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aerequets · 4 years ago

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can you give me some webtoon recommendations? name some of your favorites! :)

i am here to answer folks 😎

all of these webtoons can be found on webtoons.com! I'm not sure about the whole daily pass thing they've got going on (which sucks tbh) but like,,, you could probably find it online illegally. NOT THAT I CONDONE ILLEGAL ACTIVITY HAHAHAHA ᵖˢˢᵗ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ˡᵒᵒᵏ ⁱᵗ'ˢ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ

I'll split these up between completed and in progress :) most are still in progress though

COMPLETED

1) Gourmet Hound (166 chapters)

this is like, my all time favorite webtoon. it follows Lucy and her quest to find all the chefs that left her favorite restaurant, Dimanche! it’s a really heartfelt story and the food illustrations make you really hungry, so make sure you have a snack before you sit down to read it. each character’s name is also food-related, so that’s pretty cool too! and the diversity in this webtoon is AMAZING. it’s the only webtoon i’ve ever read that has a hijabi character in the main cast. the development is done really well and it explores themes of loving and letting go. all in all, it has a bit of everything. i personally love food-related things, and this centers around it, so i was set LOL

(also a bonus is that this webtoon has NOT succumbed to daily pass hell, so you can binge read the whole thing. legally.)

2) Hooky (200 chapters)

if you like stories of witches, this is the one! the summary and beginning chapters are deceptively lighthearted. DO NOT BE FOOLED! the story really develops further on and explores numerous conflicts, a big one being (if i remember correctly) witch vs. nonwitch. if you like to see struggles between two sides, not a good-and-evil but just people-who-want-the-best-for-themselves-and-their-loved-ones type of thing, this is good for that. also, sibling love! the two main characters are Dani and Dorian, and while there is someee romance, i like how this story centers around the siblings first and foremost. ALSO THE ART??? I LOVE HOW THE AUTHOR DRAWS SETTINGS SO MUCH and am unabashedly jealous because i am completely incapable of doing so just like,,,, even if the story doesn’t pull you in, you can at least stare at each panel for long stretches of time.

(unfortunately succumbed to daily pass, but you can read it on mangaowl or manganelo!)

3) Spirit Fingers (167 chapters)

aww, this one is cute. Amy is 18 and lacking in self confidence (her family definitely doesn’t help). but HEY she joins a wacky art club!! without her parents knowing!! HECK YEAH!! unfortunately it takes more than joining an art club for her to learn to love herself (it is a long journey after all!). i love this webtoon because it explores the problems of multiple people, not just amy: her high achieving brothers, her mother who had to give up her dream, the different members in the art club, Amy’s girl friends. the art is unique and has a cool watercolor-y texture! and the main couple is just adorable, too. if you’re an artist especially, i recommend this because that’s a big theme and you get to see these characters expand their art styles! which is very cool!

(you can read this one fully on 1stkissmanga)

now here’s where the majority of my recs are:

IN PROGRESS (all can be read on webtoon.com)

1) The Makeup Remover (currently 71 chapters)

i look forward to this every tuesday and friday because oh man!!!!!!!!! idk about you guys, but i am thinking about beauty standards A Large Amount of the time, especially when i consume media. and this webtoon is all about beauty standards (specifically in Korea, but still applicable like. everywhere). Main character Yeseul ends up having to partake in this beauty competition and, with her experiences through it, she begins seeing makeup and beauty standards for the huge role they play in society. i said it already but i LOVE LOVE LOVE this webtoon because it really challenges you as a reader to think about your own perspectives. why do we find the things/people beautiful that we do? what shapes our perception? how much of it is marketing, and how much of it shows in our daily lives? what assumptions do you make about people based on how they look? AGHH im sounding like an essay prompt instead of a reviewer but man. if you like webtoons that examine society through a critical lens (gosh i sound like an english teacher), this is the one.

2) Odd Girl out (currently 261 chapters; on season 2)

okay, first and foremost: if you’re NOT into long winded drama, this probably isn’t it for you. i will admit im not a fan of long problems that get dragged out, especially in a school setting, but i did keep reading this webtoon and i am glad that i did! the character development here is amazing and ONE CRUCIAL THING is that the whole first season (which is many, many chapters. at least over 100) focuses on the friendship between our main 4 girls. if you don’t wanna wait for a romance storyline (which comes in season 2), then you’ve gotta have the patience of a saint. i loved this though because lots of romance webtoons cast friendships aside or use them to further the romantic plot. platonic relationships are great to read about and this one does it masterfully! main character nari is resilient and emotionally strong, and it’s great to see her ruin her enemies

3) Cursed Princess Club (currently 110 chapters; on break before the final season)

this is another one about beauty and societal expectations, but in a fantasy setting! it’s really funny and the cast of characters is heartwarming. Gwen is a princess, but she doesn’t look like the typical princess. she accidentally stumbles upon the Cursed Princess Club, which is exactly what it sounds like: a club for princesses that have been cursed and are trying to find their self worth despite not being conventional princesses! now that i think about it, this is like a lighthearted mixture of Makeup Remover and Spirit Fingers. although while i do say “lighthearted”, this webtoon has its fair share of mysteries and exploration of deeper topics. but its funny throughout

4) Brass & Sass (currently 83 chapters)

ahh this one is really cute and the art is cute, too! i also like how this has a diverse cast. high schooler Camilla kinda sucks at band, but dangit if she’s not passionate. Victor is some type of musical prodigy but he’s a brass-hole (hahaha get it. no that’s not original i ripped it from the summary). now i KNOW I KNOW, the whole “perky girl and asshole guy” is so overplayed BUT DON’T FRET! this isn’t the type of story where the girl “fixes” the guy, or where the guy is an asshole to everyone except the girl. believe me, the character development and relationship development in this story is SPLENDID. there’s no real antagonist. it’s just a bunch of high schoolers trying their best to make themselves and everyone else happy, and that’s hard! the story is carried more by the characters than by the plot, but it works well in this case since the characters are strong and each one has a presence.

5) Surviving Romance (currently 10 chapters)

this one is relatively new compared to my other recs but it’s by the author of the Makeup Remover so yaknow i had to hop on it. BUT IT IS VERY DIFFERENT! first off, it’s a horror, so keep that in mind. the best way i can describe it is a mixture of the standard “girl falls into a story” genre, Groundhog Day, and zombies. Yeah. Bascially, Chaerin is our main girl and she’s in a romance story that’s she’s read a bajillion times, so she knows the day has come for her male lead to confess his love! except he doesn’t! because he becomes a zombie instead! hahaha well that sucks! it’s only got 10 chapters but i am very into it, and it seems to be taking an emphasis on platonic relationships, so i am very closely watching 👁👁

6) The Witch and the Bull (currently 60 chapters)

another witch story! and the art is GORGEOUS. more witch + nonwitch conflict, too! our main dude, Tan, is the royal advisor and he’s hella bigoted against witches. our main girl, Aro, happens to be a witch. and Tan needs her help to make him into a human again (because he got turned into a bull. that is worth mentioning). this is a very barebones summary and there’s a lot more that goes on, but that’s the general gist of the beginning!

ANYWAYS. this got very long, predictably, and i rambled for each title, predictably. i’ve got more that i’m reading, but i really like these 9! i also made comments on the art for a lot of them, which might not matter to some people, but i feel like my art was very impacted by each webtoon i read. if you’re an artist i recommend finding a webtoon you like and studying the art; try implementing parts you like into your own style!

anyways, i am FINALLY done talking. bye yall

#webtoons #my recs

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saey707 · 3 years ago

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Hello! {2-02-22}

Introduction 🍓

Hello everyone. For those of you who don’t know me already, I am Saey ♡ and I write bulky headcanon-formatted "character x reader" tales/shorts. I was previously known in the Arcana fandom on this platform, but later became a well-renowned League of Legends and Arcane fandom "x reader" author instead! I have been a huge fan of League of Legends since 2014 and have been creating actual content for LoL (cough, Kayn content, cough...) since I was in high school.

I want to give you all a little insight into why I began writing trigger-heavy content, especially because I know a lot of my pieces can be considered questionable or morally wrong.

In high school, I developed very bad agoraphobia after a series of traumatic events. I had really bad paranoia and a myriad of other mental health issues, as a result, and was kept in isolation rooms during school for multiple years because of it. I have been to over 5 therapists, but none could help me.

Writing in my downtime became my way of coping with my trauma. It made me feel less alone. Tapping into uncomfortable subjects became more painless to write than love and romance (but now I can do both!! That's growth right there!) and I discovered if I don't confront my trauma and issues, I constantly think about them.

I have always been really shy when it comes to sharing my writing, but I wanted a space to put all of my work and share these pieces with others. I hope I am able to create a space where you feel like you can relax and not focus on your own traumas- Or even where you can come to confront them with me.

See you,

Saey ♡

About This Blog

What do I blog about on well… this blog?

If it wasn't obvious already, I write League of Legends x reader and Arcane x reader headcanons of all genres and themes exclusively! I will also (potentially) post some art from time to time of LoL and Arcane. Finally, I will potentially post some old LoL!Character x OC things I have done in the past if I am unable to write anything bigger at certain intervals.

When will I be taking requests?

I usually will let you all know in a blog post, but I tend to not really take anything while I am in a semester! ❤️

Are there limitations to requests?

I tend to not have any limitations when it comes to what my readers can or cannot request. If you have seen my past works, you probably know I am a dark / 18+ / angst writer first and foremost. But, I will not write any mature headcanons for canonically underage League of Legends champions. There will be no exceptions to this.

Whats is my reader gender focus?

I try really hard to make the majority of my works gender-neutral so my headcanons are available to a wide audience of people. I do not often write male!readers. I do write a good portion of female!readers, however. It just depends on the vibe I try to go for in a headcanon and for comfort's sake.

What characters will I write about?

To be honest, I tend to really lean towards writing about my favorite edgelords •᷄ࡇ•᷅ However, this doesn't hinder me from writing about really cute girls! Below the next picture, you will find a compiled list with some of my favorite champions to write about ♡

A mini list of champions I love writing about! (Check my pinned post for an extended version of this list <;3)

Aatrox, Akali, Aphelios, Caitlyn, Ezreal, Gwen, Jhin, Jinx, Kai’sa, Kayn, Lux, Seraphine, Shen, Thresh, Viego, Viktor, Xin Zhao, Yasuo, Zed, Zeri, Zoe

#league of legends x reader #arcane x reader #i’ll post soon don’t worry

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chasingfictions · 3 years ago

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Hello have seen your posts about your ats rewrite and I am interested!! But also am a bit confused where to start w it or what order to read things in? Do you have like a master post or smth of your fic? Premise sounds amazing

aaaa thank u so much!! i dont have a masterpost but this is a great opportunity to make one!

series title is don't know how to stick around, but i wanna ... because i hate brevity :)

all the fics in the series are in chronological order to how they appear on ao3, and u can find that page here. that said, while there are pieces of continuity that carry through, i do try to write them more or less readable as stand-alones, so no need to necessarily read in order! if there's continuity from previous fics that's relevant, i generally drop a lil previously-on in the notes.

anyway, this is first and foremost a series about faith! it is second and uh... secondmost? a series about what if ats didnt hate women. ats has this tendency to get tired of women characters and shove them out of the narrative and say no more story for you, and i um. hate that. a lot. so this is a series where Faith Gets To Have More Story, but critically so does darla and cordelia and fred and lilah :) the whole gang's here :)

definitely a series that features heavy fuffy, and has a kind-of fuffy endgame but also a kind-of-not fuffy endgame, in that im interested in writing buffy as a part of faith's story, but not the center of it? also includes to a less focused extent - cangel, frunn, faith/anne steele, faith/darla, spuffy, some background tillow and xanya too. upcoming fics will almost certainly include weslah, faith/gwen raiden, and very possibly lilah/harmony? whole series also features very strong faith-cordy friendship and faith-angel siblingship

anyway! the fics!

1. where would i even start | time period: "sanctuary" and immediate aftermath | 6k words

(In which stabbing fantasies are Faith’s coping mechanism; Cordelia is always right; No one goes to jail; and Faith is just trying to figure out whatever the hell it means to be the Slayer again.)

i said hey what would happen if faith didnt go to jail in sanctuary and now uh. record scratch freeze frame i guess im writing an entire ats rewrite novel :) im fine u guys :)

2. when do i get better? | time period: back end of ats s1 | 10k words

(In which Faith has trauma dreams, attempts girl talk with Cordelia, tries to hit Angel playfully but keeps actually injuring him, is still trying to work out what it means to be the Slayer again. And in which, most importantly, Faith is a lesbian but still doesn’t know it yet.)

not terribly plotty -- more about setting the landscape for the emotional stakes of the rest of the series. giving faith some breathing room to process trauma and have things be slow and painful in a necessary way for a while

3. what if there’s nothing wrong with me? | time period: summer between ats s1-s2 to very early ats s2 | 12k words

(in which Faith and Gunn are besties, Gunn is a fanboy for slayers, Cordy thinks she’s the best friend in a romcom but doesn’t understand which kind of romcom, Lorne is a gay icon, and in which, most importantly, Faith is a lesbian but she knows it this time.)

definitely the fuffiest this series has been so far (up until the upcoming installment which is very fuffy). faith is gay!! this is a fic about how faith is gay

4. we’re five by five over here, baby. | time period: back half of ats s2 | 32k words

(in which Faith and Wesley go to family therapy, someone has a post-funeral threesome and shockingly it’s not Faith, Faith can’t stop calling Angel “big guy,” and in which Faith attempts to be a fuckboy but ends up uhauling hard.)

The One Where Faith Gets to Be Happy. faith has a girlfriend! faith is thriving! things still hurt a lot but faith is! happy! when you get! down to it! also including a decently sizeable sunnydale crossover for Joyce's funeral

5. this my grave or yours? | time period: between btvs s5 and btvs s6 | 44k words

(In which there’s only one Slayer left standing, but someone still has to guard the fucking Hellmouth. Also, in which Anya enforces mandatory fun, Spike’s best friend is Dawn and everyone agrees that’s really lame of him, and Giles wants to be invited to Build-a-Bear. But, mostly, in which it all just hurts. All the time.)

btvs s5-s6 interlude fics are one of my favorite genres of fic bc i love suffering i guess, and that's very much what this is. faith and the scoobies having big time grief all the time. not really an ats fic except for a few ats character cameos.

6. what's a family look like? | time period: early-mid ats s3 | 28k words

(In which Darla and Angel are toxic coparents; no one dies of a mystical pregnancy; and the Fang Gang can’t stop flirting with each other. And in which Faith keeps thinking about her mom, even though she really, really doesn’t wanna.)

darla doesnt die! a fic about how darla doesnt die! this is the least faith-centric of the fics so far, plot-wise, because there's just a lot of ats arc stuff to contend with as we get into the later seasons, but faith's experience is obv still the emotional center

7. [TBA] it’s not how i thought it would be | time period: second half of ats s3 | ... still in draft but currently we're at uhhh... 50k words? and i still have the whole final arc to write??? so.....

this is basically the chaos one. gunn/fred/wes love triangle. groo/cordy/angel love triangle. buffy/faith/darla love triangle. spike/buffy/faith love triangle. briefly a faith/willow/tara love triangle??? everyone goes to xanya's wedding? it's all a lot?? i still have to write all the connor wesley prophecy stuff but uh. that sure is also gonna be a part of it.

8. [????] ats s4/btvs s7 fic?

most likely will be more than one fic because that's a Lot of content but yeah

9. [????] post-chosen btvs / ats s5???

also probably will be more than one fic. im going to be writing this series forever you guys. it's okay.

10. [????] epilogue-y gift fic for @episode5s my beloved

this isnt going to have any bearing on plot or arcs but WILL be fun :) we can have a little domestic fluff. as a treat.

11. [?????] i have this vague idea about doing kind of an a visit to the goon squad style anthology fic set in this verse.

it's about all the ats women side characters lives intertwining in standalone short stories??? focusing on (as far as my very vague plan goes) kate, drusilla, darla, gwen, lilah, and harmony.

that's it! that's the series!!!!!!! as you can see these keep getting longer and fucking longer every fucking time so uh. yeah :))))) this is gonna be a long time going!!!! im prob just gonna use this ask as a masterpost going forward and will edit in the new fics as they come and re-reblog it :)

#my fic #ask #this is me going insane!!!! this series is about the slow process of me going insane!!!!!!!!!!

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sepublic · 4 years ago

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SEASON 2 OF THE OWL HOUSE!!!

RUHGISN/LIFNALARNGLIENARE

Onto business first and foremost! We get twenty-one episodes, an extra one to make up for the rather odd, nineteen-count from the first season! That’s forty episodes in total! Then Season 3…

OH, Season 3… I love it but it hurts! The Lord giveth and taketh away, it’s confirmed, but it’s only THREE 44-minute specials! By my calculations, that’s about the length of SIX normal episodes… THE OWL HOUSE IS SO DANG POPULAR AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO DISNEY?!?!! First Amphibia’s finale gets screwed over, THEN this?! But at least Amphibia gets its full third season… At least I assumeit does, oh for the love of Titan if it doesn’t…

It is extremely imperative that we petition Disney to let TOH’s third season be full-length! Because Dana herself admitted that the main reason she left Twitter was to cope with THAT news, and… OH MY GOD POOR DANA you fought SO hard against all odds to give us this show, this previous love-child of your mind and heart and spite, for this!? But it might not be too late- If we assault Disney with our demand, they MIGHT just change their mind! SO GET ON WITH IT! Let the cartoon community rally AGAIN!

But, right-

The first half of episodes for Season 2 is going to be TEN episodes, the second half will be eleven! Already better than the first season, but as a reminder, that’s what we’re getting so far before our mid-season hiatus! And on THAT note…

We have confirmation for the first FIVE episodes, which will begin airing just a mere FOUR WEEKS from now! We have Separate Tides, Escaping Expulsion, Echoes of the Past, Keeping Up A-fear-ances, and Through the Looking Glass Ruins!

These episode titles spell out “SEEK T”, presumably “Seek t(he)”, so we can already guess the next two episodes after TtLGR! That leaves fourteen more letters for the Season 2 message; The last one was “A witch loses a true way,” so perhaps this season is advising Luz to seek something that will help her get back home? Something that will help her confront and defeat Belos? A little bit of both?

Separate Tides is the season premiere! Luz is feeling guilty about the loss of Eda’s powers, poor girl, so she’s going to set sail for a lucrative bounty? Interesting… Perhaps a real Bloom of Eternal Youth? Something magical and bile-related? More lore on the nature of magic and its origins???

Escaping Expulsion… hoo boy, THAT’s what we’ve all been looking forward to! Odalia and Alador get Luz, Willow, and Gus expelled?! No rights for them, even if that was already obvious but WOW. But more importantly, Luz strikes a deal with the two?!? What do Odalia and Alador want from Luz, to get her back into Hexside?!?!

Dana mentioned how Season 1 had more focus on Hexside at Disney’s request. Given how Season 2 is more her style and freedom, we might see Luz and the others remain expelled from Hexside, if only to detach them from the coven system for the time being as their rebellion grows… And give focus to OTHER things as well! Which is going to suck a LOT and I’m going to hate Odie and Al even more for this, taking away not just Luz’s opportunity but also Willow and Gus’… Especially Willow since they DID follow through on that threat, holy shit, Amity and Willow must be hurt and traumatized from this!

But what do Odalia and Alador want from Luz? Do they want to use her as leverage against Belos? To use her FOR Belos? I’m suddenly reminded of that idea I had about Odalia and Alador being interested in Luz as like, an actual suitor for Amity… GOD my Lumity heart would actually love it if that were the case! Obviously in the long run it’s bad and for THEIR purposes, but the idea of Luz learning to be more proper for them, for AMITY really… Oh man, this is reminding me of my speculation of Luz and Alador parallels! We might just see what makes Alador so interesting to Dana in this episode, and just the SECOND one of Season 2, no less- Right into the story meat!

ECHOES OF THE PAST! King lore! KING LORE!!! Even better Luz, Lilith, and… HOOTY… go to a new island?! An island related to King’s past? Is Eda sticking with King to make sure he doesn’t do anything, or god, did King’s antics get her into trouble again? And Hooty… HOOTY is coming with Luz and Lilith???! I’m grateful for Luz and Lilith interaction, we might get to see them talk things over, but how is Hooty…? Is the house coming along?

Dana mentioned two spoilers and a lie, one of them was Hooty leaving the house! I guess this is one of them… The others were Camila beating someone up and Gus getting a growth spurt, which we’ll get onto later; So I think Camila beating someone up is the lie! Dang it… But a dangerous new island, could this be related to the various pieces of Titan bones mentioned in The Unauthorized History of the Boiling Isles, scattered throughout the boiling seas, all alluding to another incomplete Titan?!

Are they KING’S REMAINS??! And his bones are incomplete because he still has his SKULL!!!!

Keeping Up A-fear-ances is pretty obviously Gwendolyn. Screw you, Gwen, and the confirmation that her presence is causing strain for everyone… YIKES. Hopefully we’ll get Young Eda and Lilith backstory, and see how they transitioned from the YBOS flashback to present-day! Perhaps Gwendolyn DID help Eda when she first transformed… Either way, I do not like her. But she’ll be fascinating to see!

Through the Looking Glass Ruins! As I said before, Gus gets a growth spurt, and he’s trying to impress kids from Glandus… Which YES GLANDUS, more schools lore! But uhh… If they’re at Glandus, is it because they didn’t get back into Hexside after all, and they’re moving to a different school? Luz and Amity are exploring a dangerous library there, which, Lost in Language flashbacks! But why is AMITY there… Oh Titan, does SHE choose to leave Hexside at the end of Escaping Expulsion, as a means of defying her parents’ will, to go with the friends she loves! If so… YEAH AMITY! That, or she’s out on a visit. Will Amity run from home and live with the others, or maybe Willow and her dads? Gus and Perry? Or will she still be at the Blight Manor… Dana wasn’t kidding about Emira and Edric being distracted from Grom!

Maybe Amity works something out that gets her expelled from Hexside, and Glandus is the new school for her, who knows? Perhaps it’s because of Belos, and so Odalia and Alador are furious, but they want their kid at a school regardless, so Glandus it is! The Hexside Banshees lost their best captain… Not that she was even playing so it doesn’t matter, but still! THIS would be quite a shock and change for Amity! And Luz, Willow, and Gus… Dang, they’re just losing a lot huh?

If they ARE going to Glandus and enrolling there, then maybe the episode will end in a failure, or maybe they’re pretending to in order to access the library, maybe a library incident will get their enrollment cancelled! I’m interested in seeing Glandus’ location, we know it’s on an island elsewhere… I kind of want to see the principal of Glandus, will they be cool like Bump? Have a rivalry with him??? Hexside lore??? FORBIDDEN SHIP BETWEEN BUMP AND GLANDUS PRINCIPAL??!?!

But yeah, those are the episode synopses, and they promise a LOT! It seems each episode so far is just pure character or plot stuff… Not to dunk on ‘filler’, which I think is misused for a lot of episodes honestly, but I like it! I guess Dana and crew have to make the most of their time thanks to Disney’s weird thing with Season 3, screw you Mickey… But yeah! I’m definitely gonna say more stuff and talk about the intro, but for now, I AM HYPED!!!

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blackasmidnightcats · 5 years ago

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QfG Rants and Remakes part 5

Big thanks to both @agathasarmy and @yarasquad for sharing their ideas with me and believing that I could actually make a coherent rant without being too swallowed up by my emotions and hopefully I'll be able to do the same here.

P.S. Imma change the title of the next Rants and Remakes cause it's definitely not focusing on QfG anymore and it's gonna focus of AWWP so yeah...there's that to look forward too.

Chaddick & Yara + Tagatha interlude

Note: This post was originally gonna be titled "Chaddick & Yara + Mourning the Departed" and would have turned out as how it is explained below but as I was writing about Chaddick I realized that I needed to talk about something concerning Tagatha and realized that this post would have been too long for all three so I gonna move the "Mourning of Departed" in its own post. Hope you guys understand. Tagatha has a strong pull with me.

Imma actually gonna outline this cause I need to organize my thoughts and at least with this I could remember the direction that I would be heading.

First part's definitely going to talk about how Chaddick and Yara's death is bs

Then imma explain why them staying alive would have impacted the TCY storyline a lot more meaningfully (p.s. this is where the Tagatha interlude will be found)

And last (and this has been moved to its own post so stay tuned for it), I would also like to nitpick Soman's obvious lack of thought when it comes to the characters that have departed (mainly Callis and Lady Lesso and August Sader) and how it should have affected the characters (mainly Sophie and Agatha)

How Chaddick and Yara could have helped the storyline better

WARNING: I realized while writing this that I kinda made Chaddick and Yara more flawed than they are writen because I have to think about their character growth and they can't have that without having any flaws. So expect some more drama with these two than needed as I share my thoughts on how their characters could have went. They get better in the end believe me.

So I think that everyone in the fandom is one with the idea that Chaddick's death was one of the MOST worst decisions that Soman made.

As @agathasarmy said it once, Chaddick's death is more frustrating than sad because of how out of nowhere it is.

Via @agathasarmy:

but… Chaddick??? dying??? IN THE BEGINNING OF THE SERIES????

IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE, AND THE ONLY WAY IT MAKE SENSE IS COS SOMAN OBVIOUSLY DID IT TO INTRODUCE RHIAN AND THATS THE SHITTIEST THING ABOUT IT

HE REDUCED CHADDICK’S DEATH AS A PLOT DOOR WITHOUT PROPERLY SUBSTANTIATING CHADDICK’S CHARACTER FIRST SO INSTEAD OF US TRULY MOURNING HIS LIFE WE’RE JUST LEFT WITH THIS HOLLOW FEELING OF WHAT HE COULD’VE BEEN AS AN INTEGRAL CHARACTER TO THE PLOT

THIS

Chaddick's death felt hollow because it was a PLOT DEVICE. It didn't (or at least Soman didn't) conscider Chaddick much of a character but a means and once this happens some deaths can be very very hollow.

Like his POV chapter was very hard to read all because especially once you find out that he's dead by the end of it (SHAME SOMAN, SHAME) because his story and plot had so much potential. We weren't able to properly feel sad about his lost because we didn't get to know him better.

It just feels tragic. So much potential lost, all because Soman wanted Tedros to feel vulnerable because he lost his close friend.

WHICH SOMAN DIDN'T REALLY NEED TO DO

I explained already why this is bull and I'm gonna explain later what could have happened for Chaddick's character.

But in summary on why Soman didn't need to do it: EXPECTATIONS

Chaddick and Tedros would have been stressed out with all the expectations and comparison with Arthur and Lancelot. One wrong move could have broke them apart easily.

But Soman could have also not wanted to deal with Chaddick against his Sophie obssession so there could be that too.

SHAME SOMAN

Now, Yara.

Our little Soft Girl

She should not have died.

She really shouldn't have

W h y ?

Because her being alive would have impacted the story more than her death ever did. Just like Chaddick.

And if the problem was what she could have affected in the storyline in TLEA, then she could have been on the sides like. . . as Tristan from time to time or something.

Her being alive would have not affected or change TLEA at all. Like if more important characters like the Coven and the League can fade into the background then so could she.

But I really don't imagine her being in the school for New Evil with Aric as Dean. No, maybe Yuba could have hidden her with the League and she could have accompanied Princess Uma when they were getting Tedros and Agatha and then accompanied the Leuge or something.

Really it would have been that simple. C'mon.

Plus Kiko has been reduced to wreck after that. At least, with Yara being alive she could have fixed herself a bit more.

Okay

So in summary again: CHADDICK AND YARA SHOULD NOT HAVE DIED AND SHAME ON SOMAN FOR KILLING THEM OFF

Now, let's get to the juicier part, what could these two have contributed to the TCY storyline.

On Chaddick

It's pretty obvious what Chaddick's role should have been. He should have been important to the plot because his role would have been about breaking the comparison between the Past and the Present (see Soman, it could have been integrated into your canon plot) between him, Tedros, and Agatha to Lancelot, Arthur, and Gwen.

I'm pretty sure that Camelot has its eyes on these three.

It's pretty freaking convenient that they all have a predecessor to be compared to. And I'm pretty sure that it's not just Camelot who notices the pattern. I mean the whole freaking Woods read about this affair.

So Chaddick, along with Tedros and Agatha, should have been the ones that break this chain. It could have symbolized that Camelot was entering into a new, better era after a similar relationship broke it.

Like, a King, his beloved Queen and his most trusted Knight brought hope but ended in a Tragedy.

Now, another King, his beloved Queen and his most trusted Knight are skeptically judged for having the same pattern and they instead bring the Glory that first trio didn't

With Tedros, Agatha, and Chaddick united with each other bringing Camelot out of its traumatic experience with Tedros's parents, Camelot finally accepting that these three are not the same as Arthur, Gwen, and Lance and fully supporting them DESPITE the fear, would have been a much stronger message of that 'the past doesn't always repeat itself.'

Because with Rhian being known and most propably remembered as Tedros's most trusted Knight and betraying him in the end, it's like a copy of what Lance technically did to Arthur.

It just further proved that Camelot's King would always be betrayed by the ones they trust most.

Sadly for Arthur, he was betrayed by both Gwen and Lance and they left him alone.

While Tedros still has Agatha but without Chaddick the lesson simply is not learned.

Chaddick was integral to this formula because Camelot would have had to face yet another propable tragedy for their beloved King in the hands of the people he loves. With Tedros, Agatha, and Chaddick, complete, proving that they could do better despite having just a strong a bond as what Arthur and co had and Camelot accepting and trsuting this, the previous wounds would be replaced with new Hope.

Because even if that whole affair happened and ruined the Kingdom, at least they have proof that it's not always gonna happen that way.

And that's why Rhian being remembered as Tedros's Knight hurts this idea. Cause he betrayed him too.

Anyway, hopefully I made my point with this legacy thing.

Plus Chaddick and Arthur's Round Table training him. WHY SOMAN WHY?!?!?!

And now, imma explain what I think should have happened with Chaddick and how his character development and his role should have played out.

Because Chaddick is a pretty well rounded character, his POV chapter proves that he's brave, and is willing to die for his friends and what's right, and there isn't really much flaws to him aside from that he can sometimes make the most worst decisions despite being pretty wise.

I honestly cannot tell if he is stupid sometimes or Soman just does this to him cause PLOT.

Fandom I need help with this. Give me some opinions.

Like. . . he's wise enough to know what was right, examples being warning Tedros about Sophie and the first to listen to Agatha in AWWP, but also dumb or ignorant enough to bully Agatha in Book 1 and that VERY IMPORTANT THING ABOUT completely ABUSING Tedros is AWWP.

Like I'm kinda confused with him.

Well maybe we can say that he's a bit ignorant and maybe was raised with privilege so that's why he bullied Agatha in Book 1 and kinda wisened up in Book 2 about her.

But I am not excusing his attitude towards Tedros in AWWP because that was messed up. Well, AWWP was messed up so there is that but if we have to acknowledge that mess and have some closure then I vote for it to come from Chaddick and Yara.

Like maybe the reason why Chaddick is more wise now is because of that very experience. Maybe he could still be a bit guilty about it and that kinda messes with his mind cause he still thinks that Tedros is still the same boy those years ago in their second year and Rhian uses this to his advantage.

Actually, thinking about it this makes so much sense.

Like instead of AGATHA having the trust issues (thought I wouldn't completely vanish it, just not at the same level as she does in canon) it's CHADDICK that has them. Cause he's always kinda gets haunted by what happened in AWWP.

I mean Tedros replaced him with ARIC of all people when he failed to retrieve Agatha. There has to be some animosity between them since. I can imagine that Chaddick kinda felt like him and Tedros could never be as close as when they were during their first year. And he would totally understand it if Tedros never really forgave him for what happened and was at peace with it even if he didn't have enough guts to find a closure for it. He'd respect his friend first and foremost.

But then comes Tedros, all fine and inviting him to be his Knight like that would mess Chaddick up.

He propably couldn't believe it at first and maybe even kindly refused the offer at first but then he sees the heart break in Tedros's face and Chaddick realizes that Tedros really wanted this.

Tedros still sees Chaddick as his closest friend despite what happened in AWWP. And maybe after some thinking, Chaddick realizes that he still wants to have the bond with Tedros like what they had in Book 1. So he accepts.

But of course, they've changed and Chaddick still gets eaten by guilt because I think that he's the kind of person that knows that he did something wrong and wants to repent for it.

So instead of that wise friend that Tedros had in Book 1, Chaddick can't trust his judgement about Tedros because he's scared he'd go too far. So he kinda just agrees to Tedros's ideas and doesn't really give advice. Tedros kinda notices this and tries to talk to Chaddick about it but Chaddick would be all formal to him. Tedros, I don't really know, would think that it would be for his sake with the comparison with Arthur and Lance and all. So he kinda just goes along with it.

It's messy right now guys, I know, I'm kinda butchering Chaddick's character here but I promise it gets better and in my mind he'd be like this for only Book 4. He'd be Wise Chaddick again right after. Just give me a chance to explain.

So they have this kind of miscommunication thing that Canon Tagatha had in QfG instead and that would have made so much more sense and here's why;

Warning: this is officially where the Tagatha interlude starts so if you wanna skip it (why though???) find the sign that states it's the end. It's gonna be in pink too.

The fact that Tagatha was having a miscommunication failure was kinda off with me because 1) they've been over this in AWWP and TLEA. In TLEA Tedros has absolutely no problem with pushing Agatha to share more when she wouldn't and 2) he could easily read her like a book, especially when it counts. Like he could get her favorite food wrong but he always seemed to know what Agatha was having trouble with and was there to help her out and is not afraid to call her out on it (i.e. the Cinderella thing, he was on point there)

Imma provide some examples of Tedros totally getting Agatha when it counts;

AND THIS

AND THIS TOO

WAIT THERE IS MORE (The Tagatha Moment)

AND LET US NOT FORGET

THIS IS WHY TLEA TAGATHA WILL ALWAYS BE BEST TAGATHA.

I get that Agatha's insecure about herself and maybe she was kinda influenced with the Excalibur thing (but I highly doubt it though) but it's no reason for her to get to the conclusion she did at the end of QfG.

I mean girl, you were always thinking that Tedros would be a Great King in TLEA and that's why you've been so insecure about yourself. WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT???

Someone call me out on this PLEASE. I'm hurting myself by judging her too hard.

I can imagine that she would be sceptical with Tedros's ideas and kinda doubting him about it (you guys have no idea how much it hurts typing this) but I can also imagine that she would never doubt that Tedros's heart is in the right place even if she thinks that the way he gets there isn't always the best.

Like we have literal proof that Tedros gets Agatha almost like Sophie does and the best thing is that I'm sure that Tedros would think of the best in mind.

The mess in QfG makes no sense because they should be over this miscommunication bs and it should not have been a thing.

And if it was because of the stress with Excalibur and his responsibilities as King that made Tedros suddenly not get Agatha then WTF Soman!?!?!? I did not ask for this. They were literally about to die in TLEA and yet they could still joke and tease each other and have these cute little scenes with the other.

Instead I got Rhian's b*tch ass being Tedros's therapists when he knows sh*t about this boy and Agatha doubting Tedros like he did something horrible. (Well he did for trusting Rhian but i digress)

I could have had more of these cute Tagatha scenes instead. Like, is it too much to ask for these two to just show their love for each other in other ways than "I will save you" and "You're the best thing ever and I don't want to lose you for this horrible thing that I did or say" like give me small softer moments anytime.

Tedros gently teasing Agatha when she's being difficult and Agatha being totally trying not to show that she's smitten over it.

Agatha trying to be romantic at the most outrageous moments and Tedros being like "?????" but totally finding it cute.

Other character just not getting these two when they do and they are just as confused.

These are the kind of scenes I wanted from them. And if I have to use Chaddick to get it then so be it. (I'm sorry about this, I'm mostly projecting at this point and these really affecting my personal opinions on this matter but I'll try to tone it down a bit so that it's still coherent)

Note: this is the official end of the Tagatha interlude but i'm not keeping any promises that it'll be the last

Anyways, Chaddick and Tedros, they have more reasons with having communication problems because;

They have not been together for a very long time and they've both propably changed since

AWWP. So far, the two of them have had horrible experiences as the last thing that they remember about each other.

As I explained, I headcanon that Chaddick has a somewhat formed a sort of PSTD with it and is very scared that he's gonna mess it up.

I'm not even going to try to explain the PSTD thing cause I feel like I'm not gonna do it justice but I hope you get what I mean.

Chaddick must have become more unsure of himself after AWWP and he must still be trying to fit this new Tedros with the old one that he used to hang out with in Book 1. It would have been a good comparison to show that Tedros has indeed change and grown since then.

Like Chaddick kinda feels like he needs to intervene when Tedros shares a very outrageous suggestion but doesn't know how and kinda ends up in a mess.

Basically imagine Tagatha's problems in QfG and apply to Tedros and Chaddick instead.

And Chaddick would have been suspiscious about Rhian from the beginning. He's a smart savy guy afterall.

So Rhian kinda exploits this and gets the two boys against each other. Because say that Tedros and Chaddick have this big fight propably like the one when Agatha comments that Tedros was being a horrible king but Chaddick's the one that said it instead. Say that this happens around the middle of the Book and it's the final straw between them because they haven't been properly communicating and all the pressure on them. Rhian could easily worm his way to Tedros's side and replace Chaddick nicely. Cause unlile Chaddick, Rhian would make Tedros believe that HE'S the one that believes in him the most.

So they kinda fall apart and Chaddick and Tedros are trying to understand where it all went wrong.

Agatha would try to understand each side and get them to better terms again but she can't do it alone plus a-hole Rhian is butting in.

I imagine that, for me, the logical person that Chaddick might approach on his dilema with Tedros might be Ravan.

Cause the two of them basically think the same way and are usually calm and wise. The only difference would be that Chaddick's more active while Ravan's more passive and choses to observe before making a move. So he calms Chaddick down when he's being too impatient.

Chaddick and Agatha would be talking of course. And I don't know why but I imagine that they're more numb to all the gossip about the three of them especially around each other because they're both sort of level headed and wise then when they're with Tedros individually.

And I imagine this is where the Tagatha drama happens. Only after Rhian cause I wanna be clear that without him, Tagatha would have been fine. He also tries to break them up by saying that Agatha sides with Chaddick and that she doesn't have much faith in Tedros too.

Agatha's going to deny this of course (because it's all bs from Rhian) but Tedros has been too stressed and vulnerable that he sorta starts to believe it and Agatha gets frustrated that Tedros is choosing to believe Rhian when she's known him longer and after everything that they've been through.

But Tedros isn't fully under Rhian's spell. I would have put several times when they would doubt each other especially when Rhian talks crap about Agatha and Chaddick and it would be beserk button for Tedros so Rhian doesn't really go there.

Now Chaddick would be having his little personal battle with himself and Ravan and Agatha would be there to support him and give some advice.

The real kicker would have been when Rhian is adored by Camelot as Tedros's Treasured Knight, someone better than Lancelot and Chaddick kinda has a heartbreaking moment because HE'S supposed to be the one that was known as Tedros's Treasured Knight not this stranger. Not this stranger that stole everything from him especially his best friend.

Agatha hears about this and reflects the time when she gave up her own position as Tedros's queen in TLEA and remembers that Tedros knows her and all her monsters and has been the light to help her fight them.

So she and Chaddick have this talk and she tries to concinve him that Tedros wouldn't want for Chaddick to just give up on him like that. Chaddick thinks about it but is still not completely convinced but Agatha reminds him that Tedros CHOOSE HIM to be his Knight and Liege and they both have to fight for it.

It's Ravan who finally manages to get Chaddick to gear when he asks Chaddick if he's going to regret anything he should choose to either regret letting Tedros go and not fighting for their friendship or make a complete idiot of himself but fight for their friendship instead.

So Chaddick does the latter but everything is too late and the Rhian thing happens as I explained in the first Rants and Remakes post and Chaddick gets tossed into jail with Tedros.

It's in book 5 that I imagine their relationship actually starts to heal itself and they both try to get through everything. I haven't thought of all the kinks out yet but I imagine a lot of fights and Chaddick just kinda shouting what he thinks before he startsvthe regret it and Tedros being this physic and just getting Chaddick too like how he does Agatha.

Again, I haven't thought of everything yet but I'll share it when I do

Now let's move on to Yara

On Yara

Yara would have been more influencial alive then dead and I already explained why how she could have been handled in TLEA cause where I really see exploiting her is in the storyline of TCY.

With the Balance vs Chaos in mind as well as the Lady of the Lake villainess plotline, Yara could have been the answer to this.

She'd be a living reminder of everything that all the characters went through in AWWP and how horribly toxic it is to everyone. Especially those like Yara who lives in the between.

Like with the Lady plotline she would have promoted ultimate purity for both Good and Evil and doesn't believe that each side could be able to understand each other so she thinks that she's promoting Balance that way and that letting each side corrupt the other is Chaos.

She would have believed that Yara is an abomination to the Balance because she is the embodiment of the idea that you can choose some charcteristic from two sides and still be yourself.

Plus with Yara alive the other characters would be forced to rethink their ideals and how to approach this new possibility and reflect on the old ways that have been hurting the ones that are similar to her.

I imagine that Yara's gonna have an internal struggle with this like she's still trying to understand it herself and as she tries to understand it the more that the other characters do as well.

I haven't actually thought out her actual detailed storyline just yet and even though I wanna say more I know that I might butcher her character as I go on but I definitely know her importance to the possible story.

As I explained before, if in TSY was Good VS Evil and that the TCY was about Good AND Evil and how both sides need each other to grow and develop and that the importance of the School still teaching Good and Evil in its most purest form is so that they'd all have a guideline to go by but the curriculum has become more flexible with their beliefs OF Good and Evil and that every student just have shades of grey but choses to go by these either of the two and can still be a Hero or a Villain then Yara could have been the right person to show that it doesn't matter if your not completely on one side and was given the characteristics of the other, it matters what values you choose to follow despite it and how tou choose to use it to help everyone else for the better.

Cause it's canon already that it doesn't matter what they are, it's what they do that counts.

NGL I'm not completely satisfied with how I explained Chaddick and Yara I feel like I didn't do them justice here and I will definitely get back to this when I have organized and fleshed out my thoughts on them

Anyways, if you guys would like to add your own thoughts to this post pls do.

#tedros #agatha #sge #sfgae #tsfgae #the school for good and evil #school for good and evil #soman chainani #chaddick of foxwood #chaddick #yara of avalon towers #tristan of avalon towers #tagatha #agatha of woods beyond #agatha of camelot #tedros of camelot #I personally feel like this was messy and not as detailed as the rest #sorry guys but gonna do them justice #once i've fixed my thoughts m

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spideyxchelle · 6 years ago

Photo

she wears yellow in Vienna. and he notices. because she is in a serious relationship with the color black. any kind of brightness really throws him for a loop. it throws their entire decathlon travel party for a loop. flash audibly gasps. “settle down, flash gordon. its just a dress,” she rolls her eyes. ned smiles, “you look nice, mj. you always look nice. but, you know, yellow is a pretty color on you.” cindy lifts her chin proudly, “thank you.” Peter raises his eyebrow in confusion, so mj clarifies, “cindy bought it for me. for the, uh, dinner tonight.”

the midtown team was having dinner with the british league. a huge part of the world decathlon championship was about building bridges between the future leaders of tomorrow. to make friends. and so mj, as captain, had decided they would try and have dinner with as many teams as they could manage before the competition in three days.

which still doesn’t explain the yellow dress.

he is still staring. it is really hard not to. it exposes her shoulders. and her collarbone. which is a sexy bone. peter parker had never consider the collarbone sexy before. it is. and the fact that he is constituting a bone as sexy sends him into an immediate shame spiral. especially because he knows he should not be looking at mj. not the way that he is. which is borderline carnivorous.

their eyes connect. he wants to fire off a flare to send for help. he is in danger. looking at her is dangerous. there is a ripple of something that passes between them and he wants to run. he just isn’t sure if he wants to run away. or run toward her. it is a staggering kind of revelation. the kind that burns cities to the ground.

peter forces himself to tear his eyes away. he is not sure how he knows but mj looks away, too. and he feels the prickle of people watching him. watching them. there weird surge of energy that sent an electric shock rippling through the space.

“nice dress,” he mumbles, to break the tension. “thanks,” she nods awkwardly.

conversation smothers the silence. the others talk. bitch. groan. sally and cindy take pictures every ten feet. the world and time keep moving forward, unkindly ignoring peter’s discomfort.

as they walk to dinner, peter cannot help but steal glances at her. the yellow is a soft compliment to the setting sun. the pinks and purples, a backdrop.

they arrive at the little café where they are meeting the british league. and peter never makes it in the door. mj grabs the bend of his elbow and tugs him away. “hey, woah,” he fumbles. he immediately notices that michelle’s face is unreadable. and very, very close to his own. she seems to detect it, too. because she takes a pointed step back. she smooths down the yellow fabric of her dress and says with a forced casualness, “stop looking at me, parker. its distracting.” he feels his face grow a violent and vicious red. “i-I’m not. you? you’re…that’s….i’m not,” he practically flails. she rolls her eyes, “fine. you’re not. but if you were…stop. okay?” he looks down at his shoes and nods, “copy that.” “good,” she says and parades into the restaurant.

peter is not quick to follow her. he lags behind and leans back against the wall, taking in deep breaths. it is just a dress. it shouldn’t affect him so much. perhaps, he reasons, he is just surprised. michelle isn’t much one for dresses. it is just a culture shock to his system. nothing more.

he feels his face, his stupid blush, start to fall under control. he wrangles his weird feelings. and dampens them down until they are ground into something manageable. he is being ridiculous. michelle is his friend. first and foremost. end of story.

peter walks into the café five minutes later and spots the table of his peers all laughing with some kids he doesn’t recognize. the british league. and then, above all the laughter, he hears another laugh. it is a twinkling and an unfamiliar sound.

it belongs to michelle.

he stops dead in his tracks. she is laughing and leaning into a really, frankly unfairly attractive british guy. but michelle isn’t the only one that seems tickled fucking pink by this new guy. “peter!’ ned calls him over. peter forces his feet to move. he slides into the seat beside some girl he doesn’t know. she smiles warmly at him. he exchanges an effortful grin back. “I’m Gwen,” the girl introduces herself. her accent is sweet and lilting. he is almost charmed by it. “Peter,” he replies, offering his hand to shake.

the same twinkling laugh dances again. he snaps his eyes to mj and the british man that is apparently some kind of stand-up comedian. gwen supplies the answer to his unspoken question, “that’s harry. he’s our captain.” peter nods and tears his eyes away from the appalling sight. he promised he would stop staring. and, besides, michelle is his friend. it is the yellow dress. the yellow dress is to blame.

he looks at gwen who he decides is very pretty. she is more subdued than her captain. but she is quietly fierce. he can tell. “are you enjoying Vienna?” he asks. she tucks her long, dark hair behind her ear, “yeah, I am. after…” she trails off. “after…you know…I promised myself I would travel more.” he silently finishes her thought. he knows after the snap, after people were brought back into existence the entire universe had to find a way to cope, to shut out the memories of the vast nothingness. talking about the snap is a universal horror. and so, people rarely talk about it. at least, not directly.

peter understands better than most. he carries the snap. and the guilt of thanos. he had almost had the gauntlet free, god damn it. he had been so close. he had almost saved the neighborhood. almost.

gwen touches his knee with her hand. and he is pulled from his thoughts. “sorry,” he mumbles. she shakes her head, “no, don’t apologize. everybody carries it their own way.” “did you…?” he clamps his mouth shut. there is no gentle way to ask if someone had been dusted. and he doesn’t know this girl. in the gaping hole from gwen’s silence, peter hears mj laugh again. it weirdly stings.

gwen nods stiffly, “yeah.” peter rubs his eyes with the pads of his hands, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” “no,” she assures him, “no, really. it’s fine. we have to figure out a way to talk about it, you know?” and he isn’t sure he believes that. he doesn’t know how to talk about it. he doesn’t know how to even begin. no one does.

gwen feels like the kind of sympathetic soul that would welcome talking about the snap. but he doesn’t know her. they’ve just met. and it isn’t polite to talk about the snap. its not civilized conversation.

“anyway,” he lies with his smile, “has your league ever been to the world championship before?” if gwen senses his dishonesty, she has the good grace not to comment on it. she rolls her shoulders back and reaches for some of the shared plates on the table. she rips off of a bite of bread. “mhmm,” she says. “twice. Harry is determined to win this year. france beat us last year and switzerland the year before that.” the mention of harry has his eyes flitting across the table. he spots harry with his arm hanging loosely around michelle. peter isn’t sure he has ever seen anyone touch mj like that. he doesn’t mean to imagine its him.

the yellow dress is fucking him up. but there is something so familiar in that imagining. like, he has held her like that in another life. and he nearly chucks bread at harry’s head. because he can’t waltz into their group and hold her like he knows her. he doesn’t.

he doesn’t know the good days and the bad days. he doesn’t know the kinds of tea she drinks. or the way she laughs behind books to hide her smiles because he knows she’s self conscious of her one tooth which is downright adorable. he knows her. and he likes her. just the way she is.

which is another one of those revelations that freak him out. peter snaps his eyes back to gwen. pretty and sweet gwen. his aunt had told him before he left, when she had kissed his brow a little more desperately than she ever had before the snap, to enjoy Europe. kiss a pretty girl. make memories.

maybe gwen could be a memory.

he scratches the back of his head, “tell me if this is too forward but, uh, do you wanna go for a walk.” gwen’s eyes go wide with shock. peter shakes his head, embarrassed, “no. right. of course you don’t. sorry. That was weird. I didn’t mean to make it weird. I’m this random American you don’t even know.” “what? no. I would love to. just surprised.” “really?” his voice cracks, “I mean…really?” she gnaws on her lip to hide a smile, “really.”

without another word, he stands up and offers his hand. she takes it. her hand is small and delicate. the table doesn’t stop talking, doesn’t even notice them leave. all except one.

peter likes gwen, he decides on their walk. she is smart and funny and her accent is killer. he shouldn’t have watched the mummy movies as a kid. his crush on Rachel Weisz’s librarian character is really doing him in with gwen. its disarming.

together, they walk through Vienna and happen upon a market. she spots a blue pendant and peter feels compelled to buy it for her. he has more money than he knows what to do with now. courtesy of tony. he figures he can buy a pretty girl a necklace.

the man behind the counter for the necklace looks at him strangely. as if he is waiting for something. peter realizes it is his money. he drops the brightly colored bills into a fishbowl, the market equivalent for a cash register, and peter smiles. the seller still stares.

peter only breaks the weird stare-off when gwen asks him to put on the necklace and he complies.

which earns him a kiss. his first kiss, he realizes as he cradles the back of her head with his hand. spider-man didn’t leave much room for girlfriends or crushes. liz was one date that he ran out on. and then, after that, he’d been busy. on patrol. saving his small corner of the world. girls were not even a thought.

or, maybe they were. because as he kisses gwen, all he can think is that its wrong. she should be taller than him. and the kiss should have more bite to it. but he doesn’t want to fall deep into water he can’t tread, by thinking about this. so he decides to wade in shallow water. he kisses gwen back lightly. he enjoys it.

she giggles when they pull apart. and he smiles. “sorry,” he says immediately. she shakes her head, “no. uh. it was good. you’re a good kisser.” “cool,” he flushes. “its getting late,” she bounces a little, “I should be getting back. can’t let you beat us tomorrow.” peter laughs, “no. wouldn’t want that.”

she kisses him once more and before she can get away, he kisses her more deeply. he chases her mouth. her laughter tickles his breath. gwen rests her hands on his chest and repeats, “I have to go.”

he lets her go. and he pretends to care about watching her walk away.

when he gets back to their hotel, ned is pacing in their hotel room and mj is sitting bored on his bed. “thank GOD,” ned practically shouts, when peter walks in. peter startles. ned puts his hands on his hips, “where have you been?” “I told you he was fine,” mj quips. peter nods, “I was fine…wait…why are you here?” mj rolls her eyes, “ned was about to have a heart attack. you disappeared.” “did not,” he replies, “I was out with gwen.” “gwen?” ned asks. “the pretty girl in blue at the end of the table,” peter clarifies. ned grins stupidly, “you went off with a girl…” peter blushes which must give something away because mj slams her book shut. “well, he’s fine. I’m going to bed now, losers.”

“mj—” peter tries, but she slams the door on her way out. peter turns to look at ned, “what was that about? why was she even here?” “what?” ned blinks, “she’s our friend. she was worried.” peter grumps, “bullshit.” “she does,” ned insists, “and you went off on some adventure in a city we don’t know. she was worried. I was worried, too.”

peter looks after the closed door, “she changed out of the yellow dress.” and its like he almost expects the spell to be broken. the spell the yellow dress had cast over him. but, if possible, he was even more startled by the sight of her in her pajamas with messy hair in his bed. she looked like she belonged there. and he wanted hide away on some remote island until he could banish these feelings forever. they were making an idiot out of him.

he groans. ned gently probes, “what’s going on?” peter shrugs, “I think I like mj.” and saying it makes it real. and weird. and he hates that stupid yellow dress. he was happy being in denial.

ned gasps, “dude.” “I know,” peter replies. “but dude.” “I know.” and then, ned says something that peter never expects, “you gotta go tell her.” “what?” peter gapes. “no,” ned is radiating buoyant energy, “look, we’re in Europe. why not? why not now? make memories, May said. kiss pretty girls. michelle is a pretty girl.”

and it makes so much sense it freaks peter out. existential questions should not have simple, practical answers.

“what?” ned prompts him. “why not now? why not her?” “I kissed gwen,” peter replies. and its an excuse and an answer all at once. he isn’t sure he’s supposed to kiss one girl and then go tell another girl he likes her. it feels gross and dishonest. and by the way ned is looking at him, he seems to agree. “dude.” “I know.” “dude.” “I know.”

“well,” ned tries to dig them out of the hole he dug, “did you like kissing her?” “what? no. I mean, well, it was fine. but….I” peter flinches and sheepishly adds, “thought about mj the whole time.”

ned closes his eyes and groans, “dude.” “I know.” “dude.” “I know.” “idiot,” ned shakes his head. peter tries to defend himself, “she was all over that guy. harry or something.” the or something is a lie. he knows his name. it burned into his brain. ned thumbs peter’s arm, which doesn’t hurt anything except his pride. “dude.” “you idiot, harry and mj know each other. how do you think the dinner got set up? she’s the decathlon captain. he’s the decathlon president of his team. they’re pen pals. friends.” peter grumbles, “looked more than friendly to me.” “stop,” ned warns, “stop that right now. you’re the only person stopping you from making this a thing, peter. you.”

peter brushes some floppy hair out of his eyes and lets hope in, “you really think so?” a smile creeps up on ned’s features. and his best friend grandly gestures toward the door, “go forth.” “really?” peter knows he shouldn’t. but damn, he wants to so badly. “yeah,” ned nods, “absolutely.”

it is ned’s misplaced confidence that has peter bounding out of their hotel room and down the hall to michelle’s single. sally and cindy were doubled up. and as the third girl, she wasn’t allowed to be in a hotel room by herself. they never filled liz’s empty spot.

he knocks on his door and mj immediately opens the door. she looks confused and a little pissed to see him. “what?” she demands. and in front of her now, he doesn’t know what to say. he should have planned it. should have done better than realize he liked her because of some silly yellow dress. but, damn, what a dress. it was like distilled sunshine.

and he knows he should have known better earlier. because michelle was like finding for peace after years of war. he has been at war. for longer than a boy should have been.

he doesn’t say any of that poetic crap. instead, he puts his foot spectacularly in his mouth, “I kissed gwen.” the limited amount of openness that was dancing in mj’s eyes shuts down immediately. “okay,” she crosses her arms over her chest, “why are you telling me this, parker?” “uh,” and he doesn’t know. but he feels like he has to start there. “I just wanted you to know,” he says. “well, I know,” she reaches for her door and tries to close it in his face, “goodnight.” he blocks the door with his hand and does not let her close it. she does not seem surprised by his display of strength. in fact, it annoys her. “don’t use that shit against me, parker.” “what shit?” he asks. “your superhero shit. its cheating.” he gawks and she snorts, “what? you think you’re so slick? please.”

peter pushes his way into her room and she stumbles backward, effortfully keeping distance between them. “you know?” he says, astonished. he faintly registers the door clicking closed behind him. she looks away from him and shrugs one shoulder, “yeah, so?” “yeah. so.” he repeats dully, “this isn’t a yeah so kind of thing, mj.” “well,” she squints at him, “I didn’t lie. you did. so. yeah.” “didn’t lie,” he defends himself, “its more complicated than that. I was being discreet. keeping the people I care about safe.”

she snorts, “you’re so full of shit. ned knows. and I bet your aunt does, too. you kept it from the people that don’t matter.” “that’s not true. you matter.” “please, since when?” “I—” he closes his mouth. she smiles mirthlessly, “see? full of shit.”

he rubs his eyes, tiredly, “me not telling you about being a superhero isn’t me being full of shit. its not.” “did you really think having an internship with Tony Stark was as inconspicuous as you thought?” the mention of tony shuts him down. he sees the flash. Thanos. and then his mentor crumbling. dying on some nameless planet galaxies away from his home. his life.

he sits on the edge of her bed. crippled by the memory. he barely hears her curse under her breath. but he feels the bed dip when she sits beside him. “peter?” she tries. he doesn’t respond. she tries, again, “peter, please. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…” “people who know die,” he replies, “and I didn’t tell ned or my aunt. they found out. and if I could have kept it from them, I would have.” he stands up, impassioned, “and we’re friends but its not like we’re close. I didn’t owe you that secret.”

“if we aren’t close,” she snaps, “then why are you here?” his eyes flick down to her lips, and he notices they are parted just so. and her chest is heaving. he knows his own breath is ragged. she notices. and breathlessly says, “this is because of that stupid yellow dress, isn’t it?” he steps toward her, invades her space, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she is slightly taller than him. he has to tilt his chin up slightly. its disarming. or maybe she is. he can’t tell.

she whispers, “yes you do.” he confirms, “you don’t believe that. it wasn’t the dress.” “you…” she struggles for words, “you never would have ended up here if not for the dress.” “em,” he says, and the foreign nickname feels right, “you don’t believe that either.” he knows the way she is looking at him, the way he knows he is looking at her, that they would have ended up here eventually.

once you stop pretending, its hard not to act.

and he realizes with a start that he has been acting for ages. when he sits beside her on the bus. when he buys her tea before school. when he blows off patrol to be at decathlon practice with her. action. for her. hell, he knows he’s only on this stupid trip because she asked.

if she asked him to march across a desert to get to her, he’d run.

there is the hum of a piano, playing a gentle line, in the back of his mind. he wonders if he makes up the tune. or if she does.

and he’s kissing her. once. twice. the slightest press. a simple question. she does not answer. so he asks again. and then, she is writing poetry against his mouth. winded, insistent poetry.

he has all of one other kiss to compare her kisses to and, still, he knows this kiss now blows all of the other kisses he would or could ever have out of the water. she is burning up the pages that any other girl could scribble to claim to his heart. until there is only her. only michelle.

“em,” he sighs. he has never wanted anyone like this before. he suddenly understands why people describe kissing like disarming. because he does not have any defenses. not against her. he surrenders completely.

and then, they are tipping backward on her bed. she is beneath him. and she is so maddeningly soft. her curves are a revelation. just like the yellow dress. she has peaks and valleys. and he explores every one with his hot, pressing hands. some places make her whimper, other make her arch, others make her tremble.

he pulled her into his arm. both arms. and they fight. or maybe they make peace.

michelle impatiently pulls at the fabric of his shirt. and he absolutely agrees. it is the stupidest article of clothing he has ever owned. he pulls it over his head and tosses it across the room. she sits up a little to press hot kisses up the center of his chest. he fists his hand in her curls.

he slants his mouth over hers again and they sit up together in an awkward configuration to kiss each other. he learns how to communicate through kisses. he learns how to kiss someone and have them kiss you back and come away smarter, worldlier, better.

she tries to pull her own shirt off, but he does not want to let her go. kissing her is so much better than whatever could be beneath her shirt. she forces him away and he is not stable so he falls on his back. and is proved so fantastically wrong.

she frees herself from her shirt and, holy hell, she is fantastic. she has so much skin. he wants to touch her. god, he wants to be allowed to touch her.

she nods, as if understanding him. and he doesn’t sit up. he pulls her down on top of him and kisses whatever skin he can get his hands on. wherever he is not, his mouth is. it is an absolutely foolproof solution.

he licks her nipple into his mouth and she shutters. it is like winning decathlon. it is like capturing a bad guy. it is so, so much better than all of that.

he flips her under his solid chest and goes to work on her chest. she yanks on his curls. and he doesn’t even mind. it is the best.

they are children in the dark learning everything. eager for one another. peter nips at her skin. she keens and pulls his hair hard.

its wonderful.

and then, she reaches for the zipper on his jeans. and cold water falls over the moment. dousing him and bringing his clouded mind into sunshine. the sun is bright and unwelcome. he liked the darkness better. he likes fumbling in the dark and finding magic.

“em,” he grabs her wrist and she shakes her head, kissing him hard. she tries to pull him back under ecstasy with her. it almost works. he wants it to work. “we shouldn’t,” the stupid, responsible part of his brain says. he doesn’t say that he never has done this before. it feels too vulnerable. and he doesn’t want to disappoint her.

but more than that, he doesn’t want to know. he doesn’t want to know who has had her before. he wants to scratch out those names and burn only his into her mind.

half-naked under him, she kisses under his jaw. and it drives him insane. “michelle,” he swallows. “that’s sexy,” she bites his jaw, “say it again.”

“no,” he shakes his head free of cobwebs, “michelle, seriously.” “seriously,” she smirks, “say it again.” and damn him, he does. he learns she has a weak, breathy moan.

“parker,” she finally says when all of the blood finishes rushing to his dick, “if I didn’t want this…you would not get this…superhero or not.” he takes a deep breath, “this is happening so fast.” she kisses him fiercely, “we don’t know how much time we have.” her voice is exposed.

that hits him hard. the snap took so much. so much goodness. he doesn’t know. hell, he’s never asked. he doesn’t know if when the world fell away, if she stayed or if she went. and he can’t ask. because he doesn’t want to know. the idea of her crumbling into nothing is too much for him. because he had failed so many people when he didn’t get the gauntlet off of thanos. but he might have failed her, too.

and that. he can’t.

he can’t lose her.

she understands. without saying a word, he knows she understands. maybe not the specifics. he isn’t ready to talk about thanos. but with her, well, maybe one day he could.

he tucks a curl behind her hair and kisses her gently. her eyelashes flutter against his face. the storm passes. they weather their demons together with this kiss.

and they decide to save each other. quietly. in the dips of their kiss.

their clothes fall away like water. they drip onto the floor. and are forgotten. he kisses every inch of her skin that he can see. and she teaches him how to touch her. with quiet whispers. and guiding hands. their fingers overlap.

she starts to tremble. he dips an eager finger inside of her and then two. and she bites her bottom lip. he coaxes it open with his tongue. he doesn’t want her biting her lip. he wants to do that. he does.

she whimpers and he feels her fall apart. she cresses up against his chest and they are deliciously pressing against each other for several glorious seconds. and when she falls loosely back on her bed, her eyes are glassy and her lips are bitten from his kisses. he isn’t practiced enough to handle the way she looks. it takes absolutely everything in him not to join her over the edge of bliss. everything.

“don’t you dare, parker,” she warns. “I’m not done with you yet.” and he knows he is completely, utterly at her mercy.

she knows, too. and he hopes it is enough to convince her that he does care. he cares so much. he’s cared for so long. denial is a funny thing. it kept him away from her so long. they lost so much time. all of high school.

“I wanna be with you,” she admits. he nods dumbly. and keeps nodding until it hits him. she wants to be with him. like, be with him properly. he doesn’t even know, can’t even process. “oh,” is his eloquent response. she rolls her eyes but there is no malice behind it. she kisses him perfunctory. and he stupidly adds, “I’ve never…” “I figured,” she cuts him off. “I don’t have…” “I’m on the pill. and I know you’re clean. because duh.” he flushes. and he wants to ask about why she’s on the pill. but its rude. and none of his business. but damn, he wants to know.

if she senses his unspoken question, she doesn’t give it oxygen. she lets it die. she snuffs it out with a kiss.

she rolls him over on his back and her curls become a curtain around his face. it hides them from the rest of the world. and he is alone in looking up at her beautiful face. all of this is a gift he is not sure he has earned. he feels upside-down and, if he is, he never wants to be right-side up again.

she kisses him. it is chasing breath. it is concentrated gold. it is treasure. he kisses her back. and they fall together like unpracticed lovers do. it is not masterful. but it is meaningful.

she takes the lead. she grabs a hold of him and slowly lowers herself down on him.

and time and space slows down. he shivers. he can’t think or breathe. and it feels better than he ever imagined. she takes care of him. which is good. he feels like he is on the edge of death. knocking on the door to the other side.

until she starts to move. then, it all zeroes in on her. and he ascends to another plan of existence. his hands find her hips, the soft dips of her skin and he holds her there.

she lets her curls fall over one of her shoulders. and she tilts her chin down to look at him as she sets a sickly sweet pace. the rhythm is smooth.

he flexes his hands on her hips. he can’t last. this perfection can’t last. it will end.

she takes mercy on his pathetic body. she leans down so their chests are pressed. and hastens her rhythm. he is utterly dazzled. there are diamonds in his eyes.

she tears her nails down his chest. he hisses. and she kisses him hard. this part he can do. he kisses her wildly. and that does not stay concentrated to their mouths. he begins to buck up into her sloppily and hard. over and over again. and what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in energy. enthusiasm.

and with one more hard fuck. he sees white. the world becomes a wash. and he falls apart.

he skips rocks in the cosmos.

and when he comes back to his body, she is still on top of him, fucking the last bits of what she can out of him. he whimpers. it is too much. he can’t.

she takes the hint and rolls off of him.

he gulps down air.

“wow,” he says dumbly. she turns to look at him and there is something heartbreakingly soft about her like this. he knocks his nose against hers and kisses her sweetly. she folds into it.

then, her bottom lip wobbles. and he feels the wet tears on his face before he sees them. he pulls away and cups her face. “em?” she shakes her head and tries to settle her breathing, “I’m fine.” “michelle, you’re crying,” he points out. so she says, “why’d you have to put on that stupid suit and get yourself shot up into space? why didn’t you just stay on the bus?”

his heart cracks. it fractures. it aches. “michelle.” she shakes her head, “you only just caught up, parker. I’ve been here for ages. waiting for you to look back.” “I’m looking now,” he says weakly. but he knows it isn’t enough. she wipes hastily at her face, “why? why now? after all this time?” “I—” “why?”

he pulls her into his arms. because he wants to hold her. because he never wants to let go.

suddenly he remembers something gwen said to him. she promised herself after the snap she would travel more. and he supposes everyone after the snap made their own promises. made their peace with the things that felt too hard, too much, or too risky. there was more to life than getting from day to day. life was about living.

“after the dusting,” he starts, “after I came back…I didn’t want to do anything. I wanted to lay in bed and let life stop happening. but you didn’t let me. you made me come to school, to practice, to this stupid trip. and I came because I would do anything you asked me to. absolutely anything. em, I’m so sorry it too me so long to get here. but I’m here now. and, if you’ll have me, I want you. yellow dress. no yellow dress. hair a mess. lips bitten red from my kisses. I want you.”

and it is dumb. he knows its dumb. but he doesn’t know how else to say how he feels. he hopes she knows. he hopes she understands. she felt like she understood. when they were together. when she kissed him. and led him on a wild trip through the stars.

she searches his face for answers he is not sure he has. she doesn’t speak. she curls up beside him. and it is not an answer. but it is enough. for now, this is everything.

he leaves a few hours before the sun rises. and she kisses him again. when he gets back to his room, ned is mercifully sleeping. he does not know what he would say to him.

and he goes to sleep with a smile on his face.

when he wakes, ned doesn’t say a thing about michelle. there is some kind of unspoken rule between them. a cone of silence that they will not talk about the mj-all-night-disappearance. and he feels good.

until the worry sets in. the reality. the sunrise after the stars.

he realizes after…they did not speak. she kissed him and held him. but now he wonders if he should have spoken up, asked what it meant. if their night was one night. but it felt too late to ask those questions. dawn was his mistress now. tearing him away from her forever.

when she sits beside him at breakfast, he torturously waits. waits for the other shoe to drop. she does not talk to him directly. she addresses the team and starts to drill them for the decathlon match. the world cup. it is like any day at midtown. nothing has changed, like he feared. flash and abe get into a debate over one of her questions. peter is paralyzed the entire breakfast.

and then, under the table, she closes her hand around his fingers. his heart thuds loudly. he is sure everyone hears the erratic pattering. no one stops arguing. the impromptu breakfast practice continues.

and he holds her hand. and doesn’t let go. she doesn’t either.

everything, for that moment, is better. so much better than it has been in a long time. since thanos. since tony. since he lost the world.

then, his phone buzzes. he manages to pull it out of his pocket with one hand. there is an Avengers alert. something he has never seen before. something the team must have installed after the snap. he glances up at ned who looks more worried than confused. peter’s face must betray his concern. he does not think michelle manages to read his phone, but she squeezes his hand impossibly tight. and he thinks she might have managed anyway.

he reluctantly lets go of her hand. the whole table looks at him. he is doing it again. he is ditching before a major competition. he is running off. and disappointing his teammates. he lamely says, “I gotta go. to the bathroom. don’t, uh, feel well.” flash rolls his eyes, “you’re doing this again, parker?” michelle sticks up for him but her voice sounds hollow, “if he says he’s not feeling well, he’s not feeling well, flash.” “you’re just gonna let him get away with this shit?” ned jumps in, “he wasn’t feeling well last night. must have been something he ate.” abe snickers, “or someone he kissed.”

michelle goes rigid. she heard about gwen. he told her. but it feels sickly and gross coming out of abe’s mouth. “dude,” ned nudges abe. he looks helplessly at michelle who takes a deep breath and blows forward, “if he doesn’t feel well, he doesn’t feel well. I’ll get him situated then meet you all at the competition hall.” “but—” “no buts,” she cuts flash off.

peter makes a show of looking hopelessly ill as she marches him back to his room. and when they are free of questioning eyes, when he is safe in his room. she grabs his face and kisses his furiously. he dips into the space she occupies in his brain that knows only her. knows only this. “what’s going on?” she finally pulls away. and he is sufficiently dazed. “I don’t know,” he replies. he pulls out his phone and reads something about visions and magic and hypnosis or some shit. it hardly makes sense. “I don’t know,” he says again, “but I gotta go. I’m so sorry.” she looks conflicted, kisses him once more (which he decides he could get used to), and nods confidently, “go get ‘em, tiger.” and he can’t not kiss her again for that. he launches himself out of his window in the suit and karin springs to life. guiding him right into the jaws of the fight.

there are people, scores of them, standing as if stunned still in the middle of a square not far from his hotel. and he wonders if somehow he attracts danger. as if wherever he goes, the lunatics follow. the man standing in the middle of the still as statues crowd has his back to peter.

and he is wearing a fishbowl on his head. or maybe its some kind of astronaut gear. but it feels unhinged. it feels more threatening than funny. still, he quips, “you lost, sandy cheeks?” “ah,” the disfigured voice echoes from the bowl, “you came. I thought you might after that distress signal.” “how…” peter trails off and then it clicks, “you sent that? how did you send that?” “how indeed, mister parker, how indeed.” the fishbowl man turns around and peter recognizes him. he is the man from the market. the man that he bought gwen’s necklace from. “you,” he whispers. the market man smiles, “me.” the man shoots his hand out.

and peter falls into darkness.

#ficlet #ffh headcanons #trash can

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 7 years ago

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20 Reasons you should love Spider-Girl!

Happy May Day one and all. Since this day shares a name with a certain daughter of our friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler (and because this year marked her 20th anniversary) we’re going to list of 20 reasons you should love Spider-Girl!

No deep dive analysis I am afraid and these are in no particular order.

Without further adieu...

Longest running female Marvel hero with her own series

In a day and age when much discussion is devoted to female characters in leading roles Spider-Girl was something of a trail blazer, though she gets far too little credit for it.

Spider-Girl was (and still is to my understanding) the longest running female Marvel character to have her own solo-series; at least without any re-launches.

This feat is even more impressive considering Spider-Girl was an out-of-continuity series which usually do not sell as easily as titles within the mainstream 616 universe.

Her costume

When discussing Spider-Man’s costumes thought inevitably drifts to Spider-Man’s original red and blue outfit or his black and white one. However the third horse in the race is the 1996 costume created by Ben Reilly and thus lovingly nicknamed the ‘Spider-Ben’ outfit.

It is simply a brilliant and beautiful design succeeding in evoking something unique and yet distinctly ‘Spider-Man’.

Whilst anyone coming to the black costume completely cold and with no context could be forgiven for mistaking it for an entirely different character (as Ron Frenz did way back in the early 1980s), nobody could look at Mayday’s costume and not realize it has something to do with Spider-Man.

Shifting around elements of the classic costume Mayday’s outfit succeeds in maintaining a balance of primary colours (as the best superhero costumes do) and making her distinct from any artistic angle.

The costume also (according to superstar artist Sal Buscema) in fact works more effectively on Mayday’s feminine form than on the typical male superhero body build.

Her other costumes

The beauty of Spider-Man’s black costume lies in its simplicity. However this doesn’t mean it is above being redesigned and around 20 years after its debut one of the key architects in its introduction (Ron Frenz) did just that when he created a black costume for Mayday.

Much like her red and blue outfit, her own black costume succeeds in being unique but retaining most of the strong visual elements that made her Dad’s counterpart outfit a hit. Sleek, simple and using white/silver in moderation to create a stark contrast this is probably Mayday’s most out and out badass look.

But Mr. Frenz had one more trick up his sleeve. In 2015 as part of the Secret Wars mega event Marvel was involved with Ron Frenz took to redesigning Mayday’s costume once again. Her previous appearance in Spider-Verse had controversially seen her hang up her original costume in favour of wearing one of her father’s old suits.

Quite apart from how the costume simply didn’t work as effectively on the Mayday’s female figure compared to Spider-Man’s, fans didn’t take kindly to the change. Apparently neither did Mayday’s co-creators Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz and so we wound up with yet another costume that combined elements of Peter Parker and Ben Reilly’s costumes together to create something once again familiar yet ultimately unique.

Whilst most Spider-Girl fans would’ve preferred a return to her classic look the costume unto itself has been acknowledged as a beautiful design.

A true all ages book

The majority of Spider-Girl’s run played out in a day and age when the content of comic books was going down an allegedly more ‘realistic and mature’ direction.

Titles such as the Ultimate Universe line, though paying lip service to being aimed at younger readers, were far from being for all ages. This was very much true of Marvel and DC as a whole throughout the 2000s and early 2010s.

Spider-Girl was a brave exception to this trend, actively engaging in sophisticated and at times challenging stories that nevertheless presented events in a way that tweens, teens and adults could enjoy.

Survival of cancellations

Infamously Spider-Girl lived under a near perennial threat of cancellation.

But Mayday’s fans were both too smart and too in love with her stories to let her go under.

Repeatedly they exploited their knowledge of the pre-ordering system LCSs use and saved Mayday’s series from cancellation.

No comic book has ever defied expectations and escaped cancellation more times than Spider-Girl.

Tackled tough and relevant subject matters in a frank, mature and realistic way without being grim dark

As I mentioned above, Spider-Girl was an all ages book but that didn’t mean it stayed away from tough subjects.

More than once Spider-Girl used mutants to discuss bigotry and prejudice.

Issue #26 of Mayday’s first series was a vital turning point for the narrative and it fundamentally hinged upon addressing issues related to suicide and the vicious cycle of abuse that can exist within families.

Multiple subplots touched upon women being physically and emotionally abused, to the point where the topic was brought up in the very issue where Mayday celebrated being the longest running female Marvel character. This is best exemplified in Spider-Girl #89 which has one of the most uncomfortably realistic pages in a comic book I have ever read.

Perhaps most audaciously one issue dedicated an entire scene to talking fairly frankly about the topic of abortion and making the characters’ stances on the issue very clear. What is perhaps even more impressive is that this was the second time that writer Tom DeFalco had dared touch that subject within a Spider title.

Regardless of what your personal views are on that or on any of the topics above, the sheer guts of the creative team to ‘go there’ must be admired and respected.

Consistent art that also has amazing action sequences!

Spider-Girl has been drawn by several artists across the years but the two most dominant ones are Pat Oliffe and Ron Frenz.

Whilst both artists evolved their styles across the run of the series there was enough relative consistency that the book rarely felt alienating to long time readers.

And it helped that both artists’ styles are just beautiful.

Oliffe leans more towards illustration and makes the characters seem realistic and yet fluid at the same time.

Frenz is more of a cartoonist and yet his art is not usually overly stylized and manages to retain the iconic features of each character he draws. His rendition of Mary Jane for example could never be mistaken for any given typically attractive redhead, it looks distinctly like Mary Jane evoking Romita Senior’s design for her.

Not only are each artist great in their character work but in their raw sequential storytelling craftsmanship. Nowhere is this more evident than in their well paced, cleverly choreographed and all round dynamic action sequences. At the time the stories were published (and even today) you’d have been hard pressed to find any action sequences in Marvel or DC that could rival those of Spider-Girl’s.

Continuity porn and fan service done right

Dan Slott’s run on Spider-Man has in the past been criticised of indulging in ‘continuity porn’. That is to say utilizing or referencing past continuity excessively to the point where it either takes you out of a story or outright undermines a story itself.

Spider-Girl demonstrates how continuity and fan service can be done well given the right context. There are in fact probably a million times more continuity references and examples of fan service within Spider-Girl’s whole run than in Slott’s collective Spider-Man bibliography.

The difference though is that the continuity Spider-Girl first and foremost concerns itself with involves organically building upon previously established events, whether it’s from its own series, Spider-Man’s wider history or Marvel lore in general.

Case in point Spider-Girl’s debut storyline hinges upon continuity surrounding the DeMatteis/Buscema run of Spectacular Spider-Man as it shows us Harry Osborn’s son following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps by becoming the new Green Goblin. He is even arrested in a scene that is framed near identically to a scene of Harry being arrested in Spectacular Spider-Man #189, whilst singing a variation of the 1960s Spider-Man theme song no less. Furthermore the climax of the issue takes place at the site of Gwen Stacy’s death, which happened in another Goblin story and Mayday’s first words as Spider-Girl are also her mother’s famous first words from ASM #42.

We are talking layers and layers of continuity here. But it never goes to the point of alienating readers, being obnoxious or hurting the stories.

The most significant and obvious ways in which the story (and any Spider-Girl story) utilizes continuity is the way continuity is supposed to function. That is to say it provides good world building and verisimilitude for the story and characters so that they can grow and react to events (and their repercussions) in much the same real people react to events in their lives day-to-day.

And the other references found in the story are subtle enough to not alienate new or casual fans, but still provide a fun nod for those in the know. Critically though for those in the know such references never grow obnoxious because they serve legitimate story purposes as well.

Every time in a Spider-Girl story where Mayday or Normie say, do or are simply drawn in a way that references old stories starring their family members it is touching upon the fundamental themes of family and legacy that define the series. It creates a subtext that spells out how they are the inheritors of their families’ respective legacies and have their ancestors’ traits within them.

And this is just me looking at one story.

You could make a whole series dedicated to just spotting various continuity Easter Eggs scattered throughout the series.

Revived the Hobgoblin

Remember back in 2010 when Dan Slott launched the Big Time era and there was a lot of chatter about the apparent return of the Hobgoblin?

The reason for the chatter was due to Hobgoblin being a major league bad guy during the iconic Roger Stern run of Amazing Spider-Man and his return marking the first time he’d be appearing in well over a decade.

Well guess what? Spider-Girl had Slott beat.

During the build up to her 100th issue the Hobgoblin was dusted off by DeFalco and Frenz (who used the character extensively during their own iconic run on ASM in the 1980s) and reintroduced in all his glory, proving to be one of Mayday’s most formidable foes.

For many Spider-Girl fans Hobgoblin was actually an even more effective villain for Mayday than he ever was for her father, owing much to the gap in their respective experience levels.

It might have happened outside the mainstream Marvel Universe but for many people at the time (and I’d bet many people who read through Big Time) this was the true return of the Hobgoblin.

And a more magnificent comeback you couldn’t have asked for.

The best symbiote character ever!

Symbiotes have traditionally been divisive within Spider-Man fandom, with seemingly few readers neutral on them. More often than not you either love them or you passionately despise them with the rage of a thousand burning suns.

Much of the latter point of view is owed to a perception (right or wrong as it may be) that the symbiotes are shallow and one note characters that emphasise style over substance.

To such detractors I present for you April Parker, a.k.a. Mayhem!

She is a clone of Mayday (or is she?) who also has DNA from the Venom symbiote granting her both the spider powers of Peter Parker and the symbiotes metamorphic abilities.

Putting aside the clever word play going on with her names, Mayhem has genuine substance to her character. She struggles with issues of identity desperately wanting to legitimize herself as the ‘real’ Spider-Girl as opposed to a clone and also make good as a superhero in her own right, but much like Venom (albeit far more successfully) her approach to crime fighting involves a desire to use lethal force in direct opposition to Mayday’s philosophies.

Her relationship with Mayday is beautiful in its complexity and contradictions. She views May as a usurper of the life that rightfully belongs to her and competes to outdo her in and out of their costumed lives; hence naming herself April, because it comes before May. But she nevertheless cares for May as a sister and can become violent when believing her to be threatened or harmed.

The dynamic between the two also ties into themes and relationships from the Clone Saga, as Mayhem is a combination of all three of Peter’s clones (Spidercide, Kaine and Ben Reilly) and his relationships with each of them has commonalities with Mayday’s and April’s relationship.

And on top of all that...she just looks drop dead cool.

Organic continuation of canon stories

Spider-Man is fundamentally about responsibility and there is no greater responsibility than family. This has been a hallmark of the series since literally Peter Parker’s first appearance.

Whilst Spider-Man’s series (when done right) emphasises family as part of the broader theme of responsibility, Spider-Girl flips the script and instead makes family and the related theme of legacy the primary point of the character and her adventures.

Thematically this makes Spider-Girl an organic continuation of Spider-Man’s story but more than this the nuts and bolts of the series and the universe built around it honestly feel totally believable as a continuation of the Marvel universe, or at least as it existed circa 1998.

All the child and teen heroes of the regular Marvel universe grew up to become the main heroes of Spider-Girl’s day and the surviving old guard adopted mentorship and commander roles within the superhero community.

As for Peter Parker and Mary Jane, if you took them circa 1998, gave them a baby and cut to 15 years later they’d be near identical to their Spider-Girl counterparts.

Various subplots within Spider-Girl also follow through on being an organic continuation of the Marvel universe of the later 1990s. One of her villains, the Black Tarantula, was last seen in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man as a young boy fleeing the influence of his father who wished to make him the new Black Tarantula. John Jameson and Ashley Kafka who were seen dating in the 1990s are shown as married in the world of Spider-Girl. Johnny Storm is the leader of the Fantastic Five which includes a grown up Franklin Richards. Normie Osborn becomes consumed by his family’s legacy of evil and becomes the Green Goblin, etc.

A robust rogue’s gallery

I admit it. Spider-Girl has neither the best nor the most original villains out there.

But I will say this...she at least has a rogue’s gallery.

In all honestly think about just how many superheroes out there honestly couldn’t say as much. Maybe they have 5 or so villains to call their own and be reliable sources of conflict but by and large try naming 6 villains Carol Danvers has consistently had personal one-on-one encounters with across the decades...besides Moonstone or Doctor Minerva.

Try doing the same for the Black Panther when you exclude Klaw and Killmonger.

You’d not run into such a problem with Mayday though

Super villains are vitally important to a superhero series and having some to call your own that you can definitively say are your rogue’s gallery is something to be proud and protective of. As Geoff Johns proved on his run on the Flash, villains are what you make of them. So even if Mayday doesn’t have the best rogue’s gallery she at least had the scope to never run out of opponents to challenge her and rivalries to explore.

Additionally, what made her rogue’s gallery special was it’s healthy mix of relatively original foes, her own spins on classic Spidey enemies and a handful of Spidey’s old foes (for example Hobgoblin).This created a robust villain pool from which to draw stories from as they allowed the creative team to explore similar power sets from a different point of view, pit a Spider character against a whole new type of opponent or explore Mayday and a villain’s identity via contrasting her battles with her fathers’.

It gave the Venom symbiote a character arc

In 1984 Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz introduced the world to what would later be revealed as the Venom symbiote. Though they weren’t involved in every step of its consequent development in their own little universe they gave the symbiote a poignant death scene that totally re-contextualized its older appearances, granting it emotional layers, sympathy and a beautiful character arc. Oh and it was also the first ever example I know of where the symbiote was referred to as female.

It inspired things in the 616 universe and MCU

Much like the return of the Hobgoblin the MC2 universe both pioneered ideas later repeated in the mainstream 616 Marvel universe and also directly inspired concepts later introduced within it as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

These include: making Cassie Lang a superhero called Stinger, giving Jessica Drew a son called Gerald, giving Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne a daughter named Hope, introducing a villain team named the Savage Six, making the Venom symbiote female, granting the symbiote to a supporting cast member and making them a hero, introducing an A.I. Iron Man suit programmed with Tony Stark’s brain patterns, giving Wolverine a daughter, and other stuff I am sure I am forgetting.

It could make lemonade out of terrible lemons

Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz were nothing if not inventive problem solvers during their time on Spider-Girl. In particular they had a knack for making something worthwhile out of a bad situation.

In the 1990s a new female version of Doctor Octopus was introduced and roundly lambasted by the fan base faithful. Was this criticism unfair? Maybe...then again her plans did almost exclusively revolve around nonsense involving virtual reality.

Nevertheless the Spider-Girl creative team dusted off the character and introduced her afresh, doing away with her old schemes and playing her as a more straightforward and down to Earth villain who could easily overpower Mayday. Though she had but a few appearances it ultimately redeemed her character.

More significantly though when Dan Slott as part of Spider-Verse controversially killed off Mayday’s father and established her as now wearing his old costume DeFalco and Frenz decided to do a follow up story that believably and touchingly showcased Mayday’s grieving process and moving on.

Though most were unhappy with the situation that existed they nevertheless respected and appreciated the creative teams’ never flagging efforts to serve the character.

Actually involved the parents instead of killing them off as would be the cliché

Many critics and readers have praised Kamala Khan and other recent superheroes for subverting the typical superhero clichés of having dead parents.

However Spider-Girl is a precursor to many of these modern series. In fact as mentioned above her parents being recurring characters was essentially the wholesale point of the series.

And they weren’t just there as background characters either.

Through subplots such as their new baby and accepting April Parker into their family Peter and Mary Jane were given subplots of their own that were organically woven into the wider fabric of Mayday’s life.

Whilst Peter would on occasion suit up and go into action as Spider-Man, act as a mentor and dispense fatherly advice when necessary, MJ got to be a counterpoint to Peter and had two issues focussing almost exclusively upon her character.

Mayday was a brilliant fusion of her parents

Speaking of her parents, one of the charms of Mayday’s character was how believable she was as the child of Peter and Mary Jane.

This is evident from her very first appearance.

Like her mother Mayday is very popular and on the higher echelons of the high school social ladder. And yet she is scientifically inclined and friends with the ‘nerds’ as well as the ‘jocks’.

She has Peter’s hair and eye colour and sense of guilt, but her mother’s facial features and outgoing personality.

In a very real sense she is the embodiment of both of her parents’ best qualities.

The first ever digital Marvel series

Not much to say about this one.

Marvel Unlimited is huge now but once upon a time in the earliest days of its predecessor service Spider-Girl blazed the trail as the first and to y knowledge only digital Marvel series.

It was an all-ages female led comic book series at a time when none of those things were strong sellers

In addition to being an all-ages female led book, Spider-Girl deserves major, major credit for existing as those things within a marketplace actively hostile to them.

These days as much as digital series or female led books might struggle it must be said the playing field is far kinder to such books than it was in the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s.

Outside of some big names like Batgirl or Wonder Woman making a female led book an ongoing success was a profound uphill struggle doomed to fail as Marvel and DC were far less open to the idea that there was an untapped market of female fans, let alone a notable segment of their existing fan bases that were female. In truth there is a case for neither company having figured how to exploit those facts in the near decade since. The point is that female led books were a rarity and expected to fail more often than not. And yet Spider-Girl tried and succeeded in spite of that.

The same was very much true of an all-ages book. Though these had arguably better success in the 2000s then female led books they were still books that lived on borrowed time and yet despite being able to ‘course correct’ this fact the creative team stuck to their principles and resolutely refused to fall in line with the sensibilities of most of other comics of the day which were almost outright rejecting the idea of younger audiences.

The ultimate Spider-Man legacy character

Take your Miles Morales and your Miguel O’Hara’s and go home kids, because Mayday is without a doubt the greatest legacy character Peter Parker could ever ask for.

What makes Mayday so brilliant in this regard is that because she is Peter’s daughter isn’t just a legacy to Spider-Man but to Peter Parker too.

This provides a totally realistic justification for why she shares so many similarities with him and yet because she’s been raised differently and has her mother’s influence in her too she can zig where Peter zagged.

When she does act like her Dad (or her Mom for that matter) it is satisfying to the readers because we see her parent(s) in her. It’s a little bit like if you have an old friend and then see them in their children and how they act. Because we love Spider-Man, we love seeing Mayday honour his heroic legacy as well as just be like our old friend in her general personality.

And when she does act differently to how we’d expect Peter to behave, it brilliantly helps shine a light upon who Peter himself is as a character because we are so intimately familiar with who he is. At the same time it subtly clues us into what Peter is like as a parent as he had a hand in shaping Mayday to be the kind of person who’d act in those different ways he would have in similar situations.

This is beautifully demonstrated in Mayday’s debut story where she doesn’t need tragedy to drill the old great power/great responsibility lesson into her head. In fact she doesn’t need to be taught that lesson at all. She intuitively knows it because her Dad made sure she grasped it better than he did at her age.

Then you have her costume. It is of course Ben Reilly’s old Spider-Man suit and as such was conveniently custom built to work as evoking Spider-Man’s look whilst being its own thing. Which is exactly what you want out of a legacy character. Something unique that nevertheless honours and reminds you of the original.

The fact that it is also Ben’s design enables Mayday to serve as a dual legacy to both her father and her Uncle Ben.

And there you have it. 20 reasons you should love Mayday. Now head over to Marvel Unlimited and check out her adventures!

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