#peter b as the cool manager that brings his kid in and lets people leave early

[arguablysomaya]

more than anything i want a spiderverse office drama au

[tripsonflatground]

Is it just me, or is it kinda capitalist that in order to get new superheroes, people kill off or age up the old ones and then put the new heroes in the same role/identity? Like, they killed Peter Parker to have Miles Morales. Bucky Barnes and Falcon/Sam Wilson both became Captain America after the death or age & retirement of Steve Rogers, depending on whether you’re looking at the comics or the MCU. Batman goes through Robins and Batgirls like it’s going out of style (and seriously, why does Dick Grayson let other people be Robin? That was a personal nickname from his birth family, right? Why would he give something so intimate away?). Replacing someone else and living up to their legacy rather than making your own path was a whole plot point/theme in Spider-man: Far From Home!

There are exceptions to this, like X-23 and Wolverine, who have managed to have some form of a father-daughter relationship in the comics (although, if memory serves, I believe he’s been killed in recent comics and she replaced him as Wolverine - though I haven’t read anything recent, so I might be wrong, and in the film Logan they killed him off). And things like Conner/Superboy from Young Justice being created with the idea to replace Superman doesn’t count in the same way because it was a villainous plot and Con didn’t end up following through. And there’s a new Ms. Marvel now that Carol Danvers is Captain Marvel, which is a much better alternative considering that Carol wasn’t using that identity anymore.

The idea I’m trying to get at, if it isn’t clear, is that the costume identity, AKA Spider-man, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. seems to me the thing that’s given value while the person behind the mask is more recently being treated as expendable/dispensable. Which doesn’t make a ton of sense to me, because the person created the mask, and so much of themselves and who they are and what their goals are drove the reasons behind the creation of the identity and the way they behave in that identity. It’s like being a kid and trying on your parents’ clothes or getting hand-me-downs, even if it fits, you didn’t exactly choose it, and you look different wearing it. And I’m calling this capitalist because it feels like capitalism. If we equate being a superhero to a job, which in many ways it really is, especially if you are employed by an organization to do it like SHIELD, then the value is being placed on the role/job, and not with the labor. Capitalism doesn’t give a shit who’s doing the job and how they’re being treated as long as it’s getting done. Employees in the service/retail industry get treated like shit and don’t get paid enough but that will never change unless people have other options and aren’t desperate enough to accept those conditions and get something better. Recently, with the deaths and/or replacements of superheroes in order to have someone else fill the identity in comics and films, the individuals behind the mask, who are the real source of emotional connection and relatability, not the mask, seem to have become dispensable in the eyes of the creators.

And I do get that it’s a shortcut and an attempt to bring in new audiences by putting more modern characters into recognizable roles. But why does the original character have to *die*?

Yeah, superhero-ism is a dangerous occupation, sure, but doesn’t death seem like the most extreme option? It’s not as if there aren’t other possibilities:

1.Having characters be located somewhere else other than New York City or its fictional equivalent (Metropolis, Gotham, etc). There are other major cities in the US where crime happens, let alone other cities in the world. Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Detroit, Atlanta, Seattle, Philadelphia. Who doesn’t want to imagine a Spider-man or a Batman with a Boston accent? Wouldn’t it be a cool storyline if other Kryptonians not related to Superman escaped Krypton and eventually made it to Earth and moved to different cities and took up mantles and eventually the Kryptonian race could start rebuilding on Earth? Talk about a really interesting and positive way to show a diasporic community. And also, it doesn’t make any sense statistically that the majority of the world’s superheroes are in the US. Put some in Toronto, Paris, London, Cairo, Sydney, Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, Rome, Athens, Rio, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Seoul, Istanbul, etc. If the Olympics happen there, then there’s probably a lot of people that need saving and crime happening. It’s especially dumb with the alien invasion stories where they show the audience aliens popping up in places other than NYC and suddenly the heroes have to get other there, like unless you got super-speed or teleportation, it’s going to take a while, and how are you even going to communicate with the civilians if there’s a language barrier?

2.Having characters be from other dimensions. Marvel and DC have a history of playing with alternate timelines and multi-verse theory. Into The Spiderverse was a super-popular movie that inspired tons of people to make their own Spidersonas, and the lesson that can be taken from it is that you can take a character and make it still feel unique or individualistic even if you’re using similar themes. Maybe instead of the dimensions having evil versions they have to fight or being fucked up in some other way, make the new version of Wonder Woman or Iron Man or whatever be from an alternate dimension and end up in the main because of science/magic, or a dimension-hopping villain they’re fighting, or an accident, or to get help from other versions of themselves, or even escaping from an apocalypse/doomsday from their own universe. It’s so easy to either send them back to their own universe when you decide you’re done playing with them or keep them around if you want them permanently. Wouldn’t it be fascinating if the Captain America we’re familiar with met a Captain America from an alternate universe where he fought in the American Revolution or for the Union in the Civil War or even in WW1 or Vietnam?

3.Having female characters take on feminine versions of the identity, or vice versa, or non-binary characters find a way to have a gender-neutral version. This has been done with Hulk and She-Hulk, Superman and Supergirl, Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel back when Captain Marvel was a dude, Spider-man’s daughter May was Spider-girl at one point, Batman’s cousin or something is Batwoman. There’s also been some adjacents, such as AntMan and Wasp or Wolverine and X-23. There are definitely ways that you can use a familiar identity to put more female and non-binary superheroes out there. I mean, military titles (the Captains) or even names like Black Panther, Green Lantern, and Flash aren’t even gendered. You can feminize names if you want to, but I’m pretty sure the female Hawkeye is just straight-up Hawkeye. People like Thor I feel differently about because Thor’s an actual mythological character, not something Marvel came up with, but you could just use a different Norse god/goddess? And yeah, Dr. Strange is the man’s actual name so that’s also a little different, but if he had a daughter or a non-binary child who also got their doctorate, they are in fact entitled to call themselves Dr. Strange rather than something lesser. Not to mention, that whole alternate universe versions point I just made? Yeah, these can be characters from gender-bent alternate universes or a universe where humans are androgynous or something.

4.Have multiple characters use the same secret identity. This would be the perfect concept for twins or friends with the same build. The bank’s been robbed but A is on a date? B can totally show up at the scene! B got really hurt in their last fight? A’s got them covered. There’s a bit of risk to it, like if people recognize they have different voices or someone notices them at two different crises happening at the same time, but that’s just what makes the challenge of pretending to be the same person interesting. And it could get even more complex if you had triplets doing it, or four college roommates, or whatever. It’s also a great excuse to be able to write deep interpersonal relationships and identity struggles. Hell, can you imagine how much scarier multiple Batmans would be? They could play even more on the “you never know where he’s going to be next or what shadow he could be hiding in” thing, like, just when the crook thinks he’s lost Batman, another comes out out of nowhere.

And if superhero writers don’t want to do any of this, there’s also the C-List and D-List heroes that maybe got introduced in like the 70′s or 80′s or whatever but didn’t take or ended up being a blip in another character’s backstory. If you want more modern superheros connected to the major ones so you can use them in the same stories, it is totally valid IMO to try revitalizing these obscure concepts. I have a vested interest in seeing if Monica Rambeau shows up as her hero identity Photon in the Captain Marvel sequel. This idea is still using what you have, but it doesn’t capitalize the lives of the characters you have or make them expendable in any way. In fact, it’s also kind of like recycling, or the opposite of capitalism, because you’re trying to use alternative resources or all of your resources instead of very specific ones to the point of over-saturation.

Look, I’m just very tired of superheroes getting killed off to be replaced by someone else using the same identity or because it’s edgy or dark or whatever. Even a debilitating injury that leaves them in a wheelchair or blind or deaf is a hell of a lot more interesting. Once a character’s dead, they’re dead, there’s nowhere else you can take them unless you bring them back to life  (which admittedly happens a lot in superhero universe) or have them hang around as a ghost or something. It’s boring, it doesn’t give the audience any closure and just messes with their emotions for shock value, and it promotes toxic capitalism.

[skylarmoon71]

Peter Stone x Reader Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don’t own Law and Order SVU. 

“Good morning Detectives.” you rolled your eyes as Peter Stone walked by. After Barba left, he replaced him as the ADA. Rollins and Fin replied, but you just wheeled your chair in the opposite direction. Carisi walked in that second sipping on his coffee. His eyes raised when he saw the way Fin and Rollins were smirking at you. 

“Something up?” he asked, wanting in on the looks on their faces. “Nothing, just our adorable little (Y/N) still giving Stone the cold shoulder." You didn’t even respond, just kept your eyes on the paper on your desk. 

“I’m not giving him the cold shoulder, I’m just the only one who isn’t blind. He can spread his charm to the rest of you, but I’m not stupid. The guy’s a lawyer for goodness sake. At least Barba was honest with his words. I’m not buying it.” Carisi’s eyes were aimed behind your back, and you were confused.

“Good to know you have such a strong opinion of me.“ your body stiffened. Rollins was snickering from her seat. You turned to face him, he had a stupid smirk on his face, a folder in his hand. “We have a case.” he waved it at you. “Let’s get to work, Detective.”  he tipped his head in your direction, walking off when he saw Liv enter. “Detective.” you mocked making a face. Fin started laughing. 

“Man that expression on your face, priceless.”

Liv and Peter talked for a while. He went on his way and she started assigning you all areas to cover. 

“(Y/N), Fin, check in with Mr. Kane, his alibi is a little too believable. One of these men is lying and we need to find out who.” 

“On it boss!” you responded.

“Carisi, Rollins, go back to the club. Twelve hundred people partying, someone saw something.”

“Roger that.” Carisi called. 

Everyone went their separate ways. You and Fin headed for the elevator down. You could see the doors closing so you picked up your pace. “Hold the door!” you shouted to the person behind. They pushed their hand out just in time and you smiled entering. 

“Thank yo..” your words trailed when you saw who it was. 

“No problem.” Peter said. Fin walked in shortly after, greeting Peter. You shifted to the back, avoiding any type of conversation with the district attorney. Since your eyes were trained on the door you were clueless to the look of interest that flickered in your direction. 

Since Peter joined he couldn’t seem to get through to you. At first he assumed you were just not ready to accept that your friend Barba was gone, if anyone understood  loss it was him. But that was two months ago. He just wished you’d be a bit more friendly, he wasn’t asking to be best friends, but a simple greeting wasn’t much to ask for. The elevator dinged and you walked out, all but ignoring his existence. Peter sighed, bidding farewell to Fin. 

“It’s going to take a while.” Peter thought. 

~~~

“(Y/N), can I see you for a second?” Your head raised and Rollins made sounds, grinning at you.

“Someone’s in trouble.” you frowned. “Sure Liv.” you answer going into her office. When you got there she instructed you shut the door. 

“Hey Liv, did I do something?” you didn’t think you’d cross any lines today. She shook her head with a smile. 

“Just the opposite. Stone told me how you persisted with the suspect Ian Kane. If you weren’t so adamant on looking into his past we may not have found out about the charge five years ago. Good work, you stopped a predator from attacking again.” you smiled. “I’m glad it all worked out. If you really want to thank someone just thank my gut. She’s never been wrong so far.” 

“Trust me, I know the feeling.” She was seated at her desk, pulling off her glasses. 

“I also wanted to talk to you about Barba. I know it’s been hard, especially for you. If you want to talk about, don’t be afraid to ask. I’m here.” 

“I-I appreciate that, but I’m fine.” she didn’t push, which you were grateful for. “Well, that’s all I wanted to say. Keep up the good work.” 

“I’ll try.” you joked, turning to leave. When you walked out you had the biggest smile on your face. You marched over to your desk. 

“Okay spill, what’s with the grin. Did she find you a husband.” you scoffed. “Even better. Liv praised me. She said I did great today. One of her most liked Detectives I think.” Carisi laughed. “We all know I’m Liv’s favorite. “ 

“Like if, try again kid. I’m definitely Liv’s favorite.” Fin butted in. 

“I think maybe I’m her favorite.” you jumped at the voice behind you. 

“Jesus, why the hell are you always sneaking up on us.” Stone had somehow managed to walk up behind you again, without your knowledge. “You should probably work on your detective skills, aren’t you supposed to be guarded at all times.” 

His remark just annoyed you. You stood from your seat, walking to the kitchen without another word. Peter turned to the rest of the team, lost on why you were constantly brushing him off and putting him down. 

“Have I done something to offend her?” Fin shook his head at Peter. “Don’t take it personal, she’s not a big fan of change. She’s been here a while too. Back when Cragen and Nick were still part of the team.”

Peter could understand that. 

“She just needs some time to adjust. “

“I hope so. I’d hate to be on her bad side, especially after what she did to Kane. Poor guy didn’t even see it coming.” Carisi chuckled. “Yeah, speaking from someone who has been on the other side of (Y/N)’s closeline, I know how he felt. Sometimes I swear she’s a stunt double in those action movies.” Peter smiled. “You guys are lucky to have someone like that on your team.” You walked back in, drink in hand. “Gossiping about me again. “ you said, sipping your drink. 

“Just commending you on your exceptional skills.” Peter informed. You hummed, not really paying him much mind. An idea sparked in Peter's head. 

“I almost forgot. Liv told me you were a fan of that track runner, Karl Trembly. If you're interested I could make a few calls and get you a great seat to his next competition. “ You placed down your drink, staring up at him pissed. You stood, getting into his face. 

“No offense counselor, but I don’t need your charity so you can stop trying. See everyone here might have already forgotten about Barba but I haven’t. And if I remember correctly you were the one that tried to put him in jail. So excuse me if I’m not groveling at your feet.” Carisi moved closer, placing a hand on your shoulder to pull you back. “That’s enough (Y/N), calm down.” 

You laughed bitterly, shrugging Carisi’s hands away angrily. 

“What! I’m telling it as it is. This guy thinks he can walk up here with Chicago homicide experience and buy his way into everyone’s good graces. Bullshit!” you hissed. Apparently your little speech caught Oliva’s attention. She opened her door. You were positive she heard everything. “(Y/N), I think you should turn in for the day.” 

“I’m fine I don't’ need to-”

“It’s not a request.” you couldn’t believe it, if anyone understood, you thought it would be her. 

“Fine.” you grabbed your coat off your desk, bumping your shoulder harshly into Peter’s on the way out. He shuffled back, watching as you exited. 

“What was that all about.” Rollins commented. You were usually the level headed one on the team. This was the first time either of them saw you lose your cool. Liv walked to Peter. He quelled any worries she may have had. 

“It’s fine, she’s still dealing with a lot. Sometimes the best medicine is to let out your anger on someone. Unfortunately that someone turned out to be me.” 

There wasn’t much they could do now, you needed to blow off steam. So you went to the one place that Barba always was when he was working on a case. You were so aggravated. You couldn’t understand why everyone was acting like nothing happened. Barba was almost jailed for doing what he thought was the right thing. 

He’d been working with the team for a few years, didn’t they see that he was the last person to act out that way. The fact that he took it upon himself to kill that child was proof that he did what he believed in. The entire situation irked you to no end. When you got to your destination you yanked the door open roughly. The scent of alcohol practically smacked you in the face. You smiled at the nostalgic feeling, the familiar environment bringing you at peace. When you got to the bar counter you waved the bartender over. 

“Vodka please, neat.” he nodded. Pulling out a glass and pouring your drink. You knew the guy that worked there. Luckily you came in on his shift. 

“Tough case?” he asked. You took the drink, downing it in one go. You swallowed, the burning in your throat bringing you a slight relief. 

“Something like that.” you mumbled, indicating for him to pour another glass. He did a bit cautiously. You noticed the look of worry in his eyes. “Don’t worry.” this time you sipped at the drink, which made him relax a little. “If you need anything let me know.” you could tell he wasn’t referring to drinks. He was just looking out for you. You nodded and he moved to attend to another customer. 

Hours passed, you just sat there, taking drink after drink. You lost count of how many. The only reason you didn’t pass out yet was strictly because of your friendship with Barba. The amount of scotch the guy indulged in was ridiculous. Safe to say you joined him on numerous occasions. It made you somewhat immune to alcohol now. Which was both a blessing and a curse. It took more than the usual to even get you buzzed. 

“Hey there, what’s your name.” you frowned, glancing at the man who took it upon himself to take a seat next to you. “Not interested.” you replied, getting back to your drink. That was apparently not the answer he was hoping for. “What does a guy have to do to get a smile these days. “ He moved closer. 

“I’m talking to you bitch!” he slapped the drink right out of your hand. The bartender moved almost immediately to stop any kind of altercation. You smirked, getting out of your seat. 

This guy came in at the right time. You were already agitated, and he was just asking for a beating. So you were about to grant his wish. Before you could even do anything someone blocked your view. “I believe she said she wasn’t interested, move on, or I’ll see to it that you spend the next few months in a cell for aggravated assault.” The guy backed down at the threat. 

“Whatever, you can have her.” he walked off angrily, and the bartender thanked the lawyer who now turned in your direction. At the sight of his face you scowled. 

“I didn’t need your help Stone! I could have dealt with him myself.” Peter straightened his jacket, dropping his case on the counter. “I know, In all honesty I was trying to spare the guy a nasty black eye. “ You knew he was joking, maybe trying to ease the tension. You just dropped back down, too exhausted to retort. You gestured the bartender over for more, but Peter stopped him. 

“She’s had enough thank you.” He nodded walking away. You gritted your teeth, turning to him.

“You’re really starting to get on my nerves, counselor. " Peter smiled. 

“I was under the impression I passed that mark a long time ago.” His snarky remark didn’t really earn him any favors in your eyes. “Asshole.” you grumbled. 

His face was now resolute, he took your hands, forcing you to turn in his direction.

“This contempt you have, building up inside. You need to deal with it. I understand you lost someone, but there is no reason to take it out on others, especially me. I took this job to help the precinct. Olivia needed a prosecutor and I respected Barba. I was hoping to make a difference. I thought that I could help people here the same way I did back in Chicago. It was never my intention to step on anyone’s toes.”

“Oh cut the saint act. I’m sick of it. “

“Okay, if we’re putting all our cards out there, I’m no saint. And I don’t try to be. I just thought the best way to get used to this team would be through honesty and mutual respect rather than hostility. You should try it. Tell me, what’s the real reason behind your anger. If it’s Barba then you have to know that he did what he thought was right. He didn’t have a choice.”

“HE HAD A CHOICE, HE HAD ONE AND HE CHOOSE TO LEAVE, BARBA LEFT!! HE LEFT ME!!” you screamed. Your loud yell caught the attention of everyone in the bar. Peter just stared at you, something dawning on him. “You..you were in love with him. “ hearing those words come out of his mouth just hurt more. And just like that, you fell apart. Your eyes watered, tears rushing down your cheeks. You felt pathetic.

“H-He..he just left me. Like the way I felt about him was nothing, I told him that day in court, no matter the outcome...I would wait for him. He looked so surprised. H-He had no idea. How could he not know how great a person he was...h-how did he not know..” you sobbed, and Peter reached out, wrapping his hand around you. You relented, falling into his embrace. 

“When he was found innocent I finally told him, h-how much he meant to me. H-He said that he felt the same..maybe for longer than I did…” you laughed through the tears. “How stupid was that...w-we both were infatuated with each, yet no one said anything..” Peter was rubbing your back soothingly, listening intently as you spilled all your feelings out. 

“Despite all that...he said he couldn’t stay. I begged him, I begged him too. But he said he couldn’t. I-I even offered to leave New York. I didn’t care where he wanted to go, I would have followed him anywhere but he said I couldn’t. He didn’t want me to uproot my whole life for him. He said I’d regret it if I did.” You grip tightened into Peter’s suit. “He just….left me..why didn’t he see that I was willing to give up everything for him. That bastard, he even said there was someone for me out there, it just wasn't him. How did he know! How could he know that. I loved him! Only him!” 

“Shhh, it’s okay. (Y/N), You’re an extraordinary Detective. He saw that, and I have no doubt in my mind that he loved you with all his heart. But Barba thought it was best for you. He must have known how much good you could accomplish here. He didn’t want you to have to sacrifice your future for a selfish decision he made. “ You know Peter's words were meant to bring comfort. But they didn’t do much. So you sat there, drunk out of your mind, pouring your heart out to the guy you’d been ignoring for the past two months. Maybe Peter was right. 

You’d only wish that Barba had given you the chance to at least try. Now, you were positive that wasn’t going to happen. He was gone. And you needed to move on. 

[elisaphoenix13]

Far From Home Ch.3

"What's with the glasses?" MJ asks when Peter pull the case out of his bag and opens it. 

"Huh? I dunno...Dad gave them to me when he dropped me off at the airport." He slips them on and reads the note Tony left on the case. "Say Edith?" The glasses activate and Peter blinks. "Whoa."

As Edith explains her functions to him, Peter looks toward Ned and Betty and their text screens pop up. They were texting how much they missed each other even though they were sitting right next to each other. Their relationship was extremely...gross. It was another thing he hoped he never found himself guilty of with Cassie.

"You have a text message from Cassie Lang. Shall I open it?" The AI asks and Peter's eyes widen.

"No no no! Dad will know!"

"Mr. Stark already knows about your relationship with Miss Lang."

Peter throws his hands up. "Of course he does! Does Mom know too?"

"Not that I'm aware."

"Well that's something I guess."

Peter takes off the glasses and puts them away as Michelle gives him a curious look and he slumps in his seat. He should have known that keeping the relationship secret would be damn near impossible with his father. Tony wouldn't have actively asked or looked for evidence but it could have been something as simple as FRIDAY letting it slip. Peter was just a little surprised that the engineer kept it to himself instead of telling Stephen as soon as he found out.

"Dad knows about me and Cassie."

MJ snorts. "Are you really surprised?"

"No. I guess not."

Their bus stops for a bathroom break and the driver stops him when he steps off and points toward an open doorway where he finds someone waiting. They disappear from sight and he makes his way into the building to find a woman who immediately demands he take his clothes off. Peter freezes up until the woman hands him a black suit and again demands he gets undressed, and hesitantly relents. Of course that's when his classmate Brad walks in on him with his pants down and chases after him when the other teen snaps a picture with his phone. Peter zips up his pants and catches up with Brad and yells to him to get him to stop.

"That totally wasn't what it looked like!"

"You don't need to explain Peter. I get if you want to hook up with a European chick, but I know you want to get with MJ so I have to show her the truth." Brad says.

Peter gapes and stammers. "I don't want to get with MJ! I have a girlfriend man!"

Brad gives him a look of confusion before returning to the bus and Peter returns to it himself after getting everything with the lady that gave him the suit settled. After accidently calling in a drone to eliminate Brad when he was trying to get Edith to delete the picture from his phone (he did not want that ending up on social media), and having to take care if said drone, successfully had the picture deleted and sat back quietly for the rest of the ride. When they finally made it to their hotel in Prague, they were taken to a really nice hotel that Tony would definitely approve of. It was a huge upgrade from the one they stayed in while in Venice.

His cell phone vibrates and he answers it, Maria Hill giving him directions before promptly hanging up just as Ned walks over.

"I just wanted to apologize if it seems like I'm focusing on my relationship with Betty."

"No. It's all cool. Don't worry about it." Peter says as a reassurance. 

"So where's this fire monster going to appear?" The darker male asks.

"Uhh...here. In the city."

"What?! You have to do something Peter! We're all counting on you!"

No pressure, Peter thought as his best friend rejoined the group. He leaves when they're given free time to settle and makes his way to the location Fury and Hill told him about and zones out while the adults talk about this and that. They had told him the plan as soon as he arrived and now they were nit picking and talking about attempts to evacuate the city to no avail.

"Stark! Are we boring you again?" Fury asks, startling the teen out of his daze and causing him to turn from the unused fireplace.

"He's not bored. He's just thinking about how you kidnapped him." Beck quips.

Fury ignores the other man. "What's your job?"

"I'm to sit on the cathedral tower and look for the fire Elemental, and radio you guys when it arrives. When it arrives, that's when Mr.Beck and I will--"

"My name is Mysterio." Beck interrupts and shoots Peter a look of amusement who laughs a little awkwardly.

"Okay then, Mysterio and I will move in." Peter finishes.

"Look Peter, your best bet, only bet, is to stop it here. You can lead the civilians away but most importantly, don't let it near metal. Otherwise it will grow, and if it gets big enough, it can draw energy from Earth's core."

"Look, I don't want to put my friends in danger."

"You're afraid of us bringing danger to your classmates when you're the one who called in a drone strike on your class tour bus?! Tony gave you a multi million dollar weapon interface and that was what you did? That makes me think you're not ready."

Peter already knew what he did was wrong even though it was an accident,  and he didn't need Nick Fury calling him out on it. At least Beck seemed to be on his side. He probably felt bad that they had dragged Peter away from his summer vacation if he was sassing the ex-director of SHIELD. Usually people who did that had a death wish...or they were Tony Stark.

Hell, Peter had sassed him back in Venice, but the teen didn't have a death wish no matter what his parents thought. They always said he looked for trouble when, for once, he didn't this time. Trouble found him and he had tried to get out of it.

Now he found himself fighting off Elementals with a wannabe magic user and previous members of SHIELD, and only one person out of that group bothered to show him some kindness and empathy. Beck made all of the trouble Fury was putting him through, just a little bit bearable. He didn't want to worry his parents because Fury was right. One was still recovering and another had enough to deal with.

Beck was the one who found him sitting on the roof later on. "Nick Fury asked me to come up here. See how you were doing. He felt bad about snapping at you."

Peter looks up at the floating man. "Really?"

"...you guys do have sarcasm on this earth right?" The teen laughs half-heartedly. He should have known better. "How are you feeling?"

Peter huffs out a sigh. "I didn't think I would need to save the world this summer. I know that makes me sound like such a jerk...I just...wanted a break from the superhero stuff. Not have a reason for my parents to worry. I can't even say anything to them because they deserve the rest."

Beck floats down and sits next to him. "You're not a jerk for wanting a normal life kid. It's a hard path." The elder looks over at him. "I like you Peter. You're a good kid. One part of me wants to tell you to run away and ignore this, but the other part knows what we're fighting. What's at stake. For now though, you worry about your friends."

Peter nods. "Yeah...see you out there." Peter jumps down from the roof, landing a few feet behind an elderly couple he startles. "Scusi...sorry...that's Italian. God, I'm so glad Dad isn't here. He would never let me hear the end of it."

___________________________

Once Peter managed to get his class tickets to the opera and slipped out, he changes into the stealth suit Fury gave him and climbs up to the cathedral tower. It was a good place to look out for the fire elemental, although he didn't think it would be hard to miss. He scopes the carnival from the top before flipping down to a ledge, landing in a crouch and confirming that he's in position.

"How's the suit?" Fury asks over the comm.

"Uh...the suit's great. It's awesome. It's a little tight around the old web shooter though."

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" The ex-director asks.

"I don't kiss my mother."

"It's a good thing. Might ruin that maternal side you drilled into Strange." Fury says sarcastically.

Peter rolls his eyes and it only took a couple more minutes for the elemental to show up. It destroyed a statue in the process, and the teen immediately tells Mysterio. The man swoops in and holds it back with his green mist while Peter jumps over to the building across the way to web a nearby fire hydrant and yank it out of the ground. The water sprays the monster, unfortunately not doing a thing except anger it, and Peter has to flip away from the punch it throws. He lands on the carousel, having precious seconds to avoid another punch, which he barely did since it sent him flying to the ground and into a wall.

When he looked up, he was horrified to find that it was absorbing the metal of the children's ride. He warns Beck about it as the monster grows bigger, and he suddenly hears a shout and looks up to find Ned and Betty stuck in the tilted ferris wheel. In a panic, he shoots his webs at the elemental, only for fire to burn them all the way down to his wrists as the monster approaches and Mysterio flies over just in time to hold up a misty shield.

"Plan B?!" The man shouts over the guttural roars and Peter pats the flames out on his arms.

"Yeah! We gotta hit it with something it can't absorb!"

Beck pushes the monster away with his shield to give them the split second they need to go their ways and Peter climbs a building to avoid more flames before flipping back, webbing a broken stone, and hurling it at the monster. Beck follows up with an attack of his own and they repeat the process until the elemental goes for the ferris wheel that his friends are still in. Mysterio holds it off just in time as Peter shoots some webs at the ride, only for the webs to hit something invisible.

What the hell?

He pulls back and whatever he had was thrown back into an alley, but he had to return his attention to saving his friends. Mysterio wouldn't be able to hold the monster back for long, so Peter tries webbing himself up again proceeds to connect the ride to the surrounding buildings to keep it up. As he plants himself against the wheel, Beck continues to fight the flaming monster until it gets backed up into metal and grows even bigger.

Peter's heart drops when Beck's fishbowl helmet falls away and the man looks toward the teen. "Whatever happens...I'm glad we met."

"Beck! No! What are you doing?!"

The helmet forms back over his head. "What I should have done before."

The teen continues to yell to the man in an attempt to stop him, but Beck starts to overpower himself with magic before flying right into the elemental's chest. It did the trick, destroying it and sending out a shockwave of green mist, and when everything cleared, Peter secures the ferris wheel when he spots the man's body on the ground. He jumps down and approaches the motionless body with his heart hammering in his chest, and heaves out a sigh of relief when Beck looks up at him.

"Oh thank god." Peter says as he helps the man to his feet.

Fury and Hill talk to Beck after that, confirming that was the last of the Elemental threat and ask him to join them in Berlin for possible future threats. He also asked Peter, but thankfully didn't ask for an answer right then and there. Fury gave him the choice. Turn him down and finish his vacation, or actually commit to be an Avenger that his father had made him all those years ago? Before the teen could really give it some thought though, Beck invited him for a drink and took him to a bar even though Peter had said he wasn't old enough (something else Tony would probably laugh about because of the honesty). Peter takes off his mask before the enter the bar and orders a lemonade, lazily sipping at the straw as he let his thoughts wander.

"Fury was right. You've got gifts." Beck says.

Peter rubs his eyes. "Dad has done a lot for me. I owe it to him and everyone else."

The elder tilts his head to look at the teen. "Do you?"

Peter sits up a little and looks at his hands. "Yeah. Of course." He replies instantly. "He's helped me through so much, he took me in when I had nowhere else to go after my Aunt May died, and even Mom has stepped into a role I accidentally gave him. Doing this so they can sit down for more than five minutes is the least I can do."

"Okay...but what do you want?"

"What do you mean?" 

"What do you want?" Beck repeats. "Right now. I know you're thinking about--"

Peter stands up fully and turns toward Beck. "I want to finish my summer vacation...and be able to go home like a normal kid for once. Spend time with my parents and...and with my girlfriend freely. Her dad is an Avenger too and almost as overprotective as my mom is of me." Beck chuckles and the teen blushes. "Shut up man."

One of the employees approaches them and bends over briefly to pick up the EDITH glasses and returns them to Peter. He hadn't even realized that he dropped them in the first place. Beck asks about them before having Peter try them on, and the man stares.

"Can I be completely honest with you?" The man says.

"Please."

"...you look really stupid. Maybe there's a contact version of them."

Peter yanks the glasses off and holds them out to Beck. "You try them on then."

The man laughs and refuses at first but the vigilante insists and Quentin finally puts them on. Peter looks away when it only reminds him of Tony and he starts to doubt himself. Why would his father give him multi million dollar glasses that controlled weapons as a just in case? Tony was always griping about how he could barely handle the functions of his suit, so maybe Beck was better off with the glasses.

Peter laughs shortly. "Maybe you're better off having them."

"What? I'm not following. How many lemonades have you had?"

"I'm serious." The teen sighs out. "I don't know what my dad was thinking when he gave me those and Fury was right. I'm not ready for them."

Beck sighs and takes off the glasses before sliding them across the counter and back to Peter. "Come on Peter..."

The teen says nothing and puts the glasses back on, asking EDITH to change the controls over to Beck. Mysterio had more experience and was a born leader, so handing the glasses over to him felt like the right choice. The right thing. When he confirms his choice after some argument from the elder man, he hands the glasses back over to Mysterio.

"Welcome to the Avengers." Peter says.

[mollyamory-again]

And then I wrote a really long reaction post for Endgame...

Here’s the short form:  <3 <3 <3... ??  @#(*$A)(@#*!?! <3.....<3 ....?<3? <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 !!!

The super long form is below the cut...

So, I went into this movie with a lot of feelings, and I came out with a lot of feelings, and it's taking me some time to process them.

The first, and maybe the most important thing I want to say, is that regardless of my personal fannish/emotional reaction to some of the events -- the film itself was an absolute triumph.  I mean - it was amazing.  There were a great many things to love - and that is a list that includes some things I hated.  Love/hated.  Both!  The fact that they could bring a series of films that spans over a decade together in a way that had people laughing and crying in the theatres, often both at the same time - it's just truly, truly awesome.  It says something that they were able to build these real and true characters who feel important enough that their fates can actually break our hearts.  

So I applaud that, and I hope the film industry takes a good long look at these films and learns from them.  Audiences are willing to wait for the pay-off, we're willing to tackle difficult things, we're willing to fall in love with what we see on the screen if the writers and producers and directors put the effort into allowing it.

That said...

I really liked this movie overall, but I went into it really wanting two specific things for myself, and I didn't get them.  In fact I kind of got the opposite of them, and a lot of my coming to terms with the movie has been coming to terms with just... not getting what I wanted.  And finding a way to be okay with that.  

I wanted Tony to live - and if you're back here behind my spoiler cut, you know I didn't get that one.  It was really hard to lose him.  He was my favorite character in this whole crazy cast. I loved that he could be so wrong sometimes, and with so much utter conviction.  I loved that he could be terrified out of his mind and then just do the terrifying things anyway, because somebody had to, and he could.  I loved how smart he was, and how vulnerable he was, and how he built walls of words to defend himself and define himself.  I loved how hard he loved the people that HE loved, and how much he was willing to do for them.  I loved how great he was with kids (and I love that he got one of his own!) and I love how that seemed at least in part because he never finished growing up himself.

So while I am wrecked that this is the end of Tony in this particular strand of the comics universe, I can't deny that it is 100% true to who he was. He was always going to be the guy who would do this, if it needed to be done.  And it did, so he did it, and it broke my heart - but in the end I have to be okay with it, because yeah.  That was Tony Stark, distilled down to his purest self.  I hated it, but I also loved it, and more importantly I think, I bought it.

I also really would have loved to have a kind of on-screen farewell to my pairing, and I didn't get that, either.  I'm a Science Boyfriends kinda gal, and there was almost zero interaction between Bruce and Tony - there was zero relevant interaction.  But it is what it is - this was never going to be everything to all people, and that's one of the relationships that didn't get priority.  I'm okay with that, too - mainly because its absence means they didn't do anything TERRIBLE to it, either!  When it comes to my pairings, I'd far rather TPTB leave them alone than do something I don't like.  That said - it would have been nice if they'd you know, exchanged a couple of lines?  And it would have been SUPER nice if Bruce had been around to react to Tony's death. Getting past it, getting past it.... ;)

My biggest fear going into this movie was that it would kill my fannishness about the Avengers.  I just recently rediscovered it, and I've been writing like a MAD thing.  I've stayed up too late writing, I've gotten up way to early to write... I've written through nights when I was supposed to be raiding with my online pals, or watching stuff with my housemates.  I've definitely done quite a lot of writing when I was supposed to be working! And it's been fun, and it's felt really good, and I just didn't want to lose it.  I missed fandom and other fans, and I missed caring so much about characters and pairings.  Having it all back again these past couple of months has been a blast -- so I went into Endgame a) pretty sure they were going to kill Tony and b) pretty sure that killing Tony would kill my fannish joy.

I am happy to report it did not.  I'm still in love, and I'm still writing like crazy.  I gave myself some pretty stern talking-tos in the lead-up to the movie, along the lines of "Are you really going to let a couple of rich white geekboys decide what happens to YOUR Tony Stark?" and in short form, "CANON IS NOT THE BOSS OF ME!"  I think it helped.  I'm still here, anyway!

There are a few other things I really didn't like.  One - the CGI for Bruce was a horror show for me.  It landed right in the Uncanny Valley, and I could barely stand to look at him on screen.  Every time he showed up, it was like a cartoon character appearing in my live action show.  I think that actually may have helped me with the Tony thing, though -- because it yanked me out of the movie when Bruce was onscreen, and that gave me the distance I needed to not become a puddle of shivering misery on the floor when Tony died saving the world.

Don't get me wrong - I really do like that he's able to integrate now.  I like that he has control.  Still, I'm not sure this is a road I ever really want to go down in my writing.  I like Hulk too much to want to see him essentially killed by Bruce (which is kind of how I'm reading this.)  I get that Hulk IS Bruce IS Hulk and if I were his therapist I'd be all over it.  But I'm not his therapist - I'm one of his slashfic writers.  And as such, I prefer him splintered and angsting over it.  :)

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Natasha, and I'm not sure they're particularly coherent.  I think if Endgame had happened exactly the way it did, WITHOUT the disgusting Ultron lines about how she's a monster because she can't have kids, I'd be fine.  As it is, Ultron happened and then Natasha gave herself up for a guy with a family, and from a purely Doyle-ist perspective I find that sequence of events suspect, and deeply gross.  

On the other hand, from a purely Watsonian perspective, I fully agree with what  <a href="https://cesperanza.tumblr.com/post/184622436895/i-cant-believe-that-as-a-prominent-woman-in">cesperanza had to say about Nat</a>, so I'm just going to let that stand for me, too.

Probably the final thing I didn't like was fat!Thor.  I do get the arguments on the other side of this, that it's cool to show even a super hero can get depressed and live off cheez whiz and get fat and disaffected. But I also think that's not all there is to this; I think you don't make Chris Hemsworth run around in a fat suit without on some level doing it for the point-and-laugh. And I find that kind of "joke" toxic and disgusting.  I'm not going to go on and on about it here, but in short just - a world of no from me on that.  

So what's my score so far?  2 things I wanted but didn't get, 3 things I didn't like?  But on the bright side...it's now time to move along to the bright side! And the bright side is pretty damn bright.

I was incredibly happy that Tony and Steve were able to repair their relationship.  Civil War was such a tough movie to watch, and while there was at least a thread of hope for them at the end of it, this resolution was a long time coming.  They're so very different in their worldviews and methods, but so very alike in their absolute dedication to protecting people and doing the right thing - the friction has always made perfect sense, but getting to see them come to terms with each other ... that's something I have really wanted for a long time.  I was extremely sad watching Tony just chew into Steve at the beginning of Endgame, but not at all surprised - Tony was completely done in, physically, mentally and emotionally.  Just seeing Tony that physically wasted and weak was hard.  Steve's reactions to it were perfect, though, just perfect.  I don't think I could have asked for any more than I was given for the two of them.  

I loved Tony's relationship with his daughter - in fact, I love Tony's relationship with every character below the age of majority that he's ever been on screen with.  Tony may be my OTP (One True Parent) in fact - he's just so deeply interested in these kids (Harley, Peter, Morgan) as human beings.  And he treats them oddly as equals, while still somehow managing to parent well for each of them.  He's hilarious and snarky and caring and he connects.  I don't know, I just adore it.  We didn't get to spend a lot of time with Morgan, but it was obvious she adored Tony and was well on her way to growing up to be just like him, and I wholly approve.  

And before I leave the topic of kids - Tony mourning Peter broke my heart, and his love for Peter when he came back knitted it back together again (that hug omg, </3 -> <3) and then Peter's breakdown when Tony was dying, finally calling him "Tony" instead of Mr. Stark or sir...there it goes, heart broken again.  BROKEN.

I and the rest of the universe loved Steve wielding Mjolnir (and Thor KNEW it!). We all saw this coming from way back at the party in Ultron, and a part of what this series of movies has managed to do that I love is take moments like that, a billion movies ago at this point, and pay them off one by one.  Sure, it's fan service, but because they were patient, it feels earned.  I adore it.

I'm going to wrap this up for now because if I don't, it's never getting posted - I have a ton of thoughts and even MORE feelings about this movie, and I'll be posting more of them because how can I NOT.  But I do want to talk a little about one of the major things that literally filled me with joy: 

The return to Avengers 2012!!! <3 <3 <3

I just want to go back and live there - like, I want to build a tinyhouse with a telescope in the window and just stare at it all from the shadows forever.  I could literally sit for days upon days of "what happened in Avengers 2012 around what we saw on the screen in Avengers 2012" - that could be an entire TV series and I would tune in for every freaking episode.  It was SO. MUCH. FUN!  From "feel free to clean up..." to "take the stairs" and "SO MANY STAIRS" to Loki pretending to be Steve and Loki stealing the tesseract and poofing out to Thor saving Tony with his hammer and both of them so jazzed about it... OMG.  I just love it all, and I'm so happy they did it.  I loved everything around it - I loved Bruce trying half-heartedly to smash, I loved the Sorceress Supreme up on the rooftop fighting the Chitauri, I loved Bruce getting smacked out of Hulk and Hulk on a lounge chair with a sunhat over his face.  EVERYTHING.  I just.  <3

I went into Endgame expecting the worst for my favorite character, and I got the worst for him.  But the more I think about this movie, the more I find that it's a happy place for me. It gave me what I didn't want and it made me like it.  Like - a LOT.  I went into it expecting/fearing that it would kill my fannishness about Avengers, and it's done the exact opposite - it's brought me back into fandom, back into contact with fans, back into thinking all the thoughts and feeling all the feelings and wanting to share them with other people who are thinking and feeling about the same thing.  

I feel like this entire series of movies, this slate of characters, this universe they've built - it's a gigantic wonderful amazing heartbreaking heartmending accomplishment, and I'm just super glad it's all here, and that I got to experience it all.  

(And I can't wait to write a metric fuckton of stories that ignore it! Tony may be gone in this timeline, but he's never going to die in mine, damn it!)

[thewritingcaptain]

the Spider-Man: Introduction: The Buildup

Full story on AO3 (Smidget) and FF (CaptainS10).

Summary:  A novel version of Spider-Man's journey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from shortly after he was bitten through all of the movies.

Note: Hello, Marvel fans! So this is my first foray into the world of MCU fanfiction, and I'm super excited! I have been wanting to write something for this fandom for a long time, but I felt like I didn't have any decent ideas. This one came to me on a whim yesterday, after chasing scenes from the two Spider-Man movies in my head around for days that I really liked. Why not do a novel retelling of the movies? I have no diea if it's been done before for this fandom, although I realize it likely has been; but one can never get enough of something they love, right?

I'm starting with Spider-Man for a few reasons. A, because I've always loved Spider-Man, and I had always wanted to write something for him anyway. B, because I recently saw both of the new MCU Spidey movies, so they were fresh in my brain. C, because I'm still recovering from Endgame, and I'm desperately craving to write some Tony Stark and Peter Parker scenes.

So yeah! This will follow the canon of the movies pretty closely, but it's not going to be a carbon copy of it either. I will keep major story and major conversations the same in their essence, but I'm hoping to fill in some of the missing pieces of things in the MCU and give us some more of what we want to see. I do hope to do at least a few of these - Iron Man is next on my list to try - and while each will include bits and pieces of other characters, the main ones will be the main POV focus for each. Surely there will be some crossover later, but I'll sort that out when we get there.This has been a long author's note, so sorry! If you're here to check this out, then thank you, and please enjoy! <3

Story below the cut! 

INTRODUCTION: THE BUILDUP

Everything seemed… grey.

For weeks after the funeral, things seemed out of focus. The only time it ever seemed in focus was when the pain hit, and he couldn’t deal with it, not for long. So he didn’t. He let things slip out of focus, instead of fighting it. Everything that was happening was unimportant now. Even his stupid powers.

Those powers he’d gotten - oh, he didn’t even want to think about them. They were the source of this issue, without a doubt. If he hadn’t been so distracted messing with them, reveling in them instead of trying to figure them out and put them to good use, maybe it wouldn’t have happened. Or maybe it still would have, but maybe he’d have actually had a shot at stopping it. Maybe he at least would have seen it coming. Maybe he could have done something, at least, or tried to. Maybe then he wouldn’t feel so guilty. 

It was worse, of course, because it wasn’t just him. No - death rarely ever left only one hurting person in its path. Just as it had been when it was his parents, his aunt was also left behind to suffer. Only this time, the person who had helped her through it was the one that had died. Now they were the only people they both had left, and yet… Oh, he wanted to help her. He wanted to ease her pain, so badly, but he couldn’t even ease his own. 

In the aftermath of it, and in the weeks after the funeral, things were just grey. And not just for Peter Parker; the loss of his uncle was hard on his aunt, too. And while he knew that the whole time, it wasn’t until the night that he heard her weeping from her own room, quietly, trying to cover her pain for him, to help him, that he realized how big of a mess he’d been. And then he realized he needed to fix it.

He wasn’t the only one mourning. And doubtless, he wasn’t the only one who had ever mourned like this, either. His scenario was a wretched one, at times, but he was far from the only one who’d ever experienced anything like this. Seeing his aunt mourn was enough to remind him of that. 

Seeing her pain was enough to dull his. It was enough to bring the world back into focus. That included making him face the amount of pain he was in, and the thoughts that accompanied it, rational or not. But his mind was sharp, as it always had been; and he knew enough to know, when he was thinking clearly, what lines of thought were rational, and what ones were not. 

And despite it all, the one that had stuck with him, the one that bothered him the most, was oddly the most rational of them all. He may not have been able to stop his uncle’s death either way, but part of the reason he was so upset by it was that he had a chance to, if he’d only stepped up to the plate. And from that realization came a determination: he needed to step up to the plate. He had these powers now, like it or not. He had to decide how to use them. 

It didn’t take long to come to a decision. So long as he had these powers, he had a responsibility to use them. And that meant to him that no one around him would ever feel like this again if he could help it. His reach may not have extended the world over, and he may still have other things to do, and other obligations to attend to, but this would become number one if he could help it. Number two, perhaps, if he absolutely couldn’t. 

And so he stepped up to the plate. His grades, which had slipped to minimal while he was in his practically catatonic state, went back up, as high as they ever were. He came back out of his shell; he took the time to catch up with his old friends - or old friend, specifically, as fate would have it - and with his aunt, talking with her, trying to work through things, He knew it was still painful for her, but she was managing. She was handling it all better than he ever did. To think she had lost everyone she’d ever cared about and managed to go on like this… Hell, he’d got bitten by a genetically altered spider and went off the rails for a while. His uncle died, and he completely lost his mind, for a lot longer than a while. And then there was her, taking it all in stride.

That was the difference between an adult and a child, he supposed. Perhaps next time he would be able to handle it like an adult.

He shook the thought away. There wouldn’t be a next time. He wouldn’t let it happen again. 

Anger became his drive. Pain became his fuel. 

And that’s when the hero began to form. 

~~~

By the second month after the funeral - three months since he’d been bitten and discovered he was getting strange capabilities - he had started to work out the kinks in this whole hero thing. 

For one thing, he’d finally started to come into his powers. He kept discovering more things he could do as he went. 

The first one he’d discovered, invariably, as it had developed on its own and was near impossible to miss, was his heightened senses. He suspected they had been heightening over time, a simple way his body had changed after the bite, in response to whatever the hell it was it had actually given him. He didn’t experience the full height of these new senses until after he’d came to from his grief, so to speak. He’d been catatonic, and his pain had literally taken the world out of focus, dulling everything, including his senses. When he got them back at what should have been normal, full capacity, they were much stronger than he remembered. The only logical conclusion was that they were. 

The next few showed up in quick succession. He again suspected that these had been developing before, but due to him being catatonic, he rarely was in a scenario where he may have accidentally used them, and even when he did, he was too out of it to notice. When he settled back into the real world, he began to realize how often he would run into things, or grip something too hard and leave a dent in it. Super strength, agility, speed, and even the ability to heal cuts and bruises quicker. He knew these couldn’t just be in his head, because he’d never seen anyone crush their door handle like a crumpled wad of paper, or stab a fork through a plate and into the table when they tried to spear a bite of macaroni and cheese a bit too hard. Both of those were fun to hide from his aunt. 

The last one was rather unusual, but not to say useless. It showed itself in a rather weird way as well. He didn’t often go outside at night, so it was no surprise that night vision was both a shock and a late revelation to his list of powers. But there was no other explanation for how clearly he saw things in the dark dead of the night. In retrospect, maybe he should have expected that with his heightened senses, but it was still an odd experience when it happened. 

Armed with these powers and all the knowledge he possessed, he also spent this time to work on the making of some sort of suit. Every hero had to have a suit. Even Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, still had one, despite revealing his identity years before. And Peter wasn’t so sure how he felt on that front; keeping it a secret seemed a better idea for now, not least of all because if his aunt found out… well, it was likely his vigilante days wouldn’t last very long, to say the least. She didn’t need that extra stress in her life right now, anyways. 

So he knew he needed a suit, and a name. He could always try for something sophisticated, something to make him sound smart, like he was worthy of trust and leadership, but… well, he also knew he needed to keep it simple enough to be recognized, and he was still a kid, regardless. He could sound as cool as he wanted, but it meant nothing if he couldn’t back it up. And right now he had nothing but basic superhero powers. He had nothing to set him apart, nothing to make him worthy of trust or leadership even if he claimed it, and worst of all, he had no experience. He had nothing to back any fancy-sounding name or costume up.

In the end, he had to keep it simple. He had to stick with something he could do, and a name he could back up. And what better way to stay true to his roots than to go with a name related to what gave him his powers in the first place? Besides, a spider-like costume would be easy enough to make. Some colors and some stripes - he couldn’t go all one color; he didn’t want to seem like he was ripping off the only other spider-related hero there was - and he would be all set. He could do some basic sewing. It just wouldn’t be fancy. 

And of course, every hero needed a signature, something to be known by. For him, that was easy. He was a spider-man; he would have webs. He went to a science and technical school; he had access to everything he needed to make them. 

By the end of that second month after the funeral - the end of his third month coming in to his powers - he had everything he needed. A suit, basic control over his powers, some rudimentary webs… he’d even quit the robotics team to make the time to practice and work on actually doing this whole superhero thing. He was set. 

And so Spider-Man, officially, was born.

~~~

End Note: So, I know the Russo brothers decided doing a retelling of his story of becoming Spider-Man and all that was redundant, but I wanted to explore a little of what made this particular version of Spider-Man tick, and I also wanted to do some sort of intro before just jumping right in to the story. And I know this chapter seemed a bit distanced - I did that on purpose. From here it will actually be from Peter's perspective (though still third person).

From here, after perhaps a chapter of Spidey doing his thing, we'll go in to the MCU versions, starting with Civil War as that's canonically his first appearance. I hope to upload this on a schedule, probably a chapter two days a week if possible, but we'll see how it goes at first before I set it in stone. And if you liked this and are interested in seeing more of this, then great, and thank you for reading!

[scaryscarecrows]

Roots and Leaves, Pt. 8

All done!

“-son. Master Jason.”

Fuck, Alfred’s dead? The end is extremely fucking nigh.

But, if he’s going to be selfish (which got him into this, you’d think he’d learn)…at least he has company in…wherever this is.

His hands still hurt, though, which he finds very unfair.

“You are no better at feigning unconsciousness than you were at fifteen, sir.”

He’s not tryin’ to…

Why does Death look like his old bedroom. Is this some sorta ‘ease into it’ area?

“There you are.”

“Alfie?”

Alfred hasn’t changed one bit. Jason will bet that his mustache hasn’t even grown, or shed a hair, or anything.

“How are you-”

Alfred.

He hugs him and he hasn’t changed, not one goddamn bit. Alfred hugs him back, one hand cupping his neck and the other moving firmly up and down his spine. Alfred’s here, everything’s gonna be okay, at least for another minute…

The hand on his spine moves and his head’s tilted up with a soft, “Oh, my boy.”

It’s over. Any dignity he had is gone. He presses his face against Alfred’s chest (fabric softener Earl Grey home) and doesn’t even try to pretend he’s not crying. He’s never been able to keep anything from Alfred anyway.

“M’sorry.”

“Oh, my boy,” Alfred says again, and those sturdy hands press against his head and neck. “There is nothing to apologise for.”

He tries to take a few deep breaths, to get himself under control for fuck’s sake, and can’t. He can’t do it anymore.

But Alfred is a literal saint, and he doesn’t try to coax him to talk or to sit up or to do anything at all, even after his jacket must be soaked through. He just sits there, marginally more slumped than he usually is, and rubs a hand in slow, steady circles over Jason’s shoulders.

At some point, he senses a presence in the doorway, but before he can straighten up it’s gone again and now, without that motivation, it’s easier to just stay here where it’s safe and warm.

He eventually runs out of tears but his face is now wet and swollen and hot. His nose feels like it’s swollen shut and he’s been reduced to careful, thought-out breaths that rattle in his throat and burn in his chest. Sitting up is too much work.

Alfred props him up anyway and rubs a cool washcloth over his face before letting him take it and hold it against his now-puffy eyelids.

“That’s it, Master Jason.” If Bruce is Sherlock Holmes, then Alfred is Watson. They don’t deserve him. “That’s it. Deep breaths, there we are.”

“M’sorry, Alfie,” he forces out, voice strangled. “M’sorry-”

“That’s enough of that.”

“But-”

“I won’t hear any more of that.” Oh, boy. That’s the ‘you’re on thin ice and should just shut up’ voice. Even now, it’s scary and he doesn’t have the courage to go against it.

A straw presses against his lips-limeade-and Alfred continues, a little gentler now, “I cannot imagine that you purposefully buried yourself for any reason, Master Jason. Am I correct?”

He laughs. He can’t help it. It sounds so nice put like that.

“No. No, I…I didn’t. I didn’t.” He is not going to start crying again. He refuses. Sheila flashes behind his eyes, blonde and blue and red, and he presses the washcloth down hard enough to hurt. “I…she s-said. She said she was out. Sh-she said she was out, Alfred, I thought…just once…”

“From the beginning, Master Jason.” Calm, but making it very clear that he doesn’t have a choice. “Who is ‘she’?”

He swallows, knows he’s imagining something squirming at the back of his throat. Alfred waits.

“Sheila Haywood,” he finally whispers. “I…Bruce’s files…she might have been my mother.”

He doesn’t have to look to know Alfred’s got that little frown between his eyebrows, the one that says he’s deeply upset. Jason presses the washcloth tighter against his eyes, sparking colors, and his wrist is tugged at until the colors die off.

“I just…she approached me, Alfie, I swear, I didn’t…I just thought…” He swallows again, forces himself to let the washcloth fall to his lap. “M’tired of bein’ second choice, Alfred.”

He doesn’t have time to brace himself before he’s pulled back down and somehow…folded…so that he’s tucked against Alfred’s chest like he’s thirteen again and still fits.

“Jason Peter Todd,” Aw, shit. “you have never been second choice, do you understand?”

But…

Look. He’s very well aware that he wouldn’t be here if Dick hadn’t had that fallout with Bruce. And oh, boy, has he ever learned the Joys of Being the Second Child-‘Dick did this’, ‘Dick did that’, and on and on and on. He’s come to terms with that fact, it’s fine, whatever.

But arguing that point (or any point) with Alfred is a Bad Idea.

And. And he’s here, now, because Bruce…Bruce came to pick him up, when he asked. So. That means something, doesn’t it?

His head hurts.

Alfred sighs at his non-answer but lets it go for the time being.

“What happened with Miss Haywood?”

He’s not moving. He’s staying right here until this is all over.

“Some moron tried to hold up the grocery store…”

* * *

Jason feigns sleep for the rest of the day, until Bruce is out on patrol. Sneaking past the Batman isn’t impossible, but it’s definitely hard and with his hands almost completely useless, well…

The last thing he wants or needs is a lecture on Trust and Rushing Into Things and Dammit, Jason, This is What Got You Captured by the Joker. He knows that, thanks, Bruce.

(And yeah, okay, he knows lectures are Bruce’s way of saying I Love You, but some people swear a punch to the face is an I Love You, so.)

Sneaking past Alfred, on the other hand…now that really is impossible.

He’s halfway down the stairs when there’s an irritated, “A-HEM,” from behind him. Crap.

“I was thirsty?”

Alfred gets this expression that Jason will swear means he’s envisioning smacking him upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper. Yeah. Okay. Game’s up.

“I just…I need some time,” he says, eyes fixed on a knot in the wooden banister. “I can’t face him, Alfred, not now.”

Not for a long time, probably. Not without a massive blow-up on both sides and it’s better if no one else is around to be caught in that crossfire.

And besides. Right now, he just…his apartment may be kinda crappy, but it’s not haunted by a stupid kid who swore up and down that

“Being Robin gives me magic!”

“This is the best day of my life.”

There’s too many ghosts in this house.

Alfred comes forward and pats his shoulder.

“At least permit me to provide you with a few easy-to-reheat meals.”

“I’m okay-”

“Humor an old man.”

That is a trap. That is a trap, it’s just better to nod and neither protest or nor agree. And he’s got time, before Bruce gets back.

“Thanks, Alfred.”

“Hm.”

He’s ushered towards the kitchen. It hasn’t changed a bit-still homey and warm and with those same comfy stools by the counter. He remembers having after-school snacks there and chattering a mile a minute about ‘so Mister Pierce set his desk on fire in chemistry and it was so cool I gotta try that y’think B’ll let me-?’

“If I hear one word about you being out before those hands have healed, there is no power on Heaven or Earth that will spare you, is that clear?”

He believes. He believes.

“Yeah.”

“Good.” An icebox appears out of nowhere. “Do you need a ride?”

“No, I, uh…I called an Uber. I didn’t think I could drive.”

“Wise choice.” Alfred sets the icebox down and grips Jason’s arms. “You will always have a home with us, Master Jason. Remember that.”

He is not going to start crying again. He is not.

“Thanks, Alfred.”

* * *

The Uber guy is more interested in his radio than in Jason and that’s just fine. It means he’s not going to pester him, which means that he can twist around to watch Wayne Manor shrink into the distance through back window.

When he gets home, he opens his e-mail. Nothing new, but Sheila’s are still there. He deletes most of them.

But.

He can’t. Even now, after everything, he can’t bring himself to hate her. Not really.

He moves the remaining few to his ‘save it’ folder, where he won’t open them by mistake, and goes outside for a cigarette. Lighting it’s a pain, and there’s a few minutes that he’s terrified that he’s going to light the bandages on his hands on fire, but he manages it, in the end, and leans on the railing to watch the cars go by below.

In another unit, he can hear Mz. Melinda May cackling and a handful elderly voices swearing and demanding she be thrown out. Maybe he’ll go over there tomorrow, make sure she hasn’t downloaded a crap-ton of computer viruses again. (And yeah, okay, he wants to know about the yelling.)

There’s a sudden movement in the shadows across the street and he goes inside, turns on the TV. He’s halfway through an episode of Chopped when a red bar pops up on the bottom saying, Batman recaptures Harley Quinn, more at eleven.

A knot in his chest he didn’t realize was there loosens up and he pulls his blanket tighter around his shoulders.

“Thanks, B.”

THE END

[boasamishipper]

endgame review (spoilers!!!)

okay so now that i’ve finally stopped crying and had a good night’s sleep here are all of my thoughts on avengers endgame:

things i liked:

the opening scene with clint losing his wife and kids -- my heart was in my throat the whole time; i felt so so bad for him

nebula and tony bonding

steve getting rid of that beard like thank god

tony and pepper reuniting

tony FINALLY telling steve off for everything; as a lifelong tony stan this was super cathartic

scott reuniting with cassie; in fact, all of scott’s scenes were awesome

bonus - the fact that the only reason any of this was able to happen was because a rat accidentally turned the machine back on

the fact that tony got married to pepper!!! and had a daughter!!! he was such a good dad to baby morgan i loved it

carol’s new haircut  👌 👌 👌

tony looking at peter’s picture  😭 😭😭

“shit :)”

“i love you 3000″

all of the time travel scenes. did the rules make sense? nope. did i love seeing the crew go back in time to all of the previous avengers movies and see their past selves and fuck around with the timeline? absolutely.

going off that -- getting to see all the minor characters like jane and frigga and hank was awesome. i loved the entire time heist plot.

loki making fun of cap by transforming into him

“hail hydra” followed by that smirk (and the fact that they made fun of the whole hydra!cap thing was awesome)

the cap vs cap fight

thor getting to talk to his mother

tilda swinton’s character and bruce talking. seeing her again was def a surprise.

nebula and gamora talking and teaming up to fuck thanos over. karen gillam was great in this film.

tony getting to talk to his father (and the fact that the code name he used was howard potts like??? i cry)

“we’re a long way from budapest” be still my 2013 clintasha heart

the new infinity gauntlet being made out of tony’s iron man hand

the fact that they brought everyone back without fucking up the timeline. i was so worried they’d have to erase tony’s kid from existence but they didn’t so thank god.

steve wielding mjolnir. ngl that was pretty cool.

EVERYONE COMING BACK!!! (i knew it was coming. everyone knew it was coming. but it was still great to see.)

steve saying “avengers assemble”

PETER AND TONY’S REUNION!!! (i waited an entire fucking year for this and it was WORTH IT)

PEPPER FIGHTING ALONGSIDE TONY!!! HOPE FIGHTING ALONGSIDE SCOTT!!! battle couple goals :D

“hey peter parker”

“i am inevitable.” “i am...iron man.” S O B B I N G

tony’s death. like am i sad that tony died??? 150%. but it made narrative sense, he got to be happy with his kid and pepper (for however brief of a time), he found the loophole in time travel that allowed him to save everybody, and he dusted thanos. “you can rest now.”  😭😭😭 a fitting ending for the strongest avenger.

the entire funeral scene. the viking funeral wreath thing with the “proof tony stark has a heart” on it??? GOOD SHIT. i was bawling.

happy and morgan. that kid’s going to have happy wrapped around her little finger.

tony’s final message

the thorkyrie scene (even if i didn’t like what was being said i’m glad they shared some screentime.)

harley coming back!!!

sam becoming captain america (THANK GOD)

the end credits with rdj (the man who singlehandedly made the mcu amazing) being billed last. the theater was cheering and crying at the same time and it was amazing.

the final bit at the end with the noise from tony making his first suit. 😭😭😭

things i didn’t like:

the way they treated thor. taika made thor so amazing in ragnarok and the russos (and the screenwriters) got jealous and shit all over it!!! wtf!!! (and all of the fat jokes and jokes about his ptsd were NOT cool. didn’t like rocket slapping him out of his panic attack either.) can’t believe they made him an alcoholic who sits on his ass and plays fortnite all day. wtf.

for that matter -- i CANNOT believe that he would just up and fuck off with the guardians of the galaxy and abandon his people. is valkyrie a worthy leader??? absolutely. but so is thor!!! that was his entire arc in endgame like WTF!!!! (also the fact that we didn’t get a thorkyrie kiss is fucking CRIMINAL)

also why couldn’t he keep the short hair??? why did he have to get mjolnir back when taika went to all the trouble of showing he didn’t need the hammer to be a hero? did they just want to fuck up EVERYTHING that taika did?

the ending for steve. ‘nuff said.

no you know what? i’m going to go into this further. do i like steve? no. i never have. his actions toward tony in civil war put him on my shitlist forever, and that’s all i am willing to say about that. but you expect me to believe that steve fucking rogers (who KNEW that peggy moved on, lived a good life and had a husband and kids) really went back and fucked up the timeline just to be with her? he barely knew her!! they barely bonded in the first avenger at all!! also there are so many plotholes with how in the world he managed that (what happened when the other cap woke up from the ice???) also does this mean that his ‘romance’ with sharon is technically incest??? and did he just live out the rest of his life with peggy knowing that bucky was being tortured by hydra? insert “it’s bad writing” gif here.

(i am glad that he passed the shield onto sam though. bucky would have been a terrible choice for captain america.)

ALSO. you know who would have been a better choice to go back in time and live the rest of their life with the people that they loved and could not be with due to reasons outside their control? CAROL MOTHERFUCKING DANVERS. let her go back in time and live a happy life with her wife and kid. #carolmaria4evr

the fact that natasha died instead of clint. i literally cannot fucking believe that they fridged the first female avenger just for clint’s (and everyone’s) man pain. it was bad enough when they fridged gamora for thanos’s man pain. clint should have died in nat’s place and the fact that he didn’t is a huge fucking cop out and that’s the that on that.

for that matter -- clint’s entire storyline prior to going back in time was WILD. his only explanation for killing all those people was “thanos snapped half the universe and you didn’t die so imma kill you.”  FUCKING WHAT????

the fact that the russos are patting themselves on the back for their “woke lgbt rep” that was actually just a “leave for the bathroom and miss it” extra. you know what would have been better? a stucky ending. a sambucky ending. carol going home to monica and maria. valkyrie kissing a girl. ANYTHING would have been better than that.

speaking of carol -- she was CRIMINALLY underused in this movie. she was barely shown mourning fury (and also!!! why did we get no confirmation about monica and maria????) and barely spoke to the team in general. i thought she was going to have a major role (and would help them go back in time) but she didn’t and that disappointed me.

did i like the fact that she destroyed thanos’s fleet? yes. but i wish she was used more. she’s the most powerful avenger ever!!! and i wish that she got to speak more with tony as they’re friends in the comics.

(BRIE LARSON IS AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNING ACTRESS AND THEY BARELY USED HER!!! LIKE WTF)

i won’t even get into the makeup thing bc that’s already been said and done. actually no i will. there was no reason for her to have perfect hair and lipstick and makeup. that’s not who she is. please let butch ladies continue to be butch please and thank you.

the fact that they didn’t bring gamora and natasha back :(

this might be controversial but i didn’t love the fact that pepper and tony suddenly retired to a lakehouse and became stay at home parents. i was totally expecting pepper and tony to keep running stark industries and make it into a charity organization that helped people in need/those affected by the snap.

the fact that they never fucking explained how time travel worked and WHY they couldn’t just go back and kill thanos as a baby (that was a good suggestion!). and the thing where nebula shot her past self and somehow lived??? it made no sense. i mean. i know it’s bad writing. but i was expecting it to be at least a LITTLE better. where are my explanations.

speaking of bad writing -- did the avengers ever come out and say the reason that everyone got dusted? did everyone know it was bc of thanos? why are some places in such states of disrepair and others are not? who ruled wakanda since shuri and t’challa were dusted? so many unanswered questions. rip.

the directing of the final battle was on par with the throne room battle scene in the last jedi in that both are chaotic and messy and that’s the that on that. as was the scene where hawkeye was beating up the yakuza. messy. lame. yawn.

the scene with all of the female superheroes. was it cool? sure. do i wish natasha could have been there? YES. do i wish that the mcu had more female superheroes? DOUBLE YES. was it a blatant attempt for the russos to pat themselves on the back and be like “sEE!! WE’RE FEMINISTS!!! LOOK AT US!!”?? definitely.

honestly, i was expecting the acting to be way worse than it was based on how all my mutuals were going off about it. overall, though, it was clear in some scenes that the actors had no idea what the context of their lines were and the acting was pretty meh throughout, and for the biggest marvel movie of the year the acting should be a damn sight better than “meh”. but this just reinforces what i know already, which is that the russos are shitty directors. get them as far away from the mcu as possible please and thank you.

things i wish we got:

a carolmaria reunion

a peter&may reunion

a fury&everyone (and esp a fury&carol reunion)

clint sacrificing himself instead of nat sacrificing herself

valkyrie talking to thor about overcoming alcoholism and ptsd

thor staying in new asgard with his people

steve going back and dancing with peggy like he promised and THEN going back to the future (where all of his friends are) and retiring or helping fury bring back shield.

better writers

better directors

an end credits scene that set up phase 4 (tho i assume we will be getting that in spiderman far from home)

tldr - thor got fucked over. tony is a hero and the love of my life. steve shouldn’t have gone back in time to be with peggy. nat shouldn’t have been fridged. the writing was meh and the directing was worse. not the complete and utter shitshow i was expecting, but not the so-called greatest movie in the mcu. give rdj an honorary oscar. 6/10.

[pedropascallovebot]

sweaters ↝ peter b. parker

A/N: hii! i was chillin in my midtown sweatshirt makin’ some dinner when i came up with this unedited fluff written on my phone. peter’s barely in it but he’s here in spirit <33

—

home-cooked meals at the avengers facility were in short supply, due to the frequent missions that deemed the team occupied. luckily, tony stark’s only daughter had some spare time on her hands one afternoon in particular. it wasn’t as if her father would ever let her go on his endeavors, and since she was feeling a bit more domestic than usual, she stood over the kitchen counter, chopping up carrots to roast for dinner. 

as much as she had begged to go with them and kick ass, school had other plans for her. however, it was one of those rare times (y/n) stark was grateful for her fathers hot head. if he had finally relinquished, perhaps she wouldn’t be wearing peter parker’s hoodie, lovestruck and feeling as if she was on top of the world. out of all the people, she was wearing the soft midtown sweater that was easily two sizes too big. she was sure this made up for the horrible morning she endured.

(y/n) had spent her day frustrated and lonely, wishing she was fighting alongside her friends, rather than solving ninth grade equations her father had started teaching her at age twelve. the entire day dragged by as she expected. that is, until seventh period. 

in the small fit of rage she had thrown herself into this morning, turns out (y/n) had forgotten to bring a jacket. it hadn’t really bothered her until she was sitting in her science class, freezing her ass off. it just so happened, though, her lab partner peter was more than willing to share- especially with a pretty girl he was sure would never look his way otherwise.

boy, how he was wrong. (y/n) spent the entire class period in bliss; how did she get so lucky as to be wearing this? she was convinced there was no greater honor.

a helicopter whirring above, signifying the teams arrival, snapped her back into reality. dumping the carrots in the boiling water, (y/n) let her hair down from the bun and turned to go greet her family. however, her face went white as she realized peter’s sweater was still on. at that exact moment, bruce walked in the kitchen, ruffling her hair and complimenting how good dinner smelled.

“it’ll be nice to have some real food around here” he teased right as clint walked in. “the last time mr. katniss everdeen tried to cook, he wound up burning pasta.”

clint went straight for the potatoes that were cooling on the counter, and (y/n) glanced nervously at the kitchen door. 

“dude, you alright?” clint strolled over to her, putting a hand on your forehead and took a bite out of a potato fry. “you look sick, maybe you should take a nap?”

there was absolutely no time to waste. (y/n) made a beeline towards the door, muttering that it was too hot and she needed to change. clint, bruce, and the rest of the team weren’t a threat in this situation, but she knew that a certain overprotective father who threatened to bust out the armor whenever a boy looked at her on the streets, would have something to say. 

she was almost home free. she could see the elevator that took her to her room. she could do this, her dad wouldn’t be able to see her-

“hey, honey!”

(y/n) stopped dead in her tracks, as she felt her body being pulled in a hug by her father. normally, this would of meant the world to her- whenever her dad walked out that door, there was always a fear that he wouldn’t come back in. but this was different. it was hard to be happy when you were currently incased in a cute boy’s sweater and your dads hug.

“i’m sorry you couldn’t come today, but i’m sure school was fun,” tony froze mid sentence, cocking his head. “you smell like cologne.”

natasha strolled in, and immediately started busting out laughing. steve joined soon after, expect he stared curiously at the two tense starks. 

in between the laughing, nat managed to spit out her take on the situation at hand. “looks like mini-tony got herself a boyfriend!”

(y/n) groaned in embarrassment as tony crossed his arms, staring daggers into the midtown emblem.

“funny, i don’t remember buying you this, you said you didn’t have an interest.”

being the first think that came to mind, (y/n) blurted out “it’s my best friends hoodie, and she’s a girl, dad!”

“definitely not a woman’s hoodie, and it’s way too big on you,” steve piped up. “plus, tony said it smells like cologne.”

“not HELPING, steve!” (y/n) squeaked, burying her head in her hands.

tony felt helpless. he knew his daughter was growing up, but he thought he had more time. if his entire world was spinning off it’s axis, he just wanted to make sure (y/n) was away from any wandering eyes and boys with hoodies.

and since time was not on (y/n)’s side today, thor and wanda walked in. they froze in place as they saw the scene in front of them; even clint and bruce had taken a break from eating the homemade fries to watch the drama unfold.

“who’s sweater is this?”

fidgeting with her hands, the younger stark tried to brush past tony under the excuse of checking on her carrots, but he gripped the neckline of the sweater, keeping her in place.

“(y/n), i’m not angry, just tell me why you’re wearing it!”

she glanced at your dad’s teammates, silently begging for a distraction from any one of them.

“sorry, kid,” clint chuckled. “i’m just as excited to find out who’s ass tony is gonna kick.”

sighing, (y/n) gave in.

“peter parker,” she mumbled. “he’s in my science class. i was cold, he said i could keep it until tomorrow.”

everything was quiet, until thor broke the silence.

“why don’t you invite peter over for dinner? i’m sure we’d all love to meet miss stark’s new love!”

“no one’s inviting anyone over, thor,” tony snapped. “you’re returning the sweater tomorrow. you’re too young to be wearing other boy’s clothing, i’ll allow it when you’re 35.”

tony stormed out of the room, leaving an embarrassed (y/n) and an amused team behind. clint went back into the kitchen to tend to the carrots that had been boiling over. wanda put a hand on the younger stark’s shoulder, doing her best to make the situation less awkward.

“so, you’ve found yourself a new boyfriend?” she held back a giggle, and (y/n) swatted her hand away. 

“he’s not my boyfriend!” then she added quietly. “he’s just a cute boy i know..”

all of a sudden, tony’s voice erupted from another room.

“you’re damn right he’s not!”

(y/n)’s eyes widened, about to storm up the stairs to find wherever her dad was. “dad, what are you doing?” 

there was silence for a few seconds, until tony’s voice was heard once again.

“finding out what the fuck a peter parker is.”

[softspideys]

Love and Hate (Peter Parker x reader)

summary: you’re stranded at a party, but your friendly neighborhood peter parker is there to give you a ride home.

warnings: none

prompt: “I don’t hate you.” (taken from this prompt list)

words: 1.8k

pairings: peter parker x reader

a/n: just a lil something cute that fell into my head! hope you enjoy:) 

Two hours. You’d been at this party for two hours, a party you didn’t even want to go to in the first place. Two hours of dodging the hands of creepy guys as they tried to grab your waist or squeeze your butt. Two hours of politely declining the drinks offered to you, of being jostled and pushed by dozens of people, of watching drunk couples make out way too close to you, of listening to loud, pulsing music that gave you a throbbing headache.

Your best friend had been the one to drag you here, promising that you wouldn’t stay too long. She’d recently started dating a senior boy, which was an impressive feat considering you were only sophomores, and now attended the parties his friends threw. She’d attempted time and again to get you to come along, but you always declined. Being a third wheel did not sound appealing.

However, for some reason, you accepted today. You didn’t have a lot of homework, it was a Friday night, and you had nothing else to do. Maybe you’d even have a little fun. Of course, you were wrong.

Despite your friend insisting she’d hang out with you for the whole night, she and her boyfriend instantly got swept away by some of his friends as soon as you walked in, leaving you to fend for yourself. Sure, you’d had a couple conversations with your classmates here and there, but overall, the night was a bust and you wanted to go home.

You searched the house until you found your friend and her boyfriend in the kitchen and tapped her on the shoulder. “Is it time to go?”

She shook her head. “Y/N, we just got here.”

“I know, but I really want to go.”

She rolled her eyes. Was she drunk? “Quit being such a killjoy and just go have fun.”

“Please?” you begged. “I came here like you asked, didn’t I?”

“Are you serious? Lighten up. It’s only like eleven o’clock.”

“I know. And I’d really like to leave.” You were losing your patience. Everyone was smirking at you and shaking their heads, like you were a child throwing a temper tantrum. It made you feel stupid and embarrassed and you didn’t even really know why.

“Then go,” your friend said, giggling nastily. “I’m staying. I’ll see you later.”

“Fine!” you snapped. You turned to leave and bumped into a guy holding a cup. Cold beer went spilling down the front of your shirt, and the smell practically made you sick. You pushed past him, grabbing some napkins and struggling to keep your composure. As you left the house, you could hear everyone laughing at you, your best friend’s voice the loudest.

The cool night air felt good on your skin as you took deep breaths. Now what? You had no ride back home to the city. Your mom and dad were away for the night, and none of your friends had cars. You were totally on your own.

You sat on the curb and dabbed at your shirt, but there was really no use: it was stained. You dried it as best you could before you hugged your knees to your chest, allowing a few tears to fall down your cheeks. You had no clue why you’d even come tonight.

“Y/N?” a voice said cautiously. You closed your eyes for a second before slowly turning your head. Peter Parker was standing a few feet away, looking at you with concern. “Are you okay?”

Great.

Why was he even here? Peter never went to parties. But of course he had to be at this one, on the night so many things had already gone wrong.

Peter had never done anything to you outright. But you’d been competing with each other in pretty much every subject since middle school. He always found some way to one-up you in everything, and it didn’t even look like he tried that hard. You’d study your ass off for weeks just to get an A on an exam, while Peter could get a perfect score without even glancing at the material. The kid was smart, like genuinely, naturally smart, and you hated it. And it didn’t help that he seemed like a decent guy, too. He never bragged about his grades or got annoyed when people didn’t know the answers. He just kept to himself, hung out with that one guy Ned, and continued to ace every single assignment you got.

You hated him.

“I’m fine,” you said, although you knew you didn’t sound fine at all.

“Do you, uh, need a ride or something?”

You shook your head. “Thanks, but I’m okay. I’m just going to call an Uber.”  

“That’s expensive,” he pointed out. He was right, of course; taking an Uber from the suburbs to the city was definitely going to damage your wallet. “Look, my aunt is gonna be here in a few minutes. Let me give you a ride home.”

You didn’t say anything for a few moments, mulling it over. You could either a) stay out here and wait God-knows-how-long for your friend and her boyfriend to leave, b) call an expensive Uber, or c) get a ride from Peter Parker.

“Okay,” you said finally. “Thank you.”

“Sure.” He slowly sat down next to you, like he was afraid you’d bite him. You wrapped your arms around yourself as a breeze blew by, cursing yourself for not bringing a sweater.

Peter noticed, of course. He immediately took off the jacket he was wearing and gently draped it around your shoulders. “I don’t –” you began, but he waved you off.

“No, really. I don’t even need it,” he said, gesturing to himself. In addition to the jacket, he was wearing a sweater with a flannel underneath. What a dork, you thought to yourself, but you were surprised when the voice in your head didn’t sound scornful, but almost . . . endeared.

Looking at him head-on, you realized you’d never actually taken the time to study him properly. Now that you were, it caused your stomach to twist.

His hair had gotten longer over the summer and now curled around the back of his neck and his ears. His fingers hadn’t stopped moving since he’d sat down; they tapped his knee, played with the cuff of his jeans, tugged at the collar of his sweater. And there was something about the way he was watching you with gentle eyes that made you feel inexplicably nervous.  

You put your arms through the sleeves and zipped it up for lack of anything better to do, feeling warmer already. It smelled good, a combination of soap and laundry detergent and the general smell of Peter Parker that was comforting in an odd way.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Peter asked, attempting to make conversation.

You shook your head. “No. Did you?”

“Not at all. Now I know why I don’t go to parties.” You laughed a little, and he smiled tentatively.

The two of you sat in amicable silence until a car finally pulled up to the curb. “Wait here a second?” Peter said, standing up and brushing off his jeans. You nodded, and he went to the driver’s side and spoke into the open window. You couldn’t see who was sitting there, but he waved you over, so you got up and reluctantly climbed into the backseat.

“Y/N, this is my Aunt May. Aunt May, this is Y/N.” You were met with a beautiful woman with long, dark hair and kind eyes smiling at you from the front seat as Peter got into the passenger side.

“Hi,” she said. “It’s so nice to meet you.” You didn’t miss the way her eyes flickered to the hoodie you were wearing.

“You too,” you said politely. “Thank you so much for driving me home.”

“Of course,” she said, turning around to put the car into Drive. “Did you guys have fun?”

Neither you nor Peter answered for a second. Finally, Peter said, “Yeah, it was okay.”

His aunt seemed satisfied with that answer, and she and Peter chatted quietly throughout the ride. Occasionally they included you in their conversation, asking you about yourself, but you mostly just listened and looked out the window.

You found yourself liking Peter’s aunt the more she spoke; she was funny while also managing to be dorky and motherly at the same time. You noticed that Peter seemed to come out of his shell more when he was talking to her, making jokes and rolling his eyes and dodging her hands as she teasingly tried to fix his hair. It was cute.

At long last, she pulled up to your building and you sighed with relief. “Thank you again,” you said gratefully. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Anything for a friend of Peter’s!” she said cheerfully. “Have a great night.”

Peter coughed awkwardly before you could say anything, like he was afraid you’d deny it or something. “I’ll, uh, walk you to your door.”

Under normal circumstances, you would’ve refused, but for some reason you didn’t. You merely nodded. He looked a little surprised, but hurried to get out of the car and follow you to the door of your building.

You turned to him and gave him a tiny smile. “Thanks for essentially saving my ass tonight. I really owe you one.”

“No you don’t,” Peter said quickly. “Forget about it.” When you raised your eyebrows at his reaction, he added, “It’s just, I know you hate me, so I don’t want you thinking you need to –”

“I don’t hate you,” you said quietly.

He blinked, his mouth falling open a little. “You – you don’t?”

“No.” It was true that you once did. But standing there, wearing his jacket and looking at him in the glow of the streetlights, you didn’t hate him at all.

“But . . . in school . . .”

“I guess I’ve always been jealous of you,” you admitted. “For being so smart and good at everything.”

“I’m not good at everything,” he said with a rueful shake of his head, “trust me.”

You shrugged. “You’re good at chemistry. I suck at it.”

“I could –” Peter stopped and swallowed. “I could help you study for it. If you want.”

You stared at him. Was Peter Parker really offering to help you study? And were you actually considering it? “Okay,” you said finally. “How about tomorrow?”

He nodded, eyes wide. “Yeah. Tomorrow sounds good. I can come over around noon?”

“Sure.” The two of you stared at each other for what seemed like ages until May honked her horn, startling the both of you. “I, um, better go,” he said.

“Oh. Here.” You started to unzip his jacket, but he shook his head.

“Keep it. It looks good on you.”

You paused before you felt yourself smile, the first genuine one all night. “Thanks. See you tomorrow.”

He smiled back. “Yeah. Tomorrow.” You went inside your building, still smiling to yourself.

Peter Parker. Who knew?

[davidmann95]

It's probably not smthn super interesting to you but, all the new Superman costumes when I looked at them just... reminded me of Connor, mostly? (I ended up playing with them to make a Superman Connor which was fun.) But my main question is, do you think that "Superman" is a name that could ever really be passed down, kind of like how Dick was given Batman (briefly)? Not in the way of lots of people rushing in, but DC seriously trying to introduce a new Superman? Who would you give that role?

Yeah, I can see that. Same basic design, just with a yellow negative space in the S and the yellow buckle on the belt.

As for the successor business, the idea of certain superhero identities as ‘off-limits’ has never quite sat right with me. Not everyone exactly demands that another hero take up their mantle - if Peter Parker was the one and only Spider-Man I don’t think many New Yorkers would notice for long, in-universe he’s a B-list superhero at best - but they’re bigger-than-life characters, often standing for things to their city or world larger than their own physical selves; it means something for that symbol to continue past whoever started it. I never liked old-school Earth-Two Dick Grayson staying Robin forever because he ‘wasn’t worthy’ to be Batman; the guy himself would have wanted that, he’d been doing it longer than Bruce by the time he died, and he had the same training and resources and motivation. And at least there’s the question with Batman of whether you legitimately could logistically equal the decades of unrelenting globe-spanning training he went through; with most heroes, if you have the power and the goodness of heart, you’re off to the races. Batman isn’t a mythical totem bound to the heart and soul of a single individual only to fade into the wind when Bruce Wayne passes on, it’s a suit he puts on that Dick Grayson or Tim Drake or Damian Wayne could put on too, and would have good reason to. And if Superman isn’t going to be Superman forever, whether that means he dies in battle or gets old or he goes off into space, there’s absolutely a reason for someone to fill that gap. Even if his immediate family didn’t, someone would.

Not to mention a lineage of Supermen and Superwomen stretching from the present to the 853rd century and beyond is just really cool. It gives you all kind of weird variants and possibilities even before you factor in the Multiverse, lets you do wild cross-time teamups, and plays with the ever-changing future of DC at any given time. And that they manage to exist is maybe the most tangible impact of Superman’s ideals across the breadth of space and time: the Starman legacy may eventually go rotten, the Green Lanterns may die out, the Allen/West line of Flashes has died about by Legion times, but eighty three thousand years down the line the moral imprint Kal-El leaves behind is still so strong that his great to the power of a hundred grandchildren, each and every one of whom could conquer galaxies, are to a woman and man the greatest heroes of their era. That such an impossible standard continues to be met in the face of infinite temptation in a time far farther away from us than the beginning of recorded history is the most monumental testament imaginable to how good Superman actually is at bringing out the best in people.

So who starts it?

Well, Kara as Superwoman’s an obvious choice - she’s got the power, she’s got the heart, and she’s the only other survivor of Krypton up to the task. But she’s always felt off as a successor to him for me - they spring from the same incident, so her motivations and origins are parallel to his rather than springing from him and his deal. She doesn’t wear the S-shield because of him, even if he’s the reason she calls herself ‘Supergirl’. It seems odd to discuss her as a successor in the same way as Batwoman for Batman - they’re associated characters, yes, but they’ve got their own things going on. More importantly they’d keep doing pretty much the same things they were already doing, in which case why bother getting rid of another character in the first place? Taking Superman’s place doesn’t do anything to Supergirl that her just growing up wouldn’t do with time anyway. It has to be someone where them entering that role represents a change.

The idea of Conner having to become Superman is loaded with potential, but that’s kind of the problem: I think the idea that he could be Superman one day is way more interesting than him actually being Superman would be. Maybe this is in part because I generally think of him as being a character of unfulfilled narrative potential, but the idea of this kinda goofy, rough-’n-tumble kid playing around with weird Kirby concepts and hanging out with the Teen Titans and resenting having to go to high school wondering if he might actually have to be Superman one day has a lot more going for it than whatever he’d actually be as Superman. I like the idea of the hybrid of Superman and Luthor being able to save the world in the way neither of them ever could, but only Luthor’s more unsavory aspects seem to be hinted at as a potential part of the package for Conner rather than his mighty intellect or ambition, so it mostly comes down to a stock Good Genes vs. Bad Genes argument that’s settled once and for all once he puts on the cape. Similarly, that he might fear the idea of being Superman the way a teenager fears having to get a 9-to-5 job when he grows up is fun - he knows that’s ultimately a thing he has to do to take care of those around him, and something he’ll probably be okay with when the time comes, but right now he’s not so sure he’s wild about it - but that means either he gets over it, or we get another Superman who often seems to hate being Superman. Plus he doesn’t have much of a background to draw on given he literally woke up on the day of his birth as a superhero, so again, aside from having to be a role model it’s not much of a logistical change for him. All-in-all while it’s interesting to see him in that role in potential futures, I think any destiny for Kon-El would probably be best served by him finding a different job title.

While I’d hope to see him in something a little more stylish than the above -maybe he could change costumes a lot, every time we see “Superman Secundus” he seems to wear a different uniform, so that could be a character detail - I think Jon Kent, the Boy of Tomorrow, would be the best option for a new Superman. For one big thing right upfront, while it’s probably about to be retconned out of him in March (probably for the best), he’s the one of the bunch who himself is the last son of a doomed world. Hell, more than that he’s the last son of a doomed DC Universe, the one way to feasibly one-up the significance of Krypton; even when he’ll have just been born on Earth, the idea of him as the final product of a classic DC has some potency.

That sense of legacy plays into something else with him: he’s the only one of the gaggle who actually thinks of Superman as Superman. Kara knew from day one that was just her cousin, Conner was born to be Superman, but Jon’s the one who grew up with Superman as his hero, not knowing just how true that was. He looks at Superman the way you look at Superman, and then he finds out his dad is Superman, coming at the idea from an even more direct place than Wally West. And being raised by Superman means he becomes a different character from him: he doesn’t grow up lonely and lost in the same ways Clark did, but he doesn’t have to go through the same trials or endure quite the same harsh lessons either. He’s could be the Nightwing to his Batman, not quite having the same kind of focus and drive but overall a better-adjusted person, which lets him go through the same basic motions you expect of Superman while still being a meaningfully different character.

Plus, he brings back a lot of Silver Age elements that don’t quite work for Superman anymore. I’m not a fan of Clark in-costume defending Smallville as Superboy, but Jon has Hamilton, meaning he can live out the whole Superboy status quo of defending a small town while also living as a normal schoolkid concealing his powers and super-brain. And while Clark becoming Superman is an all-but-meaningless name-change for Clark if he’s already been Superboy for years, for Jon that’s the biggest thing ever, making a career as Superboy much easier to pull off for him without invalidating anything. Plus, while the doofy Chris Reeve-style disguise doesn’t quite feel right anymore for Clark, it’d fit perfectly for someone as energetic and occasionally clumsy as Jon (especially if he parlays his obvious genius into the world of mad science as his day job when he grows up). You get the original Superman succeeded by the Silver Age Superman just as he was in the real world, and Jon brings enough to the table personality-wise while still being able to do the classic stuff (he can learn more about Krypton, but it’s fundamentally altered by being the home of his unknowable ancestors rather than the place he was born, for instance), and that differentiates him from the other two candidates. Obviously a lot of this is just potential no one has seized on yet, but if Superman set down the rules of the DCU, Jon grows up as a pure embodiment of that world, Super from childhood on and living without the burdens his dad had to. That to me makes him the most interesting possibility of the lot to see as a second Superman.

[batmagines]

Resurrection

Resurrection Relationship: Jason Todd X reader, Joker X Daughter! Reader Warnings: Abuse, character death, abandonment, Angst , Joker being an asshole, it’s just kinda sad y’all. Torture, Jason’s death. A/N: So here’s what I’ve been working on lately (And why I’ve been a little MIA)This will basically go along with the storyline of Under the Red Hood and I have had this idea on and off in my head for almost two years now and I just rewatched under the red hood and I have the plot a little more set in stone so here we go! PS: THIS WILL BE A SERIES ~~~ You were tied to a chair. Jason was lying on the floor. Your father was beating him senseless. It wasn’t like that beforehand, you and your father used to be close. But then, the day he wanted you to be his sidekick came along, and then? Things fell apart. - “Y/N Shoot the boy!” Your father cackled as you shakily held a gun in your hand, pointing it at Robin “I can’t!” You wanted to cry. “I don’t want this life! I don’t wanna be like you!” Everyone had froze at your words. You couldn’t even believe that they came out of your mouth. But the words that came out of his mouth next shocked you even more. “You’re not my daughter.” He snapped taking the gun out of your hand and that’s when the dam holding in your tears broke. You sobbed and collapsed to your knees as the Batman took down your father, put him in the batmobile and walk back over to you. You pulled out the rest of your weapons and gave them to him. The mighty duo kneeled in front of you. “Just take me to Arkham, he’ll escape without me.” You say quietly. “And then, he won’t come for me. He wouldn’t go back there unless you forced him.” Batman knew how easily it could be that this whole thing was an act, but when he looked into your eyes, he knew you weren’t acting, Because he too knew what it was like to lose your parents, and although yours weren’t dead, your relationship was. “No.” He stated gruffly and Robin helped you up. You looked at him and he gave you a small smile as tears continued to run down your face. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to take care of you.” Robin said reassuringly. You nodded your head, the green hair you had associated with your father falling in front of your face. “Thank you,” You said giving the Boy Wonder a hug. Robin was tense at first but he still hugged you back. “Robin take her back to the cave.” Batman said before getting into the car and taking off. “I’ll handle Joker.” “Why yes sir.” Robin said in a deep voice imitating his mentor. You let out a laugh, and snot came dribbling out of your nose. “Ew, sorry that’s disgusting.” You say with a light laugh wiping your nose on your sleeve. “Don’t worry about it.” He says laughing also. “Thanks for not shooting me by the way. That would’ve been a great way to start my first day on the job.” “Uh, you’re welcome.” You say as he leads you to his bike. He gets on and looks at you waiting for you to get on also. You do so slowly and wrap your hands around the boy’s waist. Robin drives and soon enough you enter the cave and he stops the bike allowing you to get off first. “Holy Cow!” “Yeah it’s a pretty cool place,” Robin says placing his hands on his hips, admiring the area. “Not the cave silly! The computer!” You say running over to the large device. “I haven't seen one in ages thanks to Joker.” “Oh, how come?” Robin asks analyzing you as you run your fingers over the keyboard. “He wanted me to work in the field. ‘No more techy stuff! Gotham needs a new Genius Villain terrorizing them!’ I hated every moment of it. I’m better at hacking into webcams, or crypted files! Not killing innocent people for a damn laugh.” You said the last part quietly. “He always hated that about me. The fact that I’d rather spend my time on the computer for him rather than in the field so Gotham knew who I was disgusted him. He never even asked me what I wanted.” “I’m sure Batman will figure out something. He won’t let the Joker force you to do anything any more.” He said coming up behind you. You started typing away at the computer hacking into your father’s network. “What are you doing?” Robin asked worried. “Hacking into Joker’s security camera’s.” You said setting up the video feed on the side console. “And here is some important files concerning his next few attacks.” “Wow, how’d you learn to do all this stuff?” He wondered aloud. “I never went outside, so I had a lot of free time to learn.” You told him honestly. “Now hopefully, you’ll be one step ahead when it comes to locking him up.” You said before muttering the last part, “And maybe one day he’ll be locked up where he can never escape.” “I’ll make it my job to lock him up for good for you Y/N.” Robin said reassuringly. “Thanks Robin.” You gave him a small half-smile. “You can call him Jason.” The Batman’s gruff voice echoed throughout the cave as he stepped out into the light. “And you can call me Bruce Wayne, I believe your computer skills will be a great asset if you’d want to join our team, I’d even provide everything you’d need to live here with us.” “Really?” You asked tears brimming your eyes. “I wouldn’t have to go out in the field would I?’’ “Only if you wanted to.” He said removing his cowl. You gave him a big smile before hugging the man. “Thank you.” - “Please stop!” You had managed to get the gag out of your mouth and now you were pleading with your father begging him to stop hurting your lover. The insane man continued to ignore you and tried to get your hands free of the their restraints. “He’s had enough! Hurt me instead.” “Now that looked like it really hurt, should we give her a try?” He asked tauntingly Jason just shook his head and he got hit once more. “That looked like it hurt a little more. So let’s try to clear this up okay pumpkin?” He gave Jason a sickening grin. “What hurts more? A? Or B?” With each question he hit Jason once more with the crowbar. “Forehand? Or Backhand?’’ The ropes holding your wrists fell to the floor and you got to work on releasing the rest of your body. Jason was twitching on the floor, breathing heavily and lying in a pool of his own blood as your father let out a loud cackle. You watched as Jason turned over slightly and said something incoherent and then your father dropped down to mock him. Jason spit the blood in his mouth onto the sick man’s ghostly white skin, only to have his head slammed into the floor. “Now that was rude.” Your ‘father’ said wiping the blood off of his face with a hanky. “At least the first boy blunder had some manners.’’ Jason rolled over and gave your father a shit-eating grin. “I suppose I’m going to have to teach you a lesson so you can better follow in his footsteps. Nah I’m just gonna keep beating you with this crowbar.” At that moment you had managed to escape your restraints and as Joker held up the crowbar you grabbed it attempting to take it away from him. He placed his foot on Jason’s back and shoved you backwards at the same time causing you to fall next to him. “I’m sorry.” You cried looking at your lover as he closed his eyes in pain. Suddenly the Joker left and walked to the door. “Okay kiddos, I’ve gotta go. It’s been fun though right?” The devil himself says exiting the building and fixing his tie. He turns back and looks at Jason and you laying on the floor. “Well maybe a bit more fun for me than you since you’re being awful quite. Anyways, be good kids finish your homework and be in bed by nine. And Hey! Please tell the big man I said hello.” He let’s out a cackle and slams the door shut leaving you and Jason alone. “Jay I’m so sorry this is all my fault.” You say crying. Jason opens his eyes and rolls over allowing him to bring his cuffed hands in front of him. “Calm down doll. It’s okay. I’m Okay.” He tries to reassure you but he can barely walk on his own. “No you’re not Jason!” You say catching him before he falls down. “You should’ve let him hurt me.” “No don’t you dare say that Y/N, he’s caused you enough damage.” Jason says as the two of you struggle towards the door. Jason falls to the ground and you quickly help him up and put most of his weight onto you. When the two of you made it to the door Jason jiggled the handle only to find out it was locked. You set Jason down gently onto the floor before trying your best to open the door, then you heard the quiet but ear-piercing beep that was going to bring your death. You slid down next to Jason. “I’m sorry Jason.” You whisper as the clock counts down and you fall into his arms. “Don’t be doll,” He says holding you close. “I love you.” “I love you too.” You say before spending your last moments kissing the love of your life. Then, the old warehouse you were in blows up and you die being held by Jason Peter Todd.