Everything I Needed To Know About Life, I Learned From Natasha Romanoff

*appears in a puff of decidedly chocolate and raspberry-scented smoke* I decided that I would come back for one Black Widow related post during my hiatus! And here it is.

So, I was over the moon excited for Black Widow. Because, Nat! And then I wasn't going to watch Black Widow, because I was SO WORRIED they were going to ruin it.

And then on Friday night, when it released, Legolas wouldn't stop bugging me by addressing me as "Natasha, my sister" in a flawless Russian accent, and I caved and watched it.

Spoiler alert: it was amazing. I have no regrets.

Spoiler alert #2: I am not reviewing it today, because that would take a lot of words and brain power that is currently dedicated to figuring out why the heck my story is demanding a dog when I didn't want to put a dog in and it's making everything weird and I feel like it doesn't fit. (If you have an answer to this, I'd love to hear it.)

However, I did want to do something to commemorate the occasion, because Natasha Romanoff is one of my big role models (believe it or not) and she finally has her own movie, and an awesome one at that! So, I decided to share with you a (honestly, very personal) list that I started in my bullet journal in June (and am still adding to) of the things that I have learned and am learning from Nat, from the serious to the literal movie quotes. As I said, I'm still adding to the list, but this is how it stands at the moment. 

(PS: there are no spoilers for BW. There may be infinitesimal spoilers for the other Marvel movies, but I've edited the one item that had the biggest spoiler so that there is, in fact, no spoiler there, so even if you haven't watched all the Marvel movies, you should be good.)

(PS #2: I'm really sorry, but I was much too tired for gifs for every item on the list. So, this post is quite a bit less visually interesting than I'd like, but hey, I'm still officially on hiatus, so I don't have to care. XD)

Right, let's get to it!

1. Every woman's heart desires motherhood. But it doesn't have to be fulfilled with physical motherhood.

2. If someone is going to be captured, injured, or damaged in any way, make sure it's you.

3. A hug solves a multitude of problems.

4. Family--biological or otherwise--is the most important.

5. If your friend defects to the dark side, the easiest way to fix that is to interrupt him after he kills someone. And/or knock him on the head real hard.

6. Never lose hope.

7. Self-sacrifice is the highest form of love.

8. Speaking Latin is both useful and impressive.

9. Accepting help--especially allowing yourself to be carried out of a burning building when you're injured--is not weakness.

10. You can be just as awesome in a dress as in pants, and vice versa.

11. There is no reason why a perilous mission should preclude a good hairstyle.

12. Femininity in no way interferes with being a good superhero.

13. No one has ever gone beyond forgiveness.

14. Faking tears is a good way to fool villains.

15. Grief is not weakness. It's strength.

16. Multitasking is great. Until it's not.

17. Trust is one of the most dangerous and beautiful gifts you can give.

18. Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.

19. You can--and should--be friends with someone even if you disagree. 

20. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship to be happy and fulfilled.

21. Backing up the hard drive is a good thing to do from time to time.

Who's a fictional character you really look up to? What are some of the best lessons you've learned from them? Which of these was your favorite? Did you catch all my references? ;)

*disappears in another puff of smoke*