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elijahs-dumps · 10 months ago

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The Infantilization of Wylan Van Eck (within the soc fandom)

Hi! This is my first tumbler post ever, which is like super scary I wont lie. But I've had this project I've been working on since October and I'd love to share it with people, so here goes nothing!

Infantilization or to infantilize someone means to treat them as a child or in a way that denies their maturity in age or experience, and it qualifies as a form of mental abuse.

This treatment is common in fandoms, although it obviously isn't done in a hateful way on purpose. It’s often directed towards characters who are more innocent, more kind, or more anxious than the other characters within the universe. Or, sometimes these characters are literally just the youngest of the group. Some examples of this include, Entrapta from She-Ra and the Princesses and Power, Varian from Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, Number Five from The Umbrella Academy, Hunter from The Owl House, Little Cato from Final Space, and even Peter Parker from the MCU.

However, most of the traits found in characters that are infantilized are also traits found in neurodivergent people. These traits include, missing social cues, being easily excitable or restless, often feeling anxious hyper fixating on something (usually related to science or math), being an outcast from the rest of the group in some way, and so on and so forth. Therefore, infantilization within fandoms is pretty problematic on its own. People (usually online) think that characters with these traits should be babied or pitied or demeaned in some way, even though neurodivergent consumers usually relate to these characters because of those same traits.

Some evidence of Wylan being infantilized can include; the fact he's only referred to as cute or synonyms to that, while the other Crows or their actors are often sexualized more. People saying or implying he's smaller, weaker, or even younger than the others. And of course, people saying Kaz and Wylan are father and son... which is something I'll come back to later.

Why Wylan?

To better understand why exactly Wylan is receiving this treatment exclusively from the fans, we need to fully analyze the Six of Crows duology, which is exactly what I did!

When we are first introduced to Wylan in chapter seven (Matthias’ POV) of the Six of Crows, we see him sitting at the table and doodling while occasionally chewing on his thumbnail. He doesn't speak until Inej voices her doubts in Wylan’s demolition abilities. Jesper says Wylan “barely knows his trade”, and Kaz mentions that Wylan is “new to the scene”. Matthias also makes a comment about how Wylan “looks like he’s about twelve”. When Jesper and Inej continue to complain about Wylan being their demo man, Kaz tells them that Wylan is doubling as their insurance policy because Wylan is Jan Van Eck’s son, the rich merchant who’s paying Kaz and his chosen crew 40 million kruge in exchange for breaking Bo Yul-Bayur out of the Ice Court. This immediately makes everyone in the room think less of Wylan because of his privileged past.

This introduction sets up Wylan to the readers. His reserved body language, along with his inexperience and Matthias’ comment about his young appearance gives the impression that Wylan is more childish than the other Crows.

In the next chapter (Jesper’s POV) as the Crows react to the reveal of Wylan’s identity, Kaz tells Wylan that he’s “passable at demo, but excellent at hostage”. Jesper calls Wylan a “baby merch” and insists that Kaz leave him behind, less he slows the crew down. Wylan is annoyed that Kaz and Jpeser are talking about him as if he isn't in the room. Then, Kaz tells Wylan that the only reason he hasn't been mugged or jumped in the three months since he left his father’s house is because Kaz placed him under Dregs protection. In fact, Jesper even says that Kaz has been “coddling Wylan”. Jesper proceeds to call Wylan useless as he and Nina belittle Wylan for living in the Barrel “by choice”. This is also where the nickname “merchling” comes from. When the group continues to go back and forth over Wylan’s skills, Kaz repeats that he’s only bringing Wylan along because he doesn’t want to leave their hostage alone in Ketterdam. This makes Wylan the only Crow that wasn’t hired for their abilities, Wylan’s passable demo skills are simply a bonus. It’s a way for Kaz to keep the crew small and avoid splitting the money even further.

This entire exchange and interaction between our six main characters lays out the groundwork for the dynamic between Wylan and the other Crows for the majority of the first book. Everyone else in the room believes Wylan is just another spoiled rich kid. They make fun of him for his lack of street smarts, and the money he was born into. Wylan never really fights back too much when it comes to comments from the others, which just reinforces the idea that he came from a cushy lifestyle where he never had to learn how to defend himself verbally. Wylan’s inexperience and innocence is often mistaken for stupidity by the characters, and therefore the readers.

Kaz saying, “Always hit where the mark isn’t looking.” Only for Wylan to reply with, “Who's Mark?” is a great example of this. (Still chapter eight, Jesper’s POV.)

In chapter nine (Kaz’s POV) we see how Kaz views Wylan in his inner monologue. He says Wylan seems out of his depth, and even though he’s only a year younger than Kaz (making Wylan sixteen) he still looks like a child. Kaz describes Wylan as a silk eared puppy in a room full of fighting dogs. This pushes the concept that Wylan is more childlike than the others further onto the audience.

Additionally, in chapter eleven (Jesper’s POV), we see Jesper quite literally call Wylan “kid” during the attack at the docks, even though they’re also only one year apart. And in chapter fifteen, Matthias refers to Wylan as “the soft one” within his own inner monologue.

Since Wylan doesn't have his own point of view chapters in the first book, the reader’s entire understanding of this character is formed through the eyes of the other Crows. So, what we’re hearing about Wylan in the first book might not be entirely accurate, which is something people often forget. Part of the reason why the fandom treats Wylan the way they do is because of the way the Crows describe and talk to him throughout the entire series, The reader learns to rely on the others’ opinions on Wylan in order to learn more about him.

All of the evidence I have shown so far, and even some smaller things I haven't included, plants a certain mentality in the reader; Wylan doesn't have the same knowledge as the other Crows, so he must be weak and gullible. Weakness and gullibility are often traits associated with the “younger-one-of-the-group” trope, or the “Kid Trope”. So, since Wylan is displaying behaviors that we as media consumers have grown used to attaching to characters who are literal children, Wylan must be a child, or at least be treated like one.

However, the Crows don’t treat Wylan this way because they truly believe Wylan acts like a small child, because he doesn’t. Wylan’s behavior is perfectly normal, it simply sticks out in contrast to the harsh environments all the others have been exposed to. They treat him this way throughout the book as a sort of condescending joke, they belittle him for the stereotypes surrounding his upbringing and little else.

Still, like I said, the Crows’ mindset on Wylan is all the reader is exposed to for the entire first book, so the reader will subconsciously assume Wylan must be doing something to earn this odd treatment from the others. Sometimes readers don’t understand that it is not Wylan’s wealthy and sheltered background that makes him different, it’s the fact that the others are all criminals, murderers, soldiers, and convicts. Wylan is the only “normal” Crow on a very surface level, so his innocence is bound to stick out more.

As the first book continues, we see that there’s more to Wylan’s past than he lets on. We see first hand how smart and capable Wylan truly is, as his character grows with the story. It begins in the fight at the docks in chapter eleven, where Wylan uses his own flash bombs to help Jesper out. In chapter thirteen, Wylan openly questions and even challenges Kaz after he throws Oomen overboard, which shows great courage on Wylan’s part. This pattern of questioning Kaz when no one else really does is a common theme when it comes to Wylan. We also see Wylan explain who Pekka Rollins is to Matthias in chapter fifteen. This shows that he’s not completely incompetent, and is at least somewhat aware of what goes on in the Barrel. Then, in chapter seventeen (Jesper’s POV), Wylan expresses his natural curiosity and desire for knowledge about anything, from the mechanics of the Ice Court moat to the design of Jesper’s guns. All of this builds to chapter twenty-two, where the Crows are attacked on the ice by Grisha who were sent by the Shu, dosed on parem. Wylan does a lot of heavy lifting in this fight with his bombs, and everyone is impressed. Jesper even makes a comment about how Wylan’s “earned his keep” now.

Small moments like this that showcase Wylan’s natural resourcefulness and strength are crucial to communicating with the readers that the Crows were wrong about Wylan in the beginning. As Wylan’s true nature begins to develop further throughout the first book, we slowly see the Crows and their attitude towards Wylan change. It becomes more positive. In the future, when Wylan makes an ignorant comment, the others don’t poke fun at him as much. They’ll tell him to be quiet at most.

By the final climax of Six of Crows, chapter forty-six (Kaz’s POV), we find out Wylan cannot read. Jan Van Eck is open about his hatred and mistreatment of his son. When Jesper jumps to Wylan’s defense, he goes as far as to say Wylan is smarter than most of the others put together. Jesper is in love with Wylan at this point in the story, so his words might be a little exaggerated. But there’s still truth to them. This entire scene serves as evidence that Jesper and the other Crows have realized Wylan’s intelligence and worth, so they don’t even think twice when they find out Wylan can’t read or write.

If all the Crows’ preconceived notions about Wylan were proven wrong before the end of the first book, then why does the fandom still view Wylan in such a problematic way?

Blame Booktok

This is all mainly tied to modern day book consumption, and the obsession with “tropes”. Online reading communities such as “Booktok” or “Bookstagram” have normalized interpreting even the most complex characters through simple archetypes. This is something all six crows are a victim of, in fact, most characters within all kinds of media are.

A good example of this within Six of Crows is Kaz Brekker himself. Kaz, within “Booktok”, is often lumped together with several other male YA love interests in books, like Aaron Warner or Cardan Greenbriar . They all usually share very few qualities, like having violent tendencies, being extremely protective of their loved ones, and acting cold or mysterious towards others. Regardless of the fact that all these characters are so complex and different, from their relationship dynamics, to their morals, to their backstories, readers still often view them as one in the same because of videos online pointing out very minute similarities. A broader example I would use is the way the Hunger Games series was often marketed and discussed as if the love triangle between Peeta, Gale, and Katniss was the main focus of the story. But really it was just a subplot to a more serious and heavy narrative.

People will often focus too much on singular tropes because it makes books easily identifiable and marketable in this new era of self-publishing and online purchasing. It’s easier to judge a book by its cover if you have a broad sense of what might be inside based on the small character details or scenarios other readers liked from it. But what does that have to do with Wylan?

Well, because people often talk about books or even whole genres on a surface level, they also discuss characters on a surface level. This lazy form of consumption is what often leads to mischaracterization. People can obviously understand complex characters like Wylan, so it’s not a question of intelligence. Fans online are just used to discussing things within books fandoms in such a simple way and viewing a character through the lens of one trope. They’ll put the character in a box, and Wylan just so happens to check all the boxes for a character who would be infantilized. Even though there are interesting things about Wylan besides his “innocence”, people are less inclined to talk about it. In short, viewing Wylan as just another character who falls under the category of a simple stereotype is easier than including and discussing his nuances.

So who is at fault?

When it comes to talking about a more harmful fandom behavior, like infantilization, it’s important to keep an open mind. Sometimes, it’s the creator’s fault for writing a character in a problematic way, not the fandom’s fault for interpreting it that way. So, is Leigh Bardugo at fault here for writing Wylan in this light? Or is it the fandom’s fault for not looking past the obvious parts of a character?

I don’t think it was Leigh Bardugo’s fault. If you take the second book, Crooked Kingdom, into account then you can clearly see that the way Wylan is disrespected in the first book is something he’s dealt with his whole life, especially from his father. Wylan has been taught to believe that his reading disability makes him useless as an heir, and as a human being all together. This is one of the reasons why we never see Wylan truly snap back in an aggressive way in Six of Crows when the others insult and belittle him. A big part of Wylan thinks that the others are right about him being useless. Obviously, Wylan couldn’t have had his own POV chapters in Six of Crows, because then that would spoil his father’s true motives. However, I think the fact we didn't get to see his point of view in the first book serves another purpose. Wylan’s low self-esteem is definitely a major thing he needs to overcome in his personal story within Crooked Kingdom. So for the readers to fully understand this, we needed to view Wylan from an outside perspective. First, we get to view him as the other Crows do, as someone sheltered and weak who’s in way over his head. Then, we get to see why Wylan is the way he is. I think this sort of reverse style of character writing is really interesting and more fun to read. But still, not every reader accepted Wylan just because the Crows started to warm up to him. So by extension, this is also why Wylan is one of the most hated Crows. Nevertheless, I think the way Leigh Bardugo chose to write Wylan is inevitable for the story and vital to his character! It wouldn't feel the same if we didn't get to see how the others viewed him first.

The fault lies with the fandom when it comes to Wylan’s infantilization. But, are people online really just lazy when it comes to discussing characters, or is something bigger at play here? I think it’s both. People do misinterpret Wylan’s strong and resilient character because of laziness and the normalization of oversimplification and overconsumption within the book community. But this treatment is also rooted in subconscious ableism. To better explain what subconscious ableism truly is, I’ll be taking a deeper look at a specific dynamic.

Kaz and Wylan (are not father and son)

Despite these two characters only having a one year age gap, the fandom often views Kaz and Wylan’s relationship as one similar to a father and son dynamic. Which is understandable to a certain degree. Kaz is the very first person Wylan ever told about his reading disability. Kaz had Wylan placed under Dregs protection the minute Wylan set foot in the Barrel, which may have been for Kaz’s own selfish reason, but it still kept Wylan safe for a while. There are a couple scenes in the books where Kaz will give Wylan advice about life in general, or about having a disability, not just about being a criminal. We see Kaz take getting Wylan justice for his mother and stealing back Wylan’s inheritance very seriously. Wylan even starts to pick up some of Kaz’s mannerisms and facial expressions. All of these could be viewed as things a father and son would do, despite how small the actual age gap is. However, the fandom seems to take this relationship to the extreme, from fan fiction and fan art, to getting the characters’ actors involved.

It’s somewhat because of very minute subconscious ableism. People naturally view Wylan as younger because of his demeanor, but also because of his disability. The opposite is true for Kaz. His physical disability makes people naturally view him as older than seventeen in their minds. This is due to long standing ableist tropes within the media. People with mental disabilities are often depicted as stupider in some way, so they need to be babied or coddled. While people with physical disabilities are often depicted as very ill, or very old.

This might seem far fetched, but it’s true. And it’s quite obvious if you look closely enough at anything from books, to movies, to TV, to games! These are just some of the harmful stereotypes we see in our world every day,

How to fix this issue

Now, of course people aren’t just going to stop misinterpreting characters or stop viewing them through small scale tropes all together. But keeping yourself educated and aware is a good way to stop promoting these harmful stereotypes. Listen to the voices that are being affected in these situations! In this case, it’s people with mental or physical disabilities. Be sure to take into account what they have to say on matters like this one. Allow yourself to take the criticism and learn from their experiences or feelings. It’s important to be empathetic and kind to one another, and acknowledge that sometimes we do problematic things without intending to. When talking about characters with disabilities, it’s important to remember what they represent, and the fact that you can't always say whatever you want just because the characters are fictional.

As always, if you’re ever unsure about whether something you feel or think is harmful towards a certain community, never be afraid to ask questions and do your research!

#wylan van eck #wylan hendriks #six of crows #shadow and bone #grishaverse #analysis #jack wolfe #wylan x jesper #soc wylan #wylan van sunshine #crooked kingdom #kaz brekker

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the-archetype-of-civilization · 1 year ago

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Some ATSV things that I love.

-SPOILERS AHEAD-

Gwen's world is gorgeous and the fact that it helps to convey emotions so well is awesome.

I can't say for certain, but the part where Lizard Parker's hand is sticking out of the rubble is similar to Green Goblin's hand sticking out when he died in ITSV. Funnily enough, that's when both Peters died.

Spot goes through a similar arc as Miles: they both have these abilities that they awkwardly try to utilize, fail often, and end up hurting themselves in the process. The difference is that Miles had a mentor and friends to help him through his trauma and loneliness and channel his powers for good. Spot had no one and, although he had a much easier grasp of his abilities and was far quicker to adapt to them than Miles, he channels his powers with hatred.

Uncle Aaron caring for Rio and Miles in Earth 42 after Jeff's death says more about him than he thinks.

Miles is such a tragic character in some of the less obvious but still hurtful ways: he's actively giving up his pursuit of art in exchange for science just so he can see his friends, he has no IRL friends, his Spider friends were not allowed and/or chose not to see him when they had the ability to, he's outcasted by the Spider Society actively, they KNEW he was an anomaly and chose not to tell him, him becoming Spider-Man was by chance, he learned his dad was "fated" to die, and he inadvertently caused Spot's creation (though, that was mainly Spot's own fault to be fair). It sucks, but he still keeps going because he's gonna "do his own thing." Absolute chad. I love the Spider peeps, even Miles' friend squad, but, respectfully, fuck 'em (minus Hobie, for obvious punk reasons).

This prevailing theme of "you can't just ignore your problems, you need to face them" is so good, and it's apparent through Gwen. She flat out says "I don't know how to fix this" when she reveals herself to her dad and just goes on a whole separate adventure, escaping her world and her problems, just ignoring it. And she's finally forced to confront her problems and herself when she's kicked out of the Spider Society, saying the same exact thing when she finds her dad again.

Gwen didn't kill Peter and she says as much to her dad, but I'm sure she feels guilty about it and that's probably why she tries to ignore it and not talk about it, denying that part of herself and further adding to the "denying her problems" and, by extension, herself.

This may be a personal thing, but it's interesting that characters seem more expressive and open about their feelings when the mask is on, rather than when they're off. They're more comfortable when they're hiding behind a mask, and are more guarded and insecure about themselves when the mask is off. Again, this might just be pure personal speculation.

Another great theme I love is that not everyone knows what they're doing, and that's okay. Kids, teens, adults. "No one has a personal handbook." And that's awesome and something that everyone needs to hear. And even the people that think they know what they're doing, don't (Miguel, Jess).

Following that, I love that it leads into "trusting yourself" and why Miles rejecting what everyone is saying how his story should go and doing his own thing hits so hard. He doesn't know if what he's doing is right, but he wants to do the right thing and he's going to fight hard to do it. Gwen has trouble realizing this because of another point I'm gonna bring up after, but she starts to understand that at the end as well. Same for Peter when he doubts he'll be a good father for Mayday. Do right for yourself through others. And, in a way, that works for Miguel as well in trying to do right by the multiverse (needs of the many vs. needs of the few), but it became twisted from trauma to the point of zealotry and a bad habit.

Gwen's mentors (Miguel and Jess, most likely) twisted her view of what the right thing to do is. She's learning from them what THEY think is the right thing to do, rather than trusting herself. She fell into a crowd that, indirectly, used her at her most vulnerable moment when she was the most doubtful about herself to become their asset. It's cruel, but she learned from it after she was kicked out. And it also shows that Peter really WAS a good mentor to Miles in comparison.

Miles inherits the Spider-Man trait better than any other Spidey in the Society. "What's important is not standing by while allowing someone to suffer or die because you do nothing. If you don't get that, then you don't know the first thing about being Spider-Man." He does this without a second thought and INSTINCTUALLY. The fact that everyone CHOOSES to sacrifice is bonkers, a sacrifice is only viable when there's no other option when taking action. Miles LEARNED from his inaction in the first movie, now he's practically teaching everyone by example.

I don't agree with everyone saying that he needs to sacrifice to be a true Spider-Man, when this movie and ITSV before it is a critique of the Spider-Man mythos: that a Spider-Man is only a true hero until they have lost someone dear to them. Miles is an anomaly, and I feel like this only adds to him being the outlier if he goes BEYOND the curse and is able to save both his dad and the multiverse. If Raimi's Spider-Man could do it, so can he. And Gwen's dad is now alive and well, too! Not everything is set in stone, even Lyla said as much: "That's what the model says..."

Rio's speech to Miles is some of the most heartwarming, genuine, motherly writing I've seen in a long time and is a top highlight in the movie for me. And I think this is what kept Miles going through his escape from the Spider Society, standing firm against everyone saying he didn't belong and that he was going to get home safe and sound like she wanted.

"Meanwhile, the cakes take a ride..."

Also, the super long quiet moment after Gwen leaves and Rio is there to console him is such a nice breather. Allowing the film to soak and the characters to breathe is awesome, just seeing Miles react to seeing his friend leave with simple silence against the NY ambience is such under utilized filmmaking. LET FILMS BREATHE AND TAKE THEIR TIME.

Miguel's twisted view isn't without merit and I understand where he's coming from. He's taking these steps because he was forced to have this narrow-minded view of saving the world and what it means to be Spider-Man because of the trauma he experienced, that you NEED to sacrifice in order to save everyone else. His steps to do it are messed up and bordering antagonistic (especially when Miles is in the picture), but he's doing it for the right reasons (he watched an entire universe become erased because of his selfishness). But it's the wrong execution. He's a better written villain with understandable motives than Thanos, in my eyes.

And I really love that Miguel was willing to talk down Miles about what was at stake, to reason with him and empathize with him about the cost of his choices and where it lead him ("Trust me, I know") before he...jumped to an ultimatum.

The music fucking slaps, and I don't just mean in terms of melody and sound and all that. It tells a story as well without the movie, it has its themes perfectly interwoven (like a web heheh) together and creates a thematically rich soundtrack. Pemberton can create so many moods in one track effortlessly it's insane, all the way from heartwarming, to terrifying, to brutal, to epic, to heroic, to fun. Top marks.

"I'm gonna take everything from you, like you took everything from me. See you back home...Spider-Man" is terrifyingly delivered and a chilling line.

I don't need to say anything more about Hobie than anyone else has, but I severely misjudged him like Miles did and I love being proven wrong. Especially with the discussion about him being more brotherly towards him. I also liked that he saluted Mayday and knows how to handle a baby, looking out for the kids and all like he does.

Addendum, seeing Miguel being able to handle a baby as well is heartwarming and heartbreaking for obvious reasons.

The part where Hobie uses his legs to block Miles from going almost feels like he's trying to warn Miles not to go any further, that it's not gonna end well. Gotta love Hobie, man.

Peter's little speech to Miles is really nice, and something everyone needs a reminder of, too. "Bad things are gonna happen, but good things happen, too." It's short, simple, and sweet. Although, in the context of it basically being "yeah, your dad is gonna die, but something good will come from it, too," that's pretty messed up.

Seeing Miles' borderline evil smirk when he starts sapping Miguel's electricity is wild.

In relation to that, Miles has grown up so much. You can see that he's been able to calm himself down more and have better control of his abilities. You can especially see it when he's facing 42 Miles: his eyes relax, he steadies his breathing, and he has complete focus. That's when his powers come out. I love watching my boy work.

Side note to that last part about 42 Miles, our Miles clearly learned from Peter when he tore his gloved finger to use his powers: "Watch the hands, not the mouth."

Miles' "good bye" to Gwen is so sad, but you can hear he's grown from it. From them. He sounds so heavy hearted and disappointed. Again, I need to reiterate to his friend squad, really uncool, guys.

When they were going through every Spider person's captain death tally and there was Hobie's, his reply ("Yeah, what of it?") is heartbreaking.

In ITSV as well, but I love how they animate hugs in this movie. And I love how often it happens, too. They're quick and tight, but look and probably feel as warm as they look. It's a very affection heavy movie.

"The 'Spider Verse'...huh. That's...stupid" is such a dickhead thing to say, but it's so hilarious. It feels like something that would only be utterable in a comic book setting. It works.

That twist at the end is expertly crafted and I've talked about it in another post, and that cliffhanger (although painful to us viewers) is a perfect way to cap off that it's the beginning of the end and that all of the players are set, the pieces are in place. An Empire Strikes Back equivalent but in glorious comic book form, tone and all.

Anyway, movie good. I probably have more to say and maybe I'll make another post when I think more about this movie (I inevitably will). But yeah, I had to get this out of my head. Thanks.

Also, side note, Spider-Cat and Pter Ptarker should be named Peter Purrker and Petyrannosaurus Prex. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

Edit: I'm sorry, I keep updating this post thinking that it's the last and then I think about something else that I love and have to put it in. This movie is brain rot.

Edit 2: I made another post because I can't help myself.

#spider man #spider man across the spider verse #spider man across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse #across the spider verse #atsv #spider verse #spiderverse #miguel ohara #miguel o'hara #miles morales #gwen stacy #peter b parker #peter parker #jessica drew #rio morales #aaron davis

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skarchomp · 5 months ago

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taking into account the sliding timescale, at this point, peter parker would have been a social outcast nerd in high school in like the late 2000s at most. what manga was he really into

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amazing-spider-man-book-club · 6 months ago

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Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962)

Published: August 1962

Containing: "Spider-Man!", "There are Martians Among Us!", "Man in The Mummy Case!", "The Bell-Ringer!"

Introducing: Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Ben Parker, May Parker, Flash Thompson, Liz Allen (unnamed), Mr. Warren (unnamed), Crusher Hogan, Sally Avril (unnamed), Seymour O'Reilly (unnamed), Maxie Shiffman (unnamed), The Burgler, Officer Baxter Bigelow (unnamed)

Synopsis: Peter Parker, social outcast, becomes vindictive and egotistical following being bitten by a radioactive spider and gaining spider-like abilities. After a brief stint in show business, his Uncle Ben is murdered by a burgler that Peter did nothing to stop earlier.

Read alongside us here:

@frankendykes-monster : One thing I don't want to do with this blog is discuss the in's and out's of how we got here because I feel like that'd be boring to most people beyond some anecdotals, but as we continue farther along the "behind the scenes" of The Amazing Spider-Man will become harder to ignore. That said:

Amazing Fantasy #15 is the only comic named "Amazing Fantasy". The series started out as Amazing Adventures, and was a typical Marvel horror/science fiction series being headlined by a Jack Kirby story followed by multiple stories by any number of freelancers (Dick Ayers, Don Heck, Larry Lieber, Joe Sinnott, etc.). With #7 the series is renamed as Amazing Adult Fantasy and becomes a 100% Steve Ditko showcase, but Spider-Man marks an intended shift towards replacing the line with superheroes; August 1962 is also the month where Ant-Man becomes the main feature in Tales to Astonish and Thor is introduced in Journey into Mystery. Truly, the "Marvel Age" of comics was upon us.

As a two-part story that only takes up 12 pages, "Spider-Man!" gets an incredible amount of work done. It's arguably the most superfluous issue of the entire Ditko/Lee run to return to if only because unlike so many other superheroes, Spider-Man's origin is a very "don't fix what isn't broken". Fans of Spider-Man (2002) or Spectacular Spider-Man especially will notice that's there not much here that they aren't already aware of, though most of the characters introduced here play no important role for the duration of the run, and will only be retroactively made more important by future creative talent down the line.

One thing that will become apparent throughout the run, however, is that this "source text" incarnation of Peter is a vindictive jackass starting out. In this issue we see proclamations that the rest of the world can walk off a cliff, and his disinterest in stopping the burgler is nothing more than an expression of that attitude. Being nice costs nothing, but being rude and egotistical doesn't either (or does it...considering your family member might be murdered later on...)

Stan Lee's narration seems prophetic in retrospect given that his aggrandizing prose makes it out that Spider-Man is nothing more than completely destined to become one of the biggest characters in pop culture. The juxtaposition of it with the slouching demurred pose of Peter on the title page and the context which it finds itself at the story's end just highlights that something big is on the way.

Amazing Fantasy #15, despite the text note that Lee provides at the end of the issue, would be the final one published as it was cancelled to make room in Marvel's distribution line up for a revival of Two-Gun Kid three months later. Several Spider-Man stories that were already done would end up on the shelf until The Amazing Spider-Man #1 is published. It heightens the tragedy of this story in a way that makes it compliment the twist-ending pulp horror that Ditko's output entirely consisted of. In this issue alone, Peter's fame going to his head and it biting him in the ass isn't out of place compared to anything that would have happened in Tales From The Crypt a decade earlier.

I have to wonder how much of this issue is a rush job because the early Spider-Man stories we will be discussing over the next several weeks are not the highlight of Ditko's career to out it nicely. There's not a lot of room for large panels that have a nice balance of negative space like what one would expect from Ditko in the early 1960's. Spider-Man's original costume was meant to be black (blue serving as a highlight) and the spider symbol on his back being blue. Didn't stick. For contrast take a look at the title page for two of the other stories in this issue.

@duel1971 : A good amount of ground ground gets covered in this relatively short origin story. We see Peter as a wallflower, a masked wrestler, an inventor, and most importantly as a loving son. These are all facets of the gem that is Peter Parker. He comes across as a relatable everyman because the details of his civilian life are filled in with care. Our first look at peter at home establishes there is a core of love in his home life, that he feels safe there away from the world that doesn’t fully understand him. Peter doesn’t quite transform into a superhero in Amazing Fantasy #15, but we learn the things that drive him: love for his family, and anger that it has been broken.

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websterss · 2 years ago

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YOU COULD BE TWINS — TOM!PETER PARKER

SUMMARY: Peter Parker meets Tom Holland

WARING(S): Fluff

WORD COUNT: 1,068

PAIRING: Peter Parker x fem!Reader & Tom Holland

A/N: I hope you like it! Feedback is always welcomed!

MASTERLIST

“Ned I don’t know if this is such a good idea to go to this party. We aren’t even popular.” Peter told his best friend.

“Peter, come on, this is going to be great. Maybe you’ll finally get your chance to ask Y/n out.” Ned reminded him.

“Yeah yeah yeah, you’re right.” Peter nodded, turning forward to the entrance of the enormous house.

Peter and Ned walked in seeing a bunch of their classmates and a bunch of other people they hardly knew. Amongst the crowd, Peter spotted the one person he was looking forward to seeing tonight. You were with your group of friends laughing about something that had happened during school.

“Hey Y/n.” Peter approached you slowly, looking between you and your friends.

“Oh hey Peter, you came!” You smiled at him.

“Yeah, I thought I could use a break from all the books.” He laughed nervously.

“Well, I’m glad.” You said.

“Me too.” He smiled.

You and Peter turned to look at your friends who were snickering.

“What’s so funny guys?” You let out a halfhearted laugh. You knew very well what they were laughing about. Peter. Sure he was shy and didn’t get out much but that’s what made him so unique and different. That’s what made you like him so much.

Your friends on the other hand, considered Peter to be a dork, an outcast. They didn’t even bother to give him a second glance. So when you heard them laughing you knew right then and there who their main source was to cause their fits of laughter.

“Nothing Y/N. We just remembered something, that's all.” One of your friends shrugged.

“If it’s nothing then what is it?” You shrugged as well.

“Listen we have to go refill our drinks but we’ll tell you later, okay?” Your friends scurried off elsewhere.

“Sorry about that.” Peter said, avoiding your gaze.

“What’re you sorry about?” You stared at him confused.

“Your friends don’t seem to like me.” He muttered.

“They just don’t know you.” You placed your arm on his shoulder.

“I guess…”

“Hey cheer up, we're at a party after all!” You playfully pushed him.

“Okay.” He breathed out.

“I’m going to go get us some drinks so stay here alright.” You told him.

“I’ll be waiting right here.” He smiled.

You gave him a smile and headed towards the kitchen. Peter watched you with a feeling he couldn’t describe.

“So how does someone like you get Y/n L/n’s attention?” A voice spoke behind him. Peter turned around to be face to face with none other than Flash Thompson himself.

“What do you want, Flash?” Peter groaned

“Your homework. No seriously Peter, what's your secret?” Flash looked at him with a serious expression.

“Secret? What secret, there’s no secret. I don’t have a secret!” Peter stuttered.

“Well, you obviously have something if it gets Y/n to notice you.”

“Notice me-Y/n’s just a friend.” Peter grew timid.

“But you clearly have feelings for her.” Flash pointed out.

“Whatever.” Peter stood up from his seat and shoved past Flash.

You looked around the kitchen trying to locate where the red solo cups were. As much as you liked to party, you didn't drink alcohol. So the best way to blend in was to use the red cups and pour a suitable drink.

You finished pouring Peter’s soda and retreated back to where he was waiting for you. You didn’t see him sitting down thinking he had wandered somewhere else. You looked over the living room and spotted those luscious curls of his. He was standing next to some girl by the stairs. You thought nothing of it and walked up to him.

“Here is one non-toxic beverage.” You laughed handing him his drink. He looked up at you with a confused expression. He looked at the blonde he was talking to then at you. “This is the part where you say thank you…” You gestured with your hand.

“I’m sorry love, do I know you?” Peter said with an English accent.

Okay ouch, that stung. You thought.

“Very funny Peter, you got me, now what’s with the stupid fake accent?” You said, amused.

“Peter? I don’t know what’d ya mean by a fake accent love, my name is Tom.”

You took in his words. Did Peter change while you were gone? No, he couldn’t have? This Tom guy was dressed very differently. He wore a much different attire than what Peter would usually wear.

“Would you excuse me for a moment.” You nervously laughed and ran off to another part of the house.

You were so deep in your thoughts you didn’t notice a figure in front of you. You stumbled into them losing your balance, they caught you and held you upright.

“Y/n, you okay?” You looked up at Peter. He was wearing his nerdy white t-shirt and his flannel on top.

“Peter? but you were just over there, how did you get here?”

“What do you mean I was looking for you but you never showed up with my drink.”

“Oh good, it’s really you this time. I think I’m losing it!” You hugged his waist.

“This time? What are you talking about? Where’s my drink?” He asked.

“Just come with me.” You pulled him with you to where you last saw this Tom guy.

“But I didn’t get my drink.” He complained.

You rolled your eyes and gazed over the living room again trying to find him. You finally spotted him on a chair talking to a guy with blondish hair. Peter must’ve noticed where you were looking because his eyes widened. You walked closer to them.

“Hey, Tom was it?” You asked curiously. You were freaking out.

“Yeah-” He cut his sentence off looking behind you.

“Oh, bloody hell mate he looks just like you!” Harrison exclaimed.

“You look just like me…” Peter mumbled.

“No, you look just like me!” Tom said back.

“No you both look the exact same!” You stepped in. Both heads turned towards you. “You could be twins!”

“This is so cool!” Peter said excitedly.

“Absolutely man.” Tom agreed.

“Peter Parker.” Peter stuck out his hand.

“Tom Holland.” Tom nodded and smiled.

“And I’m Y/n L/n.” You smiled. They looked at you with raised eyebrows. “What? This is the coolest thing that’s happened to me today!” You shrugged.

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ghostflowerdreams · 1 month ago

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Witch Films

It’s October! The month in which I watch even more horror movies than usual. Each year I tend to have a theme to help narrow down what to watch. So far I’ve done Zombie Films, Werewolf Films, Vampire Films, Slasher Films, Ghost Films and Lovecraftian Horror. This year's theme will focus on witches, though I'm surprised I haven't already done this.

I think this is my shortest list yet. I expected to find more films featuring a witch or witches, but it seems there aren’t as many as I thought. With fewer actual horror titles available, I had to include some lighter options to add a bit of length to the list.

Hocus Pocus (1993) – an American fantasy comedy film directed by Kenny Ortega from a screenplay by Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert, and a story by David Kirschner and Garris. The film stars Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Sean Murray.

After moving to Salem, Massachusetts, teenager Max Dennison explores an abandoned house with his sister, Dani, and their new friend, Allison. Skeptical of a spooky legend Allison shares, Max unwittingly brings back a trio of wicked witches on Halloween night. Now, with the help of a mysterious cat, the kids must seize the witches' spellbook to prevent them from achieving immortality and unleashing chaos on the town.

Halloweentown (1998) – an American fantasy comedy film directed by Duwayne Dunham. The first installment in Halloweentown series, it stars Debbie Reynolds, Kimberly J. Brown, Joey Zimmerman, and Judith Hoag.

The story follows 13-year-old Marnie Piper, who uncovers her family's magical heritage after following her grandmother to a hidden world where it’s Halloween every day. In this magical place, Marnie encounters witches, vampires and monsters who live peacefully, separate from the mortal world. But as she learns more about her own powers, Marnie faces a choice: embrace her destiny and protect Halloweentown from a looming threat, or risk losing her connection to this magical world forever.

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) – a Japanese animated fantasy film written, produced, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Eiko Kadono.

At thirteen, young witch Kiki sets off, as tradition dictates, to find her place in the world and hone her skills. With her loyal cat, Jiji, she settles in a seaside town and starts a delivery service to help the townsfolk. But as Kiki navigates her new life, she encounters challenges that test her independence, resilience, and the magic within herself.

The Craft (1996) – an American teen supernatural horror film directed by Andrew Fleming from a screenplay by Peter Filardi and Fleming and a story by Filardi. The film stars Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True.

When new girl Sarah transfers to a Los Angeles high school, she’s drawn to a group of outcast girls rumored to practice witchcraft. Together, they form a powerful coven, casting spells to transform their lives. But as their magic intensifies, so does its darker side, and Sarah soon learns that power always comes at a price.

The Witch (2015) – An period horror film written and directed by Robert Eggers in his feature directorial debut. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy in her feature film debut, alongside Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson.

Set in 1630s New England, a devout Puritan family finds themselves exiled from their community, struggling to survive in isolation near a foreboding forest. As their crops fail and livestock perish, unsettling events begin to plague them, fostering paranoia and mistrust. When their youngest child goes missing, the family’s faith is put to the ultimate test, and dark secrets come to light, suggesting that something sinister may be lurking in the woods.

Sleepy Hollow (1999) – a gothic supernatural horror film directed by Tim Burton. It is a film adaptation loosely based on Washington Irving's 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and stars Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, with Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Christopher Lee, and Jeffrey Jones in supporting roles.

New York detective Ichabod Crane is sent to the small, eerie village of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of brutal decapitations. He’s a skeptic of the supernatural, but the villagers believe the killer is the Headless Horseman, a vengeful spirit from local legend. As Crane delves deeper, he uncovers dark secrets, mysterious rituals, and a sinister plot that threatens both his life and his beliefs. With each discovery, he’s forced to question what’s real—and what might be lurking beyond reason.

The Witches (1990) – a dark fantasy film directed by Nicolas Roeg from a screenplay by Allan Scott, based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film stars Anjelica Huston and Mai Zetterling.

There's also another adaptation of the novel, The Witches (also known as Roald Dahl's The Witches), a 2020 dark fantasy comedy horror film co-produced and directed by Robert Zemeckis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kenya Barris and Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Kristin Chenoweth, and Jahzir Bruno.

The story follows a young boy who encounters a group of witches led by the Grand High Witch, who despise children and plot to eliminate them using a magical potion that transforms them into mice. When the boy and his grandmother stumble upon their nefarious plan, they must outsmart the witches and find a way to stop them before it's too late.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) – an American found footage supernatural psychological horror film written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez.

Three student filmmakers venture into the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, to create a documentary, about the terrifying legend of the Blair Witch. What begins as a simple project quickly turns harrowing as strange, unsettling events draw them deeper into the forest—and into a nightmare from which they can’t escape.

You Won't Be Alone (2022) – a Macedonian dark fantasy horror drama film written and directed by Goran Stolevski. It is an international co-production of Australia, the United Kingdom, Macedonia and Serbia in the Macedonian language, and marks Stolevski's feature film directorial debut. It stars Sara Klimoska, Alice Englert, Carloto Cotta, and Noomi Rapace as some of Nevena's forms, alongside Anamaria Marinca as Maria.

Set in 19th-century Macedonia, the story revolves around a young mute girl named Nevena, who is raised in isolation by her mother, Maria, a witch. After being transformed into a shapeshifting creature, Nevena embarks on a journey to explore the world through the experiences of others, discovering the joys and sorrows of humanity.

I Married a Witch (1942) – an American romantic comedy fantasy film, directed by René Clair. The screenplay is by Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly and uncredited other writers, including Dalton Trumbo, is based on the 1941 novel The Passionate Witch by Thorne Smith, who died before he could finish it; it was completed by Norman H. Matson. The film stars Veronica Lake, Fredric March, Robert Benchley, Susan Hayward and Cecil Kellaway.

A mischievous witch named Jennifer and her grumpy warlock father, Daniel, are accidentally freed from centuries of captivity and set out to take revenge on the descendants of the Puritan who condemned them. Together, they set their sights on Wallace Wooley, the unwitting descendant. Jennifer plots to enchant him and ruin his upcoming marriage, with Daniel adding his own brand of chaos. But things go hilariously awry when Jennifer finds herself falling for him instead.

Suspiria (1977) – an Italian epic supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi, partially based on Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay Suspiria de Profundis. It stars Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé, Alida Valli, Udo Kier, and Joan Bennett, in her final film role.

There's also Suspiria (2018) film, directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by David Kajganich, draws inspiration from Dario Argento’s iconic 1977 Italian film of the same name. It was described by Guadagnino as an "homage" to the 1977 film rather than a direct remake, reimagining the story in Berlin in 1977. It stars Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, and Chloë Grace Moretz, the film also includes a cameo by Jessica Harper, the lead actress from the original Suspiria.

The story follows a young American dancer named Suzy Bannion who arrives at a prestigious ballet academy in Freiburg, Germany, only to discover that the school harbors dark secrets. As unsettling events and strange occurrences disturb her surroundings, Suzy becomes entangled in a sinister mystery lurking within the academy’s walls.

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fanficimagery · 2 years ago

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Once a Weirdo, Always a Weirdo

After finding yourself in a normal living situation, HYDRA has to go and ruin it by targeting the local school for outcasts and weirdos.

Words: 8K Author's Note: I take no credit for Reader's rant towards the Avengers. It all belongs to Marcel Gerard of The Originals. Wednesday AU where *SPOILERS* Tyler's Hyde was never activated and Miss Thornhill doesn't work at Nevermore. Also, it's canon that Xavier falls fast and it's no different here lol.

At the Avengers Compound, you sit on a barstool at the bar and watch as all the superheroes and their scientist friends continue to mingle even after all the paparazzi have left. You had been summoned to attend an event for some good publicity after helping reverse Thanos' snap, and to be honest you would rather be anywhere else but here.

When they had first brought you and your brother in, you'd been ecstatic to leave behind all the experimentation and poking and prodding some evil organization put you through. You'd gone in a normal teenage girl and came out a weapon who had no control over her abilities. The Avengers took the both of you in, shielding your identities from the government and even the papers, and helped you adjust to everyday living.

But just when you thought you had found a group of people who could understand you and possibly keep you company, you realized they merely thought of you and your brother as children who needed training here and there. Invitations to hang out or even to just talk were brushed aside, and you only ever got to spend time with the older superheroes when they needed your help.

Losing your brother during a mission you never should have been on was strike one, ignoring your cries for help after his death was strike two, and being pushed to the back burner yet again even after you did a lot of the work in helping them defeat Thanos is strike three. So, when the superheroes all laugh at some stupid joke Tony Stark no doubt has just told them, you down the rest of your Cherry Coke and decide to finally take a stand.

Walking towards the central core group of Avengers, you pull your compound clearance badge out from your back pocket and toss it on the glass coffee table that's in the middle of the group. Talking and laughter ceases, and everyone glances at you. "I'm out." You say.

As you turn to walk away, Tony huffs and draws your attention back. "What do you mean you're out?"

"It means exactly what you think, Stark. I quit. I'm done."

"You can't just quit."

"And why not?" Against your will, your eyes start to fill with tears and Tony's jaw drops in surprise. The tension thickens as you glance between every so-called Avenger. "I've done everything that you have asked of me. And for what?"

"Excuse me?" Tony asks, offended you'd say such a thing.

"I joined your stupid team," you say, glancing between him and Steve. "I left what little friends I managed to make in the dust because that's what you all needed."

"YN…" Natasha softly calls out to you and you stare at her with your bottom lip trembling.

"I fought for Earth. I kept Peter breathing," you cry, angrily swiping at your tears as your emotions finally bubble over. Then glancing at Doctor Strange, you sneer at him. "I even kept Ebony Maw from piercing your cold… black… heart. I did everything!"

"Sweetheart…" Bucky takes a step towards you in hopes of calming you down, but you take a step back with a shake of your head.

"Anyone who's not an official Avenger is nothing to any of you. Nothing."

"That's not true." Peter Parker steps forward then, his earnest expression giving you pause. "YN, you are an Avenger. You're my- you're my friend. You're one of the best of us."

"No, I'm not." You take a step back. "Not anymore."

As you turn to walk away, no one utters a word.

No one dares to interrupt you when you're packing your bags, and no one stops you when you walk out the front door.

Only when you're outside the compound gates do you allow yourself to exhale in relief, but that relief is short-lived when you realize you have no idea where you're going to go.

"Oy vey," you mutter. You really should have thought this through more.

Six Months Later

When you'd left the Avengers, you thought you'd travel the states for a while before you found a place to settle in. Instead, you found yourself in a small town by the name of Jericho that was only a few hours away from where you left and found a little Bed and Breakfast whose owner gave you a deal for a semi-permanent room when she found out you had no family and no place to go. All she asked in return was that you help her out since she was getting up there in age and couldn't move like she used you. You easily agreed.

For a half a year, you never strayed too far from Josie's B&B. The older woman was surprised you knew your way around leaky faucets and could replace the inner workings of a toilet, and you nearly gave her a heart attack when she found you on the roof replacing missing shingles, so the ceiling didn't leak when it rained.

The B&B didn't get many visitors, but you noticed an uptick in people willing to stay there after you started tackling the overgrown lawn and making the place look more inviting.

"I'm heading out," you tell Josie one morning. "Do you need anything?"

"No, my dear. I'm fine."

"Well, I have my phone on me. If you need anything, just call. I'll pick it up on the way home."

Home.

You never thought you'd have a home again, but that's exactly what Josie's given you. And if her pleased little smile is anything to go by whenever you refer to the B&B as home, she knows it too.

"Alright. I'll see you later."

Jericho is such a picturesque little town that it never ceases to amaze you when you walk around town. You've wandered around every now and then, but you always kept to yourself. The only place you did visit was Weathervane Cafe, but only during the nighttime hours when most locals would be safely tucked away in their homes.

The cafe is the exact place you're heading to this morning, though, intent on getting a hot cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich.

When the bell jingles upon your entrance, the barista glances up from the book he'd been reading.

"Hey!" Tyler, who you'd gotten to know a bit since you started visiting, smiles as you walk up to the counter. "You're here early. You want your usual?"

"My usual coffee, yes," you say while taking a seat on a stool by the front counter. "And can I have a breakfast sandwich?"

"Sure. Coming right up."

It doesn't take Tyler long to get your order ready and you're surprised when he joins you at the counter with his own sandwich. Then again, there was only two other people in the cafe and Tyler obviously wasn't busy.

"So, what brings you in this morning?" He asks.

"Hunger." You take a bite out of your egg, ham, and cheese sandwich, groaning in delight as you cross your eyes. Tyler huffs in amusement, watching you wash the food down with a careful sip of coffee. "And I just wanted to get out. Stretch the legs, y'know?"

"Yeah. How's Josie?"

"Josie's good." You eat a bit more, wiping the crumbs away from the corner of your mouth. "She's enjoying the B&B now that people are booking her rooms."

"None of that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you."

You shrug. "Maybe." You eat the last of your sandwich, frowning when there's no more. They really needed to make their sandwiches bigger. "Hey, can I have another?" You ask him.

"Sure." Tyler chuckles as he quickly finishes off his sandwich, moving back behind the counter to grab you another one.

When he hands it over, you happily dig in while he refreshes your coffee.

You're halfway through with your sandwich when Tyler's wiping down the counter and the bell above the door jingles. You watch as Tyler glances up and don't even need to turn around to know who it is. Tyler's smile tells you all you need to know.

"You're here earlier than normal."

"Hello, Wednesday," you muse. She takes a seat to your left and you smile at her. Her deadpan expressions were something that threw you off when you first met the girl, but you grew accustomed to her sometimes-morbid humor and the odd threats here and there. "What brings you in?"

"Coffee."

"Her boyfriend," the person to your right says at the same time. You turn towards the voice, surprised to see another guy around the same age as Wednesday and Tyler. When he gets a good look at you, he seems to sit a little straighter while running a hand nervously through his shoulder length hair. "Uh, hi. I'm Xavier."

Your lips twitch while you give him a quick little nod. "YN." Then looking at Tyler, you ask, "Can you get me Josie's special to go please?"

"Sure."

"Why are you here?" Wednesday asks.

"Hunger and fresh air. Why are you? Shouldn't you be in class, young lady?"

Wednesday's eyes roll. "We're the same age."

You chuckle and then Xavier's drawing your attention once more. "I'm sorry, but are you new here? I've never seen you around before."

"I got in a few months ago. I just prefer to wander when the moon's out, but I was extra hungry this morning."

"She's totally a vampire," Wednesday says.

And while you find amusement in her words, Xavier's eyes widen as he apparently takes her seriously. "She's joking. See?" You flash him your teeth. "No pointy teeth in sight."

Before either of your companions can say anything, someone passes behind you with a scoff. You glance over your shoulder to find an older woman sneering at Wednesday and Xavier, and then turns a softer look towards you. "You wouldn't want to be hanging out with the likes of them, dearie. There's lots of weirdos around here thanks to that freaky school who allows them out and about."

Your eyes subtly narrow as you turn on your stool, plastering on the most condescending smile you can. "Ma'am, I am the weirdo." She frowns at you, and you quickly lean forward, snapping your teeth at her. She gasps and dramatically backpedals away from you, and you roll your eyes while turning back around. Tyler is shaking his head in amusement at you. "What?"

"You're a menace." He pushes forward Josie's usual order and you take out a twenty to cover both your and Josie's breakfast, then shoving a ten into the tip jar. "Thanks."

"No problem." Taking one last gulp of your coffee, you grab up Josie's order and then stand. "Well, it was nice meeting you Xavier," you smile at him. Then glancing at your friends, you say, "Tyler, I'll see you next time. Wednesday…" you trail off, grinning, "don't make anyone cry before lunch time."

"No promises."

You laugh as you take your leave, heading back towards Josie's. You've had enough socializing for the day.

On rare occasions, Josie likes to leave the B&B and walk around Jericho. Even more so now that she has you to escort her around. The locals are happy to see her, even if they have to paste on smiles for you. Apparently, your little confrontation with Mrs. Clementine inside Weathervane was hot gossip for a couple of days and now everyone was quite skeptical of you.

You're walking down Main Street with Josie's arm hooked through yours when she stops you in front of a salon. She stares up at the salon name, lips pursed.

You stare at her, softly grinning. "Are you looking to change things up, Josie?"

"Yes. I believe I am." You see her reach up with her other hand, lightly touching at her salt and pepper colored hair. "I'm thinking of a new color and cut."

"Well, you deserve to pamper yourself. The B&B has been doing great."

"It's all thanks to you, dearie." Josie looks at you, patting your hand with a smile. "Now why don't you go hang out with that Tyler boy while you wait for me. It'll take a while."

"Yes, ma'am."

You escort Josie inside the salon, making sure she's taken care of before you leave her alone. Then walking back outside, you head towards Weathervane Cafe to bother Tyler. Only before you get there, you nearly run into Xavier as you turn the corner. His hands loosely wrap around your biceps, trying to steer you to the side as he immediately apologizes.

He glances at you and then does a double take, and you grin. "Xavier."

"YN." He slowly smiles, letting his hands fall away to sheepishly tuck away in the pockets of his jacket. "This is twice in one week. Tyler said it's rare you're out in public."

"Tyler said, huh?" You ask, arching an eyebrow. "Been asking about me, have you?"

"Maybe." His lips twitch in amusement. He glances around and sees you're alone. "Are you grabbing lunch this time?"

"I was just going to annoy Tyler, but I think I can eat. I just dropped off Josie at the salon, so I have hours to kill."

"Cool. Do you, uh, do you want some company?"

"Sure. Let's grab a burger somewhere and then take it to Weathervane. I like the atmosphere there best."

Side by side, you and Xavier head towards the only diner on Main Street to buy your lunch, and you can't help but chuckle whenever you glance up at him. You knew he was tall, but the height difference between the two of you is very obvious when you're this close to one another.

The two of you get the same thing- a cheeseburger and fries- and take it to go.

At Weathervane Cafe, you and Xavier take a seat in a booth near the door and wave at Tyler when he notices you're there. The two of you unpack your food, splitting the ketchup packets and then digging in.

"So, YN…" Xavier muses. "Why Jericho?"

You take a bite of your burger, chewing thoughtfully. "It was just supposed to be a pitstop," you settle for saying.

"Oh? Where were you supposed to settle then?"

"Anywhere." You shrug. Xavier meets your gaze then, chewing slowly. You say, "I was staying in Upstate New York for the last few years. These people had taken me in and… I don't know. It just felt like I overstayed my welcome with them or something, so I left."

"You left?"

"Mhm. I for sure thought I'd end up traveling further, but I stopped by Josie's B&B to figure out my next direction, and I just never left. I think Josie realized I had no home, so she gave me one. I'll never be able to fully repay her for it."

"I don't know about that," he muses. "I'm pretty sure Josie was only months away from shutting down the B&B, but then you walked into her life and completely transformed the place. I don't think any of us have seen her as happy as she is now."

You blush at his slight praise, and he grins. You busy yourself with your food before asking, "So Nevermore Academy? What year are you in?"

He seems to perk up a little, probably happy that you're interested to talk about his schooling rather than putting the place down. "My last year, actually. I'm pretty bummed I'll have to leave soon. I'm hoping the principal offers me a teaching position for the art program."

"You any good?" You wonder.

Xavier huffs and turns to open the bag on the seat next to him, pulling out a sketchpad. He sets it atop the table and quickly flips through the pages until he lands on one of his sketches.

And wow. He really can draw.

On the page is a charcoal drawing of who you assume is a group of his friends (you're only assuming they're his friends because the uniforms are a bit of a dead giveaway, plus Wednesday is there so yeah) sitting around a concrete fountain. "Oh wow. Xavier, this is amazing."

You study the sketch a bit more and when you look up at him, you fight off a grin at his reddening ears and neck. "It's nothing."

"You're talented. Own it." He huffs and eats a bit more since he doesn't know what to say. "Now I just want to get this out of the way, so don't think I'm digging or poking fun or…"

"Go on."

"Nevermore Academy." Xavier grins, wondering when you were going to bring it up. "Is it really a school for gifted children or are the locals just a bunch of assholes?"

"Are you really asking me that after you just rolled with the punches when Wednesday called you a vampire the other day?"

You shrug. "If aliens and deities exist, why can't vampires and werewolves and other beings?"

"Fair enough." He takes a sip of his drink to clear his throat. "Nevermore is a school for outcasts. There are vampires, werewolves, sirens, psychics, and people with other special abilities."

"Cool." You smile and toss a fry into your mouth.

Xavier, however, stares at you in shock. "Cool? That's all you have to say? You're not even going to ask what I am or what I can do?"

"If you want to tell me, you'll tell me on your own time." He can only blink at you while you continue eating. You watch as he carefully tries to read your expression, gauging your reaction to what you just learned. Then he glances around to make sure no one is paying him any attention before holding his hand out over his sketchpad. His eyes close and you frown, and then sudden movement on the paper catches your attention. You gasp as you stare at the sketch that's now come to life- his friends on page, with the exception of Wednesday, laughing at something that had been said. "Xavier," you then breathe in awe. You chance a look at his face, his eyes now open as he sheepishly smiles. "You're amazing, you know that?"

He chuckles. "It's just a moving picture. I can actually bring animals and insects to life to where they crawl off the page, but I didn't want to freak you out."

"You'll have to show me one day," you say.

"Yeah. I will."

You and Xavier continue to talk even after your food is gone, and he ends up buying pastries for dessert. Tyler joins you every now and then when he doesn't have a customer to tend to, and before you know it Josie is entering Weathervane Cafe to show off her new do.

Gone is the salt and pepper hair that fell to her mid-back in a low ponytail.

Now, she sports an edgy bob with an undercut and her hair dyed platinum with just a hint of purple at the ends.

Your eyes widen. "Josie?!"

She beams at you. "Do you like it?"

You gape and Xavier chuckles. "I- I love it! Are you kidding me?! You look great."

"Stop it." She laughs, bashfully waving off your words.

"She's right, Miss Josie," Xavier says. "You look great."

Josie glances at him, eyes lighting up. "Ah, young Mr. Thorpe! Hello there. You were not the boy I was expecting YN to bother."

"Josie," you grumble.

She laughs at you. "I'm only teasing, dear." She winks at you, and you quietly whine in embarrassment. "Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know that I have plans right now so you're free to do as you please."

"Are you sure? I can always-"

"It's a date, dearie. I doubt you want to chaperone Mr. Sinclair and I."

You're back to gaping and you only snap out of it when you see her glance out the window. Outside is who you assume is Mr. Sinclair, a handsome man in his late sixties and is beaming and waving at Josie. "Oh. Go Josie," you then cheer her on for bagging a handsome one.

Xavier snorts as she lightly swats the back of your head. "He's too old for you." You laugh and she wrinkles her nose, chuckling with you. Then, "Well I should get going. Have fun you two."

"Bye, Josie," you and Xavier muse. As Josie takes her leave, you notice a pep in her step as Mr. Sinclair meets her halfway and leads her to his car.

"Huh. Who knew a haircut could bring forth all the confidence in the world out in her."

"See? I told you," Xavier says. "You gave her a new outlook on life. You don't have to repay her for anything. The two of you are good for one another."

You shake your head at his words, watching Josie laugh in the passenger seat of the car. "Maybe."

"No maybes about it." You huff with a roll of your eyes before glancing over to meet his gaze. "Now come on. I hear there's a fair going on. Let's go see what hideous stuffed animals we can win."

Though you continue to claim that you're not a social being, Josie finds herself hiding her smiles whenever Xavier shows up to see if you're free to hang out. More and more you find yourself roaming the town of Jericho with the boy, hoping that your slight attraction to him stays just that. A slight attraction.

But the more time you spend with him, you knew it was going to be a losing battle.

His smile was far too adorable to not completely fall for.

Then one night, after having dinner at an Italian bistro, Xavier's chuckling over how full you are. You pushed it when you had dessert and now he's laughing at your pain.

"Why didn't you stop me?" You moan, pulling a beanie down atop your head.

"I did! I told you to stop."

"Should've tried harder."

Xavier waits until you're settled before offering you his arm, and you're quick to hook your arm through his and practically lean all your weight against him as you walk down the sidewalk. You're moaning and groaning, and he's more than content to listen to you whine.

"I'm never eating dessert again."

"No?"

"Nope."

"But what if it's cheesecake and has that strawberry glaze you seem so fond of?" You open your mouth to retort but let it snap shut a moment later. "Or chocolate covered strawberries?" You groan a little. "Or-"

"Okay! I get it." You pout as he smirks down at you. "I'm a sucker for desserts. It's just my choice in dates that's apparently abysmal. What kind of lousy date doesn't stop me from overeating?"

Xavier's quietness surpasses a moment longer than usual, but before you can ask what's wrong, he asks, "Date? So, I wasn't reading too much into us?"

"Do you see me hanging out with any other guys?"

"Well, there is Tyler."

Your eyes roll. "As if I'd want to get on the bad side of Wednesday." Xavier huffs a laugh as you press into his side, knocking him off balance. "And besides, he's not my type."

"That's good to know."

"I'm sure it is." You mockingly tease him.

The streets of Jericho are quiet, locals coming and going from their own nights out on the town. You're about to turn the corner of one of the streets when the screaming starts, slowing you and Xavier. The two of you tense and look around, backpedaling a few steps when you see people running.

Then gunfire rings out.

"Get down!" Xavier pushes you towards a car, ducking behind it. "What the hell is going on?" He wonders while peeking over the trunk.

"I don't know."

Though your heart is beating rapidly, and you don't want to deal with whatever is going on, you know you need to get to the bottom of whatever is happening. As long as you've stayed in Jericho, nothing has ever happened that would make you out yourself. Now, however, you're not so sure you can walk away from tonight with your secret intact.

With the lull of gunfire, you slowly crawl out from behind your hiding place.

"What are you doing?! Get back here!"

"No. I need- I need to see," you say. Glancing over your shoulder, you meet Xavier's wild gaze. "Trust me."

"YN-"

Not letting him finish, you hurriedly make your way behind another car on Main Street. Xavier is quick to follow, staying close to your side. People start screaming again, glass shatters, and more people run off. The glass windows to Weathervane Cafe have been completely shattered and you see a handful of men in dark clothing and face masks milling about.

"Shit. They have Kent and Divina," Xavier mumbles. And sure enough when you look, you see that two men have each knocked out individual tossed over a shoulder as they walk out.

There are some older locals that get caught in the streets, but after being looked over, they're threatened to keep moving.

"Nevermore students," you realize. "They're taking Nevermore students."

"But why?"

You frown as the militarized men bind the students, placing a metal contraption over each of their mouths. One of the men turns just right and the emblazoned logo on the side of his helmet makes your stomach drop. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. This isn't good," you mumble.

"What?"

"Xavier, every student at Nevermore is gifted. What are Kent and Divina's gifts?"

"They're, uh, they're Scales. Sirens."

Sirens. Hydra just got their hands on two sirens!

"You need to get back to the school."

"What? Why?"

"Xavier, just trust me." Your hand reaches for the necklace that you rarely bring out from under your shirt, the miniature arc reactor hanging rather innocently from a silver chain as you yank it off. When you squeeze the arc reactor between your thumb and forefinger, it glows blue and you're quick to shove it into his hands. "Take this and get back to the school as soon as you can. Tell your teacher there's a dangerous threat and they found out about the gifted teenagers. Lock the school down."

"What are you-"

You reach for Xavier's face, grasping his face between your hands and pulling him in for a kiss. You linger there for a few seconds before pulling back, gaze darting between his eyes as you watch him try to catch up. "Go. The necklace is an SOS beacon. When the good guys arrive, give them my name. Tell them Hydra's taking gifted children. They'll help protect the school."

"W-What are you?" He asks.

Smiling sadly, you tuck the left side of his hair behind his hair. "I used to be a superhero. Now I'm just… lost."

"YN-"

You quickly peck his lips once more, grinning softly. "Go. I'll explain everything later."

"What are you going to do?"

"Distract them." A small explosion has you and Xavier ducking even lower. "Go, Xavier! Get back to the school now. Protect your friends."

Another explosion sounds, sending debris raining down over you and Xavier.

Xavier falls to his stomach, watching the feet of scurrying people on the other side of the vehicle you're hiding behind. But when he glances back for you, you're gone. He wildly glances around only to find that you're nowhere in sight.

"Well shit."

. . . .

Xavier bursts into Principal Weems' office, panting and heaving and shrugging off the hands of coach Vlad.

"Mr. Thorpe!" Weems stands tall, aghast at the behavior of her usually well-behaved student. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Lock… lock down the school," he says. "Jericho- it's under attack."

"What?"

"Lock the school down!" He then shouts. He shrugs off coach Vlad's hands when he tries to restrain him again. "Kent and Divina have been taken. They're targeting Nevermore students. You need to gather everyone somewhere safe and lock the school down!"

Principal Weems looks to coach Vlad, eyes widened, before addressing Xavier again. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty damn sure. I saw it with my own two eyes. They sedated Kent and Divina, bound and gagged them, and threw them into the back of a van. Other Jericho locals got caught, but after a quick look over, they were released. They were also setting off bombs and shooting up Main Street."

"Vlad, gather the teachers and round up the students. I want a head count of who's here and a list of names of those missing. I'll contact the sheriff."

"Done."

Xavier's left alone with Weems, and he stumbles forward, showing her the necklace before she can reach for the phone. "There's one more thing."

Her eyes land on the pulsing blue light. "What is that?"

"Emergency beacon. My… friend activated it. She said the good guys will come here and that we needed to explain that Hydra is taking gifted children. She said they'd protect the school."

"Do you trust her?"

Xavier takes a moment to think on it before he nods. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

"Okay then. Gather the archery team and anyone capable of handling a bow. Get those with telekinesis while you're at it. We'll leave the sheriff's department to handle Main Street and hopefully these good guys will be here soon. We'll hold off any threat until then."

"Yes, ma'am."

Xavier rushes off to do as he's been told, finding his friends along the way. He finds Tyler with Wednesday and Enid, and fills them in about what he's seen. They're shocked and Tyler hurriedly gets his dad on the phone to let him know he was okay.

They find Bianca and Yoko, and the two girls are livid when they realize their friends have been taken. Enid rushes to find Ajax and Wednesday grabs Eugene by the back of his shirt to drag him along with the group.

Coach Vlad and a few other professors are directing students to the main dining hall, urging the older students to barricade windows. Xavier picks out those who can help defend the school and has them load up quivers with arrows to prepare for a fight.

Principal Weems takes those prepared to defend Nevermore out front, and everyone spreads out. The evening is eerily quiet so it's easy to hear anything out of the norm. So, when a sudden whooshing sound gets louder and louder, everyone tenses and looks upward.

"What is that?" Bianca asks, silver eyes scanning the sky.

"I'm not sure." Xavier's eyes dart all across the sky, his gaze catching something glinting. "There!"

But just as everyone pinpoints what he's seen, the object lands right in front of them.

It's Iron Man.

"Holy shit," Eugene utters. "Iron Man!?"

"Uhhh…" Iron Man's face mask dissolves, and Tony Stark frowns at the assembled group of teenagers and a handful of adults. "I gotta be honest. I'm at a complete loss here."

"YN." Xavier blurts and Tony's gaze immediately zeroes in on him. "YN said you could help."

"Help with what, kid?"

He digs the emergency beacon out of his jeans' pocket, showing him. "W-We were on a date and Hydra attacked Main Street. They took two of my classmates and were setting off bombs! She thinks they're coming here."

"Okay. Time-out." Tony gives the universal gesture for a time-out. "You were on a date with YN?"

Wednesday, Tyler, Enid, Bianca, and Ajax all look at Xavier and he blushes under everyone's stare. "So not the point right now, Mr. Stark."

"Right. You're right," he smirks. "We'll talk later." And then glancing at Principal Weems, he asks, "You in charge?"

"I am." She smooths down the invisible wrinkles in her skirt, clasping her hands in front of her. "I am the principal here at Nevermore Academy."

"Alright, so care to share with the class why Hydra would be taking your students?"

"Nevermore Academy is home to children with… special talents," she settles for saying.

"Mhm. Just how special are we talking?"

"The two students they've taken so far are sirens," Xavier says. "They have the gift of persuasion."

"So, in other words, Hydra's got their hands on two future weapons. Any other talents they'd be after?"

"We have vampires, werewolves, gorgons, psychics, and students with other special talents," Principal Weems says.

"To someone like Hydra, it's like Christmas has come early." Tony sighs and taps at his ear. "Park the jet and meet me out front. It's a school and Hydra has their eye on it."

Everyone stands around in a tense filled silence until around the back of the school, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, the Winter Soldier, and Spiderman all jog forward.

Tyler watches everyone in fascination before leaning towards Xavier. "YN knows Avengers?"

"Apparently."

When all the adults are gathered, Captain America takes over. He speaks plainly with Principal Weems, telling her all she needs to know. Hydra has a habit of kidnapping people, torturing them until they break, and then wiping their minds clean to make the ultimate weapon. They had been in possession of a stone that would give certain individuals powers, but ever since they lost that stone there's been chatter that they'd moved on to finding children with powers already in order to mold them in their favor. And up until now, Hydra hadn't made a move.

Enid suddenly perks up, brushing her hair behind her ear. Glancing towards the main road leading up to the school, she says, "We have company. Several vehicles are heading this way." All the Avengers glance at Enid, wondering how she could possibly know that when she flicks her nails, letting them turn into talons.

"Cool!" Spiderman exclaims.

Enid beams at him while the other Avengers shake their heads at him in fond amusement.

One, two, three- a total of seven Humvees roll up outside of the school gates, but only one is brave enough to drive their Humvee through the gate to knock it down.

"Here we go again," Tony mutters right before his mask covers his face once more.

Individual after individual unload from the Humvees, weapons grasped in hands.

"That's alien tech," Clint says.

"Of course, it is," Bucky utters.

"Bianca." Principal Weems beckons the girl forward. "If you will." She gestures towards the oncoming threat and the younger girl nods.

Stepping forward, Bianca takes off her necklace before inhaling deeply. She can feel her vocal cords slightly vibrating as she says, "Stop."

But the men merely chuckle, one of them tapping at his ear. "Not gonna work on us, girlie."

She blinks in surprise and Xavier quickly tugs his friend behind him.

"Sirens, get inside the school," Principal Weems says. "Hide."

Five students break off from the group, rushing back towards the school. The Hydra men chuckle, shrugging as if that were no big deal. As if they'd get to them sooner or later.

"The Avengers are an obstacle, but it is an obstacle we'll overcome," the Hydra goon in charge says. "Gentlemen, take your aim."

Weapons on both sides are raised, but just as Hydra pull their triggers, another individual is landing in front of the Avengers and Nevermore students.

"YN?!"

Hands and eyes glowing red, you raise your arms in front of you to shield the barrage of bullets and energy beams that had been let loose. You're panting and heaving and have to blink blood out of your eye from a gash above your eyebrow.

When Hydra ceases their attack, you lower your arms with a sneer. "Did you really think it was going to be that simple? You made a mistake coming after my friends."

"Little witch," Hydra goon number one coos. "You're coming with us with all this is said and done."

"Like hell I am. My mind is my own now and Hydra will never make me do their dirty work again."

"You say that now."

Before you can shield yourself again, a bullet catches you in the shoulder. The force of the bullet sends you whirling back with a yelp and then a piercing howl rips through the air.

The sound of gunfire and energy beams fill the air, as well as shouts from Captain America for the kids to get inside the school. Hands steady you and when you glance upward, Xavier is staring down at you with wide eyes.

"What are you?"

The question comes from your left and see Wednesday staring curiously at you. "I. Am. Pissed. Off."

Ripping yourself out of Xavier's hands, you turn around and throw up a shimmering red shield between the two groups. Then marching forward, you start tossing energy ball after energy ball at the Hydra goons, uncaring if they're knocked unconscious or dead. Your feet start glowing and with one large stomp, a wave of red energy shoots outward in front of you to knock the Hydra men off their feet.

"Enough!" They immediately try climbing back to their feet and you wrap red energy around them. Squeezing your hand shut makes the energy wrap tighter around them, and you only let up when a hand falls onto your shoulder.

"That's enough, YN. We'll take it from here."

You can hear voices telling you to stop, but your blood is running hot. After the confrontation on Main Street and getting knocked around, being shot, and having Hydra get beyond the gates of Nevermore, you're absolutely livid.

"YN, stop! You're killing them."

Words aren't registering and the gathered Avengers and Nevermore students shift uneasily.

Xavier doesn't like the expressions the Avengers are starting to sport, glancing at each other warily and having an unspoken conversation, so he takes matters into his own hands. He boldly rushes in front of you, hands grasping your face before he's leaning down to press his lips to yours.

"Ho-lee shit."

Xavier keeps his mouth pressed to yours, turning you little by little until your back is to the Hydra men, and he only lets up when he feels your hands fist into his shirt near his waist. Slightly pulling back, he keeps his face close to yours as you try to catch your breath. "Are you back with me?" He murmurs.

You gulp. "Mhm."

"Good. You scared us there at the end."

"Xavier?" You blink slowly.

"Yeah?"

"I don't feel so-" But you never get to finish your sentence because your eyes roll into the back of your head and your body goes limp.

"Shit." Xavier easily catches you. "I need some help over here."

The Winter Soldier steps forward, and it takes everything in Xavier to not shrink back at the intimidating man. He passes YN over to him and the Winter Soldier easily hoists her into his arms. "That bullet needs to come out," he grumbles.

"The infirmary." Principal Weems steps forward then. "We can take care of her there."

"Show me."

Principal Weems nods and then looks over her students. "Children, with me. Let the Avengers do their job in peace."

Everyone follows Weems towards the dining hall, but Xavier, Wednesday and Tyler follow her and the Winter Soldier to the infirmary to keep an eye on their friend.

A consistent beeping wakes you and your eyelids flutter open. You groan at the brightness of the room and then groan again when you attempt to roll over and your entire body aches.

"Easy. Easy," a voice soothes. You turn towards the sound of the voice and are surprised to find Xavier sitting there. "Welcome back. You've been out for a few days. It's probably why you feel like shit."

You grimace as you raise your hands to rub at your eyes. "What happened?"

"You got shot and lost a lot of blood while you demolished those Hydra guys."

You wince. "You saw that, huh?"

"Oh yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Not telling you about me."

Xavier chuckles as he leans forward in his seat, reaching for your hand. "You're a complete badass. Why would you be scared to tell me you could do all that?"

You shrug and then glance around the room you're in. "Can I have some water?" Xavier quickly finds a pitcher of water, pouring some into a cup for you. He helps you drink a few sips and then lets you lay back down. "What do you already know?"

"Just that you used to be an Avenger. Spiderman, the Winter Soldier, Black Widow and Hawkeye were really worried about you."

You smile softly before it slowly falls. "They rescued me and my brother from Hydra," you tell him. "We were orphans Hydra had kidnapped off the streets. They pumped us full of serums and then made us hold a glowing stone that eventually gave us our powers."

"A stone gave you powers?"

"Yeah. We were one hundred percent normal until Hydra got their hands on us. They used to say my brother was fast and I was weird. I guess I'll never outgrow that label now. Once a weirdo, always a weirdo, I guess."

Xavier huffs a laugh, his smile slowly falling at something you said. "Your brother was fast?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah. He had super speed. When the Avengers took us in, they showed us how to be the good guys. We were on a mission and my brother sacrificed himself to save Hawkeye and a child."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you. I kind of lost myself after he died, and I never really found my way back. The Avengers were supposed to be a family, and they are, but it was a family I didn't quite fit in with. The only time they really acknowledged me was when they needed something. I couldn't live like that anymore."

"So, you came to Jericho."

"Technically I was just passing through," you tiredly muse. "But then I met Josie, then Tyler and Wednesday, and finally you. This place is the first place that's felt like home since my brother died."

"Well hopefully Jericho continues to feel like home. They really did a number on Main Street."

"Yeah. That was partially my fault," you guiltily admit. "I got a little carried away flinging the bad guys around and trying to catch their bombs in order to lessen the damage." Xavier chuckles as you wince. "Is everyone okay though? Your friends?"

"Everyone's good," he assures you. "The Avengers think they came here looking for the sirens specifically, but they were no match for you. You're scary when you're pissed off."

You laugh and then groan, pulling your hand from his to lightly swat at him. "Don't make me laugh."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Xavier smiles as he leans forward, capturing your hand once more to press a kiss to the back of it. "Now do you think you're up for some company? Principal Weems would like to speak with you. As well as the Winter Soldier and Spiderman."

Your nose wrinkles. "They the only ones that stayed behind?"

"Yeah. The second Iron Man and Captain America started talking over the merits of training the Nevermore students, Hawkeye and the Black Widow marched them out and told them to not stick their noses in a school that was perfectly functional without government supervision."

"Good." You manage to fight off a wince as you sit up, groaning only a little. "As grateful as I am that they rescued me, they are not the greatest mentors. I would advise anyone with stars in their eyes for the Avengers to really do their research before committing to become a superhero."

"I think the only ones who were super impressed by their presence were Eugene and Ajax. You have nothing to worry about," Xavier tells you.

He ends up calling a nurse and she situates your bed so that you can properly sit up. Then after adjusting the blanket over your lap and getting you another cup of water, Xavier leaves to retrieve your guests and Nevermore's principal.

The tallest woman you've ever laid eyes on walks in behind Xavier, and you have to remind yourself that it's not polite to gape. But something in your expression must show your awe because when you glance at Bucky, he's smirking at you.

"I am going to make this quick and simple so that you may converse with your friends and get back to resting," Principal Weems says. Her no nonsense attitude makes it so you can only nod at her. "I thank you for keeping my students safe. Nevermore Academy will always welcome you should you find yourself in need of a place to go."

"T-Thank you."

Principal Weems smiles at you and then glances at Xavier. "Mr. Thorpe, classes start back up in five minutes. Do not be late."

"I won't." Principal Weems takes her leave and then Xavier glances down at you, eyes wide. "Shit! I have to go. I'm so sorry."

You grin at him. "No worries. I'm not going anywhere it seems."

"Mhm. Yeah." Uncaring for the two Avengers at his back, he rushes forward and gently grasps your face between his hands. The kiss is short and chaste, but makes you blush nonetheless. "I'll see you after classes are done for the day."

"See you." You watch as he collects his purple and black striped blazer from the chair he'd been sitting in earlier, quickly donning it before grabbing up his bag and practically running from the room. When you glance at Bucky and Peter (who quickly lets his face mask dissolve as soon as Xavier is out of the room), your eyes narrow at him. "Not a word."

"Look at you," Bucky muses. "You leave us and you get yourself a boyfriend."

Your head falls back a little as you quietly groan. "I didn't plan to. It just... happened."

Bucky takes Xavier's vacated seat and Peter sits on the edge of your bed. "How did you even find this place?" Peter asks a little too excitedly. "This school is crazy!"

You shrug. "I only knew about it because of Wednesday. She told me the school's name, but I never knew it was a school for gifted individuals. I only found out that fun fact after I started talking to Xavier."

"And Xavier's the boyfriend?" Bucky asks.

"He's… something," you say. At both their knowing expressions, you sigh. "We've been hanging out, but tonight was the first time we really called it a date. Then Hydra got kidnap happy and you saw how that ended."

"Yeah. He totally kissed you to bring you out of your murderous rampage." Peter huffs in amusement. "You're lucky Clint didn't stay behind. He kept looking at that Xavier guy distrustfully and mumbling about teenage boys and hormones. Natasha had to remind him you actually weren't a kid anymore."

"Clint's a good guy, but if he tries to pull the dad card, I'm kicking his ass."

"Fair enough." Bucky continues to stare at you until you squirm under his gaze. Eventually, he asks, "Are you happy here?"

"Yeah."

"You find what you were looking for?"

You can't help but smile. "Yeah. I did."

"Good."

You smile at him and then look at Peter who looks close to bursting. "Anything else, Petey?"

"Can you introduce me to the gorgons?" He blurts. "I really want to meet one!"

"You're going to have to wait on that, unfortunately," you say. "I only know Xavier, Tyler, and Wednesday."

"And what are they?"

"Tyler's a normie, as far as I know. I'm not sure what Wednesday is because I've never asked, but Xavier can draw something on a piece of paper and then bring it to life. It's so cool."

Peter deflates just a little. "Well, if you get to know a gorgon, can you introduce me then?"

"Sure, Petey."

"Yessss."

Bucky shakes his head at the teenaged Avenger before looking back at you. "Well now that we know you're good, we should be going. We've all got paperwork to complete and Hydra to interrogate."

You grimace at him. "Have fun with that."

"I will."

Bucky and Peter both hug you before they leave, and then when you're left alone you settle back down in the bed.

You're sure your other friends have questions after witnessing what they did, but that's a problem for another day. Right now, you need rest. And food. But Xavier will most likely bring that later.

Until then, you were going back to sleep.

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amageish · 1 year ago

Text

So, Nico Minoru's in Spider-Man Freshman Year... Let's talk about it.

About a year ago, Marvel spilled some details about the upcoming animated Spider-Man series, Spider-Man Freshman Year. There was a lot of discussion about it, what it was, what it wasn't, and whether what it is is better or worse then what people wanted it to be.

A couple weeks ago, a trademark filing indicated that the show was scheduled for Winter 2024. In an era where companies are killing announced and nearly-finished projects, I was honestly thinking the show was on thin ice... but since it seems to still exist, I want to talk about something that I feel has gotten surprisingly little discussion in all the discourse about the show: the inclusion of Nico Minoru, of the Runaways, as Peter Parker's best friend.

Now, from a Peter-centered perspective, I think this choice makes sense in a very specific way? If you flash back to the original 60s Spider-Man comics, which the show seems to be trying to invoke aesthetically from the little we've seen, Peter Parker had a female close friend who was representative of 1960s youth counter-culture: Mary Jane.

The degree to which Stan Lee's own values undercut MJ's counter-culturism is something that people could/do entire academic essays about, but suffice it to say that she was meant to appeal to the zeitgeist of the era and the character's spirit certainly got through to viewers. Like, there is a reason that she the OTP for Peter for so many people, even if Lee at the time had intended to keep the focus on Peter's more traditionally conservative romance with Gwen Stacy.

Nico Minoru slots into this classic pre-MJ-as-the-love-interest MJ role very well, in my opinion at least? In her 2000s comics, she was cast as a edgy goth social outcast who made her own clothes and did her own thing... In her 2010s MCU show, she was cast again as an outcast, but with a certain amount of doomerpilled depression that she outgrows as the show goes on... In the 2020s game Midnight Suns, Nico is still a devoted goth, but also draws from queer youth culture and has a certain semi-ironic peppiness to her (she calls the player "friendo" constantly - she's just like me fr).

So, honestly, I think picking Nico Minoru for Spider-Man's best friend is a really clever move that slots her into this historical role of the foil to Peter Parker - fun choice!

However, from a Nico-centered perspective, I have a lot of questions about what this version of the character will be like practically... The biggest one being: Why is Nico in New York? One of the core concepts of the Runaways as a team is that they are a response to the oft-asked question "Why is New York always under threat? Why are there no superheroes having to save LA?". While the West Coast Avengers do, y'know, exist, the Runaways introduces another answer to this question: Supervillains cannot operate in LA without permission of the Pride, a LA-based supervillain mafia who made a pact with a demon from Limbo and require a cut of all crime committed in the city. The titular Runaways are the children of these villains, who choose to reject their parent's lifestyle and go on the run rather then be complicit in their villainy.

So... How did Nico get in New York and end up enrolling in a New York high school? That's a big change for her and I hope the explanation is satisfying.

Nico and her team also don't usually appear as traditional costumed heroes with secret identities, at least not for prolonged periods of time. They've used several codenames and several costumes, but it's always bit a touch comedic - Nico goes by "Sister Grimm" because they decide they need nicknames to be superheroes as somewhat-cringy-teens while she later uses "The Gloom" partially at the encouragement of her girlfriend, but she's still largely just... Nico. It's worth noting that both Midnight Suns and Marvel Snap break naming conventions to call her by her first/last name instead of an alias - something Snap mostly does with big-deal characters like Jean Grey and Kitty Pryde, with even other characters more known by their real name like Emma Frost and Danielle Moonstar being called by their hero names instead...

So, I'm curious if Nico will be using her powers to fight crime and, if she is, what codename/costume she has... On top of that, I wonder if Peter Parker will know that Nico is a blood witch and if Nico will know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man - or if they mutually uncover that across the events of the series... Doctor Strange is also set to be in this show - will he be a mentor for her as a budding witch, perhaps even more then he is a mentor for Peter? There's a lot of possibilities there too.

Finally, there's the big question of Nico Minoru's queerness. Now, there's basically two lists of Marvel queers - the characters written as queer by the writers and artists at Marvel and the characters Marvel corporate have actually approved as being queer and stamped with a big rainbow stamp of approval. This is what separates your "did a gay kiss once" characters from your "paraded out every June" characters...

Nico is in the latter category and is potentially one of the most corporate-approved queer characters there are. This girl is BISEXUAL and Marvel is uncharacteristically interested in making sure you know it. She got a Pride variant cover kissing her girlfriend when Pearlmutter was still at the company. Her MCU show is full of gay kisses and has not one but TWO fantasy gay wedding sequences (it also got removed from Disney+ earlier this year, funny that).

Now, uh, America Chavez is basically the face of Sapphic Marvel in the comics and her queerness got reduced to a Pride pin in her movie, so I'm not sure if Nico's bisexuality will be acknowledged in the show given that precedent... but I sure hope it does!!! It'd be cute if Karolina pops in too, helping her girlfriend out with whatever antics she gets into... She wasn't in the initial revealed character line-up, but I could also see them waiting to reveal her and hoping to get hype specifically from shippers who haven't thought about the pairing in a few years since the Runaways TV show ended.

ANYWAY. That was a lot of thoughts, but I'm just very curious what's going to happen here... I love Nico and am eager to see her in this show, but it also just feels like such an unconventional choice... to the point where I am apparently thinking about it this hard a year later.

#spiderman freshman year #nico minoru #deanoru #the runaways

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sapphic-biohazard · 25 days ago

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catradora in the spider-verse

Personality and storyline-wise, Adora is a peter parker Spider-Man, while Catra is a miles morales Spider-Man. Adora is from earth-1415. Catra is from earth-312.

Adora as a peter parker variant, normal girl that lives with her grandma after her parents died, her grandma dies and gives her the ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ quote a la uncle Ben. Out of guilt and duty and honouring her grandmas’s wishes, Adora becomes the best spider woman out there.

Catra is mix of miles and gwen. Outcast girl living with her single horrible parent and uses her power for ego and amusement before rudely realising her responsibility (gwen), she’s also underestimated and not respected enough as a spider woman and has a close relative who turns out to be villain and betray her (miles).

For the sake of the story let’s say Adora has miles role in the first movie (a superhero coming of age story, dead predecessor: mara, she saves the day) While Catra has miles role in the second movie (being left behind in her dimension, being told she’s a mistake, ostracised by the soider society).

So adora like I said has a coming of age superhero/picking up the mantle story. She lives in a world where there’s already a spider-woman before her who had died, and mara’s death and sacrifice pushes her to be as strong and perfect as possible which almost destroyed her. Multiverse shenanigans happen. She meets a spider-horse named swift wind, the now alive and well Mara who tries to help her and mentor her as best as he could, and of course Catra. Superhero-ing ensues and the day is saved and everyone is back in their dimensions. Yay, happily ever after. except not.

Fast forward a year. Catra feels betrayed that Adora was recruited to the spider society without her knowing and could’ve visited her any time but didn’t. She follows Adora to the spider society (?) where she’s rejected and ostracised. She wants to go back home. Prime is there and he’s going to destroy everything. But the guardian of the spider-verse says that’s she’s incapable of protecting her own earth, which is a threat to the the canon, and so she must stay here and leave that to someone stronger and better. Catra is beyond furious. Adora knew of the plan and was reluctant to it, but she was convinced though because she loves Catra and the guardian promised her Catra would stay in adora’s dimension, and partly because she also doubted Catra’s abilities. She gets convinced of otherwise when Catra outsmarts and outruns everyone in the spider society and is on her side now. She collects her and Catra’s friend across the multiverse and go to Catra to back her up.

#Catra #adora #catradora #spop #she ra and the princesses of power #spiderverse catradora au #My writing

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eobarried · 1 year ago

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ok let’s talk about miguel o’hara because it needs to be done. i want to clarify that this is not a hate post or anti-miguel in any sense, but it is a critical analysis of his character and role in the spiderverse. if you don’t feel like you can read this right now, i suggest you like it/save it for later and read it when you feel like you can with an open mind

especially for anyone who’s a miguel enjoyer (i consider myself one as well) because if you really love his character, it’s important to understand why his character was created and what a great narrative tool it is! anyway-

miguel o’hara is, allegorically, a bigot.

now - let’s unpack and clarify that. miguel is allegorically a bigot - his character is used to represent a certain, specific type of bigotry we see in real life. notice how i’m saying “bigot” and not “racist” - because despite the memes, i don’t think miguel’s hatred of miles is rooted in antiblackness. i think it’s rooted in something a little more complicated, which is why i’m using the term bigotry. but this can be a little confusing, so let’s start from the beginning. or, at least, the most important part.

the canon.

i want you to really think about the word used here - canon. hearing that word should break the fourth wall for you, just like hearing “he’s got hammerspace!” should have earlier in the movie - or discussions different characters have surrounding their distinct art styles. it’s meant to break the fourth wall and draw attention to itself. specifically, the use of the word canon here is meant for us to take a step back from the in-universe events (treating the characters as “real” people and looking at events logically) and instead think of the spiderman story and mythos.

spiderman, as a story, has been told over and over again. we, as an audience, are deeply familiar with this story, as we’ve seen it as a live-action blockbuster in no less than three separate franchises. that’s not even mentioning all the cartoon adaptations, and of course the comic runs. adhering to a specific formula surrounding the story makes sense. when someone walks into a spiderman movie, they have certain... expectations. that no matter what version of spiderman this is, that they follow certain story beats and adhere to certain rules as they follow along in their journey. miguel, when explaining this to miles, focuses on said story beats (which i’ll get to in a second), but there’s something that’s way more important than specific plot points that we need to address here.

and that’s theme.

theme (if you’re not an english literature person), is basically something you take away from the story. it’s usually a moral, idea, or concept that can be applied to the world around you, and helps you learn more about yourself, society, culture, or history. all stories have themes - usually they have multiple. so let’s get into it.

the original spiderman comic was notable in several ways. the thing that made spiderman so popular and successful is that he was the first (notable) teenage superhero that wasn’t a part of a greater team. spiderman wasn’t a sidekick that was written in to appeal to an audience of children. he was a teenager himself - but he was no less competent or strong than the (mostly adult) villains he fought.

and not only was spiderman a kid - he was the kid. he was a nerd. he was an older white teen, yes - but he represented the type of person who would go out and buy a comic book more than any other hero at the time. before he became spiderman, peter parker was just kind of a geek. at the time (the 60s) this still identified him as an outcast. peter was socially awkward, not good with girls, he didn’t have many friends, and he was bullied consistently. the only thing he was good at was science, basically. we can connect peter’s original portrayal to many legitimately marginalized groups - specifically those that might be autistic and impacted by ableism. to those kids reading that comic, they saw a hero that represented them.

and how does peter represent them? what does spiderman teach these children by reading these comics? the original spiderman is the story of a man who, by chance, was granted the opportunity for greatness - to become an integral part of his community. spiderman uses his skills (both those granted to him by the spider, but also those that he inherently has, such as his skills with science and engineering), in order to prove his worth and merit. it’s lonely, the road he has to walk - he can’t tell his friends and family who he is, lest they become victims like uncle ben - or lest they betray him. he can only rely on himself and his own knowledge in order to protect his community. the themes we draw from spiderman are this: luck can strike at any time, but you need to use your own strength and intelligence to pull yourself up afterwards, no matter how hard things get. no matter how many people you lose.

that’s what miguel believes spiderman is about. this original spiderman story is that of the american dream. of a youth who is ostracized by society (for whatever reason), but is still able to use their own merit to overcome the obstacles placed in front of them and the grief and pain they face on their path to greatness. it’s a hard and lonely path, but miguel values anyone who has the bravery to face it.

so why does he hate miles?

because he didn’t do it alone. because miles doesn’t believe in the traditional american dream.

if you want to read more about that, check out my analysis comparing spider-society and visions academy over here (it’s not as in-depth as i would like it to be, but it gets the job done) but basically: miles believes that every person deserves greatness. he states it very clearly when talking to his dad about how he won the lottery to go to visions: he just got lucky. he feels as if he took an opportunity away from someone else. why is it just given to him, when anyone else at brooklyn middle is just as deserving of an amazing education? when these resources should be put to use to uplift his whole community, not just miles alone?

miles brings that same energy as a spider-person. he’s not just an anomaly because his spider was from a different dimension. he’s an anomaly because he had a mentor. not only a mentor - he had a whole clan of spider-people there for him. while peter b parker and the crew weren’t always very good allies for miles, they still wanted him to succeed. each spider-person was an outcast - not in the same way as miles, but they were eager to describe what miles needed to master in order to keep himself safe as a crime-fighter. although they weren’t always supportive, it wasn’t because they were “gatekeeping” - it’s because they were worried miles might hurt himself. to them, he hadn’t put in the work on his own, and because he hadn’t proven himself as a spider-person in isolation, they thought there was no way he could be successful as a spider-person during a very high-risk mission.

however, miles proves them wrong. it’s true that miles has to pull upon his own inner strength, but he also pulls on wisdom from those that mentored him - his father, his uncle aaron, peter parker, and peter b parker. as well as love and support from his community. miles became spiderman - but not in isolation. he had help, and support, and love - always - that helped him succeed.

because spiderman - in all universes - represents success in america. in the original comics, spiderman is able to overcome his status as an outcast in order to help his city. he now has great power - a potential allegory related to wealth and social or political status. he uses that power in order to protect the community he loves (nyc) as they can’t all protect themselves.

now let’s bring it back. miguel. right.

miguel has already made his mark as a spiderman. although we know he broke canon, it wasn’t related to him becoming spiderman. we can assume that miguel still went through serious struggle and trauma to get to where he’s at. and now, through thematic analysis, we know that becoming spiderman represents success in america.

so, miguel’s dislike of miles, thematically, connects to how older generations may believe that younger generations “have it too easy” or “don’t put in the same effort.” it’s the (mainly capitalistic) ideal that in order to succeed, it has to be in isolation, without outside help. we can infer that miguel is not only upset that miles didn’t do things “canonically” - but that he is afforded success that miguel doesn’t think he deserves. miguel believes that in order to succeed in america, one needs to do it on their own, and suffer in order to succeed. no “hand-outs,” no support, no community outreach. it’s a very rigid capitalistic standard - which is why i called it “bigoted.” miguel is still a marginalized figure - and it’s important that miguel is the one stating the viewpoint, not a white spiderman. because this isn’t a white vs black storyline. miguel’s dislike of miles is specifically a sort of generational, inter-community bigotry.

for someone who hasn’t experienced it - think of it like hazing. you join a new sports team. the senior players say “you carry the equipment out and clean everything after the game.” you ask “why? can’t we all just do it together? aren’t we supposed to be a team?” and they say “no. you’re the new guys. hard work builds character. deal with it.”

alright. so we took a look at canon through a meta-story lens. now let’s pull it back even further.

so, miguel’s ideology. he adheres firmly to canon, a series of events that cannot (or, should not), change. if we apply that to our lives, that sounds a lot like predestination. destiny. fate. let’s call it predestination for now - you’ll see why in a minute.

now, a belief in predestination makes sense. it can bring a lot of people comfort, thinking that horrible events are out of their hands, and often times it can be harmless to believe in predestination in these instances. for example: someone who blames themselves for not being able to say goodbye to a loved one who died suddenly. if this person believes in predestination, it might ease some of their pain and guilt to know that there was nothing they could do - that it was the will of some higher power that their loved one is gone, and that there was nothing they could do to prevent it. some individuals might find comfort in knowing that they are not to blame for the work of the universe.

however, predestination can also be malicious. thinking that things are the will of the universe, or the will of god... that’s been used for some pretty fucked up stuff in the past. in a more moderate (and topical) example - royalty. many kings used the concept of predestination to explain why they deserved the crown. their bloodline was chosen by god himself - that’s why they’re powerful (compare to spider-people and their success. if they are also predestined for their spider-bite, doesn’t that make them akin to monarchs?)

in more nefarious examples, predestination can be used to subjugate and oppress others. predestination was used in ancient indian society in order to justify the caste system - utilizing the hindu concept of karma to justify why certain members of society were mistreated and oppressed. in a more american sense, predestination was often used as a way to justify both slavery and segregation. originally, slavers tried to justify that god wanted black individuals to serve as slaves because it was his will. later, when divine intervention fell out of fashion, they attempted to use eugenics to justify that black individuals were simply born inferior - that it was just science, and that there was nothing they could do about it.

that’s the other reason it’s called canon. the original usage of the word was to refer to the books of the bible that the church recognized as legitimate. it ties back to faith and religion.

now, religion, faith, and even the belief in fate itself - are not inherently bad. miguel’s belief in predestination doesn’t make him a bad or bigoted person inherently. however, the way he forces other to believe and adhere to it is. it’s very likely that miguel became so attached to the canon in order to justify why his wife and daughter died - in order to remove his own accountability for their passing and instead place the blame on some higher power. this belief snowballed out of control, however - and now influences his jealousy and distaste for miles and his way of life.

because forcing a canon - a story - on miles, is wrong. when miguel tells miles that his father must die, that he has to adhere to canon - that’s a horrible thing to say to a young black boy. to tell him that in order to be successful as a marginalized individual (to be spiderman) that he has to lose the last black male role model he has? it’s heinous! it’s akin to telling miles that in order to succeed, he has to cut ties with part of his culture. which does happen to young marginalized people in america. they are told that in order to be successful, they have to leave their culture, community, and support system behind.

it’s especially sinister when looking at it from the point of view of storytelling. when looking at it from that angle, miguel is basically telling miles that in order for his story - the story of a young black boy - to be profitable, he has to go through even more trauma and loss. it’s similar to what his guidance counselor mentions when discussing how miles should write his college entrance essay - that he should lie, and emphasize that he struggles while growing up, and that his support system was unstable. it’s the traditional story of a struggling black boy - which i discuss more here when talking about earth 42 miles and his inclusion in the spiderverse.

miguel’s bigotry is centrally tried to his idea of what american society expects of marginalized individuals who were able to achieve their dreams despite it all. a story of pain and struggle. one where they were able to - only through their own strength and intelligence, and maybe with a little bit of luck - pull themselves up, and quietly work towards their own success.

miguel’s belief in the american dream and predestination not only influences his treatment of miles, but also his creation of spider-society. now, let me be frank: miguel, in this franchise, is not supposed to represent someone who created systematic oppression. he’s simply one of the people who believed in bigoted ideals and allowed those ideals to influence his decisions. because when miguel created spider-society, it basically became an elitist isolation chamber. spider-society is located in a huge tower on miguela’s earth. the tower is so tall and imposing on the utopian landscape, there’s no way that miguel is able to properly support his own community as spiderman - he’s not worried about what happens to his own community. especially once we learn that a good portion of them live underground, where miguel can’t even see them. even if he wasn’t occupied with anomalies at all times, there’s no way he could even connect with nueva york around him.

the same can be said of all the spider-people in headquarters. they’re not even in their home dimensions. how can they possibly support their communities when they have isolated themselves as far away as they could literally be? it parallels how successful individuals often treat their communities in reality - what do wealthy people usually do at the first sign of their wealth? they build a huge mansion to get away from it all. many times in our capitalist society, wealthy and successful people abandon the communities they should be supporting.

miguel represents that. he is a successful, powerful person, who decided to focus only on other successful, powerful people like him. marginalized people who achieved the american dream on their own. people who, instead of uplifting others, instead tear down those who don’t fit into their “mold.” who are successful in their own right, but don’t hold the same ideals and values that they do. who aren’t the model example of marginalized success in the eyes of the (white) american “audience.”

miguel is a product of a great problem within society. while he partakes and perpetuates bigotry, that doesn’t mean that he’s irredeemable. the narrative shows that miguel is a broken man. if we think about to the end credits scene from itsv, where he calls his dimensional travel bracelet a “goober” - he wasn’t always so hateful. he wasn’t always like this. he can un-learn his bigotry and he isn’t completely lost. the way that he discusses his ideas - it’s clear that he knows that there are flaws in them, just as other spider-people consistently point out. he can be changed and improved - just like our real leaders and role models can be changed and improved. miguel is not without saving - but it’s important to remember that he does need to be saved.

#Spiderverse #across the spiderverse #across the spider-verse spoilers #into the spider verse #miguel o'hara #meta analysis

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