[CENTER][COLOR=SLATEGRAY][B]C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L[/B][/COLOR][h1][b][color=9e0b0f]B L A C K ⧗ W I D O W[/color][/b][/h1][hr] [img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/54/6d/86/546d860a11f70ff755701b28c160da26.jpg[/img] [h3][sup][sub][color=LightBlue]NATASHA ROMANOV [color=9e0b0f]♦[/color] SPY [color=9e0b0f]♦[/color] GLOBAL [color=9e0b0f]♦[/color] S.H.I.E.L.D. AND THE AVENGERS[/color][/sub][/sup][/h3][img]IMAGE/BANNER[/img] [/CENTER][COLOR=9e0b0f][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR] [CENTER][sup][color=9e0b0f]"I've been thinking a lot about life and death. When something surrounds and madly engulfs your entire existence, you can't help but give it more than just casual consideration. Life is fluid. Some 90% of what we are is made up of water. Without this precious liquid we are nothing. We cease to exist. We're dead. This water's carried around in thin-skinned sacks. We must all be insane to race recklessly about in world filled with so many sharp and pointed dangers. That's just asking for trouble."[/color][/sup][/CENTER] [INDENT][INDENT][i]This Black Widow is going to be a mix of MCU and some comics. Her backstory is that she used to be a KGB agent, and was biologically modified to have an extended lifespan. She actually fought through the 60's-80's as a KGB agent. At the end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Union she began to seek answers regarding what it meant to be a warrior and came to the conclusion that the Red Room was not just, righteous, and worth fighting for. So she defected, and joined SHIELD where she has been operating ever since. This puts her at about 80 years old, but she still as healthy as she was in her prime because of the Red Room modifications. She was the most successful Soviet attempt at a super soldier like Captain America. So while she is more known for not having super powers, this Black Widow will have some version of enhanced capability like in the comics. I'm planning on having Black Widow figure herself out in a wholesome kind of way. The darkest part of her life is behind her, she is on the road to recovery and living a fulfilled life. She has already found the place where she belongs, now she is just struggling with questions like if she deserves it at all. Or what to do now, why people are heroes in the first place, what do people really mean too each other? Even if she cannot find definite answers to all the things she is looking for, she will at least come to peace with that and not let it get in the way of her sense of fulfillment. There are some darker aspects of her character of course. But she is two years into her tenure with the Avengers and many more years into her experience as an Agent of SHIELD. At some point she was a cold, aloof, emotionless killer, but she has moved beyond that into being a reserved, friendly, socially awkward dork of a killer instead. [/i][/indent][/indent] [COLOR=9e0b0f][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][i]I want to play a lighter, more opened up Black Widow. Something like what I imagine post-Endgame Black Widow would have been had that been explored, but combined with a longer, more clearly defined backstory as a cold-blooded killer. She still has a lot of unresolved guilt and trauma but she has found a close network of friends she trusts, and she [i]loves[/i] being an Avenger, which is something she could not say about her KGB work or even her previous SHIELD work. While before she was only doing what she did out of moral obligation and a desire to be useful, now she is doing what she wants to do. Help people, make the world better, and find a way to be happy and sad in peace and among friends. She is only two years into her work as an Avenger, and she is still fairly new to this whole being genuinely compassionate thing. I like the hypothetical contrast between her being a master manipulator and social engineer with her enemies but being somewhat of a goober around her allies. In her long life she has been many people, but she has never really been herself until recently. So she is still working out all the knots and kinks. Serious and professional is still her default state, but it doesn't take much for her to try and express herself better. [/i][/indent][/indent] [COLOR=9e0b0f][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][i] [hider=Allies I'd like her to have, PC or NPC] Allies I'd Like Nick Fury- Black Widow's mentor, though she is older than him and she even joined SHIELD slightly before him, he has been an authoritative and reassuring figure in her time at SHIELD. While of course she follows all of his orders, she also trusts him as a person, not just as her leader. Hawkeye- Natasha and Clint have always been best friends. I don't see any reason to discontinue this trend here, so I will talk to Hawkeye's player about their relationship. They are kindred spirits, both independant agents who have come together into a team. Ideally they knew each other before the Avengers project, preferably far before. Captain America- I'd like for Natasha to be friends with Steve Rogers. While she is more suspicious of things like patriotism no doubt she would admire someone like him who is sound in his principles and cares about the lifes of individuals and liberty. Iron Man and Thor- These characters could be a lot of different people but since they are all on the Avengers project I'd like them to be close friends aswell. Or at least they try to be nice too each other. At this point they have been Avenging things for 5 years so hopefully they have gotten over whatever roadblocks or personality clashes they may have had, at least somewhat. Bruce Banner- Both of these characters have done lots of things they regret in situations they really had little to no control over, but perhaps feel like they did. I don't plan on having them be romantically involved as of right now but I think they could be close friends aswell, though they probably won't be the cheeriest two when they are together. All other Agents of SHIELD- Natasha has been at this for a while now, though she was a lot more serious and gloomy in the past as she was still kind of in KGB mode for the last few decades even with SHIELD. So I would like to have at least passing acquaintance with whatever characters end up in SHIELD. Street level heroes- I would like Natasha to go out on recruitment or scouting missions to meet with more heroes, be they Marvel or DC. People SHIELD has a vested interest in monitoring or getting under their thumb. Kind of like Phil Coulson but for people they don't know the secret identities of. Or maybe there could be some plot line that catches SHIELDS attention. Point is Black Widow has the potential to make cameos in other people's stories which is one of her best aspects. I'm totally down for this. Ask me anytime, I may even come to you but if you would like to have a person to roleplay with Black Widow can be there. [/hider] [hider=Potential Enemies] Enemies The Red Room- The organization named after a place where killers are made. This secretive organization was thought to be destroyed after Black Widow betrayed and lead the hunt against her former trainers, and killed Ivan Petrovitch, her "father figure". The Red Room is now being lead by Madame B, who has co-opted the forgotten sect of the KGB for her own nefarious purposes, once again beginning to train elite female assassins to gain power from the shadows. Potentially allied with another mysterious organization of another player's backstory? Yelena Belova: Another Black Widow that survived the destruction of the Red Room, thought to have been killed. Natasha knew Yelena as children and they served on some missions together, but Yelena was always envious of Natasha's success. She did not take being #2 very well, which was only compounded when Natasha betrayed The Red Room at the end of the Cold War. Now she seeks her revenge and to prove that is the world's most lethal assassin. Enemies of SHIELD- Other than that, Natasha will battle evil wherever it is found. As far as she is concerned, she died up all of her loose ends when she got revenge on Ivan. The Red Room storyline is not particularly high priority to me. My main focus is on Black Widow's relationships with her fellow heroes rather than that of pre-determined villains. [/hider] [/i][/indent][/indent] [COLOR=9e0b0f][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]S A M P L E P O S T:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR] [hider=First Real Chance] [INDENT][INDENT][i] [u]Year One[/u] There was a crash of glass and splitering wood. The criminal, in his ruined one thousand dollar suit, fell hard onto the concrete streets he exploited for his own personal gain. A knife clattered out of his hand and skittered against the red brick wall. In the orange light that shone through the broken window and into the midnight alley, a vaguely feminine shadow appeared. He looked fearfully up at the woman before a burst of electricity struck him in the chest and he fell unconsious with a thump. The woman sighed, catching her breathe, stepping out into the cold air. She was wearing a mostly black bodysuit, with red highlights, enforced with thin but extremely durable and damage absorbing material. A utility belt contained various tools, and two handguns, and one baton. The other baton was in her left hand, and she had just finished firing a stunning round from a mechanical gauntlet device on her right hand. Over her face was a balaclava that hid everything except for her steely, large hazel eyes that were done up with faded make up. That, and a loose strand of red hair. [color=9e0b0f]"SHIELD, this is Black Widow. Eight suspects have been neutralized. No casualties."[/color] She reported calmly as she put away her weapons and fiddled with her weapon, the Widows bite. Black Widow had a slight russian accent. She could easily obscure it, and for a majority of her time in America, she did. But now that she was on the Avengers and social camoflauge wasn't so required, she felt comfortable with the harsh edges of a Moscow tongue. "Roger that, Black Widow, clean up crew in enroute. ETA five minutes." A male voice reported in over her ear piece. [color=9e0b0f]"Sounds good. I feel great. These guys are pretty small fry, though are we sure-"[/color] Widow interrupted herself, having noticed something creeping behind a dumpster. She made eye contact with the shadow, and it stood up. Widow prepared her Bite, just in case. "Are you BLack Widow?" A mousy little girl with ratty clothes asked, peering from behind the dumpster. "Black Widow? Are you all clear?" The other SHIELD agent asked over communications, having noticed Black Widow cut herself off. [color=9e0b0f]"Uh, yeah, just gimme a minute." [/color]Black Widow said, turning off her comms with a tap of an index finger against her ear. "You are!? Wow!" The girl replied, having assumed Black Widow was talking to her. She trotted up excitedly, looking up at the shadowy agent. "You're my favorite avenger!" [color=9e0b0f]"Oh?"[/color] Black Widow asked flatly, standing with her arms hanging awkwardly at her sides. "Yeah, cause you're a girl, and I am too!" She said, smiling and nodding enthusiastically. [color=9e0b0f]"I, uh...okay."[/color] She replied uneasily, looking down at the unconscious man. [color=9e0b0f]"That is great, but I am kind of in the middle of something here-"[/color] "When I grow up, I wanna kill bad guys, just like you! Is that a bad guy!?" She pointed at the man. "Did you kill him!? So cool!" She punched the air triumphantly. Inwardly, Black Widow's mind was going into overdrive and her heart was melting. [color=9e0b0f]Okay, okay. Um...what would Steve do?[/color] Natasha thought to herself, knowing that she should probably do something...heroic. What would a hero say? She was a hero, right? Something had to be done about this little girl and her misconceptions. Natasha leaned down, hesitated, and then crouching down instead into a squat. She reached out to pat the girls shoulder but then stopped, letting her hand fall onto her own knee.[color=9e0b0f]"Hey, uh, listen here...little one. My job is not to kill bad guys. My job is too...save good guys. There's a difference."[/color] She concluded to the best of her ability. She smiled, but the little girl could only see it in her eyes. The homeless child seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Are...are you Russian?" Natasha blinked. [color=9e0b0f]"Uh...only when I want to be."[/color] She replied with a shrug. The little girl seemed to think that was immensely impressive, which made Natasha feel something that was hard to describe. "Well, okay. When I grow up, I want to be from Russia and save good guys. Just like you!" The little girl concluded triumphantly, pointing at Black Widow. [color=9e0b0f]"Okay, good," [/color]Black Widow replied, her voice breaking a little bit. [color=9e0b0f]"And uh...no, this bad guy is still alive. I captured him. Maybe one day he could be a good guy again."[/color] She gestured with her masked head towards the man. The kid seemed puzzled. "Bad guys can be good guys?" Natasha considered this a moment, staring at the ground. When she made eye contact, there was more resolve there. [color=9e0b0f]"Yes. Yes, I believe so. I...I was once a bad guy, myself."[/color] The child gasped. "Really?" [color=9e0b0f]"Da."[/color] Black Widow nodded solemnly. [color=9e0b0f]"But with some help, I am no longer such a bad guy." [/color] Natasha explained summing up her life story in a short sentence. "Yeah! Now you're a hero!" The child agreed with a big smile. "I didn't know that. Do you think there will be no more bad guys? One day?" She asked. Black Widow wasn't so sure. But she found it hard to say no. [color=9e0b0f]"Yeah. One day."[/color] She responded. The child wrapped her arms around the Widow's shoulders and squeezed her as tight as she could, which wasn't very tight. "I love you!" [color=9e0b0f]"Wh-wha-"[/color] Black Widow froze up. [color=9e0b0f]"Okay- no you don't. But that is very, uh, nice of you to say. But you- I am- hey, don't-"[/color] She gently pushed the child off of her. She was glad she was wearing a mask because her face was as red as the emblem on her torso. [color=9e0b0f]"What- what is your name?"[/color] She asked. "Christina!" She replied. [color=9e0b0f]"Do you- have somewhere to stay? You are street child, yes?"[/color] Natasha asked simply, glancing down at her torn up shoes. Christina nodded. [color=9e0b0f]"Okay. That is okay. I know a place for kids like you to stay. Would you like to sleep in a bed and have a sandwich?"[/color] Natasha asked, a little too wordily. [color=9e0b0f]"For, uh, for free."[/color] She added. "Yeah, sure! My mommy didn't want me anymore." She said plainly, causing the agent to wince. She chuckled slightly before stopping herself, her face turning even more red. [color=9e0b0f]"I'm sorry. That is not funny. I just...I didn't expect you to say that and...that is not funny. I am sorry that happened to you. You're safe now."[/color] She cleared her throat, feeling terrible. Stupid, Natasha, stupid! Fortunately, Christina didn't seem offended. She just stood there with a little smile on her face. Was she in shock? Or maybe she was just tough. Just a tough kid who's had a tough life. --- The last of the criminals was loaded into the back of a police van, the powered individual among them being carried away in a super secure SHIELD carrier. Little Christina was by Widow's side as they watched the bad guys be carried away. [color=9e0b0f]"Okay. All right. Here, one of these nice police men will take you to the place. I will-"[/color] Natasha began. "Could you take me?" Christina asked, looking up at Widow with big eyes. Natasha tensed up again.[color=9e0b0f] "...Are you sure?"[/color] She asked quietly. Christina nodded. "Mhm." A few minutes later, Natasha had secured the closet thing she had to a Black Widow mobile. A subtly powerful black sports car that smelled nice and was extremely comfortable. Christina was in the backseat. [color=9e0b0f]"Seatbelts."[/color] Natasha reminded her as she buckled herself in. Christina nodded, sagely, and did the same. Realising they were alone, Black Widow wondered what she should do. Adjusting the rearview mirror, she pulled the balaclava off her face. Her red hair, tied into a tight bun with red hair that stuck up in every which way. That recieved another gasp. "Wow! You're pretty!" Christina exclaimed. [color=9e0b0f]"Tch,"[/color] Natasha replied with a small smile, starting up the car. The electric engine silently rumbled to life. [color=9e0b0f]"Thanks, I guess."[/color] She replied. Natasha contemplated the child. She did not know much about child pyschology, but this girl probably needed a therapist. Hopefully she would get the help she needed. Natasha sure as hell couldn't give it to her- Christina was a force of nature. They drove along. Street lights came and went, painting the car with soft light. Christina began to tell Natasha her entire life story. To say the least, it wasn't good. Black Widow just listened, feeling sorry for her. Sorry for Christina's rough lot in life. It wasn't an uncommon story, but Natasha had never taken a front seat to a kid like this before. She was tough, though. But it was clear she needed someone she could rely on. They pulled infront of the shelter. Natasha was gripping the wheel tight. Underneth her gloves, her knuckles were turning white. [color=9e0b0f]"All right,"[/color] Natasha announced, her voice coarse. [color=9e0b0f]"This is the place, Christina."[/color] She opened the car door and let Christina out. The inside was lit with stark white lighting. Encouraging if generic posters lined the walls and people, homeless and staff both, milled the walls. Black Widow stuck out like a sore thumb, even if she had left all of her weapons in the car she was still dressed to kill. People looked at her with awe, admiration, wonder, suspicion. She tried not to look at any of them, keeping her face down. [color=9e0b0f]"I am here to drop off this homeless child,"[/color] Black Widow declared seriously to the receptionist. He seemed a little surprised at who he was talking too, but quickly went into professional mode. "Oh, of course." He smiled down at Christina. "You know her name?" He asked. [color=9e0b0f]"Christi-" [/color] "Christina!" She replied for herself, chirpily. "Well, Ms. Christina, come right this way. It's dinner time, we're serving turkey and gravy. We'll get you taken care of." Things moved quickly after that. Before she knew it she had signed some paperwork officially catalouging the incident and Christina would be protected and moved to where she needed to be. Maybe her mom would face criminal charges, maybe she wouldn't. Maybe things would work out for her...or maybe they wouldn't. Christina gave Black Widow one last hug, which the woman returned this time as best as she could, since she was quite unexperienced with the act. It was stilted, Widow's elbows too far out to the side. Christina didn't seem to mind though. "Bye Black Widow!" She said goodbye for the fifth time, waving as she lead by the hand into another room. [color=9e0b0f]"Goodbye Christina. You can call me Natasha, if you'd like."[/color] Natasha said quietly, too quietly for anyone to hear her and stop the farewells yet another time. Black Widow was alone in the sparseley populated room. Some people looking at the back of her red head wondering if it would be appropriate to ask for a selfie or an autograph. It seemed all of them concluded that the young looking agent was not in a good mood for it. They let her drift out of the shelter unpestered. Natasha Romanoff sat in the front of her car, gliding it into a nearby parking lot that was only lit by a distant, flickering street lamp. She remained there in silence, her eyes staring off into the middle distance. Her eyebrows knit together and her lower lip began to tremble, and for the first time in an exceptionally long time, Natasha began to cry. She quietly mourned for the childhood that Christina and herself had lost; she silently rejoiced that despite that, hope could still find them both. [/i][/indent][/indent] [/hider] [COLOR=9e0b0f][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]P O S T C A T A L O G:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][i][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5178588]Fancy Pastries[/url][/i][/indent][/indent]