#general dreykov

[natsknives]

Ибо нехуй

Black Widow (2021)

[helpimstuckinanotherworlddd]

somebody free her!!! :(

[albertonavajoart]

#Avengertober Day 13 Black Widow

[star-light-artist]

Something that bugs me is why don't we know what happened to Yelena's mom, Melina? Red Guardian was more evil in the past than she was and more responsible for Nat & Yelena's trauma, yet somehow he was more redeemed than Melina is.

Perhaps Melina is grieving Natasha off-screen, but why wasn't she there for Yelena?

It's interesting how, even though she loves her daughters, she stayed working for the bad guys longer than her husband and children did. It's hard to hate her, though. It's all she knows. That world of spies and torture and working for evil.

"Why dies a mouse born in a cage, run that little wheel?" She is so aware of her situation and lack of freedom, yet she's content in it for so long until Natasha's resilience inspires her.

"Tell me, how did you keep your heart?" The awe in her voice when she sees Natasha is still trying to be good after so many years of torture that broke Melina. I love that moment halfway through their conversation where she suddenly after 50 or so years of servitude, she finally switches sides to betray Dreykov.

[gunsandspaceships]

Natasha's biological parents

Natasha Romanova has a complicated family situation, doesn't she? The Avengers "family," her "fake" family from the Red Room, even more fake family in her documents, and somewhere, almost forgotten, the family that actually gave birth to her.

When the Red Room took her from her biological parents, she was too young to remember anything about them. She never learned her mother's name, and her father's name was only revealed to her just before her death.

So what do we know about them?

We know little about her real father. His name is Ivan.

We don't know his last name, but we can safely assume it wasn't "Romanov," because the Red Room wouldn't risk keeping the original names of their abductees. They even changed Nat's patronymic name to "Alianovna," so of course they would have given her a different last name. Perhaps her first name isn't the one her real parents gave her either. But beyond that, we know nothing.

However, it can be assumed that it was he who sold her to the Red Room. As Melina said:

This means that her mother was not involved in the deal, or she changed her mind, or she hoped that she would be allowed to see her daughter after she was taken.

An interesting detail: Melina and Dreykov only talk about her mother and never about her father. This means he either wasn't interested in finding his daughter or was already dead. But if the former is true, he might still be alive.

So, the mother. We don't know her name. All we know is that she searched for Natasha for years after she was taken, and that she was killed on Dreykov's orders.

She was then buried without a name next to a pink blossom tree.

Instead, Natasha was told that her mother had abandoned her.

There's a scene filmed for Civil War that contradicts these facts, but it was removed from the final movie: Natasha tells Steve that in 2014, after S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collapse, she went to Russia to find her parents, and says she found their graves.

But we see that this is not true for Endgame and Black Widow.

[bishovapls]

⚠️ MAJOR THUNDERBOLTS SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️

I’ve taken a moment to collect my thoughts, so this one’s a bit more organised than just me screaming about how much this movie destroyed me. I’ve got a few of these little rants sitting in my drafts, honestly not sure if I’ll post the rest but here’s this one because...Alexei Shostakov is not a good man and I hate that (some) people seem to think that he is.

Spoilers below the cut!

Alexei is not some bumbling, well-meaning father who just made a few mistakes. He’s not misunderstood. He’s not the comedic relief with a heart of gold buried under the bluster. No. He’s a coward. A narcissist. And worst of all, he’s a willing participant in the very system that destroyed Yelena and Natasha from the inside out.

Let’s be clear: That motherfucker gave them to the Red Room. He knew exactly what that place was. He chose to hand over two little girls, two children who trusted him, to a man he knew would brutalise them, rip away their identities, their agency, their futures. And he did it because it suited his goals. His comeback. His glory. That’s what mattered to Alexei. Not the children in his care. Not their safety. Just the chance to wear a red suit again.

And when he sees them again after all those years? He doesn’t apologise. Not immediately anyways. One of the first things out of his mouth isn’t regret, it’s a rant: “I could have been more famous than Captain America. Then he buries me in Ohio. Three years! Boring me to tears. Then prison for the rest of my life.”

As if he was the victim. As if he was the one who suffered most.

No accountability. No acknowledgement that he ruined their lives. No acknowledgement of the scars they carry, the memories they can’t speak aloud. That he was the one who tossed them straight back into Dreykov’s hands. Just ego. Just bitterness.

And when he does talk about the girls? It’s not with love. It’s not with pride in who they are. It’s pride in what they became. “Yelena, the greatest child assassin in the world.” “Natasha, not just a spy...but an Avenger.” He doesn’t see daughters. He sees achievements. Killing machines forged by the very system he sent them into. He doesn’t see the brutality, let alone take responsibility for it. Because in Alexei’s mind, it worked. That’s all that matters.

And then… suddenly he flips? At the end of Black Widow, he starts trying. He says sorry. He wants to be forgiven. And the thing is, he even seems genuine. But it’s not earned. Not even close. Because barely an hour earlier he was whining about being stuck in Ohio.

Then we get to Thunderbolts, and somehow, he’s meant to be this goofy dad again. Rolling up in a limo, talking like he’s here to save the day, when in reality he hadn't spoken to Yelena in over a year before she shows up desperate, barely holding it together, practically begging him for some sense of permission to stop. And he uses it as an opportunity to talk about himself again, about how he’d love to work for Valentina. Still, it’s about what he could be. Not what she needs.

Yes, in Thunderbolts, he tries. He gives a speech. Seems to care, is genuinely trying to be supportive. And okay, fine, he’s not completely useless. He does make an effort.

But even during that big speech when Yelena breaks down, he says he doesn’t see Yelena’s mistakes. And on the surface, that’s kind. But dig deeper? It’s just more of the same. Because to him, her “mistakes” weren’t mistakes at all. She did what she was trained to do. She killed. She was efficient. That’s what matters to Alexei.

The films want us to forget what he did. They want us to laugh with him. To see the warmth. The effort. But they’re asking us to ignore the damage. The betrayal. The fact that he let his daughters burn, and only now wants to hold the ashes like they still belong to him.

And here’s the part that really fucking kills me: Yelena accepts it.

She’s not angry that he gave her to Dreykov. Not angry about the years of torment. No. She’s angry because he didn’t call. Because after pretending to care in Black Widow, he just disappeared again.

And that's even more devastating for her. Because she’s been hurt so many times, by so many people, that even Alexei’s bare minimum, his delayed, fumbled attempt at showing up, is enough for her. She’s been taught to expect nothing, and she’s learned to be grateful for scraps. She’ll take whatever little piece of warmth he offers, and call it love, because she doesn’t know what love without condition looks like.

He was never a father. Not in the way that matters. He was another person who broke her, who gave her away and never looked back. And now, he wants forgiveness. He wants to be seen as someone worthy of redemption.

But forgiveness without accountability is meaningless.

And Alexei? He still doesn’t understand what he did. Not really.

[walker-walker-fashion-baby]

What if... Antonia Dreykova was Melina's biological daughter?

[shadows-die-2012]

while we're at it

lookie. blinkies

some stamps too

if you want to credit me, though not necessary- asterisk_rust !

happy 5th anniversary to the Black Widow movie. . Natasha forever.