#my anxiety could never let me be a mutant in secret bc of the heart stopping situation

[milimeters-morales]

i like think of the other aspects of having powers/side effects like spidey (specifically a metabolism as fast as theirs) because it’s just so fun. you can go the spider-first route, where you consider what an irl spider does before you try to apply it to a human and work it into the metabolism, or you can go the power-first route, where you consider what such an enhanced metabolism implies about the rest of spidey’s body and then work it into a spider’s irl behaviors to try and tie that together. you can end up with “irl spiders can last for weeks without food so spidey will still experience all the side effects of not eating for a long time but delayed a week or two later than a normal human” or you can end up with “spidey needs to eat almost constantly but their diet is partially blended foods because the constant eating would make them sick, also irl spiders don’t eat food whole” stuff like that is my bread and butter.

sometimes i try to think of how the smaller stuff is changed too like how fast does spidey’s hair grow now? i know accelerated aging isn’t a power but if a height change is a side effect of the bite, then if one didn’t have their wisdom teeth growing in before the bite, does that mean the teeth will grow in quicker (more pain) and need to be removed way earlier than expected? what about fingernail growth? the heart’s obviously stronger, but does that mean it’s also got to have more of an electrical output, and would also need way more of an input from a defibrillator if it stops??? what if it stops while out as a civilian, and the paramedics don’t know if they should go higher and risk killing an (what they think is) average human???

There’s just so many ways to explore side effects, like maybe spidey needs to drink a lot of coffee to feel any side effect bc of a fast metabolism, but is that the only change, or is the side effect (once there’s enough caffeine) always going to be them being extremely disorientated and sometimes shooting webs in awkward/useless spots???? just so much to consider ^3^

[spectrumscribe]

hey idk if u take requests but i freaking loooove your writing and when i was scrolling through your blog the other day i saw ur marvel/avengers au and i was wondering if you could write a ficlet for it maybe????? once again, i enjoy ur writing so much, keep doing what you're doing

*softly screams bc someone remembers this AU still*

AU info here i guess??? can’t believe anyone wanted more of it. under the cut bc it ended up longer than the other ficlets, ‘cause i love this au a lot actually.

“What’s ‘valentine’s day’?”

Hank looks up from the papers he’s grading. Or rather, looksdown from them, since he’s clinging to the ceiling of his lab with his feet.

Below him sits one of his more devoted pupils, if an unofficialone since he’s so young. Previously quietly occupied with the tablet he’dconnected himself with, now looking up with cautiously questioning eyes. Donnietilts the tablet’s screen towards Hank, and a notification about the school’s Valentine’sDay dance is shown on it.

“It’s a holiday,” Hank informs the adolescent mutant. Technicalmutant. A mutant created rather than born still counts, in his opinion. “Tocelebrate love. With chocolates and flowers, and occasionally stuffed animals. Thoughoriginally, it was called Saint Valentine’s or the Feast of Saint Valentine.”

“Oh,” Donnie says quietly. He worries his lip for a moment,and then asks, “Who’s that?”

“A symbolic figure in the culture of a church.”

“Why’re they so important they got a whole day tothemselves?”

Hank hums. “That question I cannot answer, it would bebetter asked of Mr. Wagner.”

“Oh… okay.”

Hank watches the boy go back to scrolling through his tablet’snewsfeed, and sees a question being unasked in the fidgeting of his posture. Hank really should focus ongrading his advanced technological studies class’s theory papers, but Donnie’scuriosity shouldn’t be allowed to discourage his own curiosity like so. They’vecome so far with his anxiety management and helping him branch out socially.

Hank climbs carefully along the ceiling and drops down farenough away from his student Donnie won’t startle. Hank goes to kneel in frontof the adolescent mutant, making sure to be slow and obvious with hismovements.

“Do you have any more questions, Donnie?” Hank promptsgently.

Donnie’s red eyes under his thick fringe of black bangs dartup from his tablet, and then back down to it. After a moment’s hesitation, hepulls out the jack plugged into his neck and the tablet and hands it over. Hanktakes it, examining the Google images search for Valentine’s Day people.

“Why are they all doing that?” Donnie asks, a littlenervously.

“Kissing?” Hank questions, scrolling through the search withone clawed finger.

“Yes, that. Is it… a holiday you’re supposed to kisssomeone?” Donnie doesn’t look comfortable with the idea of that, at all.

Hank laughs kindly, returning the tablet to the boy. “No, it’sjust something lots of people do on the day. Mostly people who are dating oneanother, or are married. You don’t have to kiss anyone if you don’t want to, Donnie.”

“Um, okay. Good,” he mumbles, clutching the tablet tohimself. “So it’s a holiday about a saint that’s important for some reason, andpeople kiss a lot on it…” He purses his lips. “And that’s it?”

“Well, it’s a time to celebrate how much you love anyone inyour life,” Hank explains. “Not just people you’re dating, but people you’rerelated to, or are just friends with. I and my colleagues will be having ateachers only party tonight, because we’re all very good friends.”

“Principal Wolverine kisses Ms. Storm sometimes, though,” Donniepoints out. Hank bites back a chuckle about his old friends not being quite assubtle as they think they are.

“Yes, they sometimes do that, don’t they?” Hank says, amusedthat Donnie, and likely his brothers too, have already found out thatparticular secret. Donnie nods jerkily.

“We saw them on the roof just last week!” Donnie says, thendropping his voice in a whisper. “They were moving around weirdly, really closetogether and stuff.”

Hank laughs awkwardly, and vows to give his fellowseducators a little talk about intimate meetups on school grounds.

“Yes, uh, anyway,” Hank moves things along quickly. “It can be a kissing holiday, but really youcan celebrate with anyone you care about. Do you have someone you’d like tocelebrate today with, Donnie? A friend, your family…?”

“…my brothers? And April and Casey?” Donnie suggeststentatively, searching Hank’s face to see if he’s gotten something wrong. Hanksmiles encouragingly, and pats his pupil’s shoulder.

“Sharing Valentine ’s Day with your friends and familysounds like an excellent plan, my boy,” Hank enthuses gently. “Why don’t you gotalk to Ms. Pryde? Kitty is handling the refreshments for the dance today, I’msure she’ll have extra candies for you all. Or will you be attending, too?”

Donnie bites his lip, letting little electric sparks flyaround his shoulders. “It’s the whole school, right? That’s… a lot of people. Imean, I could, if I- if we need to be there-”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Donnie,” Hankreminds. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to anymore, remember?”

“Right, I know, I know,” Donnie mumbles. He fidgets a littleas Hank continues to look at him, and Hank decides it’s time to give his studentspace once again. As he returns to his work of grading papers, he hears faintfootsteps dart out of the lab while his back is turned. Hank pretends he doesn’tnotice, and smiles to himself.

—

Donnie does not goto the dance, even though Ms. Pryde says it could be fun. None of his siblingsgo either, or April, or even Casey, even though their normal human friendglances at the semi-decorated room with vague interest. In the end, they justget candies and go hide away.

“What a great holiday,” Mikey remarks to Donnie later on,while they’re all sprawled in their shared room and enjoying their treats. “Awhole day for candies? Love it.”

“And kissing,” Raph reminds as he tears open a new chocolatewrapper. He pops the little candy into his mouth and speaks while he chews. “Whichis gross, ugh. Why do they even?”

“It’s a normal people thing, I guess?” Leo offers as anexplanation. He steals Raph’s next treat before he can eat it, starting a shortwrestle fight between them on the floor.

“Candy’s good by me,” April says, taking from the bowl ofcrunchy pastel candies in Donnie’s lap. “Dancing and kissing and stuff sounds…too touchy feely. And with people you don’t know? Weird.”

“You guys are the weird ones,” Casey says, tossing an emptywrapper at Mikey’s overgrown buzz cut and smirking when it sticks. “Everyone atmy old school was totally obsessed with this stuff.”

“Ew,” remarks Donnieand his brothers, as well as April.

Casey shrugs, and reaches for another of the candies Ms.Pryde gave them. “It’s not so bad. I think. Never actually kissed anyone who I wasn’trelated to…”

“Pass,” April says, echoed by everyone else. Casey rolls hiseyes at them.

“I wasn’t askin’you guys to. That’d be weird.”

“Weirder than us in general?” Donnie questions.

“Uh, yeah? Definitely. You’re not even that weird. There’s aguy here who’s from space, and he’s analien prince! He punches through walls and stuff, ‘s totally metal.”

“Didn’t he also get himself stuck in a wall last month?” Mikey asks. He gestures with stickyfingers. “Like, he was going wooshthrough the air, and then there was awall suddenly ‘cause the Danger Room decided there’d be, and then wham he’s in it ‘cause he couldn’t slowdown? Lame.”

“He’s still cool,shut up.”

“I’m faster than him, andI wouldn’t get stuck in a wall,” Leo says proudly, finally getting free of Raph’sstranglehold on him.

“Maybe, but then you’d faint somewhere ‘cause you overdidyourself,” Raph says snidely. Leo elbows him in the ribs.

“Almost out of the crunchy ones,” Donnie says, holding upthe plastic container of inaccurately shaped candy hearts. “Who wants some?”

“Me,” is thechorused response, and a shove fight for the last pastel candies ensues.