#talking comics

You always knew what you had to do. No one ever told you. You had the resolve, even then. Nor were you afraid of the dark. Of what waited for you there. But sometimes... Sometimes... I wish you had been.

There are some things a suit like you will never understand. Like trust. Trust in battle. Trust when the chips are down. The kind of trust that lets you put your life in another person’s hands. A person like Natasha.

You must always have a safe place to go. That is the first thing you learn. Though you should know that by instinct, before anyone has to teach you. It isn’t just spies that need to run. Good times don’t last forever.

The Black Widow is a legend. Some folks think you kill a legend, you’ll become one, too. But that’s not how it works. Legends aren’t made so cheap. And legends always die hard.

There are wolves in the night. The soldiers would say that, when I was a girl. My uncles and brothers, in war. My friends. Raising me on the battlefield because there was nowhere else to go. There are wolves, they would say. And there are stories about wolves and girls. Girls in red. All alone in the woods. About to get eaten up. Wolves and girls. Both have sharp teeth.

I outlived all the men who raised me. I stayed young while they faded, and died from bullets and disease, or old age. You forget so much. You forget them. Friends. Family. You put aside what can’t be changed. Like death. Until something small and unexpected catches you.

We all burn. We burn in fire. We burn in blood. We burn in dreams. And it never ends. Dreams never end. You would not want them to. Not if it means forgetting. You can never forget. You, who are all that is left. So, remember: We are born in fire. Again, and again. You would live it all, again. No matter how much it hurts. When it hurts, you know you are alive. And you know that as long as you live, they live. And when you die, they die. You are the inheritor of memories.

Tell yourself that there are things you wil never forget. Tell yourself that you will always remember what is important. Tell yourself that everthing you love will stay with you, forever. Even though it won’t. Not even a little. Nothing lasts. In the end, all we have is ourselves. But unless you are strong... And careful... That will not be enough.

I’m the Black Widow. I could eat you for lunch.

first of all steph is the daughter of a villain, she grew up in really bad conditions, -even had riddler stay at her house at some point- she pretty much had the worst possible father. (“he destroyed my life... destroyed it!”) what first got me really into her was how her first motivation in becoming the spoiler was because she wanted to stop her father, so that he doesn’t hurt anyone else like he’d hurt steph and her mother. batman was busy with other bigger threats so she wanted to get his attention to get him to help stop her father. and she came up with a brilliant idea (which is very underrated, something people keep forgetting about her is that she’s actually very intelligent) and just never gave up on it. robin tried to stop her, batman tried to stop her, her mother tried to stop her but she simply said no, and did what she wanted. (“gotham city needs heroes. [...] and it doesn’t matter that robin doesn’t want me doing the spoiler thing. it doesn’t matter that batman told me to stay off his streets. to hell with their rules.”) and helped people who were unintentionally overseen by batman. (“maybe gotham needs a spoiler. you and batman handle all the crime in the city. the suburbs don’t have anybody.”) (“i did it for us, mom. the cops weren’t going to protect us from dad. the system caught him and let him go how many times? i thought someone like the spoiler could keep him locked up.”) she was also never afraid to put batman in his place. (“so excuse me if i don’t jump when you bark, batman.”)

another thing i absolutely adore about her is that she became her own hero. batman didn’t save her, robin didn’t save her, she saved herself. she stood up for the people she loved and she stood up for herself. the thing is, as a kid, she used to dream she’d see batman someday. that he would come and save her from that terrible life no child deserves.

but you know what happened? she became the hero she needed her whole life. and started it by stopping her father who was the one to ruin her childhood and was the reason why she needed a hero in the first place. i just think that’s really powerful.

another thing i love is that she is the epitome of hope. (“everything doesn’t have to be about fear. there’s room in our line of work for hope, too.”) that kind of life, having a villain as her father, could’ve turned her into a bad person too. but she never lost hope and she became this strong, hopeful woman who is able to look back and say i did it. i came all the way by myself, and never lost hope for a better future. (“this is about me having hope... about me saving the one person who’s ever given a real crap about me. this is about keeping promises, about being a hero.”)

she’s also very sensitive about kids going through what she had been through, like damian. when she met him he was cold, full of rage. she managed to see behind that mask and knew he was just a child who couldn’t be a child. just like herself. she saw he was a child who didn’t know how to have fun, and did everything in her power to fix that. she believed in second chances, after all. that was all she had. (“...so why stay? why open yourself up to all the bad you’ve tried to leave behind? ‘the only variable you can control is yourself.’ you can forget who you are, or you can be who you want to be. that’s why you stay. you stay for a second chance.”)

she’s a skilled fighter, she’s quick witted, she probably has more medical knowledge than the rest of the batfamily excluding bruce, she knows how to turn things into her advantage, she’s good at reading people and she’s very compassionate. also she’s bad with authority and is never hesitant call them out when needed. she’s so determined that it’s almost impossible to stop her if she puts something on her mind. (“even after i fired her — her determination remained unabated.”) she’s fun to be around, she’s sarcastic and daring and talkative. (“what do i bring? besides my sunny disposition. and donuts.”) she gets angry very quickly and she gets dangerous when she is. she’s scared of failure and doesn’t handle it very well. she’s too quick to react especially if someone’s life is in danger which sometimes causes her problems. she’s very human after all.

also i can’t not mention this, in young justice (2019-) there was an alternate reality version of her who was batwoman. it was a world where almost every hero we know in the main universe was a villain. it was a world ruled by hate and do you know who was the one remaining hero there? stephanie brown. even in a world full of bad people (including the main world’s justice league, young justice etc) she was still good. she was still a hero. she is probably so lonely, having to save people everyday all by herself, doing good when she’s surrounded by evil only. but she just keeps going, she never gives up or loses her determination and hope. i really think that says so much about who she is. she doesn’t do any of that because that’s what she’s told to do, she’s doing it because she’s good, she’s so good, and she loves helping people as much as she can.