson!) and that to me is part of the reason I like him.

Also during s2, when the “real shield” is revealed, despite Bobbi and Mack—the two people Hunter arguably knows best—being a part of it, Hunter still stops at nothing to inform Coulson, because while he may not completely agree with shield, he learned to trust Coulson and he’s LOYAL. He helps Fitz out, legitimately seems determined to locate Daisy after she disappears, and in the third season, he’s very clearly completely overjoyed that simmons is alive. Literally claps and yells “oh fitz, you absolute beauty!” When he hears fitz managed to help rescue simmons.

Those are all the actions and words of a man who CARES.

He also, arguably, is the funniest character on the show. By season 2 and season 3, that humour and wit was quite welcome. I legitimately found myself laughing out loud many times during his scenes. That’s another reason I like him.

As for how he treated Bobbi, I guess the reason it doesn’t bother me the way fitzsimmons bothers me (in terms of how Fitz treats Simmons) is because Bobbi is equally as flawed when it comes to their relationship and scenes as Hunter is. She doesn’t always treat him the best, and he isn’t always treating her the best, yet the both love and care for each other in their own way, so it’s very equal. I don’t think anyone uses them as an example of a perfect and healthy relationship, lol. She was a huge reason their relationship never worked out. I love Bobbi with all my heart and she’s one of my favourite aos characters, but she is a liar and she’s also very manipulative when she wants to be (which is not me hating her, I mean those aren’t good traits but they’re realistic and I WANT female characters to be flawed). We only really see them and their relationship after their divorce and after being informed that she lied to him all throughout their relationship and marriage (which makes sense, she wasn’t going to tell him about shield, but obviously keeping a big secret like that from your partner isn’t a good thing) We also than find out she was lying to him all throughout season 2, when they got back together. 

Hunter has quite a few moments where he’s a complete prick, but given the way he and Bobbi’s relationship was like and how dishonest she usually was with him (and all throughout s2 when they were supposedly trying to rebuild their relationship) him being annoyed at her and making a few comments doesn’t really bother me. 

I mean there’s no actual excuse for misogyny in general and all the aos male characters have certain questionable lines or scenes (due to the writing) so I’m not trying to say his worser moments are okay, I just don’t think he treated Bobbi very badly considering who she is, and what their relationship has always been. Especially when we get scenes like:

Bobbi *while lying to him for so long*: will you never trust me?

Hunter: but I'll never stop wanting to

Like this dude loves her and is protective of her, and overall actually takes her lying to him well (aside from a few comments and jokes). They’re both messed up people who clearly don’t really know how to properly hold on to a marriage and that’s why it kind of works? That’s why it doesn’t bother me as much because it’s like, okay, you both can be so goddamn horrible to each other, but you both care for each other so much. You both bring out the worst and the best in each other depending on the day and situation. 

It’s like Mack said: “Man, you two deserve each other”

This isn’t a Lance Hunter defense post necessarily,  I just want to point out the redeeming qualities I personally see in this character, and why they make me like this character, but I totally understand your opinion op and respect it!

[quietlyimplode]

Kiss the Dread

“We need confirmation that Dreykov is in the building.”

She knows.

They discussed this.

A black car rounds the counter; she knows those guards, they’re his.

“His guards are pulling up now,” she tells Barton.

The girl steps out of the car. She knows the routine. Her vermilion backpack stands out amongst the grey of the world and Natasha apologises to her in head.

Death is but the next journey.

Natasha’s heart twists as she realises that their hair is the same.

Their braids matching.

Time moves in slow motion.

As the girl stands at the window, she sees Dreykov come up behind her and puts his hand on her shoulder.

Nauseousness makes her want to throw up as her whole being feels unclean.

“Natasha, are we clear?”

His voice comes through the speaker louder than she expects.

“All clear,” she says, killing a part of herself alongside Dreykov and his daughter as the building detonates.

kiss the dread (continued)

travel through the shadows with me.

.

[mikas-sketchbook]

A current work in progress, my green boy from Genshin who quickly became my number one character to run around as. I wasn’t even going to roll on him and then I decided you know what, it would be nice to have a 5 star bow character. I got him in the first roll 💀

[spectralarchers]

bc @aquarianconstellations sent me even further down the ghost from cod pipeline, i made a promise to them to write the ghost!clint fic when i'm done with the barney nano story so putting this out here publicly so y'all hold me accountable for my promise

[kittlyns]

One day I am gonna start journaling again and then I won't post all this sad shit on here but until then! *posts another sad post*

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

Ahahahah

I feel like shit

And im 99% sure its because I'm stressed

I always feel sick when im stressed

But the stress always gets worse now when that happens cuz of covid. Which makes me feel more sick.

Awesome 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[solvicrafts]

...do I dare point out to that one asshole in Achilles' tag that no one knows for certain whether or not he existed, that mortals becoming deified after death has happened in the past and could very well have happened to a real man named Achilles, and/or that Hellenic Polytheists worshiped (and still do) Achilles among other heroes and gave sacrifices and built temples to him?