#one of my fav chapters to write was a peter centric chapter where he was in some way part of every scene

[seriousbrat]

Do you find it difficult to write for Peter? I imagine it's hard to find the right balance in his characterization, especially considering people will be expecting him to be either totally useless and hated by the group or being totally equal and adored. I do think you do it very well though, he seems pretty realistic and in character imo

Ooh thank you so much for saying so! I really love this question.

The answer is sort of, sometimes! Honestly I don't find his voice difficult at all, I really enjoy writing him, but what I think can be a struggle with Peter is that he isn't a character that (initially) moves the plot along, compared to the others. He follows his friends, he trails behind, he's generally a passive character, so it's hard to give him active things to do within a story. I understand why people have a hard time knowing what to do with him, and either make him exit stage left during most scenes or just kind of eternally hover in the background lol. I know I've done that myself, and honestly, even though I think it was okay in part 2, it's part 3 where his arc really started to come together for me.

I'm obviously talking about the Hogwarts years here, since post-Hogwarts he has a pretty clear arc-- so during the Hogwarts years, it's all about setting up that arc, building up his motivations and foreshadowing his eventual betrayal. The way I see it he's already starting to do things that are basically small-scale versions of the betrayal, but because these actions are so minor they go completely unnoticed by the rest.

In my fic the first major turning point for Peter is during a Death Eater attack in their sixth year, when he turns into a rat and escapes, abandoning his friends who he knows are desperately trying to find him. This is never revealed to the rest of them, and Peter is at this early stage developing a habit of running from conflict and lying to his friends. During his seventh year he feels isolated from his friends and starts spending more time on his own as a rat, even failing to show up for his NEWT and lying about it later-- and in many ways that avoidance of real life is more comfortable for him. Obviously, the most extreme version of avoiding real-life consequences in this way is when he frames Sirius and then spends 12 years living as a rat.

He's terrified-- of losing his friends, of rejection, of failure, of the war-- and yet his fear is shameful to him, because cowardice is considered shameful by the in-group (Sirius and James) so he can't admit it to anyone or really face up to it. Instead he avoids it until it's too late, and then he avoids it some more by turning traitor and then by framing Sirius, then by running to Voldemort, etc etc until his death. It's almost like he's constantly in survival mode and always looking for a way out, while finding himself in situations that he feels are beyond his control but are really a result of his own avoidance.

Personally I did struggle a bit thinking of ways for Peter to move the story along or specific plot points for him during the Hogwarts years, basically ways to make him relevant, but overall I knew he was going to start unraveling early on. Peter's arc is initially very internal, nobody is ever aware of what's truly going on with him so unlike others it's difficult to tie his arc to the main plot-- but at the same time he's very observant, so he's a good vehicle through which to view other characters. He is constantly taking in information and thinking hard about that information, more than anyone else realises, which makes him a very good spy.

It can be difficult to find a balance with Peter though! As you mentioned, his standing in the group is tricky to get right, because it's somewhere between an idyllic, equal friendship and total rejection. They care about him, he is a member of their group, but they can also be disparaging, and they have no idea what's going on with him internally. They aren't consciously overlooking him, but he gets overlooked all the same. I don't think this kind of dynamic is that uncommon in real life tbh.

[sarah-sandwich]

Happy FFWF! Give me a short description of all your current wips, and tell me which is your favorite and why!

GUh you just love to test me. I think Lemon Boy is my fav right now but that’s liable to change at any given moment. It’s Harley-centric (probably why it’s my fav tbh) and it’s all about growing and loving yourself and accepting love from others.

My brain moves fast but I write slow so don’t get excited about any of these beyond the first two bc who knows when they’ll actually get published or if they’ll end up tragically abandoned in my wip folder.

Sarah’s WIPs:

Lemon Boy - parkner - Harley-centric

After the snap, Harley inherits a rundown house in Queens from his estranged uncle. He moves in and starts fixing it up, puts out an ad for a roommate, and gets landed with Peter Parker of all people. They’re both grieving Tony and are handling it poorly in their own way. It’s a slow burn and the majority of the fic is them learning to lean on each other.

Paradise (spread out with a butter knife) - spideypool - Peter-centric - only one chapter left! I’m gonna finish that final 25% soon. Soon.

Soulmate AU that’s more about friendship than soulmates. Peter is alone and depressed when Deadpool blows into NYC and somehow weasels his way into being mentored by Spider-Man. What Peter thought was going to be a few months of keeping an eye on DP and making sure he doesn’t kill anyone turns into them being best friends, mutually pining but not doing anything about it because (as far as Peter knows) he’s got a soulmate out there somewhere in the world and Wade doesn’t.

michelle.mp3 - gwen/mj - Michelle-centric

MJ moves out to the country to deal with some stuff. She’s just leasing the place from her grandma. It’s not permanent. She’s just... tired of feeling stuck. She’s a writer and an artist but she’s lived her entire life in NYC. She needs to experience things. She can’t marry her high school sweetheart. She can’t live her entire life in the city she was born in. She needs variety. She needs space. She needs air. She needs to try something new (even if that something is learning that mowing is not like vacuuming and that removing ugly shrubs is more difficult than anticipated).

What she finds is a musician living next door and maybe possibly someone who understands.

She Freaked Out - gwen/mj - Michelle-centric - takes place in the Freak Out verse

MJ has never gotten along with her older sister. They’re too different. Where MJ is calm and analytical, Amanda is all fire and impulse. So when Amanda gets in a life-threatening accident in NYC while MJ is at school in CA, she drops everything and goes home. No one gets it. They think she dropped out because Stanford was too much of a challenge. They think she’s giving up on her dreams. She considers it more a... reorganization of priorities. Her sister could have died and they weren’t even friends. She can go to school anywhere but her sister is in New York, so that’s where she needs to be.

Mending the bridge with her sister and being there for her as she learns her new disability is her focus. Getting to know Gwen and learning that she doesn’t need to have everything 100% under control all the time is a perk.

Quit Freaking Out - Harley-centric one-shot - you guessed it, takes place in the Freak Out verse

Harley and Tony are tinkering with the portal technology from YFO and oops! Harley gets blasted into the past. He’s still in Tony’s lab, but it’s how it was before he remodeled in anticipation of Morgan’s birth, before they hung up the wall mural, and oh yeah, Peter still hates him. Luckily he’s still got that sticky note with the wizard’s address on it in his wallet. Hopefully he can get him back home before he screws up his perfect future.

Heart (in hand) Home (in you) - parkner 2.5k one-shot

Not actually a wip but I wanted to plug it. It’s done and I’ll be posting it Wednesday (Serotonin Wednesdays live on!) It features sick!Harley, established relationship, romantic!Peter, and some peaceful winter vibes. It could fit in the Freak Out verse if you want it to but I’ll be posting it outside of the series bc I don’t want people to think they have to read 300k+ of backstory in order to enjoy it lmao

Honorary Plot Bunny Mentions (that may or may not make it to the wip stage eventually maybe someday)

CEO parkner au

"I think you should take over the meetings with Mr. Parker." "Harley, just because the first meeting didn't end how we hoped doesn't mean-," "If I have to spend another 2 minutes in the same room as him I'm going to fall in love and it's gonna be a disaster." "...You're kidding me."

"Pep, he told me I'm a scuzzy money-mongering jackass and I said thank you." Pepper laughs. "He didn't say that." "Well, not in those words but basically. I think you're missing the point here. I thanked him."

Meet Spidey - parkner

Spider-Man nearly passes out on Harley’s balconey and what else is he to do but help the poor guy and get him fixed up the best he can? Somehow Spidey keeps coming back and of course Harley falls for him. He’s Spider-Man. Who wouldn’t? He’s not even surprised. He is surprised when Spidey opens up to him. He’s surprised by how real he is under the mask, approachable, relatable—not that he’s ever seen him without it. No, Spidey is serious about protecting his secret identity and he respects that. He doesn’t push, he doesn’t prod, and most importantly, he doesn’t peak. And he’s happy. Sure he yearns, he pines, he daydreams, but if this is all he ever gets he’s fine with it. More would be nice but this is good too. He’s happy. Really, he is.

Binary Sunrise - coffeeshop au

The name of Peter’s shop is Binary Sunrise (a Star Wars reference to the Binary Sunset theme music). That’s literally all I have.

[prettyboyporter]

Happy Fanfic Writer’s Appreciation Day!

When I’m not writing, I *LOVE* reading and commenting on fics! My Marked for Later queue on ao3 has always remained Too Big, lol, but I’ve made some progress and I have some recs for you of stuff I’ve read. 

Pain, Will You Return It? by @bornwithoutsin (shocked_into_shame on ao3). Beautifully done Billy-centric fic where Billy becomes a better person. It’s smoking hot and really sweet.

Awakenings  series by @captainwingdings. Peter creates a SUPER interesting take on the monster!Billy trope and I’d give a lot of money to see art of Bills in his monster form. 

morning by @creion (regionals on ao3). A short and sweet drabble with morning kisses -- beautifully written by cade <3

That Douchebag, Steve Harrington   by @women-seem-wicked and blithesea. Season 1 Steve meets Billy. Do I need to say any more? BRATTY TIMES ENSUE. Do yourself a favor and read it. 

falling for you in hawkins, indi-fucking-ana  series by @granpappy-winchester.  The 3 fics in the series total up about 117k right now so I knew I was gonna spend a LARGE chunk of time slowly reading through this and savoring it. I’m finally caught up to the 3rd fic in the series (take a chance with me, it will be alright), which has 3 out of 6 chapters posted, and holy fucking shit. This entire series is so detailed and beautifully written, you’ll want to make yourself an “I Love Billy Hargrove” hat and calling Cthulu “choochoo” just for shits and giggles. I wish I could convince LazyBaker to be my spouse. I swear to god. 

Jostling for Position  by @women-seem-wicked. this shit is CRACKY *and* HOT! lol Billy and Steve fight over who’s gonna bottom and it’s just as delightful as it sounds, lmao. 

Steve’s Big Plan by @sarahstarkiller . The pool scene from The Sandlot meets harringrove. Sweet and funny! 

the skater and the rich boy by @gothyringwald . late 70s AU with skater!Billy and his stepsibing Max skaing in Steve’s grandma’s empty pool in Cali. THIS WAS A DELIGHTFUL summer romance <3 I do hope that romance continues, if even in my head they figure a way to make it work <3 Really sweet and I love the time period!

Got Me Wrong by @women-seem-wicked . A prison AU that creates a whole LOT of story in the space of only 4k. An example about how to do a lot in a little space. 

The Great Escape, Medal of Valor, Blue, and The Pensione by @flippyspoon . The first three are all post-s3 harringrove and are perfection for healing, h/c, and fix-it. I’m gonna go ahead and say my unpopular opinion that I LOVED S3 and I don’t think the duffers suck AT ALL, but we have fanfiction. We have well-written, well-crafted, and beautiful fanfiction for Billy. He’s ours now and flippy treats him beautifully in her post-s3 fics. The Pensione is a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fic -- bittersweet and beautiful. Flippy will always be one of my favs (I haven’t gotten to Betsy yet as it’s in my queue but there’s a 110% chance of me loving it so there’s that). 

Heaven Is A Place On Route 36 by @nettlekettle . A diner AU where Billy and Steve have a long conversation at a charming diner outside of Hawkins. Really sweet first kiss story <3

Salted Caramel (And Other Flavors) by @un-buttoned (kate_button on ao3). semi-public blowjob, first time blowjob, biting dialogue and smoking hot, oof. 

That’s where I currently am in my queue! Thanks, writers, for everything you do. I’ve had a great summer going through these fics and if yall haven’t read these, take a minute to give them some love!