#mj's biggest fan right here

[spider-stark]

INFINITELY YOU

part two // crullers & constants

SUMMARY - In every universe, Peter Parker seems destined to fall in love with you. And, in every universe, he realizes it too late. When universes collide and two of them are granted a second chance at rectifying their biggest mistake, neither of them are willing to let the opportunity go to waste–even if you end up not being the person they thought you were.

WARNINGS - 18+, story will contain mentions of blood, broken bones, weapons, suggestive language, and more. I will try to update warnings accordingly for each chapter, but please read at your own discretion

WORD COUNT - 4.2k

// masterlist // series masterlist // send me your thoughts // no way home fan fiction // rewrite

name key: tom!peter = peter // andrew!peter = parker

Peter Pan Donuts is a sacred place. 

Or, rather, it was a sacred place—and walking back into the shop now felt awfully strange. 

Back when you and Peter first started high school, it had become a tradition to end every Friday with one of the renowned pastry shop’s legendary frosted crullers. You considered it a well-deserved reward for surviving another week of more drama than either of you could stomach, thankful that the weekend was finally upon you and that you could finally breathe without inhaling the reek of the unwashed teenage boys that lined the halls of Midtown. 

Peter Pan’s quickly became a haven. A safe place where the two of you could tuck yourselves away at the end of the bar, talking for hours about the teachers you hated and the bullies you hoped would fall from the face of the Earth. There was nothing that you couldn’t talk about, no secrets kept between you and Peter. 

Or, at least, none that mattered. 

But things changed as time passed, as they so often do. 

It started with the inclusion of Ned. You didn’t particularly mind his presence, even if the conversations had begun to shift towards less intimate topics, focusing instead on movies that you all wanted to see or upcoming video games that you would all try to play. 

Then came the inclusion of Mj a few months later, after she landed a job at the shop. That was when everything truly changed—when it was no longer you and Peter tucked away at the bar, but you and Ned, left to pick at your food and watch as Peter leaned across the front counter and talked to Mj over her shift. 

After a few months of testing every donut on the menu with Ned, you stopped going altogether. 

And Peter never even asked why. 

“I was surprised to see you texted me,” you quip as you slid onto the free barstool, “what happened to not wanting me to get involved?” 

Peter exhales sharply through his nose, and even though his eyes are glued to his phone, you can tell that he was already regretting asking you to meet him here. “I already told you that what I want doesn’t matter.” 

And how true that must have been. 

There had been nothing kind about his text to you this morning, although there was nothing inherently rude about it either, you supposed. It was simple—meet me at Peter Pan’s asap, need 2 talk—but you could almost sense the begrudging nature with which he had typed it. And, sitting next to him now, you could almost feel it, too. 

He didn’t want you here, even if he had been the one to invite you, and you couldn’t help but wonder why he had decided to involve you at all—especially so soon. What had changed in a single night? 

Sitting on the barstool to your left, Parker pops his lips. “Well this is fun. I’m not at all uncomfortable right now.” 

You turned towards him, acknowledging just how different he looked in the civilian clothes that he donned in place of his suit—black jeans that certainly looked worse for wear and an old Ramone’s t-shirt that you immediately recognized as yours. Oversized on you, the short sleeves clung rather tightly to his well-muscled arms. Did he seriously go through your stuff?! 

 “Why are you even here?” You ask, perhaps a little sharper than necessary. You weren’t angry that he had gone sifting through the armoire in the spare bedroom, especially since he couldn’t just parade around as Spider-Man all of the time. But he could’ve at least asked. “Shouldn’t one of you be busy patrolling?” 

It was hard to tell if the offense on his face was real or feigned, but you didn’t care much either way. “Peter wanted answers about my world, I wanted food,” he shrugs, gesturing at the crème-filled donut in front of him. “And Peter 2’s handling patrol.” 

Peter 2—you had almost forgotten about him, the version of Peter that hadn’t wanted to come with Ned and Mj to your apartment last night. As far as you could tell when you woke up this morning, he hadn’t shown up in the middle of the night, either—no trace of Parker or anyone else when you had finally stumbled out of your room to get ready after reading the text from Peter. 

You didn’t figure it was really your business where the mystery Peter was, but you were a little surprised to hear that he was still out patrolling. Was he not exhausted?  

“Ametaur move getting crème-filled,” you tell him, ignoring everything he said. “Should’ve gone with the frosted vanilla cruller, it’s way better.” 

“No way,” he gapes, grabbing the half-eaten pastry and shaking it for emphasis as he said, “this is god-tier, alright? No way anything’s topping it.” 

The expression on his face was actually hilarious, his brown doe eyes alight with pure euphoria as he took another bite of the donut. An exaggerated moan slipped his lips, coated with bits of sugar and crème. It was hard not to laugh at him, especially when you knew that was probably his goal—to combat the evident tension between you and Peter. 

Chuckling, you lift your hands in mock defense. “Suit yourself, Parker. But if you ever wanna experience true pleasure, then you know what to order.” 

Parker looks as if he's about to continue his borderline-lustful tangent about the donut, but Peter spoke up instead, his attention snagging on the name you used. 

“Parker?” He echoes in disbelief, letting his phone clatter against the bar. 

Peter’s sudden resurgence to the real world left Parker silent, sinking back against his stool and taking another bite. 

“What?” Your brow arches, your voice laced with incredulity. “Did you really think I’d keep calling him Peter 2? No offense to Ned, but everything about that feels stupid.” 

Peter’s eyes narrow, coupled with a subtle shake of his head that indicates he doesn't care nearly enough to have this conversation right now. 

You didn’t care much either, and so you steered the conversation in a more productive direction. “So what is this grand plan of yours?” You ask with a somewhat sarcastic lilt. “And where do I fit into it?” 

Another huff of breath escaped his nostrils. “We don’t even have a plan. Not yet,” he reluctantly admits. “But I tried talking to Doctor Strange last night, to see if he had some sort of magical spell or something that would let us go back and fix all of this.” 

Your lips press together, nibbling on the skin and pretending you didn’t notice the hidden meaning behind his words. He hadn’t just gone to Doctor Strange to find a way to get rid of the villains now lurking in your world, because if he had, then he wouldn’t have gone specifically seeking out a spell that would let him go back—not just to stop the villains from ever coming here, but to save May, too. 

“Did he?” 

Peter reached for his cup of iced coffee, if only to occupy his now-fidgeting fingers. “No,” he murmurs, the sound of sloshing ice nearly overpowering him as he swirled the cup. “He didn’t.” 

You frown at the tinge of disappointment that snuck through his otherwise even tone, your chest aching. You had to fight against the urge to say I’m sorry, remembering what he had said to you last night—he didn’t want your apologies, nor did he seem to want anyone else's. 

In truth, you weren’t sure what Peter wanted; or what you could do to help him. 

“Well did he have anything useful?” 

He shook his head, lifting the cup to his mouth. “Define useful,” he scoffed, sounding uncharacteristically sharp. He took a sip of his drink, his nose scrunching as soon as the coffee hit his tongue—too bitter. 

Despite the coffee’s pale color that indicated it was more cream than coffee, you weren’t surprised that it was still too strong for him. Peter had never truly developed a taste for coffee, only pursuing a caffeine addiction for the sake of combating the exhaustion that came with being Spider-Man. That didn’t mean he had ever grown to like it though, masking the taste with copious amounts of sugar and syrups. 

“Something that will keep multiversal villains from tearing our world apart?” You venture half-heartedly, guided by pure instinct and muscle memory as you reached over to take his cup from him, snagging a few packs of sugar from the plastic canister on the bar to0. 

“He has a theory,” Peter gives you a tight-lipped smile, born of pure frustration. 

“A theory? And he expects us to save the world with this theory?” You ask, a bit more derisive than you would have been if Doctor Strange were around to hear. 

Peter scoots closer to you, his voice purposefully low. “Do you remember when I told you about him using the Time Stone before Mr. Stark died? To look through all the different outcomes with Thanos?” 

Ripping open the sugar packets and dumping them in his cup, you managed to mask a wince at the mention of Peter’s dead mentor. You only nodded, not trusting your voice to stay steady if you tried for any sort of verbal affirmation. 

“Well… when he did that, he thinks that he might have actually seen through the multiverse—he just didn’t know for sure at the time.” 

Your forehead creased as you popped the lid back onto his cup, sliding it back towards him. Given his advantage of Spidey-sense, he easily caught it before it could slide too far and end up on the floor—which is what would have definitely happened pre-Spider bite. 

“And you don’t consider that to be useful to our current situation?” 

“No. I don’t.” Peter answers firmly. “Because at the center of it all—in every universe the Stone showed him—all he saw was you.” 

You nearly laugh, your lips curving as you rose a brow at him. “Me?” 

Peter gave a nod as he took another sip of his drink. This time, his nose didn’t scrunch. 

“But it’s been almost a year since the Avengers took down Thanos,” you reminded him, your stunned amusement beginning to fade into confusion. “If he saw.. Me, when he used the Stone, then why didn’t he say anything until now?” 

By no means would you consider yourself to be close with New York’s resident Sorcerer, and so you wouldn’t have expected him to come to you with this knowledge. But Peter—he knew Peter, and he knew that you were Peter’s best friend, and so it didn’t make any sense to you why Doctor Strange chose to wait until now to mention what the Stone had shown him. 

Given the aggravated expression Peter wore, it was clear that he was thinking the same. “I don’t know, and trying to get answers out of Doctor Strange that he clearly doesn’t want to give is like pulling teeth.” 

“But what does that mean?” You couldn’t stop yourself from pressing further, concern starting to bubble up inside of you. Regardless of his answer—if he had one—you had a feeling you wouldn’t like it. “I don’t get how I’m at the center of every universe.” 

Peter blew out a breath, his fingers going back to tapping against the sides of his plastic cup. “Alright, so there are probably well-over a hundred thousand different parallel universes, okay? Some of them are probably super similar to ours, and then there are others that are the complete opposite.” 

“O-kay,” you drone, your brows drawing together. You felt the start of a headache coming on as you prepared yourself for the confusing science-talk that was surely about to start pouring out of his mouth. 

Perhaps noticing your pained expression, Peter tries to find a way to simplify whatever explanation he was about to use. “Try and look at it like this,” he started, “think of the multiverse as some giant, cosmic loom, alright? Now imagine that each thread on the loom signifies a person. As the loom weaves all of these different threads together, different decisions get made and different actions are taken—and with every choice, a new thread is spun, branching off and creating a variation of the original tapestry.” 

“So it’s like you and Parker, right?” You interrupt him, rubbing at your temples. “Same thread, different reality?” 

“Exactly! And, technically speaking, that’s how it’s supposed to be. As the loom weaves and alters reality, each thread continuously evolves into something different.” He paused, his fingers finally falling still. “But now imagine that—in the center of all of these branching tapestries—there exists one thread, entirely unbroken and unaltered by this ever-weaving tapestry of existence, okay? A glitch in the cosmic fabric, a constant that’s woven into infinite realities and yet, somehow, remains fundamentally unchanged. How does that work?” 

You couldn’t ignore the sense of dread creeping up your spine, nor could you escape the slight wobble in your voice as you said, “It doesn’t sound like it should.” 

“You’re right, it shouldn’t work.” Peter confirmed, his expression nearly impossible to read. “But according to Doctor Strange, you are that thread. A constant anomaly that defies every potential law of the multiverse.” 

Nausea bubbled in your gut. God, you did not want to deal with this right now! 

“And let me guess,” a bitter laugh follows your words, “that’s as much information as he was willing to give, wasn’t it?” 

“Yep,” Peter pops his lips, leaning back into his stool. His brows raise slightly in a silent I told you so before he says, “Hey, you’re the one that wanted to be involved, right? Now you’re at the center of everything-” 

“I said I wanted to help you,” you correct him sharply. “Not that I wanted to be at the center of Doctor Strange’s weird Time Stones fantasies!” 

He only shrugs, barely acknowledging the dirty look you gave him as he plucks his phone off of the counter, clicking on a notification. “Same thing, isn’t it? Either way, you get what you want.” 

“What I want?” You echoed, your mouth hung open in disbelief. 

“Doctor Strange seems to think that whatever is wrong with you might help us solve all of this. That you might be connected to the multiverse somehow, or that you’re at least immune to it. So yeah, you get what you want. You get to help,” he spat the word out like an insult, too focused on typing something to even notice how rude he sounded. 

If it weren’t for the feeling that stomach acid was about to come crawling up your throat, then you might have taken some time to unpack the bitterness in his tone or be hurt by the claim that something was wrong with you—but you didn’t. Even if you had, you weren’t sure that it would have gotten you anywhere. 

You weren’t stupid. Peter was wielding his insolence like a shield, purposefully trying to hurt you as an effort to keep you at arms length—and, if you had to guess, Mj and Ned were probably receiving the same treatment right now. 

“Well this isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to help,” you admitted, one hand going to rest against your cramping stomach. At least the throbbing in your temples had died down… 

Peter only shrugged at you, shoving his phone in his back pocket and rising to his feet. “Too bad,” he told you, offering a smile that most definitely wasn’t genuine. “I’ve gotta go, but make him walk you home, alright? I’ll text you if I hear anything else from Doctor Strange.” 

Parker frowned beside you, and whether it was because Peter was speaking about him like he wasn’t here or because of his attitude in general, you couldn’t tell. 

“Whoa, hold up! You didn’t even tell me what your plan is until you hear from him!” You argue, reaching for his wrist to keep him from walking past you until he answered. 

He pulls his hand back from your grip, but not before your stare snags on the reddish hue that stains his nails—blood. Noticing it only served to make you feel sicker, and to make your concern for Peter grow larger. Was he really still walking around with May’s blood caked under his nails? Has he rested at all since last night? 

“Same plan as always,” he told you, your eyes snapping up to meet his, suddenly noticing how rimmed with exhaustion they were. “Stop the bad guys.” 

He didn’t leave any time for protests or further questions before turning his back to you and heading straight for the exit. When the little bell on the door chimed as he shoved his way back out onto the streets, you couldn’t stop the worried sigh that escaped your lips. 

Peter was an Avenger by every right. He had battled alongside a Norse God and helped take down a literal Titan, and so knew that you shouldn’t have any reason to doubt his capability when it came to taking down whatever villains had crossed into your world. 

But it wasn’t that you doubted his ability to survive against them, or even his ability to stop them—you were worried about whether he could handle the weight of it all. 

The weight of him placing yet another thing on his shoulders. Another villain, another fight, another burden, another chance to lose someone. 

Thinking of that, it suddenly dawned on you that maybe Mj and Ned weren’t getting the same treatment as you. Maybe you were getting the worst of it, if only because now whatever connection you had to the multiverse was just another weight he thought he had to bear, another person he had to worry about protecting. 

Guilt flooded your veins, and even as you tried to remind yourself that you hadn’t caused this, you still couldn’t shake the anxious feeling that it was somehow your fault anyway. 

“Y’know, I get that this probably isn’t the right time for this,” Parker starts. When you look at him, your attention immediately snags on the dozen donuts that he had ordered while you were talking to Peter. “But I think it’s so cool that you guys have magic in your world!” 

He takes another bite of the donut in his hand, powdered sugar falling from his lips as he says, “And these donuts! It’s a tough call, but they might be even better than magic!” 

You didn’t know him well enough to be able to tell if he was intentionally trying to lighten the mood or if it was just incidental, but it worked all the same. Laughter poured from your mouth, and it wasn’t until it died down that he said anything else. 

“Sooo… That was tense, wasn’t it? Like, it wasn’t just me, right?” 

You groan, propping your elbows against the counter and placing your cheeks in your palms. “Was it that noticeable?” 

Parker snorts a laugh, stretching an arm past you to reach for Peter’s abandoned coffee. “Oh, yeah. It’s actually painful to be in a room with you two.” 

His playful tone made it clear that it was just a joke, but it still made you feel bad. You already didn’t like how hostile things felt between you and Peter, even if it was only one-sided, and to know that others felt it too just made it that much worse. 

“Things are just.. Difficult, right now.” You tell him, choosing your words carefully. 

“So it hasn’t always been like that with you guys?” He asks, and the delicate arch of his brow made it seem as though he were shocked by the possibility that things had ever been civil between you and Peter. 

There was a chance that you had misread his expression though, as it was very quickly wiped away once he took a sip of Peter’s half-drank coffee, gagging as soon as it hit his tongue. “Holy shi-” he started coughing, cutting off the vulgarities that threatened to spill out. “How does he drink this?!” Parker yelped as soon as he could take a full breath, looking utterly disgusted as he shoved the cup back across the bar. “It’s literally just liquid sugar!” 

You found it hard to stifle your amusement at his suffering, even as he shot you a teasing scowl for it. “No,” you answer his previous question, trying to ignore his melodramatic display, “believe it or not, things between us actually used to be really… I don’t know—easy, I guess.” 

Parker was still smacking his lips to try and rid himself of the cloying aftertaste. “What changed?” 

In retrospect, you realized that it probably would have been smarter for you to bite your tongue. To offer him some cheap, cop-out excuse rather than tell him the truth. After all, you already had experience in hiding from the truth and it wasn’t like you really knew Parker, and so lying to him shouldn’t have been a hard task. 

Yet, for some reason, you told him the truth anyway. 

“Mj happened.” 

Parker’s brows furrows. “The girl from last night, right?” 

“Yep. That’s the one.” 

“Y’know, I don’t really like her all that much,” his words were spoken like a balm, seeking to ease the dejected look etched upon your face, but tinged with enough playful sarcasm for you to know he didn’t actually mean them. “She threw a bread roll at me. A few of them, actually.” 

It was hard not to laugh at the thought considering that it was such an Mj thing to do. “Sounds about right,” you crack a smile, although you don't feel particularly happy. “She’s always been slow to trust, especially complete strangers.” 

In an odd sort of way, the statement felt like a lie. Not because it actually wasn’t true—because Mj was wary of strangers—but because Parker didn’t quite feel like a stranger in your mind. While last night had been a bit awkward, you now felt like talking to him was effortless, each sentence rolling off your tongue with unnatural ease. 

“But she trusts you?” Parker asks, picking a crumb off another one of the pastries and popping it into his mouth. 

You sucked in a breath. 

“I don’t know,” you answer him, with a bit more honesty than you're comfortable with. “I mean, I know that she used to trust me. But now… I’m not even sure if she likes me anymore.” 

His brow snapped up. “What changed?” 

Suddenly the truth no longer felt so easy, and you found yourself wishing that you could change the subject altogether. You didn’t want to talk about this—especially not with him, some boy that you had known for less than twenty-four hours. 

But you had backed yourself into a corner, and so in an effort to try and satiate whatever interest he had developed in the story you had told, you settled on offering a vague half-truth. 

“She started dating Peter,” you tell him simply, putting effort into looking disinterested. “They got together a few months ago and things just… It just got weird, y’know? It’s always awkward when two of your friends get together, I guess. Creates too much drama.” 

“Yeah, for sure,” Parker hums, agreeing with you. “Especially when you have feelings for him, right?” 

An incomprehensible noise escaped your throat, best categorized as something between a laugh and a cough. Your mouth fell open to try and defend yourself, to try and deny his claim—but he didn’t even give you a chance. 

“Oh c’mon!” Parker groans, grinning when he notices the now rosy complexion of your cheeks. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? I mean, let’s be real here, alright? That whole sugar thing earlier?” He jutted a finger towards Peter’s abandoned iced coffee, “Was a dead giveaway.” 

“You’re insane,” You declare, shaking your head and masking your embarrassment with uncomfortable laughter. “I don’t have feelings for Peter—and even if I did, it wouldn’t matter! Regardless of what it’s done to our friendship, Mj is literally perfect for him and-” 

“I think it’s cute,” he interrupts, a delicate smile gracing his lips. Noticing the way your brows furrow, he elaborated, “How much you care about him. And how much you care about her, too, since you’re so willing to pretend like you don’t like him.” 

“I’m not pretending-” 

Parker jokingly cut his eyes. “Yeah, sureee.” 

Blowing a frustrated breath, you push yourself up from the barstool. “Alright, I think it’s time to go home.” You tell him, far too flustered to try and come up with a good defense to his teasing. “You can take the rest of your donuts to go, Bug-boy.” 

There was a subtle shift in his demeanor as the taunting nickname fell from your lips, and he almost felt as though his heart had stopped dead in his chest. 

“Fine,” Parker yields, rising to his feet and snagging the box of donuts from the bar. “But I really hope that you have your wallet—cause I definitely don’t have a way to pay for these.” He flashed a crooked smile before continuing, “Or we can just run really fast and hope they don’t call the police on us for stealing pastries.” 

“I can’t imagine that robbery would be very good for your reputation as a hero,” you chide sarcastically, your own lips curling into a half-smile, “so I’ll pay—but only if you give me every cruller in that box. Deal?” 

Parker spares a quick glance down at the dozen box of donuts in his hands. Half of them were already gone, but through the small cellophane window he could see that there were three frosted crullers left. “Deal.”

series masterlist

a/n - for those who read IY before the rewrite, you may already be able to note some rather major changes going on lmao. i genuinely can't describe how much i actually enjoy rewriting this story, as i'm finally able to collect my thoughts enough to write the plot the way i originally wanted to.

as always, please leave any feedback, opinions, etc.! any and all comments/reblogs definitely encourage me to write/edit faster! and, if you'd like to be added to the tag list, just let me know!

part three, titled "spitfire", to be released april 15th

[xmads-omensx]

CHAPTER 1 - I SIT HERE AND SMILE DEAR

MASTERLIST

Word Count: 4,091

Content warnings: Swearing, angst, fluff, violence f you squint (pushing and shoving in a malicious way), mentions of alcohol, Ronnie Radke, blood, descriptions of a small wound

Tag List: @concreteangel92 @lma1986 @dragonfly92 @thisis--mj @bloody-delusion-expert @girlagainstg0d

(Please message or comment if you would like to be added to the taglist, or if I forgot to add you <3)

WARPED TOUR 2011 BECCA

My knee bounced up and down as I sat on the leather sofa in the tour bus. We had never had a proper tour bus before. The closest thing we had was Theo’s Dad’s old van that kept breaking down. Nerves shot through my body as I tried to slow my heart-rate and regain my normal breathing.

Warped Tour was by far the biggest tour we had ever done. Sure, we were still supporting other bands, but we weren’t performing in a small, run-down dive bar. This was real. Bring Me The Horizon. Pierce The Veil. Sleeping With Sirens. All Time Low. Motionless In White. Our favourite bands were playing alongside us. We were one of them.

“Quit bouncing your leg Becca, I feel like I’m experiencing a fucking earthquake right now, jeez.” Johnny, our bass player, complained.

The rest of the guys erupted in laughter.

“Calm your tits, Johnny! Leave me alone.” I laughed in reply.

I had never been this nervous for a set before. We only had one album out, Arachnophobia, that had been doing reasonably well, but I was still so nervous. What if we get booed off stage? What if we fuck up the timings? What if I trip and fall flat on my fucking face? Worst-case scenarios flashed through my mind at lightning speed, corrupting whatever positive and confident thought that I still possessed.

“I need some air.” I said to the guys in a small voice.

“You good?” Kevin, our lead guitar player called out to me from his seat at the opposite end of the sofa.

“No. I just need a minute of fresh air.” I tried to reassure him, ultimately failing miserably.

“You sure?” Luke, our rhythm guitar player asked from his bunk.

“Yep. I won’t be long.” I mumbled, just loud enough for them to hear.

I walked around the festival site for a little while. The tents where bands were stood meeting fans and selling merch were absolutely packed. We had been selling merch and meting some fans as well, but nowhere near the scale of any of the bands situated near our tent.

This was our first ever festival. As I said, we were a small band. No one really knew who we were. That could also be said about some of the other bands on this tour as well to be fair. Warped Tour seemed like a brilliant opportunity for new fans to start listening to us when our manager, Nick, pitched it to us. But now it seemed like literal hell on earth. God, what if people left our set?

I tried to push those thoughts down, but nothing worked. As soon as I forced out one doubt, another just popped up in its place. It felt like my mind was the hydra from ancient Greek myth. Equally as venomous and persistent. It was going to be difficult to keep those negative feelings at bay for the rest of the tour. I had always struggled with not feeling good enough, and this tour was just amplifying those ideas. If nobody came to our set, everything would have been for nothing.

My phone started ringing in my pocket after about twenty minutes of my walk. It was Nick. I stared at the screen for a second. Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth.

“Hey.” I said straight after answering the call.

“Hey yourself! Your set is in five minutes Bex. Get your ass to the stage right fucking now before I either lose my shit or lose my job. Whichever comes first.” Nick yelled down the line over the band who were finishing up their set before ours was due to start. I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Yep I’ll be there in a sec. I lost track of time, sorry.” I replied hurriedly.

“Great. Thanks. See you in a sec then.” Nick finished.

I started running back towards the stage when I bumped into something. It felt like a lamppost or something tall and thin like that. Except there weren’t any lampposts here. I looked up to see a tall, heavily tattooed man with long, black hair looking down at me with a slightly pained smile on his beautiful face.

I didn’t have time for this. I called out a quick sorry as I kept running towards the stage.

By the time I got there, I was doubled over and panting trying to catch my breath. “She’s here!” Luke shouted as I rounded the corner to the side-stage area. I was handed a microphone by Nick

“Good luck you guys. You’ve got this.” Nick encouraged with his arms round mine and Johnny’s shoulders. I took a breath in through my nose and out through my mouth as the rest of the guys walked onto the stage to begin the intro to the first song on our album, Make me Wanna Die, “Give ‘em hell kid.” Nick whispered in my ear with a pat on my back. I closed my eyes for a second then stepped out onto the stage.

The world around me seemed to slow down as I lifted my mic up to my mouth to start the song. My lyrics flew out of my mouth with a natural ease. This wasn’t as hard as I thought. A large crowd had formed at the stage. Not too bad for our first show of the tour. Some people in the crowd were singing along to the song, which filled me with pure joy and unrivalled confidence. I started to move and jump across the stage which excited the crowd even more. By the time we were halfway through our set, the crowd had grown significantly and even began singing even louder to the words that they knew.

I had never experienced such a buzz from the crowd. It felt electric. Looking at the rest of the band, it looked like they felt the same. Wide, beaming smiles were plastered on their faces. I was sure I wore a similar one on my own face. In fact, my face hurt because of the smile that covered my face.

Up until this point, the largest show that we had ever played was to only about eighty people. But now, we were performing to a crowd of about two hundred and fifty. It wasn’t a massive crowd by any means, but it was huge to us. All of our favourite bands started out like this, playing for much smaller crowds. It gave me hope that one day we could be as big as those bands. Someday.

“How is everyone doing?” I shouted into my microphone.

The crowd cheered in response. Holy shit.

“You guys having fun?” I asked.

The crowd cheered in response again. This felt so surreal.

“That’s good. We are too. You guys have been a great crowd.” I began. “This is our first Warped Tour, so thanks for making our first show sop fun because we are having an absolute blast up here.”

The crowd cheered and applauded.

“As you have probably gathered, I’m not exactly brilliant at this whole crowd work thing, but I’m not really used to crowds as fantastic as you guys.” I said with a huge grin on my face.

The crowed roared with cheers and applause.

“So anyway, this song is our last song of the set, and if you don’t mind we would like to play r for you.” I began. “I mean, it’s not like you really have much of a choice, we pre-decided the setlist before we came on stage.”

Laughter erupted around me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tall, skinny guy with long dark hair cascading over his shoulders with tattoos on his arms, at least I thought they were tattoos. I couldn’t tell if it was black paint or tattoos. Either way, they looked good. He was standing backstage with four other guys who were all fitted in similar outfits. They must be the band following us. The man who caught my eye was the tallest of the group. He looked familiar but I couldn’t place it.

“This song was written by one of my favourite bands and are one of the bands who inspired me to pursue music. We hope you have had a great time here watching our set. We have been The Magpies and this is ‘Call Me’ by Blondie.

The intro started and an immense sense of joy coursed through my veins. Since I was a kid, Debbie Harry had been one of my heroes and I was so proud that we got to play one of her songs to a crowd of people.

And that was the moment that I knew we were going to make it.

 “Holy fucking shit guys, you crushed that.” Nick yelled out at us with an impossibly huge grin  plastered on his face. He clapped us each one-by-one as we came off of the stage. “The crowd fucking loved you guys.”

“That was kickass.” Luke exclaimed with a look that I can only describe as pure joy.

“Dude what the fuck just happened.” Johnny exclaimed.

“Fuck that was sick!” Kevin yelled directly into my ear as he swung his arm over my shoulder.

“Damn I’m pumped!” Theo laughed.

“How the fuck did we pull that off?” I laughed along with the rest of the guys.

“Because we are hot shit Bex. Hot fucking shit.” Kevin shouted back at us as he followed Nick away from the stage and towards the bus.

I paused for a moment and watched the guys, my family, walk ahead of me. I never thought anything like this could happen to us. Let alone at such a young age. I was only 18 when we did our first Warped Tour.

“Come on slow coach we want to go hang before the barbeque.” Nick called back at me. I laughed and followed after them

Every year, there was a barbeque on the first day of tour. It was mainly so that everyone in all the bands and crew could meet eachother. Kind of like an icebreaker night I guess. This was going to be the most nervous I had been so far, including the show. Because now, I had no choice but to meet all of those bands who were practically the reason that I made music. Plus, I was pretty confident in saying that meeting Oli Sykes in person might literally kill me.

The fact that we would be meeting our heroes in such a short space of time was seriously starting to make me freak out. How were we worthy of all of this?

We made it to the bus and all sat down to play some Xbox together before the barbeque. Luke had flung himself onto the black, leather L-shaped sofa opposite the door.

“I don’t give a fuck what the rest of you want, I’m playing Call Of Duty.” He said whilst signing into the game and running a hand through his short blonde hair.

“What the fuck man! We play that all the fucking time.” Johnny complained.

“Let me be play too and you can do whatever you want.” Kevin laughed whilst grabbing the second controller and joining Luke in the game.

“Fuck you guys I’m going to have a nap before we have to go.” Theo sighed with a yawn, tying his shoulder length, curly brown hair into a low bun as he walked towards his bunk.

I sat next to Luke and laughed at their childish bickering as they played their game. Johnny sat shouting commands at the two other boys.

“If you want to sit there and yell at us then you should have joined the fucking game asshole.” Kevin laughed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as they had begun to slip down.

“Fuck you, there’s only two controllers dipshit.” Johnny argued back.

I started to block out their arguing as I picked up the book that I had been reading and snuggled further into the corner of the sofa. I had found comfort in books during the very short time that we had been touring. Sure, performing on stage was an escape from real life, for both us and the crowd, but that was still work at the end of the day. Reading, however, had the power to transport you to a different world entirely, a different dimension even if that’s what you wanted to find. It allowed my mind to escape the cage that it was trapped in and explore the endless possibilities that life held. It allowed me to hide from my problems. To escape reality. To run and never stop running, not until I was happy, not until I was free. And that freedom was the greatest feeling in the world.

 Before I knew it, my eyes had started to droop and I drifted off into a peaceful sleep. The best that I would probably have on this tour. My dreams were surprisingly pleasant as I fell deeper into my slumber before a pair of hands grasped my shoulders and began to shake me awake.

“Rebecca…. Beccaa…. Bex…. Beckyyy…..” A deep sing-song voice chanted as he shook my shoulders. My eyes fluttered awake, and leaning over me stood Theo. “There she is.” He said once my eyes had fully opened.

“What?” I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes.

“We have to go in like forty minutes, and we thought you might want to get ready.” He went on.

I stood up and stretched my arms over my head before letting out a yawn and making my way to the bathroom so that I could re-do my makeup and brush the birds nest that had formed in my hair.

I decided not to do anything crazy and to just touch up the makeup that I already had on, which was a more natural look with dark brown eyeshadow lining my upper lash line just a little bit. I tied up the top half of my long, brunette hair into a bun at the back of my head, letting some face-framing pieces hang loosely around my face. I changed into a white tank top with spaghetti straps and some black wide-leg ripped jeans with fishnets underneath. I grabbed an old, red Flash hoodie, that previously belonged to my ex but I liked the hoodie too much to return it, and tied it around my waist just in case it got chillier later in the night.

“Okay I’m ready.” I announced to the guys who were all sat on the sofa arguing over what movie to watch later. Unsurprising as they usually had this argument, then would watch a movie that wasn’t even part of the equation to begin with.

“Great, let’s go.” Nick said as he stood up, rubbing his hands together.

We all nodded in agreement and followed him out of the bus and towards the barbeque. There was an opening in the middle of where the buses were parked in which a large fire pit, surrounded by mismatched deckchairs, had been set up. The barbeque itself was positioned next to a staff bus, that the Warped Tour management team were staying in. They were the ones who essentially ran the tour and wanted to ensure that it went as smoothly as possible.

Straight away, a British accent caught my attention as five guys started approaching us. “Hey! You guys must be the Magpies.” One of the men asked us with a huge grin on his face.

Holy fucking shit. Danny Worsnop from Asking Alexandria was talking to us. THE Danny Worsnop from THE Asking Alexandria was talking to us. Us? We were nobodies here. He fucking knew who we were. Holy fucking shit I must still be dreaming.

“Yep that’s us.” Johnny said with a smile on his face, sticking out his arm to shake Danny’s hand. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to introduce yourselves, we are big fans, Becca especially. But I’m Johnny and I’m the bass player, this dumbass is Theo our drummer, Luke and Kevin here are our guitar players, and this shy bitch is Becca, our singer.” Johnny introduced. We each raised our hands in a wave when Johnny said our names.

“It’s so nice to meet you all. It’s about time a new band joined the lineup.” Ben laughed.

“Well, the Black Veil Brides guys are new here.” Cam said.

“Yeah, obviously, but I mean a band we haven’t met before.” Ben laughed at his bandmate and rolled his eyes at Cam playfully.

“We toured with them last year for a while. They’re great guys.” James said to the rest of us.

“Hey, you should totally meet them later if you’re up for it.” Ben enthusiastically suggested.

“Yeah, totally.” Theo said with a smile. “But let’s eat first, I’m fucking starving.”

“Agreed.” Danny laughed. We all started walking towards the barbeque and Ben fell into step with me. We fell into easy conversation. I could tell immediately that we were going to be good friends.

“So how did your first show go?” Ben asked.

“It went fucking amazingly. We’ve never played to a crowd that big before, and they actually seemed to enjoy our set which was fucking brilliant.” I gushed.

“Yeah, I caught some songs towards the end of your set. You guys fucking crushed it. Andy said he saw the last few songs and thought you guys were pretty cool.” He said.

“Andy?” I asked.

“Yeah. Oh shit you haven’t met him yet. He’s the singer in Black Veil Brides. He’s super cool, I think you’d like him.” Ben explained.

“Cool. It’s weird having this many people on a tour together.” I continued. “It’s only ever really been us supporting another band. Never any more than that.”

“I remember when we started out like that. We thought we’d never make it, but look where we are now.” He laughed. “Once you get used to it, it gets less weird.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I replied.

Before I even realised it, we had reached the barbeque. People from various different bands and their crew mingled about as they all socialised with eachother. It seemed as though most of the people here already knew eachother from previous tours.

Ben introduced me to his friends on the tour, which was already a shock to be hanging out with Ben fucking Bruce. I tried to push my nerves down as he introduced me to the likes of Vic Fuentes, Kelin Quinn, Oli Sykes, Chris Motionless and Ricky Horror. I surprised myself with how ‘normal’ I managed to act around them. After all, it’s not every day that you meet your favourite musicians. I tried to remind myself that I would be touring with these people, so it wouldn’t be the best idea to fangirl and embarrass myself the first time I met them.

Ben and I grabbed a burger each and sat down on some of the spare deck chairs to eat them.

“Have you just put gherkins in your fucking burger?” I asked Ben in utter disbelief.

“Yep.” He grinned, popping the p. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Of course I do that’s disgusting! I don’t think we can be friends after this.” I gasped at him in mock offense.

“Wow. You’re one of those?” Ben chuckled.

“One of what?” I laughed at him.

“Someone who doesn’t have taste.” He laughed.

I threw my dirty napkin at him in response.

“EW!” He screamed dramatically, throwing his own napkin right back at me.

I laughed hysterically at him.

“Okay. I’m glad you two are having fun, but I was sitting there, so if you could just move that would be great.” A deep voice tore through the bliss that I was experiencing with Ben.

“Oh fuck off Ronnie, we both know you weren’t sat here.” Ben rolled his eyes.

“Seriously, Bruce? You’re gonna start shit on the first day of tour?” The man, who I assumed was called Ronnie sighed back.

“Just fuck off Ronnie, the no one has to start shit.” Ben said through gritted teeth.

“Seriously man, why do you have to make everything so damn hard all the time!” Ronnie shouted at Ben.

“I’m not the problem here man.” Ben raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Take your pretty friend here, and go suck each other’s faces somewhere else jackass!” Ronnie yelled.

“Woah, woah.” Ben started, raising his voice at Ronnie, “We both know that’s not what was happening here okay. Let’s just move on.”

“Move.” Ronnie said through gritted teeth.

“No.” Ben said with a laugh, as he leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs, relaxing further.

Before I could even register what was happening, Ronnie lunged forward and shoved Ben out of the chair backwards. I jumped up and pushed Ronnie backwards so that he couldn’t lunge towards Ben anymore. Instead, he only stumbled back a few steps before he shoved me backwards too, nocking my beer out of my hand, making it spill all over me. I put my hands below me to try and stop the fall, when I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I lifted my hand up to get a look at it, only to be greeted with a shard of glass poking out the palm of my hand and blood dripping from the wound.

I winced as I slowly tried to pull the broken glass out of my hand, completely oblivious to the fact that Johnny and Luke had ran over and dragged Ronnie away before punching him in the face, knocking him to the floor. The shard of glass wasn’t anything massive, but once it was out of my hand, more blood pooled in the palm of my hand.

From behind me, I felt a pair of arms snake underneath my armpits and begin to pull me up to my feet. Once I was standing again, I turned to see who had lifted me up. I was greeted by a chest clad in a black t-shirt with the Batman logo on. The shirt hung slightly loosely on the skinny frame of the person, who I assumed was a man, who now stood in front of me. I had to crane my neck to see his face, which was obscured by long black locks of hair. I could make out an array of tattoos on his arms that I hadn’t noticed before.

Holy shit. This was the guy that I had literally ran into before my set earlier.

“You okay? That looks deep.” He said, concern plastered all over his face as he took my hand in his much bigger one.

“Y-y-yeah.” I stuttered out, still in shock from what had just happened.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” He led me gently away from where Johnny and Luke were being held back by Asking Alexandria and Ronnie was being dragged away by Jacky Vincent and Ryan Seaman.

The man led me to a tour bus where we met another man, who also had long black hair.

“Hey man, what the fuck?” The new man said with an incredulous look on his face as we got closer to the bus.

“Ronnie is back on his dumbass shit.” The first man, who was still holding my elbow, said in reply.

“Of course he is.” The second man scoffed while going into the tour bus, holding open the door for myself and the first man.

Their tour bus looked pretty much the same as ours did, except there was lots of makeup all over the place and various items that looked like they were made of leather. It was messier than ours too which I liked. It made me feel better about how I left things when I was getting ready.

“This is Jake.” The first man gestured to the second man. “I’m not too sure where the others are though? Probably still at the barbeque. It’s Becca right?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s me.” I said quietly with a weak laugh.

He stared at me for a beat as I looked at him expectantly. It felt like he was looking right into my soul with those blue eyes of his.

“Who are you?” I asked timidly.

“Me?” He pointed at his chest.

I nodded my head. I could tell he wasn’t very good at talking.

“I’m Andy.” He said with a beautiful smile. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Chapter 2

WE DON'T BELONG MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

[gwandas]

Okay but what are the top 5 bullet points for hating MCU Spiderman? His arc? The actor? Accuracy?

You probably forgot you sent me this but I DIDN'T. This is a very serious question to be asking me and thus this is probably much longer than you initially bargained for <3

His friend group is ass. MCU MJ and Ned exist to be his yes men, they always help him, they always get along, it sucks and it's boring. People always dog on the Raimi movies because the Peter-MJ-Harry triangle is toxic but honestly that's nothing compared to the drama the original Peter-Gwen-MJ-Harry-Flash had going on. That shit would kill an MCU stan they were SO messy... and that was what made it fun and juicy. Peter's complex interpersonal relationships are so so crucial to Spider-Man. One of the reasons he became so popular is because the Peter Parker part of his story was just as interesting as the Spider-Man part, people loved his personal problems! That's why his supporting cast are just as well known by even casual fans.

Stole too many plot points and personality traits from Miles Morales. For example, see point no. 1, MCU Ned Leeds is literally just Ganke (Miles' best friend) that they slapped a Ned Leeds nametag onto.

Tony Stark and MCU Peter's desperation to be an Avenger. I actually cannot stand the desperation it's pathetic and unbecoming. Comic Peter Parker would tell MCU Tony Stark to go fuck himself on the regular if he pulled the stuff he does in the movies. Spider-Man is also not even close to as fun when he has access to all the toys and funds he could want. Also the first time he meets the Avengers in the comics they literally stalk him trying to get him to join and he keeps going "LEAVE ME ALONE" so I think it's funny MCU Peter is so desperate to be one

The personality could not be worse. One of my favorite things about Peter is that he's a reluctant hero. He wants to do the right thing, use his powers for good, but it always comes at a cost to his personal life. The constant push and pull and deliberate decision to be a good person when he doesn't want to... I love that about him. There are always hard choices in a good Spider-Man story. I once saw a movie critic that said "MCU finally gets Spider-Man right. He's a happy go lucky guy that loves being a superhero." Literally every word of that sentence is incorrect. People think that because comics are so vast, with different authors and different ways they're written that you can do whatever you want in the movie and it's fine... NO. There can be some variance, sure, but Peter has always had a distinct personality. Sure sure sure you can tweak things here and there, I'm not saying Peter always has to be portrayed as a selfish asshole who's always broke and never happy (because obviously there are times in the comics when he isn't those things) but you can't change EVERYTHING at once. Making him a guy that loves being a superhero and has zero personal life problems (aside from ??? wanting to vacation in europe and get with the girl he likes)... literally destroys everything interesting about the character.

Less about him and more about the conversation around him, my biggest pet peeve used to be people that would go "well this is the third reboot, of COURSE he's different." well NO because the MCU chose to adapt Peter Parker and Peter Parker has a specific personality and storyline. "Of course they changed the storyline" first of all they had a million options and could've just inserted an adult Peter into the MCU if they didn't want to do his origin story, but his origin story is important... I honestly think the decision to skip over it is what caused the terrible writing because without that origin you've removed all his motivations and drive. You can't just say hey we'll use Peter Parker but in order to differentiate ourselves we'll make him unrecognizable... just use a different character at that point... LIKE MILES which is what SO many people said before Homecoming came out.

Bonus: My favorite hate posts I found on my blog from like 2019 or whatever

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/187539416484/beerecordings-portrayal-of-aunt-may-really-tells

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/188036695984

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/187480534389

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/187177201644

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/187158420054

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/187154929204

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/187153389594/mcu-had-the-audacity-to-have-a-grown-women-force

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/187152145584/peter-parker-is-leaving-the-mcu-i-didnt-know-he

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/186857669531/wlwintersoldier-here-is-my-argument-on-why-tony

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/186839380098

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/186835788169/wow-i-sure-do-love-peter-parker-who-made-his-mark

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/186758593029

https://gwandas.tumblr.com/post/186450361464/spidermanwlw-me-and-the-girls-when-a-new-mcu

[orchidsangel]

gonna throw in my 2 cents as the daughter of a die hard mj fan to say people don’t praise him for writing thriller. he gets recognition for his performance in singing and performing the song, hence why ts could never <3 he’s written plenty of his own music and a lot of them are his biggest hits. i’m gonna stop typing here now so i don’t sound like a dick rider

it's not dickriding if it's deserved praise imo. he's the greatest performer of the millennia, and anyone who says otherwise is lying through their teeth. talk yo shit!!

but you're right, the thriller praise doesn't come from him writing the song and that's more than okay. every performance i've seen has had me gagged, the mv gave me nightmares as a kid, the vocals are outstanding. like he's really just that guy regardless of if he wrote his own music or not. and the kicker is, like you said, he did! just not that one particular song, and that's. okay.

[benis-chillin]

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered-2025 Backlog Special

Platform: Steam Deck

December 25th, 2024-January 13th, 2025

So as I mentioned in the 2024 look-back post, I was gifted a Steam Deck out of the blue for Christmas, which means the majority of my picks for this year's list were made within my old limits on PC games. I always leave room for whims, of course, but the majority of those whims will be in the 2025 post.

However, I've put so much time into THIS one that I figured I should make an exception. Hey, I did with Sonic Superstars last year, so why not? My blog, my rules.

I admittedly already knew the story somewhat going in, as I was a poor boy Spider-Man fan back in 2018 who didn't have no PS4. So, I just watched the cutscenes on YouTube like anybody would, and that made me a fan right away.

Heck, I have the 3.75 inch Gamerverse 2-pack Hasbro made in my collection. It's among the last Marvel Universe figures they made, and like most of the Gamerverse line, it was a pretty sweet last hurrah. Still need to get that Mega Man and Iron Man pack, though.

The knowledge going in didn't hamper the story, though. If anything, it helped due to a certain change I made that I'll discuss in a little bit. One thing cutscene compilations can't capture, though, is how dynamically you feel like Spider-Man during the main campaign. Frequently, most objectives are just the next step in PETER'S life, but a crime will spawn that SPIDER-MAN needs to stop, so Peter ends up being late to his personal obligations. Admittedly, the game just waits for you on these tasks, so I'm not sure it was intentional, but it DID help my immersion a bit.

Speaking of gameplay, it's good, but not without quibbles. One big thing I noticed is that it's very dependant on web zips. I don't crawl on the walls or ceiling that much, but rather zip around to perches to get a good angle to do a takedown. I frequently find myself without sufficient building height to swing from, so I just zip to get around. Hell, the web strike takedown is just a big zip.

But of course, there are random spots, especially during stealth sections, where you can't find a place to zip to in time, so you'll just be exposed for no reason. It's really annoying. Wall crawling is just overall unrefined, when even the Amazing Spider-man game on the freaking 3DS had it down just 6 years prior, so idk what was up with it here.

Combat is also very webbing dependant, I find. The more advanced you get, the more it just becomes a game of dodging, then webbing people to walls or other objects rather than fighting them. Well, either that or knocking them off of a rooftop, the old classic.

I make it sound a bit less complex than it actually is, but I can't deny that it makes me raise my eyebrow and go…"Huh."

(The near constant glitches did NOT help matters)

Though if you want me to talk about a low point for the game, look no further than Miles' and MJ's sections. I like them as characters(well, maybe a BIT less on MJ), but as PLAYABLE characters? HELL NO!

The game is built around being SPIDER-MAN. I do not want to play as Powerless McHuman, who dies if you look at them funny. I tried to tolerate them, but quickly learned how frustrating it is to mod on a Steam Deck to take these sections OUT.

And the mod STILL lied to me, because it made me do MJ's section in the Heist DLC anyway!

I suppose the biggest crime this game commits is having some of the most "modern writing" I have seen in a while. It's not ALL bad. In fact, I'd say it mostly works, but it has a few moments of "you really did NOT think of the full implications of this, did you?"

For example, Spidey setting up spy towers for the police. It's mainly an in-universe justification for a gameplay feature, but it comes off as Big Brother Spider-Man violating the privacy of New York's citizens. Overall, Spider-Man is just very cop-like in this game, to the point where even someone fairly moderate like me was put off by it.

They try to counter it via the Sable guys, being like, "Oh hey, they're…Kicking people out of their homes! Aren't they SO much worse!?" and I'm just like, "Guys, we can BOTH be terrible."

There was also the odd lack of consequences for MJ's actions. Like, she enters Fisk's art gallery under false pretenses, causing a legal kerfuffle for the Bugle…And they just go, "Alright, go ahead keep doing that!"

Huh?

And again, during the Turf Wars DLC, MJ gets all of this private information about Yuri, and is like, "Damn Peter, the actual crime in the city just isn't interesting enough, so I gotta pitch the personal life of your friend who's going through an obvious mental breakdown to my editor!" and Peter's like, "Aight, cool."

PETER, YOU SPINELESS SIMP!

Yuri's turn to vigilante murder is also a bit suspect. "The system works most of the time, but not in every case."

Well, yeah, duh! Everybody knows that! We mainly have it because "everyone gets their day in court" is the best we've come up with so far. If you're a cop, THAT should be your main motivation. You are agreeing to represent a system, whether you think it's flawless or not. Are you telling me you were the CAPTAIN and didn't know that?

And to finish our female bashing session…Screwball. I hate her wholeheartedly.

Her CHALLENGES are annoying, her VOICE is so annoying that I had to mute voices whenever she was on-screen, as I would otherwise be bombarded with, "PHOTOBOMB! PHOTOBOMB! PHOTOBOMB! PHOTOBOMB! PHOTOBOMB!"

And on top of all of that, HER CHARACTER MAKES SO DAMN SENSE.

She debuts in a story mission where she claims to have kidnapped someone, drives people to run out and cause mayhem in the streets, and doesn't tell that it's all a prank until the end. And then, they're like, "What can we do with her? She didn't break any laws!"

YES! YES SHE DID! SHE CAUSED A PUBLIC PANIC! If this doesn't get her arrested, it would at least get her booted off of any platform she's currently on(we know she's monetized, and nobody big enough to bring in the big bucks would want to advertise on a site where people are kidnapped and have bombs strapped to their chests, as we see her do later). Streamers who pull this crap get instantly cancelled, or at the very least, quickly demonitized. We have history for this. Nobody would be getting away with the crap she pulls. One way or another, Screwball would be tried in the court of public opinion, and digitally hanged.

This is not a commentary. This is a farce.

So, here's my reviewer quote:

"Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered will make you hate women."

-Benis Chillin, 2025

Overall, I'd say this is a good game, it's just that…Well, it ain't perfect, and I feel like the flaws show a bit more now that it's settled in.

8/10

And next time…I've nearly finished it, so probably Ducktales Remastered as we enter the actual list! See ya then!

UPDATE 1/23/25

DUCKTALES TOO LAME FOR NON-END OF YEAR LIST REVIEW, METROID PRIME 2, BABY!

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 059: The Prophecy of Madame Web (ASM 207-212)

MASTERPOST

This time:

We meet the protagonist of the biggest superhero movie of the last decade.

Also: a lot of Peter Parker thirst.

Let's gooo!

Hey, our little guy changed!

That's nice to see. We also get a promising first page:

So Peter's on a date with Debby Whitman. Debby?

Oh, right. Debra!

So they're at a show where Mesmero hypnotized a member of the audience. Peter investigates nude-feet-style, just like ages ago when he was on a date with Gwen. He ends up putting out a fire, discreetly... or so he thinks. Mesmero noticed his web, and announces to the audience that he thinks SM is here and he has something to discuss with him.

Peter quickly gets rid of his date and talks to Mesmero, who offers him weekly money in exchange for a 15 minutes appearance. Spidey says, "sure!".

Except that Mesmero's reputation is currently awful, and criticism in a newspaper makes him go berserk. That is, he hypnotizes a guy to jump from a bridge.

Meanwhile, Jameson's back at the Bugle! Wouldn't want too many changes in ASM, would we now?

At first, Spidey thinks of catching our guy with his web, but he remembers what happened with Gwen (nice!) and catches him more graciously. Our critic gives free tickets to a show to Spidey as thanks, and Peter soon invites Debra to make amends.

When later, Spidey goes back to Mesmero to talk, he quickly gets zapped with electrified bills... and misses his appointment with Debra. Poor girl. It's not even fun to watch her be disappointed again and again, she's just a chew toy for the universe to step on.

Spidey's forced to do a circus number, but soon KOs out villain.

In the readers' letters, let's just say people are NOT fans of our Miss April Maye. Stern says this might even be a fake name... who could have predicted this, oh my?

#208 has a nice first page, and... Romita Jr worked on the layouts! Alright, mister...

In a research lab, a scientist is a jerk to his janitor twin brother. And when he starts his big machine, it explodes in his face. His selfless brother tries to save him and gets absorbed instead.

At the Daily Globe, Donald Trump arrives.

I'm fascinated by Peter's outfit. I kind of love it... but also kind of hate it. Nice hair, though.

Bushkin also introduces Peter to his new colleague and fellow photographer, Lance Bannon. I expected Eddie Brock, but maybe later.

To get in a better mood, Peter goes to the hospital to pay a visit to Anna Watson with Aunt May. She says they just missed MJ!

Oh, the open belt...! Sir!

The ruckus is of course caused by our new villain, Fusion (the two brothers!), and when she sees the two super-powered beings by the window, May says Spidey isn't as bad as the media say. Character development, yay!

Fusion escapes Spidey's grasp, and it's clear that the two brothers aren't of the same mind concerning their current state. When peter comes back to the hospital room and says he went to talk to a nurse he knows, May says "My Peter's getting interested in girls, Anna". First of all, that's uncalled for, but also, damn May, are you still thinking that your Peter might be gay? (He's bisexual, you're not completely off the mark.)

Thanks to some cops, Spidey quickly finds back Fusion. Twice during this issue does he feel ridiculized by the crowds laughing at him. I feel like it never happened before... Is this element going somewhere? It certainly feels uncharacteristic.

Anyway, he separates the two brothers with the help of the janitor one, and... the issue ends here. They still have their power. That's not an ending. *sigh*

Oh, great shading!!! And Kraven too! By that point, I assume he won't shoot lasers out of his nipples, but a small part of myself still hopes...

We start with Kraven saying to his girlfriend Calypso that THIS TIME, FOR SURE, he'll get rid of our hero... Sure.

Loving the art, even though Peter doesn't necessarily look very much like himself in that third panel, but the clothes!!!! The clothes, people!!!!! Jesus. Is that really a summer outfit though?

Debra's worried about her old uncle working at the docks, and when she asks Peter if with his connections, he could do something to check on him, he rebuffs her. She's understandably saddened, and he ends up going anyway, as Spidey naturally.

Gorgeous middle panels. Also, Kraven's heart skips when he sees Spidey. Not very heterosexual of him. Calypso wants to see her man be a man, so she frees up some animals who cause chaos in the city. Kraven saves the ones he can catch, and Spidey helps too.

And suddenly...

Well well well...

What do we have here...

Didn't expect to see a near naked lady on there but good for her!

Calypso wants violence and tries hard to convince Kraven that Spidey's the one who opened the locks.

I'm loving the eagerness to show skin around here, I'm telling you. Also love how Bushkin looks in the first panel.

Fascinating panels, because Peter looks extremely different in the middle panel, but oh lord is he gorgeous in the other two. And also: a professor having a relationship with a female student? Oh, we almost got that a few issues ago! How interesting.

Spider-Woman has a cameo, where she ponders on how she almost sent Dockery in jail, but since it's Spidey's territory, she can't do anything.

... No but seriously, Peter's gorgeous...

Ahem. Kraven barges in the Daily Globe and activates a Spider-Tracer he conveniently has. Spidey has to show up tonight for a one-on-one battle!

They fight in a museum, while Calypso laughs gleefully in the shadows.

Very subtle there, Spidey. Oh well!

So far I'm really into "the grotesque 80s art". Beats those 90s covers where Spidey's web looks like iron. Anyway, hi Bell! You're going too fast for me but whatever. Someone appreciates the detail and the shading! It's a really strong issue. I also liked Kraven there.

Anyway, issue #210!

It's time to meet the star of 2024's masterpiece "Madame Web".

Well, Debra's definitely gotten used to Peter's repeated abandonments. You deserve better, girl! At least she doesn't seem so sad anymore. More... resigned. I mean, I would probably accept anything if my boyfriend was Peter Parker too... except maybe when he wears that outfit. I'm not sold on that one.

At the Globe, armed people attack the head office and kidnapp Ms. Clayton. Pursuing them, Spidey finds that same paper of Madame Web.

Hey, that page has really nice composition.

Anyway, of course, what welcomes Spidey is... a vision.

Madame Web quickly informs Spidey that to find Ms. Clayton, he'll have to find one Belinda Bell. Turns out Belinda was impersonating Ms. Clayton in a complex plan for Dockery to get the Daily Globe!

Spidey quickly saves both the actress and the real Ms. Clayton, and catches Dockery.

I wish I was that newspaper.

And that ending is absolutely hilarious...

In #211, we see none other than Namor!

And this is a gorgeous first page, I have to say.

So Namor has his typical war against human waste. As for Peter?

Oh. Oh YES. Absolutely. Thank you. It is... glorious. I hereby declare this issue to be a 10 out of 10.

So Spidey goes out and thinks he could finally check on Debra Whitman's uncle. Turns out the latter is getting attacked at this very moment by his crew, who refuse to deliver a scientist and a machine to the ocean.

The next day, at ESU, Debra tells Peter she's worried even more about her uncle, because he decided to navigate the boat himself, since nobody else wants to do it. I'm happy to at least see her be a bit more developed. I'm starting to like her, even!

Gorgeous. I absolutely love his outfit even though I dislike jeans, but it works so well here! The colors...!

He decides to go see May to get in a better mood. There, his aunt is... teaching curling to the residents! Why not. And she nudges Peter to go help Debra's uncle.

Namor appears when they're at sea, and a fight breaks out.

They get over it and Namor even helps them, how nice!

Time for #212!

More than 14 hours have passed since the last issue, and they're naturally still on the boat. Debra's uncle (continued storyline, woohoo!) mentions Murphy's Law, which is funny because I watched Interstellar for the first time like two days ago.

An accident with crates occur, and one man falls under the sea. Spidey saves him, but the man can't seem to dry...

No matter. Peter gets back safely on land and catches Jameson's call. Work for him! Great. He also calls Debbie!

Great set of panel. I like that it seems to give actual weight to their relationship.

We have a scene with our wet guy at a bar and I might have felt sympathy for him for a second, but then he showed his misogynistic side and it was over.

Hydro-Man (presumably, given the cover of the issue) discovered he can become water and morph it, he becomes angry and starts searching through the whole city for Spider-Man. Sure.

MORE IMPORTANTLY.

Oh, that red shirt will be the death of me!

Of course, Peter quickly asks Debra to stay out of this, because of course he does. She accepts it.

There's a fun countdown, we always love countdowns.

Spidey finds Hydro-Man, but he instantly gets "splooshed" through the window. He resorts to ask Jonah to print a challenge in his newspaper, to make the duel easier to organize.

They fight, and we get a very nice ending.

In the comments, our dear Bell Lectar says she sees Peter as this leech that will dry up every resource the ladies in his life have and leave them to die (or miraculously escape unscathed), which is definitely an interesting reading I don't completely disagree with. That's thanks to how the magazine was created, misogyny, and probably some other stuff.

I quickly checked the next issue and there's... assuredly... good food in there.

By the time I make the next post though, and I will, because otherwise I'd hit the pictures limit in this post, and also it's almost 4am and I should definitely go to sleep sometime soon, I'll have forgotten about that, so to Future!Bliss: I love you, I cherish you and I wish you a happy rediscovery.

So the next time, we check out ASM 213, Annual 14 and What If 24!

It should be fun!

[lyssismagical]

2,805 miles

There’s 2,805 miles between here and home.

If he hadn’t changed his mind, there would only be 181.

Why did he change his mind? The question would probably forever haunt him, the biggest decision he’ll ever make, he’ll always wonder whether or not it was the right choice. MIT had been his dream for so long, but he chose Caltech.

MIT was a good school, one of the best, but it was also the school Tony went to. Peter didn’t mind living in Tony’s shadow, but he was worried about the possibility of added pressure or being handed things because of his relationship to one of the biggest alumni. He doesn’t want an unfair advantage like that.

But god does the 2,805 miles feel uncrossable.

MJ’s at Harvard. Ned’s at MIT. Flash is taking the year abroad with Harry. Cindy’s at NYU. Betty’s at Yale. Their group of geniuses have been split up and scattered across the country, and Peter’s alone on the west coast.

It shouldn’t be this bad, the homesickness, the ever present ache in his chest, the crushing loneliness, the bittersweet phone calls. It shouldn’t feel like this. He’s in college, for god’s sake. He should be out partying, meeting new people, studying in beautiful libraries, being a free adult. But instead, he’s curled up in bed, laptop open to the Skype screen as he counts down the minutes until Tony will call him.

He knows what Flash would say. Poor baby wants his mommy? Oh wait. And it shouldn’t sting, it wouldn’t if it weren’t true. Flash knows what lines not to cross anymore, dead mom jokes are okay, they should be fine, Peter makes them himself all the time, but it’s true, and it hurts. He wishes his mom were here. He wishes his mom and dad were still living in California, just a bus ride away, and he could go visit them for Family Dinner.

What he really wants is just a hug.

What he would give for May to give him a hug and kiss his forehead and tell him everything would be okay.

The text comes through, an apology, an excuse, something about Morgan, and the postponing of their Skype call.

And it’s okay because Tony doesn’t know. He doesn’t know how desperate Peter’s getting, how much he craves the smallest normalcy, how much he needs these conversations to function. It’s okay.

He calls MJ instead.

“Hey, I’m a bit busy, dude, can I call you back?”

“Yeah, no worries!” he says, proud of himself for keeping his voice even. And then she hangs up and he’s alone in his small, empty, unhomely dorm room with plain white walls and textbooks stacked carefully on the edge of his desk and his pile of clothes in the corner of the open closet.

It’s pathetic really.

“Fuck,” he says, out loud because it’s the only human voice he gets to hear that isn’t tinny or crackly over device speakers. “It’s going to be just fine, okay? Five weeks until Spring Break. Five weeks. You can survive five weeks.”

He sits up, stretches, counts to ten and then drags himself over to his desk.

*

“I think I’m depressed,” he tells Ned the next day.

His back aches, the pit in his stomach has just gotten darker, his head hurts, his eyes are so dry, his hands keep cramping, but at least he’s ahead in his physics class, right?

Ned kind of laughs, one that means he’s not quite sure if it’s a joke or not. “Homesick?”

“How do you know me so well?”

“You’re, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, a momma’s boy. You like familiarity and comfort and your love language is physical affection which I’m sure you haven’t been getting much of lately. Even if your family has it’s… complications, they’re still the most important thing to you so it’s hard to be so far away.”

“What the hell, dude?”

Ned laughs, realer this time. “Sorry, I’m taking a psych class.”

“Is it easier there? Being closer, I mean?”

He pauses, thinks about it, the sound of Peter’s fan, the one constant in his life, that fills the space between. “It’s not like I’ve exactly got the time or money to make the roadtrip home all the time. A hundred and eighty miles is still a hundred and eighty miles.”

“I guess.”

“All I’m saying is that you made your choice for all the right reasons, and you shouldn’t change your mind now because you think MIT will be easier. Peter Parker doesn’t give up for the easier option.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re taking a philosophy class too.”

“Speaking of, I’ve gotta go, dude, I’m sorry. Listen, take a shower, get dressed, go for a walk, eat something good. It’ll make you feel better.”

He gets a notification for five dollars sent to him by MJ with a little note buy yourself a coffee bestie.

Peter’s nothing if not a good listener, so he gets up and does as he’s told. It’s a nice, cool day in California, so he puts on a pair of jeans, a collared button-up, and a comfy sweater overtop, a classic Peter look. If MJ saw him, she’d definitely tell him that college is about experimenting and finding yourself, not sticking to what you’ve always been. Despite them not being here, he’ll always have her voice in his head. And he buys himself a coffee from the shop just around the corner of his dorm building.

Campus is big so it’ll be a long walk to go around the campus in a circle. He puts on some music and starts walking, getting lost in his head.

Smell the roses, May would say. Get out of that big head of yours and see the world around you.

And if Ned were there, he’d laugh and say, If we had brains like his, we’d never see the world either.

Peter would blush and shake his head, try to peel back the compliments but he’s learned it’s pointless with them.  

Someone touches his arm, a barely there feeling, and he looks up, a polite smile on his face. You have a resting sad face, MJ says in his head.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.”

He focuses on the southern speaker, a young man with wild dirty blond curls, sunkissed skin, a sprinkling of freckles over his nose, a silver nose ring, dark blue eyes, and eyelashes he knows Cindy would fawn over.  He’s wearing an old black t-shirt that reads Yee and a flannel over top with a pair of even older straight-legged jeans.

“It’s alright,” Peter says automatically. You’re too nice to strangers, it’ll get you killed, MJ would say.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Just thinking about how my friend would say I’m too nice for my own good,” he replies honestly. “And too honest.”

The man laughs. “Maybe, and my sister would say I’m too forward or maybe that I’m annoying, but it’s who I am… My name’s Harley, we’re in the same chemistry class with Bailer. You didn’t show up for class yesterday and I was thinking about reaching out to offer my notes, but I chickened out. Like why would a random student notice one person missing from our class of like three hundred? It seemed creepier than helpful.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Peter says. He takes a nervous sip of his coffee. He doesn’t know why he’s nervous, but he also knows exactly why he’s so nervous. It’s just a conversation with a classmate, but Harley’s paying his full attention to him, looking at him and smiling and nose ring catching the sunlight.

“It wasn’t too complicated anyway,” Harley says. “And from what I’ve seen, you’re like a certified genius, so I don’t know how much my notes would help, but at least it’s something.”

Harley pulls open his bag adorned with colorful pins and pulls out a notebook filled to the brim with cue cards and sticky notes and paperclips a variety of colors. He flips it open and rips out the last few pages and hands it over.

“Here,” he says, smile unwavering like it’s what he was born to do. “You can give them back to me the next time you’re in class.”

“Sure, of course, thank you so much.” May would roll her eyes at his constant good manners and say you sure didn’t get that from me or your uncle.

Harley nods. “Yeah! My mom would say it’s southern hospitality or something.” He puts on a higher pitched, slower voice to imitate his mom.

Peter can’t help the smile that tugs at his mouth. They have very similar thinking patterns, apparently. “Well, thank you.”

“Hey!” Harley says, looking at Peter’s coffee. “Do you live at Pasadena? I’ve been meaning to try their coffee place, is it good?”

“It’s really good, yeah… Maybe we can study together there sometime?” Peter offers shyly. “We have that big chem midterm coming up and I haven’t found any study partners yet.”

Harley smiles a little wider. “That sounds perfect. Here, I’ll write my number on those notes so you have it and we can find a time that works.”

He pulls a red sharpie from his bag and writes his number on the chemistry notes.

Nice one, loser, didn’t think you had it in you, MJ would say. And Ned would laugh and demand pictures and the phone number so he can see for himself if Harley’s good enough. And May would ruffle his hair and try to give him a condom. Just in case! she’d say, hands lifted in defense and try to teach him about safe sex again. And Cindy would start spouting statistics about first dates and relationships. And Flash would say, how’d you score someone so out of your league, Parker?

“It’s a date,” Harley grins. “I’ll see you around, Peter. And, might I suggest, get out of that genius head of yours before you run into a tree.”

And maybe he’s not so homesick. Maybe he needs to make California his new home with people like Harley. Maybe he should reach out to Gwen from his English Literature class who he worked on a project with. And maybe he should start talking to the boy who lives across the hall from him in Pasadena, Harry, who loaned him a couple quarters to do his laundry and bakes cookies every weekend to share with the floor.

Maybe he will get out of his head and into the world.

There might be 2,805 miles miles between Caltech and Queens, but there’s only half a mile between his dorm and coffee and a world of possibilities.

Taglist:

@littlemissagrafina  @spideyspeaches @romeoandjulietyouwish @c-artara @shadedrose01 @likeaphoenix13 @misskirkstark @you-get-killed-walk-it-off @kitkatwinchester @emo-girl10 @hold-our-destiny @imalivebecauseirondad @spiderman-peterman @dykeragee @maryserrao @heeeyitskay @parknerandirondad @lilacsandlilies4 @loveliestdisappointment @joyful-soul-collector @genderfluid-and-confuzled @fallenstar07 @gyurolls @sdottkrames @you-did-it-sir @not-today-thx @fandomstuffff @wicked-starlight-collector @moongoddess2k4 {Let me know if you wanna be added or removed}

[kitcat992]

the ending of NWH was absolutely awful. they took everything that made tom hollands peter parker unique/interesting and ripped it away so now he’s the same as all the others before him, a poor vigilante who works alongside the police. no more avengers, no more of tony stark’s legacy, no more ned or mj. any future i was looking forward to him having is gone. they just decimated years worth of great plot :|

So, here's a hot take. When I first saw Civil War, I absolutely hated MCU Peter Parker. I had the same exact complaints as all the fanboys -- "Ugh, another way to shove Tony Stark in the middle of something. Why does Tony have to give him his suit? He's ALWAYS made his OWN tech. This isn't Spider-man, this is Stark Jr"

I left the theater quite pissed off. I mean, I was pissed off for MANY other reasons as well...it was Civil War, after all. That movie is the ground zero of what destroyed the MCU. But the way they forced Tony Stark into an origin story he didn't need to be in left a really bad taste in my mouth.

They changed that with Homecoming.

Sure, Tony was in Homecoming-- for like, a second, if you blink. But that movie took those complaints and worked with them. "Peter learns he doesn't need his suits, Peter learns to be a hero without anyone's help, PETER learns how to be Spider-man BY HIMSELF." I loved it. I fell head over heels for it. That's where my Irondad obsession began, but even without Irondad, I REALLY fell for this new version of Peter Parker.

You see, I've been a Spider-Man fan for over 2 decades now. I've seen so many versions come and go. Not just on the big screen, not just these movies. The cartoons, the comics -- there's ALWAYS new versions of characters, and Peter Parker is no different. But the frustrating part is almost always, he's the same. He's stereotypical Peter Parker. He can be summed up with just a few words. "Broke/poor, living in a dumpy apartment, with great power, dead parents, dead uncle, relationship struggles, quippy jokes." If I had to sum up most iterations of Peter Parker from the last decade alone, it's right there. No originality. No creativity.

As a Spider-Man fan of over 2 decades, it gets boring. It gets to the point where I skip my monthly comic-book order cause "eh, not feeling it this time."

The MCU Spider-Man broke that trend. It created something unique and fresh, it created something that had NEVER been done before. The closest I could ever relate it to is the Ultimate Spider-Man, where a teenage Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man, but receives the help of SO many other superheroes along the way. He's never truly alone, he's always got help at his side.

The MCU created a Peter Parker that was fresh, and required fresh writing alongside it. They didn't just follow the rhetoric of the many Spider-Men before it. They took small bits (Uncle Ben's death, struggling/poor Peter Parker, relationship troubles) and baked a whole fresh cake with it. All the other iterations took the same cake and cut a piece out, calling it a cupcake. This one started all over with fresh batter.

But fan boys will be fan boys. They're toxic MF's who think reading and studying comic books makes them superior to everyone else. They whined, they complained, they yelled and bitched. And you SAW the effect that had on No Way Home. We literally had a shot of a magazine with a cartoon Spider-Man, sucking a pacifier, dressed in Ironman jammies with the title "Iron Man Jr!"

By the way, that was the biggest insult the MCU has ever given me. That was a direct slap in the face. So many of us have written novels worth of Irondad fanfic but they decided to thank us with THAT.

Fuck you, MCU.

Anyway. Yeah, I had complaints about MCU Spider-man when he first came around. But they didn't just throw him on the screen and call it a day. They molded him, created him, turned him into something unique, creative, and energizing. They reinvigorated my love for Spider-Man.

And then they took it all away with one single scene.

They bent over, kissed the hairy ass of every fan boy who complained, and said "there you go! We returned him to form!" And thus, left many of us to view the shocking aftermath of their decimation to a character THEY created and WE loved.

I've gotten a few asks on why I'm so anti-MCU. Shit like this is why, and shit like this is why I won't be participating in new MCU content. It's an abusive relationship. I'm out.

[side-shuffling-hyperfixations]

8. And 5 With Peter and Mary Jane? I need some tasty whump >:)

8. Shielding the other one with their body + 5. Feeling their pulse

Ever since the show started, Peter had sensed something was off and it was just…the absolute worst timing. MJ was over the moon about playing this part. Her presence was radiant, her diction clear and strong, she was perfect. It was supposed to be her night. Peter was here to be in full support of her but his spider sense continued to nag like a rash blooming along the back of his neck, despite the fact that he couldn’t pinpoint a clear threat.

He was doing his best to be inconspicuous about his search, shifting sideways in his seat as if he were just stretching so he could sneak a few calculating glances at the people around him. Those closest to him were still enraptured by the scene. It was the first time he regretted having a front row seat to MJ’s performance; if he had taken a seat further back, he would have a better view of the audience.

Maybe it was a disturbance happening near the theater but not within it—close enough for him to pick up but not enough to be an imminent danger. Best case scenario, the police were handling it at this very moment and it would all be over by the time the cast took their bows.

Of course, his was not a life blessed with many best case scenarios. His sense stung one more time, a sharp, sheer spasm, and MJ’s winning smile faltered as she spotted what he hadn’t: an errant glint of light somewhere in the crowd.

As soon as the gun went off, instinct did too; by the time Peter’s conscious mind caught up with his body, he was out of his seat, on the stage and wrapped around his wife to take her to the ground.

Getting shot was a familiar sensation but prior experience didn’t do anything to blunt the pain as it exploded through his shoulder, momentum hurtling him and MJ sideways into one of the heavy set pieces as they hit the deck. Screaming, stampeding, stars in his eyes—

“—ake up, wake up, Peter, please!”

When had he blacked out? The world swam back in all at once, MJ’s panicked visage hovering overhead and trembling hands bearing down on the wound, stoking what felt like fire in his bones. He bucked briefly against the pressure, unable to suppress a ragged gasp.

“Gun—Where—Are you—?” His head was spinning in a thousand different directions.

“I think he went through the fire exit with everybody else in the panic. H-He missed me, you took it instead,” MJ choked out. “I got you out the back door, I-I don’t even know how!”

The nearby howling of sirens stirred him with a small burst of adrenaline. “H-Help me, help me up—I’ve gotta find him, he might still be near—”

“No, no, no, don’t you dare, don’t move! You wouldn’t be able to swing half a block on this arm!”

“But he’s s-still out there, he might—if he comes after you again—”

A bitter sob escaped her as she peeled her wet palms away from his body, tearing and bunching a long strip of fabric from her costume. “There’s always someone coming after me, baby. If you want to make the save next time it happens, you need to let me stop the bleeding!”

“Hhh…okay…okay.” The fact that he gave in with so little resistance was a testament to his pain. Half-lidded, glassy eyes slid over her tear-streaked face. “I’m sorry, M’…about your night…”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Funny, how quickly her life’s work didn’t matter as soon as Peter hung in the balance. At the heart of it all, he was her life. “Better disappointed than dead, right? There’ll be other plays.” Pressing her wad of makeshift gauze in with one hand, she briefly cupped his neck with the other, seeking out the rapid flutter of his pulse under pale, clammy skin. It was the thread holding him here, thin as a web and, she prayed, equally strong. “You just stay still, stay with me, okay? I-I need my biggest fan alive and well to see them.”

A breathy mix of a laugh and a whimper escaped him. “Mmh. Wouldn’t miss it…”

[theguardianofinsanity]

You Thought I wouldn't be Here?

NWH Andrew Garfield Spider-man x Gn! reader

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

You hated New York at night, even if it wasn't "your" New York technically. But running around trying to find one of the biggest idiots in your life wasn't fun in any city or in any, you presume, universe.

"There's that motherfucker!" You whispered to yourself as you saw a taller man in what looks like a spandex suit jump through some window portal type thing. You jog up closer while trying to hide yourself the best as you can in the dark alleyway. Thankfully the people on the other side didn't notice you due to a man in a red and blue suit hanging from the ceiling.

As Peter was crawling across the ceiling, you took the chance to sneak through the window thingy into a small home. You take a second to get your bearings before looking around. When you look back in front of you, you see all three people staring at you, seemingly scared that you're in the house as well.

The girl from across the room throws something at you and since you rather not get hit with anything, you catch it. It was a small thing of bread, you look at it before dropping it. The teenage girl looks at you funny. "Are you a..?" Her hand gestures between you and Peter.

"No, I am not an arachnid person, I'm also not a fan of spiders" you shake your head. "I just have some pretty okay reflexes"

"Hello" you took one of your hands out of your pocket to shake the teenager's hands, "I'm Y/N and as you can tell" you gesture over to your best friend of multiple years. "This is one of the Peter Parkers/Spider-men"

"Ned"

"MJ"

"Wait Y/N, you know I'm Spider-man?" The confusion on his face is unbelievable.

"One moment" you hold up your hand before turning to the web head of your hour. "How could I not? You are horrible at hiding things especially from your friends" you thought about what you said before turning back to the teens. "Is this a trend with your Peter as well?" They both nodded but MJ nodded vigorously, at least you weren't alone in the torture.

"Alright things have been verified but we should find your Peter" your Peter said. Ned raise his hand and starts moving one of them in a circle.

"Find Peter Parker!" another portal thing opens up and a middle age man walks through, Peter nudges your arm "By the way, magic is real here" your eye twitches.

"Aw man, I thought his fingers cut a perfect circle door out of thin air" you smack his arm. Before he can retort, the Parkers go into a small web war that your Parker loses. "Ah, so we got another one" the newer Peter looks at you a little confused, "I'm with him" you gesture back to your Peter, he nods in understanding.

"Look, I've been looking for your friend ever since I got here, I have this sense that he needs my help" He explains.

"Our help" your Pete chimes in.

"Is there any place he would go to just to get away from it all? To help him think?" He asked, MJ perks up.

"Yeah, yeah I know where he could be"

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

Peter helped you onto the roof of this school to meet the Peter of this world. "Am I really that bad at keeping secrets?" You dust off his suit.

"Well yes, it was suspicious when you would constantly cancel plans and then shortly afterwards I would see on the news about Spider-man winning a battle right down the street from where we were supposed to meet" you took his mask from him and started checking for marks or wear and tear.

"Or when you actually showed up, you would be dirty, bruised, bleeding, or trying to hide a limp" you hand it back, "I would be even more of an idiot if I didn't at least suspect something" you cross your arms, "But we'll talk about that later"

"I surprised you didn't try and convince me to stop" he looks into your eyes.

"Nah man, what would that do? It's not like you would listen"

"You'd be surprised, I care about you and I really value your opinion" he gives you a small smile. Your eyes went wide, you had know Pete for years but you will never get used to him being sincere. You're glad it was dark out here or else he would see how deep your blush is.

"Thanks Pete, that means a lot" you gave a soft smile back. Both of you just looking at each other with dreamy looks.

"Peter!" Both you and Peter looked toward the voice before realizing they weren't calling him. You both rush over and look down to see a bloody, bruised, and younger Spider-man. Honestly you were so worried about this Peter, that you didn't focus on what they were saying. You tuned back in when you heard your Peter talk about Gwen.

She was one of your best friends, you were there for her when her dad died and you were there for Peter when she died. Even when he closed everyone out, you were on the sidelines caring for him and cheering him on. When Peter was getting better and started going outside, that's when your feelings for him started and also when you came to the conclusion that he was Spider-man. You knew he would never really let go of her death, you accepted it and was just glad to be friends.

You reached up and grabbed Peter's hand to comfort him. "She said, with great power-" the younger Peter starts.

"Comes great responsibility" The other Peter finishes.

"Wait, how do you know that?"

"Uncle Ben said it. The day he died" the younger Peter looks in surprise at his counterparts. "Maybe she didn't die for nothing"

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

"While I'm not a scientist" you look around at the spider-men in lab gear, "Or smart" you give them an awkward smile. "I am GODLY at seemingly dumb plans that work really well, my Peter can vouch" you are desperately hoping he agrees, you really want to help.

"Their skills are surprising really"

"Now, what I'm thinking will only work if you work at your best, you got it?" You give them a deep glare, they nod slowly. You clasp your hands together, "Fantastic! Ned I'm gonna need your smart brain to help me run through logistics and translate my plan to save 5 bad guys"

He rolls his chair over to the white board and starts listening to your rambling.

Peter 2 and 3 spot the emotional comfort shared by MJ and Peter. The older Parker turns to yours, "Are you and Y/N like that?" He gestures to the couple.

"Oh! Y/N and I aren't dating" your Peter looks to you making wide and spastic movements while explaining your plan with Ned looking slightly scared.

The older Parker raises a brow, "Really? Well it doesn't seem like that. You've been staring at them a lot" he focuses back on his cure, "If you guys aren't, you definitely want to be"

That last comment made your Peter think, you had been there when Gwen died. Hell, before Gwen died, you were there. Comforting him, hanging out with him, just being the person that he can rely on for just about anything besides Spider-man stuff. He felt so comfortable around you and he hoped he gave you the same comfort. Maybe he did want your relationship to be more...

He shook his head and moved on with his cure, this isn't the time to think about this. He needs to listen to your instructions and help save this New York. "WOO, this is perfect!" Your announcement is enough to catch everyone's attention. "Alright arachnids and friends, when done with your cure, gather 'round to hear the master of all plans" you pause for dramatic effect.

"The 5 Guys~"

You had written each letter for the title in a different color of dry erase marker, the plan consisted of tiny drawings of each person of the group, a bunch of arrows pointing all over the place, and a fairly good drawing of the Statue of Liberty. He chuckled lightly at your style of planning. Yeah, he wanted your relationship to be something more, it just took him a while to realize.

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

"And you're sure this is gonna work?" MJ asked. You were standing next to her and Ned at the bottom of the scaffolding.

"I am offended at your doubt but yes. This is my greatest work yet" you were rubbing your hands together, excited to see your plan come to fruition. "Though it was difficult to plan for 3 Spider-men, it would be difficult to plan for just one, yeah it'll work"

You see her nod, but then a thought pops in your head. "Quick question before this starts, is your Peter very stubborn too?" They didn't get to answer before there were loud crashing noises from the top of the statue.

You looked up hoping they were doing well, they...kinda weren't. The thing you didn't account for was them not knowing how to work together. You had explained the plan over and over again until you all had to go, but they were used to, except for Peter 1, fighting alone. You weren't angry when they had to deviate from your plan, you were angry when the villains came after you, MJ, and Ned.

Ned was struggling to open up a proper portal, eventually leading to the Lizard or Dr. Curtis Connors landing on the level that you were on and chasing you. You pushed yourself harder to get away from him and ignoring every thought of looking behind you. Eventually it got the best of you, with a quick look you saw a Spider-man in the air about to attack the Doctor. Another spider-man grabbed you and put you on the ground, making sure you were safe before swinging away.

You look up to see MJ falling off the scaffolding...

Your stomach dropped, would this be another loss for the younger Peter? But your Peter had caught her and was able to get her to the ground safely. You could imagine the look in his eyes when he realized that he had saved her, you couldn't help but tear up. If he couldn't save his MJ, he could save someone else's.

You dragged Ned and MJ out of the way of the battle, soon afterwards the villains started going down one by one. When Peter 1 got Green Goblin and was getting progressively aggressive, you shielded their eyes and your own for the chance that this could go very wrong.

Peter 2 was able to silently communicate to Peter 1 to not kill Green Goblin. Though afterwards in the slightly calm moment Green Goblin is given the chance to stab Peter 2. You see your Peter swing by to help the situation. You turn to see your Peter helping Peter 2 up, figuring that it's safe you also run over to help as well.

While running over, the sky was breaking apart to show many figures, all but one you don't recognize. What you can't see is the conversation that was being had with Peter 1 and a magical wizard.

Once you get over to the group, you help keep the other Peter up and standing. "Are you gonna be okay?" You ask, he nods trying to keep a straight face.

Peter 1 lands on the shield with you all, trying to quickly give his thanks for your help.

"You guys did...I just wanna say..." You pull him into a group hug and pat him on the back.

"No thanks needed Pete" he pulls away and makes awkward hand signals before swinging away. The older Peter grunts after he leaves.

"Still hurts?"

"Yeah"

"Guys, how the hell has it only been like 2 days?" You ask.

"Time moves fast when you're spider-man" Peter 2 says as he moves off your shoulder but still clutches his wound.

"Or a friend of spider-man" your Peter shrugs.

"Yeah, a friend" you give the other Peter a confused look and then look to your peter to see him glaring at his counterpart.

"Is this some spider-man look that I don't understand?"

"Not really, but I think you and you're Peter need to have a talk when you guys get back" your Peter's glare doesn't let up.

"Okay?" You then felt a fuzzy feelings in the bottom of your stomach. "Oop, boys I gotta multiversesal feeling coming on" you hold your Peter's hand and give a small wave to the other Peter as you two transport back to your universe.

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

"Peter Parker" you both were put back in his apartment, you decided to give Peter a chance to change out of his suit before having your previously mentioned talk. He tensed as he sat down, now in more comfortable clothes.

"I have two questions" you gave him a soft glare. "One" you held up your index finger, "Why the hell didn't you tell me that you're spider-man?"

"I was scared that you would see me differently or treat me differently because of this" he gestures to his suit that he threw on to one of his chairs.

"Well now you see that to me you're still the same dumbass that I've been friends with for like ever" you give him a reassuring smile, "Although I don't blame you for having thoughts like that, there are many people who would change how they act after learning that" he nods, very glad that you understand.

"Alright, question number 2" he tensed up again. "What do we, apparently, have to talk about?" He cocked his head to the side, confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"The other Peter said that "we need to have a talk" when we get back, what do we need to talk about?" His eyes widened and his face flushed red. You eyed him cautiously, "You good Pete?" He nods feverishly.

"Yeah, it's just that..." He pauses deep in thought. "Y/N, we've been friends for so long, you've been with me through thick and thin and you are so important to me" he fidgets with his hands. "I was talking to the other Peter in the lab" he pauses to chuckle, "It feels weird to say that. Uh, he made me realize um" he looks into your eyes.

"How much you mean to me, and how much of my life wouldn't be the same without you" you were taken aback, where was this going?

"Y/N I love you, more than a friend. I love everything about you, the way you talk, the way you act, your crazy dumb yet really smart plans, the expressions you make when you talk about something you're passionate about" he grabbed your hands.

"When I saw you getting attacked by Dr. Connors and when MJ fell, I realized that I don't ever want to lose you" tears were streaming down his face. "So please Y/N, stay with me? Will you be mine?"

You bring a hand up to wipe his and your tears away. He was everything you wanted in life and now you have him. "Of course Peter, I love you so much" with a slight tremble in your voice, you pull him into a kiss.

You both finally had what you needed, each other, and neither one of you were about to let go.

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

bro

dudes

my people

i spent so fucking long on this

i am so depressed

hehehehehe

[tomhollandnet]

Spider-Man: No Way Home - Tom Holland on getting it right, leaving acting to do 'other things' and having a pre-midlife crisis

Spider-Man star Tom Holland spoke to Sky News about whether or not he wants to continue acting, the pressure of getting the new film right and how he felt when he saw all the old villains on the set of No Way Home.

Tom Holland has suggested that he could step away from acting to pursue "other things".

Holland was speaking to Sky News ahead of the release of his latest Spider-Man film, No Way Home, and explained that he was unsure what his next career move might be should he hang up the web-slingers for good.

"I don't even know if I want to be an actor," the 25-year-old said when asked what was next for him.

"I started acting when I was 11 and I haven't done anything else, so I I'd like to go and do other things.

"Genuinely, I'm sort of... having a midlife crisis - at 25, I'm having like a pre-midlife crisis."

However, despite being unsure of his next career move, Holland did reveal this week that he would go back to his dancing roots - he famously played Billy Elliot on the West End as a child - and portray Fred Astaire in a biopic about the actor's life.

Spider-Man: No Way Home has fans on tenterhooks - and that comes with extra pressure

No Way Home, the third film in Sony and Marvel's latest Spider-Man franchise, is set to be the biggest film of the year, if not ever, with pre-sales outstripping that of Avengers: Endgame from 2019.

It sees Peter Parker (Holland) now dealing with being outed by Mysterio as your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, and its impact on not just him, but his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei).

He asks a fellow Avenger, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), to use a spell to erase people's knowledge of him being outed as the hero - only for it to go wrong and open up a long-trailed multi-verse.

But with the film having so much mystery and with the rumour mill in overdrive, Holland tells Sky News there is a pressure to get the film right.

"It's quite stressful," he said.

"People have been very excited for our previous movies, but nothing like this.

"You know, this is this is kind of like Endgame level excitement.

"I think we've done an amazing job and I think fans are going to be really pleased and feel fulfilled when they see this film - but that doesn't mean that it's any less stressful because, you know, the expectations are very high."

What about those fan theories about the old Spider-Man actors?

Widespread and popular fan theories predict that former Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield will make an appearance in the film - though this has never been confirmed by Sony and Marvel Studios.

Fuel for those theories comes in the form of the villains from those films appearing in No Way Home.

Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus and Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin from Tobey Maguire's films, and Jamie Foxx's Electro from Andrew Garfield's outing all pop up in the new movie.

Holland, who in the past has perhaps let on a little more than he should about some Marvel films, says that while we know that the retro villains are back, he still has to stay tight-lipped on the film.

"You still have to be careful," he told Sky News

"Even though there's quite a lot of stuff out there - we know which villains are coming back.

"These two trailers have been fantastic and they've been very good at teasing what's to come. There's still a lot I can't talk about."

He laughs: "We've got to be very careful because someone from Sony will fly in here and whack me over the head with a pan or something."

Seeing the old villains on set was 'mind-blowing'

It appears that Holland was just as excited as us to see all the retro villains on set as fans were when they saw them in the trailer, explaining to Sky News that these actors and villains were part of his childhood.

"I remember when I saw Jamie [Foxx] for the first time, I was like, 'isn't he supposed to be blue?'," he says.

"We had a lot of fun working together, and... there's quite an interesting dynamic between Spider-Man and Electro in this movie.

"But then, seeing Alfred Molina in his original costume and then seeing Willem [Dafoe] in in the Goblin costume was just mind-blowing, and it was quite scary.

"As a young kid, I was at the age where I saw Spider-Man and I thought it was real, so there's still a little bit of that that lives on in me.

"So when I met them for the first time, it was a bit like, 'well, this is really weird, you're the guy that tried to kill Spider-Man a bunch of times, and now I'm Spider-Man, so are you going to try and kill me?'

"So it was fun. It was really fun, but it was scary, but it was cool."

Spider-Man has given Holland opportunities he never would have otherwise had

As Holland mulls his next career steps, he explained that Spider-Man had given him the chance to do some "amazing things in the past".

He first appeared as the character in 2016, when he popped up in Captain America: Civil War, and since gone on to have three standalone Spidey films, and both Avengers Infinity War and Endgame - a total of six films in the red suit.

"It means everything," he says.

"I've had the chance to meet some incredible people, go to some amazing places and also do some amazing things.

"We've set this trust up called the Brothers Trust, which is something I'm incredibly proud of - we've been, for the last few years, raising money through various different ways and giving that money to smaller charities that, you know, are really impactful and making a difference today, which is really cool, you know?

"I couldn't be more grateful for what Spider-Man and what Sony and Marvel have given me.

"It's been it's been an amazing world and that's why I said if it's my time to walk away, I would do so proudly."

Spider-Man: No Way Home hits cinemas exclusively on 15 December in the UK - two days before its US release.

[theuntitledblog]

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - REVIEW (Spoiler Free)

SYNOPSIS

With Spider-Man's identity now revealed, our friendly neighborhood web-slinger is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life as Peter Parker from the high stakes of being a superhero. When Peter asks for help from Doctor Strange, the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

Spider-Man No Way Home is certainly a lot to digest and like the biggest and boldest MCU films, it's trying to balance a lot and succeeds in doing so. I don't think the trailers necessarily did the film any favours by revealing who was returning but none the less it is still the choices of the storytelling and the execution that matters most and Jon Watt's has certainly delivered. Spider-Man No Way Home is the first 'event' film of Marvel's Phase 4 and for me I would boldly declare it the best Spider-Man movie we've seen so far.

DIFFERENT KIND OF STAKES

Unlike the more straightforward Homecoming and Far From Home, No Way Home goes through a number of different shifts. From the fall out of Mysterio's reveal to Doctor Strange's botched spell to then rounding up some familiar faces to then trying to change their fate. It works despite there not really being any kind of world ending stakes, there's even a plot device from the start that can effectively resolve everything at anytime they choose. So what is at stake? The answer mostly is compassion and morality. Sure there are some Multiversal stakes as well but it is with the former where Tom Holland's Parker and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange have their best exchanges. This story and these stakes fit this Spider-Man perfectly and Tom Holland really comes into his own and delivers his best performance as Peter Parker.

SPIDER-MAN HOMAGE

One of the benefits to the Multiversal plot elements is that it has allowed the writers to be creative and have fun by mixing things up in ways not seen before. Bringing back familiar villains such as Alfred Molina's Doc Ock and Willem DaFoe's Green Goblin allows this incarnation of Spider-Man to touch upon the events of the Raimi and Webb films. This approach on paper risks being more about fan service and nostalgia but it isn't, there are some significant improvements made to some of these villains; Jamie Foxx's Electro is completely redeemed while DaFoe's Osbourn is given greater depth and impact. There is plenty of nostalgia sure but the film isn't a slave to it and it gets that balance right; No Way Home is a homage to all things Spider-Man but it tells its own story too and it is a thrilling and thematically satisfying one at that.

PHASE 4 EVENT

This is the first 'event' movie of Phase 4 and it's the biggest movie since Avengers Endgame; it brings the concept of the Multiverse to the front and centre of events once again following Marvel's incredible Loki series. But it's not just about setting up the next stages of Phase 4 either, the writers have taken lessons from previous Phases and instead use the wider storytelling to support the this film rather than weigh it down. No Way Home is heavier than Far From Home but it is also much funnier, it's more complex but feels well balanced, the stakes may not be world ending but the consequences to these characters have impact. It is exceptionally judged and well executed; the jokes land, the character moments soar and the set pieces are thrilling to behold. There are some great performances in here in addition to Holland's including Zendaya's MJ, Jacob Batalon's Ned, Marissa Tomei's May plus Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange who gets some outstanding moments as well.

VERDICT

Spider-Man No Way Home delivers from start to finish all the notes you'd want it to and then some. It excellently balances multiple villains while providing plenty of surprises and twists along the way. Tom Holland shines as Peter Parker and stands tall in not just his best Spider-Man film but also the best Spider-Man film so far. Funny, thrilling, inventive and satisfying; No Way Home is one of the finest solo entries seen in the MCU and joins the likes of the Avengers near summit of the absolute best of the MCU.

5/5

[noramoya]

I’M SORRY I DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO TRANSLATE TO ENGLISH, WHAT IS WRITTEN ON THE POSTS •••

PLEASE, SHARE, IF YOU LIKE IT !!

@swift-fated @mjslays @mj-fans-alliance-blog @mj-confessions @mjstevent @mjvideos @mjjsecretlovers-blog @mjjalways @mjjproductionz @mjjofficial @mjjsourcesblog @mjkopforever @anneke-treasure @annievvv7 @anniemjjloverr @annievvv77 @michael-jackson-blog @michaeljacksonslegend @michael-jackson-is-invincib-blog @michaeljacksonlooks @tania-rowell @smellyblanketmjj @bp2003gaming @spongebobafettywap @ew-honeydew @lisamjfan777 @lisamj-blog @jacamjkhfangirl2022 @caffeinated-chaos-bean

FINALLY !!! After the innovations in technology (now in iOS 17.4.1), that makes possible to copy and paste photos of texts, I could paste into the Portuguese to English dictionary, and BINGO, here the translation: @prideshania

“At the end of December 2006, Michael Jackson was convinced by manager Jack Wishna to return to the United States for a meeting to discuss some concert projects in Las Vegas. As soon as the King of Pop set foot in the United States, he had to attend the funeral of his friend and mentor

James Brown, who died on Christmas Day. The first months of 2007 were occupied by social events organized by Raymone Bain, as well as preparations with her new lawyer and right-hand man, Peter Lopez, for a discreet return.

The relationship between his manager and his lawyer had its ups and downs: in the 2000s, many people were competing to manage the career of a megastar who had been absent from the music scene for several years. Lopez planned the Thriller 25 project with Sony Music, intending to celebrate the album's 25th anniversary with a special edition.

Michael Jackson traveled to New York to meet with teams from

Legacy Recordings, the record label that handled reissues of the biggest albums in Sony's catalog. The initial plan was to include new songs from the Thriller sessions, such as Hot Street, Nite Line and Trouble. But the King of Pop wasn't interested in publishing them.

During the discussions, he spoke about his desire to produce new versions of his masterpieces. MJ asked Kanye West to remix Billie Jean, and asked singer Akon to record a cover version of Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.

The only unreleased track on physical media - which had been leaked - is For All Time, a ballad composed during the Thriller session and recorded during the Dangerous Era.

Other tracks, such as the demo versions of The Girl Is Mine and Got the Hots, were respectively published as bonuses on the 2008 single The Girl Is Mine and the Japanese edition of Thriller 25.

Michael Jackson agreed to pose for L'Uomo Vogue and Ebony magazines to support the album's release. This was his last official rehearsal. The photographer was Matthew Rolston, with whom he had worked during the

Thriller.

The album's re-release was supposed to happen in December 2007, but ended up being released on February 11, 2008, because Jackson wanted to finish some remixes and new versions that included Beat It featuring Fergie from Black Eyed.

Parts. The lead single was the cover version featuring Akon, which reached a new generation of fans. Thriller 25 has sold more than three million copies worldwide”…

@swift-fated @mjslays @mjvideos @mj-fans-alliance-blog @mjstevent @mjconfessions @mjjalways @mjjofficial @mjjsecretlovers-blog @mjjproductionz @mjjsourcesblog @michael-jackson-blog @michaeljacksonfamily @michaeljacksonslegend @michaeljacksonlooks @jacksonfamilypix @jackson-royalty-blog @jacksonprince @jackson8520yuleidy @anniemjjloverr @annievvv7 @annie-wheres-your-oatcakes

[dragon-kazansky]

Pro racer Zemo AU headcanons

Here are some general headcanons for my AU that I have.

You know Zemo and Stark are rivals, but here are some of the other racers.

Stephen Strange, next best driver to the two above. Only has one accident under his belt.

John Walker, he has potential, but has a long way to go before he's considered big game. Usually way at the back.

I could also see these characters as racers though they probably won't pop up in future chapters: Quill, T'challa, Carol.

Maybe Thor and Loki? The irony 😏

Shuri would definitely be on T'challa's crew.

Zemo's crew is small, but they work well together, even if some of them bicker.

It's mostly Sam and Bucky who take care of the car, sometimes Sarah helps if Sam asks nicely.

Peter Parker is a racer wannabe. He looks up to Stark. Often brings MJ and Ned to races when he gets a chance to go. Watches it on TV if he can't go.

Stark makes his cars from scratch. He spends most of his time working on them.

Pepper Potts is his manager. She'll come up later.

Zemo, as I've stated, knows cars inside and out. He doesn't build them from scratch like Stark, but he knows how to make them better and faster.

Stark does have losses under his belt, but his success rate is much higher.

People usually come to the races to see Stark. He has the biggest fan base.

The race in my story is completely made up as my knowledge of actual racing is minimum.

So far they have attended the same race track. It's a large stadium, seats everywhere. The track is long and has many turns throughout.

To keep track of the cars, cameras are highly relied on.

Hence why reader loses sight of the cars and has to watch a screen to keep up.

It's one lap.

Though the final race will have 3.

The time span between races is literally so I can build characters and relationships.

It's the perfect bridge for plot building.

I imagine not all racers pass the finish line, but as we're focusing on Stark and Zemo, I haven't mentioned that.

When Zemo's engine gave out in the 2nd race, I imagined him sitting in his car after Tony set off again, glaring in the direction he went off in.

You can probably tell I'm slipping references into the fic.

I work in a cafe in real life, so having the reader work in one was easy.

The Redwing is a small cafe in a little town. It's peaceful and a nice place for people to meet.

Reader lives in a town far from the track, hence the travelling.

That's why it means all the more to Zemo when reader comes to watch him race.

Reader has worked there a handful of years.

Reader's boss like racing. All kinds of racing, I just imagine him being pretty sporty outside of work.

Is a fan of Zemo.

Zemo does have a fanbase, but compared to Stark's, it's a little more casual.

His lack of crowds at races will make sense in later chapters.

It just made sense to me that Zemo would have an abandoned airstrip to practise at.

The hanger is literally a garage for his race car.

Zemo has a complicated past.

There is a reason he hasn't opened up to the reader.

There is also a reason reader can't find much on him.

Reader's "friend" remains nameless through out the fic.

Originally I wasn't going to have her appear all that much, but she worked with the story I had come up with.

You may notice something change the more I write about her.

"Friend" has been to races before.

I had imagined a scenario where she had seen Stark win a race and was like "next time I'll bring reader with me."

I could see reader not being all that into it up until the point she sees Zemo at that first race.

The moment reader approaches his car that first time, I imagine them alone.

That's why Zemo looks back at his car when he walks away.

He was curious as to why anyone at all would be near his car when Stark just won the race.

That's why he pulls up next to reader afterward.

He sees friend go off to celebrate with Stark.

Reader just walks away from that.

I suppose you could say he was amazed someone wasn't fawning over the billionaire.

Zemo started missing reader right after that first meeting.

This AU was going to be a oneshot.

I got carried away.

@ajeff855 @moonstuffsteve @sky-writes-stuff @lieutenantn @lostghostgirl94 @friday18eo @yaskna @my-blood-is-maple-syrup @gingerwriter97 @lunamooney2406 @wilder-fangirl @nectav @whovianayesha @thesuitkovian @cathrin2405 @deathtothepatriarchy @belle82devart @dxrksxul06 @killeromanoff @alex-the-nb @latenightartist-author @hb8301 @goddessofmischief03 @xxidontwikeitxx @themeanestlittlewitch @scuttle-buttle @fillechatoyante

[doodleimprovement]

CSAU :: Moonie Jericho and the Mysterious Case of the Moon-Jumper Mask - Alternate Ending

Or: “The extremely self indulgent 7 page fic were Nell gets to be more helpful and has some actual characterization” 

Yeahhhh this isn’t canon to the fic, but I wanted to write it because I can, at LAST give ya’ll Nell’s backstory for how they came to live in Subcon in the CSAU

Per usual, the “Coffee Shop AU” belongs to the ever wonderful @doodledrawsthings

Also, note: Both MJ and Nell use “they/them” pronouns, with MJ being “He/They” and Nell being “She/They” To keep things from getting too confusing, Nell will be “They” and MJ will be “He” 

Enjoy! 

--

Nell was honestly a bit surprised when MJ came to their home the morning after Halloween, sheepishly stating that the mask seemed ... stuck.

“Really?”

He nodded.

“Huh.. Come on in then. I’ll get some tea going and see about helping you out, hm?”

He walked into their house, taking a moment to actually look about the place- as he didn’t get much of a chance before- and took a seat in their small living room.

The ambiance of the outside followed inside, with the walls painted chestnut brown with warm yet bright pops of color on the windowsill and the various picture frames full of people he didn’t know. The curtain over the wide window was patterned with little pumpkins, which he found cute, and hanging from a few ceiling hooks were what Clover would call “Low-maintenance” plants. The dark colors match well with the room, making it feel a bit comfier than it otherwise might.

The couch he sat on was across from an armchair, and both were colored a warm orange, with an espresso-colored coffee table. On said table were some envelopes and a copy of “Better Homes and Gardens”

Huh, he didn’t peg them as a reader of those types of magazines. Then again, Clover was the one that knew Nell, not him.

They came back with two mugs - one was purple with the “Snatcher” face on it, and the other had a little grumpy ghost on it, with “I’m spooky before my coffee” written above the drawing.

They handed him the Snatcher mug

“Can I ask where you get all of this Snatcher merch?”

“My best friend is an Etsy fiend. Despite him living all the way in Nyakoto, he ships me Snatcher merch whenever he finds something fun. He’s a real character” they chuckled.

“Huh” MJ acknowledged as Nell walked around the coffee table and sat next to him

“Do you feel the mask?”

He nodded, his hand up at the edge, right where he felt it “When I pull, it just… doesn’t move”

“Hm..” they sipped. “When you try to take it off, how does it feel?”

“Like… it’s like a thousand little… things? Pulling at my face, I think?” MJ pulled up their mug and sipped the tea.

“Like… string? Thread?”

MJ nodded. “I think that's the right word, thread”

Nell puts down the mug as MJ takes another sip. “Let me see” they scooted closer to him, and he put his mug down and turned his head.

Their hands seemed to glow green as they raised it “There we go…” They muttered, hand immediately finding the mask’s edge, and seeing what he was talking about “... Huh, the threads… well, that's the right word. They’re… criss-crossed…”

Before he could ask if they could remove them, he felt a slight burning at the edge of his face and jumped

“Ah!”

“Sorry, sorry, but, that did work… Though, it means you might be here a while” they admit “I’ll need you to stay still, okay?”

“Oh.. okay”

It was... Not Okay.

A few minutes into Nell’s attempt at getting the mask off, they let out a huff.

“You can’t keep squirming”

“I- I’m sorry” He muttered “It's just, you know, hard to stay still”

“I understand that, but I don’t want to mess this up. I’d like to see your actual eyes” They muttered.

“I know, it just.. Weird feeling” He tried to explain.

“Moon” They pressed, but sighed “... You seem still enough when I’m talking to you, need a distraction?”

“I mean, I guess…?”

Nell sighed “Hm… How about I tell you how I came to live in Subcon? That’s a long-ass story”

“Oh uh, if you’re okay with sharing!” MJ tried to be polite. He knew that even Clover wasn’t completely sure why Nell came to live in the town, she just knew that “something happened” back at the coast where they were from.

“Nah. It’s been 5 years. That’s more than long enough” The nurse stayed focused on the magic threads, their magic seeming to thrum in his ears- sounding almost like the hum of a fan in the dead heat of summer..

There was a pause, before they took in a breath.

“When I was 19, I took a job in Nyakoto, and left my hometown as fast as the train could take me. I had a scholarship to a little nursing school there, and before my 21st birthday, I’d gotten a nice, decent paying job as an ER nurse for a hospital in the East Side” They started “The hospitals were all interconnected, so I ended up meeting different doctors and nurses while I worked, and sometimes was called to assist in other hospitals.

“I was.. 25, when I met him” They recalled, something in their voice seeming heavy. “We’ll call him Chris

“He was in residency at a hospital down in the Wesservale neighborhood. We met at a medical appreciation gala… He had something about him I couldn't place. . . A charisma, almost. A kindness. He seemed so eager for the future, so excited for what the next day might bring him. I’d never been like that. His optimism drew me in.

“We started dating the year after. Like with most relationships, everything seemed great. He was funny, kind, thoughtful, all of that stuff. He even went with me to pride stuff, which was pretty cool at the time.”

“Pride?” MJ chimed in. Nell couldn’t hide a chuckle.

“Yes. You’ve heard of the Nyakoto Annual Pride Bonanza, haven’t you? One of the biggest in the country”

“I have, yes”

“Good. Back to the story” Nell redirected “When I was 27, about a year and a half into the relationship, I realized, quite unhappily, that we weren’t actually very different, and didn’t really get along as well as we thought.. It's not that we argued, but.. We didn’t really… talk. I never spoke to him about my problems, I didn’t feel like I could, and that really made me realize that we weren’t actually all that comfortable around each other. So, when he came over to my place that night for dinner, I spoke to him, and tried to tell him that we weren’t compatible, and that I thought perhaps we’d be better off as friends.

“He convinced me that we just needed work, going on and on about all these plans he had for us. Trips, dates, things to look forward to, always looking toward the future, Chris did”

Nell paused again

“.. I really should have noticed how little he cared about happiness in the present.” They commented “Not a traditional red flag, but it was a warning nonetheless”

“Well, I mean, that’s not so bad”

“In a way, no” Nell replied “But when you think about the future so much, you forget the present, you forget to live, and your past just.. Ends up a horrible haze. Even the happy stuff is hard to recall”

MJ hadn’t thought of it like that

“But hindsight is 2020, and in the moment, I believed him. I wanted to believe those bright dreams of the future, and I let go of the fact that I did not even like to talk to him very much.

“... I tried to break up with him 4 more times in the 8 years we were together.”

Okay, MJ hadn’t been expecting that much time passing.

“By the time I was 34, we were living together, but barely seeing each other. From the outside it must have seemed perfect to everyone else. I think only Daph knew about my.. Issues, with Chris. I still never talked to him about anything that wasn’t the future, or how the day was, or.. Just, absolute nonsense.

“One night, after one more attempt to break up, I’d gone to bed defeated, and woke up at 3 in the morning while he was on the night shift in Wesservale.. I came to this… realization

“If I didn’t leave right then and there, I’d marry him…. and I’d …. I’d be stuck. He’d have me, and I’d be stuck for the rest of my life..

“So I grabbed everything I had in the apartment, sent a resignation email to the East side hospital I still worked at, left him a note telling him I was leaving, took my car and just… started driving”

“.. Did he call you?”

“I blocked his number.” They answered curtly. “Drove for days until I came across Subcon.”

MJ didn’t comment.

“I stayed at the Alpine Motel for a few nights, and when I was at the diner, overheard that there was an open position for the school nurse at the elementary” They continued. “I applied for it, and 3 months later cashed in my savings to put a down payment on this little place” They made a motion with their hand briefly “The rest is history”

“Well… If it's any consolation, I think that's a good reason to get out of the city”

Nell couldn’t hold back a laugh. There was something a little… sad, in it, but the laugh was genuine.

“Yeah, then again, every reason is a good one to get out of the city” They commented, and MJ had only just realized that their hands were now on the other side of his face. Nell worked quickly, it seemed. “Hm.. okay. On the count of three, I'm going to try to take it off, alright?”

“Oh, uh, wow, okay!” He replied eagerly, closing his eyes.

“One…” They slowly started, both hands on either side, their nails right at the edge of the mask.

“Three!”

MJ startled as Nell pulled, and a cold, sharp feeling spread over his body before it abruptly ended. When he opened his eyes. He looked at Nell, who had, in their hands, that damned mask.

His hands went up to his face, and he let out a relieved laugh as he felt his skin, glasses and hair “hah! Hahah! I’m human again! No more magic!” He raised his hands and leaned back on the couch “Sweet relief”

Nell let out a chuckle, putting the mask down gently “Finish your tea, I’m gonna grab you a damp towel. You have… paint? On your face”

His brow was furrowed, but he reached for the still-warm mug anyway as Nell got up and went down a short hallway.

He took the few moments that Nell was done to think over the story he’d been told, the exhaustion in the nurse’s voice as she told it. Was he really the first one to learn? It gave him a weird feeling right in his chest.

When Nell returned, she offered a small, damp towel… that had the “Snatcher” smile on it

“... How many of these do you have?” He almost laughed again, and they just answered with an amused smile and grabbed their own coffee cup.

MJ cleaned his face, seeing a candy-red color coming off on the purple towel. “Hm..”

“What?”

“Well uh, the color looks like the magic strings I was able to summon”

Nell Blinked “... Well uh, bring that up with Tim when he’s back in town. That’s a little out of my wheelhouse”

“Noted”

The two fell into silence, sipping their warm drinks and giving them some time to unwind

“Will you need a ride home?” they asked him, putting their mug down.

He hadn’t actually thought of that.

“Oh, uh, it’s fine”

They raised an eyebrow at him

“You live 20 minutes away and Luka isn’t here to … fly you home, per se” They laid out “I’ve got a car, I’ll drive you home”

He turned a little red to the ears “Oh.. Thank you”

“No problem, Moon” They smiled back at him. “I’m going to change real quick, then we’ll leave”

And with that, they left back into the short hallway, to what Moon assumed was their bedroom.

Nell returned a few minutes later, dressed in a loose blouse and skirt that went down to their ankles, a far cry from the tank top and sweatpants that he’d seen them in before. He supposed that it was more so not wanting to go out in Pajamas than anything else. She picked up the mask, wrapping it in a handkerchief before holding it out to him

“It’s chosen you. You have to keep it”

He just nodded, and gingerly took the troublesome thing into his hands.

The two got in their truck (Nell owned a truck??) and drove into town.

MJ took in a breath as they turned onto a main street, passing The Horizon. “So uh, Nell..”

“Hm?”

“About your uh, the story you told me.. I won’t tell anyone”

“I don’t mind if you do” they answered, eyes on the road

“What, really?”

“Like I said before. Five years feels long enough”

MJ’s brow furrowed “I’m still not going to say anything.. That’s a personal story. It’s not mine to tell”

Nell glanced over at him with an unreadable expression, before moving to turn on the radio. Lo-fi started, and it seemed they were right in the middle of a Billie Eilish song.

“.. Thank you” They ended up responding as the song picked up

”I know supposedly I'm lonely now.

Know I’m supposed to be unhappy without someone.

But aren’t I someone?” 

MJ didn’t say much of anything else once until they got to his apartment building

“Thank you, Nell. For everything”

“Don’t mention it” They gave him a small, but sincere smile “Get some rest, hm? The bags under your eyes are aging you”

MJ just laughed “I will. Don’t be a stranger, Mx. Buonacci”

The nurse gave him a lazy salute with a soft smile, before the window rolled up, and they drove off

Exhaling, he looked down at the covered mask, wrapped in a…. Snatcher-patterned handkerchief.

He couldn’t help but laugh.

[annakie]

In the last few days I’ve watched all of the Spiderman movies made this century -

1. Except Into the Spiderverse because I watched that a couple of months ago and it’s still fresh in my head)

2. And I haven’t seen No Way Home yet (maybe tomorrow)

Here’s some thoughts.  No spoilers for No Way Home, I’ve avoided them at all costs and truly don’t know what happens in that movie.

McGuire

So I watched all the Toby McGuire movies as they came out, and I was already well into adulthood when they started releasing.  I do remember I loved them and I feel like I saw the first one several times and the last one maybe only when it came out? 

They’re definitely a product of their time and the writing was cheesy in places but also the first one is good.  Toby McGuire does not feel like a teenager at all IMHO but also this series spends by far the least amount of time in High School, it’s like, less than half of the first movie.  But otherwise, I think he does a good job.  The relationship with James Franco’s character felt genuine.  The second movie was still good.  Then the third...

Okay I remembered at the time when the third one came out comic book nerds were mad about “Venom”.  I know nothing about Marvel characters now and I knew a lot less back then and I was like “Ugh, shut up nerds, it’s just some characters in a movie.”

Now, years later after seeing Tom Hardy’s Venom movies, I would like to personally apologize to those nerds I mentally told to shut up, because they were right.  What a disservice to Eddie Brock and Venom that mess was.  Tofer Grace, they gave you some character named Eddie Brock to play but you were not playing Eddie Brock.  I was personally offended on behalf of Tom Hardy by that entire “Venom” storyline.

But overall, I still liked the Toby McGuire Spiderman movies.

Garfield

I’d never seen the Andrew Garfield Spiderman movies.  In fact, I also haven’t seen The Social Network.  Or literally anything else he’s been in that I can think of other than the Daleks Take Manhattan episodes of Doctor Who.

Good to see Garfield’s American accent has improved.

I really didn’t know what to think about his movies.  I didn’t dislike his performance.  I was excited for Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben and Sally Field as Aunt May.  All of the other actors did a fine job.  But idk, for some reason, these movies didn’t connect with me at all.  I literally watched them the day before yesterday and I am struggling to remember who the villains were, except I do remember one of them in the second movie was the same character Franco played in the first trilogy. 

Dennis Leary’s character dying in the first one was predictable but fine, it was a good plot motivator for the second movie.  I did appreciate the things they tried to do differently, though some changes felt arbitrary.  But when MJ died in the second movie I was really ready to be done with the Garfield Spiderman movies and tbh was glad there wasn’t another one to watch.  I didn’t really think they were bad, I guess they just weren’t for me.  TBH I felt like they were trying to hard to be young and hip and I just wasn’t feeling it. 

Also I missed JK Simmons.

But if Andrew Garfield is in this new MCU movie (and I TRULY don’t know if he is) I still think it’ll be fun and I would be excited.

Holland

So I had seen all of the MCU Spiderman movies.  Though I kind of saw them out of order because I watched Civil War --> Infinity War --> Endgame --> Homecoming --> Far From Home.  Something about that had never really let me connect with Holland’s Spidey.  So this time I went back and watched them in the right order, and it helped a lot.  I rewatched all of Endgame even though he’s barely in it because I had only seen it on release day and had forgotten half of what happened.

I’ve never been liek the biggest MCU fan?  I have watched most of the movies except the one or two that’s come out during the pandemic and have seen all the Disney+ shows, but this time I ended up really enjoying the Holland Spiderman movies and performance. 

I also really appreciated not having to sit through a 3rd “Uncle Ben Died And Woah I Have Powers Now!” rehash.  Having Tony Stark sub in as the Uncle/Father Figure was refreshing, worked well and really grounded the character in the MCU.   He was also the most realistically High School Spidey, and I loved his classmates in this one. 

Finishing Far From Home made me excited about seeing the next one, and that’s not that usual for me.

Shameik Moore / Miles Morales

Absolute perfection.  Never change.  Just needs more.  Can’t wait for the second movie.  Both Peter Parkers are super great in this, too.  But again, need more.  Also just hard to compare vs. the other three that are easier to compare.

Anyway, to wrap this up, my favorite Spidey’s are Holland > Miles Morales > McGuire > Garfield.