marvelousbutterfly

[marvelousbutterfly]

You'll never make it like that (too bad) - Chapter 1

Peter's sensory issues applied to what he ate as well, to the point where it affected his day to day life. This is 5 times Peter's selective eating fucked him over + 1 time he knew how to handle it.

(To clarify - Peter's issues with food are related to his sensory issues, so he's selective based on textures, color, size, taste, smell and other aspects of food.)

Read on ao3

1

When Peter turned 8, he had a small, science-themed party at home. Ben and May made the most of what they had for the decoration, with a table full of test tubes filled with candy and beakers as jars of juice. They all wore lab coats made by May, and Ben provided some pairs of safety goggles to complete the costumes.

The next thing they had to decide on was the cake. May had absolutely no skills in the kitchen, and although Ben could cook delicious meals, he had no experience with baking and he wasn’t about to risk testing it on his nephew’s birthday. So a store bought cake was the best option, they concluded. It would be a very small party - only the 3 of them, Ned and his parents, plus a couple neighbors -, so a simple grocery store sheet cake would be enough and fit right in their budget. 

Peter was very specific with what he ate. He’d always order the same things from the same places, rarely willing to try something new. When it came to cakes, he liked chocolate, carrot or plain vanilla. He couldn’t stand marble cake - the mix of both colors bothered him. With that in mind, plus a list of the grocery stores Peter liked best, the couple was prepared for their last task. While May took the boy to the library, Ben would go to the places in the list in search for the perfect cake for their kid. Ben managed to get a plain chocolate cake from Peter’s favorite store, and although there was a sticker announcing it was a “new, improved recipe”, he thought nothing of it - how much could a simple chocolate sheet cake change?

The party went well - although there weren’t many people, Peter had fun. He and Ned were excited as ever with the decoration, and both squealed happily when Ben gifted the birthday boy a chemistry kit for children. Then, it was time for the cake and Peter had a smile from ear to ear.

Once they sang happy birthday and the cake was served, guests and hosts alike sat down, talking quietly as they ate the dessert. May frowned as she noticed Peter stopped eating, staring at the cake slice on his plate almost as if he was offended by it, his mouth obviously still full. When she noticed his complexion turning green, she cursed under her breath and rushed to him just as he started gagging. 

Ben soon understood what was happening, quickly calling Ned over and keeping the conversation with his neighbors going to spare Peter the unnecessary attention as May coaxed him into spitting the mouthful of cake into a napkin and took him to the bathroom to rinse his mouth. But Ben’s efforts weren’t enough, as the others soon turned their heads to see the commotion when Peter began crying loudly.

“No no no no no” he sobbed, voice getting louder and louder with each word, “Bad cake.”

As May tried her best to calm him down, Ben took care of the guests, who looked incredulously at him.

“He’s throwing a tantrum because he didn’t like the cake?” asked Mrs. Thomas, one of their neighbors. “Isn’t he a bit too old for that?”

“It’s been a long day for him,” the man said, “you know how they can get cranky.”

The truth was, Ben was still trying to understand Peter and some of his mannerisms. He was sure most of it stemmed from the trauma of having lost his parents at such a young age, and he and May were working on taking him to a child psychologist once again. 

The party quickly came to an end, with Ben trying his best to defend Peter from the guests’ judgment. Ned’s family were the last people to leave, kindly reassuring Ben after his many apologies.

As it turned out, the “new, improved recipe” the grocery store had come up with for the chocolate cake included rice krispies in the filling to add a crunchy texture to it. A texture, as May and Ben would later learn, Peter was not expecting to be on a cake. With time, all three of them learned to accommodate the boy’s needs better.

[marvelousbutterfly]

I'm almost done with the first chapter of my next story, I'm so excited!!

[marvelousbutterfly]

Strong enough to get it wrong (fearless)

Read on ao3

Summary: Peter is anxious about an upcoming Academic Decathlon competition and ends up pushing himself too far. Tony is there when he falls.

______________________________________________________________

To say that Peter was stressed was an understatement. There was a big AcaDec competition coming up and he did not feel ready at all. Ned and MJ both tried to reassure him, but it only eased his anxiety for a moment, before the feeling was back, making his stomach churn uncomfortably all week. 

So he practiced all day, every day, barely able to sleep. He even dreamed of it one night, for Thor’s sake. The sleep deprivation, combined with the increased intake in caffeine made him even more anxious. By Thursday, he was a shaky mess, and it was closely noticeable, judging by the concerned looks he got from his friends all day. Even Happy eyed him suspiciously from the rear view mirror on the way to the Tower - Peter had almost forgotten it was a lab day.

Rocking side to side, one hand tapping repeatedly on his thigh as the other held onto his flashcards tightly so he could read despite the movement of the elevator, Peter didn’t even notice he was on the floor of Tony’s lab until he heard someone clear their throat. He looked up from the paper in his hand.

“Oh hey, Mr. Stark.”

Tony eyed him up and down, his eyes narrowed and eyebrows close together.

“You okay, kid?”

“Peachy,” Peter said, forcing a toothy smile.

“Hmm” was all he got in return.

If Tony noticed he was lying, he didn’t mention it. They soon got to work, Peter nervously moving his leg up and down the whole time, fingers tapping on the workbench in an unsteady rhythm. In between tasks, he would try and recite the information he had memorized for the competition for practice, cursing under his breath whenever he messed anything up. 

“Peter?” Tony called.

“Hm?”

“Are you sure you’re okay, bud? I’ve been calling you for a while.”

“Right, I’m sorry!” the boy shook his head to try and concentrate, “Wha- What do you need, Mr. Stark?”

The man rolled his eyes, gently pushing Peter by the shoulders back into the chair.

“What I need is for you to stop hiding things from me. What is it? Head injury? Stepped on lego again? Out with it.”

Peter swatted his inspecting hand away.

“I’m not hiding an injury, Mr. Stark. Promise.”

“What is it, then? Is it that girlfriend of yours?”

“Her name is MJ and you know it,” Peter rolled his eyes, then sighed as he saw Tony’s unimpressed expression. He knew he couldn't stall anymore. “I’m just a bit nervous about a competition that’s coming up. Haven’t been able to practice much.”

Okay, so that was a half-lie. He had been practicing almost 24/7, but it didn’t feel like much.

“Why don’t we practice here, together?” Tony offered.

So that’s what they did. Tony would ask the questions from Peter’s flashcards and help him remember some of it.

It wasn’t going very well, though, as Peter kept forgetting or mixing up some of the answers. His hand that wasn’t flapping nervously by his side came up to rub at his chest, where there was an uncomfortable feeling. It kept intensifying as the questions went on, until he could barely breathe or hide it anymore..

“Come on, Pete, you know this one. We talked about it last week, remember?” Tony coaxed him patiently.

“It’s, uh” Peter tried, but he couldn’t concentrate anymore. He frowned, rubbing his chest harder as he felt it get tighter.

“Peter?” he heard his mentor call, but it sounded distant. That was weird, wasn’t Tony next to him just now?

His breaths started coming in gasps as his chest got too tight. He blinked a few times, in a futile attempt to clear his head. Suddenly, he felt something cold under him. Oh, he was on the floor. When did he get there? Peter could hear his own wheezing breaths now, and his head felt too fuzzy for him to make out anything else.

A warm hand against his caught his attention, though only partially, as he was still drowning in the sound of his ragged breathing.

“Can you feel that?” a voice asked, breaking through the fog, “Try to match my breathing.”

His hand was now against another surface, which went up and down slowly. That felt so peaceful. He tried copying it, maybe then he could feel more peaceful too. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he wanted to give up, but something stopped him from moving his hand.

“Yes, you can do it,” the voice was back, even more gentle than before. “In, and out.”

He did his best to concentrate on the voice and the sensation on his hand. After what felt like hours, he could finally breathe again, and his heart didn’t feel like it was trying to escape anymore.

“There you go,” he heard again. Was that Tony? “Can you try to open your eyes now?”

So that’s why it was so dark. Peter squeezed his eyes shut even more tightly, trying to feel them again, then opened them slowly. The lights were dim, comfortably so. He was sitting on the floor, propped up against the wall, and sitting right in front of him was Tony, who looked concerned.

“Hey buddy,” the man said, “good job. Just keep taking deep breaths.”

His mentor was holding one of Peter’s hands against his own chest, taking exaggerated breaths for him to copy. After a few more minutes, Peter was no longer shaking and his breathing was finally back to normal. He tried rocking back and forth, but the panic attack had drained all of his energy, it seemed, because his body just sagged against Tony. The man held him tight and started rocking both of them instead, knowing the motion was comforting to Peter.

It didn’t take long for Peter to fall asleep like that, and Tony carried him to the couch once he was certain the boy wouldn’t wake up.

Later that evening, Tony called May to let her know what had happened, and they both worked together to create a healthy study schedule for the upcoming competition - with no caffeine involved this time.

[marvelousbutterfly]

Irondad Creator Awards 2024 - Info Post

WE’RE COMING BACK FOR A 4TH YEAR WITH EVEN MORE ENTHUSIASM!

WHAT? — Awards for fanfic and art creations and creators of the Irondad Fandom.

WHEN? — Voting in the Final Round is now on.

A list of categories can be found here.

Previous Winners can be found here.

Links to bookmarked nominees can be found here.

Round One Voting is now closed.

Final Round Voting is now open. You can cast you vote here. Voting ends September 16th at 10pm PST. In the Final Round you may vote for one only.

The Story Finalists are listed here - Part 1 & Part 2

The Writer Finalists are listed here

The Art Nominees are here

WHY DO THIS? — Still riding high of the success of 2021, 2022, and 2023 we’re here to showcase the many amazing creators of Irondad content once again. We have had so much fun in previous years and it’s been great to see so many people getting involved by nominating and voting.

WHAT DO I WIN? — The fabulous @monireh is creating the winners prizes this year and her stuff is always beautiful.

MISCELLANEOUS  — If you have any questions, feel free to send an Ask or DM.

WHAT CAN YOU DO  —   Tell your friends! Tell your followers! Tell your readers! Reblog! The more people that hear about the awards and nominate/vote, the better. We want all creators to have the chance to shine.

[marvelousbutterfly]

Oh in other very important news, I adopted a puppy 💕

[marvelousbutterfly]

I'm back

Hi, I'm finally back! I've been struggling with some stuff, but I'm back to writing. Thank you to those who kept reading and leaving comments on my Autistic Peter Parker series <3 And thank you to those who nominated and voted for me on the Irondad Creator Awards, it means a lot!

I'm working on a new one-shot, but for now there is a ficlet for you all. I will be posting the entire thing here soon, but here's the ao3 link:

[marvelousbutterfly]

Who turned the temperature hotter? ('Cause I'm burnin' up)

Read on ao3

Peter being asleep when he’d usually go on patrol was odd enough, but his shivering form was what really made her concerned. He didn’t even stir as she felt for his temperature, and she couldn’t help but wince in sympathy at his warm skin. Or in which sickness and sensory issues don't mix.

Peter felt like shit. It started with a headache around the second period, so mild he couldn’t pinpoint it at first, but then it progressed throughout the day. Navigating the school hallways got harder and harder as the hours went by, his tired limbs protesting every move. Looking in the bathroom mirror after having splashed some water on his face, Peter noticed he - thankfully - didn’t look that bad, only a bit paler than usual. Still, his friends noticed something was up, if their worried glances were anything to go by.

At lunch, he laid his head on his arms, relieved by the cold surface of the cafeteria table.

“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” asked Ned.

Peter only grunted in response, not even looking up at the boy.

“Seriously, I’m taking you to the nurse” said MJ, “This has been going on for too long now.”

“‘M fine, just a headache” the boy retorted, trying to dodge her hand reaching for his face.

“And a fever” she retorted after feeling his temperature.

And she was right, but that didn’t stop Peter from being stubborn enough to endure the rest of the school day. It was a Monday, for Thor’s sake, he wasn’t about to start his week by missing chemistry class. His fever didn’t quite agree with his decision, though, as it only got worse. By the time he got home, all he could do was curl up on the couch and sleep.

______________________________________________________________

That’s how May found him hours later, coming back from her shift at the hospital. Peter being asleep when he’d usually go on patrol was odd enough, but his shivering form was what really made her concerned. He didn’t even stir as she felt for his temperature, and she couldn’t help but wince in sympathy at his warm skin.

She gathered everything she needed before gently squeezing the boy’s shoulder.

“Peter, baby,” she said quietly, “can you wake up for me?”

Peter groaned but complied, opening his eyes and looking at his aunt in confusion as he took in her concerned gaze.

“May?”

“Hi, honey. You have a fever. Can you sit up for me?” she asked, motioning for the medication on the coffee table.

The boy complied, but she couldn’t help but notice how he could barely hold himself upright, leaning heavily on the cushions. She handed him the medication created for his metabolism and he took it with no complaints, desperate to get rid of whatever was causing him to feel this bad.

The thing is, for Peter, getting sick was more than feeling icky and under the weather. Each symptom could easily trigger his sensory issues, not to mention how frustrating it was to not fully be able to determine what exactly were those symptoms. 

So for the next couple of hours, Peter whined in distress about the feeling of his feverish sweat all over him. And by the pont his stomach could no longer hold onto the crackers he had finally been able to eat at May’s insistence, a meltdown was inevitable. A very slow, agonizingly lethargic and painful meltdown. May tried her best to calm him down, but his high fever wasn’t helping with his ability to process her words, so all she could do was let him ride it out, and feel her heart break in the process.

He curled up on his bed under his weighted blanket, one hand by his mouth as he bit his knuckles - May had tried to get him to use one of his chewables, but Peter only gagged at the texture.

With a sigh, frustrated that the medication clearly wasn’t working, May pulled out her phone.

“Tony, I need your help.”

______________________________________________________________

Peter arrived at the Tower’s medbay with a 103 degree fever, an empty stomach and an aching body. After the doctors got him set up with an IV line and a quiet room, Tony finally got in.

“Hey buddy” he said quietly, closing the door behind him as he entered the room. “Not feeling too hot, huh?”

“I’m getting sick of this,” he deadpanned. “Pun intended.”

Tony snorted, sitting next to the hospital bed.

“The doctors got you some nice medication, it will help soon,” he reassured the boy and himself. “Do you need anything?”

“I need to not feel gross and sticky anymore” was Peter’s response, and Tony could see he was fighting the urge to scratch at his arms, which were already littered with scratch marks from minutes before.

“I’m sorry, underoos. Wish I could help with that.”

He could see the energy draining out of the kid, so he attempted to reassure him and lighten up the mood.

“Well, you heard the doc, though. Soon we’ll have the test results. Once we figure out what’s going on, we can make you feel better in no time” he assured. “In the meantime, we can watch any Star Wars movie you want to. I’ll grab the remote.”

“Great, ‘cause the force is definitely not with me at the moment.”

______________________________________________________________

And it wasn’t, indeed. Halfway through the movie, Peter had his second meltdown of the day, just as sluggish as the last one.

Tony cleaned the boy’s sweat with a smooth and cold cloth, knowing that the sensation of sweat all over his body was one of the aggravators of Peter’s current state. It  wasn’t an easy task, though, as Peter’s head kept going back and forth to slam into the thin mattress, pillow already forgotten on the floor where it had fallen minutes before. Tony winced in sympathy.

He didn’t even know how the kid had the energy to do that, as all his movements have been slow, his body having no strength to spare. His eyes were glazed over in a feverish haze and all he could do was whine and grunt to express his frustration.

“You gotta keep that there, buddy,” Tony said patiently, prying the boy’s hand away from the IV still in his arm, providing him with much needed fever reducers. He worried about how sluggish the kid’s movements were, though, as it had taken him about 5 attempts to finally reach the offending object.

Peter cried in frustration, moving his other arm so he could bite down into his fingers, head still banging onto the mattress below him.

“Stop stop stop, make it stop” he sobbed weakly, and Tony’s heart sank.

“I wish I could, kiddo” he lamented, “just a few more minutes and we’ll figure out what’s going on.”

“No more minutes, I can't,” the boy hiccuped.

Despite his pleas, it took 10 more minutes until Peter’s body finally lost all its energy, and he fell asleep with tear tracks still on his face. It only took 5 minutes after that for the doctors to come back with answers.

______________________________________________________________

“Pesticides?” asked May incredulously.

“I’m afraid so,” confirmed the tall brunette doctor. “We found traces of ethyl chloride in Mr. Parker’s system, along with other common components of pesticides. My team did some research and we got the information that his school has used such products over the weekend, and Mr. Parker must have had a reaction to its remnants, as his system is very sensitive to it.”

Tony and May looked at each other, not sure how to react. She was the first to break the silence, turning to the doctor once again.

“So what is our next step?” 

“Well, from the latest exam, it seems that Peter’s metabolism and his healing abilities have already taken care of the substance itself, but it took a strain on his body. The fever and vomiting were probably caused by his body trying to expel whatever was affecting him, so what’s left for us to do now is treat those symptoms. We’re keeping him on fluids and fever reducers still, as well as medication for his stomach. The ideal is that he’s able to eat tonight, or we’ll have to take some more drastic measures due to his fast metabolism.”

The lack of food and dehydration were indeed big concerns, Tony knew that. The boy was already so weak he could barely sit up on his own, and he’s seen firsthand what a couple days with not enough food did to his metabolism.

The doctor reassured them that, despite the concerns about his food intake, Peter was on the track to a speedy recovery. Tony and May thanked her, finally exhaling in relief as they at last knew what was wrong.

May returned to Peter’s room where he was still deeply asleep after his meltdown, and Tony decided to make himself useful by cooking him some soup, a recipe his mother used to make when he was ill.

The kid did manage to eat about five spoonfuls of the broth before pushing the bowl in Tony’s hands away from him, turning his head the other way.

“You have to eat, kiddo.”

“No more” he cried weakly in response, hands shaking, “please.”

“Okay, we can try again later” Tony gave in.

‘Later’ turned out to be early afternoon of the next day, as Peter slept all throughout the night. It was a relief, as he didn’t have to go through any more meltdowns during that time. Overnight, his fever finally broke, and May was quick to help clean the sweat it caused, hoping to avoid any more distress for her nephew.

The doctors kept him in observation for the day, only letting him go upstairs to the living room once he had managed to eat half a bowl of soup. Their orders were that he get more rest and drink water to avoid getting dehydrated once again.

Ned and MJ visited him after school, and although Peter was quiet and would doze off from time to time mid-conversation, they stayed with him until he actually fell asleep.

May sipped on her tea in the corner of the room as she watched the two teens whisper their goodbyes to their sleeping friend. Between them, herself, and the man currently asleep on the smaller couch while holding a 3D model of an ethyl chloride molecule he was converting into a stim toy, Peter had a good support system. They would be okay.

[marvelousbutterfly]

Okay, bad news, it's gonna take me a while longer than I anticipated. I was out for a whole week with dengue fever and now I'm having laptop troubles 💀

I'm finally working on a new autistic peter story!! I have so many in my drafts

[marvelousbutterfly]

Coming This Summer...

The 2024 Cycle of the Irondad Creator Awards will run this summer with nominations opening July 1st!

[marvelousbutterfly]

So um that new spiderverse short?

[marvelousbutterfly]

[marvelousbutterfly]

the scene that broke our hearts in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (2014) VS the one that healed an entire generation in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021)

[marvelousbutterfly]

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), dir. Jon Watts

[marvelousbutterfly]

it’s important to me that peter and co always have their bank accounts in the negatives . like it is fundamental that spider-man is broke

[marvelousbutterfly]

I'm finally working on a new autistic peter story!! I have so many in my drafts

[marvelousbutterfly]

more happy stims bc i need serotonin 

[marvelousbutterfly]

I was today years old when I learned that when you type “otp: true” in AO3 search results it filters out fics with additional ships, leaving only the fics where your otp is the main ship