#MJ-tries-to-animate

[iloveacronix]

Learning how 2 animate, someone give me motivation to finish this wip </3

[buckys-little-belle]

Hi! This is my first time requesting so I’m really nervous and I’m sorry if my request sucks! I was just wondering if you could do another plus sized little reader but this time with Bucky? And she’s really embarrassed about being at the park because she gets hurt and so does peter but he gets picked up and she’s worried she can’t be picked up and snuggled because she’s too big and she’s just sad but then Bucky comes in and picks her up and reassures her that she’s still little and that he’s strong and that he still thinks she’s a little? Maybe she’s pretending to not be a little because she’s big again like you did in the last story but Bucky knows better and gives her a sweet band aid? Sorry this is so long you don’t have to do it! Have a good day!!!!!!!!

It's okay, Baby.

Warnings - Talks of swing accident, talks of scrapes, band aids are used, as well as ointment, there's a talk of snacks at the end, and both Bucky and Y/n have a habit of sneaking around each others apartments.

Notes - It's been so long again since I've written something, but I hope you love this anon! Thank you for the request, and I promise you did a great job requesting!

SFW - Please keep all interactions with this post, and this blog, SFW

. ☆ . ☾ . ☆ . ☽ . ☆ . ☾ . ☆ . ☽ . ☆ .

The park at the compound was huge, it had tons of slides, climbing areas, and more. It was the coolest place Y/n had ever seen. As her friends played some imagination game, running around across the wooden plank bridge and sliding down the fireman's pole, she sat on the bench with the bunch of caregivers.

Y/n hadn't identified as either little or caregiver when she showed up to the compound a year ago. She had gotten rude comments and mean looks in the past when she told people she was a little. And she wasn't ready to see what those she lived with might have to say.

Everyone on the playground was small, pickupable, even if they were tall, and it made her feel like she didn't belong by the side of her smaller friends in a smaller headspace. "Y/n!" Peter yelled, hanging off of the rope swing waving her over. "Push me!" He giggled, swinging his legs as he tried to get some air.

Y/n smiled as she walked over, pushing down the bit of her that wanted to be pushed on a swing too. "How high?" She asked, giving peter a few pushes, only ever getting "Higher" as a response.

"Wait!" Y/n could hear someone say from the playground, she turned to check it out but before she could see who had yelled Peter and the tire swing swung back and knocked her on her feet.

Both her and peter were laid on the mulch, scrapes from the wood gracing their hands, tears trailing down both their cheeks. "I'm so sorry!" Peter cried, missing one shoe.

"It's my fault, I wasn't looking." Y/n tried to smile, tried to not slip into her little headspace as she often did when hurt. "I didn' mean to!" She sobbed, her pain bearable but her worry for peter making her chest squeeze.

Tony and MJ walked over to peter, Tony picking him up and MJ checking his ankle to make sure it wasn't hurt.

Y/n stayed seated, tears still dripping down her cheeks as she tried to will herself to stand up and walk away, but the aching in her chest as she watched Peter be worried over made her feel worse. "It's okay, Baby." Bucky said quietly, approaching her like she was an animal ready to run at the first sign of danger. "You got a couple of owies, huh?" Bucky squatted down, now level with Y/n.

"'M fine Buck." She tried her hardest to sound big, to sound put together.

"You're bleeding, Baby." Bucky helped her stand, brushing the mulch off of her before he looked over her hands. "Let's go get these cleaned up, hm?" He asked, waiting for Y/n to agree.

Y/n wasn't sure what was happening, or why Bucky was acting so sweet and kind to her. And she couldn't get his use of 'Owie' out of her head. But she felt hazy, not sure if she could stay big too much longer, her hands stinging more and more as the minutes passed.

The moment she nodded her head in agreement Bucky picked her up, one arm acting as a seat for her, Y/n's arms quickly wrapping around his neck. "Bucky!" She squealed as he walked them towards the compound. "'m too heavy, put me down!"

"I feel offended, Baby." Bucky chuckled, not out of breath or even slightly winded as he held her close. "I'm a super soldier, I can carry you no problem."

Y/n tried her best to think of a comeback, think of something to say to make him understand that her being picked up wasn't right. Yet the warmth his arms and body gave her, and the few forehead kisses he planted on her forehead as he walked made her disputes die the moment she thought of them.

"Okay." Bucky whispered, walking into his room then his bathroom, turning on the light before setting Y/n on the counter. "Let's get these hands patched up, okay?" Y/n nodded her head absentmindedly.

"T'anks." She said in a quiet voice, hands held out as Bucky cleaned her scrapes. "'m sorry for falling."

"Look at me, Baby." Bucky said, his hand resting under her chin. "You didn't do anything wrong, you just looked away for a second, it's okay, sometimes little's get distracted." He said calmly, quickly getting back to dabbing ointment on her hands.

"'m not a little!" Y/n said defensively.

"Y/n." Bucky looked her in the eyes. "Do you want a regular band aid? Or a princess one?" His words were said with a serious tone, and the look in his eyes made Y/n think he would definitely know if she lied.

"Princess Band aid." She pouted, hating that he saw through her. "Bu' maybe I jus' like princesses." She shrugged her shoulders.

"I know you like princesses, you have Princess blankets, and princess barbies, you also have a princess stuffie that you hide behind your bookshelf." Bucky said nonchalantly.

"How do you know all of 'dat?" She shook her head, looking at Bucky confused.

"I snoop when you go to the bathroom when we have movie nights in your room." He shrugged.

"Dat's creeping, Buck." Y/n giggled.

"Where do I hide my favorite gum?"

"The top shelf of the cupboard beside your fridge!" She cheered.

"Yes you creep, you know that because you sneak around when we have movie night here." He tickled her sides, making her giggle and forget all about her scraped hands.

"Okay, we can be creep buddies den." She held out her pinky.

"Creep buddies." He smiles, linking his pinky with hers, helping her off the counter, promising to turn on her favorite Princess movie if she had a snack. With the way Y/n giggled and smiled and seemed to come out of her shell, Bucky knew that he and Little Y/n would get along just fine.

[spaceorphan18]

How an animated series saved Remy LeBeau (again)

It's a bit of a hyperbolic title, but catchy, non?

I was looking over my comic collection as I've decided to reread X-Men's 60 year history over the course of the summer. And it got me thinking about a dead period of 616 canon that I've never actually read. Around the time Rogue hooked up with Magneto and scooted off to the Avengers, I decided I'd be done with comics for a while. And didn't start again until Rogue (and Gambit) came back to the X-books in 2017's Astonishing X-Men. But it made me wonder -- What happened to Gambit in that time??

Well, after his solo ended, he flitted around to X-Factor and hung out with X-23 and then kind of went 'poof' for a good long while.

Why? I can only guess the same reason this is a running motif with Gambit. There's something about him that drives the X-Office crazy. I'm not here to speculate what or how or who of it all. I don't know enough about the back end of Marvel to give concrete answers. But I think what has surprised me (recently) is that he's definitely a fan favorite character.

[Yes, I know he can be a divisive character. Yes, I know elements of his character from the 90s have not aged well. Yes, I know there are those of you who can't stand him. Don't really care - you can get off my lawn, thank you.]

Which got me thinking -- Gambit's original popularity, I believe, stemmed from the original X-Men Animated Series. He had just started showing up in the comics at the time, and had barely any kind of page time. And the X-Men TAS swung and was a hit. And so was Gambit.

I don't really know that Gambit would be around today if TAS hadn't done its thing. Would the X-Office have kept him around? I really have no idea.

But they did try to get rid of him. That was the point of leaving him in Antarctica. And things were just never the same after that. Claremont tried his best in the early 2000s. And then Deathbit happened. Carey's run wasn't bad. But Carey clearly had an agenda for other things... And then, Gambit just kind of faded into the background. (I hear his run as a side character for Laura (X-23) was good - but I haven't read that.)

Bless Kelly Thompson (always) for sparking life back into him with (and his relationship with Rogue). And bless the fact that she actually married him to Rogue. Yes, I understand comics -- my god look what they did to Peter and MJ, no one really gets to be happily married except Sue and Reed. He and Rogue are now really tied together in a way that I don't think is going to be undone any time soon.

Even if the X-Office still isn't thrilled with the guy. Krakoa era has been less than ideal. (I can't comment on it fully - I haven't read much of it, as I'm behind on my comic reading.) But I've heard rumors that one reason Thompson was let go was that she didn't want Gambit killed off. And she didn't like the direction they wanted to take the character.

Which leads me to X-Men 97. Killing him off sucked. Really. As a fan, it really sucked. But - my god, the reaction to it. Gambit was amazing. And all I've heard lately is good things about the character. There's been a Gambit resurgence in the best way. He may have went out -- but he went out with a bang. X-Men 97 made an emotional impact with people. And that changes things.

Gambit is cool again.

And I love it.

What's even more exciting is the fact that the X-Office has changed hands again and Gail Simone on Uncanny who (if her Twitter/X feed is to be believed) is really enjoying writing the character. Which means (hopefully) at least another year or two in the comics of some (hopefully) great Gambit stuff.

And maybe there will be some changing of hearts and minds in the X-Office.

It's actually very exciting.

And, guys, I really (really, really) doubt he'll be completely gone from X-Men 97, too.

Because Remy LeBeau never stays down for long.

But as a fan, it's nice to see him be on top again. And I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon.

[dearest-painter]

MY perfect family! PT.1

Summary:Being a father of two is hard but when your single? It’s even harder especially as Spider-Man. Finally when you and your kids get back to your earth after being in Earth-1610 you’re immediately added to a society? What happens when you help the anomaly while people are obsessed with you?

TW/CW:Yandere behavior, unhealthy behavior, unhealthy relationship,abusive behavior,abusive relationship,Reader has 2 kids,Reader is a single dad and spider-man in his earth,The baby mama DEAD AS HELL, very out of character characters,this is a series,Reader was with the og spider crew during into the spider verse,people might be out of character,tell me if I need to add more

You and Peter B arrived but you were surprised to see Miles here. “BUBBA!” You chuckled as Evangeline ran to Miles who crouched and picked her up. “Oh look at how much you’ve grown Eve! Did dada do your hair?” “Mhm! Daddy did me and sissy’s hair!” You walked into view as you held Ayano who was munching on her stuffed animals ear. “What can I do, Im quit talented!” Miguel was watching you..as always, it’s honestly quite creepy with how often he just stares at you. Ayano made grabby hands at Miles with a few ‘Ah! Ah!’ Noises. Miles put down Evangeline as he took Ayano. “Hola Aya” She giggled as she grabbed his face, Mayday now had her stuffed animal.

“Miguel doesn’t bite!” You chuckled and shook your head at what Peter B said then mumbled “Yes he does..fucker bites and growl, be very careful” Miles nodded his head as he trust you very much, Ayano was given back to you as Evangeline was sitting and holding onto your leg. Miguel loved the way you took care of your daughters..he loved the way you acted..yet he hated how fucking stubborn you were! You always found a way to piss him off yet make him fall more in love with you! It was annoying!

You weren’t really paying attention as you bounced Ayano a bit as you texted the usual babysitter. ‘Heya Casey, mind babysitting all of next week? I’m going to help my mom at the hospital and need someone to watch them for a bit’ it took a while but he responded. ‘Yes I can! Expect Friday and Sunday as I’ll need to leave early as we’re having a family reunion, is that okay?’ You responded. ‘Of course! I know someone who can take those day!’ ‘Okay thanks Y/N! See ya next week!’ He was a sweet man who was attractive but you were to busy for relationship.

Lyla was watching the entire text go down..luckily it wasn’t romantic to her and Miguel’s relief just you needing a babysitter. Lyla knew the way Miguel stared at you wasn’t fully innocent..she could see the obsession in his eyes but..she’s encouraging while making fun of him. She herself is just happy that someone is making Miguel less of a grump but still a grump, she chuckled as Ayano and Mayday climb him as this happens SO often! Sometimes when you aren’t paying attention he tries to get her to call him Dada and pretend it’s for you.

Peter B was staring at you lovingly as you and your kids payed half attention to Miguel, he’s always loved you since the day he’s looked at you. When you and your kids first met Evangeline was three years old and Ayano was about 5 months old he presumes(FUCK LOGIC!) but goodness you looked hot in and out of your suit. MJ or his MJ doesn’t mind and actually is willing to let him date you but only if your okay with it as she isn’t really mad as she’s also sorta obsessed with you. Miles leaned on you and you ruffled his hair making him smile, your his dad or other father figure and he loves it. Your one of his many father figures he’d kill someone for.

[hippotooth]

OC Deep Dive Questions

Thank you for the tag, @theameba1436 ! This was fun to think about and answer!

I’m not sure who’s done this already or not, and no pressure of course, tagging:

@d-saster-chron-cles @dirgecomic @geckogeckogecko @sunflowergem @adorablebanite @archduchessgortash @mj-bites

@erme-aeterna-arts

Anyone else who sees this and is interested please feel free to join in too! I love getting to know the details of everyone's Tav/Durge.

Questions/Answers for my beloved durge ~Tuatha~ under the cut

What common/uncommon fear do they have?

Tua’s biggest fear is that she is unlovable and that getting close to her only brings suffering.

Do they have any pet peeves?

People being indecisive. She loses patience quickly when people dither about – particularly if someone changes a plan that’s already been committed to.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

A collection of fancy perfumes, neat looking bones, a well-cared for plant.

What do they notice first in a person?

Physical threat – Tua’s first assessment upon meeting someone is how easily she could take them in a fight, if they’re armed, etc. – like Mac’s Ocular Patdown from IASIP.  

On a scale from 1-10, how high is their pain tolerance?

10 – Tua handles pain easily, she’s quite used to it. She’s trained as a monk and has supreme body/mind control which she can distance herself from her body easily when anything gets too intense.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

Fight! Tua likes to fight and is often looking for an excuse to start one. She’s a resist durge, she tries to be ‘good,’ (if only to gain approval from others) but if she feels there’s any way she can justify the bloodshed, however flimsy the excuse, she’s happy to do so.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

Tua is a durge character. She never knew her mother and was bounced around between foster families in Baldur’s Gate for most of her childhood. Many of these families were abusive towards her and she was eventually taken into the Bhaal temple after killing one of them. She does not claim any family.

What animal represents them best?

Mongoose!

What is a smell they dislike?

Tua doesn’t like the smell of cities – she gets overwhelmed and irritated by the fusion of smells you find in them – cooking odors, waste, animals, wells, smoke – all these smells individually are fine but their fusion in an urban setting offends her.

Have they broken any bones?

Many at various points, she doesn’t remember most of them.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

Off-putting and intense. Tua vacillates between being very intense and smiley when trying to appear friendly or intensely withdrawn. She has very limited social skills.

Are they a night owl, or morning bird?

No preference! I’d say most consistently she likes transitional hours, like dawn and dusk.

What’s a flavor they hate and a flavor they love?

Tua adores bitter flavors and her favorite food is leafy greens. She hates the taste of fatty meat.

Do they have any hobbies?

Tua likes collecting perfumes and the fancy bottles they come in. She initially started stealing them from her victims as a trophy – she enjoyed bathing herself in the scent of her victims, being able to walk amongst the city cloaked in a symbol of her kill with no one the wiser. Once Gortash noticed this hobby he took to gifting her luxurious perfumes as well.

Tua also like keeping dangerous animals as pets, gnolls are a particular favorite of hers. She spends time researching different creatures and doing experiments to see how they may survive in captivity.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprise?

“You like me, you really like me!!” Tua would be very happy anyone cared enough about her to throw her a party. She would probably cry.

Do they like to wear jewelery?

Tua enjoys jewelry, however, she finds it can be a hazard while fighting so she rarely wears it. She normally has some stud earrings in. She likes to steal jewelry and gift it to her lovers, she enjoys dressing them up.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

Extremely messy.

What are the two emotions they feel the most?

Shame and longing

Do they have a favourite fabric?

Linen – breathable, easy to move and fight in, easy to clean

What kind of accent do they have?

The standard in-game accent

[wlwprker]

alive- tom!peter parker x reader

a/n: i always write with tom’s peter in my head but you can imagine any peter you like!! sorry if theres grammar issues i wrote this in like 2 days at 3 am 😭 i missed writing for him! hope u enjoyed! feedback is appreciated❤️❤️

summary: peter parker has always been your best friend for as long as you can remember. he knows you in a way you’ve always wanted someone to know you. he understands you, every single part of you… it was inevitable that your feelings for him started to run deeper, right?

warnings: minimal proofreading, insecurities, misunderstood!reader, ; lowercase intentional, use of italics + bold!

w/c: 2,387

you always knew you were not like the other kids at school or even within your neighborhood. you never saw that as a bad thing, your brain just worked differently than most people, and you always felt miles away from your peers.

there weren’t many people who truly understood you and that was your world.

after years of being in public schools where you felt like a zoo animal in a cage, you finally decided to go to a school where at least those who were different could all be together.

Midtown High, the ‘gifted’ school, you always dreamed of being a student here, but you could never have imagined getting to walk through the halls every day.

you blinked away those thoughts as you stepped into Midtown High, finding your way to your locker, your eyes lighting up as your friends joined you.

you never asked or expected anybody to understand you, but when you found people who did, it was like that was the missing piece that you always needed.

you were torn away from your thoughts by a gentle touch and a sugary sweet voice that belonged to none other than peter parker.

“hey, where’d u go?”, he whispered, only for you to hear as his fingers softly touched your wrist.

an apology was on the tip of your tongue, but you swallowed it down.

“just thinking, what are we talking about?”

peter’s eyes are locked on you, and you know that look, he knows you way too well. he knows you like the back of his hand. you look away as you start subconsciously tracing symbols on the cafeteria table.

his stare is burning into you, you force yourself to turn your attention to your other friends who are caught up in conversation about a new movie. your ears perked up as you caught onto the specific movie they were discussing.

the new wicked movie.

“oh my gosh! i just watched it recently! i love musicals! i remember how many times i’ve seen it on broadway! i finally got my friend from my childhood to watch it with me! the choreography was insane, the vocals, and do not even get me started on the harmonies. i was also reading about the audition process-“ you cut yourself off as you look back to find everyone staring at you completely dumbfounded, everyone except peter, mj and ned.

you got excited and talked too much… again.

“girl slow down”, betty laughed. there was no malicious intent in her words, you knew that, but that didn’t make it sting any less. you stood up to throw away the lunch that you barely ate.

peter placed his hand on the table next to yours, and you’re about to lock eyes with him but the bell rings. you grabbed your bag and started to walk away, but he stopped you in the hallway.

“do you think i talk too much?”, you blurted out and then you shook your head.

“don’t answer that, it’s fine”

“hey, look at me”, peter said, but you focused your eyes on your rings as you turned them anxiously. peter tapped your rings to get your attention.

you tried to fight against it, but he always captured your heart in one swoop, and you slowly looked up.

“there you are!”

your heart almost burst at his soft smile, and it was this moment; this exact moment in time that everything clicked.

you adored peter more than anyone, he’s one of your best friends in the whole world but the way he’s smiling at you… it felt different.

the realization hit you like a tidal wave and your throat felt tight. you had just realized that you liked peter and suddenly the hallway felt smaller.

the shift in your behavior was obvious to peter. he furrowed his brows as he opened his mouth to voice his concern, but the bell rang and suddenly mj was guiding you to the next class, leaving peter in the hallway, completely confused.

“spill it, y/n/n”, mj said in a hushed tone as you shook yourself away from the distracting thoughts of him.

“i.. it’s nothing”

mj stopped short and gave you a knowing look, it’s hard not to tell her anything when she knows you this well. she’s one of the few people in the world who never judged you or made you feel like you were “different”.

“you’re going to laugh”, you said as you looked at her, internally cringing at the admission you were about to say to a real person.

“probably, but who cares”, mj shrugged as she shoved your shoulder playfully.

“well..peter-“, you cut yourself off as he walked by, forcing the confession down to the deepest depths of your heart.

mj’s curiosity had peaked even further as you both walked into english class, thoughts of your feelings for peter circling around your head like a million little birds.

a tap on your shoulder tore you away from frantically writing notes to distract yourself from your head and heart. you put your pencil down and turned to find peter looking at you, concern etched across his face as his cocoa-colored eyes caught yours.

as luck would have it, you had found yourself back at peter’s house after school.

“so are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”, peter asked quietly. you didnt respond, so he continued.

“you looked like you were going to pass out in the hallway today”

oh. well, its not like you can exactly tell him.

“oh i’m fine”, you settled for a lie, hoping that would be enough to move on, but it wasn’t. it’s peter, he knows you and cares for you too much to let that slide.

peter had moved the books out of the way, his full attention on you, which made every emotion and thought in your head even louder.

“y/n, we’ve known each other long enough to know that isn’t true”, peter said as he poked your cheek with the end of his pencil. you looked down at your overly rusted rings, twisting them.

“oh my gosh, i almost forgot!”

you looked up from your rings and peter placed a little box on your knee. you rubbed your brows in confusion as you unwrapped the box. inside the box contained two gold rings with a spider emblem engraved in them.

“penny for a penny”, peter said as he watched you examining the rings, and your heart lurched at his words.

you can’t believe he remembered that promise the two of you made all those months ago. a penny for a penny, a promise to always tell each other everything.

you took out a penny and placed it in the middle of the floor. peter pulled out a penny and placed it next to yours.

“i’m spider-man and i know i should have told you sooner, but they go after people i care about and i was trying to protect you because i didn’t want you to get hurt. please don’t be mad”, peter said softly with worry lacing his words. “i got two rings, one for you and one for me… so we’re always with each other”, peter finished with a shy smile.

“i’m not mad, pete”

he sighed in relief as he took his penny away from the center and your heart picked up speed. your secret was much less daunting, but it made your heart race to think about all the outcomes.

peter urged you to speak. you bit your lip, looking at the ceiling as if some magical forc on his ceiling would make it easier.

“i realized today that i like someone…more than a friend. kill me, please, i sound like a 12-year old-girl” you whined as you flopped down onto your side.

“who is it?”, peter asked excitedly, leaning his cheek on his hand, looking down at you.

he has no idea how incredibly hard he’s making this for you.

you shot him a look that had him laughing hysterically. you sighed as you pinched your eyebrows together.

peter smiled as he looked at you. he would never get tired of looking at you, you were one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen. he’d do anything to see you smile, and he would move planets to hear your melodic laugh that makes his heart ache. he loves to hear you talk even if you think you talk too much, which you don’t, not at all.

the things he’d do to make you happy and if he’s the cause of your happiness, it makes the sun shine brighter.

oh.

oh.

peter really liked you. he never realized what he felt for you was not platonic at all.

he was down bad.

“oh c’mon!”, peter teased as you groaned and snatched your penny away.

you got back to the work you had initially planned on doing and then when he spoke up again, your heart caught in your throat.

“are you going to ask them to homecoming?”

his question circled in your head in the weeks that led up to homecoming. every single day being around him was getting harder to suppress the growing feelings you harbored for him. you were staring at him as he talked to liz. she’s pretty, she’s popular and incredibly sweet, you understand.

“oh my god that’s what it is”, mj appeared next to you, startling you away from your analysis. you sent her a questioning look, but she spoke before you could defend your actions.

“you like peter, don’t you?”

you didn’t respond, but that was an answer in itself. peter walked away from liz and joined you and as soon as he started to take a seat, mj got up from the table. you sent her a warning look, but she smiled and sent you a thumbs up. you groaned dramatically as he took a seat across from you.

you were staring at him again, you couldn’t help it. you always loved the way his face lit up when he got excited, the way his whole body shook when he found something funny. you longed to reach forward and trace his dimples when he smiled. you wondered what it felt like to be held by him… or to be looked at like you were the only thing that mattered.

your mind trailed off further. you pondered what it would be like to finally kiss the lips of the boy who always spoke to you in a soft tone. the boy who had a contagious laugh.

would it be better than you imagined?

peter’s cheeks tinged with a light pink when he noticed you staring, almost as if you were analyzing him. he was never really looked at in that way, he never really stood out to people.

“you can always take a picture, i’ve been told they last longer”, peter joked, and you cleared your throat awkwardly as you suddenly found the rings on your finger so interesting. you looked at the ring peter got for you and spun it around a few times.

peter’s eyes had locked onto the ring he got you, and he didn’t know how much longer he could handle not being yours. he took notice of your silence and furrowed his brows in concern as he softly grabbed your hand, tracing a finger along the emblem on the ring which only made your heart beat faster. his hand fitted over yours perfectly, and you wished that you could be the one to hold it every single day of your life.

“hey, what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”, peter whispered sweetly. you nearly fell off your seat when you registered the word “pretty”.

peter’s words hit you hard. you told him everything, but this… it’s risky, he could never talk to you again.

you don’t know what made you want to tell him. maybe it was his hand in yours or the way he was looking at you as if there weren’t other people around… but you took that jump.

“do you remember that day at your house when i told you i liked someone?”

peter nodded as he kept his attention focused on you.

peter squeezed your hand as a way to reassure you, but that made your heart feel like it was going to jump from your chest and walk away.

“peter, it’s you.. the one i like, it’s you”, you said as you stared at the table. you waited for a sign of rejection from him, but it never came. you looked up from the table to see peter smiling brightly with pink-tinged cheeks and a soft look in his eyes.

“you like me too?”, peter asked quietly. you scrunched your nose and pinched your eyebrows together in deep thought.

“you are killing me, do you know that? you’re so painfully adorable, it drives me crazy. you drive me crazy”, peter said as he looked at you.

too? peter likes you??

peter smiled brightly as he watched the gears turn in your head. he has liked you since the start, he just didn’t want to overstep or scare you away.

“soo homecoming…” peter trailed off as he moved a piece of hair away from your face.

you felt shy under his gaze and the small touch of his fingers on your cheeks was enough to give you butterflies.

you attempted to bite back a smile, but it didn’t work very well.

“is now a good time to say that..” you started to tease him but barely got a word out when peter got out of his seat and sat next to you, you lost your words and your breath all in a matter of seconds. peter stood up and held his hand out, for you, which you took gratefully.

“now, lets go, we have some catching up to do”, peter said as he intertwined your fingers together and held onto your hand for the whole day.

you were pretty sure your cheeks could have broken with how much you were smiling all day.

you were thankful to peter, the one person who understood you enough to make you feel alive.

[hawkogurl]

I barely get to talk about Corpse Harry on places that aren't discord (if you want more him in real time join the discord come talk to me about him) but recently we had a very good discussion of the fact I need to lean into FTDverse Harry effectively being the antichrist more because its so fucking funny

-He cannot enter churches or any similar religious sites. It's not even like, video game out of bounds invisible walls. It's like minecraft slime blocks. He tries to go to MJ's wedding and gets flung halfway across the street

-Similarly, he's repulsed by religious symbols. Peter lets him hold his star of david and it burns into his palm.

-When near anything religious in connotation, his nose will bleed

-He is the first white man with a reason he thinks salt is spicy. He can still eat it, it's just spicy. Confusingly, this means he has a higher normal spice tolerance.

Harry: It's sort of weird, salt is spicier than most habaneros or ghost peppers or whatever Harry: You know how it is Harry: Being white

-Holy water physically burns him

-He can't eat foods traditionally religious in connotation. He tries to eat matzo and the back of his throat just fucking detonates.

-He has Wolfe Glick Milk Curse

-Absolutely has had an Evan Kelmp "A pig's head in a butcher shop told me that god and the devil killed each other" moment. Dead animals regularly tell him things. He has learned to humor them.

-Has no shadow

-Prior to dying his eyes didn't glow, but they were reflective sort of like a cats

-"Man, I wish I could visit my mom's grave more but whenever I try dead people's hands always shoot out of the grave and grab my ankles. Totally normal grave experience that happens to everyone."

-While they're 'dating' MJ drags him into an oddities shot with various animal skulls and taxidermy animals and their heads and the skulls kept turning to face him and all the candles near by immediately went out and the owner freaked out at him and kicked them out

-"Hey dad, someone in a yellow mask on the subway today just handed me their wallet. What do I do?" Followed by Norman thousand yard stare in his direction as he's reminded that he's being spoken to by the physical manifestation of his worst decisions

-Every full moon Norman gets reminded of his faustian stupidity as he walks into his son's bedroom covered in uncomfortably familiar symbols drawn in blood he cannot determine the origin of.

-Harry is absolutely terrible at all science, but he can easily identify most animal skulls and name most pre 18th century alchemical symbols on pure instinct. Peter manages to get him to pass high school chemistry by using alchemy symbols to teach it to him. He doesn't think it's weird, he just thinks Harry is autistic too.

-Harry is frustratingly oblivious to the fact none of this is normal

[cherryvampiro]

 Next generation creek kids (ft. 2022 art of MJ, Nancy, &Sonya) Introducing The Flower Scouts: Troop Honeysuckle & The Alvarado kids Jaime & Laura 🌼🌼I’ll write a little about them below:

Troop Honeysuckle:

 Troop HS are a girl scout group that fill in the role for the scouts in the future. Just like their predecessors their main goal is to protect the wildlife & kids of the creek (Though in a less assertive way compared to he original). They all follow under their scout master Shawn and when he isn’t present, Stevie fills in the role as troop leader. 

Stevie: Stephanie “Stevie” is the eldest of the trio (12). She joined the scouts at the age of 7 both out of curiosity & to help her get more settled in the states. Stevie speaks 3 languages: Spanish, English, & American Sign Language. She’s an openminded girl who’s happy to learn new things.

 Penelope: Penelope (10) is levelheaded chilled out kid. She carries with her all sorts of helpful & useful things in her backpack. Band-Aids, hand sanitizer, rope, snacks, you name it she has it!! Penelope’s reason for joining the scouts was cuz of her mom hoping it’ll help her focus more. Penelope often gets lost in the clouds and completely zones out on everything around her. So it may take a couple hollers to ground her back to earth. 

 Regina: Regina (8) is the daughter of Big Red & Boris. Regina wanted to join the scouts so she could be just like her dad. Reggie’s more of the muscle/crowd controller of the group, with her loud voice & stronger than average 8 yrs strength, she can really clear an area. Under that tough shell though she’s a real sweetheart! She knows more about the animal wildlife than the others. 

 The Alvarado Kids:

Jamie: Jamie “Two Punches” (9) is the son of Kelsey & Stacks. This little dude loves boxing with the passion! You’ll rarely ever see him without his red gloves. He spends his time at the creek practicing throwing swings at trees. Jamie’s called “Two Punches” cause he throws one punch as a warning & then a second to put down/knock out his opponent (inside & outside the ring if anyone tries it). He’s a good sportsman and would never fight outside of self defense. Jamie also has a habit of calling everyone “Coach”, including his moms. 

 Laura: Laura (10) is the daughter of Kelsey & Stacks. She’s a selective mute who doesn’t say more than a few hums. Unlike her brother she spends most of her times in the library with her mama (Stacks) instead of exploring the creek. When she does explore the creek she often brings her pet cockatoo, Cantaloupe, with her. Laura likes to write down what she’s seen or done at the creek. Her moms often encourages her to share her writing in a live journal but she’s too shy to want to do that just yet. 

 That’s all I have for these kids!! Sorry I didn’t draw more outside of them just standing there 💦 I love making silly character designs for this show & thinking of a future of these characters 💖💖 Thanks for reading!! 💗💗

[minimarvelh]

Peter coming out to Tony as aromantic.

(Happy aromantic awareness week!!!)

💚🤍🖤

The thing is,

Peter loves hugs.

no, not like this.

He fucking LOVES hugs. That’s more like it.

For him curling up at someone’s burying himself at someone chest is the best thing in the world.

He loves when someone wraps his arms around him and pulls Peter towards in a gentle, protective hug. He loves burying his head against someone’s shoulder. The feeling of the warmth and comfort he felt was enormous and always brought him feeling of safeness and love. He is almost starving and dying if he can’t wrap his entire body like koala at someone. Is he dramatic? Probably, but it’s just the way it is: Peter Parker can’t live without hugs.

He hugs everyone he feels safe with. He likes to cuddle at their Thai night with May, he likes to cuddle with MJ and he like to cuddle with Ned.

But.

He never hugs Tony Stark. And it’s not like they don’t hug at all. No. When Tony hugs him he is always accepting them, leaning to it. But. He knows if he will allow himself to much, Tony would know how clingy he is. Once he got affection from Tony he was desperate to be the closest is possible to Tony, but he didn’t want to scare the man. He didn’t want to screw things up.

So..he tried not to show all of that.

It was inevitable. Peter knew this day would come when Tony would ask about it. And it came.

They were lying at the sofa, watching “Academia Ambrella” while Tony gently stroking Peter’s hair, while the kid without noticing, leaning closer to touch. His eyes close as he drifts into an even deeper state of relaxation, making Tony smile softly.

Nothing could interfere with this moment.

Apart from…

"How long have you been dating MJ?"The question catches Peter by surprise, although he has been waiting for Stark to ask him this for whole 2 months. He is even slightly surprised why the man took so long to ask it.

Tony smiled friendly and winked.

"May told me everything, you thought I wouldn't find?"

It took all of Peter's strength not to cringe and shudder at the discomfort of this question.

The thing was..they were never in a relationship with MJ. May just walked into his room once while they were on his bed and his face was burying into her chest, while she stroked his hair(like mr. Stark right know) and she came to conclusions that they are secretly dating and Peter is just really “embarrassed” to admit it to his aunt and no denying this relationship factor could convince her that they aren’t dating.

It didn’t matter. In school everyone assumed that they are dating just because Peter twice was too affectionate with MJ in front of their class…When people see to people, especially the opposite genders, being too touchy with one other, they are already assuming that they are dating.

And it pissed him off so much. Why people are so in love with the idea of relationship, and romantic love? Why can’t you be in a platonic soulmate kind of way be in love with someone?? Why it always should be romantic or sexual context here?

MJ didn’t care about all of it, although she 1000% didn’t like him in a romantic nor sexual way.

She even had a crush on some guy from her art school, Mark he thinks his name is. (although she vehemently denied all allegations) And Peter..it was a bit complicated here.

It wasn’t the fact that he didn’t want to love. He desperately loves people. That’s why he is always helping other people and animals. He just doesn’t want that love, that portraits at the shows or books. He likes holding hands with MJ, but he doesn’t want to kiss her or any other girl. He likes hugging Ned but he feels gross even thinking about kissing him or any other boy.

Is it scary? Yes, he feels like he came to this planet broken. Like he was cursed because… what will he do in the future? Everyone will eventually find their loved once and will finally settle in, they will make families with bunch of beautiful kids, while he will be just…there. He will just wait for them to find time in their busy schedules, maybe once in month or two, if he’s lucky. And at these meetings they will probably talk about friend’s partner or kids. And don’t get him wrong he would love to hear about this stuff, just..what will happen with them? With building Star Wars legos at 2 am, binge-watching stupid comedies at the evening with sugary drinks and popcorn? It all will become a memories? He couldn’t bear it. It’s just too much.

Then one Friday, it was exactly 6 months ago, when he looked at the tumblr and one post was lightning at the top of the page. Happy Aroace week. He was really supportive of lgptq+ community but he never heard of something like that. So he curiously went to google and..well, googled it.

He slowly read the definition.

«Aromantic-Asexual, often shortened to AroAce, is a term that refers to an individual who is both aromantic/aro-spec and asexual/ace-spec. AroAce can be used for any individual who identifies with both spectrums.»

Okay, well that didn’t explain a lot.

He clicked another link.

«Aromanticism is a romantic orientation wherein an individual experiences little to no romantic attraction toward other people.

Asexuality is a sexual orientation wherein an individual feels little to no sexual attraction or desire for physical intercourse with other people.

Combining both aromanticism and asexuality, aroace individuals do not feel any romantic and sexual attraction toward other people»

And suddenly it clicked. Everything began to make sense. He still felt broken but not so much and he felt..relieved.

During these 6 months, he read large amounts articles and tumblr posts about it, made even few acquaintances along the way and was way more confident in himself. But..seeing romantic relationships on TV and whistling from Clint or gentle “knowing” May’s smile made him feel…like he doesn’t belong here. Even if he knows that he is, in fact, not broken, sometimes he can’t help but feel like he is broken.

Peter tries to steady his breathing because in no time Tony would hear it and become worried.

On the background there were muffled dialogue between Luther and..number five? Anyway, Peter atopped paying attention to the TV a long time ago.

Peter rested his head on the Tony’s chest, surprising the man, who is now wrapping his arm tighter and in more protective way, while boy nuzzling into him.

It’s now or never.

"We’re not dating”

“Yeah, May said you will deny ev-“

“I think i might be Aromantic” in one breath said Peter, also it came a little muffled because of him resting his head and Tony’s black t-shirt.

There was silence. Peter was afraid to breath. He felt like ruined everything. Of course, he is always destroying everything beautiful in his life and yeah, now he ruined the best relationship he had in his entire life, and now his dad—

" I am really sorry to ask you, I really am, but can you explain me what is it?" came Stark's soft and calm voice.

Peter glanced at him briefly.

The man's face didn’t show any disgust or desire to throw him away..all man’s present was filled warmth and feeling of his supporting hands, who never let Peter down and an encouraging smile which prompted Peter to respond.

"It’s when..when people have lack of desire to be in a romantic relationship.

"Like we are capable of love, we just don’t have desire to date people.." Peter hastened to add.

Tony listened intently and really thoughtfully.

"I am sorry”

Oh no…no please, Peter imagined all sort of reaction from Tony but he didn’t expect pity like he is a pathetic piece of human. And somehow it felt way worse than denying or any other reaction Peter thought of.

One millisecond from Peter’s bursting into tears, Tony added.

" I am really sorry about my behaviour before. When we were watching that comedy “how I met your mother” and I noted about how one day you will find love of your life. God, I can’t even imagine how you must felt. I am really sorry for all that and…thank you. For sharing about this with me" Tony was looking very worried and slightly distressed thinking about all the way he hurt Peter”

Peter’s hurt clenched with pain and with...love..with so much love that he could comprehend himself to suppress this desire and he just…

He climbed like a koala on Mr. Stark's lap, wrapping his arms around man’s neck and inhaling his scent whispered "Thank you."

A familiar hand began to run circles on his back, soothing him.

"Always."

[lasanya539]

livin' like we're renegades

(written for @tmnt-secret-santa-2024 for @lavadragon365)

Fandom: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Prompt: I'd love to see how you think April O'Neil met the turtles. Word Count: 11676

Posted on AO3!

--

Here are the facts about April O’Neil: 

a) She is nine years old, studying in the fourth grade, and just got the okay from her principal to be placed in the gifted students program next semester. She’s reading books at the seventh-grade level, and according to Mr. Reinhart, has the ‘critical thinking skills even my twelve year old son doesn’t!’

b) She is the daughter of one of the best brain doctors— sorry, neurosurgeons— in New York City. Her mom is so good at her job that she started making more money this year, so both of them moved from their old home in the Bronx to a bigger, nicer apartment in Manhattan. It has a floor made of real wood instead of dirty carpet, which is good because it’d been making April sneeze a lot recently.

c) She is the biggest fan of Jupiter Jim. Ever. Like, there is no competition at all. Her classmates from school don’t know who that is, and her mom is always too busy with either work or her favorite telenovelas to care about the awesomeness of the JJ and Red Fox duo. So she is, by default, the numero uno fan.

d) She has a secret. It’s a pretty big secret, she hasn’t told her mom and she hasn’t even told her stuffed giraffe Jorge, whom she tells everything to. 

And the secret is: she knows a real-life superhero. 

It sounds like a story straight out of a sci-fi movie. Like she’s the MJ to a Spider-Man, except she doesn’t have the red hair and she’s scared of spiders. But it’s true: there is an awesome, friendly, neighborhood Sewer-Man in their city! April doesn’t know what he looks like or sounds like or if it’s even a he, but she swears up and down that he exists. And that he helps her out when she needs it.

And if there’s anything she knows about superheroes, it is that their secret identities are very important to them. So she curbs her instinct to go searching, and keeps his secret for him, like a good friend. 

She hopes the Sewer-Man thinks she’s just as cool as she thinks he is. 

--

The first time she ever meets him, she’s on her way back from school with her mom, telling her about her science class. 

“And then Ms. Kappernich showed us a bunch of pictures of all kinds of reptiles and sea animals. Did you know reptiles can change colors based on temperature?” April hops from one brick in the sidewalk to another, making a game of it as she hangs off her mom’s hand. “Iguanas can change their skin to be darker when it’s cold out so they can absorb more heat!”

“Oh, can they?” Her mom asks jovially, looping her arm around her shoulders and squeezing as she giggles. She’s ecstatic that her mom was able to come pick her up—usually she works most afternoons and her babysitter picks her up after high school. But Mom has no surgeries scheduled today, so she surprised her by showing up.

“Yeah, it’s so cool!” April continues excitedly. “A lot of reptiles have cool color changes—like turtles! Did you know some turtles can actually glow underwater? It’s like the light from my glow-in-the-dark stars at home—it helps them see underwater better.”

“I see,” Mom hums interestedly. “Is that why you picked a turtle for your project?” She nods to the small sculpture in her hands. 

It was the assignment their science class has been working on all week to finish off their unit: a paper-mache sculpture of a reptile of their choice. It took April quite a few tries—and a lot of hard work and patience—but she was able to make a tiny, flat turtle just in time for their presentation today. She’d painted it her favorite shade of green, with a yellow smile on its face, and a bunch of blue and red hearts on the shell.

“Isn’t it pretty?” April holds it up higher for her mom to give it another look-over. “What do we wanna name it?”

“Hmm, how about ‘April Junior’?”

“No, mom, not a dumb name.”

“Hey, April is a very pretty name, and—oh, nuts,” her mom hesitates for a second, fumbling in her purse for her phone as it suddenly buzzes. “Hold on, sweetie, it’s work, okay?”

“Okay.” April shrugs. Being a neurosurgeon is hard work, so her Mom always gets calls in the middle of their conversations, sometimes even during dinner or their once-a-month nail painting parties. Sure, it sucks, but she’s very used to it so it doesn’t bother her anymore.

She plays with her turtle sculpture, waiting on a sidewalk to cross the road before they walk towards home. There’s a little space right in front of the window on her desk which would be the perfect place to keep it, so her new buddy can watch her while she studies for her reptile quiz on Monday. 

April wonders if she should put a little more glue on its foot and paint it a brighter shade of green, hearing her mom talk rapidly over her shoulder to her coworker. And suddenly a motorcycle blares past her, pressing its horn extremely loudly just before the light turns red.

It startles her so badly that she drops her sculpture.

There’s little she can do other than let out a cry as it rolls on the ground, falling straight through an open storm drain under the brick of the old sidewalk. 

The crowd around her starts walking across the road, and her mom nudges her to follow as she sweeps past. 

“Mom, wait—” April calls, but she’s getting farther away, busy on her phone, the conversation apparently getting heated. She rushes to the drain and crouches, trying to see if she can find it quickly. “Mom, my turtle!”

The timer of the crossing signal starts beeping, the seconds ticking as the people of New York try to weave around a small, random child squatting near a drain. 

“Where did she—April!” She hears her mom call from across the street, momentarily distracted from whatever medical emergency she’s supposed to be having. “What are you doing? C’mon, we gotta get home!”

April stares despondently into the dark hole, before another call from her mom has her getting up and running, leaving it behind. 

She sniffles, rubbing at her eyes as Mom peers at her questioningly, before getting sucked back into her conversation. The irate tone she talks to the person on the other side with makes April shiver. What’s the point in complaining about her sculpture when the hospital is having a problem? Someone’s life could be in danger, that’s way more serious. Just because she spent all week making the paper mache project doesn’t mean it’s all that important. 

They continue walking and stop at another crossing, making their way home like it’s just another day. April sniffles once more, and in her upset, kicks a stray bottle cap into the road. 

“Stupid sculpture.” She mumbles looking down. The bottle cap falls onto the road, before rolling backwards into another storm drain right where she's standing. 

That’s when April sees it, and if she hadn’t been watching the cap, she would have missed it entirely. There’s some kind of movement in the drain, making her pause. A very slight shadow passes directly over the metal cover of the hole.

And within one blink and the next, her green turtle sculpture is suddenly resting on the grate. 

April freezes in shock, before immediately crouching down and picking it up. It’s literally there, just as good as five minutes ago, blue and red hearts and yellow smiley-face and all. The initials A.O. are at the bottom as well.

“Oh my gosh!” She exclaims, grinning bright and happy. “You got it back!” She looks into the hole. “How did you—”

The signal light turns red, and the people begin crossing. Mom tugs on April’s arm without looking as she keeps walking. 

“No, wait, I didn’t say thank you!” April says, trying to turn as her mom walks her across the street. There’s nothing noticeable under the sidewalk, the darkness of the drain the same as it's always been.

“Yes, good day to you as well.” She hears Mom say above her, as she ends the call and stuffs her phone back into her purse with a huff. “Finally, goodness, the one afternoon I get off, everything goes haywire.” She smiles at her, tired. “What happened back there?”

“I—” April begins, having no idea how to explain. She cranes her neck backwards one last time, but the sidewalk gets further and further, disappearing among the people walking behind her. As if nothing had happened.

She grips the turtle tightly. That wasn’t true, though. Someone helped her out when she needed it. She knows it. She saw it. 

“Nothing.” April replies to Mom, giving her a convincing smile as she walks, a joyful pep in her step. The sculpture in her hand swings along with her. “Do you wanna hear more about turtles? Ms. Kappernich showed us a list of ten fun facts about turtles after I showed my project to the class!”

Mom pauses for a second, studying her daughter, before shaking her head at her fondly. She bends down and presses a kiss on her hair. “Sure, sweetheart. Tell me about the turtles.”

--

“So one really knows if Rung is going to wake up, right? So everyone on the Lost Light is telling him stories about the time before the war, hoping that’ll jog his memory and get him out of the coma. But then, bam, suddenly the ship’s captain finds Red Alert’s body get fished out of the oil reserve!” April’s babysitter, Lin, blows the hair out of her face as she rants, holding her hand as they walk in the streets of New York. “Gosh, I really hope they get into that in Patternism, because I’ve been dying on that cliffhanger for the last month.”

April only hums in response, not really listening to the rather-passionate Transformers summary. The ten dollar note in her pocket feels heavy, and she’s almost giddy with excitement. The second installment of Jupiter Jim and the Saturn Ring Heist is coming out today! She’s spent the last two months begging her mom to let her go to the comic book store and buy the two-part special, and now that she’s finally got the money for it, she absolutely cannot wait. 

The store in question has quite a few people in line, and the two of them dutifully join it. There are a bunch of poster stands around the block, showing the new issues getting released today. Lin points to the big one by the entrance, grinning.

“See, doesn’t the cover look cool? Everyone is here for Transformers, I swear. Wow, I’m glad we got here early, otherwise they would have run out.”

“Hey, you never know,” April says in a sing-song voice. “They might be here for the Jupiter Jim comic.”

Lin smiles at her, and even she can tell how insincere that is. “Sure, kid. Maybe.”

They make their way inside, and Lin lets go of her hand, distracted by a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Orion Pax, behind which is a display of all the new comics, a bunch of teenagers already oohing and ahhing around it.

“Okay, hun, I’ll be right back, alright?” Her babysitter says, not even looking at April, already turned towards her item of interest. “I’m just gonna grab Patternism and meet you at check-out, got it?”

“Yep!” April says happily, before walking off. 

Irritatingly enough, the JJ section of the store is all the way at the back, and she has to fight through the young crowd to get there. She huffs, trying to read the titles in the low light, the wire shelves creaking ominously as she peruses on her tippy-toes. Ugh, it’s like no one has the appreciation for the awesomeness for Master of the Seven Galaxies here. 

She sees the shiny cover of Jupiter Jim and the Saturn Ring Heist Part 1, and she grabs it immediately, eyes wide. The drawings on it are absolutely beautiful, and Jim looks amazing. 

“Can I help you with somethin’, kid?” A voice asks, and she turns to see a somewhat-harassed woman looking down at her, trying to maintain her customer-service smile. “Looking for the second part to this one? It just came out today.”

“Yes, please!” April says excitedly. “I’m such a big fan of JJ!”

She does not hear her, already striding away, muttering to herself as she digs through the issues on the shelf. It takes a few minutes before she frowns. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, honey, I was sure there was one last copy left for today.” She says, giving her a contrite look. “But someone must have taken it when I wasn’t looking. I think you’ll have to come back later for the second part, okay?”

“Aw,” she says disappointedly, not even bothering to tsk when the woman pats her on the head patronizingly and leaves to help another customer. Dang it. 

Still, she has the first comic, and if there’s one thing about April O’Neil, it’s that she’d much rather focus on the thing that makes her happy now, than sad later.  

Check-out is over quickly, and soon she’s walking out with Lin, holding her brand-new possession carefully in its sealed plastic cover. 

“And I was talking to one of the other fans in there, and apparently there’s going to be a bomb in this issue? I’m so excited.” Lin says as they’re leaving, watching her for a reaction. Dutifully, April looks appropriately invested. 

“That sounds so cool, I’m excited too—”

Somebody slams into April’s shoulder, completely toppling her. The unexpected impact makes the comic fall from her hands. 

“Apes!” Lin gasps out, checking over her once quickly before turning to the culprit, two young boys skateboarding through the busy street. “What the heck are you two doing? Have you never learned to be more careful?”

April can’t hear her though, because she just saw her precious new belonging fall right through a metal grate on the ground lining the edge of the building. Gone to the outside world. 

Shock and tears make a quick appearance, the pain from the small bruise on her elbow following up soon. Distantly, she can hear her babysitter chewing out the two boys, who mumble some sort of apology to her. But she’s barely paying attention. 

April sniffs, feeling betrayed at the existence of sewer grates. That book cost her five whole dollars! She was so excited to read it! Mom kept saying that comics were a waste of time and money, but she’d fought so hard to get here today. And now she turned out to be right. 

A few more adults get swept up in the drama Lin stirs up with the boys, who are now transitioning from looking guilty to looking uncomfortable. That’s fine with her, she'd much rather not be the center of attention if she’s crying in public. 

And then something miraculous happens, and through her blurry eyes April watches even if the people around her are too busy to notice.

Through the slats of the grate, her comic gets slowly pushed, pushed, pushed upwards, until it lands on the surface in one damp thwack . 

She rushes to pick it up, stunned, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. The sealed plastic slip took most of the water damage, a few rotten leaves covering the slip and smelling vaguely of dirt, but the actual book looks perfectly fine. 

She looks back to the gutter, unable to see a single person down there. Still, she crouches down, unbelievably happy. 

“Thank you!” She says, pitching her voice low, but she can hear the echo in the space below. “I can’t believe you got it back, this was my first comic ever! Oh, and thank you for helping me with the turtle too!”

“April, honey, are you okay?” Lin asks, and she looks up to see her worried face as she bends down next to her. She brushes some of the hair off her face, trying to look for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine!” April says brightly, the remainder of the tears blinked away. “The comic got a little wet, but it’s still in the plastic, so it’s all good!”

Lin grins in relief, helping her up. She has her own comic stuffed in the deep pocket of her jacket, and she reaches out to tightly grab her hand as they continue walking back home. April follows, skipping giddily. 

--

It’s a rainy day in November, and April forgot her umbrella at home. 

Class let out five minutes ago, and everyone is busy rushing to the pick up spot at the school entrance. But between the people with their bulky raincoats, the big umbrellas that take up so much space, and the rain covering her glasses, April can’t seem to make her way to the front of the building. 

So she’s stuck under a small canopy off to the side, wrapping her jacket tightly around her to protect her from the cold, and trying to make conversation with the other person that picked the spot as well. 

“So, how did you do on the math test today?” April tentatively asks the blonde girl.

She huffs, face peeking out from a soft white scarf over a neon pink puffer. “It was so hard for no reason! Why did our teacher make the exam so long? I could barely finish it in time.”

She blinks in response. It was actually a very easy test. “Oh. Wasn’t it just ten questions, though?”

Blondie sends her a withering glare, and she immediately backtracks. “Uh, I mean, I’m sure it was long! Ten questions is a lot— I mean, even I barely finished in time!” 

Blatant lie, but it seems to ease the irritation on the girl’s face. “Right? I hate math.” She sniffs importantly, looking at April over her nose. “I don’t know you. Are you new here?”

April brightens up and introduces herself, immediately jumping into a ramble about moving to this borough a couple of months ago with her mother and Jorge, her advanced learning classes, and her Jupiter Jim fanaticism. But the more she talks, the less interested Blondie seems to look. 

Once she gets into her dust allergy from her old apartment in the Bronx, she cuts her off. 

“Okay, yeah, that’s cool, I guess.” She interrupts abruptly, tone bland. “I’m Taylor Martin. My dad is the vice principal.”

“Oh, that’s… so nice!” April scrambles for more things to say, giddy at finally having a conversation with one of the cool girls in her class. “Does he, uh. Let you stay back at school a lot because of his work?”

Taylor scoffs annoyedly again. “No, he usually has someone pick me up, but they’re late, so I’m stuck here.” She adjusts her bright purple backpack that’s slipping off her shoulder, a scrutinizing look on her face. “What does your dad do?”

She blinks once again. “Uh. I just have a mom, actually. She’s a neurosurgeon.”

“A what?”

The loud sound of a horn beeping startles both of them. A giant SUV cuts in front of the line of cars already assembled to pick up students, and a man rolls down his window, disregarding the indignant shouts and horns of the parents around him. 

“Ugh, finally,” Taylor rolls her eyes. She gives April a perfunctory smile and a half-wave. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Angel.”

“Uh, bye! It’s April, actually, and tomorrow’s a Saturday—” But Taylor’s already gone, walking away and accidentally shoving two tinier kids on her way to her car. 

April watches her go, and despite the glares of the unfortunate victims, she’s grinning brightly after her. She knows a popular girl now! And Angel is pretty close to April, so she knows her name, mostly, which is such a win. 

What isn’t a win is the fact that now other cars are following Taylor’s driver’s example, and cutting people out of line on the road. Which is leading the parents already in line to try bumping up their own place, all while there’s a cacophony of beeps and exclamations on the street. April winces as it all turns into a mess, students scrambling to run after their parents’ cars. 

Alright, well, it seems like her mother is going to be late after all. The rain doesn’t seem to be letting up any, and the ongoing traffic on the streets is slowing down because of the chaos in front of her. 

April hefts up her backpack stubbornly. That’s fine. She’ll just walk home like a big girl. 

She starts on her journey, which turns out to be not that long at all. Because as soon as she gets into the rain and makes a left, she somehow manages to slip on a giant puddle, limbs flailing dramatically. In a failed effort to catch herself before she’s thrown onto the street, she falls into an alleyway, scraping her knee on some metal. 

April yelps loudly at the searing pain, her shout getting drowned out by yet another loud horn. She tries to sit up straight, shaking off the droplets on her glasses, backpack falling behind her, trying to study her injury. The cut isn’t long, but it is deep, as blood seeps out, burning with each new drop of rain that falls on her. 

She hisses once more, the sound bordering on a whine, as she glares at the offending object. A rusted metal drainpipe seems to be the culprit, dirty water from the roof of her school building dripping into a drain next to her. 

“Ow,” she groans, thumbing the edges of the wound gingerly to try to wipe the blood off. In all her nine-year-old righteousness, she deems this circumstance appropriate for her limited cursing allowance, when she exclaims loudly, “Darn it!”

The thunder does not crash down and smite her for the offense, but April’s ears do perk up at the sound of shuffling near her.

She twists around, but there’s no one in the alley to make the sound. The people walking on the sidewalk are smarter than her and avoid the giant puddle, so it couldn’t have been them either. 

The sound gets louder, and as April tenses, she swears she hears quiet talking. Coming straight from the drain. 

Heart in her throat, she leans towards the grate. As always, she can see no one in the darkness, but she tries, “Hello?”

The talking stops abruptly, and she immediately rushes to explain.

“No, no, it’s okay, don’t worry!” She says, hands held up even though she’s sure the Sewer-Man can’t see her. “I’m not going to tell on you, pinky promise. Don’t leave.”

There aren’t any sounds of pitter-patter of footsteps, so she assumes he didn’t. She grins. 

“Sorry for disturbing you.” April tries, twiddling her fingers in her lap shyly, desperately trying to think of what to say to the literal Sewer-Man after thinking about him for so long . “I just—I was walking back from school, and I tripped and fell. And I hurt myself.” She huffs at herself. “Dumb, right?”

She gets no response, much to her disappointment. Boo. In her annoyance at the situation she’s stuck in, she debates just leaving it there, starting to get up, wondering how quickly she can get home while limping. 

When she sees movement once again, the same way she had twice before, she perks up. She immediately drops to all-fours, close to the ground, not wanting to miss a single thing.

Ever so slowly, a small box makes its way to the top, held up by the Sewer-Man for her to pick up. She does, turning it over in her hands, grin getting impossibly wider.

“Spider-Man Band-Aids!” She exclaims, touched. He cares! “Aw, thank you so much!”

April makes quick work of picking one and carefully applying it over her wound, not missing how the box is practically empty. She smooths a hand over the bandage, making sure it sticks well. 

“Here,” She says, before dropping it down the drain. Finally standing up and carefully keeping the weight off the injured leg, she picks up her backpack.

She catches sight of one of the school security guards trying to guide the foot traffic in the area, and decides to leave before they catch her with the Sewer-Man. 

“Thank you so much!” April injects as much gratitude and excitement in her voice as she can. “I have to go now, but I’ll see you later, okay?”

She still doesn’t get a response, but it bothers her less this time around. If she hears some more quiet shuffling and whispering as she walks away, well, no one has to be the wiser.

--

“Hey, Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“What was my dad like?” April asks innocently, and her mother trips over her own two feet as she walks alongside her.

“Uh,” Mom responds eloquently, looking down at her with wide eyes. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugs delicately, eyes on the road as she holds her hand, the two of them heading to her school for a PT meeting. “Someone from my math class asked me about my dad on Friday. Her dad is the vice principal. What did mine do?”

A melancholy expression crosses over Mom’s face for barely a moment, before it’s replaced by the ever-present Carol O’Neil alacrity. She hums, thinking. 

“Your father… was a journalist.” She says, a bit of softness in her voice. “Very smart, very talented. Like you.” Mom squeezes her hand, and April beams. “I met him at a medical convention in Boston. He was going to write a piece on it. Asked me some questions about my work and my field, and we just… hit it off.” 

Mom looks happy, but it’s a strange kind of happiness to it, half-soured by something sad, like loss. 

“Can I ask… what happened to him?” April asks quietly, genuinely not sure. 

Her mother gives her an even sadder look. “Of course, you can ask, sweetie. He’s your dad. Or, well,” she swallows, looking away, muttering, “he was. May he rest in peace.”

She doesn’t say a word in response, waiting. Mom takes another breath, before continuing, “When I was pregnant with you, he was diagnosed with cancer. We tried a lot of things. Chemotherapy, surgery—I’ve told you about chemotherapy, haven’t I?”

“It’s a medicine that kills the bad cancer cells in your body.” April recites, as Mom gives her a satisfied smile.

“Exactly, baby. But sometimes, chemotherapy has bad side effects, and it makes the body even weaker. Sometimes it doesn’t even work.”

“Is that how he died?”

“Yeah.” Her mother’s staring intently at feet, face purposefully impassive, and April can tell she’s hiding many things behind it. “It was… a rough six months. There were a lot of treatments, and some of those can be so painful, but your dad took it all like a champ. He talked about how excited he was for you to grow up and see the world, and he wanted to be there for it so much. But being sick was just… too hard on him.”

April isn’t sure if it’s grief she feels in her chest; the sad bubble that rises up seems both too small and not small enough. She never really even knew the man, but her mom always says that she can see him in her eyes. She has very, very faint memories of visiting a grave, she thinks. A black marble stone sunk into the ground, small shrubs and flowers around it. 

“I’m sorry.” Mom says gently. “It’s my fault I don’t talk about him or take you to see him anymore. You should know more about your dad. He is a very important person in your life, even if he is in a better place now.”

“Okay.” April thinks, shooting her a genuine smile as she hugs her shoulders again. 

They make it to the school and walk inside. The PT conference goes well, as all the teachers gush and glow about April’s excellent performance, which is as good of a mood-booster as any. For every time she hears the words ‘a delight to have in class’, she adds another dollar to her comic book money jar. And by the end of the day, she’s certain she could buy the entire Mars Madness trilogy. 

There’s one last meeting her mother has with her English teacher, which they have to have privately, and Mom shoos her out of the room. 

Just as she planned, April thinks with a grin. 

Quietly, without alerting the security guards, she sneaks out of the building and makes a left, back to the alleyway with the rusted metal pipe and drain. 

She twists her hands nervously, setting off her backpack to the side and kneeling next to the sewer grate. Clearing her throat, she calls, “Hello?”

To her marvel, she immediately hears footsteps from below. Giddy beyond belief, and yet having a brief thought as to what on earth Sewer-Man does all day if he’s just hanging out near school drainage systems, she continues, “Hi! Are you there? It’s me again, the one you gave the Band-Aid to.”

He doesn’t say a word, but that's fine. She understands that Sewer-Man’s generally quiet, she can respect that. Mom always says it’s rude to force people who’d rather not talk. 

“I, uh. Hope you’re having a good day,” all her politeness lessons on full display, she thinks wryly. “I brought something for you, actually.”

April reaches into her backpack and pulls out a giant Cadbury bar. She had to beg and plead with her mother for this on her weekly grocery run. It’s a miracle her grades are good and her teeth have no cavities, so she had no reason to say no. 

“I told my mom I got hurt on a pipe on Friday, and someone gave me a Band-Aid,” she says. “Mom said it was a good thing they did, because if a cut from a rusted metal pipe is not wrapped properly, it can turn into worse things like an infection. It’s called tetanus, she said—you probably know what that is. So I wanted to give you this. As a thank you.”

She waves the candy bar over the grate as a warning, before dropping it through. She doesn’t hear the tell-tale sound of it hitting the ground, so it must’ve landed in his hands. 

“…I hope you like it!” April finishes lamely. The chocolate was a calculated risk; hopefully he wasn’t allergic to cocoa or had a lactose-intolerance. She didn’t want to be the reason he’d have to go to the hospital and reveal his identity!

Her ears pick up hushed talking again, and she hears hurried footsteps away, so she thinks that’s it. Which is more than fine, she did what she’d planned to do. 

“I’m leaving now, okay?” She calls, standing up and picking up her backpack. “And don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone about you yet, so your secret’s safe with me!”

April automatically goes to wave, before realizing he probably can’t see her, and turns away. 

Just then, she hears a metal clang from the sewer which makes her jump. Gripping the straps of her backpack tightly, she slowly turns back around. 

“Yes?”

Eyes on the grate, she sees what looks like a… plastic baggie, being pushed up from under. She wastes no time before plucking it out of his hands, confusedly reading the Whole Foods logo on the front. 

She opens her mouth to ask, before she feels the bulge of something inside it. She looks. 

It’s the second installment of Jupiter Jim and the Saturn Ring Heist. 

April gasps, dropping the baggie as she holds the treasure with both of her hands. It’s a well-worn copy, not really new, but not really old, with no creases on any of the pages. As if the Sewer-Man understands the sanctity of a JJ comic the same way she does. She does pick up a whiff of pepperoni while she flips through the pages, but pays absolutely no mind to it in her excitement. 

“Oh my gosh!” She practically yells, hopping on her tippy-toes out of happiness. “It’s the second part! You remembered! How did you have it on you?” The lack of a response barely deters her, and she leans over the drain with her whole blinding grin, disregarding her vow to herself not to find out who he is. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

She puts it in her backpack, further rambling about how she swears not to get any folds in the paper and keep it away from any food, when she hears a call. “April!”

“Oh, dang it.” She stills, voice dropping to a whisper. “That’s my mom. I gotta go.” She takes a step back, still grinning at the sewer grate. “I’ll see you later! Thanks again!”

This time, she gets another metal clang as a response, an acknowledgement, or maybe even a promise. She’s radiating with joy when her mother finds her, confused why her only child looking at an alleyway metal pipe with such glee. 

--

April O’Neil is sneaking out into New York City alone.

Okay, that sounds way worse than it is, she winces to herself, walking on silent feet. The evening sun shines on her back as she crosses the street, looking not only both ways, but all the ways. Making sure absolutely no one follows her on her secret mission, a Whole Foods baggie in tow.

Here’s what it actually is: this morning, she told her mother that her newest and closest friend Taylor invited her to hang out with her in the school building after hours. Mom had interrogated her with the firmness of Jupiter Jim when he caught aliens stealing his moon chips, while April primly informed her that her vice principal dad would be looking after them while they had fun, and would drop her off to the apartment at 5 P.M. sharp, just before Mom got home. Once she’d heard that a responsible adult would be in the mix, she dropped her daughter at school, kissed her goodbye through the window, and promptly left for work. 

Okay, maybe it really was just that bad. Bluntly lying about her whereabouts to her own mother is not something April has ever done before, but never let it be said that she takes it lightly! She understands the risks that come with it, and the responsibility she’s taking on herself. 

It’s just that… well. She wants to be like her dad, for once. 

April has been using up her two-hour free pass to her mother’s computer for the last few days scouring the internet for any articles authored by Kirby O’Neil in the past. Some are about sports, some about world affairs, but a lot are in the medical field, especially after the year he met her mother. The big words go over her head and make her vision swim. 

But in all of those articles, it seems one thing is in common: her father spared no detail in any of the things he talked about. She came to the conclusion very quickly after her tiny fingers could not scroll far enough to reach the end of one of his papers without getting dizzy.

Sparing no detail meant finding out all the information. Finding out all the information meant going looking for that information. And going looking for it, meant that April O’Neil was about to find out just who the heck the Sewer-Man was, and personally return the comic book back to him. 

And also possibly gush about just how amazing Jim was and how he managed to find out about the ring heist and impossibly save the day again. That too. 

The only problem in her amazingly thought-out plan is that she needs to find an entrance into the sewers. All of the grates and drains are far too small, and the sewer manholes are far too heavy. Which is why she’s being extremely sneaky as she explores all of Manhattan, alone, like the big, grown-up girl that she is. 

She just hopes her mother does not find out about this. Ever. 

A few more minutes of searching, and a few extra confusing rights and lefts later, April comes across an area of the road completely marked off with ‘do not cross ’ tapes and orange cones. Coming closer, she sees that it’s a sinkhole, the support of the road having crumbled and the asphalt sliding into the underground.

Or more accurately, based on the smell of stale water and dirt, into the sewers. 

Perfect. 

She grips her baggie tightly, excitement making butterflies flutter in her stomach, as she tiptoes towards the hole, ducking under the tape. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around her, she doesn’t think. The cars on the street are too fast and the adults on the sidewalk are too self-absorbed to notice a tiny child going where she shouldn’t be, so she feels fairly safe. 

She scoots a little further into the sunken road, before she calls out as quietly as she can, “Hello?”

Silence. She goes further in, getting a little louder. “Hi, it’s me again! Are you there?”

This time, she’s sure she hears some footsteps, and she grins, inhaling to yell a jubilant ‘hello’ to the Sewer-Man, mentally rehearsing the introduction she’d prepped in her head.

“Just what do you think you’re doin’, young lady?” 

April freezes. 

She doesn’t have to turn around to see that the footsteps she was hearing weren’t from the sewers, they were from a man, who quickly makes himself known by stepping directly into her line of sight. He’s tall, wearing a bright neon green vest over a sweatshirt and a yellow construction hat. He looks gruff, with a thick mustache and even thicker frown lines on his forehead. 

He folds his hands and stares down at her. “I asked you a question.”

“Uh—nothing, sir.” She squeaks out, trying not to make her anxiety at being caught too obvious by the twiddling of her fingers. 

“Hmm. Doesn’t look like nothin’ to me.” He huffs. “What’s your name?”

“April O’Neil.” Which, darn it . She’s not supposed to give her name to strangers. 

“Well, Ms. O’Neil . What say you and I take a little walk down to the police station and figure out where your parents are?”

Her eyes widen in terror and she holds her hands up. “Wait, no! Please, you can’t tell my mom, she’ll get really mad. I’m actually supposed to be at school, playing with my friend Taylor—Thanksgiving break is tomorrow so there’s no actual classes, but her dad’s the vice principal, and we were supposed to be hanging out, but—”

“Well, if you didn’t want your mom to get mad, then you shouldn’t have left.” He cuts her rambling off, the words hitting right where she feels her guilt the strongest, unable to help the wave of shame rising in her. 

She hesitates a bit more, thinking of what words to say to convince him that no, she’s actually trying to find a superhero and use her dad’s journalistic skills here, this is really important to her and he should let her go because she’s definitely never going to sneak out without telling someone again. But eventually, she sighs in defeat. Whatever, too late. Let the punishment of the century begin. 

“Okay.” April mumbles with her head ducked down, determined not to show how hard her lips are quivering. Her grip on her comic book—her friend’s comic book—is stronger than ever. She hopes Mom doesn’t take it away when she grounds her, she’ll never be able to give it back. 

“Hm, good. Now, c’mon, walk with me. Don’t dawdle.”

She doesn’t, matching the man’s gait as he leads her away from the construction zone. She turns back one more time with blurry eyes, wishing she was more careful and less loud so she wouldn’t have been caught, hoping to actually meet her friend in person. And she almost misses the sight of a bright red cloth in the darkness. 

She blinks, but the man’s gruff tone makes her turn back around again, quietly walking alongside him. 

“Y’know, kid. I don’t blame ya.” He starts, as he brings out a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket. April tries to keep in her disgusted look as he lights it and smoke puffs out of his face. “When I was young, all I wanted to do was run away from home. Sneak out to new places, explore different things. Have fun. But sometimes, life ain’t that simple. You get me?”

“Yes, sir.” She says dully, barely paying attention as they turn onto a laneway devoid of any cars, walking on the street instead of the broken sidewalks. 

“Trust me.” He says between two puffs of smoke, and she discreetly moves away to breathe through her mouth. “No one wants to get lost in those damn sewers. Nothin’ good lives down there.”

A flash of possessive anger flares up in her, and she bites her lip to keep from speaking. She glares down at her own hands, and the comic she still carries in her Whole Foods baggie. 

“Yeah, the only things down there are the homeless, or rats. You don’t want to deal with rats, do you, kid? They’re filthy, disgusting creatures, and they carry all the diseases that infect the world, and— ow!”

The man yells so loudly it makes April jump. He whips around, one hand rubbing the back of his neck as if something small but hard hit him there, a thunderous expression on his face. 

“Who’s there?” He shouts. 

The only things there are the shadows casted on the abandoned road from the evening light, and he doesn’t get a response.

“What happened?” She asks meekly. He makes an irritated sound, continuing his journey. 

“Some dumb teenagers probably. Little freaks just wanting to make everyone’s life miserable. All I ask for is one day of peace— one day, without having to watch over any kids that aren’t where they aren’t supposed to be or aren’t doin’ what they aren’t supposed to be doin’—”

April goes back to her quiet staring at the road, simmering with rage, and she gets the first-row seat to see it happen. From yet another storm drain under the sidewalk they’re walking next to, a long stick emerges, tied with what looks like purple silk in the middle. 

And just as the man approaches, the stick slams itself into his foot, and topples him mid-stride. 

He goes down screeching, and April backs up before he drags her down with him with his thrashing arms. He slams the bottom of his chin on the harsh ground, managing to cut his upper lip, and she winces as she sees his mouth quickly fill up with blood. 

The man curses to the high heavens, and she half-expects thunder to actually smite him. She doesn’t wait long enough to find out, though, having gotten her chance. 

April turns on her foot, and starts running like her life depends on it. 

“Hey! Kid! Get back here, you little ungrateful brat—”

She pauses for a second at that, and he starts getting louder. 

“Yeah, I said it, ungrateful brat. Now come and help me up, and I’m turning you in so you can go back to wherever you belong!”

She takes a couple of small steps back as the man glares at her, trying to pick himself up. But instead of helping him, she looks him in the eye, raises her foot, and stomps out the still-burning cigarette. And flees. 

April speeds away, heart hammering in her chest, leaping over cracks in the concrete, and slipping in between pedestrians on the street. Her baggie swings with each leap and bound, and she can’t help but whoop as she goes. 

Because she’s certain she’s not imagining the drum of footfalls directly under her. Running with her. Like kids dashing across a field in joyful glee. If it weren’t for the lies or the misdemeanors or the layer of thick concrete between them, that is.

The last rays of the sun guide her path back to the area of the city she recognizes, and she immediately picks up her pace, eventually leading the Sewer-Man with her to her apartment complex. 

She finally slows down when she can see her building clearly, gasping in deep breaths, not used to the intense physical activity. Instead of going inside though, she trudges behind the building, past the trees and brick walls, until she sees a small drainpipe and grate at the back.

April plops onto the ground with a ‘whew’, and before she can help it, a hysterical laugh bubbles up her throat. She can feel her pulse thudding in every part of her body as she wipes the sweat off her brow. 

“That. Was. Insane.” She punches out the words, grinning. “That was such a close call. He was gonna turn me into the police, and then my mom would have grounded me for life. But you saved me!” April gestures to the drain, confident that the Sewer-Man is there listening to her, in a way she’s never been. “You got me out of that. Thank you, dude.” 

A pause, and then she hears a new metal clang, tinnier than the one before because of the different metal, yet April giggles happily, sighing. Gosh, sometimes the way her life turns out surprises her. 

“You know,” she begins thoughtfully a moment later, “I know the man said some really mean stuff about people that stay in the sewers, but I hope you know I don’t think so at all. I think sewer people can be pretty cool.”

April really needs him to understand that, because that’s basically her way of saying ‘you are really awesome-sauce and you like JJ like me and can I be your real friend from now?’. But she’s unfortunately too nervous to tell him all of that, now or ever, she admits to herself, her hands in her lap. 

But she thinks he hears all of that anyway, because the next instance she hears another clang, this time a lot closer to the surface. She peers at the drain curiously, before something gets chucked out of the tiny slats of the small drain. 

April fumbles to catch it, and gasps when she sees what it is. It’s a coin, bright gold with red ribbon threading through a hole in the center. She brings it closer to her face, letting out an ‘ooh’, studying the engravings of a stock of wheat curving around the hole. 

“Wow, this is so pretty!” She gushes, looking back at the Sewer-Man with wide eyes. “Is this… for me?”

That seems unbelievably unrealistic. Sure, she’s had friends back in the Bronx, but none of them were the kind to give her pretty things just because. They were more so the kind to give her a Batman t-shirt for her birthday a size too small, a candy bar with almonds despite her nut allergy, or just straight up completely forget her birthday altogether. Needless to say, there wasn’t too much love lost when she moved away. 

This is… far too kind. 

Another metal clang, and April would be stupid to not recognize it as a resounding ‘yes’.

“Oh.” She says, her lips now wobbling again but for a completely different reason. “That’s so sweet. Thank you.”

Two clangs in quick succession, and she can’t help but place a sweet voice in it that says ‘you’re welcome!’

From the corner of her eye, she notices a car drive up the street, headlights on. It’s her mother, coming back home, expecting April to just have been dropped off at home by Taylor’s dad. 

She blows air out between her teeth. Well. Time to put all her acting skills to use. 

“My mom’s back. I gotta tell her about how I wasn’t on the other side of town and was at school instead.” She sighs, but smiles at the drain. Reaching out, she knocks three times on the grate, hearing the echo from under.

“Bye. I’ll see you later.” She puts the coin in her pocket, feeling the weight like a warm balm on her skin. “And I promise to keep this, okay? I won’t lose it.”

Another clang, a goodbye, and April gets up to go greet Mom. 

--

“Alright,” April breathes, looking at herself in her mirror. There is determination on her brow and optimism in her eyes, as she ties her braids up and tucks them into a plaid hat. For all intents and purposes, she is no less than a tried and true journalist at the moment, and being dressed like her mother’s favorite character Sherlock Holmes doesn’t hurt either. There’s a picture of his magnifying glass on her t-shirt, over which she’s wearing her long winter coat. 

She nudges her glasses up on her nose, giving herself an excited smirk. A bona-fide investigator.

“Jorge, I’m nervous.” April admits, holding up the giraffe and seriously looking him in the eye. His limbs flop in the air. “I’m finally going to go see the Sewer-Man, and this time I’m not gonna get caught.”

Jorge looks at her with the same dopey smile he had when she bought him at the superstore, his glassy eyes showing weird reflections of her own face. Still, she imagines him saying something encouraging, along the lines of ‘you got this!’

“You’re right. I do got this.” She confirms, before chucking him on the bed and grabbing the comic book from her bedside table. “I’m going to give him back his comic, and I’m going to shake his hand and tell him he’s cool, and then we’re going to be the best buds ever!”

Mom says affirmations are important for self-esteem, and since April really, really wants this to go well, she’s going to follow her advice to the T. 

She ignores the voice in her mind that tells her she’s being extremely picky about which of her mother’s advice she’s choosing to listen to, as she opens her bedside table drawer and takes the spare key she’d swiped earlier, and walks out of the apartment. The biggest thing her mother trusts her to do is to stay in the apartment no matter what when she isn’t home and Lin is too busy to babysit. And normally, she does do that. 

But right now, she has other priorities. Like making a new friend. 

She’ll deal with the consequences later. 

The plan being set in motion has been extremely well thought-out, and April can’t help but be smug about it. Over the last three weeks, she’s made Lin take her to at least seven different parks around the city, with the excuse of being so bored with staying at home and watching movies. Sneaking away when she was busy on her phone or listening to podcasts hadn’t been too hard either, all for the purpose of mapping out a better, more discreet entrance to the sewers. 

She eventually managed to find one not too far from home: in an alley between a small playground with a dilapidated swing set, and a pizza place with extremely stinky cheese, is a giant manhole that doesn't have a cover. Surrounded in moss and city grime, it’s not in a place where anyone in their right mind would go at all.

Except April.

And that is where she stands now, having made her way there with the stealth of ten ninjas (who are also super cool, no matter how hard Taylor laughed in class when she mentioned it to her), armed with her Whole Foods bag and a flashlight. 

Carefully coming close, she shines the light down into the darkness, and spies an old ladder going down. The rungs look fairly clean and shiny actually, which pings April’s journalistic senses as a sign of activity down there.

Holding the small flashlight in her mouth, she slowly lowers herself into the hole, each step measured as she climbs down the ladder, inhaling the scent of stale water and moss and stinky cheese.

There is a loud echo in the silent tunnel as her feet make contact with the floor, and she immediately turns her light onto her surroundings. The realization of exploring in pitch-black darkness crashes into her at once, and her heart jumps up to her throat. She sees that she’s on a wide walkway, and right next to her is a giant canal of water, rushing away at a speed higher than she’s comfortable with. 

She takes in one deep breath followed by another. Well, she’s made it this far. Can’t back out now. 

April starts to walk. 

“Hello?” She says, barely a whisper, yet the creepy echo freaks her out enough to stay completely silent. Not that there seems to be a single sign of life down there to come and capture her even if she was loud; other than vague bits of trash and the sound of rushing water, it really does seem like April is in the middle of nowhere, as the light from the manhole cover fades away. All she’s left with is the small circle made by her flashlight.

Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.

It takes April all her strength to not freeze and run away, forcing herself to be brave. Like Jim in Jupiter Jim’s Pluto Vacation I. Pluto didn’t have any light either when he landed, because of how far it was from the Sun. But he still forged his way forward, creating his own dream vacation destination so he could meet new aliens to hang out with. That’s basically what she’s doing too, right? 

It takes her a little longer to notice in her terror, but the amount of stuff spread out over the walkway starts to get more and more. She kicks away a broken bulb, which rolls away into a pile of gray scrap clothing. Food wrappers and scrap papers line the edges of the walls, among broken gadgets and screws littering the area. 

A faint glow greets her from afar, and in her relief she runs towards it, finally seeing some semblance of existence. 

“Fairy lights?” April says out loud in surprise, stopping to study them curiously. Pretty, incandescent bulbs are strung on the ceiling, lighting a path along the tunnel. 

She switches off her flashlight, mesmerized by the liminal space she’s found herself in. The world gets brighter and a lot less foreboding. Less like Pluto when Jim found it, and more like his home planet. Warm and welcoming.

The farther she walks, she starts to see drawings on the walls around her. Splotches of color, both in crayons and spray paints. Streaks of red and blue and purple and orange, among other simple designs. It reminds her a little of the walls at her old kindergarten when kids used to take pencils to the painted white walls. In her awe, April gently rests her hand on an artwork of a giant bright sun, made of all yellows and golds, and her palm comes away sticky with paint. 

It was brand new. She gulps; gripping the bag in her hand tightly. Her journalistic instinct is screaming at her. 

The screams go absolutely supersonic when April hears a gasp behind her, and a clatter of something to the ground. She whips her head around. 

And she sees another child like her. 

That’s her first thought, and her only thought, because once her eyes register the green skin and red stripes and blue bandana and the lack of a nose bridge , her brain fills with shocked static. 

She stares at the kid, who stares back with wide eyes. One of his feet is braced forward, his weight on his back foot, knee slightly bent and torso forward. She vaguely realizes it’s supposed to be a kind of defensive posture, his fists balled up and arms up to his chest—is that a plastron-shell?

The only thing that jarrs her out of this bizarre situation is when something rolls and nudges her foot. She tears her sight away, and looks down to see a small figurine. 

“O-oh, Red Fox!” April blurts out hysterically, since apparently that is the first thing she says when she encounters a bipedal turtle-child. “I love Red Fox. So much.”

Blue-Bandana blinks at her once, twice. Before he grins, and it transforms his entire face. He relaxes his posture, now looking less like he’s going to roundhouse-kick her, instead looking genuinely happy.

“I love Red Fox too!” His young voice exclaims cheerfully. “She’s the best!”

April hesitantly smiles back. Okay, a Red Fox fan couldn’t be all that bad. “She is. She was so cool in the Adventure to the Neptune Core movie.”

“She was!” He agrees excitedly, like he is absolutely ecstatic to have someone to talk to about it. “Did you see how she kicked the blue alien’s butt in the end? She was all like, ‘hi-yah!’”

In a demonstration, he performs a near-perfect jumping split kick, managing to get a height almost as tall as her. She rounds her mouth in admiration, clapping when he lands. 

“That was so cool. How did you do that?”

“Thanks!” He practically glows at the praise. “My dad taught me that.”

“Can your dad teach me?”

“Sure! He’s really good at jumping stuff. Then we can both be like Red Fox!”

April opens her mouth to ask him if he knows any of Jupiter Jim’s iconic moves, before a voice cuts over them, “Leo?”

Standing behind them are three other turtle-children of various sizes, equal expressions of shock on their faces, even as the two try to hide behind the tallest one. One of them leans on a staff while the other two have different figurines and toys in their hands. They were clearly coming back from some kind of playtime.

The tallest one, who’s wearing a white helmet and a bright red hoodie, gulps loudly, looking quite scared as he points a finger at April. “Um—?”

April takes a chance, mood bolstered at the lack of hostility from the people she’d jumped in on unwelcomed, and waves. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Guys,” Blue-Bandana, or Leo, she guesses, gestures to her giddily, “it’s April O’Neil!”

A moment, and all three of them relax their shoulders from their ears (or lack thereof, she supposes). The smaller one with the orange mask still hides shyly behind him though, one large, innocent eye peering at her. 

Still, April gapes at the side of Leo’s head. “What? How do you know my name?”

“You said it.” White-Helmet said with a snaggletooth grin. Adorable. “When the mean man came to take you, you said your name in front of us.”

“You were there?” She vaguely recalls seeing something red in the dark, but that had happened so long ago. That’s so strange, she’s sure the only person that had been there was…

“Oh, and hey, you got my comic book back!” He continues, eyes on the cover peeking out from the baggie.

He takes a step forward to grab it, but April backs up immediately, hiding it from view. “No, no, this is not yours. It belongs to the Sewer-Man. I came to give it back to him.”

He halts, cocking his head at an angle. “The what?”

Another voice pipes up, the turtle wearing the purple hoodie and glasses, looking at her peculiarly. “That is ours. We gave it to you in exchange for the candy bar, remember?”

“Ooh, yes, thank you for the candy bar!” White-Helmet says happily. “Dad doesn’t let us eat sugar past four o’clock, and I get hungry in the middle of the night.”

April studies him, studies all of them. She looks at the staff Glasses is holding, a familiar stick with purple silk tied to the middle. Leo seems to scratch his head in confusion, the movement lifting up his bandana, and she spies a Spider-Man Band-Aid on his head. She thinks about the whispering she’d heard from the sewer grates, always assuming her ‘friend’ was just talking to himself. Thinks about the footsteps she’d thought were echoing loudly from below; had they been there more than just echoes, and in fact, multiple people?

The dots connect slower than her journalistic instincts would like to admit, but eventually she reaches a realization. “Oh. You guys are the Sewer-Man!”

Well, mystery solved. In a completely different way than she’d expected, but she did it! Kudos to her, she hopes Dad is proud, wherever he is.

“What is the ‘Sewer-Man’? He sounds like a superhero!” Leo jokes. “Did you think we were superheroes?”

“Yeah.” She admits, not even remotely feeling embarrassed at being wrong, when none of them seem to be judging her at all. “Superheroes are cool, and I thought you guys are too, so I started calling you that.”

White-Helmet’s eyes actually water up, curling up his hands to his chest. “You think we’re cool? That’s so sweet.”

“Heck yeah!” That she’s sure of. “You guys like comic books and give me bandages when I’m hurt. That’s as cool as you can get.”

Three turtles ‘aww’ in unison, Glasses giving her a shy smile in contrast to Leo’s blinding grin. Orange-Mask still hides though, the tiniest turtle in the bunch seeming nervous. 

The moment doesn’t last long, before another person makes it to the scene.

“Boys? You’ve been out for hours, it’s time to—” The sentence gets cut through the middle, as the five of them turn to see a… rat-man walk up to them. April freezes once more, eyes ticking over his tall stature and strange features, as his jaw drops when he takes her in. 

“Dad, look, we made a new friend!” Leo says brightly. “Her name is April, and she likes Jupiter Jim.”

Their dad looks flabbergasted, pointy ears standing up straight. But all she can do is stare at Leo again, the words hitting close to home. 

Friend. He called her his friend, and the others seem to enthusiastically agree. 

Was it really that easy, to be someone else’s friend? Is that all it took?

She can’t help the genuinely happy smile that blossoms on her face. 

Unfortunately for her though, their father’s look quickly transforms from shock to worried anger.

“Boys, how many times have I told you to stay away from humans?” He hisses, arms reaching out to pull his children towards himself, eyeing April distrustfully like she’d steal them away. His tail (he has a tail, that’s insane) swishes anxiously as he gathers them all up, disregarding the loud complaints. 

“No, Dad, wait, she’s not a bad human!” Glasses protests, trying to break apart the hug he’s stuck in with his large stick. “She’s nice, she’s not gonna hurt us!”

“‘Hurt’? No, of course I’m not going to!” She raises her hands, hoping to appear unthreatening as possible. She wonders why a grown rat-man seems to be afraid of a small nine-year-old anyway, but she still needs him to understand she means no harm. She just wants to be friends. 

He doesn’t reply, eyes narrowed at her again, while overlapping reassurances by the other two echo loudly in the tunnel, close to turning into a whole argument.

April swallows. He doesn’t trust her. She can’t blame him; she is new, after all. Mom always used to be just a tad strict with any new kids she’d invite to their old apartment to play. She’d once joked it was her way of finding out if they were good or not. Maybe it’s the same thing here—he’s just not sure she’s a good person. 

“It’s, um. It’s nice to meet you.” She stutters, deciding to follow her instinct as she slowly reaches her hand into her pocket. He seems to tense even further at that, but all she brings out is the gold coin she’d gotten from the Sewer-Man—from the turtles— hanging it from the red ribbon and showing it to him. 

Their father stills in surprise, eyes locked onto the gift. 

“That is a go-en.” He finally utters after a few moments of silence, the words full of surprise. “It’s supposed to be a symbol of good luck and fortune.” He lets go of Leo, who immediately takes a deep breath like he hadn’t been able to in that ironclad grip. 

He comes closer, head dipping to study it. “Where did you get it?”

April fidgets, her other hand tightly gripping her coat. “It was a gift.” 

“I gave it to her, Daddy.” A small voice pipes up, and they all turn to find Orange-Mask stepping away from his brothers and standing with much more confidence, a stubborn look in his eyes. “It was s’posed to be a present. Like Christmas.”

April beams at him, and slowly he beams back, even brighter. Their father shakes his head at him. 

“Did you open my ‘Do-Not-Touch’ cabinet again?” He groans, as if he’s far too used to it. “I’ve told you to not touch it—it says so on the sign!”

“I don’t think Mikey can read, Papa.” Glasses says quietly, pursing his lips, and he says it with such seriousness April doesn’t realize it’s supposed to be a joke until she sees the three of them try to stifle in their chuckles. 

He just gives them all a long-suffering look, before sighing deeply and rubbing his hand over his face. “Menaces. All of you.”

April shifts on her feet, fingers clasped together, and ventures, “Um, sir?”

He looks at her head-on, yellow eyes meeting hers, and she licks her lips nervously. “I-I promise I won’t tell my Mom anything if you guys don’t want me to. I know superheroes are supposed to have secret identities and stuff, so I was gonna keep the secret anyway. But even though you’re not really superheroes, I’ll still be quiet, okay?” 

April raises her right hand. “Jupiter Jim’s honor.”

Four grins immediately break out, as the rat-man can’t help but look amused at the extremely grave vow. Glasses wriggles his own fingers in a coincidentally accurate mimic of her, this time in excitement. 

“That’s a big deal, Pops!” White-Helmet points out. “That’s like- the most serious promise you can ever make.”

“Can we hang out, Dad? Please?” Leo makes pleading eyes at his father with joined hands, and soon Mikey copies him in a near-identical gesture.

Their father thinks for a long moment, as all five of them hold their breath in anticipation. April has all four fingers crossed with each other, hoping against hope.

Eventually, he sighs once more, this time with a lot less chagrin and a lot more mirth. He smiles at her warmly. 

“Okay, April. You’re welcome to our humble abode with my four sons. Would you like some pizza for lunch?”

She nods enthusiastically as cheers go around. Leo comes up to her and loops his elbow with hers, chattering in her ear about himself and his brothers. Glasses coming up to her other side and knocking his shoulder with hers gently, and they all follow their father to their lair. 

Feeling like she’s swallowed a star, April follows.

--

Here are the facts about April O’Neil:

a) She is nineteen years old, a sophomore at Eastlaird University, with a major in journalism and a minor in botany. She’s in the honors program, has been on the Dean’s List twice, and is the vice-president for the college newspaper group.

b) She is the daughter of the head of neurosurgery at Mount Sinai West. Her mother is one of the most renowned professionals in her field, with people from all over the world flying into Manhattan just to see her. More than any of her accomplishments though, she knows that Dr. Carol O’Neil is proudest of her own daughter, and she makes it known to her as much as she can. 

c) She is one of the biggest fans of Lou Jitsu. Ever. The martial arts movie star has trained her in the ancient art of ninjutsu, refined her technique to perfection, and taught her what it means to choose her own family every single day, no matter how hard the odds are against her. She owes him everything and more, and she loves him like she would her own father if he was alive.

d) She doesn’t have any secrets anymore. She’s done playing that game. Everyone in her life, the folks who genuinely matter anyway, knows about her friends. About her clan. The people she’d fight Pizza Supreme himself for if it came down to it. 

April sighs, exhaustion weighing down her limbs, as she looks upon her turtles in the dim light of the subway. They’re all in a pile in the middle of the living room, covered in bandages and blankets, inextricably intertwined with each other in their sleep, reaching out for their siblings even in their dreams. 

She is far from exempt in this rule. Raph’s huge arm is wrapped around her entire body, resting her onto his plastron. Donnie's hand is clasped around her wrist tightly. Mikey’s head is resting on her lap. Leo’s legs are linked with hers. 

April’s brothers are a part of her, woven into her very soul with the same bonds that make up their Ninpo. And she knows for a fact that they all think she’s just as cool as she thinks they are. These are the people with whom she’d saved the world, after all. She’s done it once, done it twice, and won’t hesitate to do it again, if it means keeping them with her.

[jhilsara]

I Can See You

Pt. 1/ Pt. 2/ Pt. 3/ Pt. 4/ Pt. 5/pt. 6/Pt. 7/Pt. 8/Pt. 9/ Pt. 10/

Pt. 11/ Pt.12/Pt.13/Pt. 14/Pt.15/Pt.16/Pt.17/END

Mariana Jimenez-Watson or MJ works in a normal pub living life paycheck to paycheck. Nothing exciting happens to her except the occasional drunk getting thrown out. She's 24 working away and finds a wrench thrown into her very boring life. His name is Hobie and she thinks maybe, a little excitement isn't awful. In fact she might start to crave some change for once.

Small moments of Hobie meeting his world's MJ. AKA I made an MJ variant and I think she's neat.

Chapter 10

She’s sitting on her couch glaring at her phone like it's personally attacked her.

She’s trying to avoid calling him again, she’s frankly tired of it.

She’s biting at her nails, trying to do anything besides wait by her phone. The tv is on in the background but she’s not paying attention. The fear creeping in eats at her. Fear and anger. She sighs and reaches for her phone and swipes to her contacts. His name is right under the recent call log. Her thumb hovers over it, debating on calling Hobie again.

He has disappeared and it’s got her terrified.

He hasn’t shown at the pub in a few days. So, she decided to stop by his houseboat, which was empty. She’d say it doesn’t look like anything had been touched but she wouldn’t know. The place is chaotically organized and she isn't there enough to make a definitive statement on if it's been touched or not.

What really frightened her was that Spider-Man wasn’t out either. There had been a few incidents, petty crime stuff… but she knows Hobie, she knows when he patrols. He would have caught it.

She called him. Just to check in… that was three days ago.

Pacing her living room, her thumb still hovers over the call button, unsure if she should. She’s frustrated and tired. Her brow furrows as she stares down at her screen, her heart feeling tight.

She had spent the night before walking the streets and checking shitty little alleys. She was worried he might be dead in one, if she were to voice her fears. Just even thinking about it made her sick. She came up empty though. She doesn't know what's worse, finding him dead or not knowing if he's dead.

Her fear is replaced with anger as she stares down at her phone. If he wasn’t dead he better have an amazing excuse, because she was going to kill him.

She finally hits the call button, bouncing on her feet trying to diffuse the nervous tension in her body.

“I swear to god if this bloody bastard doesn’t pick up I’m going to ballistic…” she mutters to herself.

It sends her to voice mail.

“Absolute fucking prick.” She throws her phone down and walks off to her bedroom. “I can’t stay up another night wondering where he is!” She pulls at her hair and goes to lay on her bed.

Her weight falls onto the bed with a thud. She curls into herself, wrapping her arms tightly around herself, begging her brain to stop feeding her anxiety. She's been worrying herself sick for days. She doesn't remember the last real meal she ate, she hasn't felt this bad since her family dog ran off when she was ten. She cried and cried and cried for that dog. Hoping it would come back home, back to her. The dog never came back and all she got was scolded by her mother for still crying over the lost animal.

She squeezes her eyes shuts and prays to just fall asleep, anything was better than what was happening in her head. 

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

She groans at the consistent noise and tries to go back to sleep. She had finally passed out, but now this repetitive tapping was waking her up.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

She sits up and looks out her bedroom window, nothing. She flops back down and sighs shoving a pillow over her ears.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

She suddenly bolts up; the noise isn’t from her bedroom window. It’s her balcony.

“Absolutely not.” she groans to herself.

 She throws the blankets off her and rushes into the living room. She sees the familiar silhouette on her balcony.

She glares at the door, her face twisting in anger. She reaches for the lamp to turn on. Once the light floods her room, she sees him on her balcony. Her face sours even more upon seeing him. He has a faltering smile on his face as he looks at her. Waiting.

“Give me on good reason to let you in here.” She demands crossing her arms as she shoots him a look that’s says more than her words could. Her eyes are clouded as she glares daggers at him.

“C’mon MJ. Let me in, cold out here.” He attempts, voice muffled through the glass.

Her brows raise in irritation, “Don’t care. You literally disappeared on me for a week. So, unless your explanation is life altering, I don’t want to see your face.” She says walking away from her balcony doors.

She’s glad he isn’t dead, but now it’s just unfiltered boiling rage coursing through her body towards him.

“Mariana please…I can explain, promise.” He says pressing his forehead on the door. He pleads with his big brown eyes, that always make her want to scream. He looks like a lost dog.

She huffs in frustration and defeat, “Fucking prick, disappears for a week and gives me those stupid puppy dog eyes and I just give in…” she mumbles chastising herself.

She flings the door open and steps back. She crosses her arms and looks at him, waiting.

He stumbles in behind her, surprised he actually made it this far. His eyes slowly look over her, taking in her appearance.

She’s in her pajamas, hair messy from sleep. She has dark circles under his eyes and he can see she’s been biting her nails. He notices how her hands dig into her own arms as they lay crossed over her chest. She’s guarding herself, protecting herself from him.

He realizes, as he looks her over, she’s been worried over him. Desperately so.

He sighs and shakes his head. He takes a deep breath before speaking, “Don’t have a good excuse for my disappearing act…”

She scoffs and turns away from him, “Course you don’t.” she whispers bitterly.

“Hey, listen,” He goes to touch her shoulder but she recoils from his touch. His hand lowers, shaking. He pulls back to himself.

“I was trying to avoid you okay?” he tells her honestly.

Her head whips up to look at him in almost confused betrayal. She doesn’t say anything, the silence acting as enough of an answer for him.

“Can’t do this,” He says running his hands over his face, “I don’t keep people around…” He starts. “Connecting with people isn’t my thing, I like being alone mostly… they don’t stick around like you.” He mutters looking at her.

 “So, what? You, you just cut me off? Cause you’re afraid?” she accuses voice rising.  “What about your band and those photos? Are they not your friends?” she adds in confusion.

“Yeah, they are,” He sighs, his shoulders dropping. “It’s different with you… no one’s stuck around the way you have and I ran.”  He tells her. Owning up what he did. He looks at her trying to get what he needs to say out. It feels like his throats swollen, filled with unspoken words that are too big and too important to get out.

“You came to tell me you’re afraid of intimacy after disappearing for a week… I figured that out on my own, thanks.” She says unimpressed.

She scoffs at where this conversation is going, she’s in disbelief. She doesn't want to hear anymore, it hurts too much.

“Not why I’m here MJ.” He says shaking his head.

“Please enlighten me, because I’m lost!” She says looking up at him. Her eyes are glossy and her voice is cracking, “I don’t know what is going on with you and I’m mad at you Hobie. I don’t want to be but I am.” She tells him her hands turning to fists at her side as they tremble. 

“M’not good at this…” He mutters, “Can I be honest?” he asks, voice ever so quiet. 

“Yes, that’s all I’m asking.” She replies looking lost. 

“I can’t lose you and that terrifies me alright? What happens if you’re with me and you die?” he asks voice shaking a little. “Can’t have that alright? You’re too important to me… Thought if I left it’d be easier on you.” He admits.

Her hearts racing, she knows what he means, but it doesn’t sit right in her stomach.

“You’re a real selfish dickhead you know that?” she says, her voice small as she looks up at him. “I don’t know what we’re doing Hobie, but I know I don’t want to lose you either.” She says exasperatedly.

She turns her head away from him looking down at her own feet, “I have messed up a lot of relationships okay…All I have is the people at the pub, my dad, and.. and you.” She says frustratedly.

Her arms come up and wrap around herself tightly. Trying to comfort herself the best she can.

“And to be honest… I prefer you to the lot at the pub.” She says with a dry, choked, laugh. She can feel her eyes really start to well up and she tries to stop herself. The last thing she wants to do is cry.

He reaches out hesitantly for her, she doesn’t recoil from his touch this time. He gently pulls her into a hug. She doesn’t return it, but she doesn’t push him away either.

He tucks her under his head, his chin resting on her.  

“Fucked up…” He mumbles lowly, “How do I fix this?” he asks her softly.

“You can’t just disappear on me…” Her voice breaks, almost into a sob but she holds herself back. “I thought you were dead in some alley.” She murmurs into his chest wrapping her arms slowly around him. Holding him tightly, her hands clinging onto him.

He rubs soothing circles into her back, “Can’t get rid of me that easily, promise.” He chuckles softly.

She scoffs a bit, “Says the guy crawling in my window needing to be stitched up every other week.”

The air around them isn’t filled with the same tense energy as before. They’re easing back into themselves, their routine. She enjoys the comfort of his large hands on her back and how she fits into the crook of his neck.

He enjoys her warmth, how it feels when she holds onto him. He didn't realize how much he missed it until it was gone. Even if it was just for a few days. 

He gives a genuine laugh at her words, it’s deep and shakes her body with him, “That was only a couple times, c’mon give me some credit here?” He says pressing a kiss into her hair.

“I don’t know what you did before me, can’t imagine you stitching yourself up.” She says gently.

He scoffs, “I’m a great nurse! Wrapped your ankle pretty well.” He says haughtily.

She snorts and looks up at him, “Uh-huh, and how many times have you patched yourself up since I started to?”

He makes a face and rolls his eyes at her, “What? Want me to go find another pretty girls’ balcony to patch me up instead? Ya sick of me, that it?” he teases her.

She laughs softly at that, “What like a tom cat? You a stray now?” She asks cocking her head to the side. 

He makes a face of mild distaste, “Good to know I’m just a stray cat luv, gotta keep my ego in check.”

“What, you don’t like that? Do you want to be domesticated instead?” she teases with a grin.

“Okay you’re just takin’ the piss now.” He mutters in fake irritation.

She just giggles, but once that dies down they’re both staring into each other’s eyes. The silence almost too loud between them. He moves his hand to cup her face, his eyes taking in her every feature.

“Can’t lose you… it’s dangerous being around me.” He says seriously, brows furrowed.

She shakes her head, “It’s worth it to be with you.” She says softly.

He feels her chipping away at his heart, carving her little hole for herself to sit in.

He presses a kiss to her forehead and pulls her against him tightly, her hands returning the gesture. Holding onto him, digging her nails into him, like she’s afraid he’ll disappear again.

“I…” He opens his mouth to tell her something, but loses his voice. It cracks and makes him wish he could just tell her.

“It’s okay.” She says softly. “We don’t, we don’t need to do that right now.”

He sighs and pulls back to look at her, “I want to try whatever it is, that we’re doing.”

She nods her head in agreement, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “A different conversation, not tonight.” She holds his face in her hands.

Her eyes flicker down, her face burning for a moment, “Can you stay tonight… with me?” she asks a little embarrassed.

He grins and gives a soft chuckle, “Yeah I can. Not going anywhere.” He gently reminds her.

She grins at him and moves to grab his hand and pull him to her bedroom. “Good.”

Tag List: @missshelleyduvall

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[beardedmrbean]

Zoomer Huey, I tend to see people saying why Gen z don’t have sex much.

Holy

Fucking

Shits

These journalists surprisedly have WORSE self awareness than there boomer relatives

Here a hint https://x.com/swannmarcus89/status/1762582001507323991?s=46

And gender dynamics are…nuked in the fields they are surveying. Women and girls are told that all men are predators and misandry is left unchecked

Also, why Hollywood act surprised about the sex abuse?

We all heard about the casting coach, and how suspiciously people from working class backgrounds like Micheal Jackson (yes his dad had his music connections. But essentially mj was a slave and was arguably was the first black child star unless I’m missing someone) and Walt Disney (though not as bad) are painted as monsters while the actual monsters are protected for decades

I mean look at Judy Garland, she was a sweet person and she did help the LBGT in Hollywood and supported the civil rights movement

But her “crazy” behavior makes more sense because she was sexually abused at a extremely young age

And she not the only one, Shirley Temple, the boy who played at the first LA Dennis the Manis

Oh and the Peter Pan actor (a lot of people leave out the part where ALL of Hollywood basically says he can choke and die because he was “too” Disney)

But sorry about the Gen stuff, but the false rape accusations, maybe if you guys didn’t view men (especially white ones) the same way Nazis viewed the Jews while saying all the working class men were Weinstein.

My Gen would have more sex

Entertainment industry has been like that since the beginning of forever, probably less so when women weren't allowed to participate but still a thing I'm sure.

As for Judy Garland it was nice to see people come out swinging in her defense when someone tried to start shit over well

She was not in control of her carer, saying no was not an option for her with this, but dumbasses that can only think in terms of today's standards never think about that.

Jay North (Dennis the Menace) did ok, so did Shirley Temple, plenty of others not so much, more recently we can look at Drew Barrymore and RDJ who both had fairly public meltdowns and problems.

Drew was ruined since her first film was ET and Spielberg takes care of the kids on set, going beyond the legal requirements.

Bobby Driscol was the Peter Pan VA top of his Wiki article.

Robert "Bobby" Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 – c. March 30, 1968) was an American actor who performed on film and television from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pictures of that period: Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1949), and Treasure Island (1950), as well as RKO's The Window (1949). He served as the animation model and provided the voice for the title role in Peter Pan (1953). He received an Academy Juvenile Award for outstanding performances in So Dear to My Heart and The Window.

He just fell into the child actor pit, where he wasn't "cute" anymore couldn't get gigs and couldn't adjust to not being in the spotlight, the way he went and nobody knowing is awful to think about still.

Jackie Coogan, on the other hand was a different story.

His parents sucked and as a result there's a series of laws named after him California's Coogan Law all about protecting the earnings of child actors from their parents. % goes into a trust iirc.

He ended up OK in the end though

The false accusation thing, #me too hurt women because #believe women was taken advantage of to such a degree that even this coming out to light

has still probably not cleared up for the trooper, and men are opting to not mentor women because of not wanting to risk a false accusation, everyone screams about how rare they are, to which I say so what, why should they assume the risk even if it's minor

Former VP Mike Pence came out and said he won't be alone with a woman that's not his wife in order to ensure that there is no possibility of someone making a claim of impropriety.

And he got this response

Why is anyone going to put their neck on the line when something like what he said is going to get this kind of response.

Maybe instead of crying about how rare false accusations are they should focus on shaming the people making them and coming up with solutions to keep them from happening.

You know instead of blaming the victims of the false accusations.

All this and so much more going on that isn't in this ask goes to the I don't blame people for not having as much sex, it's actually kinda nice too, fewer std's this way.

I went on a couple tangents, hope that's ok

[doudouneverte]

Shapeshifter and the Quizz

a/n: in my mind it was a good idea

*not my GIF*

mama!Natasha Romanoff x daughter!Reader; Wanda Maximoff x Female!Reader; Pietro Maximoff x Female!Reader(best friend); Yelena Belova x Teen!Reader(aunti-niece); Avengers x Teen!Reader

Summary: it was not the type of Natasha to get involved in Sam's and Tony's childish game but she need to prove them she know you better than anyone

Type: Fluff

Wanrning: nothing

words count: 1879

----------

In the tower, the Avengers were chilling; it was one of those days when there was nothing to do except probably for Pietro, who was planning a lot of pranks for everyone. Usually you should be home at this hour, but you decided to hang out with MJ a little. Correction: She forced you to hang out with her, but you didn't mind; she's one of your best friends, so it's okay.

Tony came to the living room, where Wanda was watching TV with Peter and Natasha was reading; there was also Sam, Bucky, and Steve, but they were doing their thing. "Red, I'm building a new bookshelf for the little spider, but I don't know what's her favorite color." He asked, and before your mom could understand what he said, she heard.

"(F/C)" said by the Sokovian. She smiled, and Tony looked at her for confirmation; she just nodded.

It should be like that; she was happy to know your girlfriend knew you. But she obviously didn't think Sam would invite himself into the equation.

"Oh, Nat, I'm confused; I thought you were the one who knows her best," Sam teased her. Everybody knew what he was doing, but Tony, being Tony, couldn't let it slip. "She starts to steal your baby girl." He said this loudly, and the Russian started to feel jealous of your relationship with Wanda.

"What do you mean, guys? Of course I know what her favorite color is. Wanda was just faster." She replied; she obviously didn't want to fall into their childish game.

"Okay, so what's her favorite movie?" Sam asked not so innocently.

"(F/M)" Wanda replied instantly; there was a silence, and she looked at the redhead. "Sorry," she said lowly.

"See, Natasha, she knows Y/n better than you," the Falcon teased. Usually she wouldn't let them get her, but when Steve and Bucky laughed at Sam's antics, she started to feel jealous.

"Okay, and what do you want to do?" The Russian said, and Tony thought for a moment.

"What do you think about a quiz? We will ask you questions, and the first to reply wins a point," he said. Everybody looked excited.

"We're not obligated," Wanda said to Natasha.

"No, but why not?" The redhead replied. "But what win the winner?" she asked Tony.

He looked at the room and tried to find something worth before his eye lend on a shirt with Minnie Mouse. "A trip to Disneyland with Y/n?" he asked, and the Russian seemed skeptical.

"Why would I play to win something I can afford?" she asked.

"Because I'll pay everything," he replied, and that seemed to cheer Natasha.

"Deal!" they both said.

"Perfect, now we just need a referee who knows Y/n as much as you." Sam said. He thought for a moment before speaking again. "Friday, can you tell Pietro we need him here, and it's important." And the IA did.

For the first fifty minutes, they both replied correctly at the same time. The little animation brought the rest of the Avengers into the living room, and at each question, they always had a little comment. You finally showed up a few minutes later.

"Hey mom, I'm...here" you said when you entered the tower. Your mom didn't come to greet you, but you heard noise in the living room, so you made your way into the room, where you found your mom and your girlfriend. They seemed tense. "Wow. What's happening here?" You asked and walked to sit between them. All eyes were now on you.

"Oh, perfect little Romanoff. We are playing a game. A quiz." Sam explained.

"What's the theme?" You asked; you wanted to play too; it could be fun.

"You." Tony said, and you frowned your eyebrows. Your mom was not someone who easily got involved in Sam's stupid plans.

"Okay, I have another question." Pietro said, and everybody looked at him. "Who was Y/n's first kiss?" He asked, and now everyone looked at you, and it was impossible to hide your flushed cheeks.

"Easy, it's me." Wanda said, and you lowered your head; you were clearly not ready for that. When she noticed you, the witch gasped. "Seriously?" She asked, visibly offended, and everybody except you two laughed.

"It was Mike." Natasha said, "One of our old neighbors." She explained proudly. And you shook your head.

"To be completely honest with you, it was her big sister Nora." You said, and you didn't miss the grin on Pietro's face.

"What but you said…"   Your mom said

"Yeah, but it was before I came out, and I didn't know how you'd react," you confessed, and the redhead hugged you. This cute moment was interrupted by Tony.

"Okay, who was your best kiss between her and your first with the little witch?" He asked, and you rolled your eyes.

"Wanda, of course," you replied, and your girlfriend kissed your cheek.

"Okay, okay, lovebirds I have another question." Sam exclaimed. "Who's Y/n's favorite Avenger?" he asked, and you chuckled. Except Pietro, no one could reply.

"Me," they both said, and you and your best friend laughed. The two women looked at you, shocked.

"It's totally Auntie Yelena," you replied, and Natasha cursed herself. Of course it was her; you were literally her biggest fan.

"At least the little poser has good taste." Yelena said, and you gave her a high five.

"I'm pretty disappointed," Wanda said, and she pouted. She was too cute, but that didn't change anything.

"Okay, guys, I have a last question. The first who replies wins," you said. "And I warn you, I'll be very disappointed if you can't find the right answer." you added. Okay, now there was a lot of tension in the room because of you. You cleared your throat and felt everybody focus on you. "Who... is... my best friend?" you asked.

"Oh, come on, it's easy. Pietro," your girlfriend replied.

"No, it's MJ," your mom said.

You didn't say anything; you just stood up, went to the kitchen to grab something to eat, and made your way to your mom's room. Everyone looked at you but didn't understand why you acted like that. Pietro could see you were pissed off, and it was unbearable.

"Really?" your best friend asked, and all eyes were now on him.

"What?  It's true." Wanda defends herself.

"Technically yes, but from what we saw, it's not the answer she expects." Yelena said.

"But who is it?" Sam was obviously the only one who remembered you didn't reply.

"It's you!" Pietro said poiting Natasha before sprinting to your location.

"Hey buddy," you said, and you sat properly on the bed, and he sat beside you.

"Oh, you take better than I thought." he replied, and you chuckled.

"And how did you think I would react?" you asked, clearly amused by his exception.

"I thought you would be more sad, you know, like this time with Wanda when she didn't say 'I love you' back and you were a burden for a complete day." He said and you groaned, "Or this time when you split all your drink on the table because you imitated Peter." He added and you laughed.

"It was a very good drink, so of course I would be sad." you said.

"Or this time when you shot an explosive arrow and almost destroyed the training area, and Laura grounded you for fifteen minutes because it was dangerous." he added.

"Okay, I understand; you know me really well, but I need to remind you that it was not my fault for the arrow. If Kate didn't change it, I would never destroy it." you defend.

"I think that means Tony own me a weekend at Disney," he said, and you frowned your eyebrow.

"What?" you asked.

"He promised a weekend at Disney World to the one of them who could answer the question the best," he explained, and your eyes were wide open.

"All that for a trip to Disney World?" you asked, and he nodded. Pietro wanted to speak, but your mom and your girlfriend came.

"Hey, are you still angry?" Natasha asked.

"I wasn't angry," you replied, "just a little surprised that you couldn't both answer an easy question like that." you explained.

Your mom looked at her feet; she was a little ashamed that she couldn't get the right answer. "I didn't know," she mumbled, and before you could notice, Pietro excused himself and her sister and took her out of the redhead's room. He really knew you the best.

"How? I mean, we spent a lot of time together." you said. She didn't reply at first and just sat beside you, wrapping her arm around your shoulder.

"Yeah, but with the time we had fewer mommy-daughter moments; every time I asked you, you said you had something planned with MJ, Peter, Ned, or Pietro, and now you have Wanda."

"But did you forget all the mommy-daughter moments we couldn't have because you were on mission or just too exhausted from work?" you asked, and she felt guilty. "But I'm not really upset or anything. Yes, it's true, I spent a lot of time with MJ recently, but that's because recently you had a lot of missions, so she stayed with me to fill the void of not having you with me whenever I wanted, like when I was a kid, but it's okay." you explained.

"But I should be there. It's not okay." she said, and she started to feel angry towards herself.

"Hey, it's okay, Mom, like really. It's true sometimes; it's really sad, but I know you are somewhere, helping people, and I'm okay with that. I mean, how many teens can say that they have the famous Black Widow as mom?" you said, and she smiled.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Nat asked with tears in her eyes, and you chuckled.

"You just knocked out a bad guy." you joked, and she laughed.

"I love you, мой маленький ангел (my little angel)." She said, and hugged you.

"I love you, too, мама медведь (mama bear)" you replied. There was silence for a moment before you spoke again. "Wait, what will we do about the trip to Disney?" you asked.

"I think you can convince Pietro to let you and her sister have a good time." she suggested, but you shook your head.

"I think I have a better idea. You'll go with Wanda, and I will stay with Pietro at Barton's farm." you said, and she frowned her eyebrow. "It's obvious that you both know me very well, but I think you need to learn more about each other." And it's been a long time since I had a sleepover with Lila, so it's a win-win." you explained.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, and don't worry, Aunti Laura will do all she can to not let me or Pietro get hurt or anything." you assured her. Your mom didn't reply; she just nodded and laid down on the bed, and you imitated her.

"I'm happy to be your best friend." she whispered, trying not to break the mood.

"I know, everyone would want to." you joked. You both stayed like that until you fell asleep, visibly tired about your day.

[jadenoryuu]

Phandom Holiday Truce Time!

(For maximum experience, please turn the light mode on.)

Sorry for keeping you waiting, @raaorqtpbpdy here's your @phandomholidaytruce gift!

When I saw the prompts "Danny-Wes Role Swap", comboed with the No One Knows AU, Creepy Cryptid Danny and your mention about the Ghost King Danny trope only used in a significant way, the gif "I have a MIGHTY need!" started playing in a loop, so here's the bg for this mini-comic.

Before the Portal Accident, Wes and Danny were friends. Not as close as Danny and Tucker, but they sometimes hung out when the Fentons were too busy to entertain Wes' interest in the occult.

My boy Wes Weston has also a side hobby/obsession with basket and it all started since he watched for the first time Space Jam. (It doesn't help that I headcanon Amity Park in Illinois, which means Chicago Bulls.)

(So he plays basket because His Airness does so and because MJ was involved and interacted with the embodiment of a visual novel. Talk about supernatural!)

(Yes, I'm saying that crossovers between animated and physical world can count as a supernatural and ghost-related event.)

All of this premise was to introduce the personalized jumpsuit that the Fentons made for Wes with the colors and accessories of the Chicago Bulls.

(Jack made a mistake with the number and stitched only the "2", so once Wes became a halfa, he added the "3" with marker and later learned to shapeshift enough to change some of the inverted colors of the jumpsuit. Originally it was white with red inserts, the accident made it black with blue inserts, then the shapeshift finally made it black with red inserts.)

Since it's a No One Knows AU, Wes was alone when the accident happened, but being the smart bean he is, no one discovered that he's a halfa until Danny, much like Jazz in canon, discovers Wes' double nature after stalking investigating him.

Like sister, like brother, Danny doesn't say anything to Wes about knowing, but here and then he assists (in the shadows) Wes in ghost wrangling.

Due to living above the active portal and Maddie experimenting with ectoplasm while pregnant, Jazz and Danny are liminal, the latter more than the former. (Thus, Danny becomes the creepy cryptid of Amity Park.)

Even if Danny isn't a halfa, Vlad still tries his scheme of stealing the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage to obtain enough power to defeat Wes' hero persona (who Vlad believes is a full ghost).

Much akin the Reign Storm episode, Amity ends in the Ghost Zone, but Wes gets stuck fighting "alone" the army (the Fentons and a reluctant Plasmius do the same on another front after the Ecto-suit is deemed a failure).

While his parents are out fighting, Danny sneaks in the lab and fixes the Ecto-suit (my boy is as much as a genius as his family, after all), then goes to challenge Pariah.

Due to his liminality, after the victory, Danny IS eligible for the Throne, so he becomes the King. (He doesn't discover this immediately, but when the Observants start bothering him, he gets the explanation.)

So, after declaring Amity Park Wes' (and his) Haunt and a No Fight Zone, the ghost attacks practically stop, leaving Wes on edge, because he doesn't know about the Law.

Thus, we're back to this mini-comic! Danny decides to finally reveal both that he knows Wes is a halfa and that he's the Ghost King, but where would be the fun if he didn't mess with Wes a bit? So he amps his creepy factor and plays a Yandere act (he isn't, he's doing so just for the prank. As a matter of fact, 3-5 seconds after the last declaration, he bursts out cackling at Wes appropriate horrified face, then after moving to a more private place -a roof-, Danny explains everything.)

Does this became a UFS? I like to think so, but you're free to decide.

I'm adding the non transparent versions under for those without the light mode:

[arthropodboy]

Help save the adorable Miss Margles

A friend of mine from High School is trying to save his new senior kitties life, but he doesn't have the funds. I thought I'd try sharing this here because Tumblr is the only place I have even a little bit of reach.

Donations and/or reblogs would be greatly appreciated

"Hello! My name is Jay and I recently adopted Margles back in the beginning of July. This senior girlie was found wandering around downtown Tacoma in really horrible condition. When she was found, she was severely underweight, dehydrated, and seemed to be ill - it was very clear that someone had dumped her, or maybe everything went wrong and she ended up alone long enough to deteriorate on the street. My homie MJ fostered her for a while until I was able to adopt her!

Despite her condition, she is one of the most affectionate and trusting cats I've met in a long time, and after bringing her home she loved hopping into bed with me in the morning and licking my face to wake me up to feed her. She also absolutely loves getting brushed/groomed. She has quickly become good buddies with Tommy as well (our other senior kitty) who had been showing signs of wanting a companion before we got her.

This past month has been a lot of back and forth to the emergency vet clinic and our primary vet clinic as we've tried to figure out what's going on with her. She has been having bloody vaginal discharge, been unable to get comfortable, urinating inappropriately, vomiting daily, has had a steadily declining appetite, and could never seem to get enough water. We treated her for a UTI, however her symptoms returned as soon as her course of antibiotics finished.

However, we finally were able to figure out what's going on with her!! She has a severe urinary tract infection with two different types of bacteria that require a longer course of special antibiotics. Miss Margles was also diagnosed with kidney disease, pancreatitis, low potassium, and low phosphate. She is also severely underweight at 4.5lbs (but has been steadily gaining weight since coming to us). Thankfully, all of these conditions are easily manageable through treatment, medication, and supplements, and Meegles should be able to recover and live out her golden years in comfort with Tommy after we get her balanced out.

Although, as someone who is currently working paycheck to paycheck at minimum wage, the bills are quickly becoming more than I can handle.

With appointments averaging around $650, recurring medications about half of that, starting a specialized kidney diet, and the costs of supplements + daily fluid therapy (and of course urine + vomit cleaning spray...) I've reached a point where I've decided to seek out financial support in mutual aid. I am very hopeful that she will make a recovery from her current condition, but I fear that if these bills become too much I will have to try to find her a new home, which is already hard enough for senior kitties, let alone a high medical needs senior cat. I don't want to have to put her through a whole life transition again; especially since I have veterinary assistant experience and work in the animal care field, and am confident with giving her specialized care in my daily routine.

I am currently giving her 4 medications a day + 2 supplements, and subcutaneous fluid therapy once or twice daily. She is also getting monthly Solensia injections for her severe arthritis due to having very low muscle/fat content. Due to the sedative effects of some of these medications, Margles is experiencing extreme muscle weakness and needs assistance getting to the litterbox in time, grooming herself after eating or peeing/pooping, and will only eat via spoon feeding for now. Its quickly become a labor of love, and I know that Margles would be better off remaining in my care as she rides out her golden years.

Any financial support for her medical needs to ensure that she gets to remain in my care would be greatly appreciated! Even like $5 goes a long way. The goal amount is based on what I've spent so far and am estimated to be spending on the next follow up appointment. I will return to working at a vet clinic soon (I am currently working with zoo animals) and should hopefully get some discounts for her lifelong fluid therapy, arthritis injections, kidney disease management, and senior wellness exams in the future, so this is just to help us through the next few visits. Times are rough for us all right now, if you aren't able to donate please boost if you can!

Thanks for taking the time to read ‍⬛ I will post updates as they come

- Jay"

[tornrose24]

More random SpiderMan/Marvel doodles.

-I admit it'd be hilarious if Peter's Symbiote arc was because Eddie and Venom had a couple's arguement and Venom decided to randomly latch onto Peter just to get away from Eddie/spite him. However Eddie is NOT amused by this ("and hopefully saves Peter's dignity before he does anything stupid" said TornRose bullyfour.)

-This version of Max and Gwen share some things in common, like hidding major secrets from their parents and not feeling like they lived up to expectations. A part of me thinks she'd have a hand in helping him get on a path to redemption (that and they'd bond over Katie Perry... also I love her song 'Electric' and Max would love it too).

-Doctor Strange design

-Thor and Loki design. Always was a Thor fan girl to be honest.

-Remember Gwen's failed clone from that one post? She's finally adopted by her inspiration. Max isn't happy to see her again.

-I thought it'd be funny if MJ had a secret fursona/anthro animal version of herself. It'd be even funnier if Goblin tried to renact that climax from the first Raimi!SPiderman film... but he can't if his target isn't dressed for that. (Also Miles was the one who did the drawing).