#hopefully it was alright to skip the plane ride/all the other stuff

[shcsallrightnow]

@unstableempathy continued from (x)

Arrangements had been made, a flight had been endured, and Abigail was now unpacking her small duffel bag into a dresser drawer, the harsh, neon glow of the hotel sign bathing her slight frame as she moved.

“It’s so weird,” she softly said. “Bloomington was my home, and yet nothing feels right anymore. It’s almost like this place is a burial ground.” With a shiver, she closed the drawer and glanced at Will over her shoulder. “Maybe we shouldn’t have stayed so close to home...we could’ve opted for someplace near Eagle Mountain.”

Nevertheless, she was grateful to be near her old stomping grounds, because right now, there was comfort in familiarity. As odd and out of place as she felt, this was her home, and she was desperate to rekindle that sensation like before.

“Dolly’s is a couple miles from here,” she added. “We could eat there for dinner... My dad and I were friends with the owners.” Grieving had made her surprisingly hungry, and she missed the old diner her father used to take her to after school. “Unless you’d rather just stay here? It has been a long day.”

[imanativeofswlondondahling]

Becoming A Stark? (17)- Peter Parker x Stark!femReader

Word Count: 2926

Warnings: Swearing because it’s me. Besides that I think you’re good.

Author Note: Sorry I took a week off from posting. Got hit with an awful allergy attack. Needed a week to be sick. I meant to be back to posting yesterday, but here we are posting on a Monday. Next update will be Wednesday hopefully.

Chapter One || Previous Chapter || Master List

B: You should have come to the party. It was fun. Although Spider-Man never came. So I don’t know if Peter was lying or what. Either way it would have been more fun if you were there.

Y:i had family stuff come up. next one.

“Learning all about the party?” Natasha asks from the driver’s seat as you enter back into the city. You had spent the night at the compound, watching horror movies and catching your aunt up on the gossip from school. She had managed to find out that it wasn’t just the fact that you were upset that Peter got to meet Spider-Man first but that you had a somewhat major crush on Peter. A somewhat major crush that was being dampened by his weird behavior.

“Have to know what to tell Happy and Pepper about when I get home.”

“Did Spider-Man show up?”

“No.” You look at the only other notification on your phone. Your Snpchat streaks that you need to answer. You snap a few pictures to answer Betty and Astrid. But you don’t know what to do about Peter. You guys have had a streak going since the day you became friends on Snapchat and you’re not one to give up your streaks. But you’re also a Stark, which apparently means you don’t give up a fight that easily. You open the picture Peter sent you, it says S in the corner. But then it has a text banner across the bottom of the screen.

y/n please don’t be mad at me because i told them about sm

All you do is snap a photo of the passing buildings and draw an S on the screen. You click send before you can change your mind. The moment you hit send your phone goes off, with your dad’s face on your home screen.

“That Papa Stark?” Natasha asks without even looking.

“Yeah.”

“I wouldn’t send him to voicemail. He’ll track you.” You know she’s right. So you hit accept call and put him on speaker, not minding Natasha hearing the call.

“Hey kiddo, I’m about to board the plane home. But why is your phone pinging in the Bronx?” So he is tracking you.

“Went to a party in the suburbs last night. Heading home.”

“Went to a party? Did you see Spider-Man there?”

“He never showed up. However this really cool blonde chick did though.” Natasha shakes her head at you. She mouths NO at you.

“Really? New friend?”

“She reminds me of someone I already know. Besides the point. Why did you never text me back yesterday?”

“You realize I’m in a completely different time zone than you right?”

“That hasn’t stopped you before. You never sleep.”

“Y/N, I’ll explain what I can when I get home. Can you put Happy on? I need to let him know some stuff.”

“He’s not driving me. Betty’s mom is.”

“Why didn’t you have Happy drive you?”

“Because Betty’s mom is very capable.”

“But Happy is the forehead of security for a reason. I feel like I have dealt with nothing but irresponsible teenagers all weekend.”

“What do you mean all weekend? You’ve been gone and not around teenagers all weekend?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye Dad.”

“Love you kiddo.” You don’t say anything in response. You know you should, but the teenager in you is feeling particularly stubborn today as you hang up your phone. 

“So this boy…” Natasha trails off as she starts to shift to the highway that will take you back towards Queens.

“Aunt Nat, there’s nothing I can do about him. He’s literally my dad’s intern. Plus I already told you- he’s been acting weird for weeks now. It’s like he’s hiding something. If I didn’t know him, I wouldn’t be shocked if something appeared in the press about our family from him.”

“But you know him. So there’s probably something else. Have you tried talking to him?”

“And say what? Hey Parker you’re acting like a weirdo? Talk to me in front of all our friends or in front of Happy when you miraculously happen to ride with me which is like never?”

“I thought his name was Peter.”

“It is, but long story short, I call him by his last name a lot too.”

“Want me to do some sneaky background searching?”

“You think Dad hasn’t made FRIDAY look already? I could search, but do I want to know?” You ask and know you probably don’t. “I have enough people in my life already keeping secrets from me. I just thought he would be my honest friend.”

“You thought he might be worthy of being a boyfriend?” Natasha raises an eyebrow as she asks.

“It doesn’t matter if I did.” You fiddle with the radio as you try to ignore her question. Had you pictured it, sure. But it was a thought of the past now. “All I want now is for him to go back to the friend that I could have jokes with and sneak off campus when I was having a shitty day because the Avengers decided to be shitty.”

“You seem to sneak out of school too much.”

“I swear I only started doing it since I joined this family. So that says something more about you guys then me.”

“Not helping your case.” But Natasha still smiles. She knows that if it were really a problem your dad would put an end to it. “You’re a smart kid and your dad wouldn’t have fought to keep you at that school if it wasn’t one of the best. Take advantage of it. Because I have to stay under the radar, so I can’t be taking you out of school every other day.”

“I know. I do really appreciate it.”

“It’s what family does.” Your aunt’s hand falls to your shoulder.

“Can you at least stay under the radar and stay in touch? Because this whole going months without seeing you makes me worry.”

“I’ll find a way to let you know I’m alright.” Natasha promises as she pulls up in front of the brownstone. 

“How…?” You hadn’t even told her your new address.

“I keep tabs on important people.” She smiles. “Now get inside before Pepper wonders why you stayed out all night.”

“Happy will have told her I went to a party. That’s the whole point of him being the forehead of security or whatever it is that Dad calls him day to day.”

“Your dad and his nicknames.” Natasha says with a roll of her eyes. “Will he have though? Your dad didn’t know?”

“Dad’s across the world right now. Pepper was at SI yesterday which is where Happy goes when I’m at school. The likelihood that he mentioned it is like 85% or higher I would say.”

“Only 85%? Hmm.” Your aunt teases you. You lean over the console to give your aunt a hug. 

“Don’t stay away for so long next time please.” You say softly. “I think out of everyone you and Pepper are the most sane ones.”

“I won’t disagree with that.” Natasha smiles as she hugs you back. “Get inside.” Although you don’t seem to notice, Natasha sees the strawberry blonde at the window. As you climb out of the car, Natasha makes eye contact with Pepper. 

No matter how either of them feel about how the accords went down, there’s one thing they're in agreement about- keeping you safe and happy is important. So while she knows that Tony wouldn’t be happy to see you getting out of Natasha’s car, she won’t say anything yet. Because Pepper knows that Natasha would and will keep you safe. However, there is something that she will need to address with you, and that’s the fact that you lied about where you were for the last 24 hours.

As you stand outside the car, you wave at Natasha once more before making your way towards the front door of the brownstone. FRIDAY unlocks the door and lets you walk in. “Pepper, I’m home.” You call out. 

“Living room.” Pepper calls back, as if she hasn’t just walked in there a few moments earlier. You walk in to see her scrolling her datapad. “How was the party?” She asks, hoping you’ll just own up to where you actually were. 

“Eh, you know. Normal I guess.” So sticking with the lies it is?

“Certain masked vigilante show up?” Pepper asks, not looking up.

You shake your head. “Nah. Guess a high school party isn’t cool enough for Spider-Man.” Pepper wants to laugh knowing who Spider-Man actually is, but she doesn’t.

“How’s Betty?”

“Good. She had fun last night.” 

“And her mom?”

“Also good.”

“And Natasha?”

“Doing well.” You realize what you said. “Shit.”

“Wanna talk about what actually happened in the past twenty four hours?” 

“If I say no, do I still have to?” Pepper looks up from the datapad.

“You probably should.” So you sit down on the couch next to her and tell her everything, from the lunch conversation yesterday, to texting Aunt Nat, to staying at the compound, your mixed feelings about Peter, to coming home.

“Are you going to tell Dad?”

“That you spent the night at the compound with a Rogue instead of going to a high school party? No. Do I think you should probably tell him? I think that’s a decision you should make for yourself. However, excluding the Accords and all that happened with that, I trust Natasha and I know she would never do anything to hurt you, which is why she is still allowed to take you out of school. But I don’t want you thinking you can do this all the time.”

“I know. I just… Yesterday was a bad day. First Delmar’s, then the Spider-Man drama, and it just felt like everything was piling up on each other and I just couldn’t deal with school.”

“You know you could have called me right?”

“Really? But you wouldn’t let me skip the fitness test yesterday morning.”

“There’s a difference between wanting to skip school because you don’t want to do something I know you can do and needing to leave school because everything is overwhelming you. You need me and I’ll be there for you. That will never change. Hell if you had called your dad and told him that school was too much, he would have sent Happy in a heartbeat. That will always be how we handle school with you, as long as you’re honest with us.” She stresses the honesty part of it all. 

“To be fair, I did text Dad and he wasn’t much help.”

“Did you text him or did you accuse him?” Pepper asks, knowing the hotheadedness you and your dad both get. 

“Maybe more of the second.”

“And he stopped responding?”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he told me, with you, he never wants to get angry or irrational about things that he can preemptively avoid. So maybe he stepped away from the conversation but he’ll probably talk with you about it all once he’s home tomorrow. Because he loves you, a lot. And he doesn’t want you to feel like he’s going to be mad when you come to him with things that may or may not be his fault.”

“Aunt Nat said he probably was keeping Spider-Man from me because of the same reason all the Accords stuff happened.” You pause before adding, “to keep me safe.”

“If I had to guess, I would think so. He does a lot of things to keep you safe. You’re the center of his universe. And he’ll do anything in his power to make sure no harm comes to you.”

“Am I in trouble?” You ask.

“For?”

“Lying?”

“Not this time. Only because you did take responsible steps. You contacted a trusted adult. Now if you had lied and gone to a party instead. We’d be having a different discussion. But you did make fairly smart decisions.” Pepper pulls you in for a hug. “Your dad and I love you a lot. You know that right?” You nod into the hug.

“I love you too Pepper.” You lean into her hold onto you. You know that Pepper will probably be your step-mom one day, whenever your dad finally gets the courage up to ask her finally. But a small part of you wishes that Pepper could have been your mom.

You’re working on homework that’s due tomorrow, when there’s a knock on your door. Without looking up, you say, “come in,” expecting Pepper to walk in, since your dad’s flight isn’t supposed to land for another hour if you’re remembering correctly. 

“Hey kiddo.” Your head flies up at the sound of your dad’s voice.

“I thought you were getting back around dinner time?” 

“When it’s a private jet, you can leave whenever you want. Had them leave a bit earlier so I could get home earlier.” He explains, his hand still resting on your door knob. “What are you working on?” 

“Chemistry.” You grimace. “I don’t think I’m doing right though.” 

“Can I help?” 

“You really want to?”

“I happen to be pretty good at it.” Tony walks across the room to take a seat on your bed. “Before we work on this, can we talk really quick?”

“About?” You have a pretty good feeling you know what about, but the longer you can push it off the better.

“Those texts on Friday?” Wait, Pepper really didn’t tell him?

“Sure?”

“I wasn’t ignoring you kiddo. I promise you. But I needed to step back from the conversation before I said something that came across the wrong way. When I was reading your texts I was jet lagged and heading to a wedding I didn’t really want to be at. I was worried I was going to snap at you, come across as… someone I don’t want to be. I promised myself I would reply after I got some sleep, but next thing I knew I was on the phone with you and realized I never did. I’m sorry. I promise you, you were in the right to be upset with me, but it really was that I meant to reply back and it slipped my mind.”

“Ok.” You say after a moment.

“Ok?”

“Ok, I forgive you.”

“Really? No telling me I fucked up?”

“Pepper and I talked about it yesterday and she gave me some insight that really helped. So you’re forgiven and all that.”

“What did Pepper say?” Tony wants to know what Pepper said that changed you from when he talked to you.

“That you probably stepped away from the conversation so that we weren’t just two hotheads yelling at each other.” You shrug. “Also something about me being the center of your universe.” Tony smiles at that.

“Well neither of those are wrong. Just don’t get a big head about being the center of my universe.” He leans over to kiss your forehead.

“Wouldn’t think about it.” You smirk. But then you remember the conversation you had with your Aunt Nat about why your dad probably kept Spider-Man away from you. “Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Did you keep Spider-Man from me because you didn’t want more superheroes near me after all the Accords stuff happened?”

“Wow, Pepper coming up with so much insight.” Tony smiles and you don’t disagree, knowing that technically you’re lying by not telling him, but you want to hear what he has to say instead of talking about your Friday night. “Yes, partially. With superheroes comes villains and danger. Do I want to keep that as far as possible from you? Yes. If I can only protect two things, it’s you and Pep, hands down. It’s part of the reasons I don’t keep you around the remaining Avengers either. But there’s also another reason with the situation with the Rogues made me realize how dangerous putting my trust in a group of super humans is. They can turn around and shoot you in the back, leaving you crippled for life. I can’t have that happening to you. Not when you’re perfect just the way you are. Like Pep said, you’re the center of my universe, which means I will do anything to make sure that the center of my universe is safe.” 

You think over what your dad says for a moment. Shoot you in the back? Clearly he’s talking about Uncle Rhodey’s injury. The Rogues did that to Uncle Rhodey? Aunt Nat hadn’t said anything about that. And Vision didn’t seem to think anything of seeing her at the Compound. So this is all more confusing. “So you introduced him to Peter instead? Dad that puts Peter in danger-”

“He met Peter because Peter is helping me make some of the Avengers’ tech. I needed Spider-Man to explain some of the specific things he’s looking for in his tech. That was it. I didn’t know they were good enough friends that Peter could invite him to parties, especially ones that you’re going to, and Spider-Man would show up. That’s on me for not paying closer attention. I’ll talk to Peter about that. And remind Spider-Man that he’s not a costume character to show up at parties for fun.” You feel slightly bad about getting Peter in trouble. “But let’s get on your homework.”

“And here I was hoping I could distract you long enough to ignore it.” You grimace throwing your head back.

“Come on kiddo. We’ve got this.”

Permanent tag list: @wormonastringonastick​

Becoming A Stark Tag list: @persephonehemingway​  @iamaunicorn4704​  @furiouspockettoad​  @daughter-of-stark​  @eternalharry​  @huntective-kyeo​ @riiis-stuff​ @sunnyoongles  @cosmicqueenieb​ @sovereignparker​ @bbarnestan​ @teenwishes08​ @iamthescarlettwitch​ @skyfallstilinski @cutie1365​ @a-mnd​

[fashionandreading]

Hotel Neighbors

Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: So, New York is colder than you expected. Maybe a hoodie from your hotel neighbor will warm you up or maybe there are other ways....

A/N: Ok guys my first fic ever, kinda scared but here we go. FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED. Requests open (only for Tom Holland or Peter Parker until I get comfortable with posting) but I'm kind of slow. I accept most requests, but detailed requests will get done faster.

Warnings: language, fluff everywhere, oh and one tiny makeout session (idk if that counts)

You had just gotten a promotion at your job! And your birthday was coming up! Life for once actually wasn't shit. So, before it ends you decided a girls trip with your two best friends to New York would be best.

"Do you have to go all out, I mean can't we just hang here so I don't have to be the mom and drive you guys back to the 5-Star Hotel after you do something stupid?" Y/BSF/N says

"Yes, yes we do. Now let's go before you magically convince me to stay," you replied

"Or you can get laid," your other bestfriend says

You roll your eyes and head out.

**Time Skip**

You got off the plane full of excitement, it had been a long time since you've gone on a girls trip. You step out and....

"Fuck it's cold" Y/BSF/N says

"No shit Sherlock" Y/BSF2/N. They walk back inside. You roll your eyes at them.

"Come on guys, I'm getting a taxi and leaving you guys, if you don't come" you smirked knowing that they knew it was true. They begrudgingly walked out towards the taxi you had just got. The taxi ride was full of bickering, until you got to the hotel. Sure, you've seen photos when you reserved it but it was nothing compared to the real thing. All of your jaws dropped. They kept staring as you made your way to the concierge. As you walked there something, no someone caught your eye. He had beautiful chocolate eyes and luscious brown curls. You couldn't help the blush that crept up your cheeks and nervous fidgeting once you made eye contact. He smiled a genuine smile and walked out before you could smile back. Leaving you looking like a tomato. You checked in and walked to your room with your thoughts clouded thinking about the brown haired boy. You entered the room and once again your bestfriends' jaw dropped. You chuckled as you set your luggage down. You were still thinking about the boy until..

"Hey Y/N, what's up, you've been in a daze since we got in the hotel?" Y/BSF/N asks with concern

"Nothing it was just that hot guy she saw earlier in the lobby, she's probably been daydreaming about him" Y/BSF2/N responds for you.

"What hot guy?" you ask hoping they wouldn't notice thay you were lying, "It's just the fact that we're in NYC in a beautiful hotel with my two bestfriends, I'm happy that's all"

"Sure, we'll go with that" Y/BSF2/N says with a look that she knows you're lying.

"Either way we have to get ready for tonight!" Y/BSF/N exclaims

"Y/BSF/N we don't have to get ready now the club doesn't open until 8, it's only 5 plus we need to get warm clothes if you plan to last the night" you say

"WE ONLY HAVE 3 HOURS!" she practically yells.

"Uh yeah, I can get ready in 1 hour and Y/N is right we need warm clothes" Y/BSF2/N says

"Yeah, not going to happen I need at least 2 hourd to get ready and the other hour I'm making sure you two actually put in effort for tonight" Y/BSF/N retorts, but before they start bickering you butt in

"Look how about this, we have two bathrooms you can both get ready and help each other for tonight, and I'll get warm clothes for everyone, and you both should at least be almost ready by the time I get back, that sound good" you say

"What about you?" Y/BSF/N asks

"Yeah, you need to look good for that hot guy in the hotel" Y/BSF2/N says

"Oh umm, ye-yeah I'll be ok," you respond slightly nervous. They chuckle at you. "so what are we getting?" Hoping that they move on. They do, tell what they need and hand you the money to pay refusing to let you pay, they know how hard you worked and can only guess the cost of the hotel. You walk out towards the elevator and your heart stopped and blood ran through your cheeks as you made eye contact once again with the brown-eyed beauty. He smiled at you softly before...

"Excuse me, love" his rich gorgeous British accent said. It took a few seconds before you actually interpreted his words and moved to side. You muttered a small sorry. Hoping you didn't embarrass yourself.

"It's quite alright love you're not embarrassing yourself," he said, your eyes widened as realized you said that out loud and you couldn't help the embarrassing fidgeting that started to occur as you tried to look at anything but his face. He chuckled.

"I'm Tom by the way" he had his palm out causing you to jump slightly at his words, he waited patiently for you to respond.

"Y/N", you awkwardly shook his hand. He smiled.

"Well, Y/N," you loved the way he said your name, "I must get going, but I hope to see around" ge smiled and walked off.

"How will 'see' me around in such a big city?" You asked quickly before you would overthink about it. He turned around,

"Well, it seems to me that we're on the same floor, so I hope to see you around this floor at least" he said before turning around once again but before he turned "Goodbye love"

"Bye" you said quietly knowing he probably couldn't here you. You walked to the elevator, once again thinking about Tom. All throughout shopping all you thought about was Tom. When you returned you were glad to find your friends laughing and doing makeup, instead of dead bodies. You gave them their stuff and.... you didn't get anything for yourself to help you from the cold. You didn't want to go out again because the sun was almost gone which would increase the cold. You didn't know what to do and you can't fit into your bestfriends' clothes because you were skinnier/curvier and taller/shorter than them.

"What if you guys just go without me" you say, although you had an idea on what they would say.

"No, you worked so hard to get here, we're not leaving without you" Y/BSF2/N says

"Wait I have an idea, we just got in today, why don't we get our own booze from dowstairs, dress you up and have a girls' night, we'll blame it on the jetlag" Y/BSF/N suggests.

"That's a good idea, we can go clubbing tomorrow" Y/BSF2/N agrees. You debate for another minute before agreeing with them. You guys dress up and you feel nostalgic from your high school days but end up laughing your asses off because of all the shit you guys did in high school. You decide to put on a movie.... and your friends fell asleep halfway through. You turn off the tv and check the time, it was only 11. You decide to go to the balcony to get fresh air. You walk out, only to realize it is colder than the last time you went out and your short black dress wasn't helping. You stood there for another few minutes, freezing, thinking about everything. Just when you were about to go inside, the balcony next to you opens. You turn around and lock eyes with the one and only Tom.

"Leaving so soon love" he says as he tries to maintain eye contact but ends up failing looking you up and down, causing you to shiver.

"It's cold" you respond, he smiles "If I lend you my hoodie will you stay?" He asks, already taking it off to give it to you. You bite your lip, pretending to be deciding.

"Sure, but won't you get cold?" You say, "Love, I come from the cold," he says as he go towards the edge to give you the hoodie. You put it on, it was comfy and smelled slightly of cologne. He grinned at you when you had it on, you blushed thankful that it was too dark and cold to notice.

"I don't think you're getting this back anytime soon" you say smiling, he chuckles softly and responds "That's alright love, you look better in it than I do" the moment those words left his lips your heart almost melted. You two ended up talking, for what seemed like a while. You felt like you knew each other forever. Eventually you asked for the time.

"It's 2 in the morning, tired love?" He asked. "Actually no" you spoke honestly. "Well, why don't we do something?" He asks looking at you hopefully. "What?" You ask curiously. "Why don't you come over the balcony and we watch a movie?" He asks, hoping you'd say yes. You did want to watch a movie but you were scared to jump over the balcony.

"Don't worry love I'll catch you if you fall" he said as if he read you thoughts. You looked at him incredulously, he laughs "Sorry darling you just seemed scared, but I will catch you always" he says, causing butterflies to erupt in your stomach.

"Ok" you say, getting ready to hop over. It wasn't a big jump but you've never done it before. Tom was on the other side waiting patiently, eventually you stopped overthinking. You went on top of the balcony and crossed over to his. You crossed over safely but when you were getting off the balcony you ended up tripping, and Tom caught you... bridal style. His strong arms held you close as you looked up at him. Soon, you found yourselves leaning in. His thin lips somehow molded into yours perfectly. You felt fireworks, butterflies, your heart was racing a million miles an hour as the kiss was deepened and you felt him bite your lip. You moaned allowing his tongue slip in. Eventually you both needed air, so you pulled away breathless. Tom them peppers kisses down your jaw, going down your neck till he found your sweet spot. You moaned as he sucked on your neck surely leaving a spot. Once he finished he put you down to admire his handiwork. You stood there unsure of what he would say as he continued to look at you.

"Well Darling I think that you're going to have a mark in the morning," he says cockily, smirking as you continue to look at him speechless, "well let's go inside," he holds out his hand, "shall we?"

"We shall" you interlock your hands and walk into his hotel room. It looks similar to yours but there's a slight scent of cologne in the air. It wasn't overwhelming and you see clothes on the chair. Tom leads you to the room, still holding your hand. In the room he let's go of your hand, to see what movie you were going to watch as you awkwardly stand by the bed.

"We should watch The Impossible" he suggests, you knew he was in the movie and was trying to impress you.

"No, Iron Man is where it's at" you say, superheroes movies were a personal favorite. The only one you haven't watched was Spiderman: Homecoming because you heard that it sucked and decided to wait until it came on redbox. It so you wouldn't have to spend money on a possibly bad movie and you didn't have to watch it to understand Infinity War. You soon realized however that Tom played Spiderman and now really wanted to watch it.

"How about Spiderman: Homecoming" Tom says, "it seems like a good middle ground".

"Yes" you say, way too quickly, he chuckles and puts the disc in. He walks back to you, as your still standing, motions you to lay on the bed but you continue to stand there awkwardly. He soon pulled you down next to him, wrapping his arms around you. You soon got comfortable and cuddled with Tom as the movie began. You cuddled through most of it, but as the movie continued your eyes started to get droopy. You had trouble keeping your eyes open and finally you gave in to sleep, drowning out the sound of the movie and listening to the sound of the heart beating next to you.

Part Two???

@just-trying-to-survive-marvel

[daughter-o-f-eris]

Should Comics Come With Warnings About Sexual Idenity If Aimed At Children Under 10?

Ok long title I know, but I really didn’t know how to shorten it.

First off, let me make one thing clear for those who haven’t read many of my post before. I believe in traditional debate conversations. What does that mean? It means I am posting a question in order to get a dialog going. I am not putting any one down, or saying someone is right or wrong, this is something I came across in my real life and was curious how other people feel about the same situation. There is not a ‘right answer’. This is a conversation, people giving their opinions, and just discussing a topic. So if you’d like to engage, please do, but let’s keep it civil. Alright, thank you.

Ok, so here’s how this topic came around. My 10 yr old nephew was leaving for a tournament and was going to take a long plane ride. Being the awesome cool aunt I decided to get him a few comics, so he could start his collection and hopefully help his reading. First off, I did make sure all the comics I started looking at were age appropriate, the ratings were all safe and there was nothing questionable from the section, like I wasn’t grabbing the pg13 thinking ‘hey he’s seen the animated cartoon, he’ll be fine.’ So a came across one, rated for ages 7 and up. Seemed fine. Wasn’t main stream, it was new so I wasn’t familiar with the story but it had won a lot of awards. Well since I wasn’t familiar with it, I checked the reviews, I wasn’t gonna get him something until I knew what it was. Someone in the review mentioned how the big spoiler of the story was the main character came out as transgendered. Ok cool, a bit of a heavier topic for him so I passed on that book and went with another.

Well then I started to wonder, yes this book could really help some younger kids who are coming to terms with their sexual identity, but what about the other younger kids who are just confused by all the different labels around them. At age 7, the age for the book, kids are learning not only the physical differences in male in female, but the emotional, social and cultural differences as well. For such a confusing time, I wonder if adding this extra story without context would only add more confusion. Now I did say without context, perhaps if a parent were to read along with the child and help answer any questions it would be alright. I personally believe that it is the adults job to really review what they are giving the child, comic book, cartoon, movie or whatever. And I’ll fully admit, I have absolutely no background in child psychology, I have 5 younger siblings and my family volunteered with supporting foster children, but aside from being a big sister/guardian I don’t have any official education to support anything.

So back on topic, do you think now that stories in all forms of media are able to branch out into new topics, that they should come with some sort of .... well I don’t want to use warning because that sounds bad. Maybe ‘keyword’? Like on amazon, if you select the item, then you could see the keywords associated with the product, and you - the adult with the credit card buying the item could choose to proceed. The only flaw is this would only work with online items, for in store items would require - I don’t know a sticker with the words that could be thrown away later.

Maybe I’m making a bigger deal. On the one hand - I see the 7 year old getting confused. - On another hand I see the angry soccer mom seeing this item flipping out and blaming the creator because she didn’t know what she bought, and now the artist is suffering. - On another, key word searches would make it easier to find topics to help children navigate their way through understanding new ideals. - On another, it does create yet another bracket of marketing that has to be applied when developing a new product of any kind.

...I’m a logical creative, this is where my brain goes people. In a place of neon-polka dotted 1&0’s.

But the question is open to the floor, do you think sensitive topics like this should come with some sort of ‘heads up’ when a product is offered to children under the age of 10?

Side note, mini rant simi related under the line but a little off topic. Feel free to skip. I may delete it later and make it a separate post late.

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Just a personal note (I’m sure someone will hate me, but on a strange whim that someone can understand or empathize where I’m coming from)

I almost feel like society is being overly supportive of transgendered children specifically- let me explain. When I was a kid, way back in the 90’s, if a lil girl didn’t like dolls or pink but did like sports = she was a Tom boy. She was still treated like a girl, no one though of her less as a girl, or as she got older less of a woman, she just wasn’t a girly girl. Sometimes Tom boys would come out as lesbians when they were older, and sometimes they were just not girly girl women. But the point is, despite not liking the tradition female items, no one made them feel less female.

Now? The moment a girl chooses a toy truck over a doll, people are talking about putting her on hormone blockers. And I understand, with some children, you know. You can tell at a young age that this child was born in the wrong body and work with them to make them happy. What’s wrong is allowing confused kids to give into peer pressure and think they’re something they’re not. Your child may just be gay, or not play the traditional masculine or feminine role that we are use to seeing. That doesn’t make them less of a man or a woman. Sexuality, what you want your body to be - who you find attractive and want to be with - and how you want the world to perceive you - are 3 of the most confusing questions around. For some, they’re pretty cut and dry, and for others they take a lifetime to figure out. If most adults can’t figure it out, why are we putting all that pressure on kids who can’t even spell sexuality?

Sorry, like I said, for some families I know they can tell and they work hard to make each other happy. But for others I feel like they’re just jumping on the latest trend. Like ‘I’m so open minded, I’m such a good person, I have a transgendered child so that means I’m more better than you because I’m more ‘with it’ than you’.

Ok yes ‘with it’ is out dated but I was going for Mom speak so maybe it works. But hopefully you see my point, I was trying to keep it less anger filled and more ‘just let the kids be kids and figure out who they are’.

I do have a sister who came to me and had a serious talk thinking she was transgendered. I asked her why she thought she was. She said because she didn’t like girly things. I said, ok, I don’t like a lot of girly things. We then had a really long talk about how ‘Pink doesn’t equal girl’ how just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you have to wear makeup and have long hair and stuff. I even showed her pictures of women body builders, women with their hair shaved, tattoo artist who had piercings all over and more than half their body’s inked. She didn’t know that was an option. I also talked to her about if she like boys or girls, and she said she didn’t know, not sure if she honestly didn’t know or if it was just awkward talking to me. So I told her about how she could like either or neither. Her call. So long story, no we don’t think she’s transgendered, we don’t think she’ll go on horomones or anything, but since we’ve talked about it, it does make it easier for her to bring it up again if she wants to. Sometimes kids think they are one way just because they don’t know all of the different options out there.

Before having the ‘are you a boy or girl’ talk, maybe it may be worth having a ‘what does being a girl or boy mean to you’ talk. Even for boys. Somethink they either have to be supper jock, macho hunter, or nerdy. Well maybe you don’t want to be any of those. Dude it’s ok if you don’t want to watch the super hero movie. It’s ok if you find something cute, like actually want to use the word cute. You can enjoy things that are beautiful, or colorful, or smell nice, and not be challenged as ‘being girly’. Seriously if someone is going to call you ‘weak’ for looking or smelling nice, then they have some issues. It’s ok to cry, and not have to justify it. Sometimes just understanding what the ‘limits’ to being a girl or boy really are, can really help a child better understand the identity they want to create for themselves.