#gosh. poor martin. christ.

[hairtusk]

oh. :(

[ambivalent-anarchy]

Star Wars 101 (Ch. 2) Episode IV - A New Hope

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Wow, I didn't realize how much I'd written until I hit the tumblr limit. Hope you like it! Comment your thoughts!

Chapter Summary: Steve just wants to do his job, the avengers are the best wingmen, Scott doesn't like porn, and [y/n] thinks all nerds are freaky

~~~

sci-fi boi: okay which cartoon rivalry was better?? Popeye the sailor man and Bluto or Tom and Jerry?

crackhead [y/n]: dude.

crackhead [y/n]: how is that even a question??? Obviously Tom and Jerry lol

sci-fi boi: explanation pls

crackhead [y/n]: popeye and bluto were always fighting over that girl olive and some other stupid crap but with my two furry buddies it was no talk pete no discussions just murder attempts ON SIGHT. Tell me they don't go harder than any other rivalry

sci-fi boi: haha truuuu

~~~

"Are we boring you, Queens?"

Peter's head snapped up quickly, discreetly turning his phone off underneath the meeting table. "Um-huh? No no no, Mr. Rogers I'm listening. Sorry."

Steve shook his head and continued to speak as he pointed to the pictures on the screen at the end of the room. All of the Avengers of Earth were there, some half asleep, while the others either joked or listened intently.

In two short days, they were going to be taking back powerful tech that Martin Li(aka: Mr. Negative)'s "demons" had stolen from Stark Industries. A simple "get in and get out".

They'd known this plan for some days now, yet Steve insisted on calling meetings to go over it again and again.

Feeling a quick vibration go off in his hand, Peter instinctively looked back down at his phone to see a snapchat text notification from you.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible🐝...

~~~

Peter shook his head slightly as he chuckled, a smile shamelessly creeping onto his face.

~~~

sci-fi boi: did you really just quote the bee movie at me???😂😂

~~~

"Hey spidey-boy, would you mind sharing to the class what's so hilarious?" Rhodey's voice rang out loud and clear from across the table.

Quick as lightning, Peter turned his phone off and buried it in between his thighs, realizing that he hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought. To his luck, everyone’s eyes were trained on him now.

“It's n-nothing!” Peter squeaked, his voice breaking embarassingly. He shoved his phone into his pocket in fear of someone snatching it from him.

Natasha rolled her eyes and smirked. "So what're you looking at down there?"

"I-i, uh, I was just um, w-watching a funny- very funny video actually-"

"C'mon guys!," Sam laughed, clapping his hands together. "Don't tease the kid. We all know what he was smiling at down there!"

At that, Peter practically choked. "WHAT?!"

Tony snickered. "Personally, I don't think two inches is something to be proud of, but alright."

Peter's eyes widen, nearly falling out of his skull by the looks of it. "I-it's not two inches a-and I wasn't looking at-!"

"Jesus christ, guys..." Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He was obviously just doing something on his phone. Leave the poor guy alone."

Peter coughed as he saw Steve glare at him with that infamous 'Im Captain America and Im judging you' glare. Phones weren't allowed in the meeting room. Well, they weren't supposed to be. No one ever really followed that rule except Peter. But he'd already been so deep in his conversation with you that he just couldn't put his phone down. "No no, um, I wasn't.. I was just zoning out, y'know, and I just happened to be looking-"

"-at your phone?," Steve cut in to ask.

"-at your dick," Rhodey stated at the same time.

"-at porn," Tony said with an all-knowing smile, causing everyone at the table to turn towards either him or Peter, whose face was beet red with embarrassment.

"Peter please tell us you weren't watching porn," Scott begged, his jaw completely dropped. "I mean, no judgment but-"

"Full judgement, actually," Clint corrected, an extremely disturbed look on his face. "Seriously, what were you doing, kid? You gotta tell us now with all these assumptions being thrown around."

"Curious," Thor stated, leaning back in his chair. "What is porn?"

"Something that I definitely WAS NOT watching!," Peter responded as he practically slammed his face into the table and slapped his hands over his eyes. "Does it even matter what I was doing anyway?," he mumbled into the table.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, blowing the smoke off of her coffee. "People usually aren't this defensive when they're telling the truth, Peter."

Peter shrunk into his seat with a loud groan. Can I die. Can I please just die. Like why am I seriously even alive right now??? Some bad guy please just burst through the door and maim me please.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. pull up Parker's phone," Tony commanded once the commotion in the room died down.

Peter quickly lifted his head. "Wait, what?!"

"Accessing Peter Parker's mobile device, sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded. "Would you like for me to transfer the screen to the meeting board?"

Tony looked back with a laugh to see a frozen, slack-jawed Peter. He turned back around. "Yeah sure, F.R.I.D.A.Y., what the heck let's have fun."

"No wait- are you seriously hacking into my phone right now?!"

"Well why're you so tense, Parker?," Sam asked teasingly. "Thought you had nothing to hide?"

"I-i don't!," he stammered. "I-it's just..." he trailed off, looking for the right words to say. "..that's my private property," he said lamely while staring at the wall.

Tony stared back at him. "Well that's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard." He pointed towards the board. "Alright it's coming up."

Scott closed his eyes. "Oh God, please don't be porn.."

Peter rolled his eyes. Everyone else looked to the large board, fully expecting to see either porn or just some stupid game the boy had been playing.

But none of them expected him to be texting a girl.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: hey u still there?

~~~

"Who's crackhead [Y/N]?," Natasha asked.

Scott turned to Rhodes who was sitting on the side of him. "Is that some trashy porn star?," he whispered.

"Why're you asking me like I know?"

"It's this girl from school.." Peter answered, blushing profusely.

"And you like her," Natasha noted, watching his body language intently.

The boy's eyes widened. "N-no I don't!"

"Why crackhead though?," Rhodey asked, crinkling his nose.

Peter shrugged. "That's what she wanted her name to be," here responded. "Thought it was funny."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Just like you thought 'sci-fi boi' was funny?" Shaking his head, he changed focused. "Guys, are we gonna get back to work or not?"

"Not," Tony answered as he scrolled up all the way to the beginning of the messages from early that morning. "So, you've been texting this girl today off and on since..." He checked the time. "Five in the morning?"

Clint chuckled. "Oh yeah, huge crush."

“No!” Peter protested, his voice an octave too high. Realizing that it isn’t working, he decided to try a different technique. Clearing his throat, he tried to sound and act as nonchalant as possible. “She’s just a friend from school.”

"She's first on your best friends list, even over that computer kid you practically live with. And you and her practically snap each other nonstop."

Peter scratched his nose. "W-well that's only cuz Ned doesn't like to text much."

Bruce took his glasses off and sighed, realizing there was no way this meeting was getting back on topic. "Look Pete," he said. "Friends don't do that. I've seen it all before. If you and this girl are talking on a daily basis all throughout the day starting at five in the morning?" He titled his head in a suggestive way, though Peter stared back at him blankly.

"What?," Peter asked.

"Oh my God, kid," Bruce sighed.

Tony held his head back and laughed. "It means either she likes you and your just too dense, you like her but won't admit it and she's just concerningly nice, or you both like each other and just won't make your moves!"

Sam, who hadn't lifted his eyes from the board the entire time, spoke up. "And judging by these texts, you already got her, it's just not official yet."

Tony kept scrolling. "You two went to winter formal together?"

"Yeah... but as friends," Peter said with a shrug.

Steve cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room at once. He looked at Peter who was doing everything here could not to look him in the eye. "Look, as much as I would love to talk about Peter's sad love life, we have a mission-"

"-that will still be there tomorrow, Cap," Bucky finished for him. "C'mon we've been going over this stuff for hours. Let us have this distraction."

Everyone looked to him, Tony feigning a puppy dog expression. Crossing his arms, he left the room. "Fine, but when someone gets hurt because they didn't know where they were supposed to go, don't blame me."

"...literally no one's ever blaming you, man," Sam said.

Suddenly, the screen lit up and F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke. "Sir, Peter Parker has a new message."

Everyone looked to the board. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Scroll down, Mr. Stark. Scroll down!," Peter yelled frantically. "What's she saying?"

Natasha smirked. "And you're sure you don't like her, Peter?"

His face flushed. "Okay fine...I might have a tiny crush-"

"I'm sorry I can't hear you," Tony cut in. "Can you say that agai-"

"-I SAID YEAH I REALLY LIKE THIS GIRL!," Peter finally yelled with his eyes squeezed shut. He kept them closed for about twenty seconds afterwards, afraid of the judging faces he would see if he opened them.

He carefully opened his eyes to see all of the avengers (minus Cap) staring back at him with stupid smiles and smirks on their faces.

"Well, that's all I needed to hear," Tony said. He clapped his hands together. "Okay everybody, first order of business, checking the text. Sam, you're our reader."

"Got it."

"What?," Peter yelled, reaching for his phone. Tony dodged him and gave it to Sam. "Mr. Stark, I can text a girl on my own. I don't need help."

"Nat, you're our timer. Make sure none of the responses take longer than a minute. We don't want the girl to get bored and go on to something else."

"Check."

"Mr. Stark, c'mon-"

"Sam, you explain stuff to lightning head over here if he doesn't understand it. This could be learning moment for ole Shakespeare. Thor, you listen to Sam."

"Right."

"On it."

"Everyone else, you're with me. We gotta find the perfect thing to say to this girl. I've got a feeling this is probably the only chance he's gonna have to get a girl in a long time."

Rhodes, Scott, Clint, Bruce, and Wanda looked to each other and nodded.

"And Pete?"

Peter raised his head. "Yes sir?"

"You know this girl more than anybody here does, so you tell us if what we say is appropriate for her or not."

Peter rolled his eyes and nodded. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

Tony pointed to Sam. "Okay, read it."

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: u going to flash's party on saturday??

~~~

"She wants to know if the kid's going to some party Saturday."

Tony turned to the boy. "You're going," her demanded.

Flash was the most popular douchebag in school. Totally rich and totally rude and totally determined to use his every breath to spite Peter. "I wasn't even invited," Peter mumbled, shooting a glare towards Sam when he heard him laughing.

"Well get invited," Tony ordered. "A party is the perfect place to make a move. Send yes."

~~~

sci-fi boi: yes

~~~

"Mr. Stark, how am I supposed to get into this party? Flash hates me! And if I crash it and Flash sees me, he's gonna make sure everyone thinks I'm a loser!"

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed. "Peter we're trying to help you here. Figure that part out on your own."

Peter sighed, leaning forward in his chair. The last thing he wanted was another assignment, even if it wasn't actually an assignment. On the plus side, he'd get to see you, and maybe have some fun if he actually tried to enjoy himself.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: cool so i guess ill go too

~~~

Rhodey chuckled while shaking his head. "Kid, if you don't ask this chick out the second you see her again, I'm gonna bodyslam you."

Peter frowned. "What do you mean?"

Bruce smiled. "Whether or not she went to the party was depending on if you were going," he pointed out.

"This girl used to be like that with me back in college," Scott said with a shrug. "Thought she liked me. Turned out she just had social anxiety..."

"Yeah you're really not helping this, bugman," Tony said.

"Wait, you guys think [Y/N] actually likes me back?," Peter asked, getting groans and laughs in return.

"Where have you been the last few minutes?," Natasha said.

"We've literally been saying that this entire time," Sam deadpanned.

Peter stared at his feet below the table. If the team was right, and you did actually like him back, then the movie marathon he was planning was the perfect excuse to hang out with you. "I-i think I might have a plan!," he rushed out, his head flying up. He pointed to Sam. "Ask her if she's free tonight!"

"Yes!," Thor yelled, his fists pumped into the air. "The spider child has grown his man balls!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Sam nodded approvingly as he texted.

~~~

sci-fi: r u free tonight??😉

~~~

"Wait hold on," Peter said, suddenly rushing towards the phone in a frantic manner. "Why is there a winking emoji?! I didn't say anything about a winking emoji!"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were flirti-"

Peter groaned. "Delete it, man. Delete it before her bitmoji pops up!"

"Okay okay, dang kid," Sam chuckled, quickly deleting the text and replacing it with one without a winking emoji. "There. And ya girl didn't even see it."

"Hey guys," Scott said. "I know we're all freaking out and stuff. But honestly, I'm just glad he wasn't watching porn." He shrugged. "So no matter what happens with this girl, today's still an absolute win."

It went on like this for a solid thirty minutes.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: yeah wassup

sci-fi boi: wanna come over and watch movies?

crackhead [y/n]: sure what're we watching

sci-fi boi: we can decide that when u get here. how about 4??

crackhead [y/n]: alright sure

~~~

"Okay, last thing," Tony said. "We need a sly compliment. Something not that special about her, but enough to show her that you're tuned in. Gets them every time, trust me."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Wow, lady-killer."

Tony pointed towards her and shrugged. "She said it, not me."

Thor looked to Peter. "So, young spider. What have you observed about your darling love?"

Peter blushed, almost wanting to comment on the Thor's word choice but ultimately deciding not to. "Well, um, her eyes light up a lot when she gets excited and it's really dorky in a cute kind of way I guess," he mumbled, scratching his head.

"Alright I got it," Sam said, typing the words in. He lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "Who knows, kid? There be some hope for you."

~~~

sci-fi boi: btw how do you get ur eyes to sparkle so bright when u get happy about stuff? Just thinking about it lol its cute

~~~

-

Peter blew out a shaky breath as he looked back over the set-up he'd made in the living room.

He'd cleared out space to build a super huge homemade blanket fort and inside it at the end was his tv. Towards the middle were all of pillows he could find inside the house and at the other end were snacks. All around the inside were fairy lights because he knew you liked them, though personally he found them cliche.

He spent about an hour on the whole set and an additional thirty minutes stressing over and making sure everything was safe (with all three fairy lights and tv cords). The last thing he needed was for the both of you to catch on fire while watching the movie.

The two of you were going to be watching Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (or as normal 'not-nerds' like to call it, "the first one"). Of course, he hadn't told the team that. If they'd known what movie he'd planned on showing her, high chances are they wouldn't have even let him out of Avengers tower. But if Peter was gonna be forced to hang out with someone (not that he was really complaining), he would at least pick the film.

Finally checking all the boxes in his head for the night, Peter went to go check the DVD before he heard your knock at the door.

"Coming!," he yelled, quickly chucking the disc into the DVD player. He ran to the door and opened it with an awkward smile. "Uh, hey [Y/N]."

"Hey," you said back, already sort of blushing. "How's it going?"

Peter stared. Are your eyebrows done or are they just naturally that nice? He found his voice after abruptly noticing that he was staring. "Uh-well. It's been going great! How's it going for y-you also as well?" He frowned. "I-i mean, what's been going on with your life lately? No, that's dumb. I meant-"

"Peter, Peter! Calm down, dude," you giggled. "I've been fine."

"Oh," he chuckled. "That's good... d-do you wanna come in?"

"Question. What're we watching, Peter?," you asked, a smile playing on your face. Considering what you remembered from the last time you were at his house, and the fort you could get a peek of from the doorframe, you figured it was special for the nerdy boy. Plus his shirt had Yoda on it.

Freakin' Star Wars.

Immediately, a wide grin spread across his face. "Remember what you promised me we'd watch?"

You rolled your eyes, stepping past him into his living room. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Time to get nerdy I guess."

"Come on, you'll love it,"Peter said, quickly closing the door behind them and then briskly running towards the fort to hold up the side blankets for you. "So, snacks and drinks are beside us. We'll chill on these blankets here. And...um, yeah. That's about it." After stepping outside for a bit to go turn off the lights(for the full "movie theater" experience), Peter laid down on his belly, reaching for the DVD player to press play.

You watched as he fumbled with the wires, making sure the DVD player was plugged in before turning it on. Has your jawline always been that sharp?

You couldn't quite place it, but his texts from before seemed.. weird. But not a bad weird at all. A good, intriguing weird.

And that compliment was pretty nice, but odd for Peter. Sure, he complimented you often, but it just felt different this time. Usually it'd be something like, "new dress?" or "nice shoes". But never "you're eyes sparkle when you get excited." Heck, you didn't even know that about you. Was he paying attention? Did that mean he-

You remember how he acted about Liz Allen and Michelle Jones. Always staring. Never able to even say a full sentence in front of them without stuttering up a storm.

But he was so comfortable about you for the most part. You were just a friend.

"Okay got it," Peter said, laughing excitedly as the screen in front of him lit up. He scooted back to where you were sat. "Prepare to have your mind blown."

The Fort quickly became dark as the Lucasfilm logo shined on the screen.

"I seriously dou-"

"Shhh!," he cut you off. "Wait for it..."

You gave him a look but joined him in his silence to see what he was waiting for.

BUMMMMM buh buh bummmm

Practically jumping on top of him, you flinched at the loud and sudden music. "Crap dude! Turn it down!"

Peter shook his head, reaching for a soda. "You have to get the full effect, [Y/N]!," he laughed. "Just embrace it." He began to sing with the music and mime crazy gestures as if he were directing an orchestra.

Duh duh duh DUH DUHHHHHHHH

Halfway through he stopped and recited the opening crawl, his eyes glued to the screen with a sort of focus that made you sure that not only was this not foreign to him, he probably did this every other week.

"It is a period of civil war," he mumbled, throwing some popcorn into his mouth. "Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic- [Y/N] you have to watch the words, I swear it'll make the whole experience better." It went on for a little while longer until he paused the movie and looked over at you, cowering a bit. "D-do I have something on my face?"

"Huh? Nah you're good," you said, realizing he'd noticed you staring. "It's just-" you remembered his text from earlier. "-you got really excited... It-um..it was cute."

Because of the darkness(the only lighting being from the tv), you couldn't see if Peter blushed or not, but you could clearly see the stupid grin plastered on his face that he was trying to hide from you with his hand. Repeatedly licking his lips as a desperate attempt to stop smiling as he pressed play on the remote control. "A-ah, um, thanks [Y/N]."

The opening crawl was over and soon the movie actually began, showing a huge spaceship.

"That's the imperial star destroyer," Peter whispered, never taking his eyes off the screen. "They belong to the empire." He saw your blank expression, wide eyes as he realized that meant nothing to you. "Uh, the bad guys."

You squinted your eyes at the screen, silently judging the graphics of the energy blasts- space bullets?- or whatever they were supposed to be. "Pete, when was this movie made?"

"1977."

"Oh okay," you said, deciding to give it some leeway for the trash designs.

You scooted a little closer to your friend, figuring you'd get a little bit more comfortable.

Oh how he wished you hadn't done that.

Nothing like actual, physical contact with a girl that you like and you think she might like you back to actually manage to distract you from one of your favorite movies ever.

He froze, not wanting to pull away and offend you, but definitely not wanting to stay because just being this close to you was making his mind run wild.

Does she actually like me back? What if Mr. Stark and the team only said that to get me to make a fool of myself? She's too comfortable with me. She just sees me as a friend. Or maybe she likes me and she's just really chill about it? Ooh my gosh and she's leaning on me right now. What am I 'sposed to do?? I don't know I don't know I don't know!!!!!!!!!

Deciding for a quick compromise, he got up completely to reach for another soda, though his sprite was still half finished. When he sat back down, he wasn't as close. Hopefully, you'd just see it as natural human behaviour and not him wanting to be away from you.

Course you would see it that way, wouldn't you?

"Oh my gosh I recognize someone! That's R2D2, right?!" You pointed wildly, glad to not be completely clueless for once with this nerd crap.

"Yeah that's R2," Peter responded, letting out a secret sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction.

"A-and that's that gold dude!"

"Yeah, C-3PO."

"And oh crap that's Princess Leia!," you shouted. "Fucking feminist icon!"

Peter tilted his head. "Wait, how would you know that if you've never watched this?"

You laughed. "I still have access to the internet, doofus! Scroll down the nerdy feminist side of tumblr and Leia is literally everywhere."

Peter chuckled as he finally finished his sprite. "Okay. Valid."

Since that, you stopped talking for a bit. Part of you actually did figure that since you're here, you might as well actually try to enjoy the movie and maybe find out what the fans actually see in it that makes them like it so much. The other part just really didn't want to annoy Peter while he was watching his favorite movie series.

But sometimes you just have to say something.

"Hold up, wait. Isn't that his sister? Oh my God, Pete I swear somebody told me before that Leia was Luke's twin!"

Peter shrugged while nodding. "Well, that's a bit of a spoiler, but yeah. What about it?"

"Oh my gosh, Pete- what about it?! Dude, he's literally making 'fuck me' eyes at his own sister! He's all like, 'ooh you're so sexy I'm gonna bone you all over the galaxy'. That's freaky!"

You grabbed the remote and began to rewind it.

"C'mon now [Y/N]," he explained. "He didn't call her sexy. He said she was beautiful. Sexy is wayyy different from beautiful. You can think your family members are beautiful can't you?"

You paused it once you got to where you wanted.

"Okay Parker, look at that. Look at that and tell me Lukes's not totally undressing her with his eyes!" You pointed at Peter's face with a goofy smile on yours. "Oh wow, I've finally figured you people out now."

Peter's head cocked to the side. "Figured out what?"

"Star Wars nerds are a bunch of horny kids that like that step-sibling porn stuff but can't watch that in front of their parents so they have to use an alternative!"

Peter fell on his back with laughter, practically rolling around like a pig. "[Y/N], what?!"

You gave him an incredulous look. "Who else likes to see two siblings bang each other, Peter?!"

At that he pointed back at you while picking up his other soda. "To be fair, they never do that with each other. They only kiss, like twice and that's it. And one of them is only to make Han Solo mad."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the Han Solo guy. Where is he anyway?"

Peter smiled. "Well, we're only twenty mintues in. He'll come soon."

To tell the truth, Peter really didn't even know what part you were at. His eyes were watching the screen but nothing was being comprehended. The only thing he could manage to think about was all the tiny things that were going on over on your side of the fort. Did you notice him staring? Was Tony right and you were just concerningly nice?

"I love how everybody at this bar is so chill south everything that's happening. It's like oh wow this guy just shot this green dude at table 8 and nope we totally don't care," you joked, pulling Peter out of his trance. He reminded himself that he should probably try to pay more attention. He didn't want to ruin the movie for you in case you had any questions.

But eventually, like all things do, the movie came to an end.

"So, how'd you like it?," Peter said while neither one of you made a move to leave the dark fort. You were laid out in practically a starfish-type position while he was sitting Indian-style.

You smirked. "I'll admit, it was pretty nice for a movie made in 1977. Still a bit lame though," you teased, pinching your fingers together with a giggle. Suddenly, you gasped. "Ooh, Vader was pretty lit though! Just straight force-choking people who disagree with you is such a power move."

Peter rolled his eyes and scoffed lightly. "Typical..."

"Excuse me?"

He bit back a quick smile. "Look, I'm not saying that Darth Vader isn't awesome. Because he is! Totally and completely but [Y/N], you do realize that in literally every movie we watch you like the villains?," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Because the villains are awesome!," you defended.

"Just saying. I'm sensing a bit of a pattern...," he teased.

You scoffed. "This coming from the guy who actually feels bad about some the people crashing into things when we're watching Ridiculousness," you said, reminding in how Peter was forever the relentless sap. "Well, while you're so busy judging me, whose your favorite character?"

At that, he gave a small sincere smile. "Ben. He's really cool."

"Ben Kenobi? The old guy that literally let himself die? But why?"

He shrugged, the small grin still present on his face. "Eh, sentimental reasons..."

He watched you return his sweet smile and it was then and there when Peter really felt content with the night. Though, you hadn't even known the weight his words carried, he did. Ned was the only other person who knew about it. But Peter knew right then and there that if you had asked, he'd tell you. And he knew you'd understand. Maybe you were just nice. Or maybe you did like him back. But in that moment, Peter didn't care. He just wanted to be here with you. Lost in the warm smell of popcorn and your vanilla perfume, watching a Star Wars movie with Uncle Ben surely smiling down from Heaven. And it gave Peter hope that maybe, just maybe, this was a step in the right direction.

2 hours (and five minutes) down. 22 hours (and forty seven mintues) to go...

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

Taglist: @underoosjae @spn-assemble-seven @of-your-eyes-begonia-skies @parkerpeter24 , @audreylovespidey706

[toalltheocsivelovedbefore]

Liveblog of Sea Of Glass

Soooo Allie (@mrsnatasharomanov) and I decided a liveblog would be in order the second Sea Of Glass came out and so here we are. 

Let’s get started on Sea Of Glass by @bellamysgirl

"Lydia? Lydia!"

The high heels that were once on her feet now dangled in her left hand as she pattered down the main hallway of the school. Lydia had ventured off to find Jackson, she knew. But now Sydney could not find Lydia and, to say she was worried, was an understatement. Her pulse was as a rabbit's, making her way into the school's library. She pushed open the door, first only poking in her head, before taking a full step into the room.

Syd girl hon girl, we all know what’s gonna happen poor baby. JEEZ stay away from the pool!

It was clear then that the room was in fact empty. There was no way Lydia wouldn't answer Sydney's call. Her shoulders slumped as she huffed out a sigh. She'd been searching for at least fifteen minutes and still no sign of her other half. Calling it quits on this room, she turned to leave. Her heart shot into her throat, her feet shuffling back a few panicked steps, as her eyes landed on a form standing not far from her.

It was a form she recognized. After the initial split second of panic, she exhaled, letting her muscles relax. "Matt, gosh, you scared me," she chuckled, a bit awkwardly from the anxiety. "What are you doing in here? The dance is in the gym."

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, actually," he answered, casually taking a step forward.

Sydney's eyes flickered down momentarily, taking note of his proximity, and took a step back as she replied, "I'm looking for Lydia."

MATT YOU BETTER STAY AWAY FROM MY SYDNEY I SWEAR TO GOD! I WILL FIGHT

She shoved herself through the first available doors, launching herself into a stumble across the indoor pool deck. Sydney recovered before she could face-plant. Her feet carried her in a fast paced walk along the length of the pool. The aim was to reach the locker room door on the other side before he caught up to her. But, as usual, she fell short of that expectation. "There you are," Matt said, his voice booming in the practically empty room, as he stepped in through the doors.

NOT THE POOL! NOT THE POOL SYD!

"I just want to talk to you- but no! You're too good for that. I should've expected that from the Martin twins. Both just a pair of pretentious-"

"Matt, please!" She pushed, as she struggled against him, and it was only aggravating. It elicited a sharp hit to the jaw with a pair of knuckles. The force rocketed her to the left, out of his grasp, and down again. This time, her head hit hard against the edge of the pool before her body fell in, water splashing up around her from the weight. Red oozed from the back of her head and the side of her forehead. Its color polluted the immediate water around her in seconds.

GOD NO! NOOOO GOD CHRIST SHIT NO!!!

As her nose and mouth broke the water's surface, her lungs inflated ever so slightly. She was too damaged to move, even if she could. So she lay still there in a paralyzation of pain and disorientation. Then she heard it. A voice, quiet and muffled. With the water filling her ears, it sounded like someone was yelling into a Solo cup. Little did she know, it was Stiles. Little did she know, he'd been looking for her for over half an hour after getting back to the school from the hospital. She had no knowledge of how long she'd been dead.

Why do all the worst things happen to all the best characters? I totally get that this whole death thing is apart of becoming a siren but stiiiillll! My baby!

Jackson slowly backed up, turning only to push right back through the doors in his anxious burst of speed. Stiles looked down at Sydney. She was an ungodly cold temperature against his warm fingertips. Stiles jolted as her chest expanded suddenly, retracting with a burst of a sputtering cough. He quickly helped her roll to her side and she coughed up many small spurts of water. "Sydney- oh thank goodness," Stiles exhaled, though his body was still racing with adrenaline.

Poor Jackson having to deal with two bloody girls in one night, jeez trauma much?

Stiles slid his arm under her, the other wrapping around her front, and he hefted her up and pulled her left side against his chest. Though her eyes remained closed, she was acutely attuned to the world outside. Her body trembled—and it wasn't from the cold. Stiles held onto her tightly, her head lolling against his shoulder, and sat there with her until paramedics arrived.

Aw Stiles and Sydney you guys are gonna break my heart aren’t you?

Sydney dropped back into her hospital pillows with a sound of contentment. "You're my hero," she said, as Stiles laughed. She shifted to the left a bit and he eased himself onto the edge of the bed. "Seriously though...you kind of are my hero."

AWWW MAH GAWD SO CUTE

"Uh huh..." Sydney exhaled, eyes shooting down to the box in her lap. That wasn't the outcome she'd hoped for. Stiles inwardly kicked himself in the face, displeased with the turnout as well. A sudden shrill scream pierced their ears, causing both pulses to skyrocket, both their bodies jolting in surprise. The scream was close by, and very feminine. Sydney's heart leapt into her throat. "Lydia?" her eyes were wide. "That's Lydia!"

The hospital staff must be shaking their heads and sighing rn, like ‘god the Martin twins, rough night for the both of them’

Finally, her fingers touched his, and his hand encircled hers with a firm but soft grip. Her shoulders dropped as she exhaled sharply. The anxiety and fear were crippling, bringing a sob up her throat and out her mouth. Sydney lurched forward, wrapped her arms around Stiles, clinging to him as though he were the only thing keeping her sane. Because, in that moment, he was.

Poor Sydney she was just looking for her sister at the dance and then she got freaking murdered, and now her twin has gone missing again. Sydney and Lydia deserve better! 

All right guys that was a wild ride! The opening credits are all happy you know “I’ve got a special power that I’m not afr-OH SHIT THE POWER INVOLVES BRUTAL MURDER AND THEN BECOMING A CREATURE OF THE DARK OCEAN”

In all seriousness you wrote an epic first chapter @bellamysgirl and I am so ready for the rest! I love Syd and I love your writing!

[raisingsupergirl]

Faith in God, Not Man (My Supernatural Courage, pt. 2)

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians." This was the quote from Gandhi that echoed in my mind after I came to the conclusion that I couldn't support BLM because of some of the extreme actions associated with the movement. How could I, in good conscience, say such a thing when I held Christianity at the core of who I am? There aren't many labels that I mind, but hypocrite is by far the worst. I can't tolerate it. And so, a lot of reading, prayer, conversation, and quiet thought ensued. And, well, I've come to at least some sort of conclusion. But lets talk about the journey before we get to the destination.

First, there's the reading. And the Holy Bible seems like a good place to start. A couple verses in the Old Testament (Leviticus) stood out to me, which stated, "You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly," and, "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." Of course, these verses are nestled among the "old" laws commanding things like don't eat the meat of an animal with the blood still in it, don't tattoo your body, and don't shave your sideburns, all of which I violate. So, while they're great advice on treating EVERYONE equally, maybe they're out of date. Maybe we should be looking toward something a little newer...

How about 500-1,000 years newer? That tends to be new enough for most Christians, even though the New Testament was written a little over 1,900 years ago. And if you read it, it feels a lot more in line with current Christian standards (trust Jesus, love your neighbor, have faith and hope for the future, etc.). Unlike the Old Testament, which cautions the early Jews from mingling with other cultures and religions (because of their tendency to adopt literally every belief they encountered, be it outlandish sexual practices, child sacrifice, or just worshiping wooden poles), Jesus encourages Christians to interact with all peoples. We're to find our strength and courage in Christ, being bold and unafraid in order to share the Good News without reservation. In an ancient culture where racism and slavery were not only commonplace but also praised, early Christianity seemed incredibly inclusive. All that to say there's no credible basis for racism in Christ's gospel.

And those tenets of racial equality are ingrained in my heart and my head, so... why have I had any trouble at all with fully supporting the Black Lives Matter movement? Well, as I said previously, I've actually never had a problem with the sentiment. If someone said to me, "Black lives matter," I'd proclaim, "They absolutely do!" But if someone asked me to hold a sign and march on Washington, I would probably pass because of the controversial tactics and outcomes I've seen associated with BLM. And seeing reports of people like Terry Cruse cautioning against idolizing BLM and letting it go to far, only to have people condemn him as a white supremacist in black skin, well... it's a little unsettling.

Then again, maybe he IS biased against black people. How am I to know? Perhaps the statue-tipping, syrup-condemning protesters are right. Perhaps our society needs to be torn down in order to build up something greater. But... just kidding. There IS no "but." I can't see the future. I can't fully separate myself from the zeitgeist veil in order to perceive all things clearly. But (okay, maybe there IS a "but") neither can you. Oh, did I mention that I'm an extreme skeptic?

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians." Maybe Gandhi was on to something, except... there's no real evidence that Gandhi said it (skepticism has its perks when paired with Google). An Indian philosopher said something similar in the 1920s, and it could be said that Christians in the 20s look a lot different than they do today. And even if it was Gandhi, that was just one man's opinion at the current time. I love Christianity. It is the fuel that drives me to be a better person and gives me hope during uncertain times. And despite the fact that there are plenty of professing Christians who spread nothing but pain, fear, and discord in the world, I have no problem wearing the Christian label myself. Then how in the world can I profess a love of equality and a condemnation of racism if I don't fully buy into the BLM movement? Well, I was confused on the topic for a while, but now I have my answer.

It's because I follow Christ, not Christians. I have a gold standard. Christ never changes. His immortal words never change (I have plenty of evidence to support that claim). There are those who will always start fundamentally evil things like the Crusades and the KKK in his name, but ultimately, there is no corrupting his gold standard. He was God incarnate, and he spoke only truth. Unfortunately, there is no human institution that can make the claim to have that same, unchanging fail safe, BLM included. Some will argue with this sentiment, pointing out that the BLM website offers a central belief structure that makes their righteous intent clear, but I'll challenge those people to seek out the evolution of that creed. It now hits extensively on topics that reach far beyond the original focus, and who determines how much it will change in the future? Is it divinely inspired by God? Doubtful, since the creed shows no evidence of any spiritual or religious affiliation (I'm not saying it should. I'm only stating that it doesn't). Another potential gold standard for BLM might be Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but even he wasn't infallible, and there are even some in the BLM movement who condemn him for not being inclusive enough (due largely to the fact that he was a Christian).

Gosh, this is a hard topic. It's hard to write about. It's hard to think about and pick out all of the threads. I'm probably not right (in fact, I KNOW I'm not 100% right). Maybe I'm completely wrong. Do I believe black lives matter? Yes. Do I believe proclaiming, "Black lives matter," is more helpful right now than proclaiming, "All lives matter?" Absolutely. Black men and women need to be lifted up. The community needs to be shown extra love and support in this time of healing and restructuring. And I'll have no problem affirming those things for the foreseeable future, which (at least for now) I think is enough. I can support the black community without aligning myself with the official BLM organization. It's the same reason why I don’t claim a specific Christian denomination, political party, or cola brand. I'm free to hold many beliefs in common with other people without holding them all. I'm free to wholly follow Christ without wholly following all Christians. And that's what I'll continue to do.

Lastly, it truly makes me sad that many will read this post and either agree blindly or condemn wholeheartedly. These are MY thoughts and beliefs. They should stimulate beliefs of your own, which may or may not be the same as mine. But even if they're not, they probably won't be much better or worse in the grand scheme of things. Don't die on an obscure hill, please. I wish you followed after Christ as hard as you could (since he's my only source of infallibility), but you don't HAVE to. That's the beauty of it all. I can love you, lift you up as an equal, and even praise the spirit of what you're doing without supporting all of your actions or life choices. And the reverse is also true, so I ask for your grace and respect as we continue to navigate these uncharted waters together. I don't know what path our future will take, but I know the ultimate destination, and even if I occasionally stumble or veer off course, I have complete faith in the compass at the center of my life.