#mckiwi

[aelaer]

If you don't mind me asking, where did the number 197320 come from for your series?

It's one of my favorites by the way.

@mckiwi too. I'm delighted for the curiosity and it's 100% a personal nerd moment. The first point was that I wanted to make it a number pretty close to Earth-199999 which is where the MCU resides (and has for years no matter Waldron's writing, he just can't research to save his life since Google would tell him that 616 is the comics universe ahhhhhh). Anyway, then I realized that some important numbers: 3, 7, 9, and 1 read backwards was 1-9-7-3, and all of them together add to 20. Very close to the MCU universe but with enough changes to designate a few thousand universes away. Now 3, 7, 9, and 1 is an important pattern. But not in the Marvel fandom. Some here may recognize it already. I'll give others a minute...

...

...

Yeah it's 3 rings for the elven kings under the sky 7 for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone 9 for mortal men doomed to die 1 for the dark lord on his dark throne Swap the poem backwards and you have 1-9-7-3 with all 20 rings. 197320.

God I'm such a nerd.

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

Thanks for thinking of me and sending along these sandy playmates.😊Their dance across my dash is kinda catchy...

[mckiwi]

McKiwi's Master List

Analysis

Asks

Edits

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Gifs

Rec List

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FAQ:

Current Obsessions: Doctor Strange & Good Omens with a bit of Doctor Who (pretty much anything Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, or Michael Sheen)

When Did You Start Creating: 2021 was the start of everything. I posted my first fanfic to AO3 in February. Started Tiktok in March. Tumblr came about in July. YouTube in November.

[firephoenix2305]

GOOD OMENS FILM WEEK CELEBRATION DAY 8!! Happy production start everybody!!

Now, according to @mckiwi's prompt challenge, today is free topic! So, I thought, to celebrate, I'd share this Good Omens "season" 3 bingo card I made! I had lots of fun with it! (pardon the different tones of the letters, my drawing app went slightly crazy)

And I do apologize for the couple of typos that are in there, I don't know how I missed them 😅

Super fun prompt week!! Thank you @mckiwi for all the fun prompts!!

-Nix🧡

[mckiwi]

I can confirm it’s Pink Floyd even in cannon.

In the scene where he has an argument with Christine, he’s wearing a shirt with The Madcap Laughs album cover on it. It’s an album by Syd Barrett, aka a member of Pink Floyd. @marvel-writing @sobeautifullyobsessed

✨the more ya know✨

QUESTION:

What band/artist do you think Stephen Strange would be most likely to be into? It’s for a fic 👀

[hithertoundreamtof23]

One Year Anniversary

So... apparently I've had this blog for a whole year.

I want to say thank you to all my beloved followers and mutuals!! I'm blessed to have met such creative and beautiful people.

Everyday, I can log on and see the love you have for me and the incredible support we all have for each other.

I love tumblr because it's an escape from reality. I may be having a hard time irl, but online, it's almost like a second chance. Y'all don't know that I failed a homework assignment or that I have a massive pimple on my cheek. It's incredible that I can just be myself and talk incoherently with people that share similar interests to myself.

Everyone has welcomed me with open arms, to which I am so grateful!

Love y'all!! ❤️❤️

Here's to all my moots that I've had the pleasure of meeting this year 🥂:

@darkkitty1208 @strangelockd @mckiwi @jameshavinganxiety @doctorstrangeaskblog @sobeautifullyobsessed @time-stone-keeper @stewardofningishzida @thornbushrose @fancypersonvoid @fanartka @determinedwriter holy shit there's a lot of you! @harpywritesfic @pressedfaery @unknownmysticdream @j-snapdragon @valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn @metaphysical-ham-sandwich @popcorn-plots I hope that's everyone! Oh, and all my beloved followers (minus the porn bots).

[harpywritesfic]

People I want to get to know better

Tagged by: @janora00 (thank you, love!)

Last song: A Mask Of My Own Face by Lemon Demon (or it was when i started typing. it is now Nobody's Soldier by Hozier and i must use this chance to say I GOT TO HEAR THAT LIVE LAST MONTH!!! FUCKING SURREAL!!!

Favorite color: purple, specifically lilac :) i have lilac platform doc martins that i adore. they got to go to the hozier concert. they blistered me. the venue has many steep hills.

Currently watching: nothing,, i don't really watch tv/movies,, i tried to watch good omens months ago and i really liked it but still only got through like 4 episodes. i need to get a support group of friends to bully me into watching it again.

Last Movie: see previous. i have no idea when i last watched a movie. there's a couple i wanted to see in theaters but i missed them.

Sweet/spicy/savory: anything but spicy. i do not care for spice. i'm too white for that. i go to taco bell and ask them for no jalapeno sauce on my quesadilla.

Relationship status: single! i got ~complicated feelings~ about relationships that i don't really care enough to sort out rn. i have other priorities.

Current obsessions: i'm not really super into anything right now? i still write ironstrange but i try to curb the formation of hyperfixations while in college so that i don't neglect my work even more 😓 my hobby is resting. my bed is my happy place.

Last thing you Googled: "maxilla bone". i am in anatomy hell. i am going to bomb my exam tuesday. i finally figured out the bones and i did good on the bone quiz but the muscles are not clicking for me.

Tagging (no pressure of course! disregard if you've already been tagged): @darkkitty1208 @mckiwi @iamhavingamomenthere-crowley @riverthunder @j-snapdragon

[askthesorcerersupreme]

I feel like I should make an “official statement” saying that this account is not abandoned, I’ve just been really busy here lately irl, and probably will still be for the time being. I may be more free during the summer, so you might see more activity then.

I do try to answer asks fully and thoughtfully, so if I can’t put my full effort into something, I’m not going to do it, hence why you haven’t seen me answer asks.

My main account is @mckiwi if you’re interested. You’ll see me reblog and post stuff more over there.

[doctorstrangeaskblog]

fic recs centering around stephen? 👀 preferably non-reader insert if you don't mind 😅 anything that fits the category of "stephen being a pathetic wet kitten"

@mckiwi

I'm sure this person will be able to help you heheheh.

[aelaer]

Alright, let’s take that follow up ask 😂

18. What are some tropes that others love, but you just tend to avoid?

Or something along those lines. Things you like/dislike. What marks the difference between a “good” and a “great” fic for you?

Whelp I lost my draft as I started this. I figured that's as good a sign as any to save this as a draft and review it a few times to make sure I'm critical of the *genre and trope* and not the individual writing it. And yes I think they're two *very* distinct things. And I'd like to piss off as few people (who aren't blocked) as possible while still remaining true to myself. We'll see how successful it is.

Cut cuz it got long and if folks click it thinking they might get mad, and then get mad, well, you can't say I didn't warn you. I don't like quite a few popular tropes in a lot of stories you see Stephen in. And I'll not hide my own opinions on my own blog. 😜 What's the terminology? Don't like, don't read? Yeah, if (general) you don't like strong opinions that might go against yours, don't read on. You've been warned!

Let's start with some of the most popular AO3 tropes, taken from the 2016 Fanfic Survey from Fansplaining. Here's the top 20 tropes across the survey and if I dislike it, I have bolded it and have a comment beside it. Otherwise I'm indifferent to it or I like the trope.

Friends to Lovers

Canon-divergent Alternate Universes

Slow Burn

Rescue Missions/Saving Each Other

Bed Sharing (aka One Hotel Room Left) Honestly I find this trope really stupid in most circumstances. It just makes me roll my eyes. This isn't to say that fics with this trope are badly written, I just... think the situation's really contrived. There's better ways to explore pining.

Teamwork

Fluff

Hurt/Comfort

Huddling for Warmth I only dislike it if it's adding unnecessary sexual tension. Like if you're in a perilous situation you don't need to talk about how omg touching him makes you feel things. It's like - dude you're gonna lose fingers otherwise. Characters, you need to shut the fuck up, this is not the right time. You guys can be romantic later. Hell this even counts for established relationships; characters getting aroused when they're in actual perilous situations is one of my biggest pet peeves in romance. It's dumb. (Note- this doesn't count if they're joking about it, joking is a great coping mechanism. I mean legit horniness as they're half-dead or something. What the fuck. Exception if the author explicitly lists being in legit perilous situations as a fetish in which case, good for author for that creativity.)

Mutual Pining

Established Relationship

Fix-it Fic

Isolated or Trapped (e.g. in a cave, a Canadian shack, etc.)

Missing scenes or fill-in fic

Everyone Knows They're In Love

Unresolved Sexual Tension

Fake Relationship (incl. Married for a Case and Marriage of Convenience)

Pining

Worldbuilding

Only 2 out of the top 20, not bad! Most are "take it or leave it" but some I like so yay.

Okay now for the next part.

On my Doctor Strange AO3 filtered page that I have up in perpetuity on my phone, I have the following filters applied to exclude (which takes off about 20% of all fics in the category from sight). Ordered from least likely to offend to most likely to offend others:

Non-English fics

Peter Parker/Stephen Strange

Stephen Strange/Reader

Not Civil War Team Captain America Friendly & Not Steve Rogers Friendly

An honorable spicy mention that isn't easily filtered so I don't filter it but I get into it below. It involves Peter.

Not English fics: With as picky a reader as I am, auto Google Translate simply doesn't work well for me. Trust me, I've tried and I was very sad when translate proved to be less than great. I wish I could speak/read all languages.

Peter/Stephen: I had to block this one because it was just coming up too much after NWH, but America/Stephen falls here as well (it's just significantly rarer and I can easily skip those fics). No hard feelings to those who write/ship it because they're, you know, fictional, but I'm definitely not a fan of the trope. Underage with two minors already skeeves me out, underage with a middle aged man and a minor is a big no-go unless the adult is framed as a villain in the narrative (and with luck gets justice served to him). But in the shipping sense this isn't usually the case in the story, and while some authors do a great job in showing it's not right/good, this isn't my flavor of Stephen at all. Even villain Stephen.

In the case the minors are aged up to be legal, I still dislike it. I find it incredibly creepy IRL when a person goes for someone who is young enough to be their child, and I can't separate that feeling in the fiction I read for the most part. The exception to this rule is when the person is like over 35 - by that age you know if you want to be with a 55 year old, and you have all that life experience. But there's so much growing done in the 20s and a lot of life experience that nothing but time can provide.

Finally, I find men in their 40s who are looking for someone (especially a girl) 24 or younger incredibly immature and, frankly put, the absolute opposite of dignified and sexy. There are exceptions of course, but my good guy!Stephen doesn't fall into that category. He's interested in brains, personality, and life experience, with looks being like, the 4th factor, haha, so no need for such a large age gap. Again, just skeeves me out.

Stephen Strange/Reader: I wouldn't have blocked it if it wasn't so prevalent, but it's literally Stephen's second-most popular ship. All respect to anyone who enjoys reader-insert fics, but I just... don't. The handful of times I've tried it I couldn't see myself as the supposed character because they were so different from who I am as a person. "Choose your own adventure" books that I read in my youth worked for me because I had choices in steering the story; that's not the case in reader fics so I'm left seeing "myself" doing things that I'd never do in a million years. That contradiction just makes me unable to appreciate them myself.

Big reason I don't have that problem with OCs is because they're not me, and so I don't have that weird contradictory feeling while reading the fic. They're another person so I can appreciate them as another character, especially if Stephen manages to stay in character within the story. But as romance isn't a genre I actively look for, I don't tend to look out for OC fics either as they're usually super romance-heavy as opposed to the romance being a side plot (which is how I get through canon char romances - if it's a side plot in the very long story I'll get through it for juicy plot).

Not Civil War Team Captain America Friendly & Not Steve Rogers Friendly: Blocking these two covers the majority of the stories that are not other-character friendly, and it blocks almost all Civil War Team Iron Man fics, so these two tags cover basically the entire gauntlet of that type of MCU fic. Ever since AO3 canonicalized those tags my blood pressure has lowered significantly and it's made browsing AO3 so much less stressful.

I'll say it up front: I don't think a fic can be good writing if it's written to be Not Team Cap Friendly. That's not to say that the writer themselves is incapable of writing quality works because that's usually not the case. But for works with that specific trope, I do not think that work can be good. A significant factor of what I consider good fanfic writing/bad fanfic writing is characterization, and the characterization is usually butchered in this genre of fic.

If an author chooses only to write this trope POV, all the more power to them. However, I think they are limiting their capabilities in choosing to ignore the grey storytelling the MCU brought to the story and are definitely limiting their visions by choosing to view these grey characters and their grey choices as black and white/good and bad with all the nuances erased. And because those choices are made, I don't think that the fic that comes out with those limitations can be considered good writing. And here are the reasons why, largely centering around characterization:

The only way these fics work is by making Steve completely OOC. I've seen writers erase all his leadership capabilities established in the first 3 films he was in, his ability to think fast on his feet, any sign of intelligence that is firmly established in the first three films he was in, and make him callous in a way that he hasn't ever shown in canon. I've seen writers make Steve unaware of email, I've seen them say that he never led men in WW2 (and isn't an actual captain), and most ridiculously, I've seen them say he was trying to kill Tony in Siberia and left him for dead there and completely ignore all his training in that if he wanted to kill Tony, he very well could have. (And ignore that T'Challa was there as well ffs - that's another rant.) But yes - this is all OOC to Steve's character. If someone wants to know why saying Steve trying to kill Tony in Siberia is OOC and thus not Steve friendly, send me a separate ask as I have a write up on Discord that I can bring here if folks want clarification on that front.

If you have to make other characters OOC to make your best boy shine better, I don't trust you to write best boy well. And usually he isn't. Tony is a terribly flawed character which is why he's so so so interesting, but Not Team Cap friendly fics are determined to erase all of Tony's flaws and everything that makes him interesting. For instance, I've seen Tony suddenly become an expert negotiator and politician, ignoring both IM2 and his lack of finesse with Ross in CW (this isn't him delegating the work to lawyers/PR people - this is in fics where he's the figurehead behind this because he's suddenly an expert political negotiator). Then in some fics Tony's suddenly a socialist, ignoring the fact that he's made his fortune and still makes money from his corporation and there's nothing in canon that suggests that he ain't still benefiting from the capitalist institution. He's *generous*, absolutely, and I headcanon he put in hundreds of millions into rebuilding Sokovia - but he's not suddenly a socialist. He's a rich white man with rich white man privileges and while he's doing his best to make good in the world, he has benefits that the rest of the world just doesn't. And Tony's still arrogant and it can still be hard to work with him and erasing all those flaws makes him just... not Tony. He's just this bland vanilla OOC caricature.

In a lot of "not team cap friendly" fics I see a tag along the lines of "actions have consequences". If that's the case, why the hell wasn't Tony prosecuted for making Ultron? Wanda didn't force him to make anything - she amplified his fears, absolutely, but he made the robot. In secret. And that robot killed a city. Tony in CW is rightfully really regretful about it - but if actions actually had consequences and Tony tried to get Team Cap like, jailed or forcefully retired (like he or his friends do in some fics), Nat should strike back and tell everyone that he was behind Ultron. IT'S LIKE EVERY CHARACTER MAKES MISTAKES OR SOMETHING AND THAT NONE OF THEM ARE PERFECT. WHAT A THOUGHT. And that's why that tag is not very well thought out. The tag ignores the stark (hah) fact that all Avengers have made mistakes, some of them major - and Tony's absolutely not exempt from that. And his mistake-making didn't stop after he became Iron Man.

All of Tony's friends ignore that Tony recruited a 15 year old to Germany and guess what? Pepper and Rhodey aren't Tony boot-lickers. They'd give him the appropriate "What the fuck were you thinking" language because yeah, that was fucked up! Ignoring that happened is another big item in these type of fics.

Stephen's personality is typically bland and he often has no life beyond Tony's in these type of fics. He definitely has no opinions on the Avengers that *differ* from Tony because him having his own opinions, or taking the time to form his own opinions from his own interactions, would be showing more nuance and depth than these fics want to get into.

Stephen's often petty and violent, especially towards Steve - and again completely ignores all of Tony's mistakes because Tony doesn't make horrific mistakes, oh no! I'd argue the petty violence is OOC, but fucking DS2 and fucking Waldron Jossed that. So if you want that petty violence, it's technically seen on screen, but that's a *Waldron* idea so... yeah. I don't know any big Stephen fan who is particularly fond of Waldron and what he brought to Stephen's character. But this whole essay is about OOC characterization so I can't argue that this is OOC anymore. Fucking Waldron.

Like Stephen, Rhodey and Pepper also lose their personalities and ability to argue with Tony because Tony is always right. Rhodey forgets that Tony is a billionaire and can easily go use a lab in Stark Industries buildings across the country, or go to one of his many homes that all billionaires have because they're *billionaires*, if he *has* to avoid Steve for some reason. Rhodey also forgets that Tony could handle this with the best therapist money can by if he can't physically handle being in a room with someone he dislikes. If Steve actually tried to kill him in a fic, please go back to the first bullet point on this list. An IC Steve wouldn't so there wouldn't be that fear of more physical retaliation because Steve wouldn't be trying to stop Tony from killing Bucky, so again, unless Tony tries to kill Bucky once more, the situation won't escalate to violence. But yes, in these fics, Rhodey would prefer that the civil rights breaking Accords that allow indefinite imprisonment with no promise of trial stand. He'd rather the rest of the Avengers remain fugitives with no home because he forgets his friend is a billionaire with virtually unlimited resources to go wherever he wants and to get the help he needs. The growth we see in his stance that came with IW after he saw the Accords' rollout just poofs away.

Pepper tends to be turned into a secretary again just there to help with Tony's emotional needs instead of a powerful CEO whose really fucking busy running a company.

So with an OOC Steve, it usually leads to an OOC Tony, OOC Rhodey, OOC Pepper, and OOC Stephen. And that is why I consider these fics bad.

There may be exceptions to this, but when I was still attempting the tag in 2019, I never found a fic under the tag that was an exception. I stopped trying the last 3 or so years. And unless you're an author who's written in that tag and you want me to read your story and want to try to change my mind (because you're a masochist? why would you want to do this to yourself?), don't send me those fics. 99% I'm going to find them bad.

I'm not gonna subject those authors to the above opinion because they enjoy the black/white world and they have a huge readership who loves that crack. And good for them! That doesn't change my opinion that I think it's lousy writing because characterization is 70% of my opinion of a fic. If you have all this OOC characterization in a non-crack/parody fic, I just won't have a high opinion. And I'll say it in my own space under a cut, but I'm not going to search you out anymore - I haven't since 2019 (early 2020 was the cut off). Writers have the right to write what's popular - and I can dislike that popular content. But it's a lucrative readership and if that black and white world brings you joy, then all the more power to you.

Important: Not character-friendly fics are different from Dark!character fics. Dark character fics acknowledge that in canon, the characters are written as protagonists and heroes, and the author is purposefully changing this. In not character friendly fics, the author is usually inventing something stupid or terrible (and often enough ooc) for the character to have done/not done to strengthen the position of their chosen protagonist, or is ignoring canon traits of the character to, again, strengthen the position of their chosen protagonist. This is especially seen with Steve.

Honorable mention: I dislike the majority of fics (no idea of percentage but very likely over 50%) labeled Supreme Family, *strictly* due to how Peter is treated. Let me explain.

Peter is an incredibly independent teenager living in NYC with his own friends and his own brains and solo superheroing the majority of the time. These fics have a tendency to erase all of this, making him overly reliant on Tony, making him act as if he's aged between 8 to 12 rather than 15 to 18, and erasing his connection to May, Ned, and MJ. His whole life is made secondary to be part of the Tony Stark fanclub and it's *weird*. Peter is so much more than his connection to Tony and fans of this trope sometimes forget this.

I'll give a real world example. There's a large age gap between my sister and myself, so I got to see her in her teenage years while I was an adult. She's smart, fiercely independent, and had good friends and extra curricular activities throughout high school just like Peter did. We had family dinner together on occasion but she wanted to be doing her own thing as much as possible. She'd text my parents for the "Hey I'm alive" check ins but otherwise? She was AWOL as much as she could get away with.

Peter may be less so, especially if May insists on dinner together at least a couple times a week with his form of extracurricular activities, but I cannot emphasize enough how Peter having his own life is so important to his character and him being around Tony most of his free time outside of school and Spider-Man is *weird*. Even if he likes him!

This is just one teenager in my example, but a staple of teenagers is finding their independence as they grow into adulthood. Clinging to other adult figures does not tend to be the trend with those who have a big independence streak.

Peter in canon is all about establishing his independence - and you could see this especially throughout all of Homecoming. His independence is integral to his character. And if Tony was his adopted dad in the fic, I'd say him always hanging out with him is doubly weird because, again, independence. It's a major part of most teenagers and it's very well established in Peter's personality.

So yeah. Fic writers please stop writing him like a 10 year old unless he's actually 10 in the fic. Let him live his own life in the Supreme Family trope. Let him go out with friends and do after school clubs and not go to Tony's lab after school every day of the week because it's just not him and his movies established that very well. Let him get annoyed at the tracking and let him yell at his parental figures because conflict is normal. Let him be a teenager.

(And as someone who loves Found Family, I can't emphasize enough how much that theme falls short if the characters within the family forget their independence and lives outside of the family. It's just no fun.)

So yeah. Have all these spicy hot takes!

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

I just made myself a little sad...

While watching No Way Home, specifically the scene where Stephen attempts the initial casting of the Runes of Kof Kal, my mind posed a fic worthy question ~ what if that particular spell only lasts as long as the Sorcerer who cast it is alive? In the course of his work, Stephen dies. Peter would wonder why the heck he's suddenly remembered, so he stops at the Sanctum and learns the news😔.

But furthermore, and as we know Stephen dies and comes back to life in a surprising manner of ways, what if he comes back this time too? He'd remember everything...and thus, we can have Stephen and Peter interacting, even teaming up again.

Hmmmmm, maybe not so sad after all😉.

@mckiwi @strangelock221b @stewardofningishzida @aelaer

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

*ASDFGHJKLOHJTFBCDGFDSA*

What a wonderfully ingenious way of fixing the problem that has given so many of us pure heartache - for both Stephen's and Peter's sakes! If only the MCU cared enough to take their cues from the fans who love these characters so much that they'll fill in the plot holes and - knowing the characters far better than most writers/directors/producers do - will find a reasonable, doable way to correct their poor choices.

Loved how naturally magic gave Stephen the tools to solve the mystery, and that he sensed not only Ned's potential magic ability as well as the residue of his own spell work on all three of the teens - even to the degree that he could discern how much the Sorcerer involved cared for the subject of the protection spell and how long ago it was cast. You gave the reader a very true sense of Stephen's emotional investment in figuring out the puzzle; we know how deep our Stephen's heart is, so it's no surprise that his heart instinctively remembered caring for this 'stranger' before his head knew exactly why.

It does my heart good to imagine his memories of Peter slowly resurfacing, even as just impressions & images, like deja vu. And *our* Stephen stepping up to protect Spiderman without hesitation, at the possible cost of his own life...*chef's kiss*

I love seeing Stephen as the parental figure he doesn't see himself as doing...being...becoming, so naturally and so well. If only he could see himself through Peter's or America's (or OUR😉) eyes, he'd see how far beyond his own father's failures he has grown. And echoing the final words that Peter & Stephen exchanged in NWH, in these far happier circumstances was icing on the cake of seeing them reunited.🥹❤️‍🩹🥹

Yesterday

The Beatles, 1965

After the events of No Way Home, Stephen finds a Midtown High cup in the undercroft. Assuming an invader has somehow made it past the Sanctum's defenses, Stephen decides to investigate, which somehow leads him to a lonely teenage boy. Who is this kid and what was he doing in the Sanctum?

"There's been an intruder in the Sanctum?" Wong asked skeptically.

"Yes," Stephen confirmed.

Wong leveled him with an incredulous look, "and you want to track them down?"

"That does seem like the proper course of action, doesn't it?" Stephen sassed.

"You say all this because you found," Wong drawled, "a mug."

"And a laptop! That belongs to none of the novices we had shoveling show, might I add. It wasn't my immediate thought that someone had broken in, I had just assumed one of them had taken a break down there. But after asking around, none of them claimed it. You know the Sanctum's been acting weird, someone could have gotten past the wards when the Rotunda Gateways were unstable." Stephen pressed. "Come on, it'll be easy."

Wong humored him with an eye roll, "alright fine. Track down this intruder if you wish. Just make sure the seals for the Gateways get fixed. If another blizzard blasts through, I'm docking it from your pay."

"I don't get paid." Stephen pointed out.

"You don't?"

"You do?"

"Welp gotta go! Higher duties and all." Wong hurriedly opened a portal to Karmar-Taj.

"Hey! Hey, wait– no! What do you mean you get paid!"

~~~~~~~~~~

The tracking spell was quite easy to perform compared to others. It would've been easier to just look on the laptop to find some identification, but somehow all of the computer's records of the owner were gone, like they had erased their identity completely. So, Stephen resorted to an old fashion tracking spell using fingerprints on the mug and laptop's keyboard. Ignoring his own prints, he narrowed his search down to one suspect, which led him to the front of a coffee shop in Queens.

The bell rang lazily as he opened the door, greeted by the scent of cinnamon and fresh coffee. Behind the bar stood a teenage girl in a teal uniform, a boy sat on the other side with his phone while another boy with a paper in his hands was talking to the girl. He seemed lost in a trance, whether that be a daydream or a nightmare, Stephen couldn't tell. The paper had crumpled on the sides from the boy's anxious fidgeting and his longing gaze stayed locked on the girl, as did the girl's on him. Somehow feeling like he was intruding on an intimate moment, Stephen took his observations off of the two and instead on the boy with his phone. If Stephen looked for it, he could sense the idle magic flowing through the veins of the boy. In fact, he could make out traces of a spell placed on him, or rather, all three of them. No, just the two– the boy with the paper didn't have traces of the spell, but he was surrounded by the barely-there, lingering edges of a protection spell. Stephen estimated the spell had been active for at least six weeks despite that type of spell only being meant for three days at most. For the spell to be so embedded into the boy even after all this time, the sorcerer in question must have cared for him deeply.

He stepped a bit closer to the kid, his aura and the boy's singing with relief, brushing along their edges like two friends reuniting at long last. How did his aura feel so familiar? He reached out to tap the kid's shoulder. "Can I help you?" The girl interrupted.

"Oh, yeah, uh... coffee, please. Two things of sugar." He turned back to the boy, "hey kid, do– where'd he go?" He heard the front door close behind him and turned just in time to see the boy walk out into the street.

"Who? Peter Parker?" The girl asked.

Stephen turned back to her, "is that his name? Do you know him?"

She shook her head, seemingly distracted, "no, that was just what he told me. I'll have that coffee out in a second." He nods in thanks and glances at her name tag reading 'MJ.' How did that name sound so familiar, too? He doesn't know anyone named MJ. As she started brewing his coffee, Stephen activated the tracking spell only to see it point toward the door. So the boy's the intruder. Better hurry this along, then. He fumbled with his wallet until his shaking hands could get out a five-dollar bill. "Here you go sir, that'll be $2.99."

He placed the $5 on the bar and hastily took his coffee, "keep the change. Thanks! Have a nice day!" He's out the door before she can respond, hoping to catch up with the intruder– Peter. Why did the mere thought of the name bring a pang of guilt? He weaved around the other pedestrians expertly in hope of seeing him, but to no avail.

He returned to the Sanctum with an empty coffee cup instead of the intruder. "I thought you said this would be easy?"

"Shut up, Wong."

~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later, he felt the worn protection spell before he saw Peter. He quickly (but cautiously) released the spell he'd been using to repair the Rotunda Gateways before making his way to the building's signature window, determined to finally catch the intruder. On the sidewalk below, Peter held a single white rose and stared at the Sanctum's front doors solemnly, but made no move to knock. For a moment, Stephen thought he was about to witness how Peter had broken in, but to his surprise, Peter simply took a deep breath, regained his composure, and continued his trek as if he didn't just look like the loneliest person on Earth. Intrigued, Stephen decided to follow him using his astral form. If nothing else, maybe he'd get more information on him.

Peter walked for an hour in the snow, much to Stephen's confusion, until he was at the entrance of a cemetery. All at once, Stephen regretted following him but continued to do so until they were at the headstone of May Parker.

"Who? Peter Parker?" The girl asked.

Oh, absolutely not–

Stephen returned to his physical body at that, not willing to intrude on the precious moment between Peter and his dead... mother? How old was he? Couldn't be more than nineteen. Did he not have enough money for a bus? Where's he live? Since when had Stephen started thinking of the intruder less as a threat and more of a puzzle to solve? Again, Stephen returned to the Sanctum without an intruder, but with more questions than answers.

~~~~~~~~~~

The first time Stephen met Spider-Man, his face was still throbbing from the Maw's needles and they were en route to their probable deaths. Despite having just met, the two worked fantastically together against Thanos, and that didn't seem to change now. Somehow, three men were able to figure out a way to summon mystical creatures to help them commit crimes. Of course, this fell under both Spider-Man's and Stephen's jurisdictions, hence why they were working together yet again.

Stephen's hands shook as he held open the unstable gateway, "less quips, more kicks!"

"Oh hey, that rhyAH–" Spider-Man was thrown harshly against a nearby pillar. Stephen winced at the impact but Spider-Man barely faltered, "first of all, rude. I was talking." Using his webs as a slingshot, he launched himself at the last creature and propelled it through the gateway. Stephen let it snap closed with a sigh of relief.

"Is that everyone?" Stephen asked between harsh breaths. Holding open gateways to other dimensions whilst also muting the creatures' connection to said dimensions (the source of their power) was exhausting both physically and magically.

Spider-Man nodded, "think so. Not seeing any more baby Cthulhus running around, all three criminals are webbed up."

Stephen glanced at the webbed-up criminals, "You mean two?"

"No, three," Spider-Man said confidently, not bothering to turn around.

"Two," Stephen insisted, grabbing his shoulders and twisting him to look at the wall.

"There's two!" Spider-Man yelped in shock, gesturing toward the criminals.

Stephen huffed, "how observant of you. Where's the other?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? I thought I told you to web them up while I made the gateway!" Stephen exclaimed.

"I webbed him up, sir! I swear I did!" Spider-Man suddenly sounded like a child trying to defend himself against a scolding parent. "He mu– he must've gotten down when I hit the pillar! Or cut himself down somehow! I'm sorry, sir!"

"It's okay, we'll find him. He can't have gotten far." Stephen assured, then added, "and don't call me sir."

Stephen could see the exact second Spider-Man wasn't in the present anymore. He was lost in the past, one with both good and bad memories judging by the way his shoulders didn't quite know how to sit comfortably and his hands fidgeted, yet his voice was full of fondness as he said, "alright... Stephen."

Stephen contemplated the words for a moment, "that feels weird but I'll allow it." Spider-Man laughed at that, hanging his head between shoulders shaking in amusement. Even Stephen found himself smiling softly. At the same moment Spider-Man suddenly tensed, Stephen felt a weathered protection spell flare up around the young hero. The same protection spell he'd grown to associate with, "Peter?"

Peter's head snapped up to look at him, his Spider-Sense's warning forgotten in light of this new hope. He was too stunned to notice the escaped criminal with a raised gun. He didn't notice him.

But Stephen did. "Peter!"

He knew a half-formed shield wouldn't stand a chance against a bullet, so he used himself as one. At first, it didn't hurt, but then in blinding agony his mind was screaming at him. Warning signals rang in his ears so loudly he didn't hear Peter scream his name. All he could hear was his own racing heartbeat and feel his own blood seeping through his fingers. He blinked slowly. Despite his body going into shock, his brain still picked up on the fact that Peter was no longer beside him. Instead, he was frantically pacing and tapping at his phone while the now unconscious criminal was laying a few feet away.

His vision was starting to darken around the edges. Unlike his time with Dormammu, there was no loop to ensure his wounds were reversed and his body restored. Peter's panicked words were too muddled by the effort to stay conscious for him to understand what was said. He vaguely heard something along the lines of, "I don't want you to go."

The darkness fully took over as Peter wrapped his arms around him desperately and sobbed into the crook of his neck.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stephen knew the smell of a hospital as well as the network of scars on the backs of his hands. The smell was the first thing he was conscious of. The second was the amber light of the rising sun shining through a window as he opened his eyes. The third was Peter's head resting next to his hand. He had pulled up a chair next to Stephen's bed and was fast asleep despite being slouched awkwardly. Even though Stephen only knew Peter as the intruder, it was obvious to anyone watching that Peter knew Stephen far better than their few interactions. Somewhere deep in his heart, he suspected that he knew Peter as well, and he feared to know why he doesn't now. He wanted to hope it wasn't his fault, but since when had luck been in his favor? Plus, if he hadn't already subconsciously known Peter, it wouldn't be this natural to gently ruffle the boy's unruly hair.

Peter mumbled a complaint into the mattress and tried to swat away Stephen's hand before abruptly freezing and jolting into an upright position. "Stephen?"

"Hey, kid." He croaked.

Peter practically leapt on him and brought him into a careful embrace, still being mindful of his injury. "You do realize everyone around me seems to die, right? Everyone. My parents, Uncle Ben, Mr. Stark, Aunt May... you were almost added to that list." Stephen could hear the pain in his shaky voice. He could see the tears welling up in Peter's eyes when he finally looked at him. "When you took that bullet for me, I thought you were gonna die."

Stephen muttered, "so did I."

A tear rolled down Peter's face, "Then why'd you do it? You don't even know me."

"But you know me, don't you?" Stephen asked. By the way Peter sharply glanced away, he knew he was right. "When I saw you in that coffee shop, I felt a protection spell on you. Now I realize it was me who cast it. That's why my aura recognized yours. What happened? Why don't I remember you?"

Peter blinked at him, "it's kind of a long story."

"I've got time," Stephen used his eyes to point out the IV in his arm. With that, Peter delved into his story. He started with Mysterio, explaining how tricked Peter into handing over EDITH. He glossed over the fight in London, then how Mysterio revealed his identity to the world. Stephen thought he'd really like to meet this Mysterio guy... just for a nice chat, obviously. Next, Peter went over how Stephen was involved. When he asked questions about the spell, Peter explained the best he could. He then went on to tell about meeting his multiversal brothers and their respective villains and losing his friends to the spell, including Stephen himself. "I could probably make myself remember, you know?"

Peter stared at him for a second, "what? You said it was the only way."

Stephen mused, "to close the breach? Yes, it was. Sorry I didn't fully explain. The spell doesn't erase memory, it represses it. Memories can never be fully erased, only hidden. I'm sure you're familiar with the Law of Conservation? You can't destroy a memory, only convert it by replacing it with another or altering small details within it. It'll take some time, but I'm sure I can find a way to resurface those memories."

A small smile started to form on Peter's face, like he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing, "so you could remember me? Everything we've been through?"

Stephen nodded, "your friends as well if you'd like."

Just like that, Peter's smile fell, "no. When they found out I was Spider-Man, that just made them targets. As much as I want them to remember... I mean, you're a wizard with cool powers–"

"Sorcerer."

"–but they're just civilians. They can't protect themselves like you can. I don't want to make them targets again, not if I can help it."

Stephen pressed his lips together sympathetically, "I understand. I had to leave the only person who ever really loved me so she wouldn't get hurt. I needed to go away, but she couldn't come with me. You're a good kid, Peter. Taking on this responsibility so young."

Peter smiled bitterly, "with great power comes great responsibility."

"Wise words."

"Yea, it's something my Aunt May told me."

May Parker. The headstone.

"You wanna come by the Sanctum?" Stephen asked impulsively. The urge to protect this kid and give him a halfway normal life was one he was glad to indulge in. "Once I'm cleared to leave, of course."

Peter's smile was back, "yea, I'd like that."

~~~~~~~~~~

A few months later

Despite having his accident nearly a decade ago, Stephen found his impact to the medical field was still prominent, so much so that MIT took his letter of recommendation for Peter in a heartbeat. Both Peter and Stephen had worked relentlessly until he regained his memories, then that same drive powered them to get Peter through his GED in record time. In fact, Peter finished his GED so quickly that he was able to enroll at MIT the same time as MJ and Ned.

The sky was still dark when they'd arrived at the airport. He watched as Peter introduced himself to who Stephen now recognized as Ned. The kid who had asked him about tingly hands turned out to have idle magic flowing through his veins. Enough magic to open a portal, apparently. "Hey, who's your friend?" MJ came up to Ned's side.

"Oh, this is Peter. He's going to MIT, too. And look! He has a Lego Star Wars set!" Ned told his friend excitedly while Peter took in the sight of his unwilling ex-girlfriend.

"Another looser then. Nice. I'm MJ," she nodded at him. "Come on, we need to get on the plane now if we're gonna test my thirteenth-row theory."

"Can Peter sit with us? He has movies on his tablet with a dual earbud jack. Please?" Ned asked with wide eyes.

MJ glanced at Peter, something like recognition crossing her face before she scoffed, "what am I? Queen Elizabeth the first? Sure, I don't care."

Peter smiled widely, then said, "wait, I gotta see someone first."

The next thing Stephen knew, there was a boy's arms wrapped around his waist and a head of curly brown hair for him to rest his chin on. Stephen hugged Peter back just as tightly, "thought you were about to go off without saying goodbye."

"Even a weird memory spell couldn't make me forget about you... unlike yourself." Peter teased.

Stephen clicked his tongue in mock offense, "thought we had gotten past that, Parker." Peter chuckled at that and released him. "Remember, call me if you need anything. Your first priority is school. Always keep your phone on you and don't talk to strangers." Peter looked at him pointedly. "Make a joke out of that and you'll be arriving at MIT via a black hole."

Peter stepped back with finality and took a deep breath, "I'll see you around."

Stephen remembered the last time he'd heard that line. He was trying to stay strong for Peter by holding back the wall of tears that threatened to flow, knowing he was condemning the boy to a life of loneliness. Instead of tears of sorrow, this time he was holding back tears of pride for his kid. "So long, kid."

[firephoenix2305]

GOOD OMENS FILM WEEK CELEBRATION DAYS 4 & 5!!!

Sorry sorry sorry sorry 😅. I'm late, I know, uni exams are looming and we were traveling and I did not have a second to breathe.

BUT y'all didn't think I'd actually forgotten about @mckiwi's super fun prompt week challenge, did you?!?

DAY 4 (Jan 2) -- Drinks!! Have some Ineffable Husbands-Coded cocktails which I totally did not stay up till two a.m. to finish !!

Disclaimer: not a drawing person, I did my best. And I am frankly obsessed with the Ticketyboo's colour.

DAY 5 (Jan 3) -- Angels & Demons!

There.

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.

.

↓

KIDDING!

(please don't hate on me for liking this book, I know many don't 😅)

Okay, now for real, for this prompt I made a lil collage of my fav angels and demons that aren't the ineffables!!

Every time I look at this it looks more like an album cover for some reason...

These are the prompts if anyone wants to hop onto the wagon! It's fun!

-Nix 🧡

[hithertoundreamtof23]

The Badly Summarized WIP Game

Rules: Pick a bunch of your WIPs and summarize them as badly as possible, then ask your followers to vote on which one they’d be most likely to read.

Thanks for the tag @popcorn-plots ! Sorry it's been like a month lol.

Tagging: @mckiwi @harpywritesfic @darkkitty1208 @sobeautifullyobsessed and whoever wants to play!!

[aelaer]

For the ask game: ☠️ and/or ▼ about Stephen

☠ - angry/violent headcanon

Stephen does not kill to the best of his ability and he doesn't cherish needless violence for the sake of it, but if he ever came across absolutely terrible crimes (especially against kids) that he could not get persecuted in the court of law, I do think he might curse them in some manner or banish them to an absolutely terrible dimension to a fate worse than death, similar to how Kaecilius got.

But he'd make the act quick and focus on the victims who need healing after. The villain would barely get his time in comparison, though their fate would be terrible.

(Again I think he'd pursue a lawful conviction first or some sort of justice system within Kamar-Taj, if applicable/possible. But it may not be possible in all situations).

▼ - childhood headcanon

A couple...

I think he's wanted to be a doctor for a while, before Donna's death. His inability to save her even after this want only pushed him further.

Her death was the catalyst in the family dynamic breaking apart. I don't think either of his parents (in the MCU verse) were abusive or neglectful, but that none of them handled their grief well and didn't get therapy for it.

I think he grew up in a more rural part of Nebraska, so he's familiar with how a farm is run but doesn't particularly enjoy it. He's used to animals, though his family worked with crops rather than livestock.

I think he was valedictorian in his (small) graduating class.

[harpywritesfic]

(highest result was 75% for a character i don't know so i'm picking around the results for interesting bits)

YOU CAN GET THE FISH GUY FROM THE SHAPE OF WATER AS A RESULT??? AND THEY THINK I'M THE FISH-FUCKER? AND THE FISH? (MONSTERFUCKER WIN)

ok. i'm the self-sacrificing unrequited love guy from totc. love it

other highlights:

THE RAT FROM RATATOUILLE?? and SINCE WHEN IS FARENHEIT 451 A FANDOM? WILLY WONKA?

@mckiwi I had to seach in page for my guy. typed in 'dr.'. got two jurassic park doctors (the hot ones at least), fucking HOUSE, and two versions of hannibal before dr. strange. seems i'm the wrong sort of autistic.

this quiz sorts through characters from like dozens of fandoms and finds the one you’re most like. I’m not even a little bit surprised by my result