application.

[widowing]

P L A Y E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Carlee
OOC Journal: irresolute
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Over 18.
Email + IM: lethalities@gmail.com | stingingballerina @ aim
Characters Played at Ataraxion: N/A

C H A R A C T E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Natasha Romanoff
Canon: Marvel Cinematic Universe (Iron Man 2 & The Avengers)
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: After the events of The Avengers
Number: 012

Setting:

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, also known as Earth-1999999, closely resembles the world as we know it with some key differences: more advances in the world of technology, weaponry, and medicine, the existence of magic and the ability for those of other worlds (and, presumably, this world) to travel between realms via a portal or magic, the existence of a multi-national covert organization to keep things from falling into chaos, and the existence of superheroes. Natasha functions mostly in the shadows as part of the aforementioned covert operation, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division; otherwise known as SHIELD. More information on this universe can be found here.

History:

Natasha's history in this universe so far is very sparse and hasn't been discussed in great detail when mentioned at all (The Avengers goes into more detail with Natasha-as-herself rather than Natasha-as-Natalie, but the focus of the movie is more on the team as a whole and how they come together than the individual members). What we know for sure is that she started out as a spy at a very young age (around seven or eight years old) and before working for SHIELD (the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division), she was less choosy about who she worked for and who her victims were (it's brought up that she was involved in the death of a Russian diplomat's daughter and a fire set to a hospital, along with an unspecified incident in Sao Paulo). It's also strongly hinted that she's been submitted to brainwashing in the past ('You know what it's like to be unmade?' 'You know that I do.'), which, combined with her starting as a spy as a child, says quite a bit about the kind of people she used to work for. She first got SHIELD's attention as a threat; an enemy that needed taking out (a pre-canon comic mentions her getting on their radar when she took out a human trafficking ring in Bulgaria), and Clint Barton was sent to take her life. He decided to spare it instead, and after that Natasha was recruited to SHIELD.

Since being recruited, Natasha has worked closely with Clint on various missions (they seem to have different takes on what happened in Budapest) - her as the spy, him as the marksman - but has also been sent out on several solo ones, most notably the one where she shadows Tony Stark to assess his suitability for the Avengers Initiative. She ends up playing a key role in disabling the Hammer Drones that start attacking the Stark Expo and giving Rhodey control of the War Machine suit (originally the Mark II) again when Ivan Vanko had programmed it to be under his control. After all is said and done, she ends up ruling Stark as unsuitable for the project, but adds that the suit is useful for it. Almost immediately after finishing her assignment to Stark, she's assigned to observe Bruce Banner (taking the place of Agent Sitwell); first at Culver University in Virginia and then in Harlem, New York. She observes the attack on Banner at Culver and the fight between Banner and Blonsky (transformed into the Hulk and the Abomination) and after calling for a clean-up crew, she meets with Fury and tells him her doubts about the project, and the idea is eventually scrapped (not due to her influence, but her doubts about it are worth mentioning).

About a year after her assignments to Stark and Banner, Natasha is in Russia getting information from a gangster when she receives a phone call from Agent Phil Coulson, who informs her that Agent Barton has been compromised by Loki. She's sent to Calcutta to retrieve Dr. Banner from where he's been hiding so he can locate the Tesseract, an object with the potential energy to wipe out the planet that was discovered in the ocean when Howard Stark was looking for Steve Rogers. SHIELD had intended to use it to make weapons capable of defending the Earth in case of another alien invasion (an incident in New Mexico involving Thor and Loki ended up nearly leveling a small town caused them to want to take precautions in case there were more visitors from other planets that intended to cause the human race harm).

Once Banner and Rogers are brought aboard, Natasha assists in 'capturing' Loki and, at one point, goes to him under the guise of bartering for Agent Barton's freedom. As it turns out, she was trying to get him to reveal part of his plan (getting Banner to transform into the Hulk while in the helicarrier) and goes to the lab to question him and inform Fury of what she's discovered. All hell breaks loose when Banner's tracking device locates the Tesseract right before Agent Barton takes out one of the four engines keeping them in the air, and Natasha and Bruce fall to the detention deck, where Natasha watches in horror as Bruce transforms into the Hulk, who then takes off after her. The only thing that stops him from killing her is Thor's interference, and Natasha is left shaken for a few moments before Fury announces over the comms that Barton's been spotted in the detention hangar, and, since she knows anyone else will see him as a threat to be taken out, she goes to find him.

What happens next is a vicious fight that ends with her slamming his head into a pole and reversing the effect that Loki had on him ('cognitive recallibration'), and once he's been checked out by the medics Natasha waits with Clint until he comes back to himself. The two agree that Loki needs to be taken out, that they want to be part of the group to do it, and with Steve Rogers, they pilot a jet to the middle of New York City, where a portal to outer space has been opened (with the Tesseract as its key) and unleashed an army of aliens (the Chitauri, led by Loki) to reign destruction on the city. Natasha and Clint keep the Chitauri's attention on them as Steve instructs police officers to lead civilians to safety, and then she and Steve fight them off on the ground until Natasha gets the idea to hijack one of the Chitauri's vehicles to get to the top of Stark Tower, where the portal is located. Once at the top of the tower, she finds Dr. Eric Selvig (who had also been controlled by Loki) who tells her he built in a way to close the portal with Loki's scepter. She retrieves it and closes it once Tony Stark puts a nuke that's been set on New York City into outer space, and once the portal's closed and the nuke goes off, the Chitauri all fall to the ground, defeated.

After taking Loki into custody and a post-battle meal of shawarma, the team goes in their separate directions - Thor and Loki back to Asgard, where Loki will answer for his crimes, Tony (and possibly Bruce) back to Stark Tower (where Stark starts working on separate floors for each team member in said tower), Steve back to figuring out the world, and Natasha and Clint, presumably, back to SHIELD, or possibly on a leave of absence, which Fury feels they've earned.

Personality:

We're introduced to Natasha in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as she arrives at the home of Tony Stark to have him sign over his company to Pepper Potts, and shortly after that he hires her as his new assistant based on what he finds when Googling her and seeing her take on Happy in the boxing ring. However, there's more to Natasha than meets the eye. (Or the Google search.) What we see of her from that point until she reveals herself to be an agent of SHIELD is a construct; it's one that's based in elements of reality, but it's still a put-on, a character she's playing. Natasha was trained since childhood to blend in perfectly with any given situation; at one point in the movie, Tony lashes out in frustration and asks if there's any part of her that's real. This says a lot about who she is a person - so much of her life has been spent playing a character that it's possible that she struggles internally with who she really is. But if she ever does, she never shows it - she is stoic, unflappable, and one-hundred percent professional and devoted to the task at hand, whatever it may be.

Natasha takes pride in what she does and how she presents herself; it's very important to her that she be taken seriously and seen as an equal by her peers. Those who underestimate her quickly come to regret it (an example of this is when Happy tells her never to take her eyes off her opponent and she immediately grabs the opportunity to take him down). She works twice as hard as anyone else with the same qualifications because she feels she has more to prove due to her sex, age, and the fact that she works with people with extraordinary advantages over the abilities of a typical human being. Her interest and training in ballet and gymnastics come through in her style of fighting, as well as how she presents herself. How she presents herself is also a weapon; she's a master in the art of seduction as a weapon (her appearance is the first thing that Tony Stark notices about her and plays a big role in why she gets hired), though it's something she typically uses as a way to distract and disarm her opponent. This is the way she prefers to do things because it offers her the opportunity to gather more information about who she's taking on; people are more willing to divulge secrets to a beautiful woman who is trying to chat them up than they are to a beautiful woman who's got a gun pointed to their head.

While she's not exactly unfriendly, it's hard to get close to her because she rarely lets people see past the mask she's learned to keep up. Those who don't know her get the impression that she's cold and aloof, those who know her better see her as someone who's friendly enough, but that they couldn't really tell you about if you were to ask. Not getting involved with people is easier because it means there's less to lose if things go wrong (and in her line of work, things going wrong could mean someone getting killed - it's easier to lose co-workers than lovers or friends). This aloof behavior is a shield she's developed over the years that's like a second nature to her at this point; it's something that slips into place automatically and would take her a lot of work to bring down. This doesn't mean she's incapable of becoming either a lover or a friend to someone or that someone hasn't broken through that shield over the years, but we haven't seen her exhibit that kind of behavior towards anyone in film canon yet, so we can only assume that it's possible.

In the cinematic universe, her past is still mostly a mystery, but her field is not one that you go into without a lot of thought or without being prepared to face a lot of risks. Her job requires her to face a lot of difficult situations, many of which are life or death, and it's possible she's already seen a lot of people lose their lives to their jobs or because of other unfortunate circumstances, even to her own hand, which is one of the reasons she's developed such a hard shell. There are times where I'm sure she wonders what it might be like to drop the covers and the armor and just let herself be, but at this point, she's so used to living with her own shields up all the time that dropping them would take her way outside her comfort zone.

Earning respect is also something that's very important to her; it's why she works so hard to prove herself among her colleagues. This determination has served her well - she's considered one of the head agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. among people who are older and have more field experience than she does, something that must be frustrating to other agents. Another things she holds in high regard is loyalty and paying back debts. In a scene with Loki in The Avengers, she brings up the fact that her life was spared because Clint Barton decided it was worth saving; that 'I owe him a debt'. We see how far she is willing to go to repay that debt - when Coulson informs her that Clint's been compromised, she immediately drops her assignment in Russia and heads to India to retrieve one Dr. Banner and when Fury announces over the comms that he's been spotted in the detention hangar, she shakes off the fear from being attacked by the Hulk (more on that in a moment) and goes to find him, since she knows that anyone else will believe he's been compromised and will shoot to kill. She, alternatively, fights viciously with him until she breaks Loki's hold over him by hitting him in the head, and when he's recovering in one of the sickbay rooms, she's the one who's looking after him until he comes back to himself and the one who vouches for him when Steve comes to ask her if they can fly a jet into the war zone that is New York City. Natasha is someone who likes to repay what she owes, who's aware that she's done bad things and wants to put them behind her, but at the same time, wants to atone for them and put herself on more even ground. She doesn't join SHIELD or the Avengers because she wants to be a hero; she joins because she's 'got red in [her] ledger, I'd like to wipe it out'.

In the aforementioned scene with Loki, Natasha opens up to Loki about what Barton's done for her and why she wants his life spared, and when Loki brings up incidents of her past that Barton filled him in on while under his influence and then vows to use him to kill her, she makes a big show of being vulnerable and frightened. It's not until he reveals a big part of his plan - getting Banner to unleash the Hulk on the helicarrier - that she lets the facade drop, but in a later scene with Clint it's clear that what he said got under her skin. This shows that she's able to use her emotions to her advantage, even if she does end up being effected by what people say and do to her. Another noteworthy scene in the movie is when Banner's transformed into the Hulk and has her in pursuit and even when she's assigned to retrieve him. She's clearly uncomfortable with the assignment because she's seen the destruction that the Hulk is capable of and that and its lack of control terrifies her, but she's able to pull herself together in a matter of seconds when it's announced that Barton is in the detention hangar. It's only later that she shows her vulnerability to anyone else (the person she trusts most) and even then it's only in vague terms ('I've been compromised'). She's able to push past her emotions and fear and use them to fuel her, to give her that extra push she needs to accomplish the mission.

Despite wanting to be taken seriously, being aloof, and having a one-track mind a lot of the time, she is not a robot. She has a dry, quiet sense of humor and is loyal to the end to her allies and when it comes to protecting those she's tasked to, both of which tend to catch people by surprise. She remains an enigma, even to those who think they know her well.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:

Natasha is a trained spy and a skilled fighter in many forms of combat, hand-to-hand (martial arts and boxing) as well as armed (guns, knives, and her armed wrist cuffs that deploy an EMP charge). She is also a trained acrobat and ballerina (this is not explicitly stated in Iron Man 2 or The Avengers, but is hinted at with her style of fighting), an expert hacker (she is able to hack through Ivan Vanko's firewall and return control of the War Machine suit to Colonel James Rhodes while he and Tony are trying to fight off the Hammer Drones attack at the Stark Expo and also sets up a Google-searchable biography for her cover identity), multilingual, and an exceptional spy and strategist. She's extremely good at thinking on her feet - she ends up using the Chitauri's own spears against them and is able to figure out how they work within seconds, as well as using the spear itself as a weapon, and she uses one of the Chitauri that's operating a flying vehicle to get to the roof of Stark Tower.

As far as limitations go, she is exceptionally good at what she does, but being a non-superpowered human who does not rely on armor gives her a fair amount of limitations - she can get injured, sick, and killed, and it's possible for an attacker to get the drop on her, though highly unlikely with her skill set - even during the incident on the helicarrier where Bruce transformed into the Hulk, a situation where she was clearly outmatched physically, she was capable of thinking on her feet in order to avoid and distract him. In addition to her physical limitations, it's hinted at through exchanges with Clint in The Avengers that she's been subjected to mind manipulation and brainwashing and that both are sensitive topics for her, though that this only comes up when she's alone with him is telling that she doesn't let onto her weaknesses.

Inventory:

Duffle bag containing:

( 1 ) pair jeans
( 1 ) pair leggings
( 2 ) oversized white t-shirts
( 1 ) sports bra
( 2 ) pairs underwear
( 1 ) pair socks
( 1 ) pair sneakers
( 1 ) loaded 8mm gun
( 1 ) set of throwing knives

Appearance:


PB Scarlett Johansson; as seen in Marvel's The Avengers.

Natasha is a Caucasian female of Russian descent in her mid-to-late twenties, with green eyes and wavy, deep red hair worn in a bob about chin-length. She stands at about 5'4 and is fairly slight; it's obvious that she's physically active, but to look at her you likely wouldn't think she's capable of besting you in a fight. When not playing a role for the purposes of her job (as in Iron Man 2, where she wore full make-up and heels and dressed in form-fitting, high fashion suits and dresses), she holds herself with good posture; shoulders held back and back straight, and dresses practically in well-fitting jeans, shirts, jackets, and shoes.

And, of course, there's the suit, which she wears in battle.

Age:

Official "documents" in relation to the Marvel Cinematic Universe list her birthdate as November 22, 1984 (same as Scarlett Johansson's; way to put in real effort there Marvel), making her 28. The MCU has yet to confirm or deny whether or not Natasha has been given the same enhancements that she was in the comics universe that prolonged her life (in a similar fashion to the super soldier serum in Captain America), so I'm going with this as her age.

AU Clarification:

S A M P L E S
Log Sample:

She goes through all the motions of waking from the jump - the sudden realization and following panic at being suspended in liquid with a tube down her throat, the five minutes to get her body on a functioning level after being spilled onto the floor, the beeline to the showers to clean the stasis fluid off of her body. But as she's washing herself off, she catches sight of her left forearm and notices something off.

--- » 016 » 012

No...no, that's not right. That can't be right. She's been here since the first jump, she'd joined the gunnery crew; her number should be OPR » 006 » 012, not this. But as she's running her hands through her hair to get the last of the slime out of it, she realizes suddenly that her fingertips reach the ends of it much faster than they should. Her hands reach out to stop the shower abruptly, hand slapping against the controls a bit harder than necessary, and her head whips around to take a closer look at her surroundings. She needs to see if others are still there or alive (Tony, Steve, anyone who's familiar), but it's too crowded and her mind's racing too fast to try and pick out faces at the moment, and she should probably be dressed before she tries to have the 'how long was I gone' conversation. She heads towards her locker before she sees her number again and remembers that it's not hers anymore, and a huff of frustration escapes her as she doubles back towards the row of lockers labeled 016. She's relieved to find clothes and some supplies in her locker and worried to not find her suit, until it occurs to her that it may still be in her old room.

She'll have time to figure it out later. For now, since her head's a bit clearer in spite of the splitting headache, she dresses and makes sure she's got a weapon concealed on her person before shutting the door to her locker beginning her search for answers.

Comms Sample:

[ natasha has had the comms device in her hands for over an hour, going through past entries and trying to figure out whatever she can from the people who've arrived before her and made their presence known. no one seems know anything more than anyone else, everyone here is fresh meat, plucked from wherever they previously were to be deposited in outer space. literally. she doesn't like this, it's not supposed to be possible and she doesn't like not knowing what she's in for. when the screen eventually flickers on to show her face, her mouth is set into a grim line and her eyes are determined and angry. ]

I doubt that anyone's had the chance to figure out who's behind bringing us here, so instead I'll ask who else has had a chance to speak to each other and develop theories on the matter, be it in person or over this device. And if no one's done it yet, now's as good a time as any and I'm not going anywhere for a while.

[ she sets her device on a shelf as she retrieves her cuffs, assembling them before snapping them into place on each wrist. once they're secure, her eyes go back to the screen, a challenge in her voice and eyes. ]

So let's get started.