#i could’ve written my superhero suit (which i’ve started)

[moonmoonthecrabking]

hi so i finally stopped having a crush on the girl i’ve been liking for A While but nothing can happen with. however, i’m writing her grad card and i’m trying to not make it clear that i was into her bc i don’t want to make her uncomfortable. as a result, i wrote a short semi-chat fic in which constance had unrequited feelings for ocean. enjoy

[thattimdrakeguy]

Young Justice #10 review - How not to change a character’s identity.

This is finally the issue were Tim Drake becomes “The Drake” (or maybe just “Drake”), and honestly, it’s just lazy as could be. People were already fearing the issue, and it’s actually kind of worse than expected.

They made every bad choice they could’ve.

It is genuinely horribly done.

Most times when a character changes their identity it means something to that character. It’s a defining moment in their character evolution, and the name actually means something to that character.

Nightwing came from Dick Grayson trying to find himself as he grew up. Gaining the name from a trusted friend who told him a story from his home-world, that helped give Dick Grayson inspiration.

The Red Hood came from Jason Todd literally getting killed by Joker, a person that formerly went by the Red Hood. The name was practically a taunt, but an emotionally charged one that was connected to Jason’s story.

With this name  and costume change, it means NOTHING.

They don’t even explain where the suit comes from. He just shows up in it, and unless I missed it, no one even acts like anythings different, or brings up the costume at all.

Previously I just assumed the costume would spawn from a reasoning that had something to do with this Earth. To actually give a reason for it.

Like how a gang was insulting Tim’s colors.

But that gang that randomly attacked Tim in issue 8 went no where. Making the inclusion of them almost pointless besides world building, but in their defense, world building is important.

I have no idea why Tim thought it was important to change his costume, considering Earth 3 Drake pretty much wears a normal Robin costume.

Making the change in costume even more pointless and meaningless.

Costumes are meant to say something about the character in some shape or form. This costume has no introduction, no one brings it up, and it’s quality alone is shoddy. The colors stand for boring, and dull, in a few panels the red in it comes off almost as clashing, and the lack of any character-based details makes it terrible.

In the most objective way to consider the costume, even ignoring how Tim only wanted to be Robin, this costume was horribly made on the standards set by what costumes are supposed to do.

Costumes are suppose to tell you something about the character.

Tim’s last costume showed he was a boyish, tech based, ninja. Due to character details like short sleeves, built in tech, and ninja toes. Those details showed exactly what his character is, but this new one doesn’t come off like that. The new costume says absolutely nothing.

The logic of Tim choosing the new name is also completely horrible. He has no reason to change his name. Bart just started saying he should change his name to “Drake”. Why? I don’t think he actually says.

Why would Tim want to change his name to match someone who wants to kill him and is evil? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name just because Bart told him to? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name while on an alternate Earth? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name at all considering his character? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Tim Drake’s character always said that if he stopped being Robin, he would stop being a hero. That only changed when he got kicked from the role and felt he still had to save Bruce.

So now that he’s Robin again, why would he leave that role? He finally got back to being Robin like how he wanted, which actually felt good, but they never even explained why he was Robin again. In fact they implied he was still Red Robin, despite all the marketing and character’s saying he was Robin. Causing a massive inconsistency with just that.

It’s just plain out of character for him to change his name, and one of the biggest flaws you can ever make when writing a story of any kind is having one of your characters, especially one of the main characters, act out of character.

The name as well, while using the characters’ own logic, is out of character.

Tim Drake was always told to keep his secret identity hidden from EVERYONE. Even Barbara Gordon didn’t know Tim’s name until Batman told her (although that was mostly because Tim thought it was cool Babs knew Superman’s real name but not his).

In 90s Robin there was an issue were Stephanie Brown as the Spoiler comes close to finding out Tim’s identity. If Tim Drake went by the superhero name “Drake” and she cared enough to search harder, it would only make it that much easier to find out what his real name is.

You could say that the name is so dumb that’s why it’s so great, because anyone trying to figure out their identities wouldn’t expect them to be that dumb, but when the Bat-Family is so protective of their identities, why would they ever take the risk? That’s out of character.

This isn’t the only way this issue was lazy either. This issue constantly uses singular panel pages, as if they’re just trying to fill up space.

There are 4 entire pages dedicated to just one panel. In a 22 page comic, that means there’s only 18 or so pages that don’t go to mostly waste.

When you have a page like that, it’s suppose to be exciting. The first issue of Wonder Comics Young Justice used them excellently, but also, they had 44 pages I believe. So they worked well with the pages they had to tell the story.

In this issue they just overused them, like they were just getting lazy. It feels like a comic that was written during a hangover. Something Bendis might’ve done last minute when he realized he forgot to write the script.

Regardless if that’s not the case, that’s what it feels like.

The dialogue by itself isn’t much either. Mostly feeling rushed as could be, or only generic funny moments.

This is an issue, written of the quality of a comic that knows it’s going to be cancelled. I don’t think that’s the literal case for Young Justice, but that’s the vibe it gives off. It’s written so lazily, like it knows there’s no point, but it’ll use cheap publicity stunts like changing a character’s identity to get any sort of attention it can get.

However one thing the issue does really well, is establish why Jinny sticks out and is important.

It actually makes me want to read a Jinny Hex solo adventure, because Bendis seems much more interested in her than the rest of the team.

Like I love this snarky, queer, magically teched out, cowgirl.

I’ve never been more disappointed by a comic in general in my entire life though.

The first issue of this series capped off like the original series never ended it. It felt right at home, from the art style, the costumes, the writing, the energy, the fast pace. They really captured the magic of Young Justice. That first issue felt so genuine.

In this: the art style was changed due to there being a new and unfitting artist, they’re already changing the costumes to stuff much blander, the writing has become forced and rushed, the energy is zapped, and the pacing is so bizarre because of the constant usage of single pages.

If you want spoilers on the only events in the current day Earth 3 story, here you go: They fight Earth 3 Young Justice (Young $#@%ers? I guess.), Jinny finally uses her magical items, they win, they go back home.

In the flashback story of Jinny: She gets cheated on, we find out she’s a natural hero, we get a sense of her family’s history, and we finally learn more about the mystery of the chest.

There’s so much more character building involved, and she gets to feel like a real fully fleshed out person because of that.

--

If you wanna see the best bit of character usage in the main story, and I’m not being sarcastic when I say I like this part. Is this:

As simple as it is, it uses Tim’s character and the world around him to make a simple moment actually be pretty funny, because it uses the basics of character writing.

Compared to the rest of the Earth 3 story’s over-usage of cheap generic dialogue that anyone could say, and while you could argue anyone could say “Noooo... thank you.” like Tim did in the above panel, it works best with Tim because he’s already been shown as the most awkward, yet moralistic member of the team.

It actually uses his character.

--

I think the above panel is a good showing at the weird choice Bendis has made.

Earth 3 Steph is a more fleshed out character with a purpose than pretty much the entire Young Justice team in this story. When this is only the second story in this run of Young Justice.

Shouldn’t it be more important to keep fleshing out and focusing on the team itself? 

It doesn’t even feel like this is the first time these characters been together in a long time. They act as if they never been separated. Conner being stranded on Gemworld were he helped raise a kid doesn’t feel like it ever happened anymore. It affected nothing. It feels ignored. It makes the comic feel disjointed just from the last story arc.

Young Justice’s dialogue is almost entirely generic. Practically anyone could say what they have, and it would work just as well. There’s no character put into them, besides maybe Bart being immature and mouthy, but the whole team besides possibly Tim when he has his brain cell on is pretty immature and mouthy, and even then, Tim isn’t Captain of maturity, he mostly just forces himself to be because he felt obligated to be leader, he’s still a doofus kid.

--

An issue should never be written as badly as the Earth 3 story in this.

While the Jinny Hex story is actually really well-written as far as character building is concerned, the Earth 3 story is bottom of the barrel as far as quality goes, and that’s the story that actually has the whole team involved.

Bad dialogue, horrible out of character identity change, bad usage of page space, bizarre pacing, lack of story that actually feels worth paying attention too

This issue would personally be given a 3/10, and that 3 only comes from Jinny’s story being quite well written as a character piece.

[im-in-every-fandom-cuz-im-alone]

Yall The CW has a fucking problem!

I want to preface this rant by saying that everything I'm about to go off on is directed towards characters not actors and fans of those characters soo I hope yall dont come for a bitch cuz a bitch can and will clapback

Now my issue is with the cw Arrowverse fandom but this may apply to others as well

I am sick of the supercorp and avalance concept of two cis yt women pairing

Like Ava and Sara are basically the same fucking person like I'll be watching a fight scene and if Sara isn't wearing her white canary suit I genuinely dont know which is which (now this speaks to a larger problem in the Arrowverse.

ex. Kara, Felicity, sara, mia, & ava, all look the fucking same( ever wonder why felicity has her hair down or doesn't wear her glasses during crossovers w kara cuz them ladys could be twins!)

Also perpetuating a weird stereotype that gays date people who look just like them or could be confused for siblings

Charlie and Zari could've totally been a thing but yall couple my girl off with hank "has the same personality as Ray" Hayward

Cuz god knows this audience hates to see people of color in relationships that don't include white people

Dont even get me started on Constantine who's black bf lasted all of 5mins before being replaced by gary romantically and Ray story wise

Now on to supercorp yall keep thirsting over a ship that the writers never plan to make canon (though I will agree that kara is written as anything but straight) they are queerbaiting us poor gays with representation

And ik Alex is a lesbian but yall cant tell me her storylines w kelly aren't god awful. Like that relationship came out of nowhere there was no buildup, no will they wont they, no getting to know each other as friends nope just imitiatley into a serious relationship

(Cue basic lesbian U-haul joke here)

Like people we have a beautiful interracial relationship with two women of color in black lightning not to mention one half of that pair is a main character like yall Anissa Pierce is a black lesbian superhero!!!!!!!!

If supercorp and avalance put half as much energy into supporting all LGBTQ+ rep then I wouldn't be making this post

Like can yall hype up #thundergrace cuz with your numbers this fandom could skyrocket

I've been seriously considering cutting the Arrowverse shows from my watchlist cuz after crisis I truly realized how white these shows are

Yeah sure there are characters of color but when you put them all together you realize that they are all secondary to the white protagonist

Like us POC are just props to make your scene look more diverse

Black lightning had no fucking reason to join the justice league but if he didn't there would only be one black guy on the team!!! Like are yall fucking serious?

Notice how black lightning characters rarely if ever interact with the rest of the Arrowverse cuz that yt nonsense would not fucking fly in Freeland

*bonus none of the characters of color on any of these shows are written authentically they have no ties to their culture or any sense of their racial history. They are all yt roles played by non white actors. Why, cuz I guarantee the writers room is all white. (Obviously BL is exempt from this bc in my opinion every character is authentically and unapologetically black)

*disclaimer I'm not saying that there is a certain way to be black or any race/ethnicity all I'm saying is that people of color do not have the privilege of existing in a fantasy world where our race/ethnicity doesn't influence our day to day lives

[thorne93]

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 16)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count:2537

Warnings: fighting,and lying????

Song: Young God - Halsey

Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loki’s plan was… complex. Convoluted. But it would work. It had to work. 

Before he left, you pulled him into the bedroom (a cold, small room that had a bed in it, and that’s all) that you two had made in the bunker/work area. 

You shook your head, tears already streaming down your face. 

“Loki, I don’t want to do this. I hurt her. I don’t want to hurt anyone else. If we let those things in...” you started, choking on your own sobs. Anger took you over and you began again, “If we let those things in, they’re going to attack people I love. People I work with. People I don’t want to hurt. I stabbed her, Loki. She didn’t deserve that. I don’t want to do this anymore,” you sobbed. 

Loki drew you into a comforting embrace, holding you tight as he soothed you.

“I know, darling.”

“Everything… Everything Thanos said was a lie. You know that, don’t you? That it was all a manipulation?” you asked, desperation in your voice.

“Of course I know that!” he hissed. “But does it matter? Does any of that matter? You and I both know the stakes if we lose. It will be far worse than some scrapes and bruises for your friends. They’ll kill all of them, including us.”

“Is there nothing we can do to stop them?”

“I’m afraid not, my love,” he said, sorrow in his voice. “You know how badly he will punish us if we do not do as he asks.”

Your heart shattered in your chest at his words. You knew this, you always knew it. That’s the only reason you could do what you did today.

Loki saw your pain and kissed your head as he put his hand on the nape of your neck. “Go… see her. I will tend to this.”

You peered up at him with stormy eyes. “Are you sure? I could help you here. I could--”

“Go. Don’t lose your family for him,” he instructed, referring to Thanos.

With a firm nod, you kissed him and then left quickly. Meanwhile, Loki and Barton worked on getting the eye for the Iridium for the portal to let the Chitauri in. 

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

All seemed to be going according to plan.

Loki had retrieved the eye. Tony and Steve had arrested Loki. This resulted in all the “superheroes” of the world uniting. Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and Thor Odinson -- all together on one helicarrier. With Loki, trapped in a cage.

This should’ve worried you, but you knew this was the whole point, to get Loki alone, keep the attention on him, so they wouldn’t notice when Barton and the rest showed up to bring out the monster. 

Barton and the rest of the crew got on a jet, finding the helicarrier, and successfully got the Hulk released onboard. However, Barton had apparently been compromised, as he didn’t rejoin Loki back on the jet. 

Which meant Loki would be at Stark Tower soon enough. 

Funny coincidence, you were already there.

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

You stepped inside the lab. It was so familiar to you it hurt. This same lab where you’d been before countless times to watch Shannon work, to help on some projects, to fuck with Tony just to fuck with him. 

And of course, Shannon was working away, diligently. She had the noise cancelling headphones on you’d given her three Christmases ago, since she just had to have music on when she worked. 

You were sure Tony probably told her to stay on the lowest level of the tower. He probably told her to turn on every alarm. He probably told her to arm every door. 

Did she do any of it? No. She didn’t. This tower was just as exposed as it always was. 

You were careful to tiptoe up to her, the last thing you wanted to do was startle her. Just as you approached her though, the scars of your wounds from yesterday were an angry red, violent purple. Reminders of your cowardice. A reminder that you didn’t have the power to confront Thanos, to tell him to fuck off. 

But how could you? If you defied him, Loki would pay the price. Shannon would be killed. Thor would be killed. Everyone you loved -- killed. You had to obey him. 

And that’s all you needed to tell Shannon. She would believe you right? You two had known each other forever and she would have to know you didn’t do this on purpose. 

Just as you went to speak though, Jarvis’s voice came over the speaker in the room, a light blinking on the workbench, alerting Shannon of the call. 

“Yes, Jarvis?” she asked. 

“Mr. Stark is on the phone for you. He says it’s urgent.”

“Thank you, Jarvis. Put him on.”

Half a second later, Tony’s voice filled the room. “Shan, where are you?” he demanded.

“In the lab, why?”

“Leave, now. Y/N is there.”

Your blood ran cold as you stood behind her, perfectly still.

“What?” she asked. 

“Y/N. She’s at the tower. Get somewhere safe. I’m on my way. Loki might be there too. He has the Tesseract. He’s going to come there. I don’t know what he’s doing with it but I don’t want you anywhere near it. Okay? So get out of the tower. Now.”

“Tony, I’m not just going to leave,” she started to protest and a faint smile touched your lips. 

“Please, for the love of God do not argue with me. Not right now. Okay? We’ve got two total nutcases on our hands, headed for our house. Y/N is in the tower, but Jarvis can’t pinpoint where. So leave before she finds you.”

Shannon turned to leave, still talking to Tony. “Okay, okay I wil--” 

But her eyes caught yours as you stood there in front of her. Her eyes went wide as she stumbled back into the workbench, gasping. Her hand accidentally hit the hangup button on the phone call.

“Shannon, wait!” you begged, holding your hands up in defense.

“Wha-- What are you doing here? How did you get in?” she stammered.

“Shannon, you never locked this place down. I’m not surprised to be honest because you nev--”

Her eyes began to change color and you backed up.

“Wait! Wait! Don’t! I’m here to apologize! Please!”

“Apologize or distract me while your boyfriend sneaks in?” she asked, making her way around the table. 

“No, I’m here to apologize. Shannon, please, give me five minutes. I can explain everything,” you tried. 

“No. You snuck in here. Why? You could’ve called.”

“Would you have really picked up the call?” you challenged. 

“It’s still better than showing up behind me like a creep.”

You bobbed your head side to side. “That’s fair,” you granted. “But please, hear me out.”

Shannon wanted to help you. She thought she did. But now that you were standing here again, clad in an all black outfit, green and gold accenting your boots and robe, showing who your real alliance was with… Well, she wasn’t so sure Tony was wrong. Maybe you’re past help. The wild in your face, the edginess in your form… maybe you were lost. Maybe she had lost you to him. 

“Why? So you can stab me a few more times? Or are you just trying to get Loki in here?” she demanded through clenched teeth.

“Shan, please,” you begged as you stepped forward, your hands raised. You wanted to calm her down, to make her listen to you for five minutes, but every step you took was sending her closer to the edge. 

“No! I won’t listen to your lies!” she shouted as she backed up farther from you, the flashbacks of you chaining her to a chair reverberating in her mind. The sting of the knife you plunged deep into her flesh and muscle still very vivid. 

You tried to close the gap and that’s all it took. 

Shannon’s fear of you went into overdrive as she slammed a button on the table and a suit came flying out of the cabinet next to her, enveloping her. 

“Spare suit?” you noticed, appreciative. 

“Tony likes to keep one on hand, you know, in case any enemies come in and try to kill me,” she informed with a slight shrug.

“I am not your enemy, Shannon,” you swore as you stepped towards her. 

“Stop there. One more inch and I’ll open fire,” she warned, deadly serious. 

Just then, JARVIS’s voice came over the intercom. “Ms. Shannon, I don’t mean to alarm you but it would appear that Loki is on the roof with Dr. Erik Selvig.”

With that, Shannon looked at you for a brief second before rocketing out of the lab. 

With a low growl, you followed as best you could. You used the energy you’d picked up from Asgard as well as the power Thanos had bestowed upon you to fly up to the roof.

“JARVIS, inform Tony that I’ve found Loki on the tower roof with the Tesseract,” she told the Al as she got closer to Loki. As soon as Shannon landed on the roof, she told Loki to back away from the Tesseract. “Move away from it!” she ordered, sounding confident in her orders as she held one of the arms of his suits up. 

Loki’s tortured eyes peered up at her. “You must be the famous Shannon,” he cooed. “Hiding behind your boyfriend’s technology are we? I was told you had great power all on your own.” 

“Yeah, but I hear someone already scares you shitless with lightning. Thought I would make this more fun,” she said as you landed on the rooftop with them. 

“You’re outnumbered,” Loki commented, holding his arms out as if to taunt her. 

“But not outgunned.” Then she opened fire on him, blasting him away from the Tesseract and off the roof where he went tumbling until he hit the balcony ten floors below. 

“Loki!” you screamed, your throat burning from the volume. You ran to the edge of the roof, seeing he had fallen and landed, but he was still moving, trying to get up. You turned to her and narrowed your eyes. “You’ll pay for that.”

You launched at her, slamming into the suit and all, going over the edge with her.

“Are you crazy?!” she shouted from beneath the mask. 

“Depends on who you ask,” you said before trying to rip off the mask of the suit. But Shannon used the repulsors to send the two of you back into the building, breaking a window to get onto the floor, landing a few floors below the balcony level. 

“This is insane. Stop this, Y/N,” she demanded.

“Take off the suit and fight me. One on one,” you ordered, your voice quivering with anger. 

“I’m not going to fight you! I want you to end all of this and I can help you!”

“Take off the suit!” you screamed so loud your face grew red and the veins in your neck bulged. 

She sighed and obliged, the suit slowly disassembling off of her. The suit stayed on autopilot if needed. “There. Are you happy? Now what? You have no power. You can only conjure illusions,” she stated as if all hope were lost for you.  

A dark smirk came over your face as you raised both hands and held them in the air. Without warning, you used your birth power of bio-kinetic energy to charge some of the kitchen knives that were on the counter and propelled them at her. Using her own mutation, she conjured a small streak of lightning to deflect them. 

“Pick up a new trick?” she asked, cocking her head. 

“One or two,” you remarked as you stood at the ready.

“Oh yeah? Well so have I.” She looked at you and you could see her eyes begin to turn red compared to the white they turn when she brings in a storm. Red beams of electric light came out of her eyes, close enough to scrape your cheek. “Now I won’t repeat myself, stop it at once Y/N,” her voice boomed in the room but you were shocked to see she had new mutations. Who knew what else she might have acquired in your year gone. 

In a heaving breath, you replied, “I… can’t.” 

“Then I’ll end it myself,” she remarked as she shot the red electrified light at you once more but instead of dodging, you used the powers that had long been suppressed on your time on Earth. 

You put your hands up and captured the energy, something she didn’t realize you were doing at first, but once she did, she stopped her actions altogether. You kept your hands up, letting the power hit your palms before squeezing them together, pushing the power back into yourself. 

You took a deep breath and looked at her, releasing her own energy back on her, but in your dark form. The dark purple energy radiated to her at speeds she couldn’t comprehend and it knocked her on her ass. She leaned up and looked at you with perplexed and worried eyes. 

“I think you’ve forgotten,” you began, standing over her, you leaned down in her face, “I’m a god.” 

Shannon’s eyes narrowed as she frowned before she swept her leg out and kicked your feet out from under you. She jumped up, landing on her feet, with her standing over you as you tried to recover from the blow. 

“And I think you forgot that I’ve fought gods… and won.” She smirked letting her eyes be clouded a milky red. “In the year that you were gone, so much changed me. I’d been training with the X-men and the Avengers, there’s so much more to my powers than just this!” She spread her arms out and an array of colors began to filter out each one stronger than the last. To say you were shocked was an understatement. You had no idea that she’d begun to make her powers stronger rather than get rid of them. 

You tried your best to absorb the oncoming attack, but it was starting to become too much. You released the energy you had gained back at her. Throwing everything you had into one shot. It actually somewhat worked, pushing her back and off her footing. 

“It’s sad, isn’t it?” you mocked as the two of you circled each other. “That you spent most of your life trying to understand and use these powers and you still have no idea what they can do? But I--” You held up your hand, lighting it in the purple energy “--I was only away for one year and I can already beat your ass.” With a small scream you threw the energy at her but she dodged it. In a split second she was next to you, her hand on your arm and your heart raced.

“Always a quick mouth, huh, darling, Y/N, just never quick on your feet.” She seemed to have moved with heightened speed. 

Her touching you was the last thing you wanted. It was something you’d tried to desperately avoid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List:

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Loki: @lostinspace33​​ @ultrarebelheart​​ @lenawiinchester​​ @esoltis280​​ @tngrayson​​ @wangdeasang​​ @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice​​

UC:

@lokis-high-priestess​

[midnightmorales]

only a scrape - p.p.

prompt: "it's only a scrape," "only a-? you've been fucking stabbed!"

~

warnings: light blood mention, stab wound, swearing, just the slightest dash of angst, also i didn't proofread this so

word count: 2.1K

pairing (platonic): peter parker x (ex bestfriend!) reader

summary: peter gets stabbed, and doesn't know who to go to besides his old best friend. while reader is cleaning his wound, they realise that they miss being friends with him.

a/n: this is my birthday post for pete! she's a bit late, because i forgot to queue her before bed last night, but i did write her yesterday, so it still counts! i also tried to make this gender neutral! i may have slipped up somewhere... but i hope you enjoy it! another thing- there are some slight crush themes in there, but they don't quite develop.

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

you sighed, drumming your pencil on your desk.

it was 3:43am, and all you still hadn't come up with a topic for your essay, which, unfortunately, was due in five hours.

you were supposed to write an analysis of a theory of your choice. the catch? it had to relate to current events.

your friend had jokingly suggested you write your essay on spider-man. you had to admit, it was a great idea.

just a week ago you were always talking about spider-man. you had his merch, and you'd even seen him in action once or twice (though, helping old ladies cross the street is much to call 'action'). everyone knew you were obsessed a fan.

that might've been the one question everyone in your class was dying to know the answer to, as well. as the masked hero grew in popularity, everyone was growing more and more curious: who was spider-man, really? whose face lay behind the mask?

and you could've done it too. you could've written a fifty-page analysis on spider-man, and in the process you probably could've figured out who he was. and you would've too!

if it hadn't been for the fact that you already knew who he was.

to be fair, you'd only just found out three days ago. you laughed to yourself thinking about it, but the circumstances under which you had found out were definitely nothing to giggle at- that is, at the time of the event.

you remembered it vividly, as if it had happened only a few seconds ago.

it was friday. you'd been in your unicorn footie pajamas, sitting on your bed eating oreos and listening to music, when you heard banging on your bedroom window.

you paused your song, listening for it again. it was almost midnight, you realised, shooting a quick glance at your clock. who would be at your window at 11:56pm?

"y/n!!" you heard. you froze. that was definitely not one of your parents. someone was at your window.

to be honest, you were kind of freaked out. out of everyone you knew, you didn't think any of them would just show up at your bedroom window at midnight- at least, not without texting you first.

you quickly searched your room for defense- in case this visitor was not a friend. unfortunately, there were no stray weapons in your room.

so you opted for the next best thing- perfume. if promoted, it could be sprayed into someone's eyes, which would at least allow you time to get your parents.

you crept toward the window, perfume in hand. "y/n, please be up! i don't know who else to go to."

the voice sounded scared. you looked at the perfume bottle in your hand before setting it down and dashing to your window.

"spider-man?!" you cried.

spider-man! he was at your bedroom window? begging for your help?

you opened the window, and he climbed in, almost immediately collapsing on the floor.

you noticed he was clutching the side of his torso. "are you hurt?" you asked urgently, trying to move his hands.

they let up easily, allowing you to see the bloody, dirt-covered stab wound.

before you could react, the superhero pulled of his mask, gasping for air.

you sat there, shocked. peter parker? spider-man was dorky peter parker?

you felt bad for thinking it, but you couldn't help it.

up until high school, you and peter had been best friends. then, as you got older, you gravitated more towards the popular crowd, and peter the opposite.

you rarely spoke to him now. your new friends had him grouped with the nerds, and you didn't object.

instantly, you felt mounds of regret wash over you. how could you have let this happen to him? you shouldn't've let your friends talk about him like that! you should've been there for him.

"hi," he said, offering a weak smile.

"peter...." you breathed. you wanted to tell him you were sorry. that you had made a mistake. that you wanted to be friends again.

but you were smart. you knew that right now, your feelings didn't matter. peter was wounded, and he needed your help.

you snapped yourself out of your trance, and instructed him to apply pressure to the wound.

after that, you didn't really know what to do.

years of watching tv and reading books had taught you that much, but what came after.

you pulled out your phone and hesitantly typed in the words "how to treat a stab wound".

you weren't quite sure if you could trust wikihow, but it was your best bet at the moment.

"okay, lay down," you told your former friend. he followed your instructions, laying on down on your floor. "oh, here,"

you handed him a pillow from your bed, and he put it under his head. "next we need too...." you trailed off as you read the page. how many times did they have to say 'deadly'?

"is that the only one you have?" you asked him, glancing up from your phone.

"yeah," you nodded, returning your gaze to your phone.

after a second, you looked up at him again. "peter?"

"yeah?"

"i'm gonna need you too uh... you have to.... you have to take off the suit." his eyes widened. "i know, i know... but i have to clean the wound,"

"y/n, you don't understand- i'm not wearing anything under this,"

at this, your eyes widened. "what do you mean you not-? you've got to be..."

"all i have on is underwear,"

"aw, you've gotta be shitting me, parker!"

"i'm sorry!" he said frantically.

"don't be, i'm not the one with the stab wound!"

"it's only a scrape," he said sheepishly.

"only a-? you've been fucking stabbed!"

he smiled faintly. "yeah...."

"look, how about this? i'll see if i can find you some of my brother's pants to wear? but you can't have a shirt,"

"that works, i guess,"

"don't move," you said, switching the light off in your room before opening the door, and slinking out of your room.

you snuck down to the laundry room, and searched the dryer. you rummaged until you saw some black sweatpants. you snatched the, praying they were your brothers, and dashed back up to your room.

"here," you handed them to peter in the dark. "while you put these on I'm going to get you some water and a snack,"

peter started to object, but you quickly cut in. "this is not about hospitality, parker, you're losing blood by the second!"

you went down to your kitchen and grabbed a couple bottles of water. before you got anything to eat, you realized the oreos you had been eating were still in your room.

you went back up to your room with the water. "you dressed in there, pete?" you whispered.

"yeah," he replied.

you went into your room, shutting the door and switching the light back on.

peter parker. the nerdiest of nerds. the most awkward boy you'd ever met. peter benjamin parker. had an eight pack.

woah.

you restrained yourself from saying this out loud. you hoped you hadn't been staring as you turned away from him, pretending to be dealing with something on you bed. "lay back down," you told him.

a million thoughts were running through your head. could he tell how flustered you were? why were you so flustered anyway? and why on earth were you pretending to be so interested in your comforter???

you took a deep breath, grabbing one of the waters. you spun around to face peter again, trying to only look at his face, and handed it to him. "i've got some oreos too, if you wanted any,"

you returned your attention to your phone. it told you to put hand sanitizer on. you quickly found some , and applied it. next step.

"okay, peter, it says i have to talk to you to keep you calm," you told him, string your phone down face up. he nodded. "and you can't look at the wound,"

"so what do we talk about?" he asked. you quickly read the next step. you grabbed a blanket from your bed and threw it over him. he gave you a look of bewilderment.

"it said to keep you warm," you explained, looking back at your phone. "and i don't exactly know..."

"you wanna talk about when we were friends?"

you looked up at him, and tears began to sting at you eyes.

"sure," you breathed, returning to reading your phone. it said to clean the wound. "one second,"

you quickly ran to the bathroom, grabbing some bandages and a hand towel, dampening the towel with some water. you came back and knealt down beside peter.

"they said this was gonna hurt," you warned him. "so just talk through it, okay?"

he nodded. as you pressed the cloth to his skin, he gave a light gasp. "talk to me, pete," you urged him.

"do you... do you remember when we met?" you continued cleaning his wound, not answering. you were afraid that if you did, you may start to cry.

he didn't mind you lack of an answer, though. "we were six. i'd just moved in with may." you nodded as he spoke. "somehow, everyone found out about my parents. one kid told everyone that i was bad luck. he said if you talked to me, your parents would die."

you were tearing up now. you moved your hand to wipe your eye as you continued to work on the wound.

"you were the first person to talk to me." he laughed. "you told me that i should tell on 'those meanie heads'."

you laughed with him, bringing one of your hands up to your cheek again to wipe away the tears.

wikihow said not to close the wound, so you placed a bandage over it as instructed in a way that was 'packing' the wound.

"why did we stop being friends, y/n?" he whispered. you refused to look at him. instead, you focused all of your attention on making sure you'd put the bandage on him properly. "what happened to us?"

you couldn't pretend you didn't hear him anymore. finally, you looked him in the eyes. "we grew up." you answered. "we drifted apart," you looked away again, checking the wikihow for more steps.

"can we drift back together?"

he said it so quietly that at any other time, you wouldn't've heard him. but it was 1:23am. no one was awake, and the traffic was especially light that night.

"you still want to be friends with me?" you asked him, your voice wavering.

"no," he said, smiling lightly. "i want to be best friends with you, y/n. like before!"

you sniffed, smiling at your lap. "can we?" he asked.

"of course pete," you laughed, wiping both your eyes.

he sat up, and you hugged him as tightly as you could without affecting the wound.

-

"you know you still need to get that wound professionally looked at," you grinned.

"yeah..." he said, staring at the bandage. "you did a good job, you know,"

"google did a good job you mean," he laughed.

you'd found him one of your brother's t-shirts to wear after the emotional rebirth of your friendship. since then, you'd been chatting and eating oreos on your bedroom floor.

"how are you gonna tell may?"

he laughed. "are you kidding? she'd freak out. i'm going to have to ask mr. stark for help, though he might have a couple of quest- why are you looking at me like that?"

"mr. stark? as in tony stark? as in you know the tony stark???"

peter shrugged. "yeah, i mean, i didn't think it was a big deal-"

"you didn't- peter, do you hear yourself? you just casually said you might ask iron man to help with your stab wound!" you had grown a substantial amount in volume as you said this

"shhh, you'll wake your family up!" peter whispered quickly.

you'd forgotten it was the middle of the night. you glanced at your clock, as the time of day set in.

"you've probably got to go now, right?"

peter looked at the time. "oh, shoot, you're right." he stood, grabbing his suit. "where's the bathroom?"

you realised he wanted to change back into the suit. "no- peter, your suit is all dirty and bloody... and there's a hole in it!"

"but-"

"keep the clothes, pete. my brother won't mind,"

he looked from you to the suit in his hands. you did have a point. "are you sure?" he asked.

you nodded. "see ya at school, pete." he waved goodbye, climbing back out of your window.

as you snapped out of your memory you laughed again. you couldn't believe that it took a stab wound to bring you and peter back together.

you looked back down at your empty paper, and the perfect idea hit you like a train.

you began to write furiously- you just hoped you'd be able to get everything down before your alarm clock rang.

[iloveyouthree-thousand]

Irondad fic based on that picture of Peter and Tony. You know the one.

Tony remembered the day.

The details were fuzzy. He couldn’t recall if it was a Tuesday or a Wednesday or a Friday. He didn’t have a clue as to which car he had driven to Stark Industries, or if the album seeping through his speakers had been written by AC/DC or  Metallica. 

He could, however, sketch a picture of the exact look on Peter Parker’s face when he accepted the Stark Internship.

He knew that they’d been adjusting web-shooter combination number seven-hundred-and-something when Peter expressed, on a whim, that he was running out of ideas for fake projects to tell his classmates about.

“Last week I told Ms. Abrams that I was working on a project that involved cadmium adsorption and orange peels, but then she started asking all these questions about chromatography and solvents and I had to pretend that Ned was having an asthma attack in order to get out of there.”

Tony remembered the idea hitting him instantly. He remembered kicking himself for not thinking of it earlier.

The Stark Internship lie was starting to spread itself thin. There was a stupidly easy solution to that. It was brilliantly simple.

“Pete... what if you interned for Stark Industries?”

Peter’s face had twisted first in confusion and then in concern.

“Um, Mr. Stark... I already have an “internship” at Stark Industries, remember?”

Tony rolled his eyes, “kid, I’m old, but I’m not that old, so watch it. I’m offering you an internship--a real internship--with full access to all the labs and a plethora of scientists to show you the ropes.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “That’s--I don’t know Mr. Stark... I don’t think I’m smart enough to... thank you, but I can’t accept that.”

The boy forced a smile that didn’t come close to reaching his eyes.

“Pete, what’s really going on in that skull of yours? Talk to me.”

“Mr. Stark,” he started, eyes falling to the floor, “all due respect, but I’m not you. You were like this crazy child genius and I’m just... some dork that is decent at math. I know you think I’m like you but I’m just not. I’m sorry.”

“Mr. Parker,” Tony mimicked, “you’ve been helping with the programming of your suits for the last six months. Those web-shooters? Your design. You turned a mess of wires and a screen into a functional gaming system. You’ve been doing this kind of stuff all along, Pete. I wouldn’t offer you this if I didn’t think you could take everything I’ve created and blow it out of the water. I believe in you kid.”

Peter still looked hesitant.

“Besides, this will give me a chance to get out of the house, work on some new projects unrelated to saving the world.”

At this, Peter perked up. 

“You’re going to work in the labs with me?”

Tony scoffed as if the answer was obvious.

“Remember the last time I left you unattended? Besides, I can’t just not be there for my favorite dork’s first scientific breakthrough. I was a nerd too, back before the whole superhero thing.”

Peter laughed, his smile finally lighting up his entire face as he assented to the plan. Tony could still hear that laugh in his head--bright, excited. Alive.

Two days later, Tony called Peter down to Pepper’s office under the guise of meeting up for lunch.

Instead, he presented him with a plaque that he’d had rush-ordered, solidifying his position as the newest intern at Stark Industries.

Tony insisted on a photo-op, and Pepper offered up her services.

“Tony, you know the plaque is upside down.”

“It’s symbolic, Pep. We’re going to turn the world upside down with all the science we come up with,” he grinned.

“I feel like I should be worried about the two of you up here coming up with ‘all the science’. Should I order extra fire extinguishers now or just make Happy deal with it when the time comes?”

“Don’t exaggerate, Pep. You’re looking at a couple of complete professionals here,” he winked, his fingers stealthily forming bunny ears behind Peter’s head as he scoffed, “Give us a little respect.”

“Peter,” Pepper warned, “Promise me you’ll keep this one in line?”

“Of course,” Peter said, trying to feign seriousness that was betrayed by the mischievous glint in his eyes.

Pepper just shook her head and accepted her fate as she snapped the picture. Even she couldn’t hold back a laugh as she looked at the result. 

“Oh God, there’s two of them,” she complained, turning her phone around to show her two boys.

At the last second, Peter’s face had morphed into a stupid grin as he copied Tony’s bunny ears, both clutching at the plaque that was still very much upside-down.

Less than a day later, that photo was framed and placed prominently in Tony’s home.

Tony would remember that moment even without the camera freezing it in time. It was silly. Carefree. Easy. It was the moment a relationship changed from Iron Man and his Avenger-in-training to something much more. 

Tony had imagined that someday the office behind them might become Peter’s, if he wanted it. 

He believed that someday he’d find a way to make the world safe enough so that Peter could walk away, could live a life outside of Spider-Man.

He wanted Peter to be able to spend his life changing the world, not saving it.

So yes, Tony remembered the day.

He remembered the day he decided he would do whatever it took to create a world where Peter Parker could just be Peter Parker.

And now all he had left was a photo of the beginning of a future that could’ve been.

Spider-Man had disappeared in space, and Tony Stark was forced to watch as Peter Parker--the kid with hopes and dreams and a life that should’ve been far removed from Thanos and the Avengers--crumbled away with him. 

He had failed. All he had wanted to do was protect that innocent kid--his kid--and he had failed.

Strange had said that in fourteen-million-six-hundred-and-five scenarios, they only won one.

Tony had dreamed of having a family for so long only for it to be ripped from his hands just as soon as he’d thought he finally had a grasp on it. 

Tony didn’t care if his odds were one in a billion--if there was any chance that Peter Parker could have the future he deserved, he wouldn’t stop trying.

He remembered the day. He remembered the photo. And he was prepared to do whatever it took to get that moment back.

[mrs-dragneel-stark-solo]

Unforseen Chasm (part 16)

Part 16 of Unforseen Chasm

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together. Word Count: 2537 Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my other fic series). first major Collab with my best friend @thorne93​ what was first a simple “what if” moment turned into a two year writing session and I’ve never been more prouder of myself than when i started my first series. goes through most of the MCU plots there are some changes to accommodate for what we wanted and there is a bit of a crossover between the MCU and other characters. I hope you guys enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Loki’s plan was… complex. Convoluted. But it would work. It had to work. 

Before he left, you pulled him into the bedroom (a cold, small room that had a bed in it, and that’s all) that you two had made in the bunker/work area. 

You shook your head, tears already streaming down your face. 

“Loki, I don’t want to do this. I hurt her. I don’t want to hurt anyone else. If we let those things in...” you started, choking on your own sobs. Anger took you over and you began again, “If we let those things in, they’re going to attack people I love. People I work with. People I don’t want to hurt. I stabbed her, Loki. She didn’t deserve that. I don’t want to do this anymore,” you sobbed. 

Loki drew you into a comforting embrace, holding you tight as he soothed you.

“I know, darling.”

“Everything… Everything Thanos said was a lie. You know that, don’t you? That it was all a manipulation?” you asked, desperation in your voice.

“Of course I know that!” he hissed. “But does it matter? Does any of that matter? You and I both know the stakes if we lose. It will be far worse than some scrapes and bruises for your friends. They’ll kill all of them, including us.”

“Is there nothing we can do to stop them?”

“I’m afraid not, my love,” he said, sorrow in his voice. “You know how badly he will punish us if we do not do as he asks.”

Your heart shattered in your chest at his words. You knew this, you always knew it. That’s the only reason you could do what you did today.

Loki saw your pain and kissed your head as he put his hand on the nape of your neck. “Go… see her. I will tend to this.”

You peered up at him with stormy eyes. “Are you sure? I could help you here. I could--”

“Go. Don’t lose your family for him,” he instructed, referring to Thanos.

With a firm nod, you kissed him and then left quickly. Meanwhile, Loki and Barton worked on getting the eye for the Iridium for the portal to let the Chitauri in. 

All seemed to be going according to plan.

Loki had retrieved the eye. Tony and Steve had arrested Loki. This resulted in all the “superheroes” of the world uniting. Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and Thor Odinson -- all together on one helicarrier. With Loki, trapped in a cage.

This should’ve worried you, but you knew this was the whole point, to get Loki alone, keep the attention on him, so they wouldn’t notice when Barton and the rest showed up to bring out the monster. 

Barton and the rest of the crew got on a jet, finding the helicarrier, and successfully got the Hulk released onboard. However, Barton had apparently been compromised, as he didn’t rejoin Loki back on the jet. 

Which meant Loki would be at Stark Tower soon enough. 

Funny coincidence, you were already there.

You stepped inside the lab. It was so familiar to you it hurt. This same lab where you’d been before countless times to watch Shannon work, to help on some projects, to fuck with Tony just to fuck with him. 

And of course, Shannon was working away, diligently. She had the noise cancelling headphones on you’d given her three Christmases ago, since she just had to have music on when she worked. 

You were sure Tony probably told her to stay on the lowest level of the tower. He probably told her to turn on every alarm. He probably told her to arm every door. 

Did she do any of it? No. She didn’t. This tower was just as exposed as it always was. 

You were careful to tiptoe up to her, the last thing you wanted to do was startle her. Just as you approached her though, the scars of your wounds from yesterday were an angry red, violent purple. Reminders of your cowardice. A reminder that you didn’t have the power to confront Thanos, to tell him to fuck off. 

But how could you? If you defied him, Loki would pay the price. Shannon would be killed. Thor would be killed. Everyone you loved -- killed. You had to obey him. 

And that’s all you needed to tell Shannon. She would believe you right? You two had known each other forever and she would have to know you didn’t do this on purpose. 

Just as you went to speak though, Jarvis’s voice came over the speaker in the room, a light blinking on the workbench, alerting Shannon of the call. 

“Yes, Jarvis?” she asked. 

“Mr. Stark is on the phone for you. He says it’s urgent.”

“Thank you, Jarvis. Put him on.”

Half a second later, Tony’s voice filled the room. “Shan, where are you?” he demanded.

“In the lab, why?”

“Leave, now. Y/N is there.”

Your blood ran cold as you stood behind her, perfectly still.

“What?” she asked. 

“Y/N. She’s at the tower. Get somewhere safe. I’m on my way. Loki might be there too. He has the Tesseract. He’s going to come there. I don’t know what he’s doing with it but I don’t want you anywhere near it. Okay? So get out of the tower. Now.”

“Tony, I’m not just going to leave,” she started to protest and a faint smile touched your lips. 

“Please, for the love of God do not argue with me. Not right now. Okay? We’ve got two total nutcases on our hands, headed for our house. Y/N is in the tower, but Jarvis can’t pinpoint where. So leave before she finds you.”

Shannon turned to leave, still talking to Tony. “Okay, okay I wil--” 

But her eyes caught yours as you stood there in front of her. Her eyes went wide as she stumbled back into the workbench, gasping. Her hand accidentally hit the hangup button on the phone call.

“Shannon, wait!” you begged, holding your hands up in defense.

“Wha-- What are you doing here? How did you get in?” she stammered.

“Shannon, you never locked this place down. I’m not surprised to be honest because you nev--”

Her eyes began to change color and you backed up.

“Wait! Wait! Don’t! I’m here to apologize! Please!”

“Apologize or distract me while your boyfriend sneaks in?” she asked, making her way around the table. 

“No, I’m here to apologize. Shannon, please, give me five minutes. I can explain everything,” you tried. 

“No. You snuck in here. Why? You could’ve called.”

“Would you have really picked up the call?” you challenged. 

“It’s still better than showing up behind me like a creep.”

You bobbed your head side to side. “That’s fair,” you granted. “But please, hear me out.”

Shannon wanted to help you. She thought she did. But now that you were standing here again, clad in an all black outfit, green and gold accenting your boots and robe, showing who your real alliance was with… Well, she wasn’t so sure Tony was wrong. Maybe you’re past help. The wild in your face, the edginess in your form… maybe you were lost. Maybe she had lost you to him. 

“Why? So you can stab me a few more times? Or are you just trying to get Loki in here?” she demanded through clenched teeth.

“Shan, please,” you begged as you stepped forward, your hands raised. You wanted to calm her down, to make her listen to you for five minutes, but every step you took was sending her closer to the edge. 

“No! I won’t listen to your lies!” she shouted as she backed up farther from you, the flashbacks of you chaining her to a chair reverberating in her mind. The sting of the knife you plunged deep into her flesh and muscle still very vivid. 

You tried to close the gap and that’s all it took. 

Shannon’s fear of you went into overdrive as she slammed a button on the table and a suit came flying out of the cabinet next to her, enveloping her. 

“Spare suit?” you noticed, appreciative. 

“Tony likes to keep one on hand, you know, in case any enemies come in and try to kill me,” she informed with a slight shrug.

“I am not your enemy, Shannon,” you swore as you stepped towards her. 

“Stop there. One more inch and I’ll open fire,” she warned, deadly serious. 

Just then, JARVIS’s voice came over the intercom. “Ms. Shannon, I don’t mean to alarm you but it would appear that Loki is on the roof with Dr. Erik Selvig.”

With that, Shannon looked at you for a brief second before rocketing out of the lab. 

With a low growl, you followed as best you could. You used the energy you’d picked up from Asgard as well as the power Thanos had bestowed upon you to fly up to the roof.

“JARVIS, inform Tony that I’ve found Loki on the tower roof with the Tesseract,” she told the Al as she got closer to Loki. As soon as Shannon landed on the roof, she told Loki to back away from the Tesseract. “Move away from it!” she ordered, sounding confident in her orders as she held one of the arms of his suits up. 

Loki’s tortured eyes peered up at her. “You must be the famous Shannon,” he cooed. “Hiding behind your boyfriend’s technology are we? I was told you had great power all on your own.” 

“Yeah, but I hear someone already scares you shitless with lightning. Thought I would make this more fun,” she said as you landed on the rooftop with them. 

“You’re outnumbered,” Loki commented, holding his arms out as if to taunt her. 

“But not outgunned.” Then she opened fire on him, blasting him away from the Tesseract and off the roof where he went tumbling until he hit the balcony ten floors below. 

“Loki!” you screamed, your throat burning from the volume. You ran to the edge of the roof, seeing he had fallen and landed, but he was still moving, trying to get up. You turned to her and narrowed your eyes. “You’ll pay for that.”

You launched at her, slamming into the suit and all, going over the edge with her.

“Are you crazy?!” she shouted from beneath the mask. 

“Depends on who you ask,” you said before trying to rip off the mask of the suit. But Shannon used the repulsors to send the two of you back into the building, breaking a window to get onto the floor, landing a few floors below the balcony level. 

“This is insane. Stop this, Y/N,” she demanded.

“Take off the suit and fight me. One on one,” you ordered, your voice quivering with anger. 

“I’m not going to fight you! I want you to end all of this and I can help you!”

“Take off the suit!” you screamed so loud your face grew red and the veins in your neck bulged. 

She sighed and obliged, the suit slowly disassembling off of her. The suit stayed on autopilot if needed. “There. Are you happy? Now what? You have no power. You can only conjure illusions,” she stated as if all hope were lost for you.  

A dark smirk came over your face as you raised both hands and held them in the air. Without warning, you used your birth power of bio-kinetic energy to charge some of the kitchen knives that were on the counter and propelled them at her. Using her own mutation, she conjured a small streak of lightning to deflect them. 

“Pick up a new trick?” she asked, cocking her head. 

“One or two,” you remarked as you stood at the ready.

“Oh yeah? Well so have I.” She looked at you and you could see her eyes begin to turn red compared to the white they turn when she brings in a storm. Red beams of electric light came out of her eyes, close enough to scrape your cheek. “Now I won’t repeat myself, stop it at once Y/N,” her voice boomed in the room but you were shocked to see she had new mutations. Who knew what else she might have acquired in your year gone. 

In a heaving breath, you replied, “I… can’t.” 

“Then I’ll end it myself,” she remarked as she shot the red electrified light at you once more but instead of dodging, you used the powers that had long been suppressed on your time on Earth. 

You put your hands up and captured the energy, something she didn’t realize you were doing at first, but once she did, she stopped her actions altogether. You kept your hands up, letting the power hit your palms before squeezing them together, pushing the power back into yourself. 

You took a deep breath and looked at her, releasing her own energy back on her, but in your dark form. The dark purple energy radiated to her at speeds she couldn’t comprehend and it knocked her on her ass. She leaned up and looked at you with perplexed and worried eyes. 

“I think you’ve forgotten,” you began, standing over her, you leaned down in her face, “I’m a god.” 

Shannon’s eyes narrowed as she frowned before she swept her leg out and kicked your feet out from under you. She jumped up, landing on her feet, with her standing over you as you tried to recover from the blow. 

“And I think you forgot that I’ve fought gods… and won.” She smirked letting her eyes be clouded a milky red. “In the year that you were gone, so much changed me. I’d been training with the X-men and the Avengers, there’s so much more to my powers than just this!” She spread her arms out and an array of colors began to filter out each one stronger than the last. To say you were shocked was an understatement. You had no idea that she’d begun to make her powers stronger rather than get rid of them. 

You tried your best to absorb the oncoming attack, but it was starting to become too much. You released the energy you had gained back at her. Throwing everything you had into one shot. It actually somewhat worked, pushing her back and off her footing. 

“It’s sad, isn’t it?” you mocked as the two of you circled each other. “That you spent most of your life trying to understand and use these powers and you still have no idea what they can do? But I--” You held up your hand, lighting it in the purple energy “--I was only away for one year and I can already beat your ass.” With a small scream you threw the energy at her but she dodged it. In a split second she was next to you, her hand on your arm and your heart raced.

“Always a quick mouth, huh, darling, Y/N, just never quick on your feet.” She seemed to have moved with heightened speed. 

Her touching you was the last thing you wanted. It was something you’d tried to desperately avoid. 

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[loki-thorbrother]

This is a submission, written by a friend who does not have a tumblr. This is not written by me!

—

Whumptober #5- Gunpoint

Takes place between the events of Homecoming and Infinity War.

The objective had been simple enough: find the rest of Edwin Cord’s guys, steal the assets back, and blow the place to hell. 

Tony had beaten Cord himself; it’d made for a pretty wild Friday night, even for his standards, but once Rhodey disabled Cord’s power system, the guy had been helpless against Tony’s tech. There seemed to be more and more of those jealous moguls who thought Tony had cheated them out of something, but at least they weren’t hard to knock out of the park. It was ridiculous how those guys all seemed to repeat the same mistakes: overconfidence, fallible technology, and dependence on rookie guards. 

The first two were expected, but that last point was an insult to his intelligence. If he had to deal with one more sleeping guy guarding the power system, he’d leave the next mission entirely in Rhodey’s hands. 

And then there was this. He’d thought he was done with Cord, then he’d gotten an assignment from Ross; turns out they wanted him to root out the rest of Cord’s guys, rather than a low-level hero or even the police, who could’ve done it just as well. That was even worse of an insult. He was Tony Stark; he’d taken out terrorists, invented new elements, (destroyed a city, don’t think about that one), fought Captain America and the Winter Soldier at the same time; and for god’s sake, he’d thrown a nuke into freaking outer space. 

But Ross was barely tolerating him now, so he’d better go out and at least pretend he was obeying the Accords. 

According to the intel reports he’d received that morning, Cord’s main back-up guy--or something--was Ethan Rooker, who was holed up with some of the other boys at a place in South Manhattan, allegedly an old Irish bar. After drinking a full pot of coffee, Tony suited up and took off for the bar. 

“Hey, FRIDAY,” he said with a yawn, “you up and running?”

“More than you are, Mr. Stark,” came the reply. 

Tony blinked. His AI was getting more sarcastic by the day. 

“Great. Fine. Can you get me anything on one Ethan Rooker?”

“One moment, Mr. Stark.” There was a brief silence, in whichTony thought about how much he hated awkward pauses. “Rooker is American-born, but was raised in Afghanistan; he emigrated at the age of seventeen. No record of personal life. He was a brilliant child, but was refused admittance to MIT.” 

Tony snorted. “And here I thought Cord was the one who was jealous. Already we’re racking up some serious envy points: he can’t go to MIT, I graduate at seventeen and become a billionaire--”

“In all fairness, you did inherit that position.”

“Thank you for your honesty. I guess someone needs to keep me in check. So, no MIT, no family connections; and then I blew up an entire terrorist organization, which, since he’s technically American, he’d probably wanted to do his whole life anyway. So I stole his thunder, became a superhero, and put his first-rate felon boss in jail.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Some people find the most ridiculous reasons to hate me, don’t you--”

“Boss!”

FRIDAY’s sudden warning brought Tony’s attention back to the mission, and he lowered the rocket boosters enough to bring him out of the clouds. The skyline of east Manhattan appeared below him, and he grinned. Even with years of experience and a hell-mix of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and just a touch of alcoholism, that sight never failed to be amazing. 

A few seconds later, and the bar was right under him, like magic. 

“All right, FRIDAY,” he said. “We’re going in.”

                                                       ~

The bar was empty. 

That was the first sign that something was really wrong. 

Tony had crashed down, straight through the ceiling--just like they were on live TV--but when the dust cleared, there was nothing. No security guards, no Rooker, no back-up...not even a few terrified bartenders. It was empty. Of course, there was the possibility that someone could have seen him coming and run away, but that was unlikely. His timing had been too perfect(thanks to FRIDAY, he had to admit). No one would’ve had time to run without him seeing them…

So that meant this was a trap. 

“Come on, Rooker,” he said loudly. “I’m here, and I know you are, too. Show yourself now, and you’ll just go straight to prison. But if you keep playing games like this, I swear I’ll--” 

Tony stopped mid-sentence. The back door was opened. 

The metal of his suit clanking as he walked, Tony hurried to the back of the bar, past tables and chairs and expensive wine glasses--why he had to waste his time on this, he had no idea--seized the back door, ripped it off…

And there, in the alley behind the bar, was Ethan Rooker.

But he wasn’t alone. There were four guys behind him, and to his left...oh, god. To his left, kneeling in the dirt, hands bound behind his back, with a gun held to his forehead, was Peter Parker.

Peter turned at the sound, his eyes widening. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark,” he stammered quickly, “I-I didn’t think this was something Iron Man was gonna have to take care of, just a little neighborhood problem, I could figure it out. I-I mean, he was terrorizing a bunch of kids! I didn’t think--”

The words tumbled out one after another in that too-fast, overly earnest way of Peter’s that was usually so irritating. Usually. But not today. 

“Oh, shut up,” Rooker snapped, pressing the gun tighter against Peter’s forehead. “You see, Stark, you can’t lock me away.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” Tony knew he probably shouldn’t sound so rude, but he couldn’t help it. The kid was right there--one twitch of Rooker’s finger, and he’d be...no. No, don’t think about that. Stop it. Fix it. “Want me to add threatening a sixteen-year-old kid with murder to your list of charges? Wouldn’t look good in court, I can tell you that.”

Rooker laughed. “You think I’m going to court? It’d be pointless. You’re here, and you’re pissed, which is why I’m willing to bet that this is an Accords-sanctioned assignment. They wouldn’t have put Barnes through the legal system, they won’t do the same for me.”

Tony laughed bitterly. “You’re comparing yourself to the Winter Soldier? He’d have killed you by now, and without breaking a sweat.”

“I’m doing no such thing. But my trial isn’t going to be fair...which is why I’ve got insurance.” His finger tightened on the trigger; Peter flinched. Tony’s hands clenched at his side. “One step forward, and he’s…” Rooker shrugged. “Well, you know.”

That callous shrug almost got Rooker killed then and there. Before he knew it, Tony was keying up his guns. “So you think I can’t take you in and save him?”

“Not a chance.” Rooker laughed. “You need me alive, Stark. Those precious world leaders don’t want you killing somebody else, or they’ll lock you up in the Raft, just like half the Avengers. You can’t afford to kill me.”

Tony glared at him through the mask. “Wanna bet?”

“Actually, I do. And I have a better alternative for you. You leave now, I’ll let the kid go in...well. Let’s say twenty minutes. Only once I’m sure you’re away, and that I’m safe.”

“And how do I know he’ll be safe?” Tony demanded. Peter looked up in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Tony to say something quite so...protective? No, that wasn’t the right word. Not nearly. “If I’m back in my penthouse, how do I know you haven’t killed him?”

Rooker smiled. “You’ll have to trust me.”

“Careful, boss,” said FRIDAY in his ear. “There’s a forty percent chance he’s lying. There is also a chance that he hates all of the Avengers, not just you--”

Which includes the kid, was the unspoken rest of the sentence. And I can’t take those odds.

Tony clenched his fists again, the metal creaking; he had no idea what to do. He looked at Rooker, so smugly confident in himself, at the four bodyguards, ready for an attack...and then at the kid. For some stupid reason, he knew with an absolute certainty that he did not want Peter Parker to die. The desperate look on Peter’s face was enough to tell him that.

Sure, the world needed Iron Man. But how could it count on him, when he only had a solid moral compass four out of seven days of the week? 

The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man was just as important. If not more.

“Stark,” Rooker said again, looking unsure that Tony had heard him; he was anxious, even if he didn’t show it. “I said, you’ll have to trust me. Is that clear?”

Tony looked up, staring down Rooker; and then, thinking back to Afghanistan, he turned off his hand blasters...and instead selected five out of six targets he wanted dead. 

“Nope,” he said. “Definitely not clear.”

The most Rooker could do was gasp in shock as Tony’s shoulder guns shot him and his goons dead. 

Peter, no doubt surprised beyond anything he’d ever seen, began gasping for breath; adrenaline, Tony diagnosed. He’d had a rush of adrenaline, preparing himself to die, and now he wasn’t dead--and someone else was--so, boom. Loss of adrenaline, leads to exhaustion. 

In an instant, Tony lifted his face mask and hurried to Peter’s side. 

“Hey,” he said, and Peter’s head snapped toward him, eyes still wide. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.” The gauntlets vanished at his command, and then he was able to free the kid’s hands. 

Peter immediately started rubbing his wrists, which were chafed red. Second diagnosis--Rooker had died too quickly. “Wow. Uh--uh, wow, Mr. Stark. Uh, uh, thanks?”

“Don’t have to thank me. Heroes save people, and you know that. From experience.” Tony finished looking Peter’s body over, and then turned the kid’s head to face him. “Tell me honestly, you okay? Don’t you dare lie to me, I’m gonna know.”

“I...I think so, yeah.” Peter’s rapid breaths were becoming less and less frequent, slowing down; that was a good sign. Great sign. “Just, maybe…” He touched a spot on his cheek that Tony realized, belatedly, was a pretty dark bruise. “Hit me here. When I woke up, I--I had a gun to my--” 

Peter’s face went white suddenly, and he stopped talking. Tony knew immediately what was happening; Peter was realizing exactly how close he’d come to dying. 

“You’re okay,” Tony said again, then amended himself; that excuse never worked. “No, sorry. You’re not okay, that’s me lying to you, that’s on me. But here’s the thing, kid.” Peter’s eyes had lost focus; Tony had to turn his head back to him again, or else he knew Peter was going to pass out, or something. And that, he didn’t want to deal with. “Here’s the thing. You’re going to be okay, because it’s over now.”

Peter looked at Rooker���s body, and a tremble shook his frame. “But--”

“Nope. No buts. It’s over.”

Peter sighed. “But you killed him. Doesn’t--doesn’t that--”

“Violate the Accords? One hundred percent. Absolutely. That’s also on me--hey, look! Seems like we’ve found a common theme here: Everything Is Tony’s Fault. Perfect. But…” Tony raised a finger. “I think I’ll be able to get a little leeway here.”

Peter frowned. “Uh, I don’t think it works like that, Mr. Stark.”

“Uh, actually, it does. For me, at least...and for you, ‘cause you’re protected under the Accords, too. So if I saved you, they just might not send me to the Raft.” Tony let himself smile, just briefly. “Oh, and also because I can pay a fine of two hundred or three hundred or even two billion dollars if they want.”

Peter grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess you could do that, Mr. Stark.”

“I definitely can. Hand?” 

Tony held out his hand for Peter to stand, and the kid took it. “Yeah, definitely.”

They stood up; quickly, Tony dusted off Peter’s clothes and took one last look at him. “Yeah, you’re good, kid. Just go ice that bruise, and lie down. Rest.”

“Rest?” Peter exclaimed; Tony rolled his eyes. Here we go again. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how many problems I skipped on my way over here? Kids in trouble, cars locked, bank robberies, hostage situations--”

“None of which you will be fixing. Not today, Spiderboy. You need a rest. No more...no superheroing, not today. Tomorrow, maybe. But today you need a rest.”

“But, Mr. Stark--”

“What’d I tell you? No buts.” Tony threw an arm around Peter’s shoulder, helping him walk. “And if I find you sneaking out, I’ll call your aunt.”

“Okay, fine. No superheroing, and that’s not a word.”

“Sure it is. I can make up any word I want. I’m Tony Stark.”

Peter laughed. “Maybe.” They walked in silence for a few seconds, and then-- “Mr. Stark?”

Tony sighed. “Yeah, kid?”

“You were wrong, you know. About before.”

Tony frowned. “Before? Before, what?”

“When you said everything was your fault. It’s not.” Before Tony could say anything, Peter looked up at him with those bright, too-honest expression that somehow had come to mean the world to him. “You tell me not to lie to you, but you’re lying to yourself. You tell yourself everything is your fault, and it isn’t.”

Well. What the hell could he say to that? Not everything is your fault. Weren’t those the words he needed to hear, every hour of every day, after every nightmare and mission and before every breakdown and...and all the time? Yes. Absolutely. 

But he couldn’t say it to the kid, so he settled for slapping Peter’s shoulder.

“First rule of Avenging, kid--only complain up the chain of command. So, nothing I do or think or say to you is wrong. But you can tell the guard at my front door he thinks everything is his fault all day long. Sure he’d love that.” 

“But Avenging isn’t a word either.”

Tony couldn’t think of anything to say to that. Whenever he was around the kid, it was like a miracle; he stopped thinking about New York, Sokovia, Germany, and every other thing he’d ever done that would haunt him forever.

And that meant he could never let him get as close to dying as he had today. 

But instead of say that aloud either, Tony laughed. “God, Pete, I don’t know where you get these lines from, it’s like you’re a constant snark machine.” The physical contact was helping him somehow, he realized. He moved his hand up to Peter’s hair and ruffled it.

“Learned it from you.”

Tony glanced at Peter in surprise. “Now that’s witty. There’s no way I could’ve taught you that.” Taking Peter’s arm, he guided him around the bar and back into the city of Manhattan. “Come on, Spider-Man, let’s get you home.”

[negasonicteenagemess]

The Last Of The Real Ones || Peter Parker Imagine

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Word Count: 2.7k

Request:  Could you do a Peter Parker imagine where it’s a soulmate where the first words your soulmate says to you are tattooed on you. The problem is the reader meets her soulmate when he saves her as Spider-man over the summer. She transfers to Peter’s school and he knows that she is his soulmate but he forgot what he told her so basically he tries to get her to fall in love with him but when he realizes she is faithful to Spider-man and so he reveals himself to her.

A/N: Yes it is named off of the Fall Out Boy song because I was listening to it while writing this. Whatta bop.

masterlist

You’re friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, of course.

For as long as she could remember, those words were etched onto the side of her hip, and they would stay there until long after she was dead. She never thought that the day she would meet her soulmate would also be the day she met a superhero.

Y/N had been living in Queens for a few weeks on the night she met him. Her family had just finished unpacking everything in the house and she wanted to go explore.

It was everything she could’ve expected. The horizon was littered with lights from all of the nearby boroughs, but every other block was dark. Y/N looked at the time, realizing how late it was, she decided to head back to her new apartment. Wanting to get home quickly, she took a shortcut down an alley.

Walking to the beat of the music that was blaring in her headphones, she wasn’t aware of the man following her.

Y/N was suddenly pushed against a wall, her headphones falling out of her ears. “What the fuck, man?” She exclaimed, trying to push the grimy person away.

As she was struggling, she felt something cold press against her neck, making her halt her movements. “Don’t you dare move a muscle, sweetheart.” He whispered in her ear.

Her breathing sped up, not knowing what to expect, “Help! This sick son of a-” She shouted at the top of her lungs, but halted as she felt pain overcome her.

“Hey, shut the hell up!” The man grumbled.

A sharp cut had made its way onto her collarbone. She gasped, biting her lip roughly to help her prevent screaming again.

Suddenly, a flash of red swooped by, knocking the man away from her. She let out a breath of air, glad the man was away from her.

The one in red shot something, strange from his wrist onto  the guy and stuck him to the wall. He turned around going to Y/N, “You just saved my life. Oh my God, I almost died. W-Who are you?” She was so out of breath as she spoke to the man.

Spider-Man froze as the girl brushed a hand through her hair,and he looked at the man who tried to hurt her. Those words were written on his lower ribs, that random jumble of sentences was written on him.

He smiled nervously under his mask, “you’re friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, of course.” Y/N looked up into the robotic eyes of the person standing before her. “Holy shit.” She whispered.

Spider-Man chuckled lightly, “yeah, holy shit.”

“You’re my soulmate.” Her features filled with awe.

He scratched the back of his neck through his suit, “yeah.” He examined the redness on her neck, stepping closer. “Are you okay,” he asked, moving the collar of her shirt lightly. Y/N nodded her head, “I think so.”

They both heard police sirens down the street. Spider-Man looked towards the noise, “I’m sorry, I have to go….but I really don’t want to.” His head turned towards hers again and she nodded understandingly.

“It’s okay, just find me. Please.” She stated, almost begged, holding onto one of his biceps. He nodded his head still in awe.

“Now, go save someone else Spider-Man. I’m gonna, call the cops.” She scoffed lightly and motioned to her perpetrator.

He shot a web out of his wrist and swung away into the dark night looming over the city.

He, sadly, never found her which bummed her out, but if fate was truly on their side, they would find each other again.

Y/N clutched her books to her chest. New school, no friends. That’s great, she thought. She walked into the large building of Midtown School of Science and Technology, her fingers fidgeting slightly.

The likely hood of her ever getting into this school was slim as you needed to be there since freshmen year, but she was an exception due to her brilliance.

The bell rang and Y/N looked at her schedule to find her first class of the school year. There was a group of people in the room already talking about their summer. She sat a few rows from the back and just pulled a pencil out of her backpack.

More people began to flood into the room and Y/N tried her hardest not to stare.

Peter walked in with Ned, and froze. “Oh my god,” he blurted, nudging Ned in his side. “What, what is it?” Ned questioned.

Peter dragged Ned to go sit a row behind and slightly to the left of Y/N. “Remember how I told you I met my soulmate on patrol one night over summer?” Peter quietly asked. His friend nodded his head as he saw Peter tug at the bottom of his shirt, where her words were written.

“That’s her!” He whisper yelled, pointed to the girl who was sitting alone. “Dude, go talk to her.” Ned urged, seeing the fright blossom on Peter’s face.

“W-What? No. She doesn’t know that I’m,” his voice got quieter as he leaned in a bit closer, “Spider-Man.” Ned sighed, not understanding how his friend wouldn’t talk to his soulmate. “Fine, then I will.” Ned stood up, and walked to the empty seat in front of Y/N.

“Hi, I’m Ned,” he introduced, eyeing Peter and waiting for him to come over. She sat up a little straighter in her seat. “I’m Y/N,” she stated, with a small smile. Peter stood up just as the late bell rang, and sat next to Y/N.

“And this is my friend Peter,” Ned stated, pointing to the brunette teenager. He sheepishly smiled, waving at her. She chuckled and gave a small wave back. He turned in the desk so that his body was facing her.

Since it was the first day back, their teacher decided to do a ‘meet your classmates’ thing. So, the entire class period was spent with Y/N getting to know Ned and Peter.

Y/N thought that the two boys were nice. She thought they were adorable, but there was something about Peter that almost, pulled her towards him in a weird way.

“So, why are you here?” Peter question, throwing his backpack on the desk before him. His features shifted into that of a worried person. “I’m sorry. That came out completely wrong.” She made him so nervous, and she didn’t even know it.

“I mean, why are you at Midtown? Most people can’t just join. You have to stay all four years.” He blushed, stammering through the entire phrase.

Y/N shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t really know. I was zoned here, but they told me I could only go here if a got really good score on this test they gave me. I guess I got a good score cause I’m here now.” She chuckled softly, making Peter smile.

The bell soon rang and everyone was anxious to go to their next class. “Hey, who’s your second period?” Peter asked, pulling the straps of his backpack over his shoulders. Y/N looked at the paper clutched in her hand and examined it.

“History with,” she trailed off, scanning over the white paper, “Jefferson.” Peter’s face lit up, “me too.”

“What about you Ned?” Y/N asked politely as they walked out of the classroom door. Ned’s expression fell lightly, “Algebra. Wish me luck guys.” He began to walk in the other direction, saying goodbye to his friends.

-

Several months later and Y/N finally adjusted to life in Queens. School was still rough, but she was able to persevere.

“If Mr. Frank gives us any more homework, I swear I’m gonna lose it.” She groaned, face planting on to her bed. Peter laughed lightly, placing his back pack by her bedroom door. “Honestly. All those study guides he’s been giving us have been killing me.”

“I don’t think I can do this anymore.” Y/N groaned, sitting herself up properly. Peter took out his homework, “now come on little lady. We have work to do.”

She opened her bag, taking out the homework that was given to her and started to work on it with Peter.

They sat in silence, the only noise in the room being heard was the scribbling of pencils on notebook paper before Peter paused. “Hey, Y/N?” He asked, looking up from his paper.

“Yeah, kid?” She replied, not looking up from the textbook in her lap. Peter let out a short sigh.

“Look, I-I know we both have soulmates out there, somewhere roaming around the world. But, I was wondering if y-you’d want to go on a date with me. Maybe?” Peter so badly wanted to hear her sweet voice agree with him, but that was sadly not the case.

“Peter,” she pause, looking into his chocolate brown eyes, “I like you. I really do, but not like that. I-I’ve met my soulmate and he’s incredible. I can’t be with someone while knowing that he is somewhere out there, hopefully waiting for me too.”

He nodded his head understandingly. “I’m sorry, I should’ve never asked.” He stood up from his spot on the floor, shoving his textbook and notes into his bag. He should’ve never done this. If he had just kept quiet, everything would’ve been okay.

“Peter,” Y/N protested, wanting him to stay. “See you tomorrow, Y/N.” And with that, he was gone.

When he shut the door to her house, Peter immediately called his best friend.

“Hey, Peter. What’s up?” Ned asked with his normal cheery voice.

“I-I think I messed up Ned.” Peter frantically brushed his hand through his curls.

“Woah. What happened? Is everything okay?”

“No, Ned. Nothing is okay! I just asked my soulmate out on a date, and she said no! What the hell am I suppose to do now?”

“Peter, you should just tell her the truth.”

He sighed, “you know I can’t do that. I could put her in danger. And besides, she wouldn’t believe me anyways cause I don’t even remember the first words I said to her!”

“Well, it’s better than nothing.”

“Man, I’m screwed.”

The next day at school, Peter avoided Y/N as if she was the plague. He didn’t sit with her in any of their classes, he skipped lunch and he didn’t walk her to class.

It felt weird to her without him around. All she wanted was for all of this drama to be over with. All she wanted was to be friends with Peter again. Now, she thinks that’s almost impossible.

The day dragged on, and so did her feet against the pavement when she walked home. She bopped to the music that was playing from her headphones as she opened the front door.

She went to her room and started to do her homework, without Peter. Everything she did today reminded her of the dorky teen, but it wasn’t her fault that he was so god damn gorgeous, but she knew where her loyalties were.

And it felt crazy to say that her loyalties lied with Spider-Man.

She had made sure to keep an eye on the hero as best as she could, by making sure that he was okay and well, but her only access to Spidey info was from the news, sadly.

A light tap was made at the window in her room. Y/N turned her head, slightly scared until she noticed the red and blue. She quickly ran to open the window, to let the man through.

He climbed into her bedroom with ease. She stood there, shocked.

“I told you that I’d find you.” He grinned, wrapping his arms around her waist. Something about him seemed oddly familiar, but she brushed it off, wrapping her hands around his torso.

“I can’t believe it’s you. I-I can’t believe you’re here.” She exclaimed, pulling away but still remaining close with her arms moving to go around his neck.

“Well, you better believe it,” he chuckled, cradling her face with his gloved hand. They stood in silence, enjoying the company of one another.

“God, I don’t ever want to leave you again, Y/N. It sucked, not knowing where you were, not knowing if you got home safely that night. Even though I only knew you for a few minutes.”

Y/N smiled, before her lips dropped into a frown and slowly pulling away from him in a confused state. “H-How did you know that?” She backed away further, making the man before her worry.

“Know what?” He stayed still, afraid that any sudden movements would uncover his identity.

She shook her head, “my name. How did you know my name?” She looked into the robotic eyes. Wishing for an answer.

“You should tell her, Peter.” Karen spoke to him through the suit making him sigh, knowing that she was right.

He pulled the mask off of his head. Better she found out sooner than later. His curls bounced with his movements as he avoided all eye contact. “Surprise.”

Y/N’s jaw dropped. “Surprise?” She questioned with an angry tone. “How could you not tell me Peter?” She folded her arms across her chest.

“How could you not tell me that we’re soulmates?” Her eyebrows were scrunched together.

He stood there with his mask in his hands, fiddling with the material while looking down at his feet. He let out a short sigh, “I didn’t think you’d believe me. I didn’t remember the first words I said to you, so I thought that if I didn’t know, you wouldn’t have thought I was telling the truth.”

The angry look on her face washed away as she felt bad for getting angry at the boy, and she uncrossed her arms. She walked closer to him and saw him look at her through his hair.

“I’m sorry for getting angry,” she apologized, caressing his face in her hand. Peter leaned into her touch, his eyes closed as he felt complete for the first time since summer.

Y/N leaned her head up, placing a quick peck on his lips. The movements made him open his eyes slowly and smile wide before he held onto her hips and leaned in for a longer, much needed, kiss.

She pulled away, giggling slightly, a goofy smile spreading across Peter’s face. “Am I that bad of a kisser?” He sarcastically asked, her giggling increasing.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just,” she paused, composing herself from the laughter, “it all makes sense now. I had a crush on you, but I didn’t start anything because I was waiting for my knight in shining spandex.” She softly punched his chest.

“And it’s funny cause it was so obvious you liked me too.” When she said this, Peter’s eyes went wide.

“What? No it wasn’t.” He almost sounded offended, but he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Y/N. She quirked an eyebrow, giving him a strange look.

“Boys don’t usually walk their friends to class Pete.” She stated with a playful smirk. Peter looked defeated, but continued to make his case.

“Yeah they do,” he mumbled, knowing that he was wrong while nuzzling himself into her neck to hide his red cheeks. “I couldn’t help it. You’re just so beautiful.”

Now it was her turn to blush.

Peter pulled away and glanced at her neck, “did it scar?” His voice was quiet. He hated knowing the fact that she got hurt. She nodded her head slowly, pulling her collar down a little and pointing at the patch of skin that was lighter then the rest.

“But I’m fine.” She smiled, pulling his chin up so they were making eye contact once again.

“I’m okay, thanks to you Peter.” His smile mimicked hers as he pushed her head into his chest and held her there. He was finally home, finally at peace.

[britneyshakespeare]

top 5 britney spears songs, top 5 female marvel characters, top 5 movies

i just did 5 britney songs here but since i love my mom i’ll do 5 more i definitely got it in me

don’t go knockin’ on my door GOD IF THIS SONG DOESNT MAKE ME WANNA PUNCH EVERY MAN IN THE FACE and that’s a quality i fuckin love in a song, that’s all i need to say on that

the hook up ANOTHER ONE FROM IN THE ZONE THAT EVERYONE FORGETS ABOUT but it’s so goddamn irresistible, it just jumps from line to line and britney’s voice fits it perfectly, she carries it w exactly the swagger it is due, people give britney shit for her singing voice (which considering she’s naturally an alto and sings in a soprano range most of the time, she really deserves more credit for if you ask me), but it is undeniable she knows how to deliver her lines like an actress, and that’s a damn important quality in a pop diva that gets overlooked in the pop discourse

the beat goes on okay another cover and i named two in the last one, but she does covers really damn well. the way it closes an otherwise quintessentially bubblegum pop album w an avant-garde electropop song is brilliant. it certainly hinted at things to come, pushing borders of contemporary pop music. and it suited baby brit SO well.

perfume i constantly think back on all the missed opportunities of britney jean era, i’m still not over it. it’s been 5 years i really should be but i’m not. but this song really could’ve used better promotion, it’s one of my favorite britney ballads, and one of the few songs in her own discography where she gets to sing in an alto range!!! she sounds GREAT and to her it’s a very personal song and i respect it deeply

coupureélectrique i have nothing to say about this entire album other than that in 2016, y’all were either with us (the loyal gays who supported glory) or against us. this album deserves so much more love like every britney fan cherished it immediately even the fans who were let down by britney jean and afraid to trust again but the rest of the population was just crickets. a shame too she worked w so many talented female songwriters and producers, bc mom understands the importance of uplifting women not just as starlets but behind the scene producing the music being marketed to women. bless. oh and she sings in french which is extremely welcomed.

top 5 female marvel characters:

jennifer walters/she-hulk, i love her so much. she’s so underrated i’m so upset that the mcu has yet to even touch the subject of her, her characterization is so strong and much more interesting than bruce’s if you ask me, she’s hardly the same creature as bruce banner but since she’s a female spin-off character people assume she’s this lame character w poor characterization when ever since john byrne took the action comedy spin on her book w the sensational she-hulk in the 80s, she became marvel’s wisecracking fourth-wall-breaker before deadpool even existed, not to mention she’s unapologetically feminine while wielding masculine powers for which she doesn’t suffer any consequences which is so different not just for female characters in all of fiction but especially in her genre and time of conception. actually. no. lemme use this video to illustrate my thesis bc it does it much more eloquently than i can at this moment blasting britney in my pajamas. but yes, jennifer walters is one of my absolute favorite characters in fiction.

oh i just realized i can do non-superheroes. this is kind of obvious coming from me but *clears throat* mary jane fucking watson. she works as a wonderful complex supporting character and i love how her relationship w peter parker isn’t just rewarded to him but they both go through so much character development alongside each other, but it’s not entirely dependent on each other. she’s such an important piece in just about all good spider-man stories that have come after her inception. i love mj. but i’ve gone off about it many times before.

kamala khan/ms. marvel. a newbie but such a good and relatable and important character, already, especially for someone who didn’t even exist 5 years ago. i love what she means for teenage girls in comics, for muslim/brown representation. i love the cultural references infused into her books, it makes it all feel so much more authentic. i love how human all her supporting characters are. i love g. willow wilson’s sense of humor. but i feel like she’s rightfully acknowledged for being the groundbreaking character she is so i don’t need to write any more on that right now, i don’t think.

jean grey. comics only, i haven’t seen any of the xmen movies, whoops. basically i used to live vicariously through her when i was younger bc she looks like me and telepathy has always been my dream power of all powers, and i love her character history, she’s so complicated for a female character who began as just a simple good girl of the team type of tropey character. i think she’s a prime example of how interesting and convoluted comic book continuity can be and how retcons and arcs seemingly out of nowhere can be done well and how they can add to the characterization of a formerly bland character and benefit the story, how to utilize the underutilized.

dazzler. i don’t think she’s actually one of my favorite female marvel characters but you gotta give major props to a character whose superpowers are literally to be a disco queen. yeah it was very much trend-hopping in the 70s on behalf of the marvel staff but they’ve made it work in some very interesting ways in the year, again i’ll redirect you to a youtube video about her and also this photo

top 5 movies

hmmm i always say the spider-man trilogy (2002-2007), but it’s true and i should say it

i’ve really loved rebel without a cause (1955) since i started my james dean obsession/non-phase when i was in eighth grade. and i really see why a lot about this movie and james dean as a character resonated w me at that age and continues to hit home, i mean, he’s sort of an embodiment of pent up teen angst and feeling misunderstood and out of touch w oneself at the same time, like a walking contradiction. i feel like james dean was one of my first paradoxical role models that i’d continue to build my identity around in my teen years. but i mumble. this really is a great movie w an interesting story to tell, it’s not just coming of age sleeze, it’s really damn well-written, well-acted, and well-directed.

the day gentlemen prefer blondes (1953) fails to make me smile is the day it all ends, man. i’m so attached to that movie, not just because it’s great (though it is), but it’s just one of my comfort movies. i’m always in the mood to watch it. it’s not even the best film marilyn’s in but how can one not love it, you know?

american psycho (2000) is really damn well remembered for a reason. it adapts a difficult and abstract novel with complicated themes and characterization in the best possible way it can, mary herron doesn’t get enough credit for that. bret easton ellis gets his recognition as the author of the book it’s based off of but i don’t think people talk enough about just how well herron pulled it off. the book has chapters spread throughout of just incomprehensible character building in the most skeptical ways, the way patrick always describes what he is wearing in exhausting detail, as well as the wardrobe of every single person around him at all times. the chapters where he just out-of-the-blue gives his reviews of contemporary popular music. his materialism fixation. his unintelligible babbling. patrick bateman’s a character that by all rules of film shouldn’t be able to be adapted to film as well as he is in this movie. i can honestly only think of one or two details from the book i wish weren’t cut, out of such a long and meandering character study of a novel. it’s really, really a gem.

a fool there was (1915) bc theda bara is my original goth gf and she really fucks it up in this film. i love silent horror films so much, especially ones where rich men are corrupted. oh yeah. that’s just a personal niche though. but it is a good film.

ask me for my top 5 anything

[marvelmando]

let there be light - pt. 1

summary: y/n has been living with tony stark since she was three, after a lab accident killed her parents, and left her with the ability to create and manipulate light. since then, she battles as an avenger, and eventually, as a babysitter for a certain new hero. she doesn’t mind it though, because she’s always wanted to live a normal teenage life... and possibly also because peter’s cute.

contains: swearing, angst, mentions of death, fluff, some ptsd mentions

notes: hi guys!! this is my first ever series!! i’ve got some of this written on wattpad (if it sounds familiar), so this is not plagiarized, i want to make that clear. but y/n will be different my that oc, so some fresh content is available :) but thank you all so much for the amazing support over the past couple of days! please tell me if you like this, and i can try a tag list too!!

next chapter

“Tony, are you sure this kid is good? I mean, what kind of powers come from spiders? Tony, you know I hate spiders,” You whined, and Tony rolled his eyes.

Okay, you didn’t hate spiders. You just thought they were incredibly creepy and sometimes had nightmares about accidentally swallowing a spider. But you didn’t hate them.

“You’d be surprised, Light-bulb. The kid can throw a punch. Or catch a car, or stop a bus with his bare hands, depending on the video you watch.”

Before you could get anymore information, you saw Happy arrive at the rendezvous, with a fidgety boy in red and blue spandex trailing close behind him. As they approached, you could hear the boy (who you presumed to be Spider-Man, based on the spider-shaped emblem on his chest) firing questions at Happy at a million miles a minute. You tried not to laugh at the desolation on Happy’s face as he tried to ignore him.

But then Spider-Boy’s questions halted, and the bionic eyes on his suit widened. You assumed it was because you and Tony were standing before him.

Since you’d arrived, Tony made you keep up your Illusion. They came with the powers: the ability to make anyone see, feel, taste, hear, or smell anything that isn’t there. You use it mainly to change your appearance, usually when you’re appearing as—

“Artemis! Wow! Um, I—I’m Pete—I mean, I’m Sp—Spider-Man.” The kid bounded up to the two of you. “And Mr. Stark. Hi, um, thanks for bringing me out here! I was just telling—”

“Okay kid, calm down.” Tony said, which made... Pete? shut up instantly. “We don’t have much time before the others start to arrive—”

At that moment, someone announced something over the intercoms in German. You looked to Tony. “Alright, that’s our cue. Artemis, you got him?”

You nodded. Stepping to the boy’s side, you didn’t give him any chance to speak. You grabbed his hand, and wrapped his arm around your waist. He stiffened, which made you smirk.

“Hold tight, Spidey.” You said, before you Beamed over to a cluster of wooden boxes, effectively hiding both you and Pete.

Beaming is what you like to call your super-speed. You can run at the speed of light, but because it often takes a lot of energy and requires a strong level of concentration, you don’t use it too often. Instead, you usually run at a speed that’s closer to the speed of sound, which is still fast, but when taking others (especially those who are caught off-guard), it can induce dizziness and vomiting. Hopefully, Pete wouldn’t do the latter.

When you released him, Spider-Man put his hands on his knees, catching his breath. “Woah, that was awesome.” He groaned, not appearing so awesome.

“Okay, I’m sure Happy told you part of what’s going down right?” You asked him once he stood up straight. “You know what your job is?”

He nodded. “Come out at the code word, web Captain America up, take his shield, and... I’m not really sure what comes after that.”

“Depending on what goes down...” You grimaced, hoping this wouldn’t escalate to fighting and Steve would come to his senses. “You’ll just have to keep everyone occupied and make sure no one gets to the garage over there. Think you can do that?”

“Yeah! Um, I mean, I’ve got this, no problem.” Spider-Man stuttered.

“You do talk a lot, don’t you?” You laughed.

“No! Well, only... only when I’m nervous, I guess.” He scratched the back of his neck, and rubbed the top of his head. You figured this would been when he ran his fingers through his hair, if he could.

“I get it,” You watched as Steve came into view. “I was nervous before my first fight too.”

As the two of you looked on as Tony tried to stop Steve, Pete muttered, “Yeah... the fight.”

You grew restless at the way the conversation was getting increasingly more tense. Steve then mentioned something about the doctor, and how there were more Winter Soldiers. While Spider-Man was clueless, you knew better, your interest piqued.

Tony wasn’t having it, though, and you could tell he was barely restraining his frustration. “Alright, I’ve run out of patience.” He said, and you knew what was coming. You nudged Spidey’s elbow, signalling him to be ready. “Underoos!”

Both superheroes sprang into action. While Spider-Man leaped high through the air above everyone’s heads and grabbed Captain America’s shield, you Beamed past, binding Steve’s wrists in a rope made of light.

Pete landed heroically on top of a nearby truck, on one knee with the shield on his arm. You stopped at the empty spot next to Tony.

Between Beaming twice already, and Fusing the rope, you’d grown slightly exhausted. “Nice job, kids.” Tony addressed them.

You would’ve given a snarky response, but you were out of breath. You nodded, though. Spider-Man was not so out of breath.

“Thanks!” He said, sitting straight as he settled on the knee. He looked down at himself. “I could’ve stuck the landing a little better, it’s just... new suit—” Realizing how that sounded, his head snapped up. “Wait—it’s nothing, Mr. Stark, it’s perfect, thank you.”

You smiled at his awkward babble, but Tony wasn’t as amused. “Yeah, we don’t really need to start a conversation.”

Spider-Man nodded, but wasn’t listening to Tony apparently, because he was too in-awe of the other superhero in front of him. “Okay. Cap—Captain.” He saluted at Captain America, who’s mouth was hanging open a little, obviously a little surprised. “Big fan; I’m Spider-Man.”

Tony was getting annoyed. “Yeah, we’ll talk about it later.”

Spider-Man exhaled, waving his hand. “Hey, everyone.”

“Not now, Spidey.” You muttered to him, still grinning to yourself.

“You’ve been busy,” Steve said, contrarily bemused by the situation. Your smile slid off your face as you glared at him.

"And you've been a complete idiot." Tony shot back. "Dragging in Clint, 'rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave—a safe place. I'm trying to keep—" Tony's voice raised in volume, and he broke off with a sigh. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

You hated seeing Tony like this, and your heart ached for him because you knew how much he’d grown to care for the Avengers Initiative.

But you kind of lost it, when Steve replied, “You did that when you signed.”

“Cut the shit, Steve.” You scoffed, and his eyes turned to you, shocked. “We did that? Tore the Avengers apart by signing a damn peace accords? Please, without the contract there wouldn’t even be an Avengers team anymore.” You shook your head at him. “You’re so hell-bent on saving people with this, but we wouldn’t be able to without the contract, not legally, anyways. And you know that! You know I love you and I know how important Bucky is to you, but he’s dangerous. He isn’t worth the risk.”

Steve leveled his head at you. “Oh, and you’re not just as dangerous as him?”

You could feel the blood boiling in your veins, and Tony had to hold you back, while you held back tears. 

Tony had enough. “All right, we're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, and you're gonna come with us, now, because it's us... or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite."

Now that you weren’t struggling against Tony anymore, you noticed how he was shaking. He was stalling.  Stalling, in the hopes that Steve could change his mind, stalling for one last chance of keeping his family from tearing apart. "C'mon," he urged, pouring every last bit of hope and desperation into the one word.

The Captain's head turned, as if he was suddenly aware of something. Suddenly, before anyone could react, Steve lifted his bonded hands above his head, and an electrically charged arrow sliced through your light-rope, effectively freeing him. Iron Man's helmet activated, and you could hear Steve say, "All right, Lang," into his ear piece, but you had no clue who or what a 'Lang' was.

"Hey guys, something—" Spider-Man said, before grunting loudly, as a man appeared next to him, seemingly out of nowhere. He kicked the boy down, snatching Cap's shield back. You readied yourself for action, charging your hands up with light energy and Fusing a light bow and arrows.

"What the hell was that?!" Rhodey exclaimed into his suit.

The man, you assumed, handed the shield back to its owner. "Ah, great. All right, there's two on the parking deck." Tony informed everyone through the comms. "One of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna grab her. Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?"

"Got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes," Rhodey responded.

Black Panther, whom you had completely forgotten was here, took off. "Barnes is mine!" However, Steve stopped him in his tracks.

Spider-Man hesitated, looking to you. "Artemis, what do I do?"

Preparing yourself for flight, you nodded toward the terminal. "Let's web 'em up, Spidey."

"Okay, copy that." As he shot webs and swung himself away, you took off flying. You maneuvered the light particles in your hands so that they created enough energy to push your body off the ground and through the air, which was a trick you'd recently learned.

As Spider-Man landed on the windows of the terminal, he tried to catch up with Wilson and Barnes by clinging to the surface and crawling across it.

And, as amusing as it was, you called out to him, "You know they're on the other side of the glass, right, Web-head?" You teased, floating in front of him and phasing through the glass. His suit's bionic eyes widened, and he yelled, "whoa, that was so cool!" before swinging around and flying through the glass.

Spider-Man went to Wilson first, and you landed right in front of Bucky. You started to shoot blasts of light at him, making sure to dodge his punches. You laughed as he kept missing, and he became more impatient. “Aw, lighten up, Barnes! Get it? Because I’m made of light!”

As you pelted him with a particularly solid blast of light, you pouted. “I hope there’s no... hard! feelings after what I said out there. Strictly business, you understand.”

Bucky suddenly grabbed you by the throat with his normal hand, and lifted his metal arm to punch you, but Spider-Man swooped in and caught it with ease.

Gasping for air, you backed away. “You have a metal arm? That is awesome, dude!”

Mildly in pain but equally impressed at how easily Spider-Man caught Bucky’s arm, you grinned and took the opportunity that Spider-Man was now battling Bucky, to knock back some light arrows at Sam’s wings. The bow and arrows had been your go-to weapon since you first used it in the Battle of New York, when you Fused the first thing that came to mind (you were in a Hunger Games phase). After it was over, the media had named you Artemis, after the Greek goddess of archery.

You only needed to fire one, because you could easily manipulate the arrow into his pack, temporarily shutting it down. Only for a brief second, though, because his wings opened back up, but not before swooping down and taking Spider-Man with him.

You cursed to yourself. You and Bucky stood there in an odd moment of calm, watching as Spider-Man struggled against Sam’s grip. “You have the right to remain silent!” Spider-Man yelled, making you laugh.

Bucky, remembering where he was, resumed his fighting stance. “You two were made for each other.” He grumbled bitterly, and you smirked.

As Spider-Man and Wilson were dueling in the air, you and Bucky were battling on the ground. You grew tire of throwing light blasts, and even tried Fusing a baseball bat and hitting him with that once. But he dodged it, and grabbed at a nearby metal bench. With his strong arm, he ripped it right out of the ground and hurled it at you.

Luckily, you were not completely surprised and moved your head quickly out of the way (and by quickly, you mean at the speed of sound). The chunk of metal narrowly missed Spider-Man behind them. Bucky ran and hid behind a support beam, but Spider-Man had seen him, and yelled at him, “Hey buddy, I think you lost this!” before chucking the metal back at him.

Looking up to help him, you watched as Wilson kicked into Pete's back, and pushing towards the ground, before Spider-Man shot his webs, pulling himself from Sam's grasp. You remembered hearing something about an automatic shut-off switch on the back of Sam's wings, and Fused your bow and arrows, shooting blindly at his back.

Luckily, you must've hit it, because his wings immediately retracted, causing him to fall through the air, and into a booth. Nearing the rail, Spider-Man swung by and shot his webs at Sam's hands, attaching them to the metal railing. Spider-Man clung to the side of a support beam, and everything was strangely calm for a second.

“Those wings carbon fiber?” Pete asked.

“Is this stuff coming out of you?” Sam looked at his hands, mildly disgusted.

“That’s what she said,” You joked to yourself.

"That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that's awesome, man." Pete said, more or less answering himself.

“You know, Spidey, as much as I appreciate a little commentary, there’s not usually this much talking in a fight.” You pointed out, and Sam nodded.

Instead of being embarrassed, which is what you expected, Spider-Man chuckled. "All right, sorry. My bad." He then swung at Sam.

Suddenly, Bucky appeared out of nowhere, blocking Spider-Man, but not stopping him from knocking them both through the railing and onto the ground. Spider-Man webbed Wilson's arms to his chest, and Bucky's metal arm to the ground.

"Guys, look, I'd love to keep this up, but I've only got one job here today, and I've gotta impress Mr. Stark, so, I'm really sorry." Pete explained.

However, you noticed Wilson's hand move under the webbing and the net, and you could tell it was his wrist monitor.

"Webs—" You started to warn him. But, before you could get anything else out, as Spider-Man extended his arm to shoot a web, Redwing flew in and caught hold of Pete's hand, zooming out the window. Spider-Man banged awkwardly against the building's framework, and flailed through the air as Redwing tugged him along.

You turned to glare at Sam, who simply shrugged, before flying back after him.

Apparently, Spider-Man had been dropped, because he was squirming around on the concrete. You saw a small cut on his arm, where the glass had pierced through the fabric and his flesh. Landing near him, you grabbed his hand gently.

He began to fight back before he realized who it was, and he relaxed.

"Hey, quit squirming so I can heal you, dumbass." You gripped him harder, exposing the wound a bit more so you could make contact with his skin. You pressed your fingertips against the area around his cut, and allowed the light to flow through your chest and into your hands.

The illumination of your skin reflected off of his bionic eyes, and against your better judgement, you wished you could see the look under his mask. He stayed silent in awe, but looked at your face the entire time. You couldn't read Pete's expression, but you knew it was impressed.

After the wound stitched itself back together, you dropped his arm. "You okay? The healing tends to make people a little dizzy afterwards," You helped him stand, and Spider-Man swayed slightly.

Both of the your attentions were attracted when a truck went flying through the air, landing near Rhodey in a fiery explosion. Caught off guard, you recharged your hands, ready for the next attack. Beside you, Spider-Man crouched, as if ready to swing into action in a moment's notice.

Catching up to Tony and a fallen Natasha and Rhodey, you took the woman's arm, while Tony helped his friend.

"All right," Rhodey grunted. "Now I'm pissed."

"Is this part of the plan?" Nat asked Tony.

"Well, my plan was to go easy on them. You wanna switch it up?"

As Captain America's team ran for the hanger across the strip, you could see Vision flying in and cutting them off in their path with a beam from his Mind Stone.

"Captain Rogers," Vision spoke, floating ten feet above the ground, and looking pretty badass. "I know you believe what you're doing is right. "But for the collective good, you must surrender now."

One by one, Iron Man's team assembled across from them, separating Cap's team from the hangars.

Apparently, you figured, the talking was done, because Steve started towards his adversaries.

Beside you, Natasha sighed. "This is gonna end well,"

And with that, both teams were walking towards the other, without the intent to stop. As Captain Rogers picked up the pace, Pete seemed to freak out a bit. "They're not stopping!"

"Neither are we." Tony lamented, and for the first time, you hesitated.

This was your family; how were you supposed to fight against them? Why were they resorting to violence? For a split moment, you despised this life you had. But you couldn't think about that now, not when half of the Avengers (and this 'Lang' character) were running towards you, and certainly not for a hug.

You looked to Spider-Man, who seemed confident. You willed yourself to stay strong, and as Tony, Rhodey, and Vision flew into the air, you hovered as well.

And then the Avengers collided.

As each team member fought their own opponent, you chose to help Spider-Man battle Wanda. The Scarlet Witch threw her red energy blasts towards you with one hand, and launched vehicles at Spider-Man with the other. He made loads of different grunts and yelps as he shot web after web, trying to dodge the trucks. You fought back with your own light blasts, and even tried swiping her out from underneath her feet at one point, but Wanda took you by the foot with her energy and dragged you far away.

You had to hand it to her, she was doing much better at fighting off two people than you had done against one, but you didn't let her win.

You did, however, stop fighting her, as you went to find Steve. You wanted to have a word with him. And by word, you meant a good punch in the face, even if your hand did break in the process.

As you'd just found him, Spider-Man was swinging by, when Steve threw his shield and cut his web. Spider-Man rolled on the roof of a gangway, crouching. You split the distance, so you all stood in a triangular shape.

“Now, now, boy’s let’s play nice, yeah?” You teased, settling your hands on your hips.

"That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all." Spider-Man stated.

“That’s true, Spidey, but neither do I.” You smirked, forming your own shield out of light.

"Fair point, Glow-stick." Spider-Man shrugged, and your cheeks began to glow slightly at your new nickname. Literally.

"Look, kids, there's a lot going on here that you guys don't understand." Steve interrupted, slightly frustrated.

"Mr. Stark said you'd say that, wow." Spider-Man said, before flicking his wrist, shooting a web at Cap's shield, as you grabbed one of Steve's ankles with a Fused whip.

Pulling him towards Spider-Man, you released the energy in your whip, and Spider-Man used the momentum to kick him hard in the chest, sending him flying back into the gangway.

Rolling a good distance away, he laughed, "He also said to go for your legs."

Steve lunged towards his shield, which was a couple feet away from him. Reacting unnaturally quickly, both young heroes restrained the captain. Spider-Man held his hands back with his webs, and you Beamed over, which you could feel a massive energy loss. You kicked the shield away, and while he couldn't use his hands, you used the opportunity to punch him really hard in the jaw.

You yelped, cradling your broken hand against your chest, hopping around as you tried to distract yourself from the pain. Totally worth it, you thought, as you noticed a bruise start to blossom on his jawline.

You could feel the bones start to heal themselves, but you were forced to stand back a little while Steve managed to use Spider-Man's webs to his advantage. Spinning through the air, Steve slingshot Spider-Man back. Once he recovered, he tried to attach a web back onto his shield, but Steve grabbed the web and yanked Spider-Man back, slamming his head against the vibranium.

You cringed for Pete; even with regenerative powers, that was definitely going to leave a mark.

He recovered impressively quickly though, vaulting himself on top of the gangway.

“Stark tell you anything else?” Cap looked up at him. 

"That you're wrong; you think you're right. That makes you dangerous." Spider-Man shrugged, then swung himself around the gangway and hurled himself at Steve. The Star Spangled man roundhouse kicked him, sending him flying back into the leg of the gangway.

"Webs!" You gasped, still mildly in pain. You tried to sprint normally over in time to get him out of there, but Steve had already chucked his shield at the leg, causing the structure to fall on Spider-Man.

"Artemis!" Spider-Man yelped, thinking that the gangway was going to strike you, but he lifted his hands up, and caught it. With your good hand, you Fused a light sheet to hold up the structure, or at least help your comrade.

Steve, whom you thought had already left, put his shield back onto his arm. "You got heart, kid. Where you from?"

"Queens." Pete grunted.

Turning, Steve smirked. "Brooklyn." And with that, he bolted.

You saw the light in your peripherals begin to fade, and you whimpered. Spider-Man yelled out in frustration, managing to lift the whole thing on his own. "Go!" He shouted at you, and you did so gladly.

You collapsed not a couple yards from there, while Spider-Man shot a web and yanked himself out from under the structure before it fell. Now free, he ran to you.

You were panting, and you desperately tried not to let your Illusion fade, now that he was over here. That was one thing Tony had stressed. Don’t let him figure out who you were. "Hey, hey, Glow-stick, you okay? Look at me." Spider-Man tended to you, checking you up and down.

"I'm good—go," You gasped, feeling your light mask starting to dissipate. Spider-Man hesitated, but he was forced to change his mind when suddenly, small guy turned big.

"Holy shit!" Spider-Man exclaimed, and you breathed out a tense chuckle. As he left to battle it out with the giant, you crawled behind some boxes.

Letting your powers go, your alter-ego’s white hair faded into your own, and the eyes that turned white when you used your powers, closed. You took deep breaths. Your powers were almost drained, and you used what ever was left into healing your hand. You examined it; you could flex your hand open, but it still felt sore.

After a few painful minutes of recovering, Tony asked, "Okay, anybody on our side hiding any shocking and fantastic abilities they'd like to disclose, I'm open to suggestions. Artemis, I'm talking to you, Light-bulb!"

"Nah, T, the well's gone dry," You winced, and Tony groaned.

The boxes you hid behind suddenly exploded, and it didn't take long for you to find out that Giant dude kicked your hiding spot away. You immediately put back up your facade, sprinting towards Black Panther, who was seconds away from being the giant's new toy.

As Rhodey swept in, Spider-Man swinging along, Hawkeye began to duel with the Wakandan king. Figuring that fight was fair enough, you decided to go and help your team defeat the monster.

Eventually, Rhodey abandoned Lang, and flew off to stop Steve and Barnes from getting to the hangars, leaving you and Spider-Man to defeat Ant-Man yourselves.

Spider-Man scaled the giant, crawling up and over Lang's helmet. You tried to minimize using your powers, so you didn't completely drain them. You mainly shouted directions to your young new friend, telling him points of possible weakness.

Then, Vision used his body as a bowling ball, slamming into Ant-Man's torso and knocking him backwards against an airplane. Vision, now distracted by Captain and Barnes sprinting across the airstrip, phased through Lang.

Visually startled, Ant-Man grasped his chest. "Something just flew in me!"

On the other side of Lang, Vision shot a cutting beam from his Mind Stone, slicing a radio tower in half, causing it to topple over right at the entrance of the hangars.

Too distracted by Spider-Man's cries of frustration, you ignored Wanda's distant cries of pain and the overwhelming sounds of destruction.

"Hey, guys, you ever see that really old movie, Empire Strikes Back?" Spider-Man shouted. You laughed, for what felt like the millionth time.

"Jesus, Tony, how old is this guy?" Rhodes groaned, and you could practically see Tony's eyes rolling.

"I don't know, I didn’t carbon-date him. He's around Artemis’ age, on the young side!" Tony responded.

"You know that part where they're on the snow planet... with the walking thingies?" Spider-Man shouted, swinging himself around Ant-Man's legs.

You Fused another light-rope, grinning as you understood what the boy was saying. "Guys, I think he's onto something!" You attached your rope to Spider-Man's web, and beamed around the giant's legs.

"High, now Tony, go high!" Rhodey instructed Iron Man, who then both flew with their fists aimed at Lang's jaw, knocking him off-balance, and sent him to the ground.

Completely basking in the accomplishment, Pete gave Tony a thumbs up, still slinging around Ant-Man.

"Yes!" Spider-Man laughed. "That was awesome!"

Distracted by Pete's joy, you smiled, your eyes glued on the boy. It was too late by the time you noticed Spider-Man flying straight towards the giant hand, which, in turn, caused Peter to smack straight into you.

Your body taking most of the blow, the two of you crashed through a nearby stack of boxes.

Groaning in pain, you felt your Illusions begin to wear off again. Beside you, Pete was barely conscious, and you struggled to at least keep your hair white. Iron Man came flying to you, and Pete, whose mask was halfway off, was laying on the ground motionless.

Tony looked to you first, but you nodded to Pete. He crouched down at the boy, "Kid you all right?"

Reacting on instinct, Pete began to fight off his attacker, before realizing it was only Tony. "Same side! Guess who. Hi!" Tony grabbed him by the wrists, stopping him from pummeling the multi-billionaire.

Pete calmed down, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh... hey, man,"

"Yeah."

"That was scary,"

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "You're done, all right?"

Pete blinked. "What? I'm good, I'm fine,"

You groaned, clutching your side. You made a move to stand up. "Pete, you did good job, stay down. Let us handle the rest."

Tony's head whipped to you. "Oh, no, you're both done."

"What?!" You exclaimed, at the same time Pete said, "No it's good, I gotta get him back!"

"You're going home, or I'll call Aunt May!" He yelled at Spider-Man, before turning to you. "And I'll put you in the Dark Room!"

You immediately stopped arguing, eyes going wide at Tony's threat. Tony never used it as a punishment, but the thought alone of going in there made you shudder. Spider-Man, however, wasn't deterred.

"Wait," He whispered, trying to get up. You watched him with weary eyes as he eventually gave up fighting. He slumped back down on the ground, clutching his side.

You laid down beside him, the two of you breathing in heavily as you both tried to recover from the intensity of the battle.

After a couple minutes of relative silence, Peter spoke. "What's the Dark Room?"

You sighed. "It's the place where I go when my powers malfunction," You started, sitting up. Pete perched himself up on his elbows, watching you. "It's a room without windows, no light, completely sound and heat proof, so no one gets hurt."

You trailed off. He then said, “My name’s not actually Pete, by the way. I’m Peter.” He held his hand out to you, his mask now completely off. He was cute, brown eyes and matching hair, tousled from the mask.

Eventually, Tony came back to retrieve you. You said your goodbyes to Peter as Artemis, while you and Tony left on a helicopter. Tony dropped you off at the airport, where you flew back to New York.

The next day, you leaned against the car, waiting for Happy and Peter to get off the jet. For some reason, Tony wanted you to meet Peter as yourself.

Once they landed and exited the plane, you smiled at the two. “Hello, Happy. Hi, Peter.”

Peter looked even cuter today, now in jeans and a shirt with a science pun on it. “Do I know you?”

“I’m Y/N, Mr. Stark’s intern. I’m here to escort you back home.”

And you did. Peter was endearing, and very surprised when you informed him that he was keeping the suit. After the good-byes, and Happy took you back to the Stark tower, you sighed at the sight of a very battered Tony Stark.

You took a chair and faced him, reaching out to heal him. He shook you off, which was not like him. “He killed my parents.” He said, and your heart broke for your father-figure. “Bucky, I mean. But Steve knew.”

“I’m so sorry, Tony.” You said quietly, grabbing his hands for comfort, being careful not to hurt him.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Tony responded, and you nodded.

“Anyways, I wanted to tell you something.” He rose from his chair, walking around into the kitchen. He poured himself a generous glass of bourbon. “You like Peter?”

You shrugged. “Yeah, he’s sweet.”

Tony nodded. “Kid’s got potential.” He agreed. “But I need you to do something. Go on a mission.”

You nodded, liking where this is going.

“Well, he needs some guidance. He’s still a baby superhero, and he’s got a chance of screwing up big time. That’s where you come in.” He took a sip. “You’re seasoned, you’re a wise elder. And you can... help him. Guide him.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “But how am I going to do that?”

Tony smirked, which excited you. That was his ‘I’ve-got-a-plan-and-I’m-up-to-no-good’ face.

“Light-bulb, you’re going to high school.”

[superheroabc]

Late nights- Peter Parker

Peter x reader

So sorry this was late. Please let me know if you’d liked to be tagged in this series. This is the third avenger/ avenger cast member I’ve written for so if you’d like to read the others you can find me masterlist here. I will be writing for Tony next. 

The italics are peter’s thoughts

You walked into your house, accidentally slamming the door. As you waked past your parents they tried to ask you what’s wrong but you just ignored them and went straight to your room, on the verge of tears. 

Your parents knew exactly what was wrong though. Peter. This was now the seventh date he’s ditched you on. Every time he would use lousy excuses like the stark internship or that he got caught up studying with Ned. Once you called Ned and asked him if he was with Peter and he said no, making you worry about your relationship.

Tonight was supposed to be special though. It was your one year anniversary and after days and weeks of lying he promised that he was going to put everything aside in order to be with you.

You sighed as you slipped off your dress, which you wore for him since it was his favorite color and tossed the present you go for him on your nightstand. As you climbed into bed, you stared at his present and wondered what he was doing.

Meanwhile Peter felt awful. He was currently at the bank fighting an armed robbery with twelve men and hostages. As he looked up at the clock on the wall his heart dropped. Shit it’s 1:00 am! I was supposed to meet Y/N four hours ago!

One of the robbers noticed that Peter wasn’t paying attention and shot his arm. Good thing Tony made the suit bullet proof, but somehow this bullet managed to graze his arm and make a good enough dent for him to bleed out of.

Peter slung a web at the guy who shot him and pulled the gun out of his hand. He tied him up with his web but as he did that another guy shot him in the leg, and the same thing happened with the last bullet. He took that guy down too, after taking the rest of their guns away. By the time Peter was done the police showed up and helped him release all the hostages.

“Thank you Spider-man. These people and I highly appreciate it, but you don’t have to stay here and help us untie them. Plus I think those gunman took a few shots at you.” pointed out the chief of police. Peter looked down at his arm and leg. The adrenaline he had made it hurt less but he was now bleeding a lot more than he expected.

“Yeah your right, I should probably get going.” Peter thanked the chief and tried his best to run outside, but the slight wound in his leg made it difficult. He got outside and slung a web to the tallest building around.

“Peter your bleeding.” 

“I know that Karen.” he said swinging through the streets

“Would you like me to inform Mr. Stark.” She asked.

“No! Do not call him!” Peter said, stopping on top of a building since he was starting to feel weak and tired.

“Well you either need to be picked up or stop somewhere near by, Peter. May I suggest Y/N’s house.”

“I can’t go there either.”

“Well sorry to disappoint you sir, but you are currently on top of her building,” Peter looked around in shock. Out of all places he could’ve ended up, he had to be at his probably angry and upset girlfriend’s apartment. “Peter at least try knocking on her window. I assure you, you will not make it to your apartment or the tower if you don’t stop, get help and rest for a minuet.”

Peter thought about it for a minuet before slowly descending down the fire escape. Once he got to your window he saw you still awake on your phone. He saw the tears that stained your cheeks, which broke his heart knowing he’s the reason for those tears. He hesitantly knocked on your window causing you to jump.

You quickly scurried to the window, with the most priceless expression your face. Before you opened the window though you ran away again to grab a piece of paper. Peter saw you scribble something down at your desk before you came back over to him. The paper said: Are you really Spider-man?

Peter quickly nodded and shot a web to prove it. Once you saw that it was safe and that he wasn’t a crazy New Yorker you opened the window.

“C-could you help me? I just got shot at a few times and I need you to help patch me up.” He asked, struggling to get in the window. You helped him limp into the window and onto your bed.

“I’ll be right back. I’m going to get the first aid kit and some ibuprofen. You stay here and make zero noise.” You practically sprinted out the door and was back in no time. When you came back you saw him still in his mask while wearing a pair of Peter’s shorts and one of his shirts, both of which you stole from him. “Alright, what should I do exactly? I’ve never cleaned out a gun wound before.”

Peter waved you over to sit next to him. You followed every bit of instruction  he was giving you.

“Sorry I’m bothering you. I was going to go home and do this myself but I wouldn’t have made it.” He said before hissing at the sting on his leg.

“Sorry, I know this must hurt. And um… this is no bother actually. After the night I had, which in no way is comparable to yours, you made it better. I mean I wish we didn’t have to meet while your injured like this, but your my hero. I know there’s other superheroes out there but you personally help people and I know that when the time comes you’ll be fighting off evil gods or aliens or whatever hell the world will experience next.”

“Thank you, that means a lot to me. I’m sorry your night sucked.” 

“Yeah…I know you probably don’t wanna hear this but, my boyfriend ditched me on our date without even telling me he wasn’t going to show. I was there four hours waiting for him.” You said wrapping up his arm.

“You deserve better than that. So much better than that and I’m sorry.” He said looking down at the floor.”

“It’s not your fault,” You shrugged trying not to look hurt. “It’s not like your the one who left me alone on our anniversary and six dates before that.” You said with a bitter chuckle.

“I have something to tell you actually and you might hate me for it.” Your brows crinkled in confusion. Peter grinned under his masking, thinking you looked adorable when you do that. Peter slowly took off his mask, leaving you with wide eyes.

“P-peter? H-how did this happen? Are you okay?” You asked remembering the wounds you just cleaned.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wanted to so badly, but I don’t want you getting hurt. I’m so sorry for leaving you alone on all those dates, especially tonight. I feel so bad that I made you look like a fool and that you had to find out this way.” Peter couldn’t look you in the eye. He was afraid to see how you’d react and how hurt you might be. You grabbed Peter’s face and turned his head to you.

“I’m happy you told me, but please be more careful. New York may need Spider-man but I also need Peter Parker.” He nodded at your words and pulled you into a tight hug. The hug felt like it lated an eternity as you both buried your faces in each others neck.

Once you finally pulled away you both laid in your bed facing each other. He explained to you everything that happened in Germany and what the Stark internship actually was. He explained how Ned found out and how he actually became spider man.

“I love you, you know that right?” Peter said, moving your hair out of your face.

“Yeah, I love you too.” You sad before giving him a small but meaningful kiss. “Oh wait, I have something for you.” You turned over and grabbed the box on your night stand. Peter sat up to see what you were doing.

“Babe, I don’t deserve that.”

“Yes you do. Now open it.” Peter took the present while rolling his eyes. He opened the lid to the box and took the shirt.

“Thanks…” He said confused.

“Turn it around silly.” Peter did as he was told and the Star wars logo with a bunch of signatures on it. “I know you were sad about not being able to go to comic-con with Ned and I know how badly you wanted the cast’s autographs, so I had Ned take me with him so I could get them for you.”

“This is the best and most thoughtful gift anyone could ever get me. I’m never wearing this by the way, it’s going in a frame.” He said making you giggle “I got you something too. I was carrying it in my suit, expecting that I would still be ale to go on our date.”

Peter reached down and picked his suit up off the floor. Once he found the tiny box he gave it to you with the cutest smile on his face. You opened the box and your heart melted. It was a crown ring with both of your initials on it.

“I know you’ve been eyeing a ring like that for a while now, but it was super expensive so I worked out a deal with Mr. Stark to get it. He helped me pick out the jewels and one of his guys did the engraving on the inside.”

“Peter I love it. Thank you so so much.” You said while slipping on the ring.

“Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary.”

You and Peter spent the next two hours snuggling in your bed until he finally had to go back home. He slipped into his suit and before pulling his mask over his mouth he kissed you and swung out the window, leaving you with a smile as you watched your hero go.

taglist

@mo0nchxldc                                                                                                         @buckyappreciationsociety

[armorbirdpress]

Armor Bird Reviews: Black Panther

Heyo, it's been so freaking long since I've done a movie review! But in the wake of all the positive reactions, hype, and feels surrounding the Black Panther movie, I knew for a fact that I HAD to give it a review after seeing it this past weekend. I’ve already posted this review on the PPC Board, so if you want to check it out, the alternative link is here!

Black Panther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, and is the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Ryan Coogler, and written by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, it stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. As with any MCU movie, a lot of fanfare and attention has been drawn to this film, and I was dying to see it to determine if it lived up to all the hype; I am so very glad that we got tickets in advance to watch this movie, because otherwise all the seats would’ve been taken by the time we got to the theater - there were just that many people who wanted to see it. And just as well, because good golly, it is an absolute masterpiece. Spoilers under the cut!

Starting things off with the writing and characterization, I have to say that almost all the characters in the film were enjoyable and engaging to watch, and there were plenty of great moments from everyone concerned. T'Challa, despite being the obvious star of the show, actually feels kinda stoic compared to the liveliness of quite a few of the secondary characters which I'll get to a bit later, but he still has a compelling storyline, and while I was worried that he'd remain somewhat static throughout the movie, there were quite a few gut punches that ensured that he'd grow as a person and also as a ruler. The movie did a good job of demonstrating that he had big shoes to fill in a metaphorical sense, and also that even if T'Chaka had tried to be the best example that he could be for his son, his past mistakes would still come to light eventually and force T'Challa to reevaluate his worldview. This is especially apparent when it becomes known that T'Chaka, when he had donned the Black Panther suit, had been forced to kill the Wakandan traitor whose son would grow up to become Killmonger. It was a split-second decision driven by the impulse to save the life of the other Wakandan spy present, but the urge to keep up appearances for the sake of the nation ended up having far-reaching consequences that would've resulted in far more unnecessary casualties if T'Challa and later M'Baku and his tribe hadn't intervened. That kind of split-second decision is mirrored in the story in general, when T'Challa's lack of information regarding Killmonger's origin story almost costs him the throne and even his life, only being saved by the intervention of M'Baku and his remaining allies' delivery of the last Heart-Shaped Herb. Eventually, after fighting his way back to his own kingdom, he's forced to deal with Killmonger using the only remaining option left after the failure of diplomacy and civility, through violence and possible death. This history essentially repeating itself is one of the biggest contributions to T'Challa's character growth, and also his decision to make Wakanda a more publicly open nation willing to use its resources to aid the world at large in the end. It shows that he's realized how much impact even very short-term decisions can have in a sort of ripple effect, as well as the major setback of trying to lock Wakanda as a whole behind figurative closed doors: that sort of isolationism prevents you from interacting with the world around you and, like it or not, making the kinds of mistakes needed to move forward.

Naturally, since T'Challa sets a pretty high bar, the secondary characters and antagonists kinda have to settle for being second fiddle, but they all have traits of their own that help move the plot forward. The main antagonist, the aforementioned Killmonger, is interesting among the other Marvel villains in that instead of the typical "KILL EVERYTHING" or "take over the world" MO (or sometimes both) without many reasons other than "MWAHAHA I'M EVIL", he actually has a rather valid and understandable reason for his actions. The recent instances of black people being persecuted simply for their color, even in the modern day and age, are a strong force of motivation grounded in a sad reality, although the means by which Killmonger was planning to achieve that goal - by waging war on every other race - were undoubtedly going to cause as many problems as they'd solve if not more. Another interesting factor is how Killmonger's rule essentially divides up the entire nation; while Shuri (whom I'll get to later) is loyal to T'Challa through and through, and goes out of her way to help him and his cause, other characters like Okoye (initially) and W'Kabi simply serve the man in the throne whether or not he's truly fighting for the force of good. This actually threatens to tear the nation apart during Killmonger's campaign, and again, it's only because T'Challa and M'Baku's tribe join forces to stop him that things don't escalate into all-out carnage. As a wise man once said, hate begets hate - whether you think it's justified or not, the total extermination of people who are different than you, even if a few gave you grief in the past, is the wrong way to act, and only makes you like those very people who attacked you first. I have to give props to T'Challa for not falling into the same trap that his father did and offing Killmonger directly; instead, he attempted to show mercy, as well as a Wakandan sunset like in the tales Killmonger had heard as a child, but rather than spend life in prison with his reputation in shambles, Killmonger chose to essentially commit suicide and end the cycle. Even if he nearly caused an all-out civil war within the Wakandan borders, Killmonger is still a tragic figure, and that makes a big impact on all of us.

My favorite character by far, however, has to be Shuri. It's established very early on that she's not only a child prodigy, but also a youthful, spunky teenager with a wholesome sense of humor (and in at least three instances, a penchant for memery, trolling, and cringe-inducing puns on almost the same level as Chibi Yang). While she seems to be a light-hearted comic relief, though, she also plays one of the most critical roles in the story - rescuing the Heart-Shaped Herb that would later be given to T'Challa for his second wind - and her humor is offset by a dedication to her responsibilities as well as her intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of the Black Panther role as well as his loyalty to T'Challa regardless of the situation. It's probably this that leads to her being so important in helping T'Challa recover, and I'm proud of her for being both the heart of the movie (T'Challa, of course, being the soul) and a nuanced and lovable character in her own right.

The writing of the movie is also quite well done due to the points noted above and much more. Racism, prejudice, loyalty, and the impact of even the smallest things are themes that are prominent throughout the entire movie. I was very concerned that the sole major white character, Everett Ross, would turn out to be a villain (though thankfully that wasn't the case, and he gets an awesome support role in the climax that Han Solo would be proud of), and Ulysses Klaue IS a secondary antagonist, but it's interesting that ultimately, the conflict is waged by blacks, among blacks. This ties into the concept that there is no such thing as reverse racism - even if it's blacks persecuting whites, it's still way over the line if it isn't in self-defense. The conflicting solutions proposed by T'Challa and Killmonger - coming to terms with the outside world and reaching out to lend aid to it vs. only looking out for your own and forsaking all others to keep them from harm - are an uncomfortable mirror to a lot of real-world politics in recent years, but in true MCU tradition, it's the idealistic approach that wins the day in the end, although as expected for a conflict as intense as this, there are still quite a few casualties at the end of it all, and unlike many other instances in the MCU and beyond, most of these are impactful and placed tactfully enough to move the story forward.

I dont' even need to say that the graphics and visuals of this movie are absolutely gorgeous. Wakanda as a city is stunning, the various African landscapes breathtaking, and the vehicle design and choreography as masterful as a Star Wars movie. The costume and character design as well are splendid, and it is at this point that I'd like to call attention to the costume designer for this movie: Ruth E. Carter, who's also done work for such films as "Malcom X" and "School Daze" - plus she's African, and has done extensive research for this movie's designs, drawing from a wide variety of African cultures. Really, this entire movie is a feast for the eyes and absolutely worth seeing for that fact alone. My one gripe is that the war rhinos seen early in the movie and then in the climax are notably CGI, and could've been improved with some animatronic work like in the first Jurassic Park movie (or heck, they could even have used real rhinos, but IDK how much hassle that would've resulted in), but that's a minor quibble that doesn't detract from an otherwise spectacular feature.

I'm well aware that complaints about this movie have had to be filtered extensively on RottenTomatoes to prevent Internet Racism(TM) from marring the reviews unnecessarily, but that's a can of worms I'm not going into for the sake of my dignity. On my own terms, however, I do have one suggestion for improving the movie: instead of murdering Klaue just halfway through the movie, Killmonger could've just as easily pounded him into submission and forced him to work for him as a sort of Dragon (in TV Tropes lingo). T'Challa and Ross vs. Killmonger and Klaue would've been interesting to see, especially considering how threatening Klaue was with his cyborg arm and what it could do to both T'Challa and those poor innocent vehicles involved in the car chase in Korea. He'd have made an interesting secondary antagonist that could've opportunistically interfered with the warring parties and stirred up tensions just to tear down Wakanda out of spite. I'm not about to suggest an "Everett vs. Klaue" scenario - which was actually what Everett was planning in the first place when he entered this movie - but giving Klaue a bigger role before he gets offed would've made said murder more impactful and karmatic after all he's done. That's largely splitting hairs, though - I'm sure there are people who instead feel that Killmonger getting rid of Klaue early prevents competition. Who knows?

On a final note, here are two things I really want to see in future MCU films: 1) a movie with a predominantly Asian cast and setting, and 2) a movie starring Devil Freaking Dinosaur. I'll admit that both of these are kinda self-centered, but the first one in particular is probably more desirable at large because there aren't that many Asian characters at all in the MCU (Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 and Colleen Wing from the Iron Fist TV show are probably the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, though I may have missed a few more), but one of the big things I'm noticing from the Black Panther release is that African-American and black children have come to look up to him as a hero in the same way that a lot of girls look up to Wonder Woman with the number growing since her own film release - so if the same thing could happen with an Asian superhero, that would be amazing. A quick look at the Marvel Comics online archives presents me with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, who has actually joined the Avengers in the comics and would make a very interesting and cool addition to their MCU incarnation. As for Devil Dinosaur, I don't even need to explain why he'd become beloved if he ever shows up in a MCU movie, even as a minor character... just keep him away from the palaeo-discourse and he should be fine.

All in all,

Black Panther

isn't a perfect movie, but it's very close to being one and I'm so happy for its success. While there are a few minor things I feel would've been worth fixing here and there, I don't see any obvious faults and certainly none that detract from how amazing it is. Do yourself a favor and give it a spin - I can promise that you'll be in for a visual and auditory treat from start to finish.

Grading Scheme:

96 - 100: A+

93 - 96: A

90 - 92.9: A-

87 - 89.9: B+

83 - 86.9: B

80 - 82.9: B-

77 - 79.9: C+

73 - 76.9: C

70 - 72.9: C-

67 - 69.9: D+

60 - 66.9: D

Below 60: E

Grades:

Writing: 9

Characterization: 9

Pacing: 8

Creativity: 9

Consistency: 9

Cinematography: 10

World Building: 9

Music and Sound: 10

Effects: 9

Engagement: 9

Final Grade: 91 (A-)

[justpeachy--keen]

Excerpts from the Diary of Daisy Juliet O’Hara

Dated: October 21, 2016 - August 11, 2017

[tw - talk of noncon kissing (pretty tame) and murder (also pretty tame)

October 21, 2016 Dear Diary,

Can you take back a first kiss? I want to. I think I’m going to, because mine was gross. That’s because Devon is gross. I don’t know why I let him kiss me. Well, I didn’t really let him. He just kind of did it! It was there and over so fast I didn’t know what to do. I don’t even remember anything about it. What did it feel like? I dunno. What did it taste like? Ugh, that awful vodka stuff.

*Note One: does all vodka taste that awful? Why do grown ups drink it? Especially if it makes you do stupid things like kiss your sister!!

It was even more dumb because he yelled at me afterwards for pushing him. He was all: “Daisy!! What was that for?!” And then Mark sided with him, saying I shouldn’t have pushed him in the first place and that they were just messing around. Boys are so dumb.

Anyway, I feel much better now that I have decided to pretend it didn’t happen. That means when I get my real first kiss with Malik, it will be amazing. Maybe my foot will even do that pop thing like Mia talks about in Princess Diaries! That would be super cool. Then I’ll know it is my first real kiss.

*Note Two: Ask Malik if he wants to go see the Great Gilly Tompkins this weekend!

That’s all for now. Hopefully I’ll have something more interesting to report tomorrow when I hear back from Malik.

Adios! Daisy Juliet O’Hara

December 25, 2016 Dear Dairy,

I love Christmas, don’t get me wrong. BUT THIS MORNING!!! Oh, I could’ve killed Veronica. She came into my room and started bouncing on my bed at like 7 in the morning! What is the point of having my own bedroom if people just barge into it all the time? I was sooooo annoyed and I yelled at her and then I made her cry and then Mark yelled at me and Angelica and Thomas weren’t even awake yet.

But, oh well! The rest of the day was really fun.

Angelica and Thomas (or “Santa Claus” as they still pretend since Veronica and Rachel are still babies who believe in that kind of stuff) gave me a new computer! It doesn’t have internet access, but that’s okay because I don’t really #surftheweb anyway. I’ve got my phone for that.

*Note One: do Angelica and Thomas even know I have internet on my phone? Best not to mention it, just in case. What would I do without Instagram?!

My laptop was really my only gift because it was soooo expensive, but that is okay because it is all I really wanted anyway!

I gave everyone stories, you wanna know what they were about?

Well, Angelica got a story about a lady that couldn’t have kids adopting a bunch with all these special abilities and then one day this bad guy comes along and all her kids like totally protect her from the bad guy. It was really cool, it made her cry.

Thomas got a story about this guy who just made all these wood carvings and they were like so good that they came to life and started wreaking havoc in the town! He told me it was really creative and funny.

Mark got a story about a jock who secretly loves theatre a la HSM—he didn’t like it but that’s just because I exposed his secret. But!! Angelica thought it was really cool he wanted to start a band that, like, specifically toured around at old folks home and like—hospitals. I think that sounds really dumb and boring but he is a good singer.

Devon got a superhero story, it was pretty cliché but I got to work on my action scenes, which is important. So, that’s good. He liked it. Kissed my cheek for it.

Rachel got a story about a girl who finds out she’s a princess but her family was like—banished and everyone had died but her and she had to reclaim the throne. It was super cool because I made sure the girl was like a bad ass and like knew kung fu.

Veronica got a story about dogs. I’m not really good at anthropomorphic stuff and it wasn’t my favorite, but I think she liked it! I made sure the main dog was her favourite kind, even though I think that bull terriers are really funny looking.

Okay!! I’m getting called down for supper!

Adios! Daisy Juliet O’Hara

January 23, 2016 Dear Diary,

Today, someone moved in two houses down and on the other side of the street. Angelica brought him coffee cake, but she told Thomas that he was really weird. She didn’t think I was listening, but I was. Sometimes I sit with my headphones in and not playing so that I can hear what people are saying and they think I’m not.

This is how I found out Mrs. Howell was cheating on her husband with the Geometry teacher. Ohmigosh that was so funny. Her husband still doesn’t know but I’m not going to be the one to tell him, of course. Though, most of the school knows by now. That’s not my fault. I only told Malik and Patrick and Melanie and James and Marta, it’s up to them who they tell. Not me.

Anyway, I think I’m curious, so I’m gonna go investigate tomorrow.

Adios! Daisy Juliet O’Hara

February 5, 2017 Dear Diary,

Woooooooooooow, okay, so I was supppppper busy these last few days (which is why I haven’t written in you!) and I’m super sorry about that. But! This girl went missing from down the street. She was like my age-ish. I think she was 18? Her name was Sally and she was super cool, like—she dyed her hair funky colours and she invited these men who had like beards or like, wore suits, over allllll the time when her parents weren’t home and she smoked weed too.

I think she ran off with some man. I told Angelica and Thomas this and they sent me to my room for joking around, but I’m not!! I really think she did. Sometimes her parents got in really nasty fights and then she would leave to go stay at her friend’s house.

She’s not there, though, so that means that she just ran away. Seems pretty simple to me. The police are so stupid.

Adios! Daisy Juliet O’Hara

March 25, 2017 Dear Diary,

IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SWEET SIXTEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’M PRACTICALLY AN ADULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh, I had such a good day!! Having your birthday on a weekend is like soooooo much better than having your birthday during the week. I didn’t have to worry about homework or anything like that! All my friends were free and we went to the Australian zoo which was just sooo cool. Oh my gosh, we tried to steal this adorable baby goat from the petting zoo and we got so close too, I’m so mad! It’s all Marta’s fault, she started laughing and broke my concentration and I dropped the invisibility around the goat in the middle of the parking lot!!

Everyone saw it. I was so mad at her. But, well, I dunno what I would do with a baby goat anyway. I just thought it was super cute and if I could get it for free, well! Why not?

The zoo keepers were pretty mad and so were my foster parents but I think it’s going to be okay. They gave me a pass since it is my birthday and they’re not going to ground me so that’s really cool of them. Thomas said something along the lines of “gosh, I can’t imagine what she’s going to do for her eighteenth birthday!”

And I said: “I don’t know either! But it’s gonna be GREAT!”

They started laughing at me. I dunno why but I could tell they just thought it was funny. Angelica shook her head at me but Thomas gave me a big kiss on top of my head.

I kinda hope they adopt me before then. I love them a lot.

Adios, Daisy Juliet O’Hara

May 9, 2017

The girl sat on a bench in the quad at her high school. It was lunch time and she was very nervous. Not because of lunch, but because of the boy walking towards her. She had put her make up on very carefully today, and she had had her outfit picked out for like a whole week. It was a pair of black jeans and bright pink and yellow trainers, her shirt was a soft yellow, not too obnoxious, and frilly—a spaghetti strap, and she was wearing a cool leather jacket over it because it was a little breezy (she was glad she put her hair in a ponytail.)

The boy sat down next to her and gave her a hug. “Hey, Daisy Rose! You look nice!”

“So do you,” she complimented.

And he did. He was wearing a leather jacket too, and he looked even cooler in it than she did. He’d styled his jet black hair and he kind of looked like a person from that movie Greece that Angelica Amy liked to watch sometimes.

“Thanks!” he said. “So, uhhhh—Patrick Peter told me that Marta Martha told him that James John said that you’d told him in first period you wanted to talk to me?”

“Oh, yeah!” Rose said, “I was wondering if you wanted to be my boyfriend?”

“Ohmygosh! I thought you’d never ask me,” Malik Waseem exclaimed and leaned in to kiss her. They totally made out with tongue and everyone in the cafeteria clapped.

*Note One: that’s not what happened. Apparently, Malik has been dating Melanie for like two months and he didn’t tell any of us until today.

Adios, Daisy Juliet O’Hara

August 11, 2017 Dear Diary,

They found Sally from up the street’s body today.

Someone murdered her but no one can figure out how. She was just—dead. There were like no stab wounds or bruises or anything. Her eyes were like—wide open? Have you ever seen a dead person’s eyes before? It’s super creepy. They just—stare at you but like you can tell nothing is there and that they are dead.

I probably shouldn’t have snuck up to the crime scene but it was like right by our house and in my defense I didn’t know that was what it was. I just saw the cop cars.

No one knows who killed her but I guess she didn’t run away after all.

Adios, Daisy Juliet O’Hara

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Has a Large Hairy Son in Episodes 183-189

Welcome to THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! I’m Joseph Luster, back in record time, and I’ll be your host this week as we barrel on through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto anime adaptation. In last week's episodes 176-182, we spent most of our time in the Hidden Star Village, but that arc comes to a swift end this week. Even more filler lies beyond, though, including the start of the Peddlers Escort Mission arc in episodes 183-189.

  As you may be able to tell by the tone of some of these questions, I'm feeling a little deflated at this point. The filler can be overwhelming at times, but at least we have the occasional one-off to brighten our week. In this case, the highlight for me was most definitely the gag episode in which Naruto has to avoid laughing during a funeral despite every possible attempt to get him to crack. It might be the series' most successful attempt at straight-up comedy to date.

  The rest of the batch was mostly disappointing, but there were a few ups to go along with the downs. As Crunchyroll user OrichalcosTwin1 said in last week's comments, "I enjoyed the Hidden Star Village filler, though as you're about to find out this week, I feel it could've concluded sooner and stuck around longer than it should've." I couldn't agree more. Let's find out what everyone else thought! 

    Do you love Sumaru's Mom's Ghost and her two-hit multi-target attacks? Did the finale of the Star Guard arc surprise you in any way, or was its ending written in the stars from the beginning?

  Paul: It was good that the main resolution to the Star Village story involved the children and the other villagers rebelling against Akahoshi after he went Full Crazy-Eyes and freely confessed his evil plans to everyone within earshot, but for the ultimate confrontation, it should have been Sumaru receiving his mother's spiritual energy to deliver the final blow. This arc was Sumaru's story, and tacking Naruto onto the end like that feels like a missed opportunity.

  David: Agreed. Ending a village’s internal political strife by punching the bad guy is one thing, but letting Naruto do it instead of the character most closely affected by the whole thing is pretty lame.

  Jared: I basically laughed when Sumaru’s mom gave her power to Naruto instead of Sumaru. Way to bury the kid both figuratively and literally. Other than that, the arc ended basically how I expected with Akahoshi getting his comeuppance and being real dumb.

  Kevin: The ending was predictable, aside from the stuff that made no sense. Of course the star was going to be destroyed, that way no one can try to bring it up as a power source later. Also, apparently ghosts exist in Naruto. I guess Orochimaru could’ve had a shortcut in creating the Reanimation Jutsu.

  Danni: The whole thing just fell way off the rails, honestly. I’m so tired of evil villains in this show maniacally cackling about how evil they are while trying to kill a bunch of children.

  Kara: I realized right as we were closing out that the Village Hidden in the Stars was literally just Naruto’s excuse to have fairies, after which point I kind of gave up on it making sense at all.

  Noelle: It’s a very typical villain cliché, but I can’t say it doesn’t work. Some of that fantasy stuff sure did happen though.

  Carolyn: It was definitely… weird. I have to agree with the above, that giving Naruto the power was a very odd choice. It also just feels like really weird and awkward writing. I know we’re in the land of filler, but this series is backflipping over the shark at this point.

    It took putting Akamaru in great peril to make me realize nothing can ever happen to Kiba's sweet pee-spraying baby. Which Naruto characters would you defend with your life at this point? 

  Paul: The easy answer is Rock Lee, who is much more of a good boy than Akamaru. It's weird that Akamaru can have a full-on “An American Werewolf in Leaf Village” episode in which he severely injures numerous shinobi, including his own master, and yet he's allowed to continue his ninja-dog training like nothing happened. I figured they'd pull a trick where Akamaru wasn't infected and there was some other werewolf running around, but nope. Straight up Cujo.

  David: Over the course of all this filler I’ve gotten even more attached to Neji and Tenten. Maybe I should go back and rewatch some episodes of that Rock Lee spinoff…

  Jared: ROCK LEE. 

  Kevin: Anime, if you ever try to hurt my ninja son Rock Lee ever again, the Five Great Nations are going to become the Five Great Craters. 

  Danni: ROCK LEE DEFENSE FORCE, ASSEMBLE! [sfx: Kamen Rider transformation noises]

  Kara: Rock Lee, as the rest of the room says. And Hinata. Dear God, I can’t wait ‘til 50% of her lines aren’t “Naruto-kun…” She deserves better than she gets in pretty much any part of her life.

  Noelle: As with everyone else, Rock Lee protection squad unite.

  Carolyn: Hahaha, did we ever expect anything less than a giant chorus of people loudly cheering on good boy Rock Lee?

    The Hidden Leaf Legend episode about Onbu made me think about all the aspects of the Naruto world of which we're not aware yet. From legends to history and beyond, what are you most curious about, and what would you like to see expanded upon in future episodes?

  Paul: There should be an episode where Naruto and the other young ninja of Leaf Village get sent on a snipe hunt mission by Tsunade in search of the legendary tsuchinoko, only for Kakashi, Might Guy, and the other Jonin to prank the heck out of them. Then they actually find a real tsuchinoko during the third act, and it grows angry over them invading its territory, and hijinks ensue.

  David: I was and am still interested in essentially anything that doesn’t have to do with ninjas. How does the rest of the world operate on a day-to-day basis, and how much, if at all, are they even aware of these ninja villages that seem to constantly be at war with each other?

  Jared: I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been more backstory on the early Hokage, unless that’s being saved for later in Shippuden. Outside of that, I think it’d be good just to dive into character backstories or just go full slice-of-life at some points.

  Kevin: Honestly, I’m most curious about jutsu creation. We’ll get at least some insight into that later in Shippuden, but even then I’d still like to know a lot more.

  Danni: I just wanna know why everyone in the Hidden Leaf Village loves the SEGA Dreamcast so dang much.

  Kara: Considering weird ninja magic is essentially part of day-to-day life, I want to know what their escapist entertainment is like. What the heck do you read action comics about when you’re already halfway to a superhero? I’m guessing they have, like, Archiemaru or something where the escapism comes in the form of severe normality.

  Noelle: Even knowing some of the stuff that comes later, there’s a lot of things that aren’t really that expanded upon. The discrepancy between technology and how that clashes or interacts with ninjutsu is one, and how ninja society seems to be something both out in the open but not something that everyone can do is another. We might get to why ninjutsu happens later, but what of the people who aren’t ninja, in a world so heavily slated toward magical powers and how those with magic seem to rule society?

  Carolyn: We see villages with normal, non-ninja people fairly regularly, but we have no idea how they live. How do the government and ninja work together? Do they work together or do the ninja sort of work on their own laws/volition? Maybe that’s been answered, but I certainly don’t remember it. 

    As episode 186 reminds us, there's nothing more powerful than a forbidden laugh. Can you recall any particularly gut-busting "church laugh" moments in your life where you really lost it when you shouldn't have? 

  Paul: One time my sister got busted for accidentally cracking up during Christmas dinner because the decorative plates we were about to eat off of had a drawing of a little hobo Frosty the Snowman, complete with patches on his snow-suit. I guess the contrast of cloth patches on a suit made out of snow was too much for her, and she burst out laughing during what was supposed to be a solemn moment. She got grounded, and the Legend of the Hobo Snowman went down in Chapman family history.

  David: I don’t remember the details but I do recall actually being sent to the principal in elementary school for being unable to control my laughter one day.

  Jared: I can’t remember the specifics, but I’m pretty sure mine was an actual church laugh moment. Something must’ve made me have the giggles or I was just in a mood but I did that when I was going to church at the time and got in a bit of trouble for it.

  Kevin: I was watching Dororo, and one episode in particular had a guest animator who apparently is known for his… unique art style. Hyakkimaru “running” (ice skating) uphill between trees forced me to pause the video so that I could stop hysterically laughing.

  Danni: I have a rather subdued laugh usually, so I can’t think of any moments where laughing got me in trouble. However, a childhood spent watching a lot of America’s Funniest Home Videos has led to an adulthood full of instinctively laughing when people hurt themselves pratfalling.

  Kara: I was on a bus in Cardiff a few years ago and there was a guy who refused to sit down or hang on or anything. The driver braked and the dude went sliding comically. A few people snickered but I busted out laughing way too big and He Did Not Appreciate That. I got off at the next stop to avoid having my head punched down my own neck. (As an aside, I’ve gotta express my appreciation for Naruto basing an entire episode around the concept of the Giggle Loop from Coupling.)

  Noelle: Admittedly, I’m not the kind of person that bursts out laughing, even if emotions show on my face. My friends saying particularly wild things in public will always get me laughing, though.

  Carolyn: Actual laugh or defensive laugh? I worked as a ride operator at an amusement park as a teen and some kids tried to run on the ride AS IT WAS MOVING. I had to use the emergency shutdown and started laughing like a maniac. The kids' parents were very angry at me for that, but some co-workers and other customers assured them it was a nervous laugh, which it was. They could have gotten very, very hurt and I didn’t know how to react to that.

As for an actual “wow that was funny” laugh … well, this story is a bit mean but it got to me hard. Outside my apartment one day, I saw a kid that was about 11-13 riding a bike and just toppled over and started laughing immediately. It was the way the bike fell. Usually, you imagine some wobbling, the handlebars going back and forth as they lose control or something. This was literally straight up to straight down in one immediate motion. It caught me by surprise. Also, the kid was fine.

    That Brings Us to the Land of Gree— you know what? Forget these veggie peddlers, we're way beyond the point of no return in Filler Purgatory. I hardly remember what it was like when Naruto was good, and the writing is at an all time low for most of this batch. Could you ever recommend this show past episode 140 or so, and has this changed the way you feel about it as a whole?

  Paul: I'm a completionist, so if I'm going to recommend something, I'm going to recommend all of it. You don't get to skip the boring or mediocre bits if you want to claim you've experienced a work of entertainment. The filler hasn't broken my spirit yet, and there are individual parts of it that I find compelling, although I admit nothing we've seen here compares to Naruto at its apex moments.

  David: I’d just recommend skipping all of it, but if you’re gonna watch any of it, the second best thing is probably to skip the arcs and watch some of the one-off episodes instead. The best part about the filler has been the focus on some side characters who didn’t get much time before, and the mostly silly single-episode adventures get you that without having to sit through nonsense stories that just make you wish you were watching the actual story instead.

  Jared: I might not necessarily recommend watching all of the filler, but maybe some of the better parts if they wanted to check that stuff out. People will watch what they watch and I’m not their dad, but I don’t think it’s necessarily all terrible like some people will lead you to believe. It certainly hasn’t changed my overall opinion of the show, it just makes me want to get back to the actual story. Although, if you want a test of endurance, then yeah, people should watch all the filler.

  Kevin: The only way I can realistically recommend Naruto after Filler Purgatory started was if I was trying to talk about all of the interesting character interactions that come from unique team combinations. Unfortunately, even the filler arcs have turned into the same few teams on a loop, and the plots aren’t nearly interesting enough to carry 100 episodes. So in all honesty, unless you just want to full Naruto experience of waiting forever to get to Shippuden or REALLY want to know everything that happens, even if it’s filler, no, I can’t recommend watching past episode 140. 

  Danni: I refused to listen to anyone telling me to skip certain arcs of Dragon Ball since they were filler. I said that if I’m gonna watch it, I’m gonna watch all of it. That being said, I really wish I could just skip ahead to Shippuden right now.

  Kara: This week of episodes has just been a hot mess. Not gonna lie. I’d been coasting because at least I could joke about them. But between this weird double-bluff veggie ninja story and the episode about Naruto adopting the kind of mascot character they’d add to a cartoon adaptation of a live-action 80s sitcom, I’m feeling anywhere from weak to done.

  Noelle: I skipped over most of the filler in my original run of Naruto, and I’d say-- yeah, I’d still rather do that. Nothing here worth noting. 

  Carolyn: I don’t think I would recommend Naruto, as a whole or just cutting off the filler parts. There have been shows I couldn’t get into and people will say to wait for season 3 or 4. I just don’t understand highly recommending something that has so much not-good in it.

    Finally, let's wrap up with the HIGHS and LOWS for this week.

  Paul: My high point was everyone trying to make Naruto laugh, especially with how the humor-assassins would take one look at him and decide that anyone with such a foolish face would be an easy mark. I appreciate the low-grade shade that reminds us that Naruto is kind of a maroon. My low-point was the end of the Onbu episode, which concludes like a mash-up of the Tribbles episode of Star Trek and Gremlins. That joke didn't so much land as belly-flop.

  David: High point was the preview for next week’s first episode - I’m excited to see Hinata getting to handle a fight on her own; hope that’s as neat as it looks. Low point was the ending of the star village arc for the same reasons I said in the first question.

  Jared: High point for this week would probably be the end of the funeral episode with the ridiculous reveal, fake out, and then reveal of the dad being alive. It was probably one step away from going full “IT’S ME AUSTIN” in terms of that. Also, Shino just getting up in Naruto's face like NEVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS PLEASE. Low point would probably be basically everything else. Land of Greens is just not great and the other episodes were pretty much just there. Glad we finally get to meet Boruto though, even if I thought he came later on in the series.

  Kevin: 

High - The plan to take down the first of the enemy ninja in the Land of Greens. Sure, it’s a pretty short moment and not too difficult to figure out (he’s using his weapons as dowsing rods, so break the weapons and lure him to a place without water), but this is Filler Purgatory, and characters not being completely dumb is enough to be one of the better moments of the week.

Low - The Onbu episode. I like getting some worldbuilding, but like I said in my High, I also like characters not being excessively dumb, and practically every decision in the Onbu episode was some level of dumb.

  Danni: High point was the entire funeral episode. It was such a solid comedic concept and the payoffs all landed perfectly. It’s exactly the kind of stupid I want out of all this filler. Honorable mention to the Onba episode, which was maybe a tier below but still some good dumb fun. Low point would have to be watching another arc end with a villain maniacally cackling while trying to murder a bunch of children with a crossbow. Low LOW point was when that one kid’s dead mom became a ninja ghost who just kind of held Naruto in the air like a limp cat. 

  Kara: High point was honestly Magnet Ninja. Like seriously that’s one of the most resourceful Jutsu sets I’ve seen: just grab those headband nerds by the headband. Secondary high point was the puns in the funeral episode that didn’t get translated in the subtitles (as a former subtitle editor, though, I don’t blame them for not trying). Low point was the wrap-up of the Village Hidden in the Seelie Court.

  Noelle: High point, the funeral episode and how everything in it works pretty well. I wouldn’t say it’s all my kind of humor, but it’s functionally fairly solid. No complaints there. Low point… we’re just not going to address how fantasy elements in the afterlife are a thing now? No? Okay, I guess. 

  Carolyn: The uniforms and Naruto’s not-amused reaction to them were pretty great for me. The low point? I guess the weird ghost stuff. The last Scooby-Doo ghost episode was silly, but it also knew it was silly. They sort of took this seriously and that’s quite bizarre.

    COUNTERS:

  This Week:

Ramen: 11 bowls, 1 cup

Hokage: 4

Clones: 78

  Total So Far:

Ramen: 182 bowls, 13 cups

Hokage: 62

Clones: 789

  And that’s it for this week! Remember that you’re always welcome to watch along with the Rewatch, especially if you’ve never seen the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

  Here’s our upcoming schedule:

-Next week, KARA DENNISON returns to guide us through the end of the Peddlers Escort Mission!

-On August 2nd, NOELLE OGAWA shows us the formation of the Konoha 11!

-Finally, the mighty DANIEL DOCKERY returns to explore the mystery of Yakumo! 

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 176-182: Reach for the Stars!

Episodes 169-175: Anko’s Backstory At Sea

Episodes 162-168: The Tale of the Phantom Samurai

Episodes 155-161: Quickfire Curry

Episodes 148-154: The Forest is Abuzz With Ninjas

Episodes 141-147: Mizuki Strikes Back!

Episodes 134-140: The Climactic Clash

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

  Thank you for joining us for the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

  Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 183-189? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his webcomic, BIG DUMB FIGHTING IDIOTS at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[totesmccoats]

9/20/17

Batman: the Red Death The first of the Dark Knights rises! In Earth -52, Batman hunts the Flash for his speed force. With the Bat-Family dead, Bruce wants to steal Barry’s powers so that he can protect the entire world, much less Gotham. After a long and, for Barry, torturous chase, Bruce succeeds in merging himself with the Speed Force, becoming Batman the Red Death. Shortly thereafter, he is approached by the Batman Who Laughs, who tells him that his world is destined to die, but he knows of one destined to live – they just have to take it.

Metal continues to be, well, metal as hell. Let’s start with the Red Death’s awesome name and better costume. He looks insane! And instead of lightning, he leaves a trail of bats as he runs like some kind of super-fast Dracula! Dude! This is extremely my shit! The first half of the issue is the stronger one, really setting up how scary the Dark Knights are even before their new powers. Earth -52 Batman is just as intelligent and prepared, but completely ruthless. The second half is weaker because, one: it feels like a retread of the first, and two: the Red Death railroads the Flash. No build-up, no tension, just a straight curb-stomping. At least it looks dope as hell.

Batman #31 KITE. MAN. HELL. YEAH. Kite Man gives Batman and the Riddler the location of Joker’s final remaining safehouse, but it’s on top of a tower filled with traps. Only way in is through the windows, and only way to get Riddler’s army through 73rd floor windows is with…kites. That’s it. That’s the issue. Kite Man’s coup de grace. Riddler also manages to give an actually rattled Joker a beat-down, but Kite Man finally gets his win. And in the next issue, Batman does the unspeakable.

Superman #31 Another Lois issue! On assignment by the Daily Planet to interview a cartel boss, Lois goes to Bolivia only to find that Deathstroke had gotten to him and his crew first. Inspired, Lois decides to instead track down and interview the most dangerous killer in the world, and, being Lois Lane, succeeds, but also attracts the attention of another group of killers. Give. Lois. Lane. Her. Own. Book! Seriously. These issues where we follow Lois on her investigations are some of the best in the series, and offer a perspective that no other superhero book really does. If this were just a Superman story, it would involve Clark flying around the world to stop Deathstroke from killing people; but Lois goes to watch him, to interview him, even. Almost every other protagonist in a superhero book does things to change the world in some way – usually by saving it; but Lois’ actions are motivated by observation, not participation. She usually does end up being a part of every story she covers, but her goal is always to let things play out around her rather than intervene herself. And while I think James Bonny understands and nails this perspective, if Lois should get her own series, I wish it would be written by someone with a journalism background whom could also capture journalistic language as opposed to the novelistic style writers usually make Lois write in.

Green Arrow #31 With Hal unconscious and floating in space, it’s up to Green Arrow alone to take down the Ninth Circle’s satellite and also the goon in the mech-suit protecting it. Not the easiest task when you also consider Ollie can’t breathe in space. Luckily, he’s recently made some friends who might be able to help. Like last issue, the finale drops the political overtones from earlier in the arc for pure explosive action, but is still satisfying as a conclusion to Ollie’s personal arc of rebuilding bridges with DC’s other heroes. Ollie still has to take down the satellite on his own, but at least now he has friends to help clean up the mess he makes in doing so. And this change really does show an evolution from the fallout of the last arc with the destruction of Seattle, where it all fell on top of Ollie and his small team, with no-one coming in to help. Meanwhile, Black Canary also completes her arc, taking out the underground men with a triumphant catharsis over her own abusive upbringing, helping others so they don’t suffer as she had. All and all, and ending that reestablishes hope for Green Arrow’s corner of the universe, even as he heads straight into Metal and it’s dark universe.

The Wild Storm #7 We’ve got an info-dump! IO’s Jacklyn King, their chief of analysis checks in at work and assigns her team to look into the Angela situation before Skywatch finds out about the stolen technology and sparks a war between the two most powerful agencies on and off Earth. Meanwhile, John Colt needs a quick rescue from an IO blacksite he broke into before he gets found out and killed, which would prevent him from giving the HALO team the aforementioned info-dump about what IO knows about Jacob Marlowe and machine telepathy. As Cole says in the issue, it’s a lot to take in. Thankfully, Ellis still writes some of the most electric dialogue in comics, and still manages to squeeze in a propulsive fight scene right before the info-dump to give us something to wind-down from. But even then, it’s one of those “here’s what we know they know we know they know” info-dumps – one of the worst kinds – and after reading it three times I’m still not sure if I’ve taken away everything I was supposed to from it.

Wonder Woman/Conan #1 As a child accompanying his father to council, Conan was awe-struck by a black-haired girl named Yanna. Years later, after becoming the Barbarian, Conan happens upon a gladiator match between three men and one black-haired woman who manages to beat them. She demands her freedom, but cannot overpower all of her slaver’s warriors and is taken back in chains. Conan, once again awe struck, goes to rescue her. So far, this is unfolding as a Conan story with Wonder Woman in it. While Conan is full Conan here, WW is amnesiac, forgetting everything including her name, remembering only that she has powers, and once had a golden lasso. And, for some reason, she also fashions a passable enough facsimile of her costume out of rags and mud. We get plenty of Conan being Conan in this issue, fighting bandits, looking for gold and wenches, and sneaking into places; I just wish we got more Wonder Woman. Hopefully next issue.

Generations: The Marvels Under (pre-Secret Empire #10) mysterious circumstances, Kamala Khan is sent back in time to when her hero, Carol Danvers, was still Ms. Marvel; and working on a failing women’s magazine spun out of the Daily Bugle. Kamala accidentally becomes an intern at the paper, and has to help Carol save the magazine, and the world, from an alien invasion. As she’s tended to do with crossover stories, Wilson seamlessly blends what could’ve been an interruption into a natural extension of her main Ms. Marvel story, turning this one shot into another part of Kamala’s growth from being Carol’s acolyte to a Ms. Marvel entirely her own. Working closer with Carol than she really has before allows Kamala to really nail what their differences in personality and heroic philosophy are, and how she can be true to who she is while still being the Ms. Marvel the world needs her to be. And Wilson also makes this arc into Kamala’s strategy for saving the magazine, by having her explain to Carol the sort of balance between fun and function that modern women want from their reading material. Villanelli and Herring’s art is a perfect match for the alternate history setting of this story too. My impression was that the issue looks almost like a 70’s manga, with Villanelli’s manga-inspired character designs and style and Herring’s coloring giving the book an aged patina. The whole aesthetic really gives the impression of something foreign but familiar that I really enjoyed, and also fit Kamala’s experience in the issue.

Spider-Men II #3 The origins of Miles Morales 616. Miles had taken a fall for the Rigoletto crime family, finding himself in Rikers; and Wilson Fisk gets himself thrown in to tell him he’ll be out sooner than expected. Morales helps defend Fisk while their both in their, starting a friendship that takes them to the top of the family. Honestly, not a great origin? Having our earliest introduction to this new minority character finding him already arrested for gang activity is pretty problematic, even considering he’s supposed to be a bad guy. But even besides that, it’s just an origin that we’ve seen before way too many times. And like in most things, Wilson Fisk completely steals the spotlight. And while there are are definite similarities in flirting style during a scene where Miles meets his future wife, this issue doesn’t do much to make the two Miles’ feel like doppelgangers, which was kind of supposed to be the conceit of the story. Really, more than anything, after reading this I want more young-Kingpin, and could care less about Miles-in-name-only.

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #4 Spidey, Teresa, and Torch manage to survive the Tinkerer’s assault in Kingpin’s penthouse, but find out they’ve been fighting a decoy the entire time. And they come home to more bad news: that JJJ is running with the Spider-Man aiding a traitor to SHIELD story he was leaked, meaning that Spidey and Teresa are also now on the lam! Luckily, there’s one place Peter can think of that nobody would think to look for them, but asking to crash on someone’s couch is a big ask before even a second date! This is probably the loosest issue of Spectacular so far, having enough slack for Spidey to do a tight-five of stand-up while on the run, but I honestly like it. Compared to where Amazing is right now, I enjoy having a Spider-Man series that is more loose and silly, even a little chill despite itself. Spidey’s stand-up sticks out from the issue like a sore thumb, but it’s fun page; and I really wouldn’t mind if the entire series continues the trend and leaves slack in the story for silly side stuff life it in the future.

Snotgirl #7 Lottie takes Caroline to Haters’ Brunch in an attempt to integrate her new friend with her old ones, but it doesn’t go that well. But later that night, Caroline’s brother Virgil convinces Lottie to invite her to a comic con party with the other girls, take her out of the city for a while on a road trip. Meanwhile, a slightly amnesiac Charlene wakes up from her coma to a waiting Sunny, and, under the advice of a mysterious stranger, begins to retrace her steps from New Years. What makes this such an interesting series is that, for all the exquisite detail the book gives us into each of these character’s inner lives and monologues, they never seem to be the details we need to solve the series’ main mysteries – mostly surrounding Caroline and now her brother. Instead, the issue is more concerned about Lottie’s continued attempts to impress Caroline by hiding how much she enjoys things like waiting in lines to get into fancy restaurants, and comic-con. But of course, it turns out that Caroline actually wants to go to the party after all, despite it being nerdy. Plus, showing us Lottie’s self-conscious side does do a great deal humanize her, keeping us on the love-hate relationship rollercoaster this book’s set up between us and the protagonist. It’s super interesting how the book divides our attention, really – because it wants us to care about Lottie, and gives us so much of her that we’re kind of forced to despite how terrible of a person she may be, but never lets us forget about this big mystery that Lottie barely even knows is something to be solved. It’s a really fun push-and-pull to play with/against, especially as you never know what the stakes of any given issue is gonna be.

Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #4 Another successful book of short stories from the Bitch Planet universe. Deschamps, Lee, and Olea’s “Life of a Sportsman” shows us a corner of the world we haven’t gotten to before, revealing the hyper toxic-masculinity of sports in this world, following the career of a megaton player who gets off better than OJ and Brock Turner combined. Sara Woolley’s “Bodymod” shows us the extremes that plastic surgery went to in Bitch Planet, making women into literal angels and mermaids who live in constant pain for their beauty. And Ayala and Gifford’s “To Be Free…” is a heist, where a ballerina is recruited to steal something of incredible value from a history museum in order to help the resistance. Unlike last issue, none of these stories feel like they’re repeating themselves or stepping on each-other’s toes. This issue also has some of the most distinctive art of these collections yet, further expanding the universe.

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9/27/17

Marvel Legacy #1 One million years ago, Odin and Agimotto joined ancient versions of the Pheonix, Starbrand, Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, and Black Panther to lock a Celestial deep under the Earth. Today’s versions of those heroes begin having dreams of those events, not understanding what they mean in the context of a world removed from its status quo. Welcome to Marvel Rebirth, essentially. Secret Empire really messed things up for the Marvel Universe, and it’ll take another universe threatening cataclysm to shake things back into shape. Not gonna lie, the Avengers One Million BCE is badass, if archeologically bonkers, and I’m excited to see more of them. And I’m also all about the return of Marvel’s first family. And also Space Wakanda. But overall, this felt a lot like Rebirth #1 without the soul. Just a bunch of hints to future stories.

Generations: Spider-Man Bendis does what he does best and writes an issue where two people just sit and talk to each-other. Miles Morales wakes up in the past, at Empire College, where he runs into a young Peter Parker, who is about to have one of the worst nights of his life. But instead of seeing that story (again), we see what happens when Miles talking to an exhausted Peter after the action, and learn what it means to live as Spider-Man, and the person under the mask. When forced to tell a story in one issue, Bendis really can do wonders, even in his normally dialogue heavy style. At its core, this issue is one Spider-Man revealing to another that being Spider-Man is never easy, it’s always sacrifice, and it’s always personal. And that’s exactly the sort of thing the first needs to talk about to learn when he’s won, and the second needs to hear to learn that he’s doing a good job.

Black Panther #18 The Midnight Angels go on a mission to retrieve Asira as T’Challa and Shuri investigate a village whose people were stripped completely to the bone. Shuri recognizes this from a Wakandan legend involving the Originators, but further investigation points towards a different origin. A lighter issue than most of Black Panther, consisting almost entirely of two action scenes with a last act reveal. Really not much to review in this one; it’s mainly a set-up for a big Legacy rematch.

Wonder Woman #31 Well, it’s not a great sign when the first issue of your Wonder Woman run barely has Wonder Woman in it. Instead, most of this issue concerns a fight between Hercules and Darkseid’s daughter, Grail. Wonder Woman’s only job in the issue is to find out who won. Like, the set-up is interesting enough, but I pick up this series to read about Wonder Woman, not Young Darkseid.

The Flash #31 Flash tries to evacuate the city before Bloodwork can hurt anyone, but with his powers still causing destruction everywhere he goes, realizes he has to stop this problem at the source. But hearing Bloodwork’s motivation helps Barry realize that his negative powers may be feeding on the same impulses, and realizing that can help the hero and villain alike. The end of this arc masterfully threads the needle from moody black-suit hero to reformed opportunistic hero, without letting Barry off the hook for being a jerk to his friends and family. Barry understands why his negativity has been ruling him, and promises to take steps to fix that, the first one being accepting responsibility for his actions. This ain’t a clean-slate for better-Barry. It’s self improvement, and it’s work. And its great that Williamson isn’t ending this arc with everything hunky-dory. It ends with Barry on the first step to healing, himself and those he’s hurt.

Batgirl #15 Dick and Barbara try to get some info on the Red Queen out of Mad Hatter, but he’s not talking much while in critical condition, and the hospital might not be the safest place for them at the moment, anyway. And in the past, Robin and Batgirl go undercover at a high school party to investigate where the drugs are coming from, but only find a strange song. And Barbara begins work on Ainsley’s project, which involves nano-bots with an intriguing glitch. I’m still charmed by this book strictly on the basis of DickBabs. It’s like, the one ship in fiction I’m actually invested in, and this story is handling it so well! Honestly, all I’m asking for are more Robin and Batgirl adventures, cute awkward flirting and all!

Nightwing: The New Order #2 Finally, a superhero about fascism I can get behind! Ok, “finally” is a bit much considering that this is basically an X-Men mutant registration story with DC characters; but what makes it work, unlike, say, Secret Empire, is that it addresses fascism’s marriage with bigotry. This issue flat-out says that this started because people were afraid of their neighbors, of the “others” that creeped in until it seemed like they suddenly overwhelmed the “normals.” And it shows that Nightwing, in a state of panic, gave into the fear and slippery-sloped the world into fascism. The details are unrealistic, of course, but the broad strokes ring true. The story does have one of the big issues that most X-Men stories like this also share, which is that unlike skin-color or religion, a superpower could actually pose a bodily threat to other people, and like weapons, should have public oversight…but that’s one of those dissonant you’ve just kinda gotta accept as part of the genre. Also, Bat-MVP Alfred-fucking-Pennyworth, refusing to stand down to fascism, bringing a bat to a gunfight, and showing Dick how it’s done. Next issue hopefully begins the Nightwing apology/ass-kicking tour.

Saga #47 We catch up with The Will, whom has been kidnapped by the vengeful widow of one of the many many many people he’s killed, who is using a magic VCR to playback his memories to find someone close to him that she can kill, and make him watch. Sadly, for both of them really, she’s having more trouble finding someone close to The Will still alive. It has been a minute since Saga featured the universe’s most unfortunate bounty-hunter, but this issue more than makes up for it. Through the magic VCR we witness the childhood incident that turned him into a freelancer, and an early mission with The Stalk, before his kidnapper discovers a memory she can do something with. The developing rapport between the Will and his kidnapper is also golden. She’s trying way too hard to play the supervillain, prancing around and taunting, to break the Will, but he’s already too broken to care, and has nothing left to lose anyway. I really can’t wait to see how she eventually becomes his new sidekick or partner and the sorts of hijinks they’ll get into.

Crosswind #4 After a pleasurable, but confusing, night out with Cason’s fiance, June finally decides to try and call the man whose body she’s inhabiting by calling herself. Fortunately, Cason – in June’s body – picks up, and the two have a conversation about being each-other. And June needs the advice, as Case’s life is about to get very very dangerous. It’s really an accomplishment that this issue can have a body swap conversation – in a silent medium, remember – with characters that are rarely using their own names, and still have it be completely legible. Case and June just have such distinctive “voices” in syntax and diction and style, that they’re clear even coming out of the other’s mouth. Just from a writing perspective, that’s super impressive on Simone’s part. But it’s also the rare body-swap conversation where the characters aren’t complaining to the other about how hard their lives are, the opposite in fact. Each compliments the other for the good in each-other’s lives. Cason compliments June on her son and gentleness, while June tells Case how impressed she is by the respect everyone shows him. But they also tell the other to be careful and not mess their lives up before they can swap back. And the issue rounds off with each actually making steps to work on maintaining the other’s appearances, with June hiring some people to watch her back; while Case goes to a neighbor’s house to find out how to be more ladylike. The conflict in this book isn’t with each-other at all, it’s already present in their own lives, and the other just has to deal with a completely foreign situation. Also, Simone gets in a couple of good boner jokes! Always a plus. Lastly, Staggs is doing so much with these characters’ body language. Posture, reactions, how they hold phones or go to sleep tells us so much about every character completely wordlessly, and in the sort of fine detail that’s not easy to come by in most comics. This is a wonder on every level.

Comic Reviews for 9/20/17 and 9/27/17 9/20/17 Batman: the Red Death The first of the Dark Knights rises! In Earth -52, Batman hunts the Flash for his speed force.