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shyrose57 · 4 years ago

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AU(s) where all the mod videos Tommy does, along with some other videos, are all alternate universes, and their residents end up in the SMP. Chaos ensues.

Voice Mod AU:

Universe where nobody talks aloud. They telepathically communicate, and the closer you are, the clearer and louder you are, unless you have the control the lower your mental voice.

Why?

Post-apocalyptic world(because Tommy said welcome to the new world at the start, and I too that and ran with it). They’re the new versions of humans, created after life returned on the planett, and the telepathy is a survival method, because outward noise draws predators, inner noise does not.

This also means they possibly have some other features similar to that. Like maybe Quackity’s duck wings being from some newly evolved duck species in the new world, Wilbur being a bit abnormally tall, or similar. I’m not sure.

Oh hey, no, Wilbur can be like a tree hybrid or something, cause Treebur.

Basically, evolution and telepathy.

Wilbur has a horse named Bert, he is speedy, and spends just as much time dragging his owner out of trouble than he does riding him into it.

The gang is basically just traveling the lands, exploring what’s about.

There are fish-horses, ender-horses, spider-horses, silverfish ponies, and horses that are somewhat like a breed between llamas and sheep in the world.

There are a lot of new horse breeds.

The Quackity of this universe wears clothes a lot like Manhunt Dream’s, hoodie-wise, but it’s all bright blue, and his mask has the :] face on it.

Size Mod AU:

Universe where people can shift and change sizes, though only to certain ones.

For example, Wilbur’s stuck small. He can shift to the size of a small dog, height wise, or that of a flower, but he can’t get big. Quackity can go smaller than Wilbur, or literally bigger than the Enderdragon. Both Tommy can be normal sized, or big, and Phil’s can be about the size of a tree, or become the size of a small mountain.

They all live in a nice house in the plains and spend their time terrorizing the locals.

Wilbur has a little house within the house, and he uses his size to cause havoc more often than not. Quackity is equally guilty of this.

Sometimes when the kids are being particularly bad, Phil puts the smaller ones in a compost bin and holds Tommy off the ground until he starts behaving.

Quackity’s a follower of the Blood God. Not to Techno’s length, but he goes and kills rabbits for him, and dedicates the chaos his giant form causes to the guy. In return, the four always have a flourishing harvest, and Quackity’s absolutely mean in battle.

Wilbur sleeps in one of Tommy’s old shoes that he stole and made into a bed.

Honestly, Wilbur’s kind of like the house mouse. He steals stuff and vibes in his little home in the walls. The cats that occasionally slip in try to eat him a lot too.

Wilbur and Quackity are bird hybrids, Tommy’s a zombie hybrid(cause he’s fighting a zombie and saying ‘I burn’ at that little bit), and Phil’s an iron golem hybrid.

Quackity and WIlbur have little bird-houses set up around the area for them to dart into and hide if anything comes after them.

They all met when tiny Q and Wilbur tried to rob Tommy and Phil. They succeeded with Tommy, but Phil was less than impressed at the attempt. Somehow it resulted in them all sharing a house.

Dragon Mod AU:

Universe set in more medieval-themed world. Phil, Quackity, and Tommy are dragon hunters. Wilbur’s a mischievous dragon sorcerer who enjoys shapeshifting into a dragon to mess with people. The hunters were originally sent after him, but spent more time frantically running for their lives while he laughed at them.

Wilbur’s actually good friends with the actual Enderdragon, who he calls Keithette. It was with her blessing that he decided to pick on the hunters.

He just spends all of his time messing with them. That’s all he does. He messes with them. It’s originally more malicious, which means they had a ridiculous amount of deaths, but they eventually all grew fond of each other, so now it’s more playful.

He helps them find treasure and scares off rivals.

Tommy’s a trained medic.

Quackity and Wilbur are...something? It’s a Skephalo situation. They could just be very affectionate friends, or they could be dating, or they could be messing with everyone. Nobody knows, and everytime they think they’ve figured it out, the two seem to magically know and do something to throw them off.

They’ve confused many, many people with their antics.

(They’re probably messing with people though, because they definitely know what they’re doing)

When the actual Enderdragon and her egg mysteriously went missing, Wilbur rounded up his friends and asked for their help in finding her-so now the group is on a quest to find her and return her to the End.

Natural Disaster Mod AU:

Universe where world ending natural disasters just keep happening. It killed off a lot of people, but honestly, at this point, it’s been going on for years, and those that remain are pretty used to it.

Tubbo and Wilbur are followers of the Mule God, and were brought together by him. Jack and Tommy are two good friends who came together to survive. And Phil’s a top-tier survivalist who keeps an eye on the four, mostly because he’d feel bad if they died too often while they live in the area.

Though they’re all three different groups, they stick together and help each other out.

Tommy and Tubbo were childhood friends before the disasters separated them. A young Jack found Tommy and took him in, and Tubbo was saved and blessed by the Mule God. They’re still friends, but have somewhat grown apart with their differing lifestyles.

Tommy’s a penguin hybrid.

Tubbo and Wilbur have been known to try and scam people passing by, and they have tried this with everyone in the area too-the difference is the ones who stick around know better than to buy it.

Whenever Tommy wants to hang out, he declares he’s rescuing Tubbo, and steals him from whatever he’s doing. Wilbur has long since accepted that occasionally Tubbo is going to be stolen, and doesn’t even blink anymore.

Tommy wears green, and Tubbo wears red.

Storm riding is a favored sport of Tubbo’s, where you grab a hang glider and get swept up into the storm. Jack hates it, but often gets dragged along anyway.

Morph Mod AU:

Universe where shapeshifters are more common, and Tommy, Charlie, Phil, Schlatt, and Wilbur are all a clan of them.

They co-exist with humans, and actually protect the local villages they live close too.

They also spend a lot of time messing with people outside said villages, but that’s unimportant.

Charlie and Wilbur prefer to be aquatic creatures. while Phil transforms into whatever works better for the environment he’s in. Schlatt just does whatever, and Tommy usually sticks to human form, only shifting when he’s bored or he needs too.

Wilbur tried to transform into a horse once, while in fish form. He’s not sure what exactly happened, but long story short, he’s the reason for the myth of the hippocampus.

They have a house in the village, one out, and then general little areas meant for them in animal form.

Because shapeshifters are strongly group-oriented, they prefer to shift in pairs or groups. Charlie and Wilbur typically pair up, as do Schlatt and Tommy. Philza doesn’t really have that instinct as strongly, so he just stays close to them instead.

Laser Eye Mod AU:

Universe set in a futuristic setting, where, due to an ancient void deity becoming malicious, Tommy, Phil, Charlie, and Wilbur are selected to become plasma wielding cyber warriors(futuristic magical girls, basically) to fight back against such threats.

These four’s cybernetics were embued with magic to produce specific plasma that would be effective against threats.

Phil wields divine plasma, and it’s fired out from his cybernetic wings, which were implanted as a military experiment. He can even detach a feather to act as a plasma covered sword.

Tommy wields phoenix plasma, and it’s fired out of his cybernetic eyes, which were transplanted into him when he was in an accident young, rendering him blind. They allow him to see by scanning out the outlines of objects and areas, and feeding the image into his brain.

Wilbur wields soulfire plasma, which is fired from his prosthetic legs, which have a kind of mermaid-motif, with fins and all, and make him a fast swimmer.

And Charlie wields greekfire plasma, fired from his cybernetic arm-it can also fire slime-like globs that rapidly grow and incase the area they’re attached too.

Wilbur was actually the first selected for the program, but he went missing shortly after, stolen and controlled by the void deity, who turned him into quite the obstacle for the others.

They eventually rescued him from it’s control, and after he recovered, he joined the fight.

Endermen and endermen hybrids are common minions of the void deity-it seems to have End-based origins, being able to control them.

Lava Ravine Mod AU:

Universe where Phil, Charlie, Wilbur, and Tommy are all strangers, who get a mysterious invite to an unknown world. It seems like a lovely vacation at first, strangers aside, but things turn deadly when a seemingly normal ravine in the ground begins to grow, the lava inside it begins to rise, and our heroes find themselves unable to leave the world.

They soon realized they may have been selected for their ability to survive, but to do that, they’re going to have to all work together.

Tommyinnit originates from the world of RLcraft, Phil grew up in Hardcore Mode, Charlie is a fallen god from a world of chaos, and Wilbur has lived through a world like this before.

They build a giant glass and stone dome, and live within there, using their various skills to survive.

Wilbur pretty much knows how this world works to a T, and is able to predict when the lava will raise and how quickly. He knows how to survive and work around the heat.

Tommy and Phil have a variety of skills from their lives before, not limited to first aid and cooking.

And Charlie’s got a bit of godly power he can put to good use here, as well as many out-of-the-box ideas for what to do.

Charlie brought a card-game from his old world, and teaches Wilbur how to play. It becomes a favorite past time of theirs.

Jump Mod AU:

Universe where enhanced individuals have recently begun to exist. Tommy, Wilbur, and Quackity are some of many who choose to use their new abilities for their own gain, becoming thieves. They were taken under the wing of master thief Philza, who was in the game long before he gained his new powers.

Or, well, they were thieves. A job gone wrong resulted in them being caught by authorities, and forced into a deal. Once thieves for their own gain, now they’re agents for the government, stealing back what was stolen from their country.

All of them are generally more physically enhanced, with agility, endurance, and all that jazz. But they also have other abilities.

Tommy’s faster than anyone. Wilbur can refract light, essentially becoming invisible. Phil can communicate with birds. And Quackity can change the density of anything he touches, himself excluded.

Philza was actually caught because he stayed behind for his new partners. He had realized someone was looking into them, and didn’t want the younger ones going into that alone.

TNT Mod AU:

Universe where everyone is a mob hybrid, and they live divided in tribes. Tommy, Phil, Charlie, and Wilbur are a tribe/keg of creeper hybrids, who protect their territory, and cause havoc for any trespassers who happens upon them.

No one dares settle there, because these four are just as likely to swear a village’s protection as they are to laugh as they set it ablaze. It’s purely up to how they feel at the moment, finicky keg that they are.

However, there is a reason some do venture here.

Every tribe/(name for grouping of specific mob) guards a certain treasure. For the creeper boys, it’s an orchard of apple trees that grow, not only red apples, but gold ones too-and rarely, a god apple.

If you do happen to stumble upon their territory unintentionally, your best bet is to appeal to Wilbur, as he does have a soft spot for people-of course, you’ll need to make sure none of the others think you’re taking advantage of that soft spot, lest they slowly and painfully kill you for even considering it.

Creepers are very friendly to them, and see them as one of their own. Other mobs, not so much.

The orchard is surrounded by a dense forest, that’s abruptly lets up to a clearing that rings around it. This is where the keg lives, in high tree houses all connected to one another.

Their forest is their pride and joy, and it’s filled with many exotic trees and plants from around the world. Bringing them an addition for it is a sure way to assure your survival, and even gain an alliance, if it’s a really good addition.

Likewise, messing it up even slightly will immediately get you murdered.

Black Hole Mod AU:

Universe where the sun exploded and became a black hole that’s slowly consuming the world. Though many perished, some survived, with the advanced technology in the future.

Wilbur, Charlie, Phil, and Tommy are some of those survivors.

Charlie is a scientist, studying the black hole to see if there’s anyway to perhaps stop it, or survive within it once it consumes them.

Phil’s a former mercenary who came to the lab with Tommy, after finding the young student stumbling about the remains of a city.

Wilbur’s the former on-board scientist from the crew that first encountered the black hole. He was originally presumed dead, but suddenly reappeared one day, and was found nearby by Phil, who dragged him to the lab. He’s...different. He’s seen things.

Charlie and Wilbur graduated from the same university, and were actually working in the same lab before Wilbur joined his crew in space for an up-close study.

Philza has a bad habit of adopting any creature he finds, and it’s become something of a joke by the four. He adopted Tommy, he’s adopted Wilbur and Charlie, and he has quite a few birds and other creatures that followed him back.

Body Shuffle Mod AU:

Universe where glitches a common sight, and humanity has evolved alongside them.

The world basically...well, I wouldn’t say revolves around? But glitches are a large part of life at this point, and players have specifically evolved to be able to work with them.

A common glitch includes the Body Glitch, where random body parts will seemingly vanish off a person without causing them harm or effecting them.

Tommy and Charlie are Takers, people who have a special, glitch-specific gene that allows them to take a glitch effecting a being or item, and pull that effect from said being/item, and upon themselves.

They’re equally loved and hated, considering the rarity of the gene, and what uses it could be employed for.

The two have a business that they use this ability to take and relocate glitches for various purposes.

Philza and Wilbur are the two’s bodyguards turned friends, who protect them from less savory people, and suss out the ones with bad intentions.

Gas Mod AU:

Universe set in a modern fantasy world where a mysterious gas suddenly overtook the planet. Many died. A few survived-but for some of them, that was the crueler fate, as the mysterious gas began to make them monsterous creatures that sought flesh and blood.

Tommy, Charlie, Phil and Wilbur are the scattered survivors in a city overtaken by the gas, banding together to fight back the monsters born from the green fog, and stay alive.

Wilbur was formerly a cartographer on a ship. He’s also half siren, and his most priceless possession is a diamond dagger given to him by his former captain.

Charlie is a doctor, as well as a wizard. His magic pet is a slime-like dragon. Yeah, he’s not sure where the little guy came from either.

Phil got a whole cocktail of heritage, but most are sky-related, so he’s got a strong grasp on air magic, which he uses to create safe bubbles for the gang to breathe freely.

And Tommy’s a low tier human-turned demon after death- an imp, basically. He causes havoc.

They all have to wear gas mask, which are heavily enchanted to keep the gas from affecting them.

The group basically just has a weirdly domestic life in the abandoned city, after they cleared out an abandoned apartment building to chill in.

Surgery Mod:

Universe where the gang are the experiments of a mad scientist having escaped.

Tommy is a poison-based experiment, Wilbur is a Nether-based one, Philza is an End-based experiment, and Charlie is an Over-world based one.

They were all grouped together in a cell because the older three are part of the Dimension Project, and Tommy accidentally imprinted on Wilbur when he was created, meaning he would have died if he was separated from him.

The four eventually decide that they hate this life, and stage a break out with the rest of the guys experiments.

Once they escaped, they decided to travel the world as a family, exploring everything they’d never had the chance to see, and finding where they belonged in this place.

Lava Floor Mod AU:

Universe where all the oceans in the world have been replaced by lava. For Ninja, Tommy, Wilbur, and George, their get-along vacation goes south when they’re stranded alone on a chain of distant islands, far from any sign of civilization.

If they ever hope to survive, they’ll have to put their issues to the side and work together to get to the one place unaffected-the Nether.

Tommy ‘Smokes’ Notfound, and Wilbur ‘Soot’ Fortnite are the two children of the struggling couple George ‘Specs’ Notfound and Ninja ‘Bow’ Fortnite, who haven’t seen each other in years, despite still being married.

The two, knowing how close their kids were, agree to meet up so the two can hang out, which is why they ended up on this vacation on the first place.

Wilbur and Smokes would really appreciate if their parents could get along too-it’d make vacation a lot nicer without all the tension. And yes, they could worry about all the oceans turning to lava, but they won’t. Instead, they’re going to be gremlins who try to get their parents to make up, whether that means divorce, or becoming a happy couple again.

Rising Void Mod AU:

Universe where the planets are being eaten by the void. Tommy, Philza, and Quackity are all aliens who managed to escape the demise of their home planets, and crashed landed on Earth, with the intention of warning them of what was coming.

Unfortunately, the only guy around for miles is Ranboo, a conspiracy theorist who prefers his isolated mountain cabin to the city...and also is in complete denial about the existence of aliens, even if they’re standing right in front of him.

Quackity is from a planet where ores and gems have a large part of fashion culture.

Tommy’s planet was the first to fall. However, Quackity was the one who was closest to be touching, and it leaves side effects-like him occasionally hearing it’s eldritch whispering calling for him to surrender himself to it and stop fighting-

But, y’know. It’s fine. It’s all good.

(Although he does happen to be the most aware of their inevitable fate, and uses humor to cope with the knowledge that no matter how hard they try, he and these people he’s grown to care for are going to die, and there’s absolutely no way to stop that)

Sky Grid Mod AU

Universe where Ranboo is a young, lonely god born to a grid-formed world. Though he has made many interesting creations, he decides he wants someone like him. Who can listen, and answer, and love, and hate.

And the universe loves him, so it answers.

It finds two souls who’ve died too young, and puts them into his hands to mold as he wishes. One, he creates in colors of green, like grass, and emeralds, and poison alike. The other, he creates in colors of red, like lava and poppies, and warm beds.

Their names are Tubbo and Tommy, and they’re different than what he thought they’d be. They cannot be controlled or remade, but they can bleed, and they can laugh, and most importantly, they can make choices.

And they choose to love him, taking him in their embrace as a friend, treating him kindly, and as one of their own, regardless of his power or abilities.

The three make a home in the gridded world, finding themselves and never fearing the fall, because the world loves both it’s godling, and the people made within it.

Terraforming The Moon AU:

Universe where the remains of humanity have fled to the moon upon the destruction of earth. They unintentionally awake age-old space deities, who, luckily for them, feel like lending a hand-mostly.

Wilbur is the only actual deity of the moon, but the rest of the SBI spend more time there than they don’t, because humans are interesting.

Tommy’s the youngest god, a deity of the stars within their young galaxy-it’s a position that was passed onto him by the former star deity, Clara.

Technoblade is the deity of both Mars and Venus. He’s actually been to Earth a few times before it’s destruction, and finds their cultures fascinating-particularly the Greek and Romans.

Philza is the god of the End. The oldest, he’s not just a deity, he’s a primordial of the end of all things. Truthfully, it was the very end of Earth that awoke him from his slumber, and it’s former inhabitants interesting lives that keep him awake.

They all pick a human to favor, and help out. Changes on the day.

Honestly, they aren’t necessarily malicious? They don’t really consider the fact that humans don’t have the same limitations and powers as them, so occasionally they fuck something up that somebody worked hard on, and don’t understand why they don’t just fix it already, not realizing that the humans actually have to take awhile to do that.

One Hundred Player Laboratory AU:

Universe set in modern time.

Wilbur and Technoblade are two university students trying to do a study for their finals-unfortunately, the rats they were supposed to use are both oddly sentient, and incredibly chaotic.

Techno and Wilbur are doing a study of behavior, and other scientific things. To do this, Techno has built a large, complex maze/building thing.

And Wilbur purchased a bunch of rats-except, he probably should have been a bit more careful who he bought from, becomes these rats definitely understand human speech, are all not normally colored, and desire to be as annoying and detrimental to their grades as possible.

To put it lightly, it’s not going well.

George’s If You Laugh You Lose Rematch AU:

Universe set in a chaotic, light-hearted world.

Sapnap, Karl, George, and Dream are some of the world’s residents.

Karl and Dream are chaotic shapeshifters who enjoy messing with George.

Sapnap’s a mischievous nether spirit who likes to team up and help them do it.

Karl can shift into objects, and Dream can turn into animals.

The whole world is comedic, and all it’s residents have a permanent case of the giggles-to the point of making a game of how long one can hold off laughing.

Sapnap usually takes the form of an enderman or enderman hybrid

#dream smp #dream smp au #tubbo #ranboo #tommyinnit #philza #technoblade #charlie slimecicle #quackity #georgenotfound #dreamwastaken #karl jacobs #wilbur soot #sapnap #Bits And Bobs of AUs And Mods AU

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aerialflight · 4 years ago

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Fic Recs (cause it's always nice to give a shout out and get people into things I'm into rn)

[The Magnus Archives] (I recently finished the podcast and I fell into a hole for a while so here you go)

Sing a Song of Sixpence by Kaiel

Ship: Jon/Martin

In which Jonathan Sims is a Siren, and he fails to notice any new abilities granted to him by the position of Archivist. Or really anything about the Entities at all.

Takes place in season 1 featuring Jonah Magnus’s slow decent into madness

(The new mythology interwoven with tma's worldbuilding is so freaking good and I love how all the characters change and develop because of these changes. Also, f you Elias)

Along Came a Spider by Dribbledscribbles

Ship: implied Jon/Martin

Sasha James is the Archivist, as expected. Martin Blackwood is menaced by Jane Prentiss, as expected. Elias Bouchard weaves his web, as expected.

All goes as it should.

At least until something calling itself Jonathan Sims steps in.

(Web!Jon in this makes me want to weep, it's so freaking good. A pretty long, very excellent oneshot on what could've happened if Jon got taken by the web when he was a kid. And Sasha as the Archivist is ALWAYS so cool, we love her in this house.)

A Break in the Clouds by Ash_Rabbit

“I’m eight.” the kid sniffs as if eight was any different from four, maybe not an unspeakable horror then, just a regular horror. “And I heard that the Magnus Institute deals with-” his little nose scrunches, cute. “-spooky things.”

“Do you have a-” he cracks a grin, and then rethinks it as small hands tighten against their burden.”-spooky thing to deliver?” gods he hopes not, it’s bad enough when adults walk in and lay out all of their baggage, but for a child-

“There’s a spider in this book.” the kid says solemnly, raising his textbook sized parcel. “It ate Evan Pritchard.” a bloody fucking Leitner. Of course an eight year old would find a murder spider book. “This seemed like the best place to bring it.”

(I never thought about what the Original Elias could've been like AND NOW I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF THIS FIC. I LOVE HIM, HE'S COMPLEX AND HE CARES AND JON CARES AND THEY BOTH CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER. THIS IS THE CONTENT I WANT, OMG. Also, Jon being even smaller than usual is adorable, so cute. No wonder Elias wants to hug him, a LOT.)

See the Line where the Sky meets the Sea by The_Floating_World

Ship: Jon/Martin, Jon/Oliver Banks

When Jon is a child he looks into the infinite abyss of space. The Vast looks back into him.

(One of my all time fave fics in this fandom, no questions asked. I have reread this three times and am open to doing it again, god. Vast!Jon, such a concept. It's written so beautifully and the relationships Jon develops, so good. ugh. My heart. Please please read.)

Sweet As Roses by Prim_the_Amazing

Ship: Jon/Martin

“Come in, Martin,” he says, not looking up from his notes.

“Hi, Jon,” he says, and Jon stops writing at the sound of his voice. “We’re out of the green tea, but we’ve got lemon?”

Jon looks at him. Martin smiles at him in his usual tentative way as he sets the mug of tea down on Jon’s desk. Heat spikes so sharply in his gut that he twitches with it.

“Thank you, Martin,” he says, mouth dry, and he stands up.

“Oh,” he says, sounding almost surprised. He smiles again. “No-- no problem-- um, what are you--”

Jon takes Martin by the shoulders, leans up on the tips of his toes, and kisses him.

(You have no idea how much I howled through this fic, my god. *buries face in hands* The number of times I wanted to cry from sheer hilarity and horror reading this good lord.)

Things Could Always Be Worse by theOestofOCs

Ship: Jon/Martin, Georgie/Melanie

Sometimes, the most horrifying thing of all is what might have been.

Somewhere, Jon could swear he heard a crowd laughing.

Or: in which Jonathan Sims is forced to swap places with his alternate self—a tall, chivalrous hero extraordinaire, who knows neither fear nor nuance—and is sent to the aggressively straight alternate universe the Magnus Archives was never meant to be.

“Whatever place this is,” Jon announced, “I just want to be sure it knows I hate it.”

(I will say this once, THIS IS THE MOST CURSED THING IVE EVER READ EVER. Like holy hell. I can't believe this thing exists. please read it oh please please please)

[Supernatural]

heard from your mother (she don't recognize you) by Schmuzz

Ship: Dean/Cas, Jessica/Sam

A man named Cas wakes up in 2003 with no memories, but he's able to piece together a few things:

1. Supernatural creatures exist, and most of them will hurt innocent civilians if he doesn't stop them; 2. He has abilities that no human hunter should have, but he knows enough about human hunters to keep that to himself, and finally; 3. He keeps running into another hunter named Dean Winchester, who seems to be about as lonely as he is if he's willing to put up with those former facts long enough to help Cas unravel the mystery of who (or what) he really is.

For his part, Dean's still (not) dealing with Sam's departure to Stanford, and figures distracting himself with a bit of mystery and intrigue is as harmless as it gets, right? Right.

(THE fic I'm most into right now, been following this from the very start and it's AMAZING. Cas has agency and is making friends and S1 Dean is growing out of John's influence and is becoming a Person and the both of them first being friends then more. The slow burn as their relationship develops, SO GOOD. SO SO DAMN GOOD. *screams* Seriously one of the best spn fics I've read in a long, long time.)

anamnesis by cenotaphy

Ships: Castiel/Dean, Sam/Eileen

Chuck is depowered, Jack is the new god, and the world is free. Dean and Sam get into the Impala and chase down the miles on an endless highway, and their story is finally, finally their own to follow. At least, that's what Dean tells himself. But the diners and motels and painted interstate lines are blurring together and the smallest details keep catching at his brain like tiny fishhooks and he can't quite shake the feeling that not everything is exactly as it should be.

* Fix-it/alternate series finale. Canon-compliant through the end of 15.19.

(THIS IS THE FIC THAT GOT ME THROUGH THE FINALE OKAY. WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE BEEN CANON. It's Disturbing and honestly plot-wise this makes more sense. Why couldn't we have had this. *screams*)

[Avatar: The Last Airbender]

where the stars do not take sides by WitchofEndor

Ship: Sokka/Zuko

When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them.

Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

(The fact one of the tags in this fic is, "Sibling Dynamic: Fucked Up But Wholesome" should give you an idea what this fic is like. Chaotic as HELL and I just love Azula here, she loves Zuko so much in her messed up way and Zuko loves her back in the exact same way lol. It's batshit and I am Here For This.)

[Naruto]

Eclipse by AislingRoisin (JayBird345) for HybrisAnaideia

Ship: Nara Shikaku/OFC

"In life, it's easier to remain stagnant and wallow in your troubles. But life isn't merely about continued existence, nor is it meant to be gone through alone."

(This is a fic that's slept on and I NEED people to read this. A self-insert fic that I find really interesting in its approach and the worldbuilding for the post-third war shinobi world is fantastic. I feel like there's a certain pattern with self-insert fics, not that is a detriment in any way to how much I enjoy them, so this fic feels fresh to me in a way I haven't read in a while. I am waiting eagerly for this to get updated! Please read!)

On Freedom and Other Formalities by iaso

Ship: Kakashi/Genma/OFC

When push comes to shove, Hiwa Inuzuka doesn't go down easy. Reborn into a new, dangerous world? She puts her past life as a spy to work. Thrown into a war? Hiwa does her duty, for Konoha. And when she's forced into an arranged marriage? All there is to do is beat them to the punch and get married first. Thankfully, Genma Shiranui is willing to lend a hand. Literally. SI/OC

(Listen, LISTEN, it's about the slow burn, the longing, the communication (it both has and hasn't and isn't THAT great??), the messy way you fit three very different people together, it's so freaking good! Also, Kakashi is so Chaotic here this is my fave characterization of him, you can't change my mind. And Genma is a Good Boi who is Doing His Best, along with the Self-insert character who I LOVE SO MUCH, SHE'S FANTASTIC FNEIWOPAF. Sped past this fic in the speed of light, I could not stop reading!)(Honestly, read all of the author's fics, they're all really REALLY good!)

Building a Castle by WhisperingDarkness

Without needing anyone to tell her, Sakura knew that talking to someone no-one else could see or hear would make her weird. It would draw the bad kind of attention to her, something people could make fun of her for.

She didn’t like being weird, but she did like the voice. Her inner voice was helpful and it was a part of her that had always been there. The idea of it not being there would have been so much weirder than anything else.

It was during her first year at the Academy that Sakura realised the voice was not in her head at all, but that it came from a cloudy shape floating next to her.

(Basically a short-ish retelling of Hikaru no Go. Only with more Shogi and Nara and Ninja's)

(Sakura can see ghosts (I'm noticing this is a popular trope for her) and it's really cute haha! Her relationship with Tobirama is sweet and I just enjoyed reading this so much.)

[The Magicians]

So Long (And Thanks For All The Books) by IncompleteSentanc (Erava)

Ships: Quentin/Eliot, James/Julia, Quentin/Margo/Eliot

When Quentin is told Julia wasn't admitted to Brakebills, he realizes he has a drastic decision in front of him. If he tells Julia about magic, he'll have his mind wiped as well as hers. But he can't just leave her behind, either. He can't lose his best friend, and he can't let her life a life with her magical potential stolen away from her.

So he makes a third choice.

(Really, and I mean REALLY well-done canon divergent fic, this is the Quentin & Julia friendship fic I have been looking for forever. It explores so much of what could've happened and I just love Quentin here, I really really do. Characterization done so right. I also recommend the author's other works too. Been a follower of them for a long time, they're great.)

[Game of Thrones]

The Road to Victory by writing_as_tracey

Too late in preparing for the Night King and the Long Night, the last stand at Winterfell is close to falling. Bran takes desperate measures to ensure victory, and Jon, Sansa, and Arya pay the price for it in a time unfamiliar to them, on the cusp of another war. [GoT, time-travel fix it]

(I swear, this fic made me laugh so many times, all the Stark are BAMF and fantastic, and Rhaegar gets Wrecked lol. It's crack btw, and the plot goes in directions you'll never guess and it's amazing hahaha!)

[Haikyuu!!] (I am very very late to the fandom but here I am)

Ballare (To Dance) by MidnightSparks

Ship: Iwaizumi Hajime/Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, and platonic Kageyama & Kentarou (really love their friendship)

Kageyama’s first love is volleyball. His second, however, is ballet.

In one world, Kageyama Tobio is left behind by his parents. In this world, the existence of soulbonds keeps Kageyama’s parents in Miyagi and leaves Kageyama in the care of his grandma and grandpa.

(In which soulmates exist and that changes everything and nothing at the same time.)

(*buries face in hands* I have fallen for this ship so hard and I can't get out fudge me. I understand now. Their DYNAMICS FIEWONPAF)

Kings of Tomorrow by bokubroya (liarielle)

Ship: Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru

On the eve of Tobio’s 16th birthday, he counts down the seconds to midnight, and emerges with Oikawa Tooru’s name on his wrist.

It’s been two years since then, and Tobio thought they had an understanding. A silent, never spoken about understanding that this thing between them is nothing, and they’re going to pretend it doesn’t exist.

Of course, it’s just like Oikawa to change the game and leave Tobio wondering what comes next.

(I am WEAK for soulmate fics between these two, I don't even really like soulmate fics half the times what is WRONG WITH ME-)(Please suffer with me, I'm begging you. Its a good fic, thumbs up.)

[Crossover]

Honey and Magic by JustARatherVerySillyWriter, White_Squirrel for Super Carlin Brothers

Fandoms: Matilda (yeah you read that right), Harry Potter

Everyone knew Matilda was a rather extraordinary child, but even she didn't know she was a witch. Matilda Honey receives her Hogwarts letter in the year of the Triwizard Tournament, and soon, she will leave her unique mark on the magical world.

(Do I even need to explain how amazing it is to have Matilda in the wizarding world? And Matilda is a HUFFLEPUFF AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL THIS FIC IS GREAT PLEASE READ!!!)

An Eye for an Eye by DpsMercy

Fandoms: The Magnus Archives, Welcome to Night Vale

In which Jonathan Sims is not from the UK but instead, if you took his origins and turned them sideways twice then flipped them over, he technically would be from the US, the town of Night Vale specifically. Elias can’t do shit about it and gets a headache and slowly creeping madness instead.

(Look, I know probably everyone has read this because if they haven't, what have you been DOING with your lives??? Jon interning at Night Vale is Incredible, nothing phases this man, it's Delightful. I laughed so many times reading this, I'm not even kidding right now. Read or perish.)

The Favour by R_Cookie

Fandoms: Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Ship: Original Percival Graves/Harry Potter

Percival is ten years old when his grandfather tries to tell him that he's ensured the greatness of the Graves legacy for him, that he ought to be eternally grateful - but the explanation is hijacked by a stranger who manages to intimidate Chester Graves with an ease never seen before.

or: Hadrian (Harry) Potter is the Master of Death, who grants Graves a boon. Nobody could have known that the Deathly Hallows didn't turn you so much into the 'Master of Death' as into the anthropomorphic personification of Death. And so, Death becomes Percival's guardian angel, and Percival does not spit out his cereal.

(Look, I don't know how I stumbled back into the FBAWTFT fandom either, it just happened and I'm grateful for that. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found this amazing fic. Their relationship is slow and strange and I just love how Percival is characterized here. Also, one of the tag promises that it deviates from canon so I am really, really excited for that! XD)

baby that's what i do by natanije

Fandoms: Naruto, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!

"Are you telling me," Hidan exclaims, incredulous, "that you collect money all this time to give to orphans?!"

Kakuzu pauses. He blinks a few times.

"Huh. I guess I do."

(Tsuna reincarnates as Kakuzu and it's HILARIOUS. HE'S SUCH A MOM HAHAHA)

#Fanfiction #AO3 #Fic Rec #Fic Rec List #Podcasts #The Magnus Archives #Supernatural #Avatar The Last Airbender #Naruto #The Magicians #Game of Thrones #Haikyuu!!#Crossover #Matilda #Welcome to Night Vale #Harry Potter #Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them #Katekyou Hitman Reborn

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teeth-and-tea · 4 years ago

Text

ANIME & MANGA I HAVE BINGED IN THE LAST MONTH: May 2021

I've Been Hunting Slimes for the Past 300 Years and Now Ive Maxed Out My Level: incredibly long name aside, cute af slice of life that suffers Same Face Syndrome. I'm still happy to watch it because of how feel good and fluffy it is though, Im probably gonna forget about it in two or three years tho. 8/10.

Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro: I found out this was a webcomic first and suddenly all the HORNINESS made so much more sense. A Femdom, Degradation, Humiliation, Dacryphilia Bullies to Lovers story disguised as a high school rom-com which, I'm not going to lie, misses SKEEVY CITY by mere inches on a regular basis. However, I'm a Dom/Switch and this entire relationship sets off my dom brain center like New York City just shy of midnight. So if you're into that sort of scene, this anime is for you. If not, it's still fascinating but you're probably gonna be a little put off by how mean the Girl!Bully is to the guy MC. Unless you find out something about yourself, in which case, congrats! Stay safe, sane, consensual, and learn about the traffic light system on top of safe words, I promise you'll have a better life in general after that. Still Ongoing, currently 10/10.

Fruits Basket: IM GONNA CRY I LOVE THIS ANIME SO MUCH???? The original anime came out when I was in... I think middle school and my parents were really strict on what I watched so I never got to experience the first wave and I never bothered to watch the show ever after I moved out of the house years later. However, now that I'm much older I honestly can say this is one of my favorite anime to date, and all the characters are charming, lovable, with their own problems that I can connect to or sympathize with, and I love the MC which is always a treat tbh. Except Akito. Akito can suck a sandpaper dick. I'm only on S2 tho so no spoilers! Anime 11/10.

Monster Girl Doctor: went in thinking it was gonna be a monster girl who's a doctor with a homoerotic assistant (her name is SAPPHY okay sue me for thinking it) and ended up watching the entire dubbed harem series. Honestly, I've seen worse and this one has consistent follow-through on interesting characters and backstory enough for me to shove aside the blatant under-monstrousness of the female monsters and the harem-ness of everything else. Dubbing is honestly really good, which is a treat, and the monster designs are not the worst and the MC is tolerable. Honestly, I don't mind having watched it! The mix of cgi and the traditional animation together work pretty strangely though, and it often doesn't flow super well. 7.5/10

So I'm a Spider, So What: Dubbed version which honestly isn't that bad. Took me a bit to get into it, but after realizing that it's got a mismatched timeline a la The Witcher, it made so much more sense. Heavily done in cgi, and you can definitely tell between the 2D and 3D animations, but not the worst in the world. I went in not expecting much but it ended up being an Issekai I can stand and even enjoy. On god has a decent story... with the spider. I'd be a liar if I didnt say I skipped some of the human parts just to get back to the best part of the show. 8/10.

Somali and the Forest Spirit: I'm so fucking nostalgic for this thing it makes me want to go and hug my dad. About a human girl under threat of being eaten with a monster-dominated world. Very obvious "humans fear what they don't understand" message but instead of the humans learning tolerance it's what happens when they get annihilated first so like, kudos for the mangaka for having the guts to do that. I cried like a baby regularly. It's really good, I watched the dub and ID WATCH IT AGAIN!!! 9/10.

To Your Eternity: Oh my god. O h my g o d. Fell in love on the first episode, ngl. About if an immortal being learned how to be a person from scratch. I love it. HOWEVER. Keep a box of tissues on you at all times because you're gonna need them. I'm only on EP7 because that's all that's out right now but just know. I love it. Not for everyone but certainly for my "what do we define as human and the human condition" ass. 12/10.

Those Snow White Notes: A sports anime without any sports. About shamisen playing which is cool because I never realized how cool this instrument was??? Its neat af. OP1&2 are by Burnout Syndrom so know theyre fire. Gonna be real, its pretty alright, but not extraordinary. You can tell they were using the characters as archetypes rather than actually characters which kinda kills a lot of the emotional value you could've had, but I'm still gonna watch it. It doesn't make me cringe as hard as other sports anime tho so I consider it toptier in that regards but if you're a big sports anime fan you might be bummed out by it. Every single musical performance is INCREDIBLE tho. A solid 8/10.

Toilet Bound Hanako-kun: THE ART OMFG IT'S SO GORGEOUS. Listen, if you took coptic markers and gave them an animation budget with some manga panel direction thrown in there, that's this anime. It's beautiful. Gorgeous. I'm in love with the aesthetic every second. Story? Really good. Characters? I love the MC and his evil little twin brother asshat. Demons? Not super imaginative but I'm carrying on happy as can be anyways. Dubbing? A bit shaky at times but I found the voices charming if a little off for some of them. I'm already waiting for the second season with popcorn at the ready. 10/10.

Prison School: I watched this directly after Hanako-kun and it was like I got slapped in the face by sweaty unwashed titties and some fedora wearing schmuck's piss kink. No character is likable or redeemable. I finished it, but at what cost? 2/10 and only because a character shit his pants and I laughed.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle: watched this right after Prison School and it was NECESSARY tbh. Its so CUTE and honestly, im not even kidding you, the fucking funniest anime I've seen in months. I watched the dub and the VAs are having the time of their lives working on this anime not just giving it their all but literally just going ham. Its great. If I read this im sure id be bored outta my mind but the VAs giving it a joyous performance make it an insta fave for me tbh. 9/10.

Sk8 the Infinity: i watched the dub with my bro and I can confirm that its a spectacular show because we both loved it and we have vastly different tastes. Incredibly SUSPENSFUL AND STRESSFUL for an anime about skateboarding but we finished it in a single sitting tbh. The last episode is not dubbed for some reason but we still loved it. Like if Free! was less obnoxious but the only fan-service here is Joe ♡ a beefcake who owns my lesbian heart. I think there's exactly one named female character tho and I legit couldn't tell you what it was if there was a gun to my head. So, over all, 9.5/10.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: I'm going to be entirely honest, I went in thinking it was going to be a boring isekai of no value. I was right about the Isekai part. It was honestly pretty interesting and focused on nation building like you're playing civilization rather than the usual "Get Stronger" narrative or "Get Some Pussy" narrative most isekais take which is delightfully refreshing. Granted there are flavors of that in this which means it doesn't alienate the big isekai watchers out there, but it's not the whole dish and it doesn't make me want to cringe the same way others do. You've got a slime MC just vibing and building a nation of monsters nbd. Does lose points for making the female monsters more humanoid than their male counterparts but makes them back by only doing perfunctory fan-service and nothing that makes me want to cry... except the butt sumo episode but in fairness it was all a terrible dream. Literally, the MC refuses to dream anymore after that. solid animation, decent voice acting, decent story, made me realize how HUGE this is in the Light Novel community???? There's like 18 fucking novels and that's WILD. 8.5/10.

MANGA:

Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono: a one shot special by the mangaka of The Promised Neverland! Honestly a really delicate touch of both super creepy and really touching, and I'm not gonna lie I'm bummed that this isn't a bigger project but the single chapter makes it a good taste for their style. I've been wondering if I wanna read/watch The Promised Neverland and now I think I will. 10/10

Deranged Detective Ron Kamonohashi: from the mangaka of Hitman Reborn comes this Sherlock and Watson derivative! Not even 20 chapters out yet with a sort of spotty schedule, I honestly love it even thought it's exactly as you expect. HOWEVER. Kamonohashi the "Sherlock" character uses mental pressure to kill all confirmed murderers and it's up to Toto the "Watson" character to save all those people before Kamonohashi kills them! It's just recently introduced a "Moriarty" family of crime lords (not a big spoiler don't worry it was obvious) so the tension surrounding Ron's past is amping up rn. Personally, I think the art is GORGEOUS, the characters engaging, and the story quick enough to keep my interest. Most mysteries are solved within a chapter or two so you're not stuck 20 chapters into one locked room mystery which is just peachy tbh. RN, 10/10. If this gets an anime, I anticipate a legion of fangirls who ship the two main characters along with their many friends. I've been alive too long to believe otherwise.

Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro: Yeah I read the manga after I watched the show. A slower build than the anime, but it works for the format, if theyd done the same with the show then I don't think it wouldve done as well. Honestly? Cuter tbh but just as horny. You dont start really LEARNING about your character until like, chap 65 tho and no real "drama" happens until like 75. A good chunk of the chapters are like 8pgs so its a breeze to get through. I love these slow burn idiots of the century. 9.5/10 because you can DEFINITELY tell the mangaka does hentai too.

Yugen's All-Ghouls Homeroom: one-shot by the mangaka for Food Wars, it's no wonder there's this constant perviness from the MC, a guy who can see and exorcise spirits. Takes place at an all girl's finishing school with KICK ASS monsters tbh, kinda bummed its not longer. The MC? Blatant monsterfucker who is also a CONFRIMED monsterfucker???? Idk i vibe with that single emotion. Everything else is hit or miss. 7/10 for monsters and cool concept, lost points for the MC very pointedly being okay with admitting he'd wait for the teenagers to be adults tho. Creepy af. Could live without that.

Hell's Paradise: I finished the entire 127chps in 3 days and I was really enthusiastic about it 90% of the time thinking about how deep it was and then I actually thought about it and I ended up being very neutral about the whole thing tbh. The art is fantastic tho, but DEFINITELY deserving of the M rating. Tits. Tits everywhere. But not tits to be ecchi over, no, monster hermit tits on beautiful women-ish figures. Now generally I give that a pass but a huge theme in the story is that men and women are "no better than one or the other" but like, lady tits are what you see 99% of the time. Men tits are few and far between. I call bullshit on most of the "deep" themes is what I'm saying, so it's like the mangaka was trying for those deep thoughts but missed the margin a little too far for my preference. That being said, the MC is a married man who loves his wife which automatically makes him my favorite character so like... idk so many good things, so many misses, but overall really spectacular themes and imagery. Unique but classic all at once. It's getting an anime and I have NO IDEA how much censorship they're gonna be doing but they're going to be doing SO MUCH. Oh yeah, and one guy is a plant/human hybrid who fucks a 1000 year old plant-hermit which makes him a canon monster fucker. And one canon non-binary character who I, a nonbinary, actually like. So like... gosh I've got mixed feelings. 8.5/10.

Choujin X: From Sui Ishida, mangaka to the mega hit Tokyo Ghoul comes this brand new manga!... Of one chapter, lol. Not really binge-y because it's just the one chapter out right now but I'm already keeping my eye on it. The grasp on anatomy in the art is PHENOMENAL and you can see Ishida flexing his art skill which is great. Can't give a true rating but I'm giving it a tentative 9/10 because I'm excited to see more.

Shag&Scoob: technically not a manga, its an ongoing webcomic I binged an subscribed to in one day and I just think it deserves more attention. Starts off funny with "what if Scooby Doo had a gun" and has been led to "what if all cartoons are aliens that survive and receive their powers by the humans that love them in an epic war with Martians." On god, its good. I finished the current series in a couple hours so it's a breezy read, highly recommend it. 9/10.

To Your Eternity: Yeah I watched the anime and then finished all current 143 chapters in like 3 days. GOD IM WEAK. I don't buy physical manga unless I know I want to remember the story forever and I'm already budgeting for the current books out. Yeah, this is a good series. That being said, definitely not for the faint of heart or those who suffer under common triggers like suicide, molestation, death, etc. It's all framed as bad and necessary to the story don't get me wrong, but it's there and has lasting affects on the characters. Incredible story telling by the creator of A Silent Voice. Keep tissues nearby at all times. 12/10.

#i've been killing slimes for 300 years and maxed out my level #don't toy with me miss nagatoro #spirit photographer saburo kono #fruits basket #deranged detective ron kamonohashi #yugen's all-ghoul's homeroom #monster girl doctor #so i'm a spider so what #somali and the forest spirit #to your eternity #jigokuraku #hell's paradise #choujin x #shag and scoob #toilet bound hanako kun #prison school #sk8 the infinity #that time i got reincarnated as a slime

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maxwell-grant · 4 years ago

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Can we talk about the Black Bat both in general, and and how he may have been an influence on two superheroes (Dr. Mid-Nite and Daredevil) and a supervillain (Two-Face), but was proven in a court of law to have no connection with the superhero who immediately comes to mind (Batman).

Having finally read a couple of his original stories and runs, yeah I got some thoughts on him.

While not the first bat-themed pulp character, nor the first fictional detective with a disability turned superpower (that would be Max Carrados, who actually was blind), Black Bat’s main claim to fame nowadays is his correlation to superheroes with the mixed traits he has that would all become massively popularized by characters who debuted afterwards. Regarding the Batman lawsuit, it wasn’t so much proven that they have no connection, as much as the publishers of both characters argued they did it first, and then agreed to stay out of each other’s territory, with Batman staying out of pulp magazines and The Black Bat staying out of comics (not that it would stop his publishers from rebranding him as “The Mask” and doing comics).

Black Bat actually couldn’t have inspired Batman, because Batman debuted 4 months prior. Plus, both were already ripping off the same guy, and both of them were far from the first bat-themed pulp characters at the time. And the idea that he inspired Daredevil I find too much of a reach. Dr Mid-Nite I can definitely see the resemblance, and while Two-Face doesn’t have much similarities to Tony Quinn past the origin and the anti-hero aspects, “handsome crusading District Attorney disfigured after getting splashed in the face by acid goes on a rampage” is not exactly vague enough of a concept to pass for coincidence. Two-Face debuted just 3 years after Black Bat, while Bat was still a pretty successful character (he managed to outlast nearly every other pulp hero), so it’s very possible that Kane and Finger had a look at Black Bat’s origin and used it as the basis for their Jekyll & Hyde-themed villain.

Okay so, that’s that for Black Bat, but what’s the character actually like? What’s there to him other than historical oddities? Does he have what it takes to survive and thrive again in a modern landscape?

The thing that sticks out to me about Black Bat is that he is a pulp character who feels like he was designed specifically with the arrival of the superheroes in mind, as when comic book superheroes began to carve a space for themselves, one of the responses the pulps had was to put out new heroes intended to be a part of both worlds, hybrids of pulp heroes and superheroes who could try to capture success in either format, characters like Ka-Zar and Black Hood who started in one and then jumped to the other.

Black Bat’s got a lot of the usual hallmarks of dark detective pulp heroes and his adventures are largely him battling ordinary criminal masterminds and gangsters, but he’s got an iconic costume, he’s got a super dramatic origin story that the stories keep coming back to (unlike most pulp heroes whose origin stories are not usually mentioned), and he’s got superpowers brought in the aftermath of a tragic accident. Not just skills anyone can have by training hard enough, actual superpowers, even if they don’t see as much usage as his pulp hero skillset.

To the world that knew about him, Anthony Quinn, once a virile, upstanding representative of law forces whose name had held terror for evil doers, was now an impotent blind man whose sight had been permanently destroyed by acid thrown at him in a crowded courtroom, and whose face was horribly scarred about the eyes. For a long time he had seemed to live in a world apart.

Such actually had been the case during the long months when Tony Quinn had lived in a sea of blackness. But Nature had been as kind as possible, giving him something in return for what had been taken from him. As a result he had since realized that his senses of feel, smell, and hearing were far more acute than formerly. Under his sensitive fingers whatever he touched had begun to tell strange new stories. His sense of smell had sharpened. His ears had become the ears of a hound, picking up with ease and sifting multitudinous sounds that once had been inaudible.

More months had gone by until, in the darkness of a lonely night, a girl with golden hair and blue eyes hadcome in through an open window like an angel out of nowhere to offer him hope where eye specialists had said there was no hope. Through a delicate operation by an unknown small town surgeon the corneas of the eyes of Carol Baldwin's policeman father - dying from paralysis brought on by a gangster bullet - had been given to him. An extraordinary thing had occurred. When at last Tony Quinn had been allowed to remove the bandages, he had been astounded by the miracle that had happened. His were the eyes of darkness as well as the eyes of day!

Interestingly also, Black Bat actually became one of the most prolific of pulp heroes when brought over to Germany. When German publishers Pabel decided to reprint a couple of Black Bat novels for the KRIMINAL-ROMAN serial, they discovered “Die Schwarzen Fledermaus” was somehow so popular that in 1962, they retitled it Fledermaus (Bat) and ran with it, reprinting all the original 60+ stories and then, when those ran out, creating 900 more at least. In fact, it seems like they are still publishing Black Bat stories even today, and now that he’s public domain it’s something just about anyone could get into.

Problem with that is, it’s not easy to conceive of The Black Bat having any kind of substantial popularity again, when he’s doomed by design to always be compared to Batman, to always just be seen as first glance as “oh it’s earless Batman with Daredevil’s shtick and Two-Face’s backstory”, and of course he doesn’t have a chance in hell of playing catch-up to the popularity of those characters (well, at least outside of Germany). Whatever niche he could have as an alternative to Batman is also null by the fact that said niche of Not-Batmen is already filled out quite extensively. He doesn’t have an incredibly strong personality the way Batman and The Shadow do, nor is he, despite being ostensibly a serial killer, enough of a trigger-happy anti-hero to latch on to the appeal of characters like The Spider or Punisher. The latest Black Bat comic run by Dynamite played up his ruthlessness, outlaw status and drew him on the covers perpetually holding guns and often with a big creepy smile. But smiling murder pulp Batman is already a niche that Midnighter fills considerably better than Black Bat ever could. So what’s left for him?

If I had to find a unique niche for Black Bat, I’d play his unique traits in ways that separate him from the super characters that ran with those later. I’d ditch the whole “oh woe is me I’m poor and helpless because I’m blind” shtick that’s terribly condescending to actually blind people, and make him at least truly blind in some form. Maybe he’s blind by day and by night he sees too much, or maybe his vision has some terrible secrets that go beyond mere enhanced eyesight. Maybe his powers are growing and expanding in ways he doesn’t know where they will lead him. But alongside that, one take on the character could be based on the fact that he really has nothing to lose. He is not Batman, he is not The Shadow, he isn’t Daredevil, he’s got little reputation to speak of, and he’s never going to be any of those characters.

He’s lost the position he’s coveted his whole life, he’s lost the respect of his peers, his former professional ethics don’t mean shit now, he’s had a long and painful brush with darkness that scarred him for life in ways both literal and metaphorical, and in the aftermath he’s begun spontaneously developing abilities that would be incredibly painful and uncomfortable for an average person to just develop without years of growing up with them. And then, a mysterious woman walked through his window one day, gave him the eyes of a dead man, and now he sees things in ways no person was ever supposed to, and now he goes around at night terrorizing and killing criminals in an animal-themed costume.

The most he has to lose currently is the life of his sidekicks who’ve worked very hard to help him heal and focus and find a new purpose, which only means that they are on the chopping block everytime you wanna give a gut punch to Tony Quinn. And no matter how famous, or even great, his adventures are, or how prolific and successful he is or even has been, he’s always going to be the Bat-themed superhero who couldn’t cut it. He’s Not-Batman, stripped of all the grand splendour and allmighty self righteousness and reputation and role as foundational figure of an entire genre and most popular bestest superhero of all time ever praise be thy Bat God, sharing more traits with one of Batman’s most personal and tragic villains than the titular character.

That’s not an indictment, that just means that Black Bat ultimately should have more narrative freedom, since he is unburdened by reputation and status. He is a public domain nobody best known by his association with characters who eclipse him in popularity, who’s always going to have that accursed Bat prefix and costume to damn him by association, so why not work with it? He could be the character you go into to tell stories that you couldn’t tell with Batman or other big name superheroes, the grimiest, sickest, even weirdest crime tales of all. What does the Black Bat have to lose?

Those who have nothing to lose stand everything to gain, after all.

Also, Masks 2 once presented an alternative version of the character called The Black Bats, who dresses like a baseball player and dual-wields baseball bats, which is nutty and I’d definitely prefer Black Bat to ditch the generic pulp hero guns and instead just go crazy batting everything in his way.

“I gotta tell ya, this is pretty terrific! Hahahahah, yeah!”

#replies tag #pulp heroes #pulp fiction #the black bat #tony quinn #batman #two-face

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unmaskedagain · 5 years ago

Text

Marinette: Iron Man’s Minion: Rising

Over 30 people sent me ask requesting a sequel. I usually don’t do sequels. Its messy and rarely as good as the first. Hoepfully, you like this.

Tony just sighed at sight four kids and his robot picketing his workshop. Rhodey just looked overly pleased. The sun was had rose. He had just finished up for the day. Only to be met with… whatever the hell this was.

Honestly, he hadn’t thought they were serious. At least he didn’t think Peter was serious. Peter was the sweet one; 90 percent of time, he followed Tony’s rules to the letter, never giving too much problems.

…Harley, on the hand, liked to start shit.

“What we want?” Harley called again.

“No curfews!” The other three, Peter, Riri, and Marinette yelled.

Riri liked to instigate.

As for Marinette, Tony was certain at this point, she just wanted to see the world burn.

“When do we want it?!”

“Now!”

Dummy beamed loudly. A little sign in his claw.

Tony pinched his nose, “I swear to god, Harley.”

Harley smirked, “He says our sugar intake should be limited. I say we want candy. I say Sugar High and Die.”

“Sugar high and Die!”

Dummy beamed again.

Tony glared at his firstborn, “You can’t even eat.”

“Unlimited lab access!”

“Yes!”

“Breakroom for Interns,” Harley sniped. “We are not Avengers. We shouldn’t have to share with Avengers.”

“Not my Pop tarts!” Riri shouted, a big grin on her face, framed by her wild dark curly locks.

Marinette was having the time of her life, “Death to Baby monitor protocols!” Ever since it was revealed she was Ladybug, Tony put her on the same restrictions at the other teen Heroes. Karen watching her from her new, Stark approved, mask.

The others went nuts. “Death to Baby monitor protocols!”

Rhodey looked smug, “Karma.” He said easily. “For everything you ever put me through at MIT; you have to deal with four versions of yourself.”

Tony narrowed his eyes, “Okay time for the big guns,” He spun around. “PEPPER!” He yelled. “Jarvis get Pepper.”

The kids looked at each other and braced themselves.

“We will not go quietly into the night,” They all said together. “We will not vanish without a fight!”

“Oh my god,” Rhodey said, looking like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. “They’re doing the speech from Independence day!”

“We're going to live on!” The kids said, dummy beeping with them. “We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day

“PEPPER!” Tony screamed again.

First thing, Tony said when the redhead arrived, “Pepper, the minions are revolting. Do something!”

“Well maybe if you didn’t call them minions,” Pepper suggested just looking so done with the world. She could just barely believe Jarvis when he told her the interns, and teen heroes, were protesting. “And why is Rhodey holding a sign?”

Tony huffed, “The twerps called him Uncle Rhodey with those big puppy dogs’ eyes. And he went full traitor!” He explained. “Those things should be weaponized. Fix this!”

Pepper sighed and walked to Harley, the one with the megaphone was usually the leader. She smiled, “Lets negotiate.” This would be easy and over quickly. They were just kids, messing with Tony.

Marinette stepped forward, “Sure,” She smiled pleasantly. “After our lawyer gets here.”

“You’re what now?!!” Tony shouted.

Pepper eyed the bluenette approvingly. “Bring it on!”

Matt Murdock had no idea that when Spiderman called to ask him to his lawyer and defend his rights, that he was talking about Peter Parker’s rights as an intern. He was on the avengers’ roster and most knew he identity. Foggy was confused but elated to test his wits against the force that was Pepper Potts.

The two lawyers sat across from Tony and Pepper. The kids and Rhodey, who Stark called traitor every time he spoke, sat beside them. They were in a conference room at a large table.

Matt began, “Our clients have made their requests very clear. Most of which are easy to employ and some would say are their rights.

“Their minions,” Tony stated. “They don’t have rights.”

Pepper placed a hand on his shoulder, “Never say that again,” She said slowly.

“All employee should have a breakroom,” Foggy stated. “Even interns. It’s non-negotiable.”

Pepper nodded, “Agreed. They will be given their own breakroom; that Jarvis will ensure only fellow interns will have access to.”

“That means Tony can’t go in,” Peter laughed.

“You little shit!”

“Baby monitor protocols are too extreme,” Matt said.

Pepper pinched her nose. “As a hero yourself, Mr. Murdock, you must understand that we in good conscience cannot allow minors, even superpowered minors, to perform their heroics without proper supervision.”

Riri slammed her hands on the table, “I was a little late for curfew and you sent freaking Thor to track me down,” She said accusing to Tony, who looked completely unrepentant. “Thor. A god.”

“Alien,” Rhodey and Tony chimed.

“I snuck out one time,” Peter glared. “And the Avengers crash a house party.”

Pepper winced. That had been a PR mess. “Tony will limit his use of GPS tracking provided all parties adhere to the rules and regulations they originally agreed to when they began their mentorship under Tony.”

“You mean when we sold our souls to the man,” Marinette snipped.

“The-The man?” Tony looked flabbergasted. “No! What?”

The meeting went on for another thirty minutes. It was nearly adjourned when Pepper inquired if there was anything else.

Marinette looked Tony dead in the eyes, “Karen no longer reports to you.”

The other kids blinked in surprise before grinning.

Tony leaned back in his seat, and nodded solemnly, “So its war you want.”

“Oh my god,” Pepper and Matt groaned.

Foggy and Rhodey looked far too entertained for their own goods.

Eventually it was agreed that Karen would report that if they were in any danger and agree to disclose if the young heroes were fine or not. Plus any messages they wanted to relay. Pepper didn’t budge on the candy issue; citing parents had enforced a healthy diet rule on the summer internships. Instead, the kids got a pool table to the breakroom and unlimited healthy snacks for the fridge provided at Stark Industries expense. But they would not dictate what the kids bought on their own.

Marinette had been living at the tower for a month. One morning she decided to make herself her favorite dessert; chocolate and mint AND chocolate and raspberry macrons. She made little over a dozen and had left them in the fridge, a clear ‘Do not Touch’ sign on them.

When she finished with Tony and the other interns for the day, Marinette washed up and rushed to the kitchen to get snacks so she could start binging watching Batman the animated series. However, when she got to the kitchen, opened the fridge, she saw her beloved snacks gone.

Marinette eyes narrowed and she hissed. She marched into the living room and saw the plate she had used lying on the coffee table. The avengers sat watching TV. Marinette picked up the plate, “I made macarons for me. I left them in the fridge with a sign that said do not touch. Someone obviously can’t read. Who did it?”

The heroes shared looks. No one answered.

“I’m not mad,” Marinette promised. It was lie. By the looks on their faces, they knew a trap when they heard it. “I just want to know the truth. I know it can’t have been Tony or Bruce, because they were with me in the workshop. Natasha is out with Pepper. So…”

Nothing.

Thor shifted uneasily. Bucky blinked innocently at her. Steve gave her a boy-ish grin. Clint looked vaguely terrified. Sam kept eyeing the window like it was an exit. Scott looked seconds away from calling for back up.

“Oh,” Marinette nodded. “It’s like that. Fine then.” With that she marched out of the room in a huff.

When she was gone, Bucky sighed, “She’s going to make us pay for this.”

“One of is just going to go missing,” Sam nodded.

Clint shrugged, “Sorry, Scott.” And went back to watching TV.

“Yea-What?” Scott yelled. “What do you mean Sorry Scott? Why is it me?”

The next morning, the heroes woke up to find… things missing. Steve couldn’t find his shield. Bucky’s arm was gone. Thor’s hammer was missing and would return to matter how much he called for it. Clint’s was missing his custom arrows were. Sam’s AI redwing had vanished. And as far Scott, well…

No matter how much they searched, they couldn’t find their missing stuff.

They all arrived back at the living room, wondering what the hell was going on. They figured one of Tony’s cleaning bots had gone haywire… Again. But that didn’t explain how no one realized it happening. Maybe it was Loki. Still they decided to talk to Tony first. Natasha was with him, and thoroughly amused at the sight of the ruffled men.

The genius had looked confused, “No. My bots are all up to date. They didn’t even clean last night.”

Thor nodded, “Then it was my brother. I shall have to speak with him at once.”

“Wait,” Steve said looking around, “Where’s Scott.”

…And as for Scott? Well, he was missing.

Bucky’s eyes narrowed, “She has him.”

“Well shit,” Clint said. “I was just joking yesterday.”

“I’ll miss the little dude,” Sam whined.

Tony looked around, “What are you? No!” He laughed. “Marinette? Frenchy took your stuff? You’re the world’s greatest heroes! She is a fourteen-year-old girl, you know that, right?” He chuckled. Lil Dominator strikes again.

“Natasha,” Steve sent pleading eyes to the Spider.

“I’ll talk to her,” The Black Widow sighed, “But she’ll never respect you if you don’t fight your corner.” With that, she left to speak with Marinette.

Natasha came back ten minutes later looking rather disgruntled, “She said no.” She told them. “Something about macrons and vengeance. And feeling her wrath. I think you created a supervillain.”

“No,” Tony chimed in. “No supervillany anything. Until she’s twenty-one. It’s in the minion’s contracts” He had made sure to add if after they threated to riot of the good grade addendum; anything lower than a B, and patrol is cut. “She’ll stick to her word.”

“Your interns have contracts?” Clint asked.

Tony just shrugged, “They do now.”

“Let’s all go talk to her,” Steve suggested. “We’ll apologize and everything will good again.”

This caused Tony to cackle. “Yeah, okay!”

The heroes found Marinette on the roof with the other interns. The avengers and the minions eyed each other.

Marinette spoke first, “I want three dozen macrons from the French bakery on 8th street, near Franky’s deli; all chocolate. Then you get your things returned.”

“You can’t just,” Bucky began. “That’s blackmail.”

“Its extortion,” Riri corrected.

“Marinette, how about…” Sam started but Marinette cut him off.

She crossed her arms, “This isn’t negotiable.”

“Where’s Scott?” Clint asked. “How do we know he’s alright? We want proof he’s alive.”

Peter leaned toward Harley, and whispered. “Hey, it sounds like they think we kidnapped him.”

Harley leaned back, “That’s because technically we did. I think we’re a crime syndicate now.” (Peter yelped, “What?!). “Shhh. Just go with it.”

Marinette pulled out a walky talky, and headed it to Clint.

“Hey Scott, you there, over,” Clint asked into the radio.

“Help!” Scott’s voice screamed from the radio. “Giant hamster. Giant mean hamster. Oh god why?”

“He’s name Sir Grumpy paw,” Riri said brightly. “I have to keep him here now. He tried to take out my mom’s cat.”

Bucky just looked at Steve, “Can we just get her the damn macrons.”

“No!” Steve said. “We can find Scott and our things.” He promised. “You’ve gone too far,” he told Marinette.

The bluenette grinned, “Oh captain, I’ve only just begun.”

Steve stalked off with the other guys trailing behind him.

An hour later, Thor was missing...

“She took out a god,” Clint yelled. “Anyone could be next.”

Sam used the radio to try and communicate teammates.

“Good spirits, friends,” Thor said. “I shall conquer the vile beast Sir Grump Paws. And return victorious.”

Bucky was gone by the next hour. “What the fuck is wrong with this hamster?” The greatest assassin in history yelled once they contacted him via radio. “Who taught its fatass how to glare.” It went quiet. “Stevie, I… think it understand English. Shit.”

“Marinette took out the Winter Soldier,” Natasha said with raised eyebrows. “Impressive.”

Sam went after that.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” Sam just kept repeated. “We’re in a maze. Plastic tubes. We’re running. It’s after us, Steve. The hamster is after us.” It went quiet. “… I think it ate Scott.”

Steve sighed, “Can you just talk to her?” He pleaded with Tony, “Clint’s freaked out.”

“Can’t,” Tony said. “Contract. Tony Stark cannot interfere or choose sides in an event of a Minions vs Avengers war.”

“Damn it,” Clint shouted. “This isn’t a war. This is an execution. They’re taking us out one by one, man.”

“Shouldn’t have at her macrons,” Tony smirked, proud of his minions. “She knows it was you by the way.” He told Clint. “She knows you were the one to take them.”

Clint gulped.

He went missing ten minutes later.

“Cap,” Clint’s voice came from the radio. “We’re going to do it. We’re going after Sir Grump Paws. It’s time. We can’t live like this, not under his reign. That monster has to be stopped. If we don’t make it, just, just… Tell our story. Tell Nat, I’ll miss her. My sister and her kids, they get all my stuff”

Steve just looked up at the ceiling, and just looked so done with the world. He got up and went to find the interns, “What are you demands?”

An hour later, he came back with four dozen macrons, a dozen cupcakes, sticky cheese, peppers, and a pound of gummy worms. He sat the goods on the counter. Natasha, Tony, Rhodey, and Happy looked stunned.

“You… surrendered?” Tony asked perplexed.

“Captain America doesn’t surrender,” Rhodey stated.

Happy shook his head, “You can’t give in, Cap. I know these rugrats. You gotta set boundaries.”

Steve just shrugged, “Eighty percent of our team is missing. They just want junk food.”

“It’s a good trade,” Marinette said as she led the other interns, including Pepper’s intern MJ and tech Intern named Ned, into the kitchen. She held the Captain’s America shield proudly. Peter carried Bucky’s arm. Thor’s hammer floated behind Riri, carried by Plagg and Trixx. Harley had redwing and Clint’s arrow. The kids placed the weapons down on the table.

However before they could grab the goodies, Steve crossed his arm, “Nope. My friends first!”

“Right behind us,” Riri said.

Suddenly a squeaky voice was heard, “I have vanquished the dreaded foe, Son of Rogers.”

Everyone looked down.

In five different hamster balls, were the missing avengers, looking like they just fought a war?

“Why are they tiny?” Tony pinched his nose.

Mj shrugged, “How else were they supposed to have gladiatorial death matches with a hamster?”

“Oh, of course,” Tony said sarcastically. “Silly me.”

It took the tiny avengers half an hour to get back to normal. Hamsters were added to the tower’s banned list.

Fury showed up later that day. He glared at the interns, Stark’s minions; Ladybug, Spiderman, Iron Heart, and WarIron, “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.”

“No, you’re not!” Tony yelled from wherever he was.

Marinette woke up a few days later; thirsty. She saw it was close to midnight so she decided to rush to the kitchen to get a glass of milk. As she headed to the kitchen, she saw something out the corner of her eyes that had her quickly backtracking.

In the dining room was Loki, Bucky, Tony, Natasha, Rhodey, Clint, Plagg, Wayzz, and Trixx siting around the table, playing what looked to be poker.

“The girl who tormented by brother and the avengers,” Loki said approvingly. “With a rodent.”

Marinette nodded, “Deal me in.”

She’d sleep when she’s dead.

The next day, Steve and Pepper would both find themselves knocking on Marinette’s bedroom door. One to get an arm back. The other the keys to Tony’s Lamborghini. Only to find Thor already there requesting his brother’s helmet back.

Gambling with Marinette was added to the Tower’s banned list.

#ml fic #ml salt #Avengers #tony stark #steve rogers #marinette dupen chang #Marinette deserves better #pepper potts #thor #loki (marvel)

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demonslayedher · 4 years ago

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Kimetsu no Yaiba and its ties with traditional Japanese culture

Just a ramble and a little dive into what makes the Kimetsu fandom so engaging for someone who, as I like to say, “broke the weeb scale a long time ago.”

From the perspective of the craft of writing, Gotouge is clearly a novice. While Kimetsu is not a debut work, it’s nearly that, which is why Gotouge only got so big of a deal on anime rights due to (previous) lack of name recognition. It commits all kinds of writing sins; the flashbacks were never hinted to until they become relevant, contrived conveniences move the plot, and I’ve never seen more egregious use of telling instead of showing. But despite all that, it’s told with a lot of heart. The core bonds between people and character motivations drive the story beyond all those execution flaws. The premise is straightforward and hits on core classic themes found throughout human history of fiction. It’s that lack of nuance sometimes, as well as the pure love put into these characters, that sometimes makes me feel like I’m watching a little alligator child play with action figures and light up as they pause the pretend dialogue to tell you all kinds of exciting things about the world they are having the toys fly through whilst also making ‘bang, pow’ sound effects as they resume play. (The art likewise commits so many sins but that is so freaking endearing, let’s move on.) A large part of what attracted me to Kimetsu in the first place was the aesthetic. Samurai style warfare never gets old, element-based powers never get old, and when it comes to character designs, the motifs used throughout the series are merchandise gold for how recognizable they are. There’s a certain lack of mainstream Taisho Era manga, despite that being a very exciting and fashionable era made all the more nostalgic for its brevity and relative pre-Showa peacefulness. You know what, I’m just going to skip the preamble and get straight to it: the more deep diving you do, the more you realize, oh hell, this alligator had a ship-ton of detail and background in this.

Whether intentional or not, the series has provided a huge wealth of ties to traditional folklore, and when people who know a lot about this stuff start theorizing and pulling in outside research, dang, they can get going. Some examples I’ve heard: 1. Drawing comparisons to just about every demon legend out there, including spider demons in the mountain, demons that mingle among the courtesans, demons that attain the ability to live among humans by practicing self-restraint, and so on and so on and so on. 2. Tracing the origins of the series to some of the most ancients writings in Japan and showing how many rules and themes of demon slaying have remained consistent throughout centuries of legends. 3. Diving into the local folklore of the places tied with the series (for example, I heard a passing comment about the islands were Iguro is from having men and women live separately, which I have not verified with my own research). 4. Pulling in places not mentioned specifically in canon but bare distinct similarities with canon elements, such as many tourist sites that have recently exploded in popularity around the country (for example, one of my favorite sword-forging sites in Shimane, or a couple shrines that just happen to be called Kamado Shrine with the same somewhat rare kanji, or a garden famous for its extensive use of wisteria.) 5. Diving into the origins of names (such as how the pronunciation of “Agatsuma” has roots in Shinto mythology of a god singing the praises of his wonderful wife) and traditional patterns (the Ichimatsu (checkerboard) patterns having ties to enduring continuity, many other patterns being used to ward off evil, etc.) It’s such a fun rabbit hole (or, swamp demon hole??) which fans go really, really deep in their theories, bringing in uncanny comparisons to historical botanists or insisting that just because something has roots in the Heian period it must be chosen on purpose because you know who else has roots in the Heian period? Kibutsuji Muzan. It’s all connected, Wani-sensei, sugooooooiiiiiiii!!!! And I love to get wrapped up in that too (see here), but then when I consider translating the juicy details, I usually stop for two reasons:

1. That’s... that a lot of background that would take a really long time to explain. 2. When you get down to it, a lot of it is just fun coincidences, and I think it’s too far of a stretch to make them canon theories. It’s when I choose not to translate them that I reach two conclusions. 1. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it’s very possible Gotouge did take these sorts of very, very trivial details into account when designing the characters, especially giving the very clear level of research that did go into specifying a lot of the character details. Like, seriously, Wani-sensei, how many yyyyyyyears have you spent soaking all this up? The sheer level of Taisho Era world building is a testament to that. 2. Even without all those layers of ties to centuries and centuries of folklore, at its core, the story remains engaging because of the elements mentioned previously. It’s a classic tale of good versus evil; there are no elemental powers, it’s just people doing the best they can because they have motives that drive them--familial love, revenge, duty, regret, filling in something that’s missing. But oh, man, oh my demons, how I love, love, love how this series stokes my nerdy side, I love it, I want to climb ALL THOSE MOUNTAINS AROUND TOKYO AS FANDOM PILGRIMAGES AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HOW MUCH THIS FANDOM HAS INFILTRATED EVEN MY TEA CEREMONY LESSONS EVER SINCE THAT RIKYU-BAI NATSUME REMINDED ME AND MY CLASSMATE OF UZUI TENGEN, I CANNOT FULLY CONCENTRATE or even BREATHE, SENSEI, I CANNOT PRACTICE THIS ‘OCHA NO KOKYUU’ WHEN YOU KEEP MAKING KIMETSU REFERENCES, AND I AM NOT EVEN THE ONLY ONE WHO MADE THAT INOKO-MOCHI JOKE, STAHP------

#KnY nerdery #Kimetsu no Yaiba #Demon Slayer #KnY fandom theories and meta

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rwby-grimm-guardians · 4 years ago

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RWBY Grimm Guardians Arc 4: Re-Bonding In Mistral Ch 5 (Part I)

Welcome back to Re-Bonding In Mistral! We finally begin chapter 5 and, with it, the second half of Vol 5.

For those of you wondering, this chapter takes place during Volume 5’s episodes 8-10 from Blake and Gambol’s POV, as the three episodes are mostly about the Belladonnas. As such, this will be a long chapter.

Also, this is a semi-original chapter. Blake WILL understandably lose her cool here and you’ll get to see a special something regarding Gambol. Plus, you’ll get to see how EVEN MORE badass Blake’s parents are.

Also, due to how long this chapter was, it HAD to be split into two halves.

I know some will not be happy with how I wrote Ilia, but oh well.

As usual, please give constructive criticism and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Also, Adam and Blake’s problems with him WILL be mentioned here, so do be careful when reading.

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(In Kuo Kuana...)

“What are you thinking?” Gambol asked, sitting on the railing of the balcony of the Belladonna Family Home. Blake sighed, “I don’t know… I’ve let Yang know how we’re doing, she told me that she reconnected with her mother and that she, Ruby, Weiss, their families and Team JNPR will be heading for Haven soon... And now I’m wondering what the hell to do next.” Her sister raised an eyebrow, “Does this have to do with Ilia?” Her younger sister gave a weak chuckle, “You’re too damn observant.”

With a heavy sigh, Blake nodded, “Why am I still thinking there’s hope for her?” A few moments passed, before Gambol shrugged, “Well, I can only tell you what I would do.” “What you want to do is something you need to find out yourself.” She explained. Her younger sister sighed, “Not that simple...or easy.” “Nothing’s ever easy or simple, Blake.” The older of the two explained. “That’s what life is...and always has been. You need to figure out things for yourself.”

The two then heard Sun shouting, “Hey! You two ready to go?” “Be right there!” The black haired teenager shouted, before her eyes drifted to the side, noticing a note taped to the railing. “What the hell is that…?” Gambol asked, walking to her sister’s side. Cautiously, Blake opened the letter, before hearing the taller of the two hiss in anger. The note...was from Ilia, saying, “B, Things going too far. Not sure what to do. Find a quiet spot, I'll find you. Come alone. Please. -I”.

The black haired teenager tightened her fist, before putting the note in her coat. “Blake, it’s a trap. You KNOW that.” Gambol said. Blake nodded, her face filled with anger...and resolve, “I know. Which is why you’re coming along.” The elder of the two sisters raised an eyebrow, before nodded in realization, “In THAT form, right? Got it. And if they try to kill you?” Blake froze, before biting her lip. Finally, she sighed, “You’re free to reap chaos.”

Soon, Sun opened the door to the balcony, asking, “Hey, are we going recruiting or what? We've got the entire nocturnal secti-...” He stopped talking when he noticed that Blake wasn’t saying anything, sporting a concerned expression on her face. He also noticed the anger in Gambol’s eyes, before asking, “Is something up?” The younger of the two sisters nodded, “No, we’re good. We'll meet you there.”

“We...need to take care of something first.” She explained, before walking away. Gambol watched her sister leave, before easily noticing a quiet sound of rustling in the trees behind them. Whatever was happening...she knew she needed to stop it. “Make sure kaa-san and otou-san stay safe.” She said to the blonde. “Please.” Sun paused, attempting to absorb the events happening, before nodding. “I promise. Keep yourselves safe too.”

The older faunus smiled with a nod, before following Blake in a different direction. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Some time later...at a darkened alleyway…)

‘I swear to the Gods, Ilia. Please do NOT do this to me…’ Blake thought. ‘Do NOT betray me trust…’ Clenching her fist, she approached the alleyway, calling out, “Ilia...?” A familiar voice said, “I’m here.” The cat faunus paused, before drawing out her VBCS, convincing the chameleon-faunus to walk out of the alleyway and dropping her camouflage with her arms raised. Blake sighed, “Ilia, I need you to understand me. I know you’re scared, but you don’t have to be.”

“My family and I can protect you.” She explained. The older teenager knew she was putting too much faith into this… But she needed to, at the very least, TRY. Her hope rose, as did her disbelief as Ilia said, “I’m sorry.” Blake bit her lip, hoping that she was actually getting through to her former friend. “You can make up for it by helping us stop Corsac and Fennec…” She explained. “PLEASE Ilia.”

Ilia shook her head, “No.” “I’m sorry.” She said in a hostile tone.

And just like that, whatever hope, belief, and trust Blake had for her former friend went out like a push of smoke… All while she was kicked and forced to the ground by Yuma and Trifa, dropping her VBCS in the process. As the weapon rested at Ilia’s feet, Blake soon found herself bound by spider web silk, before glaring at the teenager who she thought was her friend. “I tried to warn you, Blake.” Ilia said. “I’m sor-.”

The chameleon faunus was cut off by the cat faunus growling, “Like hell you are.” “But I am. I'm sorry it has to be this way…” The chameleon faunus said. “But you and your family are holding the Faunus back!” Blake snarled in anger, attempting to break free of her binds to no effect, “Because we're trying to protect people?!” “In what world do you live in where attacking the innocent is the right thing to do?!” She snapped.

“The same one as you!” Ilia snapped right back. “There's no such thing as innocent! There's no right thing to do! Only what's best for us!” “You know damn well that’s a lie!” The cat faunus shouted.

Ilia glared at the older teenager, shouting right back, “And YOU know that there are humans that still hate the Faunus! And those who just stand by and let the hate happen!” “But you know what snuffs out hate?” She asked her former friend.

“Fear. I don't like hurting people. But I'll tell you this…” The chameleon faunus said, tilting her weapon at Blake. “It's gotten us results.” The cat faunus was unfazed, tilting her head and saying in a flat, yet terrifying tone, “Yeah? Then look where it's gotten you.” The younger teenager’s eyes widened...and for a brief moment...she felt a cold shiver run down her spine at Blake’s words.

Ilia ultimate shrugged it off, but it was obvious to Blake that her former friend was frightened of her. Somehow...something in the cat faunus felt satisfied by that. “So what, you really think killing me is for this so-called greater good?” The cat faunus asked. Ilia shook her head, “No…”

“But getting rid of your family is…” She said. She watched as Blake’s eyes widened in shock and horror, before her expression turned into pure rage. “WHY YOU FUCKI-!!” The cat faunus shouted, only to be cut off as Yuma and Trifa slammed her head into the ground, disorienting the black haired teenager.

Due to her hearing being temporarily disabled, Blake could barely make out any words that Ilia was saying. Right now, all she knew was that her family was in danger...and she needed to help them. The cat faunus felt rage boiling in her chest, trying to think of an idea that could get her out of this mess. Then one thought of Gambol crossed her mind. Blake could get Gambol to help her...but she would need to get her to the cat faunus’s location first.

Soon, Blake’s hearing came back to her, hearing Ilia say, “Yuma, with me.” “Get her to the docks.” She said to Trifa. As the two White Fang agents left, the cat faunus knew she needed to act quickly and put this off right. Blake clenched her fists tightly.

“Alright traitor, lets go.” Trifa said, tugging on the silk...only to find her captive stationary. She then heard a growl from the cat faunus, “I’m going to make you suffer for attacking my family.” Blake didn’t want to do this to Gambol, but she knew it was the only chance she had to escape and get home. She looked straight at her VBCS, reciting a chant that Gambol had told her during their trip back home...

(A/N: In Japanese) “Kuchiku-kandearu tamashī ni, watashi wa anata ni tanomi, watashi no sakebi ni mimi o katamukemasu. Anata no shujin to kazoku wa kiken ni sarasa rete imasu. Kage kara oritekuru-jū no yō ni hōkō shi, teki o kiritaoshimasu. Anata no sokubaku kara nukedashi, anata no aisuruhito o kizutsukeru hitobito ni dai konran o motarashimasu!”

(A/N: In Italian) “All'anima distruttrice, ti prego, ascolta il mio grido. Il tuo padrone e la tua famiglia sono in pericolo. Ruggisci come una bestia che discende dalle ombre e abbatti i tuoi nemici. Spezza le tue catene e distruggi coloro che ferirebbero i tuoi cari!”

“To the soul that is a destroyer, I beg of thee, heed my cry.” The cat faunus whispered, her voice slowly growing louder with each word. “Thine master and family are in danger. Roar like a beast descending from shadows and cut down thy enemies.” Blake and Trifa then noticed purple aura and energy radiating off of the VBCS as it began spinning violently. Blake then swallowed, taking a deep breath as she shouted, “Break from thy shackles and wreak havoc on those who’d harm thine loved ones!”

“Gambol Shroud!”

In an instant, the VBCS lifted off of the ground and cut into the very fabric of space, opening a portal. Immediately, the older of the two sisters leaped through the portal, transforming as she did so.

Blake shut her eyes tightly, clenching her fists as Trifa looked at Gambol in horror. The Weapon Spirit roared in her face, now transformed into a Panther-like Grimm. The battle wasn’t even a contest, as the Panther faunus took the White Fang agent down as if she were nothing more than an ant. After only hearing the sound of vicious chaos, Blake soon found her bindings broken and herself in Gambol’s arms.

She opened her eyes to face the now-transformed woman, who was in the process of reverting back to her normal state. The concerned look in her sister’s now-glowing purple eyes was all the cat faunus needed to know what Gambol was asking. “I’m...unharmed… We need to get home.” Blake said. “Mom and Dad are in danger. And if Sun’s there, then he might not last that long. They need us.”

She didn’t bother asking what her sister did. The blood on her claws were more than enough to tell her what she did to Trifa. Hell, the teenager could tell how much blood was in the air. So why did Blake feel like she didn’t care what Gambol did?

…

Maybe she did. Maybe she didn’t. There were too many things going on at once right now. And more important things to focus on.

Gambol nodded, putting her sister down on her feet and handing the teenager her VBCS. “And you’re right….” Blake sighed. Her sister raised an eyebrow, queuing the teenager to explain, “It was a trap… And I’m sure Ilia’s become no better than Adam…” The cat faunus bit her lip, “She...manipulated me. Broke my trust. Just like he did.” The teenager tightened her fist around her weapon’s handle, “And now...she’s threatening our parents…”

Tears...of both sadness and rage streamed down Blake’s faces as she walked over to a building and slammed her fist into the wall. “I WAS PLAYED LIKE A FUCKING FOOL! AGAIN!” She shouted, before collapsing to her knees and pounding the sidewalk in sadness, anger, and frustration. “She played me like Adam did! And she’s too DAMN blind to see that fact!”

Blake was sad that she had her trust broken again by someone who she thought was a friend. She was angry at Ilia for doing that and threatening her family. She was angry at herself for BELIEVING that Ilia could learn to be better.

And the teenager was frustrated that Ilia still couldn’t learn that the White Fang had grown into nothing more than a terrorist organization and a group of murderers.

“What will you do?” Gambol asked, her voice now in a rougher tone due to her earlier transformation. Her sister went still, before sighing, “With Ilia, who the fuck knows.” “All I know is that I’m not going to forgive her for this shit.” She said. The Weapon Spirit nodded, before transforming back into a Panther-like Grimm. Blake climbed on her back, holding on tightly as the Soul-Grimm-Faunus hybrid ran back towards their family home.

The teenager pulled out her scroll, before calling her mother. “Come on, Mom….” She whispered, begging. “Please. PLEASE pick up…!” -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please continue to Part 2 here: (To be added soon.)

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #rwby ocs #rwby au #grimm guardians au #Gambol Shroud #Blake Belladonna #sun wukong #white fang #rwby ilia #ghira belladonna #tw past trauma #tw abuse mention

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spideytingle616 · 5 years ago

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Five Months [2]

Part 1 / Masterlist / Part 3

*based on the five stages of grief*

Pairing: Peter Parker x Female reader

Warnings: Angst, death, swearing, possible implications of anxiety, mentions/implications of sexual activity, blood/injury

Description: The first time you touch your soulmate, you’re able to see a glimpse into your future. What happens if your future is also your end?

Chapter Summary: Still best friends and nothing more, you learn this battle isn’t so easy after all. You hope Peter feels it too, but you also hope he doesn’t. At least you have Nationals to keep you busy.

Word Count: 7.7K lol whoops (bold and italics are thoughts)

Month Two, Anger: Love Isn’t a Decathlon Event

As the days of continuing your charade with Peter roll into the next couple of weeks and eventually the next month, you couldn’t help but feel annoyed at this game. The next half of the semester has started, and you couldn’t blame tests for the lull that continued to grow.

But the more irked you became, the bigger the guilt grew in the back of your head. How dare you feel like this, you thought. Putting yourself first seemed far too selfish, but you couldn’t exactly talk to Peter about this, especially when he’s avoiding you whenever possible. Not being able to talk about it was killing you, as if your confrontation at his apartment brought no closure.

As the weeks passed, and the fall breeze brushed through the trees, you’ve had time to think about the facts at hand. You and Peter were soulmates, and though the situation wasn’t ideal, it did confirm your feelings that preceded this chaos.

All the times you caught yourself staring at Peter meant something, and all the times you’d flash a dorky smile at his corny jokes were genuine signs of admiration. You were smitten since you met the boy, and part of you wants to kick yourself for brushing off these moments. Maybe everything could be different if you realized sooner, and your flashback could’ve been something nicer, or something that indicated a forever…

These thoughts have started to cloud your head far more than you would like as your brain was off in another world during class. Your grades aren’t slipping quite yet, but you know they eventually will if you continue to let this distraction get to you more than it already has. The only thing you can do is to simply accept the decision Peter made; it’s his life, after all. Unless miracles exist, you’re stuck being the heartbroken girl.

At this moment, however, you were also the exhausted girl. Today was fitness exam day in gym, and you were stuck on the sweaty mats, forced to do sit-ups for the next few minutes. MJ was your partner per usual, holding your feet to keep you steady. You didn’t really care about your numbers, so you took your time and talked to your friend instead. You were multitasking by watching Peter going up and down on the mat, only pretending to be struggling. Just earlier he got around fifteen sit-ups in the first ten seconds.

Damn spider-powers….

“Okay, so it’s been, what, a month since you and Peter figured out you were soulmates?” MJ asked as you came up. “And to clarify, you two are still just friends?”

You did another sit-up before responding. “Yep, same as when you asked the other day.” And the day before, and the day before…

“Well sorry, but it’s kinda confusing, isn’t it? You two are basically together all the time; you’re just adding boning to the equation.”

You prop your elbows on your knees, stopping to look at MJ with wild eyes.

“Seriously, MJ? You didn’t have to say it like that.” You scoff. “And besides, it’s more complicated than just adding ‘you know what’ to our friendship.”

She laughs at your innocent wording as you fall back down, ready for more dreadful sit-ups.

“You’re such a dork sometimes, which is exactly why you’re perfect for Peter. You even told me that you thought you had feelings for him before you found out. I wouldn’t be so worried about his crime-fighting, if he was going to get seriously hurt, he would’ve by now.”

What?

The coach blows the whistle, indicating for each pair to switch roles. MJ lets go of your feet and takes a seat in front of you. You both knew she wasn’t going to do the sit-ups, avoiding the physical activity most of the time by sitting on the bleachers reading.

“How did you-” You shakily begin, breath trying to steady after the work you’ve just been through.

“You’ve seen all the times he’s up and left? Weren’t you the least suspicious as to why? I mean, it was either Spider-Man or a male escort, so.”

“I’m glad you didn’t go with the latter, then. Ugh, did everyone piece this together before I did? Some best friend I am.” You sigh, rolling your eyes at your stupidity. Peter was never one to keep secrets that easily, yet this still passed your radar.

“I know everyone’s secrets, Y/N. You’re not a bad friend, everyone knows you and Peter are perfect for each other. Except for you, apparently?” MJ raises an eyebrow at you, going back to her original question.

“I mean, I’m still shocked about it, but Peter doesn’t want anything to change. He’s too busy to worry about all this soulmate bullcrap.” You try to excuse. Whether or not you liked the situation, you weren’t going to tell your friend the actual truth, not until Peter is okay with it.

Before MJ had a chance to argue with your comment, you hear a yell. Specifically, one near where Peter and Ned were. All heads snapped toward the source of the sound.

“Peter knows Spider-Man!” Ned says all too excitedly.

“Oh god,” you mumbled softly, squinting your eyes in disbelief. Peter was the same way, mouth agape at his friend’s words.

Fortunately, the claim didn’t expose anything. In fact, it earned the two an invitation to Liz’s party, which wasn’t as fortunate. Jealousy slowly started to creep onto your face as you shifted your stare between the two of them throughout class. Peter likes Liz, and Liz likes Spider-Man. Despite being soulmates, Peter seems to have the stars aligned with someone else. The rest of class somehow sucked even worse than normal.

As you walk with MJ to the locker room, you’re stopped by none other than Liz. How great, you thought. You try your best to keep a pleasant face, but your smile was too tight to be genuine.

“You probably heard earlier, but I was planning on having a party this weekend. I’d love for guys to come too if you want.” Liz invited, her smile as charming as ever.

The offer took you aback. The two of you weren’t very close, so you were surprised she really cared enough to acknowledge you.

“Are you sure, Liz? I mean, we’ve never really talked all that much.”

“Well consider this an opportunity to do just that. I invited the whole decathlon team so this could be a good way to bond before nationals. And besides, I already invited Peter, and you two are super close. It only made sense.”

“Well, we’re not like, that close or anything.” You fumble.

“Oh, come on, it’s totally obvious you guys were made for each other. I bet you two are soulmates and everything.”

R.I.P to Peter’s chances, even Liz thinks you’re meant to be. (Well, Peter never really had a chance with any non-soulmate, but a guy can dream). MJ turns to you and offers a cheeky smirk, waiting for you to reply to Liz. Awkwardness starts to seep into the conversation, much to your dismay.

“That is, a crazy idea. I-I don’t even know where to begin with that. Like, totally not true. At all. Nope. He’s my buddy.” Your mouth feels like it’s full of sand at this point. You wish you could muster up more than that pathetic excuse.

“Huh, I wonder who is then. He’s too cute to still be soulless, you know?”

Your eyes largen as the fake smile cramps your face. So, the attraction is mutual… great. A burning in your chest emerges out of anger. Life really couldn’t go your way lately.

“Yep, totally…” was all you could say. “I should go, you know, change and stuff, but thanks for the invite. I’ll try to come, and, stuff.”

You immediately turned around and headed straight toward the locker room, not even noticing Liz and MJs’ confused faces.

Due to your runoff, you were headed to your next class earlier than usual. As you turned the corner, you body checked into none other than your superhuman soulmate. You put your hands on his chest to prevent an embarrassing fall. Under his sweater and layers, you could still feel how hard his chest was, which wasn’t a surprise considering the view you saw not that long ago.

What felt like minutes, you finally came to your senses and quickly put your hands down and awkwardly crossed them.

“H-hey.” You stuttered.

The most conversation you’ve had lately was during class, and those were just questions about the lecture. You hated that you felt awkward with your best friend.

“Um, sorry. I wasn’t looking” Peter replied, feeling the tension as much as you did.

“No, you’re fine.” You reassured. “Hey, uh, sorry about Ned. That kid is such a blabbermouth sometimes.”

The boy sent an airy laugh. It’s been a long time since you heard him laugh, so even hearing a half-hearted one was enough to make you miss him even more. You could’ve sworn your eyes got misty at that moment.

“No, it’s cool. He knew I want to impress Liz and just went overboard.” Despite Ned knowing you two were soulmates, he still remained loyal to Peter’s wishes of pining over Liz; Talk about an ultimate wingman.

You didn’t dare to mention the fact that Liz called him cute, as you were too selfish to say anything. I have to deal with a soulmate that doesn’t even want me, let me have this.

“I need to print my English essay so I should get going. If you go to Liz’s party, you could maybe hang with Ned and me or something.” Peter offers.

The invite was a surprise considering the past month, but you wanted nothing more than to spend time with him again. Even if it was at a party hosted by his crush and with people you didn’t know, you gladly accepted.

——-

The car ride to Liz’s was awkward, to say the least. Peter was asking for some advice about parties and girls, to which May offered back some words to wisdom. You assumed that she didn’t know anything about you and her nephew, and obviously you weren’t going to be the one to tell her. The fact that Peter wouldn’t even tell his family gave your heart a dull ache. You’ve gotten over the initial pain for the most part, but instances like these still trigger your sensitivity.

When you got inside, all three of you were surprised at the place in front of you. You all knew that Liz had a house outside of New York, but you didn’t imagine it to be so big. Jealousy pangs you once again; Liz Allen just seems to have it all.

“Sup losers,” greeted an uninterested voice.

You all turned to see MJ at the kitchen table eating tortillas straight out of a bag.

“You actually came?” You asked puzzled. “Yeah, I thought you didn’t like parties,” Ned replied, adjusting his fedora. He insisted it made him look cooler.

“Maybe I’m not here and you’re just seeing things. Ever think about that?” Your friend replied, raising her eyebrows in fake revelation.

Both Peter and Ned turned to each other in confusion before looking back at the girl. You rolled your eyes; they never really got MJ’s jokes.

“Well, anyway, I need to talk to my friend here, but you two can go ahead without me.” You told the two boys before grabbing MJ’s wrist and taking her to another room you believe is the dining room.

“Jeez, and I thought I wanted to leave that situation more than you.” MJ joked, not bothering to fight your grip.

“I’m going freaking crazy, dude. Weeks of constant awkward conversation, I almost peed my pants because for some reason he invited me here and I was stupid enough to come.” You rant, eyes wild with absurdity.

“Oh, so now all of a sudden you care?”

You roll your eyes, slightly annoyed that your friend thinks this is a good time for jokes. However, she was right. Up until that point in gym, you were accepting of the fact that Peter wanted to keep a distance and stay friends, though the awkward attitude between you two wasn’t exactly “friendship”. But seeing that he actually intended to have a shot with Liz made you sick to your stomach.

“I just- I don’t get why. Why is he chasing a non-soulmate to begin with? I can be fine with staying friends, but what’s he doing?” Your eyes kept grazing the floor as you complained.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself? It’s not like I have all the answers, though I do know what’s happening seventy percent of the time.”

You sigh, “He’s not going to answer-”

“He’s also not going to answer your questions if you never actually ask him. You clearly don’t like the relationship between you two, so talk to him about it. If he won’t listen, then make him.” MJ quipped, having tried to tell you this how many times. “I think both of you know deep down that you two are the best thing that could happen to each other. But clearly, there’s something else going on, which is why you need to talk to him instead. Figure out how to be together.”

All you can do is stare aimlessly at her. Your mind, like your heart, is going a hundred miles an hour. Perhaps her advice would be different if she knew, but this wasn’t the time to tell her. Not in a chaotic party with Flash chanting “Penis Parker” in the background. Not when Peter himself is an enigma to his soulmate. If you knew more, or knew what to do, then maybe MJ could offer more for both your sakes. But it’s not your secret to tell. Even if you’re transparent to MJ, it’s not your place to say something to ruin your best friend’s life, especially considering the fragility of it.

MJ widens her eyes and tilts her head to the side, motioning for you to go out and find Peter. You sigh, nodding your head. The quick conversation was over before you knew it. A part of you thinks she also just wanted to get rid of you, but you couldn’t blame her. You probably weren’t the only one angry and annoyed with the predicament at hand.

You go back to the kitchen where you left the two boys to fend for themselves. It probably wasn’t going too well considering you could still hear Flash’s nonstop teasing. You spotted Ned and his spunky fedora, but there was no one else with him.

“Weren’t there two of you?” You asked, trying to use sarcasm to mask any panic you may have felt.

Ned snaps out of his slight daze. “Well, Peter went to go, you know, change, so he can impress Liz, and prevent the future embarrassment of not actually knowing Spider-Man.”

“First of all, does he technically know him if he is him? Second of all, you caused all of this so you kinda screwed him over. And third of all, aren’t you supposed to be on my side too?” You asserted, slightly hurt.

The sensible side of you thought that there was no way that Peter would go through with this. All this for a girl that wasn’t even his soulmate? Just thinking about it made you more upset. You were also hurt by your raven-haired friend and his betrayal, but one step at a time you suppose.

“Well in my defense, I have no idea what’s happening, like ever. And Peter doesn’t seem to be doing so well lately, so I thought this might make him feel better. You know, bros before hoes. B-but you’re not a hoe, Y/N. It’s just that you’re a girl- not that all girls are hoes, guys can be hoes too-“

“I’m gonna stop you before this gets any worse,” You warned. “It’s whatever, I can forgive you for now cause you’re a good guy. Just, where is he? I really need to talk to him.”

Ned sighs, slightly guilty that about the plan he participated in. He points upward to the ceiling. The motion leaves you confused, but upon looking up and seeing the skylight in the middle of the roof, you understood. Where else would you find a spider?

A few room searches later, and a risky climb, you were able to get on the roof of the house. The possible twenty-foot fall was worth it when you were met with a familiar face and a red and blue suit to match.

“Kinda envy your powers right now, could’ve found you a lot sooner.” You said, a half-smirk appearing on your face.

Peter turns his head from where he’s sitting, offering a rather sad smile. He soon goes back and focuses on the mask in between his hands, fidgeting with the fabric. You start to feel a little awkward for intruding, but you knew you this was something you had to do. Brushing away any stiffness between you two, you shimmy closer to Peter and sit down next to him.

“Shouldn’t you be down there, doing I don’t know, spider stuff?” You observed.

“Spider stuff makes my amazing powers sound rather lame; don’t you think?” Peter mumbles, trying to make a joke.

“Well, I’m terribly sorry.” You chuckle. “Seriously though, how long have you been up here? Ned is looking like a lost puppy without you.”

Peter gives a small laugh at your comment. Your conversations always included some form of witty banter, and even in predicaments like these, it doesn’t seem to go away that easily. “Couldn’t do it, I guess. I was about to head back, but when I saw everyone downstairs, I don’t know, something changed.”

“Changed as in, you don’t know why you’re doing this?” You prod.

Peter nods once as if to say you were right, but doesn’t want to admit it just yet.

“I’m doing this to seem like someone else. But it’s not someone else, i-it’s still me, you know? I love Spider-Man and all, but going there as him seems…” He trails off, a loss for words.

“They wouldn’t look at you as Peter, just Spider-Man.”

Peter nods again, this time to agree with your theory.

“I understand, it wouldn’t feel like they’re genuinely impressed with you. But hey,” You bump his shoulder with yours. “You’re Spider-Man because of who you are, because of who Peter Parker is. You’re the one trying to make the world a better place. I mean, Spider-Man isn’t a real person, but Peter is, and it’s their loss if they aren’t impressed with someone as cool as you.”

The words sent a bright smile onto your friend’s face. It was actual, good advice: something that he wished Ned or anyone could’ve given him sooner.

“Could’ve told me that before I went through all the trouble of putting this on.” Peter joked, bringing you back into your old rhythm of conversation.

“Well, I’ll try to climb the window faster next time. But if I’m on the ground and not up here, you know why.” You quip back, causing Peter to laugh once again.

Everything started to feel familiar again, all it did was a little talking. You suppose the hostility between you two couldn’t be fully blamed on him. Maybe if you tried to talk to him like this more and showed that you cared, you’d be able to find a balance in your lives.

The thoughts caused you to space off, your stares stuck on Peter. He eventually notices when he turns to look at you. Now the two of you are looking at one another, neither one of you wanting to ruin the moment. A part of you wanted to lean in, even if it was just an inch. You would’ve followed your urge too, but you didn’t want to lose focus on your purpose.

“Hey listen Pete, the reason why I came up here-”

“Holy shit,” He interrupts, staring into the distance, mouth agape.

You scrunch your face. What the hell, dude?

Looking in the same direction as Peter, you see what he’s referring to. A single, bright light beamed in the distance. It was too blue and too unearthly to be natural, which caused both of you to worry.

The spiderling stands up before looking at you again, this time with a guilty face. You sigh, this is just like the first time. When he left you in the dust at your own apartment to go fight crime after just finding out about his identity. You knew he didn’t want to leave just as much as you, but there was nothing he could do. No one else can risk their lives to save the city.

“Guess I’ll see you later, then.” You answer his silence.

You stand up afterward and motion for him to go, but he doesn’t move from his spot. He wants to, but there’s something stopping you and you couldn’t quite pin it. Before you know it, Peter wraps you into a tight hug. You can’t remember a time that he’s ever done this (which makes sense considering you found out you were soulmates after years of friendship). Yet despite the confusion that enveloped your head, you bring your arms around him, squeezing back. You close your eyes, enjoying the moment of warmth brought between you two. Peter lets go, much to your dismay, and puts his mask on. He webs away, leaving you to a party you didn’t even want to go to.

Since that party, you haven’t seen much of your Spider-friend due to Decathlon's practice. Nationals were coming up, and Liz was really making sure everyone was prepared for the competition. Peter has continued to dedicate his life to fighting, even more so than usual. You figured he needed a distraction, like decathlon was to you, but you still missed him nonetheless. Flash isn’t doing too hot as Peter’s replacement, and it only makes you miss him more.

After another week or so, you and your team were headed to Washington D.C. for the awaited competition. Waiting for everyone to load their luggage onto the bus, you and MJ were quizzing each other when Peter runs toward the group, packed and all.

“The hell,” You mumble under your breath.

“Hey guys, yeah um, I was hoping I could rejoin the team,” Peter quickly asks, nervousness seeping into his words.

You don’t say anything, not only because you were at a loss of words, but also because Flash looks like he has steam coming out of his ears. “No freaking way, Parker. We don’t even need you.” Flash boasted.

The rest of the group looked at each other, all awkwardly sucking in the breaths and gritting their teeth. No one dared to say anything afterward.

”Actually, it would be great of you to join us again, Peter. Who else is going to answer all the chemistry questions?” Liz smiled.

You tried to suppress a gag. By the look on Peter’s face, you could tell he was flattered, which only made things worse for you. This was the one rom-com you hated.

Peter continues to receive warm welcomes from the rest of the team, and especially Mr. Harrington. However, you leaned against the bus and watched from the sidelines confused. He dropped so much for Spider-Man; he wouldn’t join back all of a sudden. You wonder what your friend’s hidden agenda was.

Once you started to load on the bus, you decided to join Peter in the back. As you approached the end of the aisle, you reminded yourself you were doing this because you were friends. Aside from the intense hug at the party that seemed like forever ago, you and Peter were never more than best friends. Any harbored feelings were kept under lock and key, and you know it’s for the best.

“Okay,” You start to say as you slump in your seat. “Why are you actually here?”

“Was it that obvious?” Peter timidly asks.

“To me at least. Seems weird that you’re not busy with spider stuff all of a sudden. Unless of course, you are doing said stuff?”

Peter sighs, checking around to see no one’s watching. Once doing so, he opens his backpack and his hand reappears with a violent-tinted object. Though it seems obvious to Peter what the object means, it doesn’t answer your question.

“Uh, you’re going to D.C. because of a rock?” You asked.

“What, no, it’s not a rock. It’s tech, alien tech.” He rambles, basically shoving the subject in your face.

“And you got this from…?”

“Well, some guy tried to vaporize me-”

“What!” You scream. You would’ve continued to yell but Peter tells you to quiet down.

“Hey relax, I’m fine.” He looks back up to make sure you didn’t grab anyone’s attention. “But after I left Liz’s party, I caught some weapons trade deal going on. Turns out, someone’s combining alien tech with human tech to get rich.”

“Okay well, clearly I have missed a lot in the last week.” You say. “So wait, where exactly does D.C. come into play?”

“Well I put a tracker on one of the guys and they’re heading toward Maryland for another deal or something; D.C. was the easiest way to get there,” Peter explained.

“This is getting a little complicated, does Iron Man or Tony Stark or whatever you call him know about this?”

You don’t mean to sound like a mother, but going all the way into another state seems too overwhelming for a teenage superhero.

“Well, no he doesn’t really trust me. But Ned’s my ‘guy-in-the-chair’ so I’m not doing this alone, and when I catch the guys behind this, Mr. Stark will know I’m capable.”

You stay silent for a little bit, processing your thoughts. You don’t want Peter to get into any danger, especially when you know about his future. However, you knew you couldn’t stop him. He was dedicated, and clearly, this guy was bad news. If he truly needed help, you knew you would be there.

“Well, I’m just glad to have you back. We’re bound to win now, no offense to Flash.” You joke, letting go of all your previous thoughts.

The rest of the bus ride is consisted of decathlon practice, sleeping, and laying on Peter’s shoulder. Friendly, of course. You were tired after all…

——-

“Flash is totally jealous. The kid reeks of ‘I’m compensating my rather sad life by pretending to be cool so fuck you, Peter’.”

“Harsh, MJ. What did he ever do to you?” You reply, starfish on the hotel bed.

“I’m not saying that as a negative, it just makes sense as to why he’s the way he is.” MJ defends.

You hear your phones ring, interrupting the conversation. Too lazy to grab yours from the nightstand, you wait for your friend to tell you what’s up.

“Liz says she wants the team to have a pool night before the big day. Quick bonding session apparently?”

“Ugh, what’s the point? What is a party gonna do for us?” You groan, face down on the mattress.

“She’s captain, after all, wouldn’t want to go against her orders, right?” MJ jokes. “It probably won’t even be that bad. We don’t even have to swim; we can just sit in the chairs.”

Ten minutes later you find yourself heading down the stairs, expensive candy bars in hand. You’ll never understand why the minifridge is always so pricey; MJ blames capitalism, but when doesn’t she?

As you approach another hallway before heading to the pool, you see Peter coming out of his room in regular normal clothes. Did he not get the memo? You slow down as you get closer to the boy.

“Didn’t know you swam with gym shorts, dude.” You say, eyeing his inappropriate attire.

“Y/N, h-hey.” Peter stutters, which confuses you even more.

You cross your arms in front of your chest, which in turn highlights your assets there. Peter couldn’t help but glance at where your arms were placed. Your swimsuit clung to your body nicely, making him take a small gulp. Much of your skin was exposed, and Peter wondered how many times he’s looked at your body without realizing it. If you didn’t reply, god knows how much longer he’d stare.

“Something tells me you’re not going to the pool with us.”

“Yeah no, there’s something else I gotta do. I’ll tell you in the morning though.” Peter coughs, coming back to his senses.

He can see your disappointment at his urgency to leave. You didn’t mean to take it personally, but it felt like he was ditching you again.

You also couldn’t help but worry once again. He’s keeping this secret from the Tony Stark, someone who he has looked up to since he was saved by him all those years ago. Maybe you could at least try to stop him? But before you got a chance to, Liz interrupts your conversation.

“C’mon guys, let’s get a move on.” Liz cheered. “Peter you’re not even dressed yet. You know, you better be going. You’re back on the team, after all.”

“Yeah totally, I’ll be there. Just need to grab something first.” He explained as a blush warmed his cheeks.

You wondered if this would be an inappropriate time to gag. Anger stiffened onto your face as you clenched your jaw. You try to keep cool; it’s ridiculous to be mad as such a basic conversation, even if it left Peter smitten.

By the time you found your chill, Liz joined the rest of the team and hurried to the pool, leaving you and Peter alone again. He was about to run off, but you grabbed his arm before he turned away from you completely.

“Peter, don’t you think this is all, I don’t know, a bit much?” You warned, not letting go of his wrist.

“Seriously, Y/N? You too?” Peter snapped as he moved his arm out of your grasp.

You were taken aback by the sudden annoyance. Didn’t he get how dangerous this was? Nonetheless, a part of you felt bad that he was feeling helicoptered by you.

“I just mean that if it’s serious maybe you can call Stark or one of the Avengers-“

“I get that most of the Avengers are twice as old as me, and I get that it’s risky that Mr. Stark doesn’t know about this. But goddammit, I went to Germany and stole Cap’s shield right in front of his freaking eyes; I’m strong enough to lift cars and I can swing onto the Empire State Building if I wanted to, which is on my bucket list thank you very much. Look, I can do this, but I can’t if everyone I love is trying to stop me. I may be a kid to Mr. Stark, but no kid can do what I can do.”

Your friend’s speech leaves you silent. You look at him: Peter’s eyes were wide and his mouth was closed tight. Part of you thought he was going to say more, that he wanted to say more, but he stayed silent as well.

Peter wanted to add that he knew he wouldn’t get majorly hurt in Maryland. After all, he’s going to be in New York when it happens. He quickly forgets the thought, tightening the grip on his backpack straps. He turns away from you for what he thinks is the last time. He was in a hurry, and plus he was too upset to stay.

“Can you at least be careful?” You yell across the hall. “Even if you’re mad at me, it’s the least you can do.”

Peter turns back around to face you.

“You aren’t gonna stop me?” He asks.

“Don’t think I can, which is why I’m asking you to be safe.” You reply, offering a small but genuine smile.

“Yeah, I’ll be careful,” Peter nods. “I’ll try to keep you posted more, maybe you, me, and Ned can be a team.”

“We’ll see, don’t want him to be kicked out of his unofficial job.” You joke, causing you both to laugh.

Peter then leaves you by yourself in the hallway as he heads into the night. By the time he’s on the rooftop of the hotel all dressed, he sees you and the decathlon team in the pool. You were still sitting in the chairs while the rest of the group were splashing each other. You laugh at the commotion before looking up. A certain hero caught your eye, and your smile stretched from ear to ear.

You mouth “good luck” to the boy on the roof. Peter laughs at the cheesy situation, but he’s grateful you have his back. His heart tightens at the gesture, something that he didn’t notice until he swung away and the feeling still lingered. A part of him thought that maybe, just maybe, you guys could stand a chance.

——-

Not good.

Very not good.

Not very good at all.

In conclusion: bad, bad, bad.

Peter’s thoughts left him in a feverish panic. Okay, so maybe the plan didn’t go as well he hoped. He knew there was something bound to go off the rails. He just didn’t think being locked in a warehouse until the morning was going to be one of them. Of course he had to pass out in a moving truck…

Minutes felt like hours as he walked around the large, deserted building. There wasn’t much he could do but throw webs and talk to his newfound A.I. Karen. Eventually, he gave up trying to find ways out. He’ll just have to leave in the morning and rush to the decathlon competition, another amazing consequence of his failed mission. Peter is even gladder he didn’t tell Mr. Stark, he couldn’t bear to stand the embarrassment.

Karen helped to calm the boy down, even prompted him to talk about his life. Soon, Peter found himself in a therapy session, more or less.

“I just don’t want to be seen as some small-town hero, you know. Helping old ladies across the street is cute and all, but I want missions. Like Avenger-level missions. The only people that seem to be okay with that are me and Y/N, which doesn’t help change Mr. Stark’s mind.”

“Y/N?” Karen asks, unfamiliar with the person in question.

“Wha- oh, yeah. She’s just a friend. Well, I mean she’s my soulmate but-“

“So you’re in love with Y/N,” Karen confirms.

“What no, no. I’m not in love with her. I’ve never looked at her as anything more than a friend. Plus, there’s Liz who’s this girl that I like.”

“Why do you like someone who’s not your soulmate?”

The question silences Peter for a second. It’s a question he never took the time to ponder as he’s tried to keep himself distracted. He avoided ever thinking about soulmates, but in a situation where he’s stuck for the next few hours, he doesn’t have anything to distract himself with.

“Well, Liz is nice to me. She seems interested in me too, and she hasn’t found her soulmate yet so there’s no harm. There’s no rulebook to follow.” Peter explains, almost sounding like he’s defending himself.

“Could you at least see yourself with Y/N?” Karen pushes, causing Peter to sigh.

“I mean, in a perfect world, yeah. She’s my best friend, we know each other so well. She always seems to know what I’m thinking, even if she doesn’t say anything. And she cares so much about others. It shows how beautiful she is inside and out, which is amazing to me. I was really worried she’d stop being my friend once she found out about Spider-Man, but she accepted it almost right away. It- it’s good to know that she always has my back. If things were different, maybe we’d be together. But Liz, she’s got it all too. She’s really cool and stuff. I mean, we haven’t talked all that much, but I know she’s great. Yeah, she- she’s great…” Peter trails off.

It was obvious to Karen, an A.I. that doesn’t even experience emotion, that Peter was blindsided with his quest for Liz. To chase someone he doesn’t really know was clearly a distraction from something, though Karen wasn’t exactly sure what. Comparing how he talked about the two girls would prove to any competent person that you were his soulmate, and one that he clearly liked.

Peter soon ended the conversation as he became more restless. He continued to search around to see if there was anything stored within the warehouse. Good thing too, because soon after Peter is begging for dear life to escape.

Well, this isn’t ideal.

Not very ideal at all.

This is very bad.

Bad, bad, bad.

You and your team’s glorious victory fades into a dream as you dangle from a broken elevator more than four hundred stories up.

The morning already left you in a panic as Peter was M.I.A. for the competition, angering many. You lost in the penultimate round due to the fact that your best chemistry guy was nowhere to be found. While the members were annoyed at his sudden disappearance, you couldn’t help but be worried sick throughout the whole morning. Half the questions passed your ears as they were too busy focusing on your rapid, thumping heartbeat. You were lucky MJ answered the final question that won you guys the championship; you didn’t even hear it. Soon everyone’s anger at a certain team member dissipated and turned into whooping cheers and congratulations. You hugged MJ and Ned, but you were left with your worries still unanswered.

Your celebration led you to nothing but the one and only Washington Monument. Sightseeing was always your favorite part of trips, but you had a feeling that would change after this. Of course the elevator had to get damaged when there were a dozen people inside it. You turned to your friend, a gnawing suspicion that he knew what just happened.

“Ned, sweetie. Did you bring that goddamn alien rock?” You mutter with gritted teeth.

“Yeah b-but, why does that have to do with anything?” Ned stutters with fear.

“Well, I don’t think my phone caused the elevator to hang by a freaking thread.” You quip, raising your eyebrows. “It’s whatever, we can’t do anything about it now.”

“You seem too calm about this situation, we could die at any moment, Y/N.”

“We’re not gonna die in here, Ned. Not me, at least.” You whisper the last part.

“You don’t know that,” Ned says.

Oh, but I do. I have to watch my fucking soulmate die before I die too.

“I have a hunch,” You snap, ending the conversation.

Soon you could see security guards above you, opening the doors that would’ve exposed the elevator. They tell you to climb out one at a time carefully as to not mess up the balance. Flash pushes everyone else out of the way, him and the decathlon trophy climbing out first. Figures…

You let everyone else get out first since you were the farthest from the hatch. You helped Betty, the last person before you, by giving her a leg up. But the push must’ve been too forceful for the now delicate elevator. You hear a snap, and the elevator plummets another five or so feet. The sudden jolt causes you to scream and grip the railing. Even if you don’t die here, you were still terrified. Dropping to a near-death doesn’t sound any better than dropping to your actual death.

“Hey, over here! I got you,” You hear a familiar voice call.

Through the hatch, you see Peter. Well, Peter in his Spider-Man suit. He was still Peter to you, though. Relief flows through your body.

“Just climb out and jump out,” He says.

You don’t move from your spot, and instead you give him a glare of disbelief. He cannot be serious right now. Perhaps free-falling isn’t as bad as you think…

“Trust me, I’ll catch you, okay? Do you trust me?” Peter pleads.

“Always,” You reply right away, and you mean it. You always trusted Peter, and this was no different. If he says he’ll catch you, he’ll catch you.

You take a deep breath and nod. You make your way out of the elevator slowly, ignoring the loud creaks. Both your arms and breath shaky, you stand up after getting through the open hatch. Looking up, you stare at the boy above you. Even though his face was covered, you could easily imagine how bright his brown eyes looked. You still saw his face through the mask.

“Okay, just jump with your arms up so I can catch you. You’ll be okay, Y/N.” Peter reassures you. You hope no one caught the fact he knew your name.

With your knees bent, you try to jump as high as you can. You close your eyes so tightly, half expecting yourself to be falling hundreds of feet down along with the elevator. When you open them, you see yourself dangling in the now empty space, webs wrapped around your wrists. Slowly Peter pulls you up to the top and you were soon met by the floor that you missed oh so much.

“Are you okay?” Peter asks as you stand up.

You throw your arms around him tightly, not wanting to let go. Though shocked, Peter hugs you back and you’re reminded of the time he hugged you at the party. You bury your face in his neck with glee. Not only were you relieved that you made it out, but you were mostly happy that Peter was safe too.

“Yeah, I’m just glad you are too.” You say, face still close to his.

“Uh, what?” You hear Flash say.

Shit, you forget the rest of the team was behind you, watching you hug a “stranger”. You doubt none of them would piece it together, but you surely didn’t want to risk it. Quickly opening your eyes back to reality, you let your arms go slack by your side.

“I uh, I- I said I’m glad I’m safe too. Yeah. Thank you, Spider-Man, you are indeed a real hero. This is definitely the first time I’ve seen you face to face. I mean, face to mask, cause I’ve totally never seen your face before.”

MJ was right; you were a terrible liar, but you didn’t realize it that bad. You were left cringing by what just happened. Luckily, despite the atrocious lie, no one thought anything of it. You were a girl in shock after a traumatic event, they didn’t expect you to be completely sane right away.

“Okay, well bye,” You abruptly say, trying to ignore what just happened.

Peter gets the memo, also not wanting to expose himself in front of his classmates. He says his goodbyes and awkwardly waves to everyone. He gives you one last look, eyes glassy under the mask. The whole time he saw you in the elevator he was terrified for you, he wasn’t even sure his plan would work. He was still queasy to his stomach afterward. But looking at you, all safe and mostly collected, made him smile. Perhaps he looked at you for longer than he should’ve before swinging out and away. You didn’t mind. You were giving him heart eyes back.

“Shit,” Flash mumbles. “I forgot to ask if he knows Peter!”

——-

No one seems to care too much that Peter randomly showed up once again. You assume it was because everyone was still a little shaken, and it was for the best that they didn’t say anything. Your eyes light up when you’re face to face with Peter, glad that you could see him without his hero persona.

You hug him for another time. The feeling of his chest becomes more familiar, and you’re shocked that you’ve never done this sooner. Maybe it’s because you haven’t been put into near-death experiences until recently, but you still enjoy these moments all the same.

“Peter!” A voice that you’ve been dreading called.

Liz jogs over to you guys and Peter quickly lets go of you. You purse your lips with slight envy. You didn’t think the hug would seem that compromising, plus you also missed the warmth of his body against yours.

“He- hey Liz,” Peter blushes.

“Where the heck did you go? I mean, I should be pissed cause you missed the competition, but I’m more worried. I haven’t seen you since last night.” Liz rambles.

You feel slightly awkward just standing there, but Liz was too concerned about Peter’s whereabouts to really talk to you. It’s understandable; you’re concerned too. Yet it still leaves a foul taste on your mouth.

Peter and Liz continue to talk, with Peter asking Liz if she was okay after the elevator fiasco and Liz still shaken by it all. Eventually, it leads to the two of them completely forgetting your existence and sitting next to each other on the bus. You were left by yourself, staring daggers at their seat as you sat in the back with MJ and Ned. He abandoned you and you couldn’t help but be a little mad. Okay, you were furious. This past month you thought you were making progress with the curly-haired boy. Even if you couldn’t be together, which you understood, you at least thought you could come to an agreement about your feelings. He’s still in Liz Land, and you were left feeling rejected. You had a right to be angry.

You wish you had powers so you could hear the conversation between the two. They looked too close and chummy for your liking, but there was nothing you could do. You wondered if Peter even looked at you as more than a friend, and your heart sinks as you realize maybe he doesn’t. You hated this routine you’ve put yourself through: having a moment with Peter that inevitably ends up being interrupted by Liz, and you being left upset afterward.

If this month has shown you anything, it’s that you liked Peter. You loved how much of a hero he was and how he always wanted the best for others. Even though he ditches you for Liz, you knew he’d have your back when you truly needed, like today with the elevator.

As the anger settled in your stomach, you came to the conclusion that you hated this reality, and that you couldn’t do anything about it. If this will save him, then it’s worth it. Maybe…

Part 1 / Masterlist / Part 3

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Taglist:

@eridanuswave

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #342

“in this farewell, there’s no blood, there’s no alibi / ‘cuz i’ve drawn regret from the truth of a thousand lies”

What’s your all-time favourite cartoon? Does anime count? In which case I'd say Fullmetal Alchemist, or the original Pokemon. If we're not including anime, then uhhhh Avatar: The Last Airbender, even though I have much more to go in the series. Have you ever taken dance lessons? What kind? Yeah, I've done a few for many years: jazz, clogging, modern, and hip hop. When did you last run and why? I literally couldn't tell you. I don't even know if I can run with the current state of my legs. My knees would probably crumple. Does your house/flat/whatever the hell you live in need cleaning? Not necessarily cleaning, but sorting. I still have boxes outside and inside my room of my stuff I need to put up somewhere... but whenever I prepare to do it, I just get so overwhelmed and shy away from it. Then there's the spare room, that's a total mess loaded with boxes and the like. Mom and I have just avoided it like the plague. Was your last relationship with a man or a woman? Woman. What do you think your next achievement will be? HOPEFULLY getting a job... Do you like mushrooms? NOOOOOOO. What dream do you remember most vividly? I'm not talking about it. Favorite kind of bread? Pumpernickel. Rabbits or hamsters? Rabbits. I've never met a nice hamster, and I just think rabbits are cuter. A movie you’ve never seen that it seems like every one else has? Harry Potter films. Favorite dog breed? I'm biased towards beagles. When was the last time you climbed a tree? Never, actually. Where I live, there aren't really many weighty trees with low branches. Just pine trees. Most common lie you tell? That I'm "fine" when I'm not. Ever seen your parents make out? Jc no, I'll take a hard pass there. Do you put your hair up a lot or down? It's too short to put up. Most of the time do you straighten or curl your hair? Neither. What piercing do you hate? I'm not a fan of cheek dermals at all, but you do you 100%. Were you raised in a religious house? Yes; I was raised Roman Catholic. Do your parents get mad when you're on the computer for hours? Mom used to for many years until I became an adult and she just realized it was in vain. I haven't lived with Dad since I was a teenager, but when my parents were together, he usually didn't say anything. Have you ever been asked for a nude picture? No, thankfully. I'd stop talking to the person immediately. What would you do if your parent hit you? I honestly feel like I'd slap them back and get the fuck out. Or just freeze in shock and cry. What's your most common mood? Stressed but distracted. Do you like poems? Yeah, usually. Ever kissed someone half-naked? Uh yeah. Have you ever been in a parade? No. Do you still play Pokémon? I play Pokemon GO, and I've actually been tempted to get out my DS and play one of the games I have (I can't remember which). I do find Pokemon games to be VERY grind-ey, though, so I can't play them for too long without getting bored. What is your favorite Pokémon? Ninetales. I also really love Espeon, though, and Charmander will always have my heart. Is there an animal you like that most people don't? Bats! :') Is there an animal that you think is overrated in terms of how it's liked? No animal is overrated. Have you ever "quit" a site and came back to it more than once? Uhhhh I don't think so. Do you have an "odd" fascination with anything? Most would probably consider "vulture culture" to be pretty weird, being drawn to dead animals and all... What's the hardest thing you've been through, & what did you learn from it? The breakup with Jason. I learned that some people make promises they aren't afraid to break, that someone can promise "forever" and not mean it, that the most unexpected can just snap their fingers and forget about you... I learned a lot. And most things, not positive. What are three "unrealistic" things you want most? 1.) To be able to financially support myself by just freelance nature photography; 2.) sooo many different kinds of pets; and 3.) to be totally rid of my mental illnesses. Do you take any daily vitamins? No, but I would if I was the one who bought groceries and stuff. I do however take Vitamin D once a week for my legs. Who are three of your favorite fictional characters of all time? JUST THREE??????? FUCK MAN idk. Uhhh well there's of course Darkiplier and Wilford Warfstache, then uhhh probably Pyramid Head. If you had to give the world a pre-existing mythological/fictional being, what would it be? Idk, I'd really need to be more educated on their lore before I made that decision. Do you have any desire to learn (a) foreign language(s)? Which? I both do and don't want to resume learning German. I got very good at it and could have basic conversations, but lack of application has slaughtered my vocabulary. Now it's like, it'd be nice to try again, but for what purpose? I don't think I'll ever actually apply it to my life, so it just seems like it'd be a load of wasted effort. But then on the other hand, I also feel that doing something you simply want to do isn't a waste of time. Idk. What is one of your firmest beliefs? Equality for all. No race, religion, whatthefuckever makes you more or less valuable than someone else. Do you have anything that keeps you from doing something you'd truly enjoy? Oh yes. Depression and anxiety, mostly. Do you work to fix your faults? Or at least, admit to them? I definitely try, and I'll certainly admit to them. How do you hope the world will change, if at all? I just want more compassion, less violence, more understanding... What is/are your view(s) on god, religion, spirituality, or relations to? In short, I believe that something sentient created the universe, and it/they/he/she/what-have-you just... let life play out from there, I think. I like to believe there's a plane of consciousness like an afterlife that exists, but if not, I don't really care. I hope the evil get what was coming to them, and the good get back what they gave, but maybe we're all better off without life after death. We'll all find out one day. Are you arachnophobic or scared of spiders in the least? Some, yes; others, not so much. This is very situational. Do you play WoW? What do you think of it either way? Haha, you're asking an avid player. I enjoy it, but not as much as I used to. At one point I was a Heroic raider, sometimes dabbling in Mythic, but now I'm just mostly a casual mount collector that likes chatting with my guildies and just doing dailies 'n shit. I owe a lot to the game, honestly; it helped me stay occupied throughout the breakup, and still today gives me something to do. What kind of computer do you have? Windows 7/Vista/XP/Other? I have an Acer Nitro with Windows 10. Are you taking any interesting classes in school/do you not attend? I'm no longer in school. If you don't attend, are you taking any "lessons" for anything? No, but I would like to join a photography course somewhere. A book/piece that has had an exceptional impact on your life? Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo just made me hate war more than I innately did. What genres of music are your favorite? Just metal as an umbrella term. Some heavy stuff, some less, some in the middle, some leaning towards other genres... but I just like metal. Do you think that fate plays a part in people's lives? No. Wouldn't "fate" just make it all... worthless? Like we're just storybook characters with a predetermined ending? What are your opinions on the media? One word: manipulative. What's a piece of technology you'd like to own? I REALLY want a PS4, especially lately. There's just a lot of games I REALLY want to play. Are you afraid of technology developing to where we're too reliant on it? We're already *too* reliant on it, which I do believe is a bad thing. I know, absolutely hysterical for me to be talking. What's your favorite odd ice cream flavor? I don't think I've ever had a truly odd ice cream flavor. There's this local place though that makes a kind that tastes JUST like s'mores, and I can fucking murder a cup of that. What's your opinion on stereotypes/labels? They're limiting and devalue uniqueness, imo. I know very, very few people who totally fit a certain stereotype, so why even bother. Like I don't care if you use them as adjectives to some extent, just don't put too much weight on them. Just be you. Do you believe that history repeats itself? It's not necessarily doomed to, but it happens sometimes, obviously. Would you rather learn from your mistakes or just undo them? Depends on the mistake. What was the most interesting class you had in school? Probably Mythology in high school. Do you write? If so, what? Yeah, meerkat role-play. And every now and again, poetry. Do you have a favorite culture? No; I'm not educated on nearly enough to pick one. Do you believe in global warming? Have you researched it? Lol no shit I do. I don't exactly think it takes much research to see with your own two eyes that it's factual. Do you prefer piercings or tattoos? Tattoos, if I had to pick. What comedy movie is your favorite? White Chicks. Have you ever meditated? Yes. Doesn't work for me. What comes to mind when you think of a great moment in your life? Realizing it was my choice to liberate myself and my happiness from my ex. He didn't and never should've carried it, because that's my right. What do you like about springtime? Aaaaall the flowers. <3 How have you handled having to stay in? It's not really different from my average day, so... How would your friends describe you? Quiet and overthinks literally everything. Have you ever hallucinated? When I was coming off a certain med in middle school, I saw black moving shadows. What (or who) is the best thing that ever happened to you? The partial hospitalization program I attended for two months following my suicide attempt. It's where I met my psychiatrist, who set my medication straight. Medicine besides though, I learned so many coping techniques and just how to deconstruct my trauma. As well as possible, anyway. What is the worst decision you ever made? Handing over the ability to make happiness for myself to another person. What is your favorite arcade game? Don't have one. Do you feel neglected? No. What school subject(s) are/were your best? English, Arts, Science. Are you allergic to pollen? Yep. What style of wedding dress do you like best? Probably ballgown. Are you over your first love? I probably never will be in complete totality. Do you always answer your phone? No. I only ever do if I recognize the number. Who was the last person you know to have a birthday? Today is actually my sister's birthday. What song is currently stuck in your head? I have Halocene's cover of "What I've Done" on a loop right now. It has me absolutely covered in goosebumps. Do you ever use coloring books? Not really anymore. Do you personally know anyone who is an author? Not to my knowledge, no. What’s your favorite kind of salsa/dip to go with tortilla chips? Just your normal, mildly hot salsa. Do you wash your car by hand or drive through a car wash? Mom's car hasn't been washed in... well, years, given its bumper. Mom worries that in a car wash, it'll be broken off (it is literally held on with a lot of zip ties and duct tape), and we ourselves don't want to wash it, so... Do you have any uncommon kitchen appliances, such as espresso machines, waffle irons, etc? I know we have one or two, but idk what they're called. What did your parents major/minor in in college, if they went? Dad never went to college. Mom changed her major a few times, but her latest was social work, I believe. Has either of their careers influenced what career you chose or want to pursue? Not at all. What kind of natural disaster is most common where you live? Hurricanes. Why is your least favorite season your least favorite? Because it's hot as fuck and humid. Have you ever had an animal get into your attic? No. When was the last time you started a “new chapter” of your life? I don't know. Hopefully I'll start one soon when I leave PHP and pursue a job... What room in your home do you spend the least amount of time in? I'm always in my room. Do you do anything to reduce the amount of electricity you use? I feel awful admitting I do quite the opposite... Being in the dark during the day affects my depression, so I'll have my lamp (or both) on even if it's just sort of shaded inside. Are you usually open to trying a new food that you aren’t familiar with? Eh, it depends on the food. I'm not very adventurous with foods though. Do you listen to Panic! At The Disco? I do. Have you ever had a kinky dream about a celebrity? ... It wasn't "kinky," but it was a dream lmao. Has anyone ever told you that they loved you, and you couldn’t say it back? That's how I ended the whole Joel childishness. Which friend do you confide in most? My mom. Do you wear a cross? No. What is your favorite doughnut? That's so hard. :( Krispy Kreme's normal glazed though probably takes the cake. I also love chocolate frosted and just totally plain, though. Do you have a hot tub? If so, where is it located? No. Did you read the Twilight series, or jump on the bandwagon after the movie? Neither. Do you or your parents rake your yard? Dad did growing up. Now nobody does or needs to. Who did you last go to the movies with? Dad, I think? What color was the last vehicle you were in? White. Do you have any family members in the military right now? No. Is there a ceiling fan in the room you’re in? Yeah. Have you ever heard voices? No. If you’re not straight, who was the first person you came out to? Sara. Do you remember the first time your first crush ever said hi to you? No. Do you ever go places with wet hair? Yeah, idc. Who is your favorite little girl? My nieces. What do you want the most in life? To feel like I made a difference, even a tiny one. If you could have anyone’s singing voice, whose would you choose? OBVIOUSLY Amy Lee's. What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought that turned out to be a waste of money? *shrug* What’s something you’ve bought that turned out to be way more useful than you anticipated? Hm. Have you ever been on a ship? No. Would you ever date a disabled person? (Be honest) Yes. Would you rather adopt or have your own child? IF I wanted kids, which I absolutely do not, I'd rather have my own. I know I'd feel a deeper connection. What would you class as cheating on someone? As soon as you do/say something you don't want your s/o to know about, you're cheating. As far as earrings go, would you rather wear hoops or studs? Studs. Do you recycle? Yes. If someone dislikes you, what is most likely to be the reason? People have thought I don't try hard enough before. Do you put a line through your "7"s? Yes. ^ What about your "Z"s? Yes. What are you most known for? My art "skill," at least irl. How do you feel about shameless self-promoting? Depends on when, where, and how. As someone who's trying to be a freelance photographer, I get that it's sadly necessary, but there are some places it's just uncalled for.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''what i've done'' by linkin park

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t-hollands-bitch · 5 years ago

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I’ve got you baby

Backstory: Peter is 18. This is post Endgame and post Far From Home (bear with me), but with a different Endgame-ending. Tony doesn’t die bc they managed to get the stones back to the specific time they took them from and they defeated Thanos’ army. But after the trip to Europe, and with Mysterio’s tricks and holograms that showed Tony’s death to Peter, Peter started to experience PTSD and panic attacks.

Warnings: Ptsd, anxiety attacks, trauma, mentions of sex, yes there is fluff as well, indications of sex but nothing explicit

Pairing: Tony Stark x Peter Parker (Starker)

Word count: 1.3k

A/n: So this was originally a request from anon, but my clumpsy ass accidently deleted it. But anon asked for a fluffy starker one shot during the winter. And I know this was supposed to be super fluffy, but hey, I suddenly had this little idea that I couldn’t resist.

--------

Tony was usually late by a minimum of an hour or two. But when it came to Peter, he was always on time. Peter really brought out the best in him, he did, and that’s probably why Tony held him so dear. Peter had said that today’s exam would end around 2 p.m. so Tony had bought some snacks for Peter on his way to pick him up from school.

After finding a good parking place in the parking lot, Tony made his way to the building of the school. He didn’t need to worry about people seeing him there with Peter because of the so called “Stark-internship” that had become a “part-time job”, besides, Peter was now 18. He found himself wandering around the hallways, that were still empty and quiet due to everyone still doing the exam. He was lost in thoughts when he heard low muffled cries and sniffs from the staircase around the corner.

Tony’s curiosity led him to the voice and his heart nearly stopped for a second when he saw the scene in front of him. No, no, no. His babyboy was curled up, knees tucked to his chest and rocking back and forth.

“Peter… wha- what’s wrong?!” Panic was noticeable in his tone and he was having a hard time trying to swallow the lump in his throat. His expression showed how worried he was.

Peter was breathing fast and barely inhaling or exhaling. Eyes bloodshot staring in front of him into nothingness, zoned out. By the way his fingernails were digging into his palms, Tony was sure there would be marks left. Peter’s movements were becoming more frantic and he was now hitting his head against the wall behind him.

“Peter! Peter stop, you’re going to hurt yourself!” Tony nearly shouted to bring the boy back to earth while grabbing Peter’s arms to rub and slightly shake them.

“Tony... ” Peter’s eyes widened as if he just realized that Tony was there on his knees next to him. The boy had wet cheeks and puffy eyes because of the tears that were streaming down his face.

“Pete, baby what’s wrong?” With these words Peter threw himself in Tony’s arms. Peter was hugging him so tightly like he was holding onto dear life and he started to sob again. All Tony could do was to hold him and calm him down as best as he could.

“I thought I lost you… I saw you-” Tony pulled back a little and cut him off by planting a soft kiss on the curly haired boy’s lips. “Baby I’m right here with you. I am here. Okay? Now breathe Pete, breathe!” The older man finally understood why Peter was panicking. After the disastrous school trip that Peter had in Europe, Quentin Beck had left emotional and mental scars on Peter with his sick tricks and illusions. He had pulled a stunt that made Peter see Tony die in the final battle against Thanos. Those pictures were printed in Peter’s mind, just as Beck wanted them to be, and they were hunting him.

Peter relaxed into the kiss, and holding his breath during the kiss helped him to properly inhale when they broke it.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you baby. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, okay?” Tony whispered in the boy’s ear and planted small kisses on his face. “Now come on, let’s go, I have things planned for us” Tony knew that Peter didn’t want to talk about it every time he had these so called episodes, because in Peter’s words it would “make it real if it is spoken out loud” which really sounded kinda ridiculous in Tony’s ears but he didn’t want to argue with the boy.

All the crying made Peter hungry and on their way home he devoured the bag of Doritos in a matter of minutes.

“Do you want to stay in tonight and call and get some pizza or sushi, or do you want to go out and eat something? If you choose the second one, we could go and do some Christmas shopping.” Tony said winking at Peter when they were getting inside their shared home in upstate New York. Peter’s eyes lit up by the mention of Christmas and he nodded while jumping into Tony’s arms and kissing his cheek.

“Go take a nap and we will head out in a few hours.” Tony kissed Peter and was so lost in the kiss that he wanted to blow off their plan and just stay in and kiss Peter for the rest of the night and just feel their bodies pressed together. But, Peter was so excited to go shopping so his plans for tasting Peter on his lips all night was pushed back in his head.

--------

“Pete, sweetheart don’t you think 13 scented candles are enough?” Peter shook his head looking at Tony like he just asked the most stupid question ever. “They all have different scents so just deal with it” The sassy tone in Peter’s voice sounded so cute in Tony’s ears that he couldn’t resist the boy’s wishes and smiled while rolling his eyes.

He maybe spoiled Peter a little too much sometimes, but it was so worth it at the end of the day when he saw the boy’s face light up. Even when Tony just came home with new notebooks or a simple thing as a cute pencil case, Peter always got so happy as if Tony had given him the world. The boy appreciated the smallest things in life and Tony admired that.

When Peter was still caught up in the candle store, Tony spotted a shop where they made costume stockings. And Tony being Tony went there and bought himself and his curly haired boy their own stockings just for the fun of it.

--------

They had soon gotten home after it had started to snow like crazy when they were ice-skating. Peter was quick to get the hang of it even though he hadn’t ice-skated before. Okay yeah he fell quite a lot in the beginning, but it didn’t bother the boy cause he always got back up and tried again. Just like he always did in life.

Peter had bought so many ornaments, strings of light and candles that he hadn’t seen the little plastic bag inside the bigger one where the stockings were. The boy’s eyes widened when he finally saw them. “Oh my gosh, Tony! Whe- oh my god, baby, thank you!” The smile on Peter’s face warmed Tony’s heart so much that he felt like he was falling all over again for him.

When Peter flipped the stocking, he saw the little blue and red spider sewn there and his eyes got filled with tears of joy. Such a simple thing, yet it meant the world to him.

“Why are you so good to me?” Peter’s voice was shaky as he turned his head to look at Tony with teary eyes.

“Because I love you darling and you deserve the world” it sounded cheesy, but it was true. Tony grabbed Peter’s face and kissed him with so much passion, hoping that Peter could read the emotions through the dance of their lips. The kiss gradually intensified with Tony’s hands making their way down Peter’s body and resting on his hips as a silent plea for permission.

“Let me take care of you baby, let me make you feel good.” Tony knew that his brown eyed lover wanted it by the way Peter’s hands tugged on the collar of Tony’s shirt, but the older man wanted him to confirm it.

“Mhmm, please..” A whisper. But that was enough for Tony to start taking off Peter’s clothes and moving down Peter’s body to show the love he had for him. Tony brought his previous plans for the night back online in his mind and lost himself in the moment he shared with the boy he loved above all else.

#peter parker #peter parker fic #peter parker fluff #peter parker blurb #tony stark #tony stark fic #tony stark fluff #starker #starker fic #starker imagine #starker fluff #starker angst #peter parker angst #tony stark angst #marvel fic #H's writing

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solcheeky · 6 years ago

Text

Helplessly Spellbound

Summary: Mark is struck once and he can’t get you out of his head—it’s driving him insane. Technically it was his fault he got cursed, you never asked him to protect you, so why is it your responsibility to undo it? (5k)

(further explanation in note at the end, excerpt 4 is the cont. of the original post)

[EXCERPT 1, CH: Diving Ocean Deep]

“Make a sound and I will end you.” Your cold hand clamps over the student president's mouth. His doe eyes waver between your hand and face in alarm and his brows furrow at your sudden hostility. Yet, you pay no heed to his rattled body language; shoving the boy into a narrow storage room with you wasn’t exactly part of your plan either.

Instead, you bring all your attention to the stilling sounds beyond the closed storage room door. An emptiness fills your ears; this unpredictable silence making your chest heave in the slightest of relief. Silence was a good sign, it meant you probably had a minute or two before that thing finds where you are.

The reality of Mark Lee pressed under your palm almost slips your mind.

Seriously, out of all people, you had to bump into him.

A bitter sigh tumbles past your lips before you can stop it, the distress in your expression making Mark feel like he was to blame. Technically, he wasn’t, but having a third party civilian meant things were just going to be a whole lot harder than it already was. His presence invited an endless train of problems. The first and foremost being the risk of exposure to your secret identity, and the second being the troublesome aftermath of making sure this incident doesn’t slip his lips and meet another pair of ears.

Oh. And not to mention the pain-in-the-neck nuisance it was to keep Mark Lee’s blabbering mouth shut.

If anything, Mark was known for his non-stop unnecessary rambling, and the last thing you needed was for your chaser outside to hear out where you were ...For now at least. Originally, you had it all planned out; a deliberate chase via an elaborate escape route that kept the secrets of this world and the next, hidden from the public eye.

Except it all fell through the roof at the unexpected presence of Student Representative Mark Lee alone in the gym.

Averting your eyes and ears away from the door, you look at where your hands were stuck: one over the boys lips and the other pushing his shoulder down. In annoyance, you scowl at the position of your hands then at his innocent face. Great. How was this supposed to work? You can’t exactly send your chaser back to where it came from with your hands occupied.

Mark jumps a little when you finally make eye-contact with him, examining his wide-eyed face with a long, hard stare as you contemplate whether it would be smarter to keep his mouth shut than to set both your hands free. It was his shaky breath and nervous gulp that was convincing you otherwise. He looked scared shitless. Though you don’t blame him.

How often is it that you find a stranger bulldozing you over into a storage room?

Under your touch, Mark hoped you couldn't feel his heart thumping in his chest. He also hoped you would unclamp the hand you had around his mouth. It wasn't doing his short breath any good and neither did it help the state of disorientation his entire being was knocked into. The unexpected rush of being blindly shoved into this tiny space had his head spinning; dizzying thoughts crashing over in his mind like a tidal wave. It was all too much and too sudden. The way he had almost tripped into the shelves, the way your hand had swiftly found its way to his mouth, even the way you were squashed hotly against his frame. Mark didn't even know what to think—how to think.

You blink at him, the unreadable look on your face making his gaze nervously blink away from yours for a second, then quickly blink back again. There was something awkwardly endearing about the way he avoids your stare and the uneasiness in his every move kind of making you want to laugh.

Suddenly, a small echo ripples through the gyms empty walls outside and into your ears. Immediately, you steer your attention away from Mark Lee's interesting demeanor.

“Okay," You whisper in defeat, at this point you really had no choice. "I’m going to take my hand off your mouth now, alright?” You pray that Mark remembers what you had said before.

But the moment you peel your palm off his lips, his dumb-self barely lets out a word before you have to slap your hand back onto his mouth—his hand immediately following yours to grab onto your wrist.

“I said don’t say shit.” You grit through your teeth. “Fuck Mark, you’re smart enough aren’t you?”

You sigh using the one hand you have left to pull a pen out of the pocket on your opposite side, hitting his chest with your elbow in the process. Purposely? Let’s just blame the tight space you’re both crammed into.

"Sorry." His small voice muffling into your palm.

Oh my god. What part of being silent does he not understand?

But Mark can't help but shuffle uncomfortably under your clasp, hesitation in his every move because he’s too afraid to get any closer or rather—touch anything he’s not supposed to. You have one leg slipped between his to maximize space and your elbow is pressed against his upper body to rest the arm that’s clamping down on his mouth. You were so close. And he can’t even back away. The boy has to shut his eyes tightly for a moment to stop his mind from running in the wrong direction.

“Can I let go of your mouth now?” You’re busy fiddling with something in the sleeve of your free arm when your voice reels him back to reality. "Mark?"

You watch as it seems to take him a second too long to process what you said before he slowly nods, the look in his doe eyes acting like a reflection of his thoughts. It intrigued you. Mark was like an open book, his facial expressions oh so easy to read and movements untrained to hide feelings. It was strange for someone like you to see a person so innocently transparent with their emotions.

You were brought up different. You learnt to conceal sentiment from those who didn’t know your truth and bury it deep under the mask you called yourself for both your sake and others.

[CUT]

Once your other hand is free, you can finally pull out a spell-ready paper tag from the inside your sleeve, and Mark can finally wipe the sweat off of the hand he had on your wrist on the side of his hip before keeping it there stiff.

With the tag in one hand you examine the space you’re in; it's dark walls feeling a lot more confining now that you realize you’re so close to them you can see the details of its terrible paint job. Meaning, in such a limited space, you’re forced to use Mark as a table.

“Give me a sec.” Holding the tag up against his beating chest, you focus on drawing a column of runes down the paper, each one you active with a hushed whisper.

Mark takes one quick glance at your hands then cranes his chin up to the ceiling and gulps, your proximity was now minimized to the point where he can feel your hot breath on his collar bones. Ultimately, Mark has to force himself to concentrate on something else other than you touching him. Thus the start of his usual, incessant rambling in his head: he notes the light from the crack in the door, the ugly paint job of the walls, the dust covered light-bulb hanging from the ceiling and the leftover sports equipment on the shelves. He even rambles on about the funny-not-so-funny spider web in the corner. And for a moment, Mark thinks he's doing a great job. Until you make a light jab into his chest and his mind races back to how close you are.

He grimaces then scrunches his nose before taking the courage to look down at your busy hands. At first, he tries to read what you're scribbling down, tilting his head a little to orientate his gaze to match yours, except his brain couldn't piece together the lines you had so effortlessly drawn.

Mark’s stare makes you glimpse up at him.

Instantly, he glances away, his cheeks reddening in shame. So he waits a second until he thinks it's okay to peek again.

It wasn’t.

...

[EXCERPT 2, CH: Diving Ocean Deep]

Mark is parking his bicycle on campus when he finally manages to see you again.

“Hey!”

At the sound of the familiar voice, you look behind you to find a busy Mark Lee hurriedly fiddling with the straps of his helmet, backpack fallen off one arm and one shoelace untied. For a second, you doubt he had called out to you, I mean that ‘hey’ could’ve been for anyone, right?

You blink at him, once, twice. But he doesn't say anything more, his fingers too busy with the clipped straps of his helmet and lips tightly pursed in a hurried concentration. You figure you had probably just imagined his voice. However, just when you take half a step backwards, Mark hastily looks up, earnest eyes making sharp eye-contact yours.

Guess you spoke too soon.

“Wait– wait up!!” Mark looks as if he was stuck in his own helmet.

But you don’t wait, spinning on your heels to walk away from the one person you hoped you wouldn't talk to. Eyebrows knitted, you ducked your head and picked up your pace. It had been a while since that incident at the gym, a few couple days so undisturbed you had almost forgot about what happened (only almost) and you intended to keep it that way.

Mark, on the other hand, seemed to have other plans.

Annoyingly, you hear him stumble over his own bike and soon enough his hand is shooting down to grab yours, “Hey–” You spin around before he could touch you.

Mark's brows furrow at your quick reflexes, “How did you–”

“What?” Your facial expression like stone yet ineffective to the boy who appeared to be incredibly distracted by your dodge of his hand. “What do you want, Mark?” Your sudden sharp tone reminds him about what he was going to say and his eyes quickly tear away from your wrist.

“The other day,” he recalls, "What was that?" The buckles of his helmet clack against its plastic as he pulls the fallen strap of his backpack up his shoulder.

You keep a blank face, “Nothing you should be concerned about.” Nothing the student president should be concerned about anyway.

[CUT]

Shoulders hardened, you swiftly spin around to face him again, almost bumping completely into his chest in the process, but your backpack strap slap his bicep instead. Mark’s chin pulls back sharply and he scuffles backwards on his heels.

"Mark." You shut him up, very weary of the hundreds of other open ears on this campus. "You can't," You exhale annoyed. He can't just go around blabbing about what he saw or it'll be game over for you. It makes you think your hand really does belong permanently across his lips.

The boy is a taken aback by your hostility. "W-What?" Can’t what? He wants to know.

But you don’t finish that sentence. Instead, a warning is what you give him. "You saw nothing." Your words seethe with bitterness; just a little something to keep him away for a little longer. You just pray to the gods that Mark gets your gist.

But he doesn't. Because he's Mark.

He had come prepared for this kind of response. He knew you would say something like that, which was why he was prepared to use his status as student president to get answers—not that he wanted to, honest—Mark promises he isn't the type to abuse power, but you had given him no choice.

“Well,” You watch as his expression hardens (supposedly to match with yours) and his shoulders straighten as if to intimidate you like you did to him. “You weren’t there next period." Mark clears his throat. "And, as Student President, that’s something I should be concerned about.”

You wonder how many times he had rehearsed that line in front of a mirror, his widened shoulders and textbook glare making you conclude that he had asked google for help. Too bad your entire childhood was a rehearsal for the life you lead today; Mark and his internet search history will never be enough to phase you.

“I bunked.” Is all you say.

And his eyebrows twitch at your blatant answer. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

Mark doesn’t believe you one bit. “Why?”

“I don’t like that lecture.” You lied and he knew.

There's a tensed pause.

“Do you ever say anything more than three words?”

“Do you ever stop asking questions?”

Your gaze never wavers as you peer up at Mark through your lashes.

His pink lips purse into a thin line.

“Before.” You watch as he runs his fingers through his hair in exasperation, like he hadn’t been sleeping for the past few nights because of this. “You said ‘I can’t say right now’ not ‘I can’t say period.’ So answer me.”

You can’t. You can’t just tell him you’ve been closing gates to the otherworld since you can remember, and that the other day, when you shoved a goblin through its portal gates back to where it belonged, was just a normal part of your life. Because things like that don’t exist in society anymore. People like you have been hidden from this world for a reason.

...

[EXCERPT 3, CH: Diving Ocean Deep]

It baffled Mark to say the least. Everything about you made no sense, like a puzzle with all the wrong pieces, and the fact that something so obvious to him now, had flown over his head for the entirety he had known you for, made things all the more unusual.

He needed an excuse. He needed to find a valid enough reason to talk to you without you pushing him away. So that's exactly what he did.

...Three days ago.

Mark had saved your number in his phone three whole days ago, unable to bring himself to message you anything. Sure, he had it all planned, (his excuse being Yukhei's party next weekend) but the moment his thumbs started typing, the funny feeling in his stomach would reappear. The same one he felt when you were both stuck in that storage room together. You’re friends, Mark tells himself. Friends can ask friends out to parties.

You're lying in bed, hair wet from showering and all bandaged up from Taeyong’s usual 'errand' when your phone vibrates.

New Message, from [Unknown] 8:30PM, hey its me

[Unknown] 8:30PM, I mean mark haha

[Unknown] 8:30PM, how would you know who “me” is haha sorry

[You] 8:32PM, mark lee I assume?

[Unknown] 8:32PM, oh right sorry! yeah mark lee

[You] 8:33PM, how did you get my number?

[Unknown] 8:33PM, yuta gave it to me :-)

Immediately, you sit up, not thinking twice when the damp towel around your hair falls on to your pillows as your fingers tap furiously onto your screen.

[You] 8:34PM, yuta wtf

[Nakamoto] 8:34PM, ive always loved the way you start our conversations

[You] 8:34PM, mark lee asked for my number and you said yes ?!!!?!

[Nakamoto] 8:35PM, no, dont be stupid

[Nakamoto] 8:35PM, he didnt even ask

[Nakamoto] 8:35PM, i offered ;)

[Nakamoto] 8:35PM, but that was like 3 days ago,,,, is he only texting you now? lmfao wtf

You roll your eyes, trust Yuta to give Mark your phone number.

[Unknown] 8:36PM, anyways I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come next weekend

[Unknown] 8:36PM, to this thing right

[You] 8:36PM, no thank you

[Unknown] 8:37PM, wait I wasnt done yet

[Unknown] 8:37PM, I didnt even say where or what

[You] 8:37PM, you dont need to

[Unknown] 8:38PM, why do you always do this haha

[Unknown] 8:38PM, let me just say first then you can say no

[Unknown] 8:38PM, please :-)

[You] 8:39PM, I hate you

[Nakamoto] 8:39PM, not really ;*

[You] 8:40PM, alright

[Unknown] 8:40PM, so theres this party

[You] 8:40PM, no, thank you

[Unknown] 8:40PM, wait wha t

[Unknown] 8:40PM, I’m not done yet lol

[You] 8:41PM, oh

[Unknown] 8:41PM, so theres this party I’m hosting, and I want you to come

[Unknown] 8:41PM, I mean everyone is

[Unknown] 8:42PM, so you should :-) and you can bring your friends if you want

[Unknown] 8:42PM, its gonna be at my friends place opposite tcn, you know yukhei right? from the swim team? its at his

[Unknown] 8:44PM, okay haha done

[You] 8:44PM, I appreciate the offer, but no thank you.

Mark was texting you like you were friends.

[Unknown] 8:45PM, :(

[Unknown] 8:45PM, haha okay

[Unknown] 8:45PM, fair enough

If that was all, you weren't even going to bother saving his number on your phone.

New Message, from [Unknown] 8:50PM, so what you up to?

Spoke too soon.

[You] 8:51PM, yuta istg

[You] 8:51PM, you are so dead when I see you tomorrow

[Nakamoto] 8:52PM, try me bitch ;*

[CUT]

“What now?” You don’t even have to look up to know that it was Mark who was trying to keep up with your pace.

“You didn't reply to me last night.”

“I fell asleep.”

Mark raises a brow then contorts his face, “But it was like 8PM.”

“I had a long day.”

“You weren't in class yesterday though.” He muses pulling on the straps of his backpack.

You let out a sigh. What in the world did Mark Lee want from you? Ever since that incident he was everywhere you were. "What do you want?" You halt abruptly and swivel to face him.

Mark clears his throat, eyes flitting away for a second. "N-Nothing. I just- I wanted to talk to you." You watch as he licks his bottom lip nervously.

"What?" No storage room talk? The genuine confusion on your face makes Mark’s cheeks grow warm.

...

[EXCERPT 4, CH: Kicking Blankets]

Mark frustratedly rips his duvet off in hopes to release the fiery tension in his body, he can’t stop thinking about you, it’s driving him crazy. He sits up in a huff and drags the pads of his fingers through his hair, then pulls his hand down the flushed skin of his face in distress. He feels hot. A feverous temperature seeps down his back like his skin is burning for something—or someone. He can’t sleep, can’t focus, can’t do anything but think about you; about how his lips would feel pressed against yours or how your soft skin would feel under his hands.

Mark shakes his head, he hates himself for thinking about it. But why can’t he stop? He tries to inhale deeply but his breath was shaky. What the fuck is happening to him? His body falls back onto his bed with a puff, and he heaves a tired arm over his eyes. Sleep, he thinks, he needs sleep.

However, no matter how hard Mark squeezes his eyes shut, he just can’t do it.

“Jesus.” Hurriedly he swings his legs over his bed, grabs his keys, forgets his helmet then he’s out the door.

The cold Seoul city air felt good on Marks burning skin. Except it didn’t stop the strong desire inside his chest that was to feel you. He needs you, but he shouldn’t— he knows he shouldn’t.

Nonetheless, his legs pedal faster.

His bike wheels screech against the asphalt as he dodges the people that flood the night streets of Seoul not caring if he has to splash through puddles, there was only one thing he cared about right now, and that was you.

Soon enough, he was hopping off his bike, letting it crash onto the gravel of the car park and buzzing at a number at the entrance to your towering apartment. The intercom buzzes at him, its seemingly never-ending rings vibrating from its speakers like they were teasing him. He kicks the dust around his feet annoyed.

“Hello?”

Mark instantly whips his face up at the sound of your voice, it made his heart wrench forward. “It’s Mark.”

“Mark?” You’re thrown off. “Mark? What are you doing h–”

“Please, open up.”

“I–”

“Hurry.”

For some reason, your half-awake self pushes the open button. Scratching your scalp, completely bewildered at what just happened, you stare at your door. You almost don’t believe Mark Lee was on his way up to see you right now—like past-midnight-right-now.

Just a few moments ago the intercom doorbell had jolted you awake with its sharp buzz and before you knew it you had jogged down the hallway to let Mark in from downstairs. You lean back to look down the hallway where you had came from; there no sign of Taeyong or Doyoung, making you wonder whether to wake them up. Mark was all of a sudden hot on your tails at an ungodly hour and if anyone knows what to do, it’s them.

Then it hits you.

This probably has something to do with his wound, that mark that scars his chest. That same one he got from trying to protect you from the otherworld. Fuck. You pray that the only reason he’s come to you is because it was hurting, not because he had contracted some dumb curse or something.

However, deep down, you wanted to believe it was for something normal, something unrelated to the past few events but there was a weird feeling floating in your chest that you couldn't ignore. It was making you think it was about something you did not want to hear.

A rapid set of knocks jump-scares your tired body.

You open the door to see Mark in an all-black plain t-shirt and sweats. You take one look at his restless appearance and instantly worry washes over you. “Come in.” You say.

He nods his tired head and steps in past you. “What happened?” You close the door behind him.

“You have to do something.” You turn around to see Marks facial features darken. He takes a step forward, “there’s something happening to my body.” He gets so close you feel the heat radiating from him. “And I can’t control it.”

Suddenly Mark closes the gap between the both of you, pressing himself flush against your body with his hands on your hips. “You need to help me.” He sounds so desperate.

Your mouth is agape, “I.... I don’t know what....”

“I can’t sleep.” He’s staring at your lips with a frown. “I can’t close my eyes without picturing you.”

“Mark, what are you talking about?” You take steps back breaking away from the hot contact of his skin, but he follows you like a magnet.

“This thing, it’s making me go crazy.” Mark backs you up against the door, his forehead leans down to press onto yours and you freeze. “I mean it. I can't fucking get you out of my head.” He lowers his voice, speaking with a quiet intensity. “You have to do something.”

You know it’s the spell that’s talking. It’s making him do this.

“I want you.” Mark says urgently, his knee moving between your legs. You don’t know what to do when you feel his hands on your waist tighten.

“I need you... But you have to stop me.”

So you grab him by the shoulders so he can look into your eyes. Exhaustion riddles his features; his doe eyes no longer sparkle with innocence and his jaw is clenching with tension.

“You’re all I can think about.” His gaze wavers down to your lips again. But then you see a flash of inner conflict across his features; his eyebrows furrow and he scrunches nose. “You can’t let me do anything to you.” So when he ducks his head down to kiss you, you turn your head, and his lips press against your hair.

You feel dizzy from the whiplash Mark is giving you, the words of desire that roll off his tongue immediately clashing with the sentences that follow straight after. It sends your body into confusion. You should probably shove him off, it would be so easy, but your traitorous body is too tempted by his touch.

One of his arms snakes around your lower back and his other hand slowly travels up higher past your waist, his forehead fallen to rest on your shoulder causing his face to be so close that the tip of his nose tickled your skin. Your fingers clench tighter into his shoulders.

“I should...“ His soft lips whisper against your collar bone, “not be doing this.” Suddenly the hand that was riding up the side of your ribcage, wrenches away from your body and palms the door behind you.

“Mark, I don’t know what you want me to do. Tell me and I’ll–”

“I don’t know either.”

You feel his features twist in agony on your shoulder. He releases his arm from your back, “I don’t know either.....” He repeats breathless.

Suddenly, the lights flick on.

“What’s ...going on?” The sound of Taeyong’s voice makes you shove Mark off, sending him stumbling over all the shoes left by the door.

[CUT]

When you shuffle back into the living room, Mark had abandoned the ice pack on the table and his face was buried in his hands.

“Here,” you lightly nudge his shoulder with the pillow.

His eyes widen slightly at your sudden appearance, “thanks.” He was too engrossed in his own thoughts about how hectic it’s been—how hectic his mind is now.

The air stilled, an empty quietness between you, neither of you knowing what to say; you, trying hard to return to your indifferent-self despite the previous lust-intensive moments, and him blanking out on conversational topics that don’t include kissing or the words ‘I need you’.

You figure it was just best to retreat back into your room.

“Wait.” Mark grimaces to himself, he hates himself for opening his mouth. “I’m really sorry but can you..” With an overworked brain, he tries carefully to find the right words. “Stay with me for a bit.” Mark can feel his heart racing in his chest, pounding through his body and ringing in his ears at your cold silence. "I– just for a bit," He gulps nervously. "I really can't sleep. And you, you can help me."

You sigh, Doyoung had spent more than enough time trying to heal Mark, what good was it for you to stay with him any longer? “How? Doyoung tried his best, I can’t do what he does.”

“I just need you here. I don’t know, it felt better when I was holding you...” His voice fades into nothing, like he was too afraid to finish his sentence.

You honestly don’t know what comes over you when your feet start making their way around the sofa.

[CUT]

With all the courage he can muster, he slowly follows your movements and lies behind you, his body almost touching yours. Only almost.

But the pink eared boy wasn't comfortable at all. His arm was in a funny position and his back felt weird. Chewing on his inner lip he stared intently at the awkward gap between your back and his chest. You hear Mark sniff stiffly. “Can I...” Then he lifts an arm in hesitation.

You hate that you fall weak at his innocence.

“Yes.” You say, a simple answer but it was all Mark needed to hear.

So with your permission, he eagerly takes the chance to snake his arms around you, letting himself go completely as he buries his face into the nape of your neck.

Finally, with you against him, he felt at ease.

The heat in his body releasing into this in-explainable feeling. Something he had never felt before. Something he didn't even know could be so perfect to exist. It just felt so right, like fitting the last piece into a puzzle.

And for the first time in forever, he can finally feel his eyes close into a deep slumber.

Unlike Mark, you couldn't fall asleep. Perhaps it was because his arms were wrapped so tightly around your waist, or because your back was flushed into chest sharing warmth with yours—even the way his cute nose nuzzled into your skin so naturally made your head spin. He was so close the lightness of his breath tickled the sweep of your neck, the slow beat of his heart fluttered between your shoulder-blades and the soft of his pink lips grazed across the bare skin of your shoulder.

The most damning part of it all? The fact that it felt so right.

You were so fucked.

note: hello! to those of you got to the end of this weirdly laid out plot/excerpt thing, im surprised and grateful you made it lmao thanks

this is the draft version people have asked for which has been in my drafts for a year! though it may not even make sense to half of the people reading this oof

i just wanted to clarify, these were the few parts of ‘helplessly spellbound’ that i, as a writer, was not too ashamed of to post lol the rest of it wasn’t so successful in terms of the standards i have set in my mind ? and thus shall never see the light of day on this site :-)

if anyone wants a break down of the whole plot summary/what i had planned or an explanation of anything written above or just in general curious about why i ended up posting it this way, ask me! my inbox is always open!

also, before anyone asks again: what most definitely wont happen, is me finishing this fic completely twice over smh and posting it. sorry :(

finally, thank you! and sorry, again, to all my followers that were expecting more

#mark lee au #mark lee angst #mark lee fluff #mark lee scenario #mark lee imagines #mark lee drabbles #mark lee x reader #mark lee x you #nct au #mark lee fanfic #mark lee fic #mark lee scenarios #mark lee smut #nct fanfic #nct scenarios

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astronomyparkers · 6 years ago

Text

Observant {II}

Warnings: Language

Pairing: Peter Parker x Michelle Jones

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: alright SO once again we petermj stans have been blessed with content which has inspired me to continue this fic. originally, this was going to be the last part, but i have an idea for a third part so...there’s AT LEAST one more coming. I was going to combine it with this part, but I wanted part 2 to be in peter’s pov, and the next part to be in michelle’s pov, so that means more chapters!!!!! I really really hope you like this. please let me know if you do!! and again, please note I DO NOT HAVE A TAGS LIST!!!!! THE REASON WHY IS IN MY FAQ!!!! ANY/ALL MESSAGES REGARDING THIS WILL BE DELETED!!!!

{masterlist}

By the time Peter Parker realized he had fucked up, he was already home in bed.

The day had been as normal as the day of a teenage superhero in New York could be. He had gone to school, aced an English pop quiz on Macbeth, and had lunch with Ned and Michelle. He had even made Michelle laugh, an honest-to-God, uncontrollable laugh, with one of his jokes, which normally just earned him an eyeroll, and, occasionally, the smallest of smirks. Next had come chemistry, where he began mixing a new batch of web fluid without anyone detecting him, and robotics club after that. It wasn’t until he was patrolling after school that things had taken a turn for the abnormal.

When Peter had seen the car coming for Michelle, he first thought he wouldn’t make it to her in time. The thought of not being able to save her…Peter turned over onto his back in bed, rubbing his eyes. He couldn’t allow himself to think of what could have happened. Instead, he focused on what did happen. He saved MJ. He pulled her away from the car, he made sure she was okay, held her in his arms…

Peter cleared his throat, squeezing his eyes shut. Holding MJ so close to him…he had liked it more than he should.

Michelle Jones had been a bit of an enigma for so long that when she began to open herself up to Peter, he had dived in head first. Getting to know Michelle was a privilege that she didn’t grant to many people, and Peter didn’t take the gift lightly. Every time Michelle let down a bit of her guard in front of Peter, he felt a sense of pride, which turned into affection, which turned into…

Peter wasn’t sure. He knew he admired MJ; she was one of the smartest people he knew, not just at school, but on the streets, too. She taught him all about social issues, helped him challenge himself in how he acted and the things he did, and so much more. She was witty and honest and observant and beautiful. To some, she was abrasive, but to Peter…she was everything.

Peter sighed to himself and rubbed his eyes again. Everything wasn’t exactly how someone was supposed to think of their best friend. And yet.

The events of that day entered Peter’s mind again. He had pulled Michelle tight to him as he swung her away from the car crash, and checking to make sure she was okay had been just as much for him as it was for her. He knew he wouldn’t have been able to leave until he knew MJ was okay. And MJ, in her typical fashion, told him to go back to saving people. He had nodded, reached for a high-five, and tried not to get flustered when she seemed flustered. She had tucked her hair behind her ears, and he loved the look on her face. He was almost upset when he had to say goodbye, but—

Peter’s eyes snapped open. It was then that he realized his mistake. And to make the mistake with Michelle, someone who noticed everything…

But then again, it could only have happened with Michelle. Michelle Jones was the only person who could make him so flustered that he forgot that Spider-Man didn’t know who she was, let alone her name, or her nickname (which she herself said only her friends called her).

“Jesus, Parker.” Peter groaned under his breath, sitting up in bed. “You idiot.”

Peter rubbed his forehead, trying to ward off the headache he knew was inevitable. Calling Michelle by her nickname was second nature to him now, and he hadn’t been able to stop it from slipping off his tongue. But then again, she was shocked and dazed from the incident. Maybe she didn’t notice.

Peter snorted as soon as the thought entered his head. She was MJ. Of course she noticed. She noticed everything. There was no point planning for what to do if she knew his secret. Peter had to plan for how to approach the subject to her. It was too late to do anything preventative. No, Peter had shut the door on that option the moment he was unable to shut his mouth. Damage control, that was what he needed to do now. It was the only thing he could do.

When Peter made it to school the next day, he was a nervous wreck. He had barely slept the night before, had hardly touched his breakfast. May even thought that he was sick, insisting on checking his temperature before he left the house. Part of Peter thought that it would’ve been easier to lie to her and say he was ill, so that he wouldn’t have to face MJ at school. But Peter hated lying to his aunt, and besides…he wasn’t very good at it. Instead, he took his usual subway train to school (with people giving him a wide berth due to his appearance), grabbed the books he needed from his locker, and made his way to his first class.

Michelle was already there when Peter arrived, sitting in her usual seat that was one row over and two rows up. Her messy curls were tucked into her usual haphazard bun, and she was wearing a grey t-shirt with a blue jacket overtop. Her posture was hunched over as she doodled in her notebook, paying little attention to those around her.

Peter kept staring as he walked to his seat, sitting down smoothly and quickly. Students were still filing in, moving between his line of vision to Michelle, but she still hadn’t looked up.

An uneasy feeling creeped into Peter’s stomach. Was MJ mad at him? Was she angry that Peter hadn’t trusted her with his secret? When he had been running potential confrontation scenarios in his head last night, the possibility of her being angry hadn’t crossed Peter’s mind.

Steeling himself, Peter took a deep breath. There was only one way to find out.

“Hey, MJ.” Peter called quietly across the desks.

Michelle looked up, glancing over her shoulder at Peter. She gave him a curt nod before looking back down at her notebook.

The greeting, by anyone else’s standards, might have been a little icy, but it was a typical response from Michelle. There was no way for Peter to tell if she was mad or not from that interaction. He was about to get out of his seat and talk to her when the teacher called the class to order, and the opportunity was gone.

Peter spent most of the class staring at his friend, trying to see inside her mind. Not for the first time, he wished that his spider-sense was less intuition and more telepathic. If Peter had a nickel for every time he wished he could read MJ’s thoughts, then he would’ve been richer than Mr. Stark.

The moment the bell rang, he began making his way to her, but she already darted out of the classroom, headed to her next class. Peter thought he’d find her at lunch, but she was mysteriously absent.

“Do you know where MJ is?” He asked Ned, looking around the crowded cafeteria.

“No.” Ned shook his head. “She’s probably reading a new book or something, and didn’t want us to interrupt her.”

“Yeah.” Peter echoed, still scanning the cafeteria. “Probably.”

Peter struggled through all his classes that day, barely able to focus on the tasks at hand. When Peter saw Michelle in chemistry, she was still acting the same, like there was nothing wrong. Was she really this unbothered by discovering his secret? Peter wished he could share her carefree attitude; he had already sweat straight through his t-shirt, and had to change into a spare Midtown sweater from his locker.

Decathlon practice after school was the same story. Michelle didn’t say anything to Peter before or during practice, and Peter was left staring at her as she asked the team questions. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice any of Flash’s crude jokes at his expense. All he could focus on was talking to Michelle.

Peter finally caught up with her after practice. She was speaking to Mr. Harrington, so Peter dropped his notebook on purpose, the pages scattering everywhere. He told Ned to leave the papers, that he could get them himself. He took his time cleaning them up, just finishing as Mr. Harrington left the auditorium. That was when Peter spoke up.

“Hey, MJ.” He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry. “Can—can we talk?”

“Sure.” She walked over to him, handing him one of his papers that he had missed on the ground. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I-I just—yesterday, I—you know…” Peter trailed off, his ears flushing pink. He couldn’t find the right words to say.

“Yesterday…what?” Michelle asked in confusion, her brow furrowed. “What about yesterday?”

Peter frowned. “What do you mean, what about yesterday?”

“I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Peter.” Michelle pulled her backpack over her shoulder. “Did something happen yesterday?”

Peter nodded slowly. “The car crash…?”

“Oh.” Michelle’s face slipped for just a second before returning to her neutral expression. “Did you see that? I didn’t spot you in the crowd…”

“You didn’t spot—you—” Peter faltered again. “What?”

“It was pretty busy, though, so I guess that’s why.” She shrugged. “Thanks for the concern, but I’m fine.”

“You’re…fine. Right. Because Spider-Man saved you.” Peter said slowly.

Michelle nodded. “Yeah. You saw it, right?”

Peter blanked for a moment before stammering out a response. “Y-yeah! Yeah, I saw it. From the crowd, right. It was…yeah. He saved you.”

“Lucky me.” Michelle said, glancing at her watch. “I’m kind of running late, Peter. Was there anything else you needed to talk about?”

Peter’s breathing was evening out, his heartbeat finally slowing. Was it possible…Michelle really hadn’t noticed? “No, that…that was it. I just wanted to check up on you.”

“Okay. Well…see you around.” Michelle waved slightly before exiting the auditorium.

“Yeah. See you.” Peter said weakly, watching Michelle disappear.

Peter couldn’t believe his luck. Had Michelle really not noticed Spider-Man call her MJ the day before? He thought it couldn’t be true, but…maybe the adrenaline and shock of the entire incident had distracted her. Maybe she really hadn’t noticed. Maybe, for once in her life, Michelle Jones hadn’t been completely observant.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief, a small smile creeping onto his face as he exited the auditorium. For once in his life, luck seemed to be on his side.

Michelle watched Peter walk down the steps of the school, a spring in his step. When he reached the fence, he glanced around quickly before jumping over, landing smoothly on the other side. He dusted himself off before continuing on his way. From her spot behind the stone steps of the school, Michelle sighed. She really had no idea how Peter had kept his powers a secret this long. But for now, she would help him do it. After all, he had saved her life. The least Michelle could do was save his secret.

Of course, neither of them knew the trouble that lied ahead, or how impossible that task would become. All they knew was the buzzing feeling that came with protecting someone you cared about, and the lengths they would go to help the other person. And really, in that moment, that was all that mattered.

For a moment, anyways.

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lovelytonys · 5 years ago

Text

100 great things about megamind

basically i just watched megamind and wrote down everything that made me go “hey that’s good”

1. The opening monologue slaps I literally do not care about your “cliches” it’s GOOD

2. “8 days old and still living with my parents...pathetic right?”

3. The idea that Megamind is inherently good since his origin story should have been his dad saying he’s destined for “greatness” but the greatness got cut off uwu

4. Literally just the fact that Megamind was about to go to the Rich Nice House and his destiny changed at the last second,,,everything about this movie makes it a cinematic masterpiece

5. “A baby! How thoughtful!” “yes yes I saw it and thought of you”

6. “While they were learning the itsy bitsy spider I was learning how to dehydrate objects and rehydrate them at will”

7. When you hear the Bad to the Bone guitar riff kick in,,,,,,heck yeah babey!!

8. J.K Simmons is here! yeah!

9. Will Ferrell’s voice acting is literally SO darn good like even just from the beginning,,, the funny affectation of whatever kind of accent that is,,,,,the expressiveness of literally everything he says,,,,,I’m not actively a fan of Will Ferrell or anything but he just did a good job ok

10. “His heart is an ocean inside a bigger ocean”

11. Idk why but I just love the phrase “you fantastic fish you”

12. Metro Man is such a fun character. Like. A hero who shouldn’t be a hero, but he just….is one? Someone who’s idol-worshipped and, despite his grandeur, doesn’t exactly deserve it?

13. MEGAMIND’S CHARACTER DESIGN IS LITERALLY SO GOOD like the vivid colors of his skin and eyes? His COSTUME? His hilarious proportions, between the giant head and the skinny & scrawny everything else? Superb, you funky little alien

14. All dialogue between Megamind and Minion is god tier by default

15. The twist on “damsel in distress” where yeah the girl gets kidnapped but she is so not distressed and has the intellectual power in the situation as she roasts Megamind at every turn and he can’t combat anything she says

16. “Oh potato tomato potato tomato”

17. “I’m shaking in my BABY SEAL LEATHER BOOTS”

18. THE ENTIRE EXCHANGE BETWEEN MEGAMIND AND METRO MAN ABOUT JUSTICE AND REVENGE AND THE MICROWAVE OF EVIL AND WARRANTIES

19. “Can someone stamp my frequent kidnapping card” “You of all people know that we discontinued that”

20. The way this movie manages to SO effectively establish character while diving right into the action and keeping with a fun, fast pace? The world & characters are set up incredibly well AND the start of the journey/ “break into the new world” hits at a brisk 20 minutes? Lovely work, Dreamworks

21. When Highway to Hell kicks in with the lasers and Megamind dancing at the police,,,,,this is nothing short of priceless

22. “Imagine the most horrible terrifying evil thing you could possibly think of and multiply it…..BY SIX”

23. When you’re a supervillain who takes over the city and you say “let’s just have fun with this” to the citizens

24. *whispering behind the door* “now slam the door really hard!” *snickering like a 12 year old girl* “move they can still see you”

25. “Did you think this day would come?” “No, no not in a million years, not ever...I mean yes”

26. “That’s called a window, sir. All the kids are looking through them”

27. Crazy Train is SUCH a nice touch, the fade into Alone Again Naturally is great. The use of music in this movie is absolutely A+, MEGAMIND DID IT FIRST AND GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY AIN’T SPECIAL (jk gotg you’re so special ily)

28. The images of Megamind’s destruction & deterioration of the city are so creative and funny

29. *to a desk toy bird* “What’s your vacuum like?”

30. “GOING OFF THE RAILS ON A CRAZY TRAIN SIR”

31. Haven’t yet mentioned how lovely the animation of Megamind’s face is! Every single frame, he’s so expressive

32. Mispronunciation of words like “school”, “Metro City”, and “melancholy”

33. This voice cast in general is so good like it’s not just big names phoning it in for an animated movie, they’re fully into it

34. Real Bernard doesn’t get much screen time but he’s hilarious

35. “Typhoon Cheese”, whatever that was gonna be

36. The juxtaposition in body language & facial expression between Real Bernard and Megamind Bernard,,,,,actually just the way Megamind’s physicality is transferred to the other characters he disguises himself as. Great stuff

37. Megamind’s off-the-walls high energy is so fun and electric

38. “This is a bad idea” “yes, a good idea for the greater good of bad” “maybe it seems good from your bad perception but from a good perception it’s just plain bad” “oh you don’t know what’s good for bad”

39. Ollo? Oh, hello

40. “I’m just yelling at my…..mother’s urn”

41. Megamind and Minion just saying “code” before things that aren’t in code. This movie is so good with its running gags, they don’t feel like “oh haha they used that joke again!” they feel like inside jokes between the characters I love it

42. Megamind fighting himself as Bernard while complimenting himself, COMEDY GOLD

43. The various occurrences of random life-altering things happening on a whim to the wrong people, like Hal getting the superpowers and earlier Metro Man being molded into a hero and Megamind landing in prison as a baby

44. The forget me stick

45. Space Dad and Space Stepmom

46. Every character Megamind inhabits always retains Megamind’s eyes

47. MR BLUE SKY PLAYING OVER HAL’S DISASTROUS TRAINING SEQUENCE AND THE FALLING IN LOVE SEQUENCE THAT INCLUDES DONKEY KONG AND MEGAMIND WEIRDLY TEXTING ON A FLIP PHONE (gotgv2 who? Don’t know her)

48. Roxanne’s positive influence making Megamind genuinely want to make the city better uwu

49. ROXANNE AND METRO MAN WERE NEVER A COUPLE! Lovely trope subversion

50. Tropes in this movie in general are so fun. This isn’t some uninspired genre parody. They don’t just subvert tropes in the exact way that you’d expect. I feel like the way that this movie plays with the superhero genre often feels unique and creative

51. Bernard’s character design kind of slaps tbh. The turtleneck, the hair, the glasses, all very nice

52. When Hal calls Roxanne “a really good looking one I’ve got my eye on” like she’s meat or something as opposed to Megamind valuing her personality…..makes ya think u know

53. T h e b l a c k m a m b a a a a a

54. “Maybe I don’t want to be the bad guy anymore!” and Megamind & Minion’s subsequent falling out that served as a precursor to the disastrous date with Roxanne- it happens pretty much exactly halfway through the movie. Some people look down upon following structure to a T, but sometimes it’s satisfying when a movie perfectly follows structure and this movie’s structure is flawless

55. “Good luck on your date” “I will” “That doesn’t even make any sense” “I know”

56. Right after fighting w Minion when Megamind looks in a cracked mirror and frowns at his reflection but then changes into someone else, into Bernard, and then smiles? THE CINNAMON TOGROPHY, THE STORYTELLING

57. When Hal is just an incel whose feeling of entitlement is framed as disgusting and he’s not supposed to be sympathetic and Roxanne’s rejection of him is not framed as evil but rather completely justified? VERY epic of them, this movie would have SMASHED the pop culture scene if it came out today

58. The GRAVITY of the part when Roxanne accidentally reveals Megamind in the restaurant is so powerful that I can STILL barely watch it even though I’ve seen it so many times

59. The part that immediately follows where Roxanne shuts down Megamind is SO well done. Roxanne is giving out some harsh words to our dear protagonist, but she is not framed as the bad guy. The great thing about this scene is that they let Roxanne call out Megamind on how he’s been a jerk and she gets to be RIGHT. How very cash money of them! The emotion here isn’t anger at Roxanne because she’s ~being mean~ to Megamind. It’s a sting over the fact that she’s right, and the heartbreak over the dramatic irony of us knowing that Megamind is becoming a better person and Roxanne having no idea. Now Megamind is left with a decision that will show who he truly is on the inside: he could either retreat back into safe, evil ways for the rest of time because it’s easier to be bad because then no one expects anything from him and rejection is easier to handle, or he could ultimately choose to grow from this and recognize how he was wrong and how he has to change. The execution of this midpoint is exemplary.

60. “Do you really think I’d ever be with you?” “....no” the delivery of those lines is so good

61. “You were right! I was….less right!”

62. The Black Mamba is a god tier costume and the fact that it has its own theme song in the score makes it at least 6x better

63. WHEN BACK IN BLACK KICKS IN YEAAAHHHH (Iron Man who? Don’t know her) (Iron Man was already out at this point but how fun is it that this movie used TWO iconic mcu songs)

64. Megamind in the giant suit playing with cars

65. Hal SUCKS I love how much the movie wants you to hate him

66. The difference between Megamind and Hal/Titan/Tighten is so interesting to watch. How Megamind is the self-proclaimed “bad guy” but he’s not even out to do serious damage & it’s just a game to him, while Hal is out for blood but was created to be a hero

67. “Now it’s time for witty banter” “AAAAAAAAA” “I’m not really sure where to go with that”

68. “I’M CALLING A TIME OUT”

69. Twisting the Kryptonite trope by having Metro Man make up the copper weakness

70. “Does he have a hideout? A cave? A solitary fortress?” lol I understood that reference

71. “OW! MY GIANT BLUE HEAD!”

72. Metro Man’s confession scene is so good. Really, how often do you get a hero who feels that he was forced into being a hero? That’s usually a villain trope. Does the hero ever realize he doesn’t want to be a hero….and actually quit FOR GOOD? Again, the trope subversion is awesome

73. “I have eyes that can see right through leaaaaaaaad” that’s my favorite song

74. “You left the city to HIM! No offense” “no I’m with you”

75. “There’s a yin for every yang. If there’s bad, good will rise up against it.”

76. “I say we just go all GANGSTA on him” ms tina fey i would die for you

77. Megamind turns himself in to the police, the fact that he willingly submits himself to the punishment of being a villain at this point is a lovely and stirring way of showing the sense of justice he has deep down and showing his character development

78. When Roxanne gives Megamind a desperate & compassionate pep talk over live tv no matter what it means for her reputation :*))

79. When Megamind has 88 life sentences

80. “I. Am. Sorry!” *dramatically slides down door*

81. Megamind��s heartfelt and regretful admission of all his mistakes that brings his character arc to a head? Lovely

82. “Good luck” “WE’RE GONNA D I E! Hahahaha!”

83. “There is no Easter bunny, there is no tooth fairy, and there is no queen of England.”

84. MEGAMIND’S EPIC ENTRANCE BY COMING OUT OF HIS OWN MOUTH

85. “Oh you’re a villain alright. Just not a super one.” “Oh yeah? What’s the difference?”

86. P R E S E N T A T I O N

87. METRO MAN THUNDER CALVES

88. Again with the green eyes continuity! Love that!

89. “Going somewhere? Besides jail?” *flies in a fancy pose*

90. When Megamind is ready to let everyone think Metro Man is back but Roxanne wants to see the real hero :*))

91. “This is the last time you make a fool out of me!” “I made you a hero, you did the fool thing all by yourself” SICK BURN

92. “There’s a benefit to losing. You get to learn from your mistakes”

93. WHEN THE DEHYDRATION GUN COMES IN CLUTCH

94. Minion being a drama queen lol comedy peaked in 2010

95. Minion’s Little Face

96. “GET BACK YOU SAVAGES” “Sorry he’s just not used to positive feedback!”

97. “Destiny is not the path given to us but the path we choose for ourselves”

98. When Megamind gets to parallel Metro Man’s entrance from the beginning of the movie and everyone cheers for him :*)) and he adds his own fun little twist by making a villain joke

99. “Megamind, defender of Metro City” “you know? I like the sound of that!”

100. Name a better villain to hero story. YOU CANNOT. Cinematic excellence. I am never disappointed.

#I DO NOT DESERVE RIGHTS #lovelytonys personal thought

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