I was thinking about the "Natasha Romanoffs" of M/M romances a while back, and how these stories typically do not care or do not have time for the interiority of these hyper competent, endlessly supportive female best friends. So it goes with the sidekick BFFs in romances for a variety of reasons!
And the phrase, "If these women have ever cried while eating ice cream in a bathtub, the story and their best friend don't seem to care," popped into my head at one point. (Note: No, I don't personally know anyone who has ever done this. I'm using it as the classic stand-in for messy emotional distress here.)
And my point now is that this phrase made me think to myself... Do I believe that Natasha Romanoff has ever sincerely cried in the bathtub while eating ice cream?
Honestly, not really. Seems OOC.
However, I do FULLY believe that Natasha Romanoff at one point sat in the bathtub eating a carton of ice cream, or some equivalent activity, just to try and experience a "Normal Girl Life Thing." And maybe she even tried to cry / cried on command! But she was also fully aware the whole time that this whole activity was, essentially, a conscious performance of a "Normal Girl Life Thing."
And, you know, that's fun to explore too. I like to see characters get to be shameless weepers, but I do like also female characters who say shit like, "I sat in the bathtub and ate ice cream and tried to cry like a Hollywood female protagonist, but idk, I didn't really feel anything." And people can say, "Hey, Natasha, what the fuck?"




















