#and parker can fight!
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one of my favorite leverage moments is in the lonely hearts job when nate tells parker to start a fight with one of their marks so parker walks over and decks her in the face. not only is it hilarious, but it's autistic rep in action! nate said fight so parker started a fight! and they even have nate promise to use the word argument next time instead because he recognizes why she did it that way. just a+ characterization all around
#leverage#and it never feels like parker is the butt of the joke#the humor is in the miscommunication#and parker can fight!#she fucked that girl up!#i love her so much it's insane
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DP x DC: The Most Dangerous Card Game
Ok so Danny has essentially claimed earth as his. And he is fully aware that there are constant threats to the planet. Now he can’t stop a threat that originates on earth (that’s something he’ll leave to the Justice league) but he can do something about outside threats. Doing some research on ancient spells, rituals, and artifacts, he cast a world wide barrier on the planet to protect it from hostile threats so they cannot enter. This will prevent another Pariah Dark incident. However, barriers like this come at a price. You see, there are two ways to make a barrier. Either make one powered up by your own energy and power (which would be constantly draining) or set up a barrier with rules. The way magic works is that nothing can be absolutely indestructible. It must have a weakness. The most powerful barriers weren’t the ones reinforced with layer after layer of protective charms and buffed up with power. Those could eventually be destroyed either by being overpowered, wearing them down, or by cutting off the original power source. No, the most powerful barriers were the ones with a deliberate weakness. A barrier indestructible except for one spot. A cage that can only be opened from the outside. Or that can only be passed with a key or by solving a riddle. So Danny chooses this type of barrier and does the necessary ritual and pours in enough power to make it. And he adds his condition for anyone to enter.
Now the Justice league? Find out about the barrier when Trigon attempts to attack, they were preparing after he threatened what he would do once he got to earth. How he would destroy them. The Justice league tried to take the fight to him first but were utterly destroyed, so they retreated home to tend to their injuries, and fortify earth for one. Last. Stand. Only when Trigon makes his big entrance…he’s stopped.
The Justice league watch in awe as this thin see-through barrier with beautiful green swirls and speckled white lights like stars apears blocking Trigon and his army’s advance. The barrier looks so thin and fragile yet no matter how hard the warlord hits, none of his attacks can get through and neither can he damage said barrier. That’s when Constantine and Zatanna recognizes what this barrier is. Something only a powerful entity could create. For a moment, the league is filled with hope that Trigon can’t get through yet Constantine also explains that it’s not impenetrable. And clearly Trigon knows this too for he calls out a challenge.
And that’s when, in a flash of light, a tiny glowing teenager appears. He looked absolutly minuscule compared to Trigon and yet practically glowed with power (this isn’t a King Danny AU though).
And that is when the conditions for passing the barrier are revealed. And the Justice realize that the only thing stopping Trigon and his army from decimating earth. The only way he can get through….is by beating this glowing teenager in a card game.
Not just any card game though. The most convoluted game Sam, Danny, and Tucker invented themselves. It’s like the infinite realms version of magic the gathering, combined with Pokémon, and chess. And Danny is the master. So sit down Trigon and let’s play.
(The most intense card game of the Justice league’s life).
After Danny wins, this happens a few more times with outer word beings and possibly even demons attempting to invade earth, yet none have been able to beat the mysterious teenager in a card game. Constantine might even take a crack at it and try to figure out how to play. He’s really bad though. Every time this happens, the Justice league worry that this might be the time the teenager looses. Yet every time, he wins (even if only barely).
Meanwhile, Danny, Sam, and Tucker have gotten addicted to the game and play it almost daily. Some teachers might seem them playing the game are are like ‘awww how cute’ not realizing this game is literally saving the world. Jazz is just happy they aren’t spending as much time on their screens playing Doomed.
#DPxDC#Kizzer55555 ideas#Danny makes a card game to save the world.#Technically he worded the ritual so that they had to ‘beat’ him as those are the most powerful barriers and most reliable.#keys can just get lost or stolen (like the one to Pariah’s Coffin)#A riddle would be useless once someone figured out the answer. Like how no one takes the sphynx seriously anymore.#(Sorry Tuck. But it’s true).#And there is NO WAY Danny is just leaving a hole open for anyone to pass through. No thank you!#So…beating him. But it’s not like Danny wanted to fight so…he edited the ritual a TINY bit. Card games are good. Much less painful too.#Danny Tucker and Sam made the most complicated card game they could imagine.#It’s based on their strategies for fighting ghosts. Capturing them in thermoses. And MUCH based on a on field battle strategy.#It often requires spontaneous thinking on the spot. So Danny? In his ELEMNT. It doubles as practice for his actual ghost battles too.#They had SO much fun making this.#Sam added an entire series of plant cards that act as traps and healing ointments and duds that just take up the field.#Tucker added legitimate hyroglyphics combined with Latin as well as English and ghost speak.#Yes. You actually have to speak that language to play. With proper pronunciation. (Amity Parker’s think the three are talking gibberish.)#I headcanon Sam and Tucker are fluent in Ghost.#Constantine WILL figure this game out SO HELP HIM!#Some of the cards also have combinations related to constellations either in name or placement on the board.#By the way the board is based on a Hexagonal summoning circle with Rhunes along the edges#And the placement of the cards on the board and on what rhune MATTERS.#Also the cards move disintegrate and have certain abilities. Think of Harry Potter Wizard Chess.#But they are normal when Danny plays at school. This is just for ✨effect✨ Against invaders.#Danny faces multiple opponents. He also halts alien invasions.#While Danny COULD stop crime on earth he’s not sure how to fight a normal human and hold back so he sticks to ghosts.#The Justice league are going crazy trying to figure out who this entity is and after deep research are convinced this is some sort of#Ancient being who has protected earth for millenia. They have paintings on ruins and everything.#Danny is not aware they think this.#Raven starts praying to Danny as if he is a god and wrangles the other Teen Titans into doing so as well. Danny is still unaware of this.#Danny is not a King or an ancient. Just a very VERY strong ghost.
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Wip of Spiderman's berserker mode-
When Spiderman is in a legitimate holy fuck life-or-death situation, (or when his spider senses go from 0-Thanos Just Popped in and is Gunning for me) his body automatically burns its entire store of venom in one big burst, giving him a massive boost in all his powers for 10-15 minutes.
This is the ultimate state of fight-or-flight. He can't control when or if it happens.
When he's in burn, Spiderman's only objective is to survive- either by putting down the threat or getting away from it as fast as possible.
During burn, everything is enhanced- his speed, his strength, his healing factor, etc. He feels little to no pain and fights with the single goal of coming out alive on the other side. He's not necessarily mindless, but he also doesn't hold anything back and will fight to kill if that's what he thinks will give him the best chance of survival.
In this state, he's powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with a fairly serious Thor. However, going through burn is EXTREMELY traumatic for the body, and coming out of it is just as dangerous as going in.
When it's over, Peter is pretty much catatonic/comatose for a few days while his body heals- and basically as powerless as a civilian while his body restores enough venom to put him back into a balanced state.
To date, it's only happened twice (and is the original reason he caught Kraven's attention.)
TLDR: Spiderman's venom works on himself as well, but in a more extreme fashion.
#hunting!spider#spiderman#peter parker#i imagine its also accompanied by a super eerie and painful sounding howl#It's all hearts in Wade's eyes watching Spiderman take on thor until he watches the man's ribs get crushed and hes STILL fighting jesus-#tfw Wade forces Spiderman to go into a burn when HE dies- and now has to be much more careful with himself as a result#he cant control it- its completely autonomous#also tbc even if his healing factor is amped like crazy he can still be killed- and he can’t like regrow limbs or anything
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Deaf!Peter trying out his new suit for the first time
Peter: Woah, Mr. Stark this is so cool! The suit is amazing!
Tony: It's got quite a lot of special features kid
Karen (AI): *smaller screen focuses in on Tony's lips and brings up captions that Peter can read*
Peter: *confused* You programmed my suit with captions?
Tony: *smirking* Well duh, I can't have you running around clueless when there's too much background noise or if someone's turned away while they're explaining the plan. That also works with the comm system too and if your AI ever goes down, but your suit still has power, I added a feature where you can alert me that you're on your own so I can intervene if need be
Peter: *pauses slightly as he's reading along while Tony's speaking* Wow, thank you Mr. Stark! That's just— wow! This really helps a lot, thank you!
Tony: It works for other languages too. The captions will appear in English
Tony: *signing in Italian Sign Language* Including other sign languages
Karen: *shows Peter captions in English*
Peter: *signing in ASL and excited* It worked! You said it includes other sign languages for the captions!
Tony: *signing in ASL and laughing* Yes, just don't expect me to know anymore Italian. I can speak it, not sign it
#deaf peter is literally my favorite au so you can fight me if you don't like it#tony would do anything to accommodate his favorite vigilante because it's not like its hard and it's the right thing to do#tony is already being such a dad to peter amd they basically just met#peter never expected anyone to be so accommodating but tony is going to change that because damn it the kid deserves good things#deaf spiderman#deaf peter parker#spiderman au#spiderman#peter parker#tony stark#spiderson#irondad
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i keep getting distracted from writing chapter 14 because im thinking about. way later in the fic when Tony and the Batfam interact finally. and like Tony being super pissed because despite Peter stealing a detonator from Two-Face, he's been generally pleasant if not chaotic when talking to them. Meanwhile Peter locked Tony in a dumpster once.
"All that??? With him being an angel?? That's MY WORK. I put in the effort!!"
dick: i sincerely doubt that
bruce, dealt with dick and his murderous rage: ...
#erinwantstowrite#ao3#ao3 fanfic#leap of faith ao3#leap of faith catch me if you can#peter parker#tony stark#bruce wayne#dick grayson#dick and tony fight all the time
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parker: how was your weekend?
nate: not too bad, sophie and I crashed a party and stole a painting. annoyed sterling, which is always fun
sophie: sterling even offered us a job, that we won’t take, of course. we might sleep with him, though. how about you?
hardison: we did a job and then found out a crazy guy was weaponizing the spanish flu
parker: hardison stepped on a bomb and i blew one up
eliot: i got shot. twice.
sophie: just another normal weekend :)
nate, parker, hardison, and eliot: yeah :)
#can you tell I'm rewatching the rundown job#sophie: fighting as flirting is my favorite genre#nate: we find rivalry homoerotic#hardison: stop telling us this#eliot: wtf stop#nate ford#sophie devereaux#parker#alec hardison#eliot spencer#the frame up job#the rundown job#leverage#leverage season 5#humor#incorrect quotes#mine
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warning: long idea that came from u so u deserve to hear about it
was ranting to my sister about ur sketches cuz i fell in love with them and they are hitting at like 3 obsessions at once so points for u-
anyway I talked about the fenton creep stick (the joker panel) and my sister (who never watched dp) asked what it was, and after a confusing explanation we decided that a fenton creep stick can be any kind of object that is 1) long and swingable (like a crowbar or even a pipe) and 2) sturdy and not easily breakable
after being in the phandom I saw a lot of headcannons that after the ghosts appeared, the fentons started doing speeches at Casper, and they gave out fenton creep sticks "to be safe" or that the fentons sell those to Amity Parkers (THEY'RE NOT GUNS so they can do it) so pretty much everyone has one
adding those ideas to the fact that my sister thought at first that the stick had something to do with CREEPS (like pedos or stalkers cuz of the name) I now imagine the most famous design of fenton creep stick to be one of those stun sticks (that can not only be used on ghosts, but actual creeps!!!)
enjoy this idea cuz it sure gave me joy
asdfghjkl anon your brain wrinkles are amazing that idea is so funny to me. The anti-creep sticks are advertised all over town and it’s treated the same as a McDonald’s ad. No one really gives a shit but they still take note when there’s something new out.
And if you wanted to throw in the supervillain AU, I imagine it would go like this:
#pondhead replies#like imagine the jl just waltz through the dimension portal danny has been using#and this is the first thing they see#more than one creep stick was pointed at them when they were trying to ask about Fenton#they saw the branding and fenton merch and just assumed he kidnapped a whole town#and somehow made them into die hard fans#they don’t even realize they’re in another universe at first cause the amity parkers see a bunch of weirdos in costumes#and assume it’s Ghost Buisness#so they just defend themselves accordingly#god this is so funny to me#danny phantom#supervillain danny au#mad scientist danny#they are horrified that the Fentons give weapons to small children#imagine some random sixth grader is on par with Nightwing’s agility#probably because of ectoplasm enchancement stuff#but still that would be so jarring to see#a middle schooler goes toe-to-toe with Jon Kent in a game of tag#and can actually give a good fight to Damian#and the whole place is like this#and somehow Fenton IS STILL THE WEIRD ONE#sorry got carried away#hello to anon and their sister!!!#dpxdc
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The Therapist
There's a new therapist at school.
Normally this wouldn't really bother Peter at all, since he's never gone to see a shrink in his life and doesn't ever plan on it, but there's something... off about this woman.
She seems unassuming enough at first glance. Red hair, green eyes, bright red lipstick. But there is something in her eyes, something that Peter can only describe as a predator looking at its next prey, when she looks around the school at all of the teenagers milling about. Heck, even the way she walks makes her seem as if she is a predator stalking her prey.
It could always be some kind of power move, Peter reasons. He's met people like that before, who try to intimidate everyone around them into thinking that they are superior, that they are the apex predator and anyone who dares to cross them would pay for it dearly.
But his Spidey Sense went crazy around her.
He tries to brush it off as paranoia. He'd pulled an all-nighter last night in the lab with Tony because neither of them had been able to sleep, and he hadn't been sleeping well even before that. (Funny, how it had all started the night after he first bumped into the new therapist in the halls.) So his Spidey Sense is probably out of wack because he's tired. Simple as that.
But it seems like everyone in the school is depressed. Even Ned, who can't even muster up the energy and enthusiasm to talk about Legos or Star Wars or even the weather. It worries Peter.
Because it all started when that therapist came to the school.
He can't ignore it forever, he knows that. There is only so long his Spidey Sense can tell him that she is danger danger danger before he finally listens. He has to do something to help everyone.
So he researches.
And he falls into the rabbit hole of ghosts and ectoplasm and secret government organizations and the little, unassuming town of Amity Park, Illinois.
He doesn't sleep that night.
When he comes to school the next morning, Dr. Penelope Spectra looks him dead in the eyes, and smiles.
#dpxmarvel#peter parker#penelope spectra#peter's boutta get a crash course in ghosts and ghost fighting#he is definitely not prepared#idk why spectra is in new york#specifically midtown tech#but she is#peter starts digging into amity park#he just wanted to find out who spectra is#and he did find out that she's a dangerous “ecto-entity”#he does not know what that is until he does more research#he's very shocked to learn that ghosts are apparently real#meanwhile tucker and the rest of team phantom is freaking out#someone just hacked past the media blackout or whatever around amity park#(you can thank friday (or karen if you prefer) for that)#they're surprised to see that it's coming all the way from new york#and even more surprised to see that the hacker went for spectra's files first#almost as if the hacker was specifically looking for them >:3#maybe danny goes to investigate and finds peter#btw peter can sense ghosts with his spidey sense even if they're invisible. especially if they're invisible#they team up to take spectra down#danny helps peter make some ecto-weapons and a specter deflector or something#then they catch spectra (and bernard because he's probably there too and i'm kinda just now realizing that)#peter gives danny his phone number as thanks and tells him to call him if he ever needs anything#peter doesn't know who phantom is btw. he just knows that his new friend is a ghost that luckily knows how to use technology like phones#maybe there's even a bad reveal a little further down the line and danny calls peter in a panic because sam and tucker have done everything#they can and he needs to get as far away from amity as possible#peter is very surprised to find that his ghost friend is only half ghost and is then very ticked that danny's parents tried to capture#and vivisect him
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Edwin Payne is a dweeb who gives terrible weak comebacks, who can be unnecessarily petty, or overly smug, who is inordinately pleased with himself when wearing detective gear and using scientific gear, the thought never crossing his mind that he might not look as cool as he thinks he does, who carries a continual and utter absolute delight at acting like the characters he loved to read about, who was enthralled by his magazine detective and adventure stories and who wears a similar smile when he sits on the bed watching Scooby Doo with Niko, 'these detectives are terribly clever,' whose board game collection is mostly variations of Clue, who requires payment (because any good detective is worth some kind of payment) but whose idea of payment is whatever interesting object the client offers to add to his collection, who has encyclopedic intelligence he clearly dedicated hours to learning, who has a particular way of acting and speaking like everything is of vital importance, because to him, it is.
#dead boy detectives#edwin payne#charles rowland#niko sasaki#crystal palace#dead boy detective agency#Edwin is a legitimate nerd#I get serious 1960s Peter Parker vibes from him#he reads the equivalent of comic books instead of hanging out with other people of course he would absolutely love cartoons#he's not good at fighting but excellent at running#chooses to only wear extremely proper and practical clothes unless he's very relaxed or stressed#of course he likes being a dead boy detective it's literally what he spent all his time reading#when he's being overly smug and self-important he reminds me of Peter Parker on Venom in Spider-Man 3#like he thinks he's owning the floor but literally nobody else gets that impression#but then there's other moments where he's - not exactly intimidating but also someone you can't ignore#and he's so passionate about his detective work#just some thoughts#character analysis#he definitely has flaws#but he is also an incredible nerd#twilight-zoned-out#I can definitely see how the original character was supposed to be 12#but it still works how they did it#his height would definitely not work if he was 12 lol#he liked detectives so now he is a detective#it had to be said
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Something I love about Spider-Man as a character: even if there's no big villain to fight, he's still a hero.
On days when there's no crime at all, he's out helping someone carry their groceries or giving directions to someone who's lost. He doesn't need anything negative to fight; he's just actively trying to make the world a safer, kinder, better place. That's what makes him a hero.
#friendly neighborhood spider-man you know#where most other heroes are kind of the 'rise to the occasion' types#like 'the world is in danger I must battle the forces of evil'#spidey's just over here like: imma go do the best that I can to improve the world#no baddies necessary#peter parker#spider-man#thoughts#also not to be an irondad freak on main but#tony does a lot of good things in the world separate from fighting villains too#like holding orphaned babies and giving $ to college kids#and I love that about the two of them. I think they're brilliantly matched in the mcu as mentor and mentee#cough father and son cough#anyone who disagrees may die by my sword#queueueueue
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I swear I have read your big post regarding Peter Parker's neurodivergence and why it is best to avoid labelling him, but he definitely has a weird brain
Can't find it and feel kinda sad about it cuz I deeply related to it
i know exactly which post you're talking about and i can't find it either! i've raked through my archive, and it's just - nowhere to be seen. i think tumblr eated it (it happens.)
really, tumblr's search functionality is so so useless, i don't know what to tell you. there are plenty of keywords i can search to find it that post, but the search functionality actually just does not work!
undiagnosed audhd-addled peter parker, my darling, my light, my life, my everything.
i think peter parker's such an interesting creature to write, because a lot of people will point to a certain behaviour about him and say "this is an autistic thing, right?" but a lot of those behaviours are actually, in my head, tied to certain traumas in peter's life too.
people say "oh, the food thing, peter's a picky eater because he's autistic" and yes, absolutely. but also it's tied to his trauma with his parents.
peter gets overstimulated, and yes, it's an autism thing, but also he was bitten by a radioactive spider and his senses are dialled to 11.
it's a similar case i've found for myself, too – where a lot of friends i have kind of diagnose me because i have autistic traits, but actually - i'm hesitant to claim the label or pursue diagnosis because, actually, i know where these certain behaviours come from, and they come from certain traumas. there are events i can pinpoint in my life and say "yep. that's where this behaviour comes from."
so - i think there's a lot of overlap between trauma and autistic traits. the brain is very complex! i think the reason for that overlap is maybe as simple as the fact that people with autism and people with trauma are both doing the same thing - developing behaviours to protect themselves or soothe themselves. so - i think it's nice to be able to see a character like peter parker, who may or may not be autistic, but recognise behaviours in him and see yourself in him.
people who go undiagnosed for whatever reason - people who are really good at masking - so good, in fact, that they have no idea they might be on the spectrum - everyone and anyone at all can look at peter parker and recognise themselves. because i think we discredit the thought that every single brain does the same thing! develops certain behaviours in order to survive. every brain has that same software - we've just all been faced with different hardships that we need to overcome, and that's were all the differences come in.
autism is a spectrum, i guess - everyone falls into it to some degree. and i think events in your life probably push you along on it. but i don't know, i didn't study brain science. probably what i'm saying is very stupid and uninformed. of course there's brain chemistry involved. but i know people in my life living with autism and certain events in their life have exacerbated certain behaviours or made coping with it a lot more difficult. so maybe trauma is a catalyst.
#a lot of my traits have been exacerbated lately and i remember it was much easier for me before#and some of my friends have said “oh it's because you've been masking too long and now you're facing autistic burnout.”#and that made sense to me i think.#but then i found out about the stress thing. me overproducing stress hormone. and that's a very physical thing.#and that explains why i've been overstimulated more than usual lately. and why everything feels like too much.#and i wonder how many of these traits of mine are going to subside once i have lamar removed#and it makes me wonder a lot of things. and it's so weird how much your brain is tied to your biology.#i wonder how much i'll change. i wonder how i'll feel. i wonder if i'll still feel like me. i wonder how much me is me right now.#and how much of me is being altered by weird freaky hormones. who am i?? who will i be??#i'm almost looking at this as like. a superhero origin story of some sort. like this is my spider-bite moment. maybe.#will i be different? will i cope with things differently?? now that my body isn't fighting something anymore??#maybe i'll be normal. i don't know. i don't know.#i don't know what it'll mean for me.#but all of these things mean i relate to peter parker in a certain kind of way#i don't think you have to be diagnosed with autism to recognise and empathise with those traits i think#i think everyone can see themselves in peter. and i think that's the benefit of having characters that aren't diagnosed.#because there's so much overlap in the human experience. and certain feelings aren't exclusive to just one group of people.#peter has such a rich identity actually. it's an autistic thing. it's a queer thing. it's a jewish thing. it's a trauma thing.#there are so many overlapping parts of peter's identity that inform who he is and how he behaves and it's never just one thing.#it's a product of all of his things.#just like me! just like everyone.#so me? i guess i can be a million things. you can explain what i am in a million different ways.#a hundred different psychologists can all come up with different ways to explain why i be the way i be.#i don't think it's something that can be simplified.#sorry wow. i'm really going off here in the tags.#i hope people don't think i'm stupid. i don't know brain science. i'm just philosophising as usual.#sci speaks
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Let's put some color on that pretty face, love
#fanart#my art#hobie brown#peter benjamin parker#spider punk#spiderpunk#spiderman noir#spider man noir#punknoir#noirpunk#spiderman across the spiderverse#spiderman into the spiderverse#hobie use make up you can fight with me for that#do noir have scars?#idk how to draw scars#idk how to draw backgrounds yet#someone teach me pls
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Spider-Man India, but... where from India?
A SUPER long post featuring talks of: cultural identity, characterisation, the caste system, and what makes Spider-Man Spider-Man.
I’m prefacing this by saying that I am a second-generation immigrant. I was born in Australia, but my cultural background is from South India. My experiences with what it means to be “Indian” is going to be very different from the experiences of those who are born and brought up in India.
If you, reader, want to add anything, please reblog and add your thoughts. This is meant to be a post open for discussion — the more interaction we get, the better we become aware of these nuances.
So I made this poll asking folks to pick a region of India where I would draw Pavitr Prabhakar in their cultural wear. This idea had been on my mind for a long while now, as I had been inspired by Annie Hazarika’s Northeastern Spidey artwork in the wake of ATSV’s release, but never got the time to actually do it until now. I wanted to get a little interactive and made the poll so I could have people choose which of the different regions — North, Northeast, Central, East, West, South — to do first.
The outcome was not what I expected. As you can see, out of 83 votes:
THE RESULTS
South India takes up almost half of all votes (44.6%), followed by Northeast and Central (both 14.5%) and then East (13.3%). In all my life growing up, support towards or even just the awareness of South India was pretty low. Despite this being a very contained poll, why would nearly half of all voters pick South India in favour of other popular choices like Central or North India?
Then I thought about the layout of the poll: Title, Options, Context.
Title: "Tell us who you want to see…"
Options: North, Northeast, Central, East, West, South
Context: I want to make art of the boy again
At first I thought: ah geez. this is my fault. I didn't make the poll clear enough. do they think I want them to figure out where Pavitr came from? That's not what I wanted, maybe I should have added the context before the options.
Then I thought: ah geez. is it my fault for people not reading the entire damn thing before clicking a button? That's pretty stupid.
But regardless, the thought did prompt a line of thinking I know many of us desi folk have been considering since Spider-Man India was first conceived — or, at least, since the announcement that he was going to appear in ATSV. Hell, even I thought of it:
Where did Spider-Man India come from?
FROM A CULTURALLY DIVERSE INDIA
As we know, India is so culturally diverse, and no doubt ATSV creators had to take that into account. Because the ORIGINAL Spider-Man India came from Mumbai — most likely because Mumbai and Manhattan both started with the same letter.
But going beyond that, it’s also because Mumbai is one of the most recognisable cities in India - it’s also known as Bombay. It’s where Bollywood films are shot. It’s where superstar Hindi actors and actresses show up. Mumbai is synonymous with India in that regard, because the easiest way Western countries can interact with Indian culture is through BOLLYWOOD, through HINDI FILMS, through MUMBAI. Suddenly, India is Mumbai, India is a Hindi-only country, India is just this isolated thing we see through an infinitely narrow lens.
We’ve gotten a little better in recent years, but boy I will tell you how uncomfortable I’ve gotten when people (yes, even desi people) come up to me and tell me, Oh, you’re Indian right? Can you speak Hindi? Why don’t you speak Hindi? You’re not Indian if you don’t speak Hindi, that’s India’s national language!
I have been — still am — so afraid of telling people that I don’t speak Hindi, that I’m Tamil, that I don’t care that Hindi is India’s “national” language (it’s an administrative language, Kavin, get your fucking facts right). It’s weird, it’s isolating, and it has made me feel like I wasn’t “Indian” enough to be accepted into the group of “Indian” people.
So I am thankful that ATSV went out of their way to integrate as much variety of Indian culture into the Mumbattan sequence. Maybe that way, the younger generation of desi folk won’t feel so isolated, and that younger Western people will be more open to learning about all these cultural differences within such a vast country.
BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH SPIDER-MAN INDIA?
Everything, actually. There’s a thing called supremacy. You might have heard of it. We all engaged with it at some point, and if you are Indian, no matter where you live, it is inescapable.
It happens the moment you are born — who your family is, where you are born, the language you speak, the colour of your skin; these will be bound to you for life, and it is nigh impossible to break down the stereotypes associated with them.
Certain ethnic groups will be more favourable than others (Centrals, and thus their cultures, will always be favoured over than Souths, as an example) and the same can be said for social groups (Brahmins are more likely to secure influential roles in politics or other areas like priesthood, while the lowers castes, especially Dalits, aren’t even given the decency of respect). Don’t even get me started on colourism, where obviously those of fairer skin will win the lottery while those of darker skin aren’t given the time of day. It’s even worse when morality ties into it — “lighter skinned Indians, like Brahmins, embody good qualities like justice and wisdom”, “dark skinned Indians are cunning and poor, they are untrustworthy”. It’s fucking nuts.
This means, of course, you have a billion people trying to make themselves heard in a system that tries to crush everyone who is not privileged. It only makes sense that people want to elevate themselves and break free from a society that refuses to acknowledge them. These frustrations manifest outwardly, like in protests, but other times — most times — it goes unheard, quietly shaping your way of life, your way of thinking. It becomes a fundamental part of you, and it can go unacknowledged for generations.
So when you have a character like Pavitr Prabhakar enter the scene, people immediately latch onto him and start asking questions many Western audiences don’t even consider. Who is he? What food does he eat? What does he do on Fridays? What’s his family like, his community? All these questions pop up, because, amidst all this turmoil going on in the background, you want a mainstream popular character to be like you, who knows your way of life so intimately, that he may as well be a part of your community.
BUT THAT'S THE THING — HE'S FICTIONAL
I am guilty of this. In fact, I’ve flaunted in numerous posts how I think he’s the perfect Tamil boy, how he dances bharatanatyam, how he does all these Tamil things that no one will understand except myself. All these niche things that only I, and maybe a few others, will understand.
I’ve seen other people do it, too. I’ve seen people geek out over his dark brown skin, his kalari dhoti, how he fights so effortlessly in the kalaripayattu martial arts style. I’ve seen people write him as Malayali, as Hindi, as every kind of Indian person imaginable.
I’ve also seen him be written where he’s subjected to typical Indian and broader Asian stereotypes. You know the ones I’m so fond of calling out. The thing is, I’ve seen so much of Pavitr being presented in so many different ways, and I worry how the rest of the desi folk will take it.
You finally have a character who could be you, but now he’s someone else’s plaything. Your entire life is shaped by what you can and can’t do simply because you were born to an Indian family, and here’s the one person who could represent you now at the mercy of someone else’s whims. He’s off living a life that is so distant from yours, you can hardly recognise him.
It shouldn’t hurt as much as it does, yeah? But, again, you’re looking at it from that infinitely narrow lens Westerners use to look at India from Bollywood.
AND PAVITR PRABHAKAR DOESN'T LIVE IN INDIA
He lives in Mumbattan. He lives in a made-up, fictional world that doesn’t follow the way of life of our world. He lives in a city where Mumbai and Manhattan got fucking squashed together. There are so many memes about colonialism right there. Mumbattan isn’t real! Spider-Man India isn’t real!! He’s just a dude!! The logic of our world doesn’t apply to him!!!
“But his surname originates from ______” okay but does that matter?
“But he’s wearing a kalari dhoti so surely he’s ______” okay but does that matter?
“But his skin colour is darker so he must be ______” okay but does that matter?
“But he lives in Mumbai so he must be ______” okay but does that matter?
I sound insensitive and brash and annoying and it looks like I’m yapping just for the sake of riling you up, so direct that little burst of anger you got there at me, and keep reading.
Listen. I’m going to ask you a question that I’ve asked myself a million times over. I want you to answer honestly. I want you to ask this question to yourself and answer honestly:
Are you trying to convince me on who Pavitr Prabhakar should be?
... but why shouldn't i?
I’ll tell you this again — I did the same thing. You’re not at fault for this, but I want you to just...have a little think over. Just a little moment of self-reflection, to think about why you are so intent on boxing this guy.
It took me a while to reorganise my thinking and how to best approach a character like Pavitr, so I will give you all the time you need as well as a little springboard to focus your thoughts on.
SPIDER-MAN (INDIA) IS JUST A MASK
“What I like about the costume is that anybody reading Spider-Man in any part of the world can imagine that they themselves are under the costume. And that’s a good thing.”
Stan Lee said that. Remember how he was so intent on making sure that everybody got the idea that Spider-Man as an entity is fundamentally broken without Peter Parker there to put on the suit and save the day? That ultimately it was the person beneath the mask, no matter who they were, that mattered most?
Spider-Man India is no less different. You can argue with me that Peter Parker!Spidey is supposed to represent working class struggles in the face of leering corporate entities who endanger the regular folk like us, and so Pavitr Prabhakar should also function the same way. Pavitr should also be a working class guy of this specific social standing fighting people of this other social standing.
But that takes away the authenticity of Spider-Man India. Looking at him through the Peter Parker lens forces you to look at him through the Western lens, and it significantly lessens what you can do with the character — suddenly, it’s a fight to be heard, to be seen, to be recognised. It’s yelling over each other that Pavitr Prabhakar is this ethnicity, is that caste, this or that, this or that, this or that.
There’s a reason why he’s called Spider-Man India, infuriatingly vague as it is. And that’s the point — the vagueness of his identity fulfils Lee’s purpose for a character that could theoretically be embodied by anyone. If he had been called “Spider-Man Mumbai”, you cut out a majority of the population (and in capitalist terms, you cut out a good chunk of the market).
And in the case of Spider-Man India? Whew — you’ve got about a billion people imagining a billion different versions of him.
Whoever you are, whatever you see in Pavitr, that is what is personal to you, and there is nothing wrong with that, and I will not fault you for it. I will not fault you for saying Pavitr is from Central due to the origins of his last name. I also will not fault you for saying Pavitr is from South due to him practising kalaripayattu. I also will not fault you for saying he is not Hindu. I also will not fault you for saying he is a particular ethnicity without any proof.
What I will fault you for is trying to convince me and the others around you that Pavitr Prabhakar should be this particular ethnicity/have this cultural background because of some specific reason. I literally don’t care and it is fundamentally going against his character, going against the “anyone can wear the mask” sentiment of Spider-Man. By doing this, you are strengthening the walls that first divided us. You’re feeding the stratification and segmentation of our cultures — something that is actually not present in the fictional world of Mumbattan.
Like I said before: Mumbattan isn’t real, so the divides between ethnicities and cultural backgrounds are practically nonexistent. The best thing is that it is visually there for all to see. My favourite piece of evidence is this:
It’s a marquee for a cinema in the Mumbattan sequence, in the “Quick tour: this is where the traffic is” section. It has four titles; the first two are written in Hindi. The third title is written in Bengali*, and the fourth title is written in Tamil. You go to Mumbai and you won’t see a single shred of Bengali nor Tamil there, much less any other language that's not common in Maharashtra (Western India). Seeing this for the first time, you know what went through my head?
Wow, the numerous cultures of India are so intermingled here in Mumbattan! Everyone and everything is welcome!
I was happy, not just because of Tamil representation, but because of the fact that the plethora of Indian cultures are showcased coexisting in such a short sequence. This is India embracing all the little parts that make up its grander identity. This scene literally opened my eyes seeing such beauty in all the diverse cultures thriving together. In a place where language and cultural backgrounds blend so easily, each one complementing one another.
It is so easy to believe that, from this colourful palette of a setting, Pavitr Prabhakar truly is Spider-Man India, no matter where he comes from.
It’s easy to believe that Pavitr can come from any part of India, and I won’t call you out if the origin you have for him is different from the origin I have. You don’t need to stake out territory and stand your ground — you’re entitled to that opinion, and I respect it. In fact, I encourage it!!!
Because there’s only so much you can show in a ten minute segment of a film about a country that has such a vast history and even greater number of cultures. I want to see all of it — I want him to be a Malayali boy, a Hindi boy, a Bengali boy, a Telugu boy, an Urdu boy, whatever!! I want you to write him or draw him immersed in your culture, so that I can see the beauty of your background, the wonderful little things that make your culture unique and different from mine!
And, as many friends have said, it’s so common for Indian folks to be migrating around within our own country. A person with a Maharashtrian surname might end up living in Punjab, and no one really minds that. I’m actually from Karnataka, my family speaks Kannada, but somewhere down the line my ancestors moved to Tamil Nadu and settled down and lived very fulfilling lives. So I don’t actually have the “pure Tamil” upbringing, contrary to popular belief; I’ve gotten a mix of both Kannada and Tamil lifestyles, and it’s made my life that much richer.
So it’s common for people to “not” look like their surname, if that’s what you’re really afraid about. In fact, it just adds to that layer of nuance, that even despite these rigid identities between ethnicities we as Indian people still intermingle with one another, bringing slivers of our cultures to share with others. Pavitr could just as well have been born in one state and moved around the country, and he happens to live in Mumbattan now. It’s entirely possible and there’s nothing to disprove that.
We don’t need to clamber over one another declaring that only one ethnicity is the “right” ethnicity, because, again, you will be looking at Pavitr and the rest of India in that narrow Western lens — a country with such rich cultural variety reduced to a homogenous restrictive way of life.
THE POLL: REINTERPRETED
This whole thing started because I was wondering why my little poll was so skewed — I thought people assumed I was asking them where he came from, then paired his physical appearance with the most logical options available. I thought it was my fault, that I had somehow influenced this outcome without knowing.
Truth is, I will never really know. But I will be thankful for it, because it gave me the opportunity to finally broach this topic, something that many of us desi folk are hesitant to talk about. I hope you have learned something from this, whether you are desi or a casual Spider-Man fan or someone who just so happened to stumble upon this.
So just…be a little more open. Recognise that India, like many many countries and nations, is made up of a plethora of smaller cultures. And remember, if you’re trying to convince Pavitr that he’s a particular ethnicity, he’s going to wave his hand at you and say, “Ha, me? No, I’m one of the people that live here in the best Indian city! I’m Spider-Man India, dost!”
(Regardless, he still considers you a friend, because to him, the people matter more to him than you trying to box him into something he’s not.)
*Note: thank you dear anon for letting me know that the third title was Bengali, twas my mistake for literally completely forgetting
#long post + more tags that kinda spiral away BUT expand on the points above AND kinda puts everything together concisely#BROS THIS IS AN HONEST TO GOD ESSAY#THAT HAS BEEN COOKING IN MY HEART FOR A WHILE NOW. SIMMERING FOR MONTHS BEFORE FINALLY BOILING OVER IN THE LAST WEEK#genuinely hope you read MOST of it because yes it has Quite A Lot Of Exposition but it all matters nonetheless#put in a lot of thought into this so i expect you to do your part and challenge your thoughts as well#you see how i'm not asking for you to listen to me. but to actually Think. i want you to cook your thoughts and add some spice and flavour#and give it a good mix so you can come out of this a little more wiser than before#because!!! yeah!!!! spider man india is just that!! he's indian!!!!! we don't need to collectively agree on where he comes from#bc it gets rid of that relatability factor of spider man. at the most basic level#think of it as a schrodinger's. he is every single culture and none of them at the same time. therefore none of us are wrong!! sick!!!!#pavitr's first priority is making sure HIS PEOPLE are safe. that's probably as far as we can go that relates him back to peter parker spide#he loves his people and working in the name of justice to FIGHT for HIS PEOPLE is just the duty/responsibility he takes up#it makes sense that he loves everyone and every culture he engages with bc that's the nature of spider man i suppose#if peter parker spidey acts as the guardian for the regular folk.. then in my mind pavitr spidey stands as the bridge uniting the people#because society as its core is very fragmented. and having pavitr act as a connection to other folks.... mmmmm beautiful#that's what i'm talking abouttttt !!!#anyways guys this is literally 3001 words on my document EXCLUDING THE TITLE. THAT'S 7 PAGES AT 11pt FONT. i'm literally cryingggg wtf#pavitr prabhakar#spider man#spider man india#desi#desiblr#atsv#across the spiderverse#atsv pavitr#indian culture#india#desi tumblr#what the fuck do i tag this as#agnirambles
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the view from the end of the world
Peter Benjamin Parker slipped in through the window to what had once been his room, now what appeared to be a dusty sewing room. He had seen it in the paper, Local Charity Head Leaves All Earthly Possessions to Parker's Home. But before the state of New York seized it all, Peter had to see the home he had erased himself from.
It was strange, he thought, dragging his gloved fingers through the dust atop a sewing machine. A month ago, it had been relegated to May's closet, but in this reality where he never existed- apparently, May lived out one of her passing dreams to be a seamstress. His eyes traced their way across the walls, searching for his posters and pictures, unsurprised but still heartbroken to not find a single one.
He made his way into the hall, paying careful attention to the framed photos decorating the faded yellow wallpaper. May and Ben at Coney Island, May and Ben at a sunny beach, Ben hunched over the engine of an old Corvette, May shaking hands with the mayor at the opening of Parker's Home... Years of memories that hadn't existed a month ago.
Peter found his way to the living room, falling to his ass on the dirty floor. That wasn't his couch- wasn't the same TV he watched Star Wars on- wasn't the shitty pictures of him with missing teeth that he'd always hated- wasn't his jacket thrown over the armchair- this isn't his home.
Between one thought and the next, he found himself swinging away from his old building, blinking away acidic tears. He wound up sitting at the Parker plot, fingers digging into cold, damp dirt, reading the words Beloved Wife and Sister over and over until the salt in his eyes blinded him. May wasn't just a wife- Ben wasn't just a husband- they had been his, and he had been theirs.
He crumbled to the ground, pressing his forehead into the dirt- gasping for air. He couldn't bring himself to so much as think about his parents- Richard and Mary, survived by their siblings- now survived by none. It was all wrong.
Peter bit down on his tongue until the bitter tang of blood filled his mouth; he had ruined everything. He hadn't saved Mr. Stark- hadn't saved the universe. This was his penance. He failed to save the world, so now he had to sit back and watch as his world turned to ash. He should've never played at being a hero.
Peter wished he had stayed a pile of dust on a distant planet.
#marvel#marvel comics#marvel cinematic universe#mcu#peter parker#mcu peter parker#peter benjamin parker#i brought ben back and you can fight me#ben parker#may parker#tony stark#spider-man#spider man#richard parker#mary parker
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it has come to my attention that you are all traumatized from past experiences,,,, let me assure you that chapter 12 does, in fact, have a lot of fluff and i am not trying to trick you
we are in the era of Peter and Dick being silly little guys. like sure we got that whole "he has to go back at some point :(" overall sadness right now but peter is trying to steal a rotisserie chicken and dick is contemplating letting him get away with it. dick being concerned that peter can not read a map. peter meeting haley and deciding he'd die for her. they're good right now i prommy :3
#ao3#ao3 fanfic#creative writing#erinwantstowrite#peter parker#writing#writing blog#peter parker in gotham#leap of faith#leap of faith ao3#leap of faith catch me if you can#dick grayson#i know you are all mentally ill and that's why i've decided to open up a hospital#after the chaos and angst of last chapter#as well as fight scenes#i need a break from that#so silly little guys it is
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...i'm sorry but. are you saying that. ART. provided. leverage??
i have another crew it might be interested in. it and bot both, actually.
#network effect#martha wells#network effect spoilers#murderbot spoilers#listen i know i'm a book behind but give me this please#murderbot#art#leverage#but gosh can you imagine#eliot and bot commiserating over security concerns and people not following the damn protocols#eliot and bot throwing each other at their problems faster and harder and hanging on longer about it as an Entire Fighting Style#HARDISON AND ART#SPECIFICALLY 20-SOMETHING-YO HARDISON WHO'S BRILLIANT AND BASICALLY ADOLESCENT HUMAN AND ART!!!#also i feel like parker would have fun exploring art's vents#i want bot and parker to meet also#eliot spencer#alec hardison#parker#i don't want to think about what nate and art would accomplish together lmao#sophie and art taking EXCELLENT care of their crews and manipulating the shit out of everyone#this is page 188 of network effect in hardback btw
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