#anyway gwen deserved better writing

[lonelyrat15]

merlin spoilers so look away if for some reason you haven’t watched it yet but

I had never seen it until this november and i know i’m literally the last person in the world to hop on this long-departed train but i finally finished it today and I’m Sorry why did no one tell me the finale is literally fucking brokeback mountain why did they make this what were they thinking i don’t understand any of this what was the reason why did they ignore arthurian legend in order to make merlin a twink WHY DID THEY DO THAT???? what was their goal? why is the literal plot of this show that merlin was so sickeningly devoted to arthur that he’d rather save him than EVERY SINGLE MAGICAL PERSON IN CAMELOT??? AND WHY WAS HIS DESTINY TO PROTECT ARTHUR SO THAT HE’LL MAKE MAGIC LEGAL BUT THEN HE ENDS UP DYING BEFORE HE CAN EVEN DO THAT??? SO WAS MERLIN’S DESTINY PURELY TO BE IN GAY LOVE WITH ARTHUR????????? WHY DID THEY MAKE THIS

AND ANOTHER THING is this secret neoliberal propaganda because if the point is that they have to wait for LITERAL CENTURIES for arthur to return, then that means that morgana was fully right to have a revolution awpeofijawefpoawiejfwaepfoiawef also why on earth didn’t gwen make magic legal??????? idk maybe it’s incredible satire that just went over my head

why did they make this????1111!???

loved it tho i’ll probs rewatch

[pyjamacryptid]

I'm currently rewatching the dark tower for reasons (fic reasons), and when Gwen said "Morgana's enchanted it to protect me," it rang an alarm bell, this time 'round.

"[...]to protect me."

hm. huh. you don't say. interesting. As in, the knights are the enemy not the rescuers? hm. curious.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it (i mean, hey, that's the fun of it), but that choice of language stood out to me.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Related to my prev post:

I don't give two shits if Bruce is written like a bad dad if it means we get good writing for everybody else since i think minorities are more important than a white cishet male nepotism baby unlike his butch lesbian counterpart who's judaism is an actual fundamental part of her character and since he's been written as abusive so consistently over the years it's in-character anyway

Dick can be both bi/pan and demisexual and there's more evidence for the latter than the former so making him be sexually loose is aspec erasure and mspec stereotyping and he dosen't have a thing for redheads,he has a thing for black women and to me the only guy he seems to like romantically is Roy and that adds on to his demisexuality since they're childhood best friends

'Catholic guilt Jason' is a shit headcanon that misses the major and critical part of him being Red Hood that he didn't feel the slightest bit bad about killing people and the point of his redemption was learning remorse,afrolatino Jason isn't based on stereotyping but him filling out so many black and latino cultural aspects and if any hcs for him are stereotyping it's the one that he's a slut because he's a very handsome and hot and cute goth punk man

Tim is perfect the way he is and dosen't need power ups or to get 'punished' for the oh so horrible crime of being a realistic teenage boy,he's not JUST huge a loser or a super cool dude but both at once and it's bad writing and fetishistic to ignore his wide range of relathionships that consists of mostly of women to make him a 'guys guy'

Stephanie is heavily autistic and bpd-coded so she's far from a 'normie',much less an 'it girl' but people see blonde hair and blue eyes and throw away everything else about her because that's all she's worth to them or call her an abuser and a pick me just like they do irl bpdtistic women and she's also canonically pastel/indie punk and a Team Mom but gets her presentation switched to basic and made out to be a womanchild instead

Cass had a million times more moral conflict than Jason ever did,would never in her LIFE wanna be feminine even in the chinese way and would be butch in it instead,turning her scattered speech into sign language is ableist not unlike(but not on the same level as)changing Babs' type of wheelchair disability and she'd be a better Batman than any male character in existense

Duke is only a golden child in the sense he has a yellow motif and is as disruptive and authentically quirky as his siblings,We Are Robin is a better team than the canon Outlaws,his powers are cooler than any Al-Ghul ones you could come up with,he has more femme energy than Tim does and Carrie Kelley ain't shit and only gets brought back to replace him because DC is antiblack

Damian's introduction mentality was a result of not only child abuse but also psychological grooming to get him to dehumanize himself and all his bigoted comments are explained either by him being like 12 or his writers trying to demonize brown people and anybody who thinks he's a bad person is a super-sized pissbaby with no sympathy for kids of color,shipping him with Jon is making a bisexual man into a ped0phile and Jay is good even if aging Jon up wasn't and he should be friends with Maya,Suren,Nell,Colin,Kathy,Maps,Tai and Miles,Gwen,Peni,Pavitr,Hobie and Margo from Atsv and Nico and Hazel from Pjo instead of Billy Batson or Danny Fenton or ANY Mcu characters

Talia is super hot but should be drawn in accurate arab clothes instead 'sexy assasian gear'(not that these two can't co-exist but you get what i mean),her personality is extremely rich and her stories are mega interesting,she's a good mom to Damian and literally never 'took advantage of Jason' seeing as That Scene In Lost Days was decanonized by it's writer who said it was ooc for her on his part,she should've been a mom figure to Stephanie in her Robin Days too since they would get along and she deserved her own run where she takes over Lexcorp to transform it into a force for good and become Superfam-adjacent to free herself from having only male connections

[buckyseddie]

always hold you

pairings — tasm!peter parker x bff/gf!fem!reader

summary — in which, she needs her boyfriend's support more than anything else, after another particularly bad fight with her father.

word count — 2.6k.

warnings — a little bit of angst, use of pet-names [dove, sweetheart, darling, love, bug], reader calls peter pete, lots of fluff and this is basically just a hurt/comfort fic, protective/soft!peter, this is also sort of similar to my other peter fic (take as a part two that one), peter comforting reader, mentions of the reader's low self-esteem issues and it being explained a bit more, both physical and emotional abuse (manipulation and gaslighting, but not from peter), hugs and cuddles, forehead kisses, peter just taking care of the reader and showing her the love that her family refuses to do, gwen is in here for a second and being the comforting platonic best friend that she is to reader, peter comes off as a little harsh and scares reader a little bit but he makes up for it in the end.

notes — hi! so, this is really more of a vent fic. i know i've written in the past about dealing w/ a toxic family member and how i really enjoyed writing fics similar to my experiences with my favorite comfort characters to comfort the reader because that would usually help me deal with everything. but recently, the abuse that me, my mom, and my brother have been experiencing has become a lot more complicated and traumatizing for me to deal with. and things have only gotten worse. so, i figured i'd do another comforting fic like the other peter fic i wrote about going through that said abuse. i really just feel that it's important to not hide my true feelings and act like everything's fine behind a screen and i just want to be able to talk about this topic a lot more (especially in my writing), because it's so serious and not nearly talked about enough. but, nonetheless, if there's anyone out there that sees this and is a victim of abuse (whether it's emotional/mental or physical abuse, or both) please don't feel obligated to read this. i really don't want to trigger or upset anyone who's dealing with this situation in a very heavy and overwhelming way. just remember though, no matter what anyone says or does to you, you ARE strong and deserve the entire world. i love you all <3. anyways, i hope this makes up for the lack of posting anything (i've been really struggling with a lot, but i'm trying!). gif and divider creds to owner!

p.s., feedback is very much encouraged and appreciated <3.

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IT'S OBVIOUS NOW THAT SHE was stupid to think that he could change. it was even more stupid of her to go back to that apartment.

but, she's always been one to see the best in people — in her case, it's come to bite her in the ass.

even now, as she awaits her boyfriend to return home from his nightly patrol around the city, [y/n] knows that she should've known better.

she trembles as she sits on their shared bed, one of her legs bouncing anxiously — the thought of how peter will react to her foolish decision and the outcome from it is stressing her out, beyond words.

after how he responded the first time he found out about the truth about her father's cruelty and what she'd had to go through, she's worried of how he will react this time — it took almost everything in him to not confront her father, when he first found out.

she abruptly jumps when she hears the front door of the apartment shut softly.

a shaky breath leaves her lips, wondering if it's too late to try to hide the marks on her face and body.

but, when she hears him call out her name from the living room, she knows that it's too late — there's nothing she can do now to hide this.

and even if she wanted to for a split second, she promised peter she'd never lie to him again — after the last time, they promised each other that they'd never hide anything from the other again.

so, with another shaky breath, [y/n] sighs and hesitantly pulls the bedroom door open.

she keeps her head down, her hair falling around her face and covering the marks as she walks out and into the living room.

"sweetheart..." peter's voice trails off, eyes wide with shock and worry.

her breath catches in her throat as soon as she finally looks up at her boyfriend and sees the intense, protective look in his eyes.

"i—i'm sorry, peter." she whispers, voice too raspy to get any louder.

a flash of anger fills his eyes. "please... tell me that you didn't go back to him!" he exclaims in a quieter tone of voice as he pinches the corner of his eyes.

[y/n] flinches at the amount of frustration in his voice.

"peter, i—i'm sorry... " her voice trembles, guilt and regret quickly filling her — she just feels so stupid.

peter sighs, regretting taking his anger out on her.

his eyes immediately soften. "sweetheart, i'm sorry." he murmurs, before starting to walk over to her.

but, before he can reach her, she flinches and winces.

he stops short, freezing in place. more guilt fills him as he realizes that in this moment, she's scared of him.

"look... i—i know that i shouldn't have gone back," she whispers, tears clouding her eyes as she remembers the anger and hatred in her father's eyes.

peter's silent for a moment, waiting and giving her time to explain more — if she's able to.

"i'm... i'm so stupid, peter." she whispers, too ashamed to talk any louder.

peter's eyes widen in shock, not expecting that statement to come out of her mouth. "w—what? darling, that's not true."

this time, a tear falls down her cheek. "yes, i am. peter, who's stupid enough to choose to believe that their abusive, monster-of-a-father can change? me — it's me!"

the rambling and the self-loathing words coming out of his girlfriend's mouth becomes incredibly clear to peter as he walks over to her.

this time now, he doesn't hesitate to pull her into his chest as her voice becomes more trembling and wavering, "this is on me — it's my fault."

"it's okay now, love. don't blame yourself." he murmurs as she stops holding herself back and breaks into breathless sobs into his chest.

after a while, her crying slows and quiets down with her tears now dried on her cheeks.

she faces him and takes in a deep, calming breath as he wipes away the remaining tears away and looks over her bruises more intensely.

"i wanna kill him for doing this to you — again." the venom in his tone sends shivers through her spine — knowing what he would do to protect her comforts her.

but, on the other hand, she also knows that hurting her father isn't going to do anything for them or fix anything.

"no, peter. i know you don't mean that." she murmurs seriously.

an angry frown places itself over his lips. "no, i do."

she sighs. "okay, maybe you do. but, it won't fix anything and we both know that," she says, moving one of her fingers up to smooth out the crease in between his very furrowed eyebrows.

"it's okay now — i'm okay." she whispers seriously, grabbing his hand and rubbing soothing circles over his thumb.

you'd think from how she's comforting him that peter was the one that got hurt, not her — that's just how she is; she always finds herself taking care of everyone else, when she really should be taking care of herself.

maybe that's why they're such a good pair — while they're taking care of everyone else and their loved ones, they can trust the other to take care of the other.

"that's the thing, love. it's not okay! you shouldn't have to go out of your way to avoid him, just to protect yourself." he exclaims, ripping his hand out of hers and this time pacing around the living room with his hand now gripping his hair in frustration.

she sighs, frowning — this is exactly why she didn't want to tell him because she hates worrying him like this.

"it may not be fair, but if it's what i have to do to protect myself, then that's what i'll do — i should've kept doing that, instead of being an idiot to believe he'd change." she admits, shrugging, trying to play this all off, as if it's not that big of a deal.

"don't say that — don't do that!" he abruptly yells, turning around to face her defensively.

she flinches — once again — at the volume of his voice. "don't do what?" she asks meekly, her voice too soft.

he sighs in regret. "i'm sorry. i'm not trying to scare you." his eyes are downcast at the floor, before he looks up again, the guilt clear in his irises this time.

"it's okay, peter." she gulps, berating herself for some part of her being afraid of him — after all, she has no reason to fear him because he'd never intentionally hurt her.

"it's not. i shouldn't have gotten so angry — i'm not mad at you, i promise," he says in a much more quiet voice, sighing as he sees that look in her eyes — the one that she always has when she feels like a burden and feels like she should be apologizing.

"sweetheart, don't even think about apologizing. none of this is your fault."

[y/n] sighs in exasperation. "maybe it is. i'm the one that is always making a fool out of myself by believing in the best of everyone."

she sighs when a flash of irritation shows in his eyes. "what?" he whispers, his eyebrows furrowing together.

she takes in another breath when he walks over to her and hesitantly places his hands over her cheeks.

[y/n] sighs again.

"this isn't your fault, love. know that," he murmurs, his eyes searching hers for some kind of understanding. "please, tell me that you know that."

she sighs again, noticing the tears filling his eyes — it becomes incredibly clear to her how much the man in front of her cares about her.

"peter... " her own eyes fill with tears, even spilling to her cheeks.

without another thought, he gently wipes away her tears. "promise me that you understand me."

she sighs again. "y—yes, i understand," she murmurs, hating the hope that fills his eyes. "but, i just don't believe it."

he opens his mouth to object, but she interrupts him before he has the chance to say something, "i want to. but, i can't just shut off the way i feel — i was raised the way i was and with the trauma i have gotten along the way, i can't just forget it."

more tears fills his eyes, before he moves incredibly closer to her and brings her close to kiss her forehead. "knowing you want to believe it is good enough for me."

when he pulls away from her he smiles warmly at her. "let's go cuddle now, yeah?"

the softness in his voice makes her smile. "sounds like a plan, pete." she murmurs with a nod and leads him to their shared room.

once they're inside of their bedroom, [y/n] walks over to their shared bathroom, to change into her set of pajamas she set aside earlier in the day, after she had just gotten back from her father's home — she used to call it her home, but that all changed once her once-very-close relationship with her father changed.

after she changes and brushes her hair and teeth, she takes in a deep breath and tries to mentally prepare herself for the rest of the night.

but, when she shuts off the light and opens the door, she comes to realize that the bedroom is empty.

she walks out of the bathroom and looks around, her eyebrows quickly knitting together in confusion.

and just as she's about to call out her boyfriend's name, she hears hushed voices outside of the room.

with much more confusion filling her body, she slowly walks out of their room and into the living room, only to see peter standing at the door, talking at the door in a hushed voice.

"pete? is everything okay?" she asks as she walks up from behind him.

he jumps a little in surprise, before motioning towards the door.

the blond hair of their current guest surprises her.

"oh, gwen. hi." she greets her best friend and then her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning into him with her chin resting on his shoulder.

"what are you doing here?"

gwen shrugs. "i just wanted to check up on you — your dad called me, yelling at me because he thought that you'd left to go hide at my apartment."

the words that come out of one of her best friends' mouth shakes [y/n] to her very core — anytime she hears anything about her father, she gets easily nervous and scared.

in a matter of seconds, [y/n] slowly pulls away from her boyfriend's body.

she knows that she should try to pretend everything's fine and as if her friend's words don't affect her, but she can't help it.

if she had a few more seconds, she'd probably fall into a state of mind where she'd completely shut down.

but, when a light touch to her shoulder by peter shakes her out of her daze, she sighs and nervously finds her boyfriend's eyes on her.

"what's going on, guys? did something happen?" gwen asks worriedly after seeing the tense look on [y/n]'s face.

peter doesn't speak. he doesn't even look away from his girlfriend — his eyes simply say that the decision is all hers.

despite the fact that him and gwen are pretty close friends, he's always respected [y/n]'s choices.

with a sigh, [y/n] turns to gwen. "i kind of had a run in with my dad earlier."

as she hears that statement, gwen begins to notice the bruises on her best friend's face.

she frowns. "are you okay?" she asks, but after a moment, she groans and rolls her eyes at herself.

"i'm sorry. that was insensitive — of course you're not okay."

[y/n] laughs, despite the seriousness of the situation. "it's okay."

gwen gives her a pointed look, not believing for one moment that what she asked was okay.

"really, gwen," she says, finding some courage inside of her. "i'm probably not okay. but... " she trails off, suddenly feeling like everything is going to be okay with the ones that truly love her by her side.

"for the first time, i think i'm going to be okay — that everything will be okay." she says confidently, moving even closer to peter and practically burying herself into his arms.

gwen smiles. "good. i'm glad."

—————

AFTER A LITTLE BIT MORE of talking, they all finally say their goodbyes and peter shuts the door gently.

they move over to the couch, peter covering them — mostly [y/n] — with one of the fuzzy throw blankets that was lying over the front of the couch.

"you doing okay?" he asks softly as she lays her face into his neck.

she smiles, feeling reassured for the first time.

she lifts her head back up to look at him.

"i know going back was stupid. i do—" before she can continue, he interrupts her with guilt evident in his brown eyes. —"i'm sorry, bug. for how angry i got earlier."

she tilts her head in confusion. "what do you mean?"

"i shouldn't have gotten upset with you. and i'm sorry for startling you. i was just worried." he murmurs seriously, frowning at her confusion.

"i just... every time i think about your dad being near you or hurting you, well, it drives me crazy, sweetheart." he says, trying to ignore the anger in his voice every time he thinks about the type of person his girlfriend's father is.

"pete... it's okay. i'm not going to go back — i learned my lesson." she says, cupping his jaw with one hand, in order to try to calm him down.

he sighs, leaning into her hand and covering it with one of his own.

"that's the point, sweetheart. you shouldn't have to be cautious and scared to avoid him, so that he doesn't act like that. it's not okay."

she frowns, wishing that she could stop him from worrying.

but, she also knows that he needs to get these feelings out and off of his chest.

"tell me, peter. what is it?" she asks, being the understanding girlfriend that he loves — no matter how cliche that actually sounds.

"i love how good-hearted you are, sweetheart. the way you always see the good in everyone, despite what they've done to you — it's amazing," he starts, pulling her hand away from his jaw to hold over one of his legs.

"and i never want you to stop being that person. but, i also hate that you have to avoid him. you shouldn't have to give up your happiness and peace."

she nods in clear understanding.

he groans again, leaning his forehead over hers.

"it's okay, peter."

he pulls away and opens his mouth to say something in defense, but she stops him by speaking before him, "peter, i know it upsets you that he doesn't get to be punished for his actions and i get that."

he stops short, giving her a chance to finish talking.

"i know you hate that. but, i know that you love me more than any urge that you have to give him what he deserves — and that's what i need you to do, okay? love me more than you hate him." he frowns at her words.

as if noticing his hesitation, she says, "for me. please?"

he sighs in defeat and nods. "fine. for you." he murmurs as he pulls her closer into his embrace and body.

she smiles in victory as she lies her head on his shoulder. "i love you, peter parker. you know that?" she murmurs, cuddling up close to him.

"i know i can always count on you." she says, once more, smiling as he chuckles and stretches over to kiss her on the forehead.

"good. because i love you more and i'll always hold you when you need it, dove." he murmurs, smiling at her calm and at peaceful face.

and like that, they cuddle until they fall asleep with peaceful expressions on their faces.

[grievedeeply]

i love your writting so much that you're the only person i trust with this idea and i'd be thrilled if you were willing to write a scenario where: miles didn't manage to save his dad he is evem more convinced that everyone is against him (expect the reader who is not a spider person) he rejects the whole spider society thing and doesn't bother to care about them (bc they didn't care about him) so he sticks with the reader and eventually reveals his identity to them and the reader is the only person (except rio) who trurly cares about miles and is just generally supportive and patient with him basically i want to see angsty miles (i wish him best tho, he deserves everything) it can be in prompts, it can be a one shot, i don't care, it's gonna be great if it's written by you (:

OKAY 1. you talk so highly about my writing, thank you so much. i definitely think there are other people who could do this 20x better than me, but thank you for trusting me with this idea <3 2. angst hurts my heart and soul but i'm willing to do this anyway LOL enjoy :) i had no idea what to title this pls help

gn!reader | tws: death, grieving

you stick with miles after he fails to save his dad headcanons

he feels so guilty. he was the only one who could save him and he failed. his mom is so upset she barely talk and miles doesn't know what to do with himself now that he's gone

he pushes you away from him for awhile, closing himself off from everyone who ever cared about him

he lost all of his trust in the spider society. miguel got what he wanted and now he's miserable because of it. gwen and peter have both tried to contact him, but he ignores every advance they make

they didn't care about him when he needed them most. why would they pretend to care now?

it takes him a few weeks to talk to you face to face again. he replied to your texts every now and then before, so it wasn't like he completely ignored you

he can't blame any of this on you. you don't even know he's spider-man, anyway. how could you know?

as soon as he starts talking to you again, you reassure him that you're there for him. the loss of his father is clearly hitting him hard, and his cheeks are constantly stained with tears, so you take it upon yourself to be by his side when he wants you to be

you never push. you'll just sit with him in silence sometimes, and others, you'll talk about his dad. you'll share your happy memories with him and sometimes it'll make him laugh

he starts thinking about telling you that he's spider-man. it might be a dumb idea but you're the only person who cares about him that isn't his mom

it takes him a little while to be fully convinced of doing it, but when he does, he doesn't regret it

you're so understanding about it.. and then it all clicks. he was so close to saving his dad as spider-man.. that's why he's digging himself into a hole about it

you don't treat him any differently now that you know. to you, he's still just miles

you are consistently reminding him that you're there for him if he needs anything. he's just such a great friend to you, it feels only fair for you to return the favor

he'll never fully forgive himself for what happened.. but he feels a little better knowing he has someone like you there to help him through every stage of grief

[evilwickedme]

It's very frustrating to talk about fridging bc the original point of it was like a very specific criticism of how minorities are treated in comic books in particular and it's now been universalized so much people think it means "killing a woman off because she's a woman" or "killing any character to motivate another character" (the definition according to tvtropes fyi, kill it with fire kill kill kill kill). Fridging isn't bad because you're killing a character as motivation, and it's not bad because you're killing a minority off, it's bad because it's a pattern of behavior from an industry overrun by white men writing and drawing and editing those stories. You're allowed to kill a woman off if it suits your story, but the issue was that women are constantly getting hurt or depowered or raped or killed off to motivate other, non-coincidentally male characters.

The problem that stood behind the original women in refrigerators website was that the narrative that the comic book industry at large was telling was that the purpose of female characters was to get hurt in order to motivate some other guy. Kyle Rayner's girlfriend gets stuffed in a fridge, we're not sad because her life got taken from her too soon, we're sad because Kyle Rayner just lost his girlfriend. Gwen Stacy gets killed by the Green Goblin, we're not sad because she didn't get to live a full happy life, we're sad because she didn't get to live a full happy life with Peter Parker. That is not to say that the story doesn't still get told. Peter going after the Green Goblin is horrific and terrible and amazing and leads to some great plot and character development. But the choice was not to hurt Peter himself, not even to threaten his loved ones but not actually harm them, the choice - CHOICE! - the writers in the comic book industry consistently made was to hurt a character who was already part of a marginalized group, and to do that for the benefit of a (presumably) white male cishet able bodied main character's narrative.

I speak mostly in past tense because once fridging took hold in the collective popular consciousness it didn't disappear completely, but it did fall out of favor in being used so blatantly. It became isolated cases rather than the main feature of one of the best selling batman books of all time. Characters get killed off occasionally, and those characters are even sometimes members of minority groups, and biases still inform those writing choices, but I'm struggling to remember reading a comic in the last couple of years that specifically fulfills the criteria for fridging.

Anyway if you're reading this in context, you know that at the end of this month (may 2023) Marvel is planning to celebrate the most famous fridging of all time by absolutely not learning their lesson and fridging another character. They're being lazy about it, too - they've decided to do it to Kamala Khan in Peter Parker's book, two characters that mean close to nothing to each other, and being extra awful by making it a Pakistani Muslim woman being killed off during AAPI month, and so far the information we have doesn't even involve Kamala's own friends and family and superhero team mourning her at all. It's supposed to motivate Peter, because it's part of his book, and it's also supposed to parallel Gwen Stacy, and they chose to do... This. Kamala is a wildly popular and beloved character who deserves better, and frankly Peter deserves better too. If you're going to fridge, at least do it well.

But I'm also already seeing white men, who supposedly agree with me and think this is bad, saying, well it's for MCU synergy, not "because she's a female" or "because she's not a white character" (direct quotes don't @ me). And firstly, ok, way to assume the rest of us didn't also catch up to the obvious conclusion that marvel comics is doing MCU synergy, AGAIN. The thing is that those aren't separate concepts at all? Or well, they are, but they don't negate each other. They're trying to do MCU synergy and make Kamala into a mutant, but they could've done that a million other ways, just as cheap and not as offensive - a simple retcon would've sufficed, they just did that a few years ago with Franklin Richards.

They chose to do it by killing her off, and they chose to kill her off in somebody else's book to motivate him rather than tell a story about her, and they chose to do it while celebrating Gwen's fridging for some fucking reason. This is context that, when removed from the situation, makes the whole thing meaningless. And you can say a lot about Gail Simone, but that she didn't have a Goddamn point is not one of them.

[gmariam321]

So I binge-read my biggest Torchwood fic this weekend. I'm still cringing over some of my writing, but otherwise you know what? It was still pretty good, particularly with plot and character. I'm proud of what I accomplished with my beta, who helped hash out so much of it. We had such fun working together! There's nothing like coming up with crazy ideas and figuring out a way to actually make them work. I also really like some of my original characters. Kind of makes me wonder why I don't ever write original characters with an original plot, but then I remember they need an original world, and I like the ready-made fictional worlds I write fanfic for. I have no real desire to build my own.

Anyway, the story was an alternate version of Children of Earth. I came to Torchwood after the series was over, but I think CoE did well in the ratings, didn't it? I feel like it was generally well received . . . until it wasn't. Aside from the devastating death of Ianto, there are countless plot holes that I'm guessing fans really started picking part online and then thought, hmmm, maybe it's not so good after all. We got some great Janto pics and gifs but their actual moments on screen were not the moments they could have been, you know? (True story: I convinced my parents and brother to watch it with me after they gave it to me for Christmas and at the end my dad had no idea Jack and Ianto were a couple. I think my mom figured it out but my dad totally didn't see it because it just wasn't enough. I still want to know why they were so weird from the beginning. I'm trying to remember if I wrote a story about it now...) And then fanfic exploded and there are now countless versions that are just..better. Stories that fix the plot holes of CoE and give Jack and Ianto the moments they deserved.

Fanfic really took Torchwood and elevated it. Sure, we wrote lots of smut (tentacles, anyone?) but we also gave relationships the depth we rarely saw on screen. We explained how Jack and Ianto came to be, even through all the new Big Finish revelations. We gave them real moments (and not just smutty ones.) We made them mortal and immortal. We saved Ianto countless times and let them travel the galaxy. We gave Gwen actual consequences and growth and even made her and Ianto good friends. We took the potential of the show, of 31 episodes and a few Doctor Who crossovers (sorry, I'm not counting the fourth season since most fanfic is set before it) and explored it over and over, showing readers not only what TW was but could have been. We filled in the missing scenes, expanded it, even rewrote it. I wrote over a hundred fics and probably read ten times that. What an amazing thing!

I'm so glad I was a part of it and have both good memories and some good stories to look back on. ❤️

[leupagus]

Three-Legged Puppy Fics

List five of your least-popular fics, as well as when/why you wrote them.

Home to the Weary: Merlin, Gwen/Morgana, 2010.

I wrote this at the request of a friend who wanted, I think, something Gwen-centric. Because I was not a fan of the show I decided to focus on an AU in which Gwen backflipped out of that whole situation and founded her own sort of kingdom, only meeting the terrible trio years later. It was really fun and was the first time I'd ever tried writing a fic that hinted at a larger world going on around the characters, if that makes sense. This one's a little pretentious but you can definitely see my "style" as it were.

Treads on the Ground: Babylon (not the sci-fi show, the short-lived british cop show), Liz Garvey/Finn Kirkwood, 2022.

This was written during my Bertie Carvel phase where I'd watched "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" and was desperate for something, anything, that didn't have him wearing terrible prosthetics or playing a psycho. He still sort of plays a psycho in this show, but he looks super hot and angry all the time which is really all I needed. (Also bonus hilarity: Liz's boyfriend in this show is played by none other than James Lance, playing "louche asshole" to the absolute hilt.) Anyway I wrote this because I really wanted a fake dating AU for these two AND a "Finn is secretly in line to the throne" fic and this was the perfect way to combine these two. I'm still legitimately really proud of thsi fic.

The Bright Relief: 1776 musical, John Adams & Thomas Jefferson (and a little bit of / in there, if I'm honest), 2010.

I wrote this because my friends waldorph and screamlet and I were having the Summer of 1776 Feelings and we all wrote various (wonderful) crimes and misdemeanors in that fandom, mostly revolving all the ways in people who love John Adams make fun of him. That was a truly terrible summer but made a whole lot better by those two, and by William Daniels being the most John Adams to ever John Adams. (I actually rewatched the miniseries a few months ago and Paul Giamatti does a great job but that thing is SO DREARY. Although I will say Stephen Dillane first caught my eye in the role of TJeff, aka once again playing a guy who's down real bad for someone smarter than him (in this case both Abigail AND John). The scene where he first meets Abigail is just nonstop flirting, with John making faces in the background. It's great.)

Happy Tails To You (Until We Meet Again): SGA, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, 2009.

Oh lordy — probably the worst fic I've ever written, but I can't quite bring myself to delete it. I've been on the periphery of fandom for most of my adult life (what up X-Files yahoo groups and Prodigy Star Trek RP rooms), but SGA was what made me start thinking of writing fic after a long period of only reading it. (Yes, there is college-era gus fic out there. No, I'm not posting it on AO3.) I never quite got a handle on Sheppard or McKay but I did enjoy writing this and the other SGA fic I wrote, but yeah this deserves its obscurity.

Honey Now I'm Not One To Complain: Dalgliesh, Adam Dalgliesh/Kate Miskin, 2022.

Another one of my "Bertie Carvel is extremely attractive when he's sad and/or a cop" flash-fandoms, although I wrote a pretty good primer on the first season that I think gives a good case for the show as a whole. I wanted to write that largely because the show is so resolutely grim and I prefer stories that are... not grim, so I gave myself the challenge of putting these guys into one of the classic tropes. I did toy with the fake dating/marriage trope but honestly I think this was funnier, and I would always rather commit to the bit.

Tagging uhhh let's see, @laiqualaurelote, @themardia, @sadcypress, @auntieclimactic, and @eyebrowofdoom, if they (or anyone else) wants to do this.

[asimperingswannsong]

The Light Bringer Helps a Lady Drown Her Sorrows

Lucifer Morningstar (Sandman)/Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil)

Author’s Note: I adored Gwen’s Lucifer but never thought I’d write them because I couldn’t picture a satisfying dynamic. Well, I formed a picture, and turns out, it’s the sort of picture your mom tapes to the fridge in support of your fragile ego. The sort of scribble that makes mom’s friends wonder if mom’s kid is alright. I can only apologize for this finger painted hellscape.

Warnings: Uh, wing kink? Tentacle interest? Unexpected cock in the bagging area? True form sex? Aerial smut? Oh, and a small slaughter. If you trigger easily or just have a low tolerance for general tomfuckery; maybe set this one out?

———————————————————————-

Lady Dimitrescu had come to this hotel bar to drown her sorrows after being harshly reprimanded by Mother Miranda. She was having a pity party for herself. She adored Mother Miranda. Her every wish was Alcina’s command, and she longed to receive the kind of lavish affection from her that Alcina doled out on her own daughters. She loved her daughters fiercely. They were second only in her mind to Mother Miranda herself, and she was not shy about showing them.

She came here angry and hurt. She could have easily enjoyed her drink at home, but she knew if she sat here long enough, she was sure to draw the attention of a worthless man thing sooner or later. And right now, she’d love nothing more than to take one of them home with her, and make his misery a welcome diversion from her own.

“If you’re in need of a surrogate parent, I could be your new daddy?” A velvety voice had leant down near her ear and whispered those ridiculous words to her. There it was, just like clockwork. “Listen to me you disgusting man thing, if you…” she stopped abruptly as she turned on her barstool to find the most ethereal creature she’d ever seen gazing at her with a mischievous grin on their face.

They were so exquisite; pale skin, blue eyes, and beautiful blonde curls. Alcina was left breathless. “My god.” The Light Bringer cocked an eyebrow and shrugged slightly, “I might have had ambitions once…you’re not so bad on the eyes yourself, Lady Dimitrescu.” Mind reading? Lady Dimitrescu had not imagined herself susceptible to telepathy…not from a stranger anyway. And she was sure she hadn’t introduced herself. “Come now, little lamb, we’re not strangers. Are we?”

“What?” she felt a little foggy and uncertain. It was bizarre. “You deserve better from your mommy dearest, my pet. Why don’t you let daddy kiss it and make it all better?” Their words dripped from their mouth in the most sensuous way. Alcina felt herself throbbing.

Luci led Alcina over to a corner booth near the piano and pulled her in. There was a bucket of ice with a bottle of champagne on the table and a bottle of red in the particular vintage Alcina enjoyed. When she tasted the blood of a maiden mixed with the red wine she looked curiously at her companion.

“Don’t be coy dear,” Luci said, “what do you think of the hotel’s virtuoso?” they asked while gesturing to the pianist with their champagne flute. “He’s quite good, incredible actually…for a man thing.” Luci chuckled at the tone Alcina assumed when referring to men. “He should be good. He made a deal with me, unfortunately he was a little vague in the details and…” they gestured to the hotel.

“Oh well, his loss is our gain, cheers!” they toasted. The two sat and enjoyed Chopin. Alcina noticed Luci’s gaze on her body out of the corner of her eye. They were making an especially in depth appraisal of her bust line. “Like something you see?” Alcina purred at her companion, turning to them and placing a finger under their chin.

“I like all of it,” they returned before Alcina pulled them in for a kiss. The kiss deepened as Alcina ran her tongue in and around Luci’s mouth as they moaned. They ended up in a heavy petting session in the booth. The pianist looked a little uncomfortable as he noticed Luci scoot over and straddle the incredibly tall woman sitting next to them in the booth.

The barman came over after receiving a few complaints and bent down to interrupt the horny pair with, “Ahem, this is a hotel. There are rooms if you wish to continue in this manner.” They broke apart and Luci gave Alcina a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “Excuse me a moment, won’t you, sweetling?” “Of course.”

Luci watched as Alcina slipped out of the booth and made her way to the powder room. Luci chuckled to themselves as they saw Alcina wrap one large gloved hand over the mouth of the barman and pull him along with her. Luci finished their champagne while they waited on their companion to return.

When Alcina arrived back at the booth her eyes were shining and she was dabbing delicately at her lips. She bent down and licked into Luci’s mouth. Breaking the kiss she said, “Shall we step outside before we offend any more gentle constitutions?” Luci took her arm and they walked out of the bar. The make out session resumed before they made it outside, with Alcina having to lift Luci up into her arms for their kisses to continue as they walked.

They stumbled out of a side exit and into a dimly lit alleyway. Luci was trying their best to be the dominant one in their exchange but Alcina’s height was giving her the advantage. Luci resorted to unzipping Alcina’s dress all the way down her back and then tearing it off.

She was shocked to find herself standing in the alley in just heels and her lingerie. Alcina was not used to being man handled in this manner. She looked back at Luci after inspecting her own state of undress only to find them entirely nude except for a pair of knee high platform boots.

They were even more stunning, small but perky breasts and wonderfully curvy hips and thighs but Alcina was shocked by the 10 inch cock. Luci’s eyes shone in the dark along with a wicked grin on their face as they said, “I’m going to fuck you into the dirt, little lamb.” Alcina threw her head back and started to let out a hearty laugh at the nerve of her companion, but her laugh was cut off as she was tackled roughly to the ground.

She flushed with anger at being mostly nude in the dirty alleyway and started to give Luci a menacing look when she was rendered speechless as a large set of black leathery wings unfolded themselves from Luci’s back and flapped a few times above them as if stretching after being confined. Alcina was gawking at the wings as she felt Luci attacking her neck and chest with their lips and mouth.

They sucked and kissed down to Alcina’s breast before they lifted slightly and sliced the bra apart with “claws? They have claws?” She felt her nipple being engulfed in the warm wetness of their mouth as Luci’s hand dipped into her panties. Alcina reached up a touched the wing above her causing Luci to moan around her breast.

Alcina cocked an eyebrow at that response as she felt a finger piercing her opening. She moaned herself this time before reaching up and gently dragging her hand down as much of the length of Luci’s wing as she could manage. Luci let go of Alcina’s nipple with a small popping sound as they threw their head back an moaned at the wing contact. They looked at Alcina appearing slightly dazed.

“Sensitive, darling?” Alcina asked with a silky coo. Luci growled and sliced the side of her panties, ripping them to the side, and shoving their girth inside Alcina. It was her turn to throw her head back and moan. She reached up again but Luci pulled their wings back from their sides enough to put them just out of reach as they grabbed onto Alcina’s hips and pressed her down fucking her roughly into the dirt.

She moaned and thrashed her head back and forth at the merciless onslaught. It continued unchecked no matter how much she writhed beneath Luci. She felt her orgasm start to build and it sent her blood lust into high gear. She desperately wanted to cum and she desperately want to sink her teeth into her companion.

Luci smiled at the predatory look that came into Alcina’s eyes as she was pinned beneath them. Luci took one hand off Alcina’s hip and wrapped it around her throat frustrating her attempts to get at Luci with her mouth. Luci took pleasure in her frustration as they felt Alcina bucking up underneath them. Luci reached down and rubbed Alcina’s clit, while they enjoyed the way her breasts bounced with her bucking and writhing.

Alcina’s hips stuttered and she threw her head back groaning roughly as she came. The squeezing of Alcina’s cunt caused Luci to cum spilling their seed inside her and moaning as they collapsed onto Alcina’s breasts. Feeling Luci’s seed spread inside her caused Alcina to become frantic with blood lust. She pulled a limp Luci up her body and sank her teeth into their neck.

Alcina was taken on the wildest most bizarre trip of her life as Luci’s blood hit her mouth. She took in all of the cosmos and all of creation from the bang through several aeons to an all encompassing darkness as she felt herself falling into the dark.

She woke up after an unknown amount of time still lying in the alley with her head cradled in Luci’s lap. They were tracing gentle circles at her temple and smiling sweetly down at her. “What’s wrong little lamb was I too spicy?”

As the grogginess began to wear off and her head cleared, Alcina felt her blood zinging through her veins with an electric charge to it. Her breathing and her pulse skyrocketed and she felt herself beginning to change.

She pushed herself up, stumbling as she tried to stand, crashing into the wall and holding on as she bent double. She howled as her form began to slip. Luci stood up and smiled as they watched Alcina assume her true form. She went from a tall buxom raven haired beauty to a tentacle bedecked fiend in a cloud of black smoke. This new form snarled at Luci causing Luci to throw their head back and attempt to laugh with glee.

But this time it was their turn to be tackled…sort of. Alcina leapt at Luci and made contact but was caught off guard when Luci pushed up and flapped their wings taking flight and pulling Alcina up with them. They continued flapping furiously and ascending further while attempting to hold Alcina at bay by gripping tightly to two of the tentacles on her head.

They made it to just above the roof lines as Alcina made contact with a claw, tearing a cut down the center of one of Luci’s wings. Luci screamed first in pain, then in anger. Their eyes lit up with hunger of their own. Alcina released an ear splitting keening and her struggles caused them to veer and roll in the air.

As Alcina continued to claw at Luci and continued to try to get her mouth back to their neck. Luci returned the scratching, leaving open claw wounds on Alcina’s torso, before grabbing the mess of tentacles where her legs used to be and parting them until they found the pink throbbing cunt underneath. They grabbed Alcina’s arm and pulled themselves up her body before pressing up and shoving their cock back inside her.

This time the screech that came out of Alcina sent several dozen townspeople scrambling for shelter down below them. They didn’t know exactly what the ball of wings, tentacles, and naked flesh flying drunkenly above them and screaming like a banshee was but they thought it best to leave further investigation to someone else…someone with a very large gun perhaps.

Luci thrust into her a few more times and Alcina’s writhing caused them to veer sharply crashing into the side of a building. Luci used the leverage to continue to fuck into her causing Alcina to screech again and slam her fist into the wall behind them knocking a very large hole into it.

As Luci flapped their wing, Alcina reached forward and bit down onto it. Luci screamed in pain and in pleasure and they dropped down hitting a bench before landing in a heap of blood, wings, tentacles, and flesh on the pavement. Luci continued rutting into Alcina and they both came a second time. Luci emptying themselves inside Alcina again.

Alcina roughly pushed Luci off of her and to the side. She brought herself up with her arms, snarled, screeched, turned and fled away down the sidewalk. Luci stood and followed after her, going from entirely nude to clad in head to toe black patent leather in a single step. The blood and the tousled hair from their love making vanished as well and the Light Bringer was once again their immaculate self as they followed the sounds of terror looking for their lover.

They stepped inside a billard’s bar and almost collided with a frenzied patron who was attempting a hasty exit. Luci grabbed him by the throat. “Leaving so soon, my pet? I’ve only just arr…” The thought was rendered void by Alcina ripping his body roughly into the air before biting down onto his torso. Luci held only his newly severed head and neck. They tossed it carelessly over their shoulder.

They stood in their post coital contentment and listened to the symphony of screams, the running of feet, and the crashing and shattering of property as Alcina slaughtered everyone inside. She tore limbs from bodies, sliced heads off, tore flesh and consumed it, gulped large quantities of blood from stumps until not a soul remained but the pair of them.

Luci felt their eyes mist over with affection as they watched Alcina in the throes of a seemingly insatiable blood lust. They were beginning to develop a soft spot for this magnificent creature. With the decimation of the billiard hall and all it’s inhabitants complete. Alcina stood nude in the center of the room, breathing deeply, and swaying slightly. She reassumed her previous lady like appearance before swaying a final time, tipping backward, and falling. Luci rushed forward and cupped the back of her head stopping it from hitting the floor. They pulled Alcina’s head into their lap, cradling it again and drawing soothing circles at her temples with their fingertips. Their eyes were still glistening when they looked down at Alcina.

Alcina lay more fully sated than she could ever remember being as she gazed up into the exquisite beauty of the Light Bringer who was looking tenderly back at her. They whispered to her, “Little lamb, your mother is a fool if she fails to appreciate you. You truly are a thing of wonder. We really must do this again sometime.” They bent down and placed a sweet kiss to Alcina’s forehead and Alcina awoke nude in her own bed.

*edited because I misgendered the Light bringer like half a dozen times 😑and it was driving me crazy thinking about it 😵*

[cynthia39100]

@themerlinlibrary August Writing Challenge

Prompt 3: Royalty

Merlin & Arthur

Arthur x Gwen (They break up at the beginning.)

AO3 link

(A little Modern Royalty AU fic. I had little knowledge and imagination of royalty so bear with me... and I swear I'm not purposefully using Gwen and Arthur's broken relationship as an opening every time. )

--------------------------------------

Arthur should have seen this coming. 

He was in his bedroom in Windsor, holding a sobbing Gwen. She was saying how she loved him and how hard she’d tried and that she couldn’t do it anymore. 

“ I’m not royalty, Arthur. I thought I could learn to become one, but I will never be. You deserved a better wife who can support you through all odds. People… ” She trailed off, but Arthur knew what she didn’t say. People deserved a proper queen. They always did. Arthur was born to serve the people after all. 

Arthur comforted her with random words while feeling hollow and unreal. Everything was like a scene in the movie. He was just an observer. 

His whole life was like it, wasn’t it? There were always rules, traditions and scripts to follow. Every word, every action was properly designed and calculated by a group of “writers”. Because there is always someone watching. Because it’s his duty to be the perfect Prince people expected. 

It’s better now, of course. Rules became more flexible, and some old traditions no longer applied. He could date a peasant girl and even consider marrying her, as long as she adapted to the culture and duties of a royal family. 

He didn’t realise that was the most difficult part. 

Whenever Gwen stood by him, He felt that he finally had a little freedom and control in his life. Gwen must have felt the contrary. Arthur could only offer her wealth and title, neither was what Gwen needed in life. 

And so he let go of Gwen, told her it was alright, and sent for staff outside the room to escort her out. Arthur didn’t bother to chase out Merlin who silently sneaked in. He just lay on his bed, determined not to react to any of Merlin’s comforting words. Surprisingly, Merlin didn’t do his usual cheering or rambling to distract him, only standing beside the door like a security guard. 

Arthur supposed Merlin still knew when to leave him alone. Or he for once just didn’t know what to say. 

“ Don’t stand there like an idiot. Don’t you have more productive things to do? Writing my break-up announcement for one.” Arthur finally spoke up, couldn’t tolerate the silence. 

“ I already asked George to do it.” 

Another silent moment passed. Merlin was still standing beside the door, and Arthur was still lying on the bed. 

“ Am I wrong not to listen to Father and marry Elena?” 

“ It’s 21 century. Even the prince is allowed to choose his partner.” 

“ Gwen backed off. I’ve refused all the legitimate noblewomen in the country. What if I can’t find another one? What about the succession?” 

“ I’m sure Morgana will be happy to succeed. Actually, it should be Mordred. Have you met him recently? He has grown quite a lot.” 

“ And I’m just going to become this lonely old king?”

“ Well… on the bright side, you still got me.”  

Arthur finally surged up from the bed, looked at Merlin incredulously. 

“ Is that supposed to cheer me up?” 

“ Thought it might.” Merlin shrugged unapologetically while showing his iconic goofy smile. 

“ You really are an idiot,” Arthur said exasperatedly, but he turned to cover the smile he couldn’t quite suppress. 

Merlin seemed to sense the smile anyway. His voice became lighter and more cheerful. 

“ Since Your Highness feels better now, your father wants to meet you whenever you are ready. Do you want me to notify His Majesty?” 

Arthur sighed and got off the bed. He didn’t want to face his father, but the sooner it was done, the better. 

Merlin opened the door and was about to leave, but Arthur called him back. 

“ Aren’t you coming with me?” 

Merlin winced. “ The King is horrifying.” 

“ And you’re going to leave me alone? Right after you swore to serve me forever?”

“ I did not!” 

“ Yes, you did. Anyway, It’s your prince’s order.” 

Merlin mumbled some inaudible insults under his breath, and Arthur smiled again. It seemed that whether he could find a new love or not, he would always have his best friend hanging around. It made the future just a little less horrifying.

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 022: The Master Plan of the Molten Man... and Dracula is also there (ASM 132-133, GSSM 1)

MASTERPOST

In this duo, we see an old friend... or two. And then, we meet a vampire. OoOoOh~!

I really enjoy the Molten Man's new design! Gorgeous cover.

It may be January in the Marvel-verse, but we're in May 74, publication-wise!

Liz is back! Hasn't been seen since issue 30, which explains why I keep mistaking Betty and her.

I don't know why, but I remembered this specific (and very ugly) maid. Poor lady.

Anyway, Raxton is hot, there I said it, we can get on.

When I first saw those panels, I thought it was exactly like how Romita would draw Liz... then I checked the credits again... and it's him! His soapy style is gorgeous as ever. Peter says she never got on with MJ, but given that MJ appeared for the first real time in #42... I don't know what he's on. The art of the retcon!

Ned, who's investigating the maid's intel on Raxton, almost dies as Raxton (actually the Molten Man) makes his room explode. I like that Ned (and the rest of the cast) are more involved! I miss them.

The Molten Man has apparently not been seen since #35, which checks out. It's the occasion for the artists to put gold, which is a shade we don't see so much.

Look, is this a safe space? Can I say what's on my mind?

The feet are really nice. I'm not particularly into feet (I know, TMI) but I'm really impressed by how it looks good. And the rest of Raxton's body is obviously quite well-done too. I'm not saying that Spider-Man comics made me gay, but they sure aren't beating the allegations.

Ned is very badly aged, but I like the damsel in distress look.

Raxton's radiation has a bad influence on Peter's metabolism, and he might very well die by the next issue...

Oh, who are we kidding?

In the readers' letters, it seems like Gwen's death has now mostly been forgiven, and someone is praising MJ--and she deserves it!

Even men want to see more of Peter! I'm afraid the situation isn't exactly adapted, however.

As a matter of fact, Spidey has already planned to party in a sauna with another man. Better luck next time!

(I love those smoke effects.)

Liz reveals that Raxton is her brother, which I completely forgot about.

We rarely see that kind of comedy, hahaha.

So. Um. It's a classic story of Spidey kind of being a jerk. Um. So Liz's brother is dead. For now. Maybe. Oof.

In the comments, there's also people talking about Russia's attack on Ukraine. Gerry Conway's run is really provocative, huh! I'm kind of loving it. His shaking of the status quo, not the attack.

I wonder if we'll get to see Liz's reaction :(

I'll do Giant-Size 1 later, it's currently more than 3 am. Hey, do you know what we'll get next time? A big batch... and Harry's big moment as, you know, the, the...!

Oh, you'll just have to wait!

______________________________________________________________

And here's the late addendum of Giant-Size Spider-Man #1!

I'm into that, actually!

So May's dying again (isn't she always?) and Peter needs to get her a vaccine. Ross Andru thus entertains us with a brilliant perspective shot.

Their homoeroticism never fails. Reading the summary of Marvel Team-Up 23 actually was a treat, because I finally got the answer to a years-old question of mine: did Iceman really rob a bank in the first few pages of this issue?

No, he didn't, folks!

Yes, you're getting a ton of screenshots for this part, since I know there's no more issue in this batch after this one.

Anyway, Dracula... Could you please breed me?

To me, Peter and Dracula crossing paths was like, an interplanetary event. It gave me chills. In fact, it still does and I think I should write Peter/Dracula smut now so thank you to the whole team, you've made a mess out of my brain, ARE YOU HAPPY?!? (It is 3 am.)

At least three factions are out there to find Maxfield, either to kill him (Dracula), use him for bartering (the Whisperer and Simian), and naturally Peter just wants to heal his aunt.

I remember that exact cosplay!!!! Funny what the brain remembers and doesn't. Sir, if you thirst so much, maybe I could come to your aide. You just need to ask. Okay, that's actually optional.

The Whisperer's men have a run in with Dracula and think he's Maxfield, which totally offends Dracula. As revenge, he decides to homosexualize his assailants.

Muahahaha.

The writing team then attempts to gaslight me into thinking Dracula isn't hot as fuck.

They're not doing a good job, I can tell you.

A woman is attacked by Dracula, Peter hears her, alerts the captain, who makes Dr. Maxfield come... and Simian follows them.

The fake Hawkgirl attacks one of them and is knocked unconscious. They escape with the man, Peter escapes too...

I'm all giddy!!!!!! Don't know why, but I love that "oh it's not the end yet... or rather, at all! I'm loving this romp. It's a complete joy.

In a great feat of misdirection, Simian and his men find Spider-Man... but actually, he's just a rando in a costume! That's funny and foreshadowed (given that everyone's in a costume anyway). And if I remember, this isn't the only misdirection...

The guy on the right is a fun one.

Meanwhile, Dracula is just as uncomfortable watching Babylon's first 10 minutes as I was. (It's a great movie, go watch it.)

Great mise-en-scène! The Whisperer has trapped the guy, but a bat follows... and hits Simian with its gay ray. Hurray!

Gosh, Dracula is such a girlboss. "I have been harassed--attacked--INSULTED..." Iconic.

Dracula eventually escapes, convinced that he just threw Maxfield overboard... but Spidey caught fake Robin Hood!

And thus, the biggest twist arises!

What a girlboss too.

And that's how it ends. A stellar issue! Loved it.

[whattheheckisatazelwurm]

I don’t want to spam your inbox so…

Cam and Mike

Mike and Trent

Trent and Gwen

Gwen and Zoey

Zoey and Cam

Cam and Gwen

Gwen and Mike

Mike and Duncan

Duncan and Heather

Heather and Jo

Jo and Cam

Please never be afraid to spam me, I love attention. Gonna put this under a read more so it doesn't get too long.

Cammike

What's better than this, just bros being homies :) The thing I love about the Friendship Finale Gang is that they're all socially inept in their own special ways. I love any combination of these losers. Anyway Mike and Cam had one of the cutest friendships on the show. One thing I noticed about them and love is how casually intimate they are. Like, Mike openly hugs and carries Cam, and I dunno, it's kinda rare to see. Love that for them.

Trike

God put Trent and Mike in different seasons because we didn't deserve to see them as besties ❤ Seriously, it's a crime we never got to see them interact. I know they would've been homies, I know it. Also. Gwoey but let the dudes fuck too.

Gwent

I'm going to strangle Action to death with my bare hands. We could've been so great. Screaming and crying and throwing up, Gwen would never #notmygwen etc etc

They re also the first ship to get a bingo, neat!

Gwoey

Ngl they definitely had something queer going on. Probably because Gwen finally had a friend who didn't lowkey treat her like trash. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Mike and Zoey are unicorn hunters and Gwen is their third, change my mind.

Zocam

Friendship Finale Polycule just keeps winning. You know Cam was thinking it when Zoey was in full girlboss mode, absolutely manhandling him. He is a stronger man than I for not being absolutely bricked up on international tv. I don't have much to say, like every combination of these losers, they are wonderful. (Also they are a great backup if you're like me and ship Mike with like 50 fucking people)

Gwameron

Guuhhhhhh Gwameron my beloved. I firmly believe they are canon and endgame. They were so close the entire season, kissed in the finale and all. Have you seen the way she looked at him??? It is sooo weird to me that other people don't see it. They are like perfect for each other. Historians will say that they were just friends.

And hey, they also get a bingo! (Is it becoming obvious yet what I love most in my ships)

Gwike

(Peggle 2 voice) Gwent....... TWO!

Okay, but in all seriousness, I could absolutely see it. He would treat my girl RIGHT. Like she DESERVES. Especially great if you're like me and headcanon that the thing Gwen really wants in a partner is someone genuine to balance her cynicism.

Mikecan

This is just pussyless Malcan. No but I kinda see the potential. I'll be honest, there IS something appealing about the idea of Duncan being lowkey nervous around sweet ball of sunshine Mike. He is literally just standing there. (Already gave my thoughts on Malcan here)

Uhh... Duneather??

Okay. hear me out. hear me out. Just hear me out. I think they had more interesting potential than Duncney. To me, personally, Duncan is way way way more interesting when he's playing off someone worse than him, rather than when he's paired with someone more moral. Seeing him with characters like Alejandro or Mal will always interest me more that characters like Courtney or Zoey. But I digress, what I'm trying to say is that obviously he and Heather fit into the former category which makes them more interesting to me. The issue is that in most ways, Aleheather is just kinda, better. But Duncan and Heather have one thing Alejandro and Heather will never have: Duncan cheating with Heather would've made way more sense and been a way better storyline than he and Gwen. Also would've given Heather something to fuckin' DO in Action. Once again, Action drops the ball, and no one is surprised.

Fuck man, now you've got me obsessed with this thought. I might have to write up a whole meta about this. (If anyone wants it, that is.)

Jeather (?)

Ahh yes, peek homoerotic rivalry, you love to see it. Gay as hell to argue with another girl. Why you arguing with her, to listen to her beautiful voice? 👀 We we're robbed not getting more of them interacting.

Jocam

Something Something power dynamics, something something inherent eroticism. Kind of a girlboss/malewife dynamic, but make it evil. Not for me, but I see it.

[zalrb]

Have you ever logically shipped a couple but been underwhelmed by their chemistry? Has it ever happened to you where technically you believe a couple should be together because they fit perfectly and are healthy and safe but they lack any kind of allure? I know some people feel this way about Steroline in TVD.

I had that happen to me as I watched The Haunting of Bly Manor. The lesbian couple Dani and Jamie served as the healthy counterpart to the diseased, abusive and hellish pairing of Rebecca Jessel and Peter Quint. So did Owen and Hannah who were so tender and wholesome.

And yet the tragedy of Rebecca and Peter, the show's crappy pairing, was more erotic and compelling to me than the others. Eroticism and passion is absolutely not everything but it sure keeps me interested. Or maybe I am just toxic.

Has it ever happened to you? Where you don't feel the way you know you should about a pair?

PS. I am not condoning Peter and Rebecca. They are a toxic, manipulative dynamic. Rebecca deserved so much better. I just find them hotter in certain aspects.

That always makes me laugh about Steroline because their writing sucks as much as their chemistry and they're actually not healthy. But anyway.

I have a post in the chemistry masterlist that talks about ships I like that don't have chemistry but for what you're asking...

because they fit perfectly and are healthy and safe but they lack any kind of allure?

For me, it's never really that. It's more like I understand that they're meant to have these deep ties in each other but the chemistry is lacking so it's an objective appreciation

Monse and Cesar

I guess Jo and Alex ... I wasn't really watching during their era but I suppose they could've fit the "they're good for each other" requirement up until the way the show decided to break them up

I guess Arthur and Gwen. which fits the "healthy" part ... like I didn't ship Arwen but I respected it as a ship,

Definitely not fitting the healthy part but in a manner of speaking IWTV's Louis and Lestat. I like the idea of them, I like vidding them, I like what they should/could be but in execution I just want so much more than what I'm getting.

[sxnfullyswxetobsxssions]

I will go down with the ship that is Al and Finn and I don’t care what anyone else says, you’re a genius and perfect for writing such a story !

Finally al and Finn kiss and it’s everything I ever wanted ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

I’ve been wanting this almost as much as al and finn and reading it happen makes me happier than anything!

Since we’ve seen so much from finns POV I don’t think we’ve gotten a clear idea about how much al wanted finn this whole time. I only realized it when he went into the bathroom where finn was to give him a “clean towel” hahahah

Part of me wanted finn and al to really *do it (let that twink be destroyed hhahaha) but I know that finn is inexperienced and al doesn’t wanna pressure him and both want to take this relationship seriously— I can’t wait to see what obstacles they have to overcome next -

Vance and Terence are the biggest obstacles right now and I have no idea how that will go. With Vance, I’m sure al hates him for sending his little minions to shoplift and cause trouble hahah but seeing them interact should be tense and interesting……. After their little showdown in chapter 5 or so in the grab n go, I’m sure they’ll have a lot to say to each other

Ok with Terence, I don’t like him that much - I’m sorry but him being an absent drunk doesn’t sit well with me. I know he lost his wife but Finn and Gwen lost their mom and they deserve to have a dad that’s involved in their life. I know Terence wants finn to toughen up and his whole tough love act is a way of trying to protect Finn but still, there are other ways to be there for Finn. The beating he gave Finn still makes my heart ache ……..

I’m lowkey wanting Al to pummel Terence and proclaim his place as Finn’s new caretaker and father figure but that’s just me hahahha —- I do wonder how they’ll interact though ? Like Terence would be confronting and angry probably but Al might either be calm or he might be kind of manipulative and conniving because he does have a darker side ….

Gwen and Robin and max ? Oooh I can’t wait to see their reactions !

I think Gwen was already suspicious of al because she saw the way he kept looking at our precious finney in the first chapter. Hearing that al and finn are together will def make her upset and she’ll probably won’t cover for him if she finds out …… will she try to talk finn out of it ?

As for Robin, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Him protecting Finn in chap 10 made me scream and wanna give him the best present reward ever !!

How will the protective best friend react when he meets the possessive boyfriend ?

Robin will not be happy to hear that amber is actually Al Hahha but he might be accepting eventually given that he knows Finn is his best friend and that bisexual people do exist/Finn could be queer ? Imagine Robin swinging on Al once he catches him in the act ahhaha id pay to see that happen

Max is such a loveable goofball and I think he cares very much for his brother but I’m kind of thinking that he’d show a firm position against Al and Finn and kind of think his brother was taking advantage of an impressionable young boy with no father figure. He might butt heads with Al too and that’s gonna be so interesting!!!

Anyway, you’re the best author ever and you’ve made my life so much better and more fun with your writing ! I’ll never stop being a fan and if anyone ever insults you, tell me Their address so I can find and destroy them !!!

i am so sorry for how late this response is, but please know that i am so incredibly grateful for this comment/ask!! thank you so much for your sweet words, they mean more to me than you’ll ever know! ♥︎ and believe me when i say i’m right with you on that ship!! al and finney are the superior pairing!! x

omg i’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the kiss scene!! i certainly felt the pressure writing it haha, i wanted everything to be perfect and the buildup to have been worth it!

a lot of other readers have been asking for a chapter/segment written from al’s p.o.v., too, and i think it’s an absolutely brilliant idea! i’ve already formulated quite a few segments from his p.o.v. and i think it’ll be really interesting to see the nature of his feelings toward finney; especially since he is such a morally ambiguous character. and that “clean towel” move he pulled lordddd... as nice as he is and as much as he loves his boy, he can be so creepy lmao. but we all love him for it.

i knowwww, but as tempted as i am to delve straight into the smutty goodness, i have to ensure i maintain proper characterisation and an element of realism. 😩 al is absolutely feral for finney, but he has to try his hardest to suppress it so as not to overwhelm the boy or accidentally scare him off. he’s finney’s first in all matters romantic, so he’ll really take the time to teach finney how to feel good and make him feel good at a pace the boy is comfortable with.

you’re absolutely right, vance and terrence are their biggest obstacles right now. they’re both so temperamental, too, so finney and al will have to be really careful about the way they go about navigating their way out of such a tricky situation. i’ll say this on the matter, though—we definitely haven’t seen the last of vance. i can say that with indisputable certainty. and he will interact with al in a chapter or two if everything goes to plan, so their strained relationship will be sorely emphasised. they hate each other’s guts, just like you said. but i have to agree with you, it just makes their interactions/scenes together so much more interesting and tense. who doesn’t love a bit of drama haha?

terrence is a very complex and layered character, much like the others. we know what he’s doing is wrong, he knows what he’s doing is wrong, and yet he can’t seem to escape this constant loop of trying to love and protect his children but ending up abusing them instead. it’s the cycle of abuse. he means well (most of the time), but i’m with you on this one. it’s absolutely no excuse to behave the way he does, or to treat his children the way he does. by trying to protect finney and forcing him to suppress certain elements of his sexuality, he’s inadvertently driven him straight into the arms of a man older than him.

oh, don’t you worry. al hasn’t forgotten about the beating his boy had to endure...

i think the way he’ll go about resolving the issue with terrence will be the biggest headfuck. i’ve seen a lot of people theorise and try to guess what he’ll do or how he’ll handle it (which i absolutely love; i will never shut up about how much i frickin’ love getting comments/asks theorising what’s gonna happen next or how al will deal with terrence) but the way he actually does deal with it is so much more... i don’t wanna necessarily say ‘twisted’, but i will say weird. then again, al’s a weird guy, so it’s to be expected. in regards to the darker elements of his character, once again, you’re right on the money. he will absolutely utilise manipulation as a tactic to combat vance and terrence...

yep! gwen has already clocked the weirdo magician who kept staring at her brother at susie’s party, so she won’t be so easily assuaged. being a very intense and combative character, she won’t be too happy and her reaction has the potential to be quite intense, which is absolutely fair. she loves her brother beyond reason, beyond words, and would do absolutely anything to protect him.

robinnnnn!!! 😩🙏🏻♥︎♥︎♥︎ that boy has my whole heart, he’s so sweet! he’s so protective of finney it makes me sob, i love them so much.

there’s really no way of telling how he’ll find out about finney and al, nor how he’ll react. much like gwen, though, he’s a very intense character, so his reaction is bound to be ruthless. yikes. there’s a 99.99% chance he’ll start swinging at al, no questions asked hahahaha. he isn’t aware of finney’s sexual orientation as of yet, no. he might have slight suspicions, but it’s not something they’ve discussed in terrible depth. finney is so deep in the closet he might as well have stumbled into narnia lmao.

yesssssss omg max is such a loveable goofball, i wanna put him in my pocket. he has a complicated relationship with al due to their childhood (which i’ll delve into a little more in future chapters) but ultimately, they love and care about each other very much. that’s why it’s so hard for him to come to terms with the fact that his brother might be engaging in inappropriate behaviour and an entirely illegal/immoral relationship with a 16/17-year-old boy. he’s very conflicted about it. it is, most understandably, a great source of discomfort for him.

this is so sweet, oh my goodness, thank you so much!! i’m very honoured to have earned such high praise! you’ve made my entire year, i’m so grateful for you! thank you for taking the time to read rust & stardust and leaving such a beautiful comment/ask! sending much love!! xx ♥︎♥︎♥︎

[house-of-slayterr]

Shed Your Scales: Come Back To Me

An: She’d your scales part 2

Tag: @oceansrose2002 @myers-meadow @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better

In case y’all wanted to read too, since it took me all day to write 😂

Your POV:

My exam was rough the afternoon. No matter how many layers I strapped on, I never felt quite warm enough. It was hard to concentrate with everything being so loud. But I think I managed to keep my cool and remembered everything I had studied. By the time I put my pencil down o was more than ready to walk out of the room. I was the second person to finish, Gwen being first and a few other students before Harry. Gwen also worked a job in journalism, so she had special permission to leave early.

I walked up to the stand up teachers desk. I leaned down and whispered a quick.

“I’m not feeling well.” After I turned in my paper.

The woman gave me a nod, allowing me permission to leave. What I wasn’t expecting was to have Harry run down the hall after me. I turned around, wobbling slightly. The effects weren’t as bad this morning, but it seemed as the day went on my head was louder and louder. I could hear my heart beating in my chest, and I must have imagined hearing his as well.

“Yes Harry?”

“Woah” he said, reaching out to steady me when I almost fell.

“Did you sleep at all last night?”

I nodded slowly, but it didn’t seem much like he believed me. He frowned, but moved on to his original intent with the conversation.

“Did you hear about what happened to Doctor Connors?” He asked.

My eyes did widened.

“No, what happened.”

“Apparently he was running an unauthorised experiment in the school. I guess he was trying to see if he could fix regeneration or something, but he mixed his project with reptile DNA. One of the staff caught wind of this and went to go find him in his office this morning. But he was nowhere to be seen, the room was completely trashed and the window broken.”

I put my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle making any noise.

“So no class this afternoon”.

Of course that’s what the boy cared about. He didn’t have any personal connections with the professor.

“Harry, he works on the fifth floor of the school.” I pointed out.

“We’ll no one was found splattered on the concrete, so I’m sure he’s fine. Where ever he is, the school has to report it.”

“No!”

“No you don’t think they should report him for running human experiments?”

“It’s not that simple Har- look I’m not feeling well. I’ll see you later, yeah?” I tried to play it off smoothly.

I had just gotten my father back, there was no way I was letting him leave now. I ran back to my dorm, barricading myself inside. I grabbed all my hoodies and blankets and made a little igloo on top of my bunk. My mind was full of worry. Was my father trying to grow his arm back? That was the only reason I could think that he would try something this stupid. But then again, what had he given me last night.

Suddenly my phone rang, I looked down at the ID and debated picking it up. I was angry with him of course, but my fear trumped that.

“Are you ok? Where are you?” I said before he could get a word out.

I heard heavy breathing on the end of the phone.

“Doctor Connors?” I asked.

“I need you to meet me somewhere. It can only be you ok?” He said seriously.

I was pissed right now. How was I ever supposed to trust him again. Maybe this whole thing was an act so he could get close to someone with similar DNA.

“The school will have you arrested if you return.”

“Have you told them?”

I scoffed. He was really asking me that right now. But I couldn’t stay mad for long when I heard him let out a strained groan.

“Dad, where are you?”

“I’ll send the coordinates. Come at night.”

“Dad I-“

He hung up before I could finish. I was beyond furious at this moment. It would only get colder at night, and I wasn’t sure if I could handle that. A knock at my door was the last fucking thing I needed right now. When it opened anyway, I knew it must have been one of my friends. We all doctored key cards to each others rooms. It case of emergencies. Well originally more for like “i forgot my text book, or my essay” or “come help me with this” type emergencies. Not the current predicament I was in. I couldn’t tell any of them. But when I looked up, it was just Peter.

“Harry was worried.”

“So why isn’t he here?” I challenged.

He flinched slightly at my tone, then quickly shutting my door behind him. Oh yes, just come right on in Peter. He quickly rushed over to me in a hushed tone.

“I heard what happened with the professor.” He started.

“What come to tell me he’s a fugitive or something.” I laughed bitterly, “already got that vibe from Harry.” I said.

He sighed.

“Y/N, there’s no easy way for me to say this, but you’re my friend and I trust you-“

I didn’t see any sense of a lie in his eyes. Peter was being entirely serious right now, so I nodded for him to continue.

“Did he- did he use his serum on you?” He asked.

My eyes widened. How could he possibly know that? I knew he and my father hung out a lot after hours. He was trying to turn Peter into his star pupil. Did he know what my father was making.

“What?” I said pulling my knees to my chest and moving away from him.

“You’re freezing, aren’t you?” He asked.

“Peter-“

“I can’t feel it, you’re not radiating body heat like you should, you’ve been antsy all day, and kept squinting more than usual in the bright lights. Does- does it hurt?”

I shrugged.

“I don’t understand what’s happening Peter. If- if I tell you this you can’t tell anyone ok?”

“I promise”

He said, sitting next to me and bringing me into a hug to try and warm me up.

“Christ you are freezing.” He said, a look of concern in his eyes.

“I don’t think I’m reacting well to whatever this is. He- he asked me to meet him somewhere, tonight, after dark.” I said.

“You’re not seriously considering going. He- he drugged you. I mean it’s clear to me you have no idea what he was making up there.”

“Oh and you do? If you thought it was so bad Peter, why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t think he’d actually finish it, let alone try to use it on a student. What if he’s taking you there to I don’t know, get rid of evidence or something?”

I pushed Peter away from me, with more force than I thought. He stumbled backwards but quickly caught his footing.

“You have to tell the school.”

“Don’t you dare Peter! I’ll be ruined if this gets out. Don’t you understand that? It’s bad enough some people have noticed me sneaking int his office. I’m sure those rumours were already starting.”

“We’re you-“

“How could you ask me that Parker? You know me! He’s- he’s my father.”

“What?”

“Doctor Connors had another kid before he was married. Turns out, that was me.”

“I knew you were looking for your dad, I didn’t know you-“

“Because I didn’t want it to change your opinion of me.”

“Why would I think any differently of you?” He asked, sounding offended at the accusation.

“Because he’s my dad, I didn’t want people to think I was getting hand outs. I’m actually really good at his class.”

“You think I don’t know that? Why do you think I come to you and not Gwen.” He laughed, trying to ease the mood.

It did calm me a little.

“Peter?”

“Yes?” He asked, his full attention on me.

It was nice to see him not completely trying to joke around.

“What are you?” I asked.

He froze when I turned back to look at him. I could feel it not, the strangeness my father was talking about. There was something up with Peter. He sighed.

“You can sense it too now, can’t you.”

“And where did you get that cut on your lip?” I asked, stepping closer.

“I was with your father last night. After he took the serum he started freaking out. I felt like something was wrong so I rushed over. He was different, he was changing…”

“What happened?”

“I tried to stop him. But whatever he took it was spiking his hormone and adrenaline levels. We fought for a bit before he jumped out the window and I couldn’t track him. He muttered something about you before he left so…”

“Here you are.” I sighed, inspecting Peter’s face closer.

His lip was busted, and he had a black eye. I was sure there would be more bruises under his sweater if I took it off.

“Are you ok? Did you break anything?”

He shook his head know.

“Peter-“

“I’m Spider-Man”

It was my turn to freeze, as I dropped my hands from his face. Of course I had my own hypothesis. He was always sneaking off, trying to hide injuries, overly tired. I thought maybe he’d got himself tangled up in a gang. There was no shortage of violence in New York.

“You believe me?” He asked.

“Peter, after the day I’ve just had, I would believe just about anyone. Is that why you asked me a few months ago about web tensility?”

I let out a practically violent shiver, and he rushed over.

“Maybe we can talk about me being Spider-Man another time. Are you in pain?”

“No more than the usual amount.” I shrugged.

“The usual amount is zero.”

“Maybe for you Mr Spider DNA”

He rolled his eyes.

“You aren’t seriously considering meeting him are you? He, he’s not acting like himself right now, it’s dangerous.”

“Peter I have to, he’s my dad and he’s hurt. Besides he’s the only one who knows what’s in that serum.”

“You think he can fix you?”

I nodded.

“Then let me go with you, in case things go south.”

“I appreciate it, but we both know that’s a terrible idea. If he attacked you earlier and he sees you again, it might just provoked that. You said it yoruself, he’s not acting like my father right now.”

“Why I don’t understand is why he gave it to you at all. You’re not missing any limbs.”

I frowned.

“My father was the only one who knew I was sick. I didn’t tell you guys cause I didn’t want you to worry. In his own way he was trying to help.”

“Sick?” Peter asked.

“Organ failure. Not like I can speed up the transplant list.” I shrugged.

He looked hurt, and I understood why. That was a big thing to keep from someone who cared about you. But I didn’t want him to look at me the way he was right now.

“So all those times you went back to your dorm early?”

“I was actually going to the ER.”

He nodded slowly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Don’t tell Gwen or Harry until I get back ok? I wanna do it myself.”

“Of course. Just please stay safe. Call me if anything happens I’ll be right there.”

I pulled him into a hug, enjoying his warmth a little while longer.

“Thank you Peter. You’ve been a really great friend.”

“Don’t say it like that. You’re coming back to us.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. I had no idea how tonight would go. Even if he reversed the serum, I’d still be dying. And I’d waste away in this stupid school, but at least I’d have my friends. When nights fall came, I threw on my hoodie and used the hood to cover my face. He was somewhere underground in one of the many tunnels leading to the sewer system. It was even colder down here.

“You came.”

“Was that ever a question? You did this to me…”

“I’m sorry. I never meant for yesterday to happen. I mixed up our mugs. You got the pre-serum by accident and as soon as I realised it you were already gone.

“I couldn’t see him because it was dark. So I couldn’t read his body language to tell if he was being genuine.”

“Come out.” I requested.

“I don’t want to startle you child, it’s not good.”

“I need to look you in the eyes when you say that, forgive me for being a bit suspicious and confused right now.”

He stepped out of the shadows and I gasped. Parts of his skin were turning green and scales, and it looked painful. I put my hand over my mouth.

“You have to understand it was a mistake that I will take full responsibility for. I will fix you.”

“Fix us!” I corrected. I took a step forward, grabbing his arm gently.

“Does it hurt”

“It’s bearable, I’m more worried about you, you didn’t get the full serum. I didn’t account for that in my studies. How are you feeling.”

“I can’t seem to regulate my body temperature and my eyes hurt. Some cramping but like you said, it’s bearable.”

He frowned, pulling me forward and sitting me down on a dry ledge. He pulled a flash light out from his lab coat project and checked my eyes

“How peculiar. It’s seems you didn’t fully combine with the reptilian DNA. Your eyes have completely changed, but other than the temperature thing, which is bad, it doesn’t look like your skin was otherwise effected.”

“So what are you saying, I have what, reptile eyes now. What species.”

“I used amphibian DNA, you know how tricky those creatures are with the easy adaptability and their short evolutionary periods.”

I sighed.

“We’ll figure this out dad, we’ll find a way to reserve the side effects but keep the health benefits. You were close you just need fresh eyes on the project.”

“You’re too kind to me child.”

“You said it yourself, it was a mistake. Peter mentioned-“

“You talked to Mr Parker. Is he ok?”

“Yes, you beat him up pretty bad so maybe step one after we get you fixed is an apology. But I think your career as a professor is toast. What you did was unethical.”

“The rage was also an unaccounted for variable, I’m afraid my mind is slipping.” I frowned.

“Maybe it’s you who should be sitting down right now.”

As if on cue he groaned in pain, clutching his arm as it began to change in front of my eyes. While this certainly wasn’t the intended effect, this was a huge feat in science. He did the impossible, he grew back a limb. If we could isolate that condition, it wouldn’t even matter that he’d be banned from teaching. We could go on it together, so his name isn’t attached. I grabbed his arm to try to comfort him, but it was somehow like it transferred the pain. He looked up at me in shock.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that would happen.”

He seemed so defeated it broke my heart.

“Why are you apologising, that was entirely my fault.”

I went to touch him again but he pulled back.

“I wanted to feast a hypothesis, maybe that was a fluke.”

“Even now your more concerned about the sconce then your own health, you really are my daughter.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“I practically poisoned you due to my negligence.”

“And you apologised and are working to fix it. That’s more than most people do. You’re not a bad person Doctor Connors, your heart and head were in the right place. Science is a tricky bastard.” I laughed.

It seemed to ease his mind a little.

“Here’s the key, I’ll text your the address and I’ll try to get some of your stuff from the lab and bring it over tomorrow. Just keep your head low ok? If we perfect this we could really help people.”

“I’m more concerned about getting you better first.”

“I know, I know, and we will. I’ll talk to your wife and William. I knew what it was like to grow up without you, I’m not gonna let that happen to him.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Doctor Connors I have waited 20 years to have you in my life. I’m not gonna kick you to the curb because of one, colossal mistake. It takes more than that to scare me off.”

He chuckled lightly and I was glad any bad blood seemed to be resolved. Of course I was still upset. This mistake could have killed me. But it was just that, and honest mistake and I desperately wanted to believe it.

“I’m going to talk to Peter too, you both just had a misunderstanding. He won’t tell the cops, I can convince him of that much.”

“Perhaps he should, I did attack the poor boy.”

“But you didn’t want to. That’s the difference, Dad it was the serums doing, that’s not your fault.”

“I created it.”

“Like scientist haven’t made mistakes that have gotten people hurt before. Peter is one of us, he’ll understand. Just work on getting us better. Everything will work out in the end, I’m sure of it.”

“You have far too much faith in me.”

“And that’s your problem, you don’t have enough in yourself. If that’s the role I have to play in your life, I’m more than fine being moral support. I don’t need you to raise me, I’m already an adult. I just want your company.”

“And you shall have it. Perhaps one day, you can have dinner with my family. Real dinner this time, not just delivering bad news.”

“I would like that very much.”

I groaned again when a wave of pain washed over me. He was quick to grab my arm to stabilise me.

“Perhaps we should enlist Mr Parker’s help, he’s my brightest student besides you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You are far from fine. Stop pretending for my sake.”

The next wave of pain shot through me and I screwed my eyes shut. Whatever was in the serum, my body was rejecting it. Despite having similar DNA to my father, my body wasn’t being as kind about the transformation.

“Doctor Connors-“ I said but I couldn’t get the rest of the sentence out before I collapsed. It was too much.

Doctor Connors POV:

I was infuriated with myself. How could I make such a careless mistake? She’ll never trust me again, she’ll never want to see me again. But I had to fix this, and to do that I would have to be a part of her life. It was strange that two semesters ago I had no idea she existed, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it. She was just another on the long list of mistakes I’ve made.

I shouldn’t have left her mother. I should have realised she was pregnant. I could sit around hiding in the dark all day, or I could stop being a pussy and call. I was surprised by how willing she was to meet me. And how forgiving she was when she got here. But despite my changing outward appearance, she was looking much worse for wear. She kept insisting she was fine, but I could see it. She looked more sick than before. And when she collapsed in my arms I had enough. I was quick to grab her, making sure she wouldn’t hit her head on anything.

Her phone was in her pocket, she had given me the code in case of emergencies. I quickly dialled Parker.

“Oh thank god, are you ok? Did he hurt you?”

I moved the phone away from my ear and growled slightly. I would never hurt my daughter. Well, not intentionally. But it seems I would have to deal with the consequences of my actions.

“Peter I need your help.”

His voice went cold, but the worry was still heard loud and clear. He seemed like a good friend to her.

“And why should I help you any longer?”

“Because she’s dying Peter, and I’m not going to let that happen. If I send you a list can you get me the stuff from my lab and meet me at her Apartment?”

“What the hell did you do?”

“It was supposed to fix her!” I growled, “it was supposed to make everything better. I just got her, I wasn’t going to lose her to some illness because the doctors don’t care enough to put her on the transplant list.”

“So it wasn’t an accident.” He scoffed.

“And she’ll never know we had this conversion. Trust me Peter, you’re the last person I want to be asking for help from right now. But I know you’ll do the right thing. You’re a good friend to her and I will respect that. We’ll put out differences aside just this once.”

“I can be there in an hour. If she dies before I get there, I swear to god I will make it haunt you. You’re not going to get away with this.”

I sighed.

“Whatever you have to tell yourself kid. But I need 100% of your focus on this. You’re the only one in my class smart enough to help.”

“I’m on my way.”

I hung up the phone. Peter was a good kid, before I found out what he does in his spare time. I tried to push him away from her cause I didn’t want to risk her getting dragged into this sort of lifestyle. She was too self sacrificing. And I wouldn’t loose her to some hero complex either. I could warm her up when I got to the apartment, and have Peter tell the school she was taking a few weeks off for health reasons.

I had no intentions of finding a cure to my problem. I was so much stronger now. Nobody would push me around anymore. I refused to be a joke in the scientific community. But she was right. I could save people with this. I could make everyone stronger, even her. And she’d have to forgive me for that.

“We’re gonna make you better.” I said even though she couldn’t hear me.

Right now I had to get her home, and quick. Luckily for me that would no longer be a problem. My transformation was almost complete, and I’d never go back to being wimpy Doctor Connors again.

An: if anyone’s interested I can make this a longer series. End game is either Peter or Harry, you decide! Hero or villain, cause you already plan to work for OsCorp.

[mewsys]

UGH finished season one. conflicting emotions. It is a good show and I enjoyed watching it but. cw for uhm a little rant about it. I honestly can't stand the punching bag kind of trope. Lee is so sweet to me and afterwards was like "we can skip the episodes with David being hurt in them" (and is insisting we skip every scene now). I'm going to watch them all anyway because, whatever, I don't want to miss chunks of the show because I dislike a certain aspect. But it's just a general sort of thing where. I don't find characters that don't deserve being in pain at all being hurt funny. Maybe it tones down later on but ahh. It's like a Meg Griffin thing to a less extreme where the punchline is supposed to be David's having a bad time! But it's so hard to find it funny when he's really deserved nothing for it and. it felt very constant to me. To be fair.. I think this isn't a writing flaw but more of a personal preference. I do really like the lead up. If you go into laughing at David hurting and end up at the season finale I think it's pretty great at ending off with an actual impact to the jokes ! But being the sort of person who gets super emotionally invested in characters it just left me feeling very sad by the end. I think I would've felt better if they didn't include the explosion !! at the end of the episode!! why!!! everything was going so well...

also ignore my last post I promise i'm not a max hater. Second favorite because I think he's well written. Also the all time funniest character to me. Gwen is second probably. I get where he's coming from and he kind of frustrates me for that reason. It's like looking back at yourself in middle school. :thumbs down: