#maria onward

[rxin3akamallory]

Self Insert Mood Boards 1

Maggie & Maria:

Makoto & Marigold:

Marjorie & Marnie:

Maeve & Machelle:

[capturingdisney]

Onward concept art by Maria Yi.

[theartofpixar]

[dozydawn]

just something i’ve noticed while watching rhythmic gymnastics that bums me out... in the 80s and 90s, not all gymnasts would slick back and gel down their hair like ballroom dancers, they’ve got flyaways and frizz all over the place. maria petrova in 1994 for example:

compared to today’s poor ladies dealing with damage, traction loss, and pain from having to wear their hair so tight.

[prickly-paprikash]

Castlevania Nocturne really stepped up its game in the second season.

I had two major complaints for the premiere season of CN:

The pacing was erratic. From episode 2 onwards, it seems as if the story is obsessed with giving us nonstop climactic battles, at the cost of letting the characters and pacing breathe. I understand that a central theme of the first season was loss—not just loss of loved ones and the grief that comes with it, but simply losing at every turn. They make the Vampire Messiah feel more like an inevitability, and it works to some extent. But one thing that the original Castlevania series did well was how it handled the flow of conversation and combat.

Seasons 1-3 were all mostly slow, deliberate episodes centered on talking. Characters would simply converse. The very first scene of Castlevania literally embodies this.

Lisa and Dracula, having an organic yet expertly crafted conversation that feels sharp, poignant, and immediately tells us everything we need to know about these two characters. We get one Lisa scene, and then she dies and yet it hits so hard because of how one conversation was written.

Nocturne's first season, many times, felt more like a quip-fest. Castlevania's humor was dry and morbid, to better fit the sarcastic and dark tone of the series. When characters like Trevor or Sypha or even Isaac cracked a joke, it never felt out of place. They had a cold, callous sense to them. Like their humor was a coping mechanism for the dreary and bleak reality they lived in.

Richter on the other hand felt like a Phase IV MCU lead, being unbearably sarcastic and "witty". Watching Nocturne again, I struggled to like Richter in the first half but he really came into his own after he meets Juste.

In the second season, however, the pacing really knuckles down. It becomes deliberate. And when a fight scene happens pre-episode 7, it feels more like OG Castlevania again. It isn't being treated with extreme weight, but it feels more like a part of every day life for Belmonts and their peers. Whenever Trevor, Sypha and Alucard get into a scrap with Night creatures, it actually had a sense of levity to them. This was a job. An occupational hazard. A logical result of living in Wallachia. In Nocturne season 1, fights were treated with more weight than they should have, while character work felt secondary, barring someone like Annette.

Here, it really allows me to fall for these characters more. Being an OG Drolta stan was so rewarding this season. I really also liked Maria and Tera more here, with Tera becoming a vampire creating a really interesting dynamic between the two and pushing their characters into directions that I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did.

Mizrak, Olrox, and Richter were sidelined a bit more here, but it makes sense. These three dominated the first season, so it made sense to shift the focus on others and let their characters grow and shine. But just because they didn't take up most of the spotlight doesn't mean their characters were ignored.

Mizrak and Olrox's romance was developed in more subtle ways this time, which I appreciated. The writers let the unspoken heat and budding romance speak for themselves here, and I really enjoyed Olrox's sadness and Mizrak's regret and grief here, though of course the best scene between them was at the end. The way the writers made that finale, weaving feelings of heartbreak, lust, love, and fear into that one sentence was so, so good. Mizrak's fear of death and torment. Olrox simply saying that the devil was easy to cheat.

Ugh. That's the good shit.

And Richter? They still let him be the dry, sarcastic quipster, but I appreciate the restraint here. He doesn't crack jokes as much. Instead, they really focus on his feelings with Annette, to the point that he feels more like the love interest rather than the MC for a good chunk of the season.

And I'm not complaining. I enjoyed the budding romance between them in the first season, but with the deliberate pacing here, the writers really sold me on this soft, chaste, tender love story. Richter and Annette feel like young adults falling for the first time and I really fucked with it.

I'll talk about Annette in a separate post, but sufficed to say, she was the best character of this season. Hands down.

My second complaint was Erzsebet Báthory. She felt so... she felt like she paled in comparison to the three other villains of the season.

Drolta was exquisite. She oozed charisma and charm, and she stole every single scene she was in. The animators loved her and I could tell. She had the most costume changes. She had the sharpest lines. She was gorgeous. And even her death felt euphoric because she got to introduce Alucard into the mix. Like, seriously, they used her perfectly in the first season and she was easily the best character by far.

Olrox? Sexy. Gay. Kill me. Him and Mizrak? Perfection. His voice was so smooth and seductive. His dialogue? Smartly written. Every scene he's in, he feels like he's always holding back something.

Rage. Pain. Lust. Desire. Grief. Hatred. Remorse. It is always there, an undercurrent of emotions so thick you could feel it in every scene they placed him in.

Abbott? Worthless. Pathetic. Hypocrite. I hated him every single time he was onscreen, and that was exactly what he needed to be. A counterrevolutionary bible thumper that would elicit powerful memories of unlikable relatives at a reunion. No notes. Perfectly utilized villain, and I fucking cheered when he got burnt to a crisp by his daughter.

But Báthory felt so underwhelming.

So either the writers knew this specific complaint from the fans, or more likely wrote her this way to purposefully hide the true final boss of the series.

Drolta.

See, Báthory doesn't hold a candle to any previous villains of the Castlevania story. Not as complex as Isaac. Not as iconic and important as Dracula. Not as enjoyable to both hate and love as Carmilla. Not as hilarious and memorable as Death. She was just there. I thought it was a waste, and that I wanted to see more of her shine in season 2.

So when the only bit of character work she got was her mourning Drolta and her small flashback, I was disappointed.

Make no mistake, she made a great physical threat. But that was it. She felt more like one of Death's elite guards from season 4 than her own true brand of evil.

Not as hate-worthy as the Abbott. Not as conflicted as Olrox. Not as charismatic as Drolta.

So imagine my surprise and subsequent glee as to when Drolta takes the power for herself. Killing her in the sky. That was perfect.

Drolta, who served Sekhmet. Who broke down at the loss of her goddess, her fellow priestesses, and the people she cared for. Who, blinded by grief, sought to resurrect her goddess by becoming a vampire herself and searching high and low for a worthy vessel.

Drolta became even more interesting. Thinking herself as only a follower, never seeking to gain the goddesses' power for herself. Becoming the first Vampire/Night Creature that gave Alucard, the son of Dracula himself who was leagues above Báthory before she became the goddess, quite a lot of trouble.

The way every villain was handled in this season was excellent. From Abbott's death, to Richter proclaiming his desire to avenge his mother to Olrox's face right after they worked together to beat Drolta, but still letting him go afterwards as thanks—I'm sorry, but that was some raw ass writing right there.

The only thing I have to complain about? Nothing from the writers or animators or directors. It's the production that I hate.

Streaming services fucked everything up. 8-10 episodes for every single show is such a dumb move, and making us wait 2-3 years for every single one of them is horrible.

On top of the fact that they will cancel something on a whim.

Nocturne would be unquestionably a masterpiece had it been allowed to have 24 fucking episodes each season. We could explore France more. See deeper into the revolutionary setting of the show. Really see the world of Castlevania, but no. And now there's still a threat of cancellation when animation has been carrying Netflix's worthless ass for years? Especially through the pandemic?

Watch Castlevania Nocturne. Support the studio. Show Netflix that this is where their energies and money should be going towards.

Their live actions, barring something like the big names of Stranger Things and Squid Game, have been flops. They fumbled the Witcher series. They killed Kaos. They ended Shadow and Bone. They fuck up every single time and it has been animation that has pulled through.

Arcane. Castlevania. Blue Eye Samurai. She-Ra.

Support this show, please. I would love to keep this series going, but it needs the attention it so rightfully deserves.

Please. I need to see Old Man Coyote. I need to see Tera go further into the darkness. I want to believe in the possible Maria x Alucard romance that was in the games that could be written really well here. I want to see more of these characters. I want to dive deeper into this world. But most importantly, I want every single person who worked on this show to keep having a job. To be able to do what they do best and get better at it.

This show is great. It deserves more seasons. More sequel series to explore other Belmonts. Other countries. More sexy vampires. More sexy hunters.

Support animation.

[pumpkinpaix]

You have questions! We might have answers.

What is this collection?

As Maria puts it: this collection is a critical look at some of the things that we, the editors, think have made CQL such a hit around the world. Of course, part of that success comes from the webnovel MDZS and the show CQL themselves—we love the characters, the mystery, and the drama, who doesn’t?! However, the authors in our book also look at topics like translating danmei (both officially and unofficially), adapting danmei for new audiences, and interacting with fandoms and fanworks. The larger argument of the book is that all of these things played a huge role in CQL’s visibility and success, and we wanted to start making those moving pieces visible, especially for audiences who mainly watched CQL in translation.

You keep using the word “academic”—what does that mean, exactly? 

Maria: Ok, not to get pedantic here, but this actually touches on some things that I’m really excited about for the book. Traditionally, academic work is written by people who have a deep expertise in the subject (signified by having a PhD and doing specific kinds of research), and then the work itself is peer-reviewed (i.e., sent to other experts in the field for them to evaluate whether it’s sound, original, and interesting enough to publish, without knowing who wrote it). And both of these things are true about our book—our authors have deep knowledge and the book was peer reviewed—but also. We specifically asked for chapters from younger scholars and from fans who also have deep knowledge about topics that academia doesn’t always know or value enough, and we include an interview from the fan-translator K. who did the Exiled Rebels translation. So the hope is that: this book is academic, and also—more!

Who are you? 

Yue studies adaptation, fantasy, and popular culture texts using a feminist lens. She wrote an early, influential article about danmei adaptations and also has a book about feminist adaptations of Chinese fantasy.

Maria studies fanworks, contemporary fantasy, and genre literature. She’s scrambling to finish her dissertation right now.

How were the chapter spotlights chosen?

Voluntarily! The concept of a small social media promo was kicked around by some of the contributors and those interested in the idea filled out a short interview with what they wanted to share. We'll be posting about 2 introductions and 2 spotlights a day for the next week or so!

Who's running this social media campaign anyway?

Not the publishers! A few enthusiastic collection contributors got together and, with the assistance of the editors, have put this promotion together. We do not in any way represent Peter Lang in an official capacity! We just worked hard and wanted to share. :)

Are you making any money off of royalties from this book? 

LOL not even remotely

What about this promotion?

also no. alas

Where can I find this book? 

You can find our listing on Peter Lang’s website here. As for other retailers, a quick search should turn us up!  

How can I access this book if I cannot buy it from Peter Lang / [book retailer of choice]?

As collection editors and contributors who signed a legal agreement with Peter Lang, we have granted Peter Lang exclusive right and license to edit, adapt, publish, reproduce, distribute, display, and store our contributions, and we must cooperate fully with the Publisher if the Publisher believes a third party is infringing or is likely to infringe copyright in the contribution. 

That being said, these are academic papers, which means that contributors may make copies of the contribution for classroom teaching use! (These copies may not be included in course pack material for onward sale by libraries and institutions). Of course, any linking, collection or aggregation of chapters from the same volume is strictly prohibited.

(FAQ may be updated periodically!) (all posts on Catching Chen Qing Ling)

[omega-e123]

this is a very random piece of food that popped into my brain after watching the first shadow episode today lol. So hear me out, What if shadow in worry one day as his s/o is really sick chaos controls them into the ark while his lover is out cold. Then places his lover almost hesitantly places his lover on marias old bed due to the old medicial tech on it. Then prehaps as they sleep he starts thinking about maria and all the ways his lover is like her? Idk sounded cute in my head lol.

With the last episode out…

Him taking them on a ship, pushing back the thoughts. It’s a familiar feeling.

Maria was brought the Ark to aid her illness.. Now Shadow is bringing his loved one. Instead of taking Maria to earth, it’s the opposite in taking you to the Ark.

Why is he doing this to himself, he doesn’t know. What matters now is to get you someplace safe. Away from the stressors. Away from whatever the fuck is going on in the planet below.

Memories flash within Shadow’s mind. Those mixed with his past life and current.

Laying your unconscious body on the cold metal. The machines around Shadow a horrific reminder of the experiments done to him, but for the greater good. There should be blankets and pillows stashed somewhere. Before he leaves the room, a hand propped on the door frame as he glances at your sleeping form.

It’ll be okay.

No one is here to hurt you.

Metal against metal clanking echo in the empty halls. Halls once teething with life. The researchers.. Professor Gerald.. Maria.. His heart rate kicks up the more those images flash in his mind.

A brief look out the window to the big blue planet below. They used to watch the aurora borealis here. This was also where… he fell. Shaking his head, Shadow marches onward. It’s muscle memory carrying him towards where all the spares were stored.

Could he have chaos controlled straight to the room? Yes. However his heart and mind longed for the scenic route as much as Shadow wanted to push it back into the corner of his mind.

After taking an arm full, that’s when he decides to return to your side in a flash. Nothing’s changed.

Carefully he props a pillow under your head before slowly climbing up next to you. Your cheek, grazed by the back of his hand lends no reaction. After a long day, Shadow pulls the warm blankets over you both and he nuzzles into your side.

Hopefully he will be he first thing you’ll see when you wake up.

[velvet4510]

The implications of Rio Vidal/Death’s introduction to the MCU are enormous.

Now we know in retrospect that every single MCU character who has ever died was escorted onward by her.

So it’s not just Nicky, Sharon, Alice, and Lilia.

Abraham Erskine, Meredith Quill, Ho Yinsen, Phil Coulson, Frigga, Pietro Maximoff, Peggy Carter, T’Chaka, Odin, Hela, Erik Killmonger, Heimdall, OG!Loki, OG!Gamora, Thanos, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, Aunt May, Jane Foster, T’Challa, Ramonda, Maria Hill … all of them saw her when their time came.

And it makes sense that Marc Spector & Steven Grant never saw her, because it was not their time yet and she knew they’d be sent back.

[tulipfantasies]

night on the town ✩ n.romanoff

pairing; natasha romanoff x fem!reader

summary; a simple night on the town leads to the discoveration of pain and addiction.

characters; (mentions) og 6 and a woman named maria (not hill).

warnings; 16+ (just to be safe), use of alcohol and cigarettes, (mentions) underage smoking, (mentions) addiction, (mentions) natasha's past at the red room, (mild) swearing, (mild) jealous r, nat is ooc again, (minor) angst and fluff. 

my notes;  please, if any of the topics in bold make you uncomfortable or trigger you, do not read onwards. i don't want to upset anyone so consider it your warning. i don't think i like this one. can anyone spot the small pop culture reference??

word count; 2.6k ao3

A ‘simple night on the town’ turns into 1:04 am. 

The entire length of the streets of New York was bathed in a soft amber glow, all thanks to the street lights that were situated on every corner of the Avenues. 

Midtown, or at least the side you all find yourselves on, was eerily calm given the environment (and the atmosphere hidden on the inside) that was nestled amongst the usually busy streets.

No car horns were heard for miles on end.

For the middle of spring, the air was bitterly cold yet so freeing. In stark contrast to the air behind the secured doors, which was heavy and suffocating.

Tony, among one of his genius plans, had decided that you all deserved to take a break from your demanding and life-saving lives.

He described it as a ‘simple night out on the town’, but we all know that in Tony’s dictionary, that was an excuse for him to get shit-faced. 

So, naturally, you all tagged along to keep him out of trouble and to have a little fun yourselves.

Who could pass up a free drink and the chance to unwind anyway?

Now, none of the team members that tagged along were anywhere in sight except for those who were strictly keeping sober or physically couldn’t get drunk.

The sensible ones.

The only remaining ones were around the table in the VIP booth that Tony rented in the club.

2:45 am.

It’s been 1 hour and 41 minutes since you last saw her dancing with some brunette, who has definitely drunk more than the legal requirement.

Desperate.

1 hour and 41 minutes of scanning through the hot and heavy crowd in search of a single sign that she was still dancing with the brunette or getting another drink at the bar.

None. 

“Y/n? Where are you going?” Steve’s voice calls out over the booming music as he watches you snatch your phone from off the table impatiently.

“Need fresh air.” You reply hastily before throwing a small smile over your shoulder and in his direction.

“She’s going to find Nat,” Clint’s voice could just about be heard over the music as he was talking to Steve and you were walking further away. “Like always.”

The music was practically deafening to the ears; the last thing on a drunken mind was the volume of the music.

Sex and more alcohol always are. 

You were just silently thanking yourself that you had entered the club with a lot more self-control and had only ended up getting tipsy this time around.

Unlike Tony who was completely shit-faced.

Pushing through the thick sea of plastered couples (who were dancing in a way that was even too much for you) was a task in itself but you finally managed to reach the front doors to the club.

Soft, yet bright, light was emitted in your direction causing you to wince. 

You let out a large sigh of relief the further away you stumble from the raging nightclub, random shot glass in hand, and into the bitter air that pierced the exposed skin on your arms and legs.

A small shiver runs down your spine.

“Fancy seeing you here,” A sultry voice brings your, slightly blurred, attention away from the empty shot glass in your hand and toward the direction where it came from.

The dimly lit alleyway. “Got tired of being in there?”

“Nat!” You exclaim in relief as you slowly make your way over toward the alleyway. “There you are, I’ve been looking for you for like the past hour.”

The closer you reach her, the more of her outline you can make out.

She’s leaning up against the masonry while nursing a half-empty bottle of tequila (or vodka, it was too dark to make it out) in one hand and a lit cigarette in between her index finger and middle finger on her other.

A dangerous combo for a dangerous woman.

“I’ve been out here the entire time, detka.”

“Oh? With that brunette who was all over you like some desperate-”

“Careful now,” She cuts your words off with a smug grin and a tsk sound. “You had a lot to drink, detka?”

“Uh, yeah, a few but I’m not drunk like Tony.” You reply as you make a move to lean up against the wall opposite to her.

No other words were spoken as she raised the cigarette to her lips to take a long drag. 

Drag after drag, she slowly puffs the lethal smoke out towards the right of her while she makes sure that not once does she take her emerald gaze from off of you.

It was an intense gaze.

“But that’s beside my point, who the hell was that brunette dancing with you?” You ask abruptly with a raised brow. She chuckles in amusement at your clear jealousy. “Because she was getting way too cosy with you.”

“No one important, just someone who drunkenly came up and started dancing with me,” Natasha replies as if it never bothered her because it didn’t bother her. “Think she said her name was Maria or something.” 

Maria. “Hm, you seemed to get pretty handsy with her, do you like her?”

“Where’s all this jealousy coming from, Y/n/n?” She asks in an amused tone which is followed by a chuckle. Oh, she was enjoying this. “To be fair, it’s amusing seeing you go all green over some random girl, especially one I don’t know or have an interest in.”

“Y’know, I’d rather not discuss it.” You say, brushing off her question and ignoring her comment as you turn to face away from her so she can’t see you roll your eyes.

There’s a pregnant pause before you clear your throat and look back toward her with a slightly softened gaze.

The cigarette remains firmly pressed in between her fingers.

“Have you always smoked?” You ask, to change the subject, as you fold your arms over your chest.

Natasha doesn't reply straight away but takes another drag.

She drops the remaining bit of her cigarette onto the ground so that she can stamp harshly on it, with the sole of her shoe, just to make sure that it’s out.

“Mhm,” she hums with a shrug of her shoulders. “Just kept it to myself, I guess.”

Taking your bottom lip in between your upper front teeth, you nervously chew on it as she leans forward to slip the shot glass from out of your hand and into hers.

Without any sounds, she lets the clear liquid trickle out of the bottle and into the shot glass before gently handing it back to you.

You bring the rim of the shot glass to your lips before knocking it back in one go. Straight tequila. 

“Oh, god, that’s tequila.” You state in a strained voice and with a noticeable grimace as the liquid burns the back of your throat.

Natasha chuckles at the sight of your grimace before smiling softly as you clear your throat. “You okay there, detka?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You reply before sighing and reaching up to give your temple a quick but firm rub. “You know smoking is bad for your lungs, right? And besides, what are you out here drinking tequila straight for?”

With her fingers curled around the neck of the tequila bottle, she brings the rim of the bottle up to her lips intending to tip it back to take another swig.

But she doesn’t. 

“You only get one chance in life, detka,” she replies nonchalantly, ignoring your second question, before finally taking a swig of the alcohol. “I’ve learnt that the hard way.”

Given what she was forced to witness and trained into doing while growing up, it made some sense for her to be wishing away her life like this.

That amount of trauma is often immovable and can only be numbed by the effects of drugs and alcohol.

The Red Room raised those girls into being their bloodthirsty puppets, the ones who were forced to believe that they had no place in the world and yet here Natasha is, with her foot in the world, throwing it all away just to numb her feelings.

You never really know what you’ve got until it's too late.

The thought of going through what she had growing up made your skin crawl.

“How long have you been smoking for?” You ask cautiously as you stare at the redhead who lets out a long sigh.

From that sigh alone, you can tell it wasn’t a habit that she had recently picked up. 

“Listen, I didn’t come out to get interrogated about my unhealthy habits, so just drop it, alright?” She defends herself before she extends the neck of the bottle back over to you.

You decline with a shake of your head.

One shot of tequila is enough. You can’t stomach anymore tonight.

“How long have you been smoking, Nat?”

She lets out a defeated sigh. “Not sure. Since I was, like, 14 or 15.”

You would say that you’re surprised to hear that she’s been smoking so young but by the looks of it, smoking has become an unhealthy coping mechanism for the shit life she’s got.

You just wish it wasn’t her that was suffering like this.

“A cigarette is the least of my worries.” She replies with a shrug before closing her eyes to relive the memory.

“They drugged me with all kinds of things in the Red Room so I added to it by stealing a cigarette from a packet in a guard’s pocket. I can still remember getting in trouble now.”

Silence comes from her end as her gaze flickers down to the squashed cigarette on the floor before glancing back up at you, who peacefully analyses her.

She can’t stop.

“And it’s turned into a habit that you now can’t break.”

“Yeah, I guess you could put it that way.” 

“Does smoking and drinking like this at least make you feel better?” You ask curiously but cautiously.

When it comes to Natasha, you have to choose your words carefully.

Natasha doesn’t let her guard down around anyone yet here she was, in a dingy alleyway, letting you see the regret and pain shining in her eyes.

No, it doesn’t.

Your heart aches for her; all the cigarettes and alcohol that she’s taken over the years (outside and inside of you knowing her) haven’t numbed the pain in the way she hoped it would.

It just put her at ease for a certain amount of time.

“Oh, Tasha.” 

She doesn’t say anything else but instead, her gaze flickers away from your eyes (which she always finds herself lost in) and down to your soft-shaped lips.

So kissable. 

She could practically taste the bitterness and sweetness of the alcohol on the tip of her tongue.

At that moment, she knew that she wanted, no, needed to kiss you more than ever. 

Without any hesitation, she takes a step toward you so she can place her hands on your hips (despite still holding onto the bottle) so she can gently tug your back away from the masonry.

Her blurry gaze rests on your lips, memorising the shape and softness of them before she dips her head down slightly.

Her lips were inches away from yours. 

“Nat-”

“-Shut up and let me kiss you.” She growled before pulling you in closer so that her hot breath was fanning against your lips. 

The moment her lips crash against yours, your hands instinctively reach up to comb through her soft red locks.

She tastes like 5 different alcohols and nicotine all in one go; normally you’re not into that but, right now, you crave her. 

You didn’t want her to break the kiss any time soon but she did and instead of moving away from you, she rested her forehead against hers.

The both of you were panting softly.

“Are you addicted to them?” You whisper as your hands drop from her hair and down to cup her rosy cheeks. “The way they make you feel numb or how they make you act?”

Her forehead drops against yours as her head hangs low and the warmth her body was radiating disappears as she takes a step back from you.

A small nod confirms everything you need to know.

She’s addicted.

She stares at you as she extends her arm out so that she can carelessly throw the empty bottle of tequila as far away from her as possible.

Your grip on your shot glass loosens so the shattering noise rippling through the alleyway increases just like the pile of glass shards.

“I–I don’t know how to stop.” 

The alcohol in her system has weakened the walls she put up for her protection to the point where they were trembling.

“You’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.”

You take a short step toward her to go back to gently cupping her cheeks in your soft hands.

She leans into your touch as a thick singular tear rolls down her cheek. 

Here she was, standing in front of you, looking vulnerable and broken. And boy, did the people of her past break her.

“I want to stop. I do but I can’t.” She admits in a soft tone as if she is worried about other people hearing her. “I’ve tried so many times.”

The glass shards crunch under your footing as you drop your touch on her cheeks to wrap your arms around her torso.

She instantly wraps her arms around you in return. 

“I promise you, I am going to help you out of this.” You whisper your promise as she buries her head into the crook of your neck.

You’re wearing the perfume that drives her crazy.

It felt as if your promise was empty but the determination flooding through your system tells you that you will not let it be empty.

You are going to help her through this, like it or not.

“Let’s go get some water so we can sober up, yeah?” You whisper as she pulls away to give you a nod of agreement. “You’re stuck with me, now, Nat.”

“There’s no one I would rather be stuck with, detka.” She whispers back as she slips her hand in between yours to squeeze it before following as you both sluggishly walk out of the alleyway.

The alleyway that you stood in, kissed in and where she bit the bullet and admitted defeat. 

The streets remain silent as the two of you stumble down them, hand in hand.

The bitter air no longer bothered you or the exposed skin that you were showing, not when you were wrapped underneath Natasha’s arm. 

“Thank you,” She says, after silence, as you two stumble onto the corner of the street to call a taxi. Thankfully there was one in the distance. “For not judging me and sticking by me. Even in my darkest times.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Natasha.” You reply as a taxi pulls up in front of you. You both climb in and mutter your destination to the driver before you turn back to look at her. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, because I’d do anything for the people that I love. And it’s safe to say that I’m in love with you.”

She smiles softly at your, slightly drunken, confession before bringing your hand up to her lips so she can press a soft kiss on the inside of your wrist and then against your palm. 

“I love you too, detka,” she whispers as she moves her head to catch your lips in for a sweet but short-lived kiss. “More than anything in this world. I love you.”

[rxin3akamallory]

Omg hear me out! Barley and Maria cosplaying as Peter Quill and Gamora!!

I feel like Guardians of the Galaxy would be one of Barley’s favorite movies (obviously lol) so one year for either Halloween or a convention, he practically begged Maria for the two to cosplay as them. Ofc she would give in.

I WANNA DRAW THAT AT SOME POINT LIKE THAT WOULD BE SO CUTE AAAAA

[thatsolacegirl]

I'm in a mood to break some stuff so let's talk about how much I hated Loki S2's deleted scene. (I'm going to rant. This is an anti-Loki series post.)

We'll go through this one by one.

Variant!Loki is fresh out (somewhat) of the Battle of New York so, whatever happened Thor: TW onwards don't apply to Larry here.

He is the problem? But how? Didn't he attack Jotunheim Odin's approval. So, he tries to prove that he too could be like Thor (who was in fact very much in favour of killing frost giants since childhood). Also, didn't Loki work under Thanos' coercion (read: tortured because of the way he looked in Thor 1 post-credit scene & in the opening scene of The Avengers) to get the Tesseract? (1) (2) (3) What is this scene even? The start is just so jarring.

Let's go through the roll call:

Nick Fury: Well, he did indirectly call him a problem because Loki was threatening to invade Earth. So, yeah. But directly, he never called him a problem.

Erik Selvig: He was enthralled by Loki via Mind Stone. I don't think in any one of those scenes he was ever shown talking to Selvig which would imply that the latter even said to him that. I think the one time Erik Selvig bad-mouthed Loki was in T: TW where he was relieved that Loki was dead.

Bor: So, I'm going to admit this was tricky but, hear me out on this one. Bor is Odin's father. Odin became the king only after his death. Alright. So, if we are going according to the timeline by the time Odin went to war with Jotuns and consequently adopted baby Loki, he was already the king of Asgard. Bor was dead when Odin went to that war. Thus, Loki never met his adopted grandfather. SO, APPARENTLY, A DEAD ASGARDIAN CAN TALK TO LOKI? HOW COOL IS THE FACT THAT LOKI HAD THE ABILITY TO COMMUNE WITH THE DEAD?! (/s)

Laufey: Another can of worms, I suppose. So, in Thor 1, it had been shown that after the war in 925 AD, the Asgardian contact with Jotunheim had been forbidden. Loki let some of them in to ruin/delay Thor's coronation. The one time he met Laufey, they made a deal, never once Laufey told that Loki was the problem. Laufey, canonically (Thor 1), never even knew that Loki was his son.

Amora: I, for once, think that it would've been cool to see her, either in the series or in Thor 4. But it is often the fate of MCU women to either be a footnote in the men's stories or completely ruined by the narrative, or the writers' incompetence makes them unlikable (only a few are well-written female characters). So, I'm happy about the fact that the queen is still untouched.

Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis: Jane met him once in Thor: TW. During Loki's invasion of NY, she was hiding in Norway with Darcy. Jane had only met Loki because she went to Asgard for Aether's cure. Darcy, on the other hand (even tho I love the way he spoke her name and Tasertricks is my OTP), had never met him. She heard about him, she saw him destroy New Mexico via Destroyer but she had never met him to explicitly say that he was the problem.

Maria Hill: When did she even say that he was the problem? When she was chasing him?!

Heimdall (Heimdall was a big one, he got very upset): Okay, yeah, I get that. Heimdall & him had a long history. Again, I have no idea about their dynamics. And whenever we see them interacting, the animosity is very visible since Thor 1.

Warriors Three (Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun): Again, the history thing here too.

Absorbing Man: So, AoS canon? Also, when did Loki come down to Earth to fight the absorbing man and why I didn't know about it. When did pre-Avengers Loki meet him? I want to know.

Donald Blake (who Thor pretends to be when he goes to Earth): So, this made my eyebrows twitch for the reason that I saw Thor 1 recently (to add to a Darcy post) and everything he said about Donald Blake was just plain wrong. Thor took up the name of Donald Blake (1) when he was given the shirt by Jane--real Donald Blake was Jane's ex before Thor, (2) Darcy made a false driver's licence which mentioned his name as Donald Blake and not Thor, and (3) when Erik came to retrieve Thor, he called him Donald Blake. So, if Thor didn't choose this persona & was given to him by his Earth friends, then how could he had pretended to be him? Also, this name was only used in Thor 1, after Avengers 1, everybody knew him as Thor, his real name.

Hercules: Don't know much about this one here because (1) he's introduced in a post-credit scene & (2) in a Thor film I hate passionately. But he's as old as Thor & Loki, so, a history might be there. We don't know. The TVA series didn't show exactly how they were connected.

So, y'all might be thinking Sol, why are you whining and moaning, it is a deleted scene after all??

You see the writers wrote this scene. The writers who should've, no, must've made themselves familiar with the lore, WROTE THIS BULLSHIT SCENE. AND THE DIRECTOR(S) FILMED IT.

Also, Loki's series could have been the show in that he could've interacted with the people he mentioned but he didn't because it wasn't truly a Loki series, it was a TVA series.

I'm livid.

[theartofpixar]

[sweetchcolate]

Love the refs in Sonic Movie 3, some of them more in your face than others:

first of all: opening up on Live and fucking Learn babyyyy (first, the Maria guitar edition, then its use as a leitmotif sprinkled throughout the OST, then the og Crush 40 Live and Learn)

the og Green Hill theme with Tom and Maddie, that was so cute

'Talk about a low budget flight...'

Team Sonic going into its Sonic Heroes flight formation when they dropped from the helicopter

LIVE AND LEARN. HANGING ON THE EDGE OF TOMORROW

'This is who I am'

Eggman's theme (the one from 06 and onwards)

Shadow riding a bike and using a gun

LIVE AND LEARN, FROM THE WORKS OF YESTERDAYY

Chao Garden!! At long last, it's been 1000 20 years

Shadow Chaos Snap'ing to down the GUN soldiers

LIVE AND LEARN, IF YOU BEG OR IF YOU BORROW

'They deserve a chance' (or something along the lines of Maria's last words to Shadow in SA2)

Event: the Last Scene music ._.

LIVE AND LEARN, YOU MAY NEVER FIND YOUR WAYYYYYYY

[nebulousjoy]

You know, I genuinely don't like the "Sonic vs Shadow" rivalry the series has implemented these days. Idk, it just feels so....out of character for them both?

I understand that, after SA2, Shadow 05 was the first time Shadow has interacted with Sonic more heavily and it's also the same game where they went in the new (terrible) character direction for him, so...of course they're gonna have a vitriolic dynamic. But again, it just doesn't make sense.

I've never liked the new direction they took with Shadow, his original depiction (however barebones it was since SA2 was Shadow's debut game) and what we saw of him in Heroes (which is muddled because of his amnesia) is still my overall favorite version of him. I personally feel like the TRUE Shadow honestly wouldn't care about being Sonic's rival. He wouldn't care about competing with him.

Because, why would he? Who is Sonic to him exactly? Someone who at first got in his way, but then after he remembered Maria's wish, someone who he became the ally of? That's about it. I don't see Shadow as the type to care about other people's opinions, and that also goes for Sonic. In both ways.

For the record: I also don't like the more recent character depiction they've done with Sonic, Colors and onwards - how he was written in basically all of the main games prior to Colors is my favorite version. That Sonic is my modern Sonic. But I digress - we all (should) know that Sonic doesn't care about others' opinions. He does what he wants, whenever he wants to do it. He can be playful if he's in the mood, but I don't see any genuine reason why he would care to have a rivalry with Shadow.

Would he make jests at Shadow, maybe have an attitude at times? Of course, we've seen him be like that with Tails and Knuckles. But, wanting to actively compete with Shadow? Picking fights with him to prove he's superior / to "dampen" Shadow's ego? I feel like the TRUE Sonic, outside of moments where he could believe competing with Shadow would be fun and would want to do so because of that, wouldn't give a damn either. These guys should be able to vibe in the same space without always getting into a bickering session.

Yeah, I can see Sonic being salty over how GUN gave him a huge headache because of Shadow's antics, but I don't see Sonic as the type to hold grudges (excluding against Eggman because...he's Eggman). Especially not towards someone who ends up doing the overall right thing in the end (e.g. Shadow choosing to help them save Earth at the end of SA2) out of non-selfish reasons. No, Sonic shouldn't start liking Eggman because he sometimes chooses to help him & his friends reach a common goal, the doctor's just trying to save his own ass first & foremost.

Sonic and Shadow's animosity towards one another made perfect sense in SA2 because they were literal enemies. But now? Why??IMO, it feels like they've hammed up this "rivalry" between these characters purely for the sake of fanservice & nostalgia pandering. The whole "Remember how they fought in SA2? Remember the Faker cutscene?? Look at them call each other a faker, isn't that a classic???" nonsense.

And while fanservice & nostalgia pandering aren't inherently bad things....they are when the characters get flanderized or written OOCly to make them work.

[sgiandubh]

This what I mean 👇🏻

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/3518505943900484/

Dear (returning) Bitchy Anon,

I wrote this answer yesterday, but I am posting it today, because I did not want to give you any satisfaction. Your coming back in here proves there is not an ounce of humanity left in you: just a #silly obsession for an actress who does not even know or care you exist. I promise you she doesn't. Confidently so.

But then, onwards to your 'evidence'.

You thought you would give me the creeps on Christmas Day with a controversial picture allegedly taken at the Weinstein (yes, that Weinstein!) and Netflix Golden Globes afterparty, on January 8, 2017?

No, seriously now: you actually did?

Crikey. As we say in Romanian (and yes, it is very rude, but also dementedly funny): mi se umple fundul de lacrimi/my arse is in tears. Perhaps the equivalent of I don't give a flying fuck, btw.

If you did read me before posting your laughable shite, and I think you did, you should know by now how I usually work, at least for those things I choose to make public (the rest is none of your business, I am afraid). You found this pic on Pinterest, originating from a Tumblr blog: @clairebeauchampfan. Since this person started blogging one year later than the moment this picture was taken, she probably found it chez Contemplating Outlander. You know, that pseudo-social scientist-cum-shrink, who thinks people are machines and adds a shitload of footnotes to her rantings, because she truly believes it makes her biased crap more credible (it doesn't, and this comes from an academic researcher: it is legit pathetic). So Claire Beauchamp Fan shared it and forgive me, but I did not bother finding her post, I just looked for her source (*urv's fetish):

This took me to CO's really nasty blog and you could have spared me that ordeal, Anon: it's literally akin to severe constipation. And then, onwards to Instagram:

A further search revealed she was wearing a Romanian designer (Maria Lucia Hohan) dress and Amrapali earrings. And then, I read the comments on that Insta post. Maybe you'd read them too, they are enlightening - for someone who's 'been around since 2015', people are rather confused about his real status in her life, don't you think?

But Internet is really forever, no matter how you try to hide your trash, Anon. Here is a copy of O'Callaghan's post which was, indeed, deleted: maybe *urv was too insistent? It wouldn't surprise me:

She should have won the Golden Globe in 2017, that's true. And it was S, not McIdiot, the one who told the Internet she should have won all those prizes, if memory serves. How odd McIdiot is never mentioned in that particular post (y'all would have paraded it for YEARS, if it were so) - but household staff, no matter how promoted, never really is. And before you screech, tell all the damn truth Anon, and put this pic in its right context:

How odd the 'successful music producer and entrepreneur' (he is not successful, nor a music producer and much less an entrepreneur) was not tagged, by someone who is active in the industry, who clearly knows C and who attended that Golden Globes gala!

Just a last word on that pic. C was obviously smiling and talking animatedly with O'Callaghan and then McIdiot (who looks malnourished - but hey, humble beginnings, eh?) got dragged in the middle, for the convenient pic. I sometimes wonder what kind of social life you people have and sadly, I have to say - next to 0, for some of you. I never fuck the dozens of men with whom I do have similar 'just because' pics, interrupting my conversation in the middle of an event.

Also, check this very warm & fuzzy pic with one prominent member of her own, personal and very, very gay Circle of Trust. Because I am sorry, but what straight man wears lipstick, as McIdiot clearly does (and no, it's not because they were smooching in the lavatories, what are you, 14?):

She looks happy, doesn't she?

I mean: really, honey. Get a Real Life and stop trying to persuade me with ye olde Pinterest pics you clearly are completely clueless about, ok?

And before you open your mouth to vomit CO's trash again, please carefully do your homework about McIdiot. But as carefully as I did. Then you can talk, share your interesting findings. Merry Christmas and....

[eusuntgratie]

thank you for the tags @firstprincehornyramblings & @thighzp

the sex club malexa au (roswell new mexico) has consumed me which is all @basil-bird's fault so here have a bit of that.

Maria is chatting with a group of people, so it takes Alex a minute to notice the man at her feet. He’s—beautiful. Shirtless, in jeans, with a simple brown leather harness that Alex immediately wants to tug on. There’s a thick leather collar around his neck with a short leather leash clipped to the D-ring near the front. Maria’s holding the other end. Alex’s mouth waters. The man is kneeling right beside her but she’s clearly ignoring him in favor of chatting with her friends. He watches, eyes wide, as he leans into her side until she laughs, pushing a hand into his curls and scratching at his scalp, tugging a little on his hair suddenly.

Alex wonders what he did to deserve that. What he would look like tied up in Alex’s ropes, held still and made to take whatever Alex decides he deserves. Alex bought some new dark green ropes recently, an overly hopeful purchase made just before his last breakup. He can’t help but think about how pretty they’d look against this man’s skin.

no pressure tagging folks either for words or just to see @taste-thewaste @onward--upward @lostcol @stratocumulusperlucidus @bigassbowlingballhead

@nocoastposts @rewritetheending @insecuregodcomplex @sheepywritesfics + open tag for anyone who sees this and has words to share. please tag me!