#peter is trying to sAVE THIS MANS WORLD BY NOT INTERACTING

[awhoreintheory]

Peter, getting dropped in Gotham and doing his mandatory public library research, only to (and here comes the shocker!) Find out he's in a different dimension?!?! (Par for the course, we know how it goes)

But imagine, right. Batman is one of the first heroes he sees, and he's good at fighting and is very much sticking to his theme, Peter doesn't assume he's the Iron Man of this world, no.

Peter assumed Batman (less cool because he doesn't have a hyphen) is Spider-man's alternative

So, picture Peter avoiding Batman, not because of his no meta rule, but because he thinks this guy is a grown up (less cool, obviously) version of Peter and doesn't want to like. Cause a paradox or something by coming in contact with him

It'd be hilarious guys

[swingingthehatchetnow]

Pete always averted his eyes around the homeless man downtown. Whether it was because he got awkward around social interaction or felt unwarranted guilt about the man’s situation, he’d never managed to look the man in the eyes before. He couldn’t describe his face if he tried.

That changed after Jägerman.

The things that used to be uncomfortable really weren’t anymore. After holding court with the Void, a man on the street really doesn’t seem all that intimidating. Ruth and Richie would’ve made fun of him if he was scared of the little things after the whole ordeal, he knew. It helped him to imagine their reactions. Coping and whatnot.

His walk home was lonelier. As were his study sessions and social life. But the walks home were when he really felt their loss. Even though Pete and Ruth lived in the opposite direction, they’d walk with Richie to his place, and then cut through downtown to get back to the other side of town, where he and Ruth would part ways near the Coldstone, both going to their respective homes.

He still followed that route. Coping. And whatnot.

It was just after noon. Pete had his AP statistics final in the morning, and had no class in the afternoon, because his teachers were proctoring other exams around the school. So here he was. Peter Spankoffski, walking through downtown Hatchetfield, alone. Steph had a full school day, so he wouldn’t see her until later.

“Excuse me, do you have a minute to talk about saving our planet?”

He turned. The Green Peace girl was at it again, with a wide smile and a clipboard in hand.

“It’ll only take a minute of your time,” she continued, now holding out a brochure. Trying to reduce the amount of time he had to talk to her, he took it wordlessly.

“I, um—” his voice cracked, and his face flushed red. Nobody else his age was still having voice cracks. He cleared his throat. “I’ll take a look at it. Saving the world and all.”

Not like he hadn’t done that once already.

The Green Peace girl smiled even wider, and did a little bouncey turn on her heel. The way she bobbed off reminded Pete of Steph when she was in a particularly happy mood. This thought relaxed him a bit.

He tucked the brochure into his pocket and continued walking, though he didn’t get far before he was cut off by someone else.

“Spare change for the homeless?”

Of course he knew that voice. Anyone who spent more than five minutes downtown knew about the homeless man.

Before he even looked at the man in front of him, Pete reached for his wallet. He’d just gotten a bonus at work, so he figured he had a few dollars to spare. Besides, his movie theater job paid surprisingly well.

He grabbed a $5 bill and turned to the man.

“Here you—”

He knew that face.

Older, sure, and a little lost-looking, but there was no doubt about it. Pete was looking at…

“Teddy?”

The 20 year age gap between the Spankoffski boys left them with an interesting dynamic. It was hard to feel like brothers sometimes when one of them was coming home from kindergarten while the other was getting a full time job at CCRP.

But they had their moments. When Pete was learning how to drive, Ted would let him use his car, even though he hadn’t gotten his license yet, or the night before freshman year, when Ted gave Pete his ‘Spankoffski guide to charming the ladies’ guidebook.

Hand trembling, holding out the $5 bill, Pete looked into the cloudy eyes of his older brother. His older older brother.

Somehow, some way… Ted was standing in front of Pete, a shadow of his former self.

“That’s way cool, man,” he said, taking the $5 from Pete. No sense of recollection could be seen.

“Ted, what happened to you…?” Pete watched Ted pocket the money. And then Ted… walked off. Just like that.

“Ted, wait!” Pete called after him, but Ted didn’t turn around. He simply tugged his hat down over his ears and walked off.

With trembling hands, Pete reached for his phone. He spent no more than 3 seconds looking for his brother’s contact info and hitting the call button.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Four…

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

Pete sighed in relief at the sound of his brother’s voice on the other end of the line.

“No,” he said, “my AP exam was today. Ted, I—” he paused, realizing he had no idea what he was going to say. How do you ask someone if they know that they’re the homeless man from downtown.

He lost his nerve.

“…I was just wondering if you want to hang out later. I— I got a new game, and—”

“Yeah, sure whatever. I get off work at the usual time.” A sound came from Ted’s end of the line, fabric shifting, like he’d adjusted how he was sitting. “Is that all? Because I was about to pull the ol’ Spankoffski charm on this barista that Paul is trying to snag.”

The familiarity of the conversation was enough to ease Pete’s worries. Sure, he’d held court with the Void, lost his two best friends, nearly got shot executioner-style, and ran into what he was certain was some version of his brother in the streets… but all that didn’t matter because somewhere in downtown Hatchetfield, Ted Spankoffski was fine. And so was Pete.

“I don’t say it a lot, but I’m glad you’re my brother, Teddy.”

“Sorry, I was talking to Charlotte. Did you say something?”

Pete smiled and hung up.

Maybe the universe was bigger than he knew and could ever understand.

So what.

[crazyunsexycool]

Jealousy, Jealousy

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

word count: 1.0k

Summary: Steve feels a bit insecure as he watches a coworker flirt with you at a party.

Warning: bit of insecure Steve, lil bit of angst

A/N: Here is the 4th part The earpiece!

Steve wanted to act as if he wasn’t a jealous person but he was. It stemmed not from you interacting with other people but from his insecurities. In many ways even when you looked at him and saw just Steve, he was the small kid from Brooklyn who couldn’t ask a dame out to save his life. Then you came along and changed his world, even when he thought he messed up with the whole earpiece incident. He loved you. It wasn’t a sweet innocent love either, it was all consuming and burned wildly in his whole being. So seeing as other men were as captivated by you as he was made his blood boil. A hurricane of doubt and negative thoughts started to form in his head. He questioned if he was worth the effort. Steve couldn’t help but wonder what you saw in him. 

It was as if you had heightened senses of your own because suddenly your eyes connect with Steve’s from across the crowded room. You smile at him brightly, your eyes lighting up. Steve couldn’t help but smile back, yet that same pesky feeling bothered him as you turned back to your conversation. 

It was only a few minutes. You’d gone to the bathroom and on the way back your coworker stopped to talk to you. But he got to see you every day so Steve couldn’t understand why he had to talk to you during a party too. It didn’t help that this was the same guy that kept flirting with you at any chance he got.

“It’s not a good look on you, pal.” Bucky says as he stops next to Steve.

“What?” Steve looks at Bucky.

“This whole broody, trying to not look jealous thing you got going on.” 

Steve scoffs and looks back at you, his jaw clenching when the other man places a hand on your arm which you quickly pulled away. He mutters a curse under his breath as jealousy rears its ugly head. Steve watches as the other man gets too close for your comfort. 

“I’ll be right back.” He says before stomping his way over to you. 

You felt him before you saw him. The scent from his cologne was comforting as he came up behind you. Steve’s hard chest pressed against your back and you immediately relaxed. Looking over your shoulder you smiled up at him but Steve’s eyes were on your coworker Paul. Sure he was handsome with his dark brown eyes and matching hair but he wasn’t like Steve. You’d heard rumors around the tower about Paul and his slutty reputation. That was something you weren’t interested in experiencing. Besides, you had Steve, he was the most caring person you’d ever met. Why would you trade down? 

“Captain, how are you doing?” Paul sends an annoyed look Steve’s way.

“I’m doing great Peter, how about you?” 

“It’s Paul actually.” 

“Oh.” Is all Steve replies. “I hope you don’t mind but I came over here to steal my girl.” 

Paul’s smile fades slowly as his eyes bounce between you and Steve. “But we were having such a lovely conversation. Why don’t you join us?”

“Actually Paul I do need to get going. See you on Monday.” 

“Bye, Patrick.” Steve says.

“Come on,” Paul grabs your hand and tries to get you to stay. “We’re having a good time.”

“I’d very much like to spend time with Steve. I’ll see you on Monday.” 

“But-“

“You heard what she said, now let her go.”

Steve takes your hand and leads you out to a quiet area outside so that he can finally spend time with you alone. 

“What was that about?” 

“What?” Steve asks while putting on his most innocent act. 

“That whole snippy attitude back there. And don’t give me those doe eyes, I know what you’re doing.” 

Steve sits down on a lounge chair and pulls you by your hips so that you’re standing between his legs. He looks up at you like you hung the moon and the stars just for him but there’s uncertainty behind it all. You rest your hands on his shoulders and wait for him to say something. 

“I’m sorry. I just hated seeing the way Preston was looking at you and trying to touch you.” 

You couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that he wouldn’t call him by his actual name.

“Steve, baby, where is this coming from? Did I do or say something to make you feel like this?” 

“No, not at all. It’s just me.” 

“Baby.” You cup his cheeks and make him look up at you. “I only want you. There is no one else in this world that I would want to be with other than you. Not Captain America or Steve Rogers, the leader of the Avengers. I want to be with Steve, the kid from Brooklyn who gets me flowers just cause and who leaves me little notes and doodles around my office just to make me smile. The Steve who would race to my apartment just to get rid of a spider because I’m scared of them. What do I have to do to make you realize that?”

“Nothing. I just need to remember that you see me for who I am.”

“And that I love you no matter what.”

The words wash over him and they calm the storm he’d been creating in his head. “You love me?” Steve said incredulously.

“Of course.” You smile and nod.

Steve stands and pulls you in for a kiss. He leaves you breathless.

“I love you too.” 

You giggle against his lips as you both say those three little words to each other a few more times. Steve pulls away and takes your hand, leading you back in and through the party.

“Where are we going?” You ask with a laugh.

“I’m gonna show you how much I love you.”

When you get to the elevators Steve hits the buttons multiple times. You turn him around and distract him with a kiss. When he pulls back again and looks up he makes eye contact with Paul. With a smirk on his face, Steve palms your ass and kisses you again. 

He really didn’t have a reason to be jealous. You love him and he loved you but the angry face Paul made was still priceless.

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[accio-sriracha]

A lot of things can happen in a year.

People come and go, seasons change, the world itself can be thrown into chaos and back again.

A year can change you, it can shape you into a whole other person.

If you don't have something there to guide you, a year can make you lose yourself.

And for Remus Lupin? He went through twelve.

It was... cruel, to say the least. Those twelve years spent withering away to nothing.

Twelve years.

Alone.

He swears he spent at least two of them just crying.

Another one trying to forget the look of pride in Lily and James' eyes when Remus held Harry for the first time.

He'd spent nearly four years trying to forget Sirius.

Trying to forget his laugh. How he took his coffee. How he always tied his hair in a bun before doing his eyeliner. How he smiled at him whenever he entered the room, like his mere presence was enough to keep him happy.

How Remus had loved him...

It was another two years before he could manage to sleep without the nightmares haunting him every night.

And it wasn't until the next he'd finally managed to hold down a decent job.

But by that point, it'd already been a decade.

Ten years.

Ten years of torture. Of pain. Of damage far beyond repair.

The tenth year was harder than most. He'd gotten a letter from McGonagall.

Harry was starting school at Hogwarts.

She thought he'd like to know.

Everything he'd built. Every careful wall and gently placed mask.

Destroyed.

He broke all over again.

He was inconsolable that year. Moping around his shabby flat with nothing but the ghosts of memories, the people he'd loved and cared for nearly as long as he'd gone without.

Harry was eleven.

Sirius had been rotting in a prison.

James and Lily Potter have been dead for ten years.

Peter... ten years.

Ten years.

Remus had spent alone.

The next year was passed trying to fix himself up. Trying to build those walls again.

He placed his mask and went out into the world. He got back into shape. He started eating again.

By the anniversary of the twelfth year, he was proud to say he was doing fine.

So fine, in fact, that McGonagall had sent him a letter, asking him to become the next DADA professor.

And Remus was... excited.

So when the paper was delivered to his flat early one morning, a paper he normally didn't care much to read, he decided he would check on the world today.

It had been doing okay the last twelve years. Surely he would find some good news.

And there it was...

Sirius Black.

Escaped.

If Remus had ever been so conflicted, he was sure he must have obliviated himself to forget it.

His best friend.

The love of his life.

A murderer.

Escaped.

Hence forth, Remus could no longer say he was fine.

Not when his first interaction with his best friend's son in thirteen years was saving him from a rougue dementor.

Not when he wondered if it was the very same assigned to Sirius in his cell.

Not when he set up his office, or when he attended the first dinner on the staff's side of the Great Hall.

No.

Remus wasn't sure he would ever be fine again.

So when he and Harry grew close, and the hole in his heart the shape of his parents only seemed to grow bigger.

He'd nearly given up.

That is, until the map.

When Harry said those words.

A man he knew to be dead.

A man Remus knew to be dead.

Alive.

Peter Pettigrew was alive.

Sirius Black had escaped.

The world spun around him, forcing his office out of focus. He could only see the map.

The name in the top left corner.

The Gryffindor Tower.

Peter Pettigrew.

And when he followed them, watched them closely. When he saw the black dog he'd recognize anywhere, thin and starved and fur mangled with dirt.

When he saw Sirius...

No. He would never be okay again.

But he pushed forward. Because he had to. Because he owed it to James and Lily's son. Because he wanted to see if it was true.

It was chaos, a flurry of emotions mixing in Remus' head, thoughts and memories and dreams separating like oil and water.

Harry was right.

Peter Pettigrew was alive.

Sirius was innocent.

So when he held him, for the first time in over twelve years. When he embraced him. When he felt the bones protruding from every inch of his body. When he saw his cautious smile...

Remus would never know a greater sorrow. A greater grief. A greater guilt.

The man he'd spent the last twelve years trying to forget.

The man he loved more than anything in the world.

Remus would never let him go again.

And he didn't.

Not for a very, very long time.

[ultralightpoe]

Haunted House - Stephen Strange

Authors Note: HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Word Count: 1,286

Warnings: illusions to smut

Description: Small halloween blurb.

This is apart of my Halloween event, stay tuned for a new story every hour!

Happy Halloween!

It starts as a small whisper from a mother to her neighbor. “Did you hear about the witch and warlock?” The neighbor talked to her sister, this time whispering “The witches are running a haunted house.” Her sister tells her coworker about it, and on and on and on. 

Within days the news of ‘The Haunted House’ travels and everyone is preparing for it. Making plans to stop by on Halloween because who in their right mind would miss this?

But no one, NO ONE, was as excited as Stephen Strange. 

The sanctum was normally to remain hidden unless the person called to it, but on Halloween (and with proper protection spells of all the artifacts) he began a tradition of opening the sanctum to the world and unleashed his powers upon them…… but that wasn’t his favorite part of it all. 

No. 

His favorite part was you, his wife, and your natural power. 

You came from a coven when he met you, cocky and beautiful, everything about you powerful and smooth. You ended up saving him from a demon, showing him up in all but two moves before you vanished. 

It took months of this, you popping up and saving him, before he finally got your name. Wong had warned him about you, warned him about your coven as well. 

“They are purists, the witches are not to interact with warlocks or humans. If they find that she does, she could be stranded or worse killed.”

But Stephen couldn’t stay away, he was drawn to you. 

Months and months, seeing you became a natural thing and soon enough he was completely in love. Your coven expelled you, and though you had been upset about losing your mother and sisters you had agreed to marry him and you had formed a happy family with him. 

And there was one night a year that you allowed yourself to actually unleash the depth of your power. 

“America!” You call up the stairs, fixing your cliche witch hat once more before moving to fuss over the streamers on the railing. “Baby wizard come on, it’s nearly time!” 

“Coming!” She calls, and Stephen comes around the corner, leaning on the wall as he watches you fuss over the decorations before your adopted daughter rushes down the steps in her own wizard costume. 

“YOU LOOK GREAT!” You squeal, pulling her in and fixing the shoulders. 

“You’re not mad I chose wizard over witch?” America asks, allowing you to fuss over her.

“Absolutely not, I think you look great. Now where is-”

“Right here.” Stepen smiles before you even have to finish asking, turning slowly to show you his outfit. 

“Those are your normal robes, Strange. This is supposed to be-” He smiles and holds out his hand, allowing a fully decorated cloak to fly to him. Cobwebs and black paint over him, and the second he latches on the outfit Stephen had been wearing transforms into the sinister version of it. 

“Better? Mrs. Strange?”

“Perfect.” You smile, stepping closer to kiss him deeply before pulling back and clapping your hands. 

Stephen takes a moment to admire you, trying not to grow a hard on at your costume before you are finally ready to begin. 

“Alright, when the clock strikes 6 we will begin. A new round every hour. Understood?” 

“Ready.” America smiles. 

“I guess.” Wong sighs from his spot by the door, pretending not to be excited even though he was.

“Extremely ready!” Peter calls, swinging from the ceiling and landing next to America. Another one you had managed to adopt, you had ripped the memory curse and managed to allow everyone in the sanctum to remember him.  “Remind me of my role one more time.”

“You’re the dead man hanging, darling.” 

“Right. Got it.”

“Let’s begin then.” It takes everything in Stephen not to kiss you when you smile, your eyes shining that magnificent purple. He loved this holiday.

- 

The clock chimes 6 times, echoing out to the first crowd that had formed outside, bouncing on their feet excitedly as they wait for the Sanctum to appear, and once the 6th chime hits a heavy cloud of purple smoke appears and then the building is revealed. Gasps travel through the crowd as everyone pushes forward, stepping up the concrete steps happily. 

The doors open slowly, the purple smoke working as a fog as a serene voice rings out to the crowd, lulling them all in. “Come little children, I’ll take thee away-”

Janey, who had just turned 17 three days ago, takes a couple steps in and once 30 people had made it in the doors slam shut and the lighting goes down easily, everyone nearly surrounded in darkness as a purple cloud forms above them. “Follow me, if you dare….”

And there you were, Janey could do nothing but blink up at you as you emerged from the cloud, floating. You were everything. 

“It’s the witch of the sanctum!” Someone yells, pointing as if you weren’t the easiest thing to see in the room. You smile, a cheshire cat smile as you gesture for everyone to follow, leading them into your house of horrors.

- 

The last batch of people come in at 4 am, most of them college students not ready to end the night. You had to pull back the scares a bit so there were no incidents. But by the end of the night you are left on the stairs, laying down with a small smile as Stephen comes to find you. 

His touches are gentle as he lifts your head to sit on the stairs with you, laying your head on his lap and brushing your hair. 

“Have a fun night?”

“The best night ever.” You yawn. “Reminds me of my old home. Especially when the hellhound ended up chasing after that biker guy. If only he knew she was just a puppy who smelled bacon.”

“Why would he have a burger in his pocket, I still don’t understand that.” Stephen jokes, trying to ease the tension in his chest as he gazes at you. He knew you missed it, your family. “I’m sorry baby.”

“Don’t be sorry, Warlock.” You whisper, sitting up and pulling him in for a soft kiss. “Thank you for letting me have fun tonight.” 

“I enjoy it, you are msot gorgeous when you’re not taming your powers….. But the medusa trick was a bit much this year.”

“I TURNED HIM BACK.” You defend, smiling from ear to ear. “But we might have to tone down a bit next year.”

“We?” He laughs and you shrug. “Fine. I might have to tone it down next year.”

He grabs your chin softly, pulling you close until his lips are grazing your own. “Don’t ever tone it down, Witch.”

“No problem, Warlock.” He lets himself kiss you then, opening a portal to your room and allowing himself to destroy you. 

- 

Janey goes to school, whispering about the house. She tells her friends of the smoke and how the witch had turned a man into solid stone and the hellhound. She tells them about the epic maze of blue star shaped portals that lead them from room to room, each one containing another world. 

The news travels about the hellhounds and the flying demons. The skeletons that walked amok and the young man that hung himself in the foyer at the end. (They didn’t know that Peter was using his webs as a harness and the spell you put on him made him unrecognizable)

By the time the police went to the address they found nothing but an empty warehouse, Stephens protection spells back in place keeping his witch and his family safely tucked inside. 

{Would love to write more about reader witchling and warlock Stephen}

[skojukebox]

just had a thought.

What if Sonic lost all of his memories... and then met Surge? Who would Sonic be with no clue about who he is? How would Surge react to this completely different side to the person she despises? Imagine Sonic acting like a civilian behind a Surge who is saving the day, and being completely shocked by people expecting him to do something too?

Between the people who'd be able to train Sonic back to how he used to be, everyone would be able to do something or another- everyone would try to do something, but also lift Sonic up to those expectations that are completely alien to him. How would a Sonic, who is being overloaded by almost everyone around him, react to Surge who didn't like the legendary hero much either?

How could Sonic develop without a "Tails" by his side? Tails moved on after Frontiers, he is nobodies sidekick anymore, and the memories they had together, that are now lost, can't be recreated.

I think Sonic would pretty quickly be back on the track to being a hero again, memories or not. It comes natural to him. Sonic is a very simple guy (sometimes to a fault) who doesn't have a lot of reason to his heroism beyond the fact that he does it because he places all his bets on what he thinks is right. It's interesting to me because we don't really know Sonic's impetus to have first started saving the world (and probably never will, which is absolutely fine with me. I don't need a sonic origin story personally), but I feel like there's just no way heroism was like... A learned thing for him. I feel like he saw something he felt wasn't just at some point, set it right, and never stopped doing it after that. Simple as. And I think again, even if he loses his memory, as long as he has his personality intact? He won't stay a civilian for long. Having his friends around kind of makes it a sure bet. Even Tails; I am sure having Tails with him over the years imprinted good things on Sonic just as much as it did Tails, but even if Tails isn't his sidekick, I don't think he's going to let those lessons be lost. Some time together and I think they'd be best buds forever again, memories or not.

As far as interactions with Surge go, I feel like Sonic seeing Surge saving the day would immediately leave him pretty thrilled and with an appreciation for her. Surge's fatal flaw as a hero, as she is right now, is that she's doing what she does for praise and good feelings. Sonic doesn't do that, but (and I could be proven wrong about this later in IDW but it's what I feel) I don't think he would actually care all that much about the "why" that is behind it.

And Surge's take on this? There's two ways that can go:. One that comes to mind was in early Archie. Not canon , but the first example I thought of:

In this story Sonic runs headfirst into a SWATbot like a dumbass and ends up with coconut-bonk amnesia. Robotnik, rather than just shooting him into the sun while he's unconscious or something, ends up tricking Sonic into thinking the Freedom Fighters are terrorists and Robotnik is a benevolent ruler.

This is Ken Penders cribbing an even older Spider-Man story where a similar situation happens with Doctor Octopus. Except in that story, Doc Ok convinces Peter that he's actually his criminal accomplice (which sucks, he could have explained to him how the cops are actually evil or something). Manipulating a fresh and excitable Sonic sounds like a fun little substory for Surge but I don't think she'd be able to pull it off, no matter how much she hates Sonic. For one, even in this old ass story, Robotnik doesn't even bother trying to convince Sonic that he's evil. I genuinely don't think it would work. As long as Sonic doesn't wholesale lose his personality, he's not going to do evil shit. For further proof, IDW issue #32 shows Sonic in the Sol Dimension with his memories sucked right out of his noggin after going Super Sonic too hard and he's still the same frustrating smart aleck bastard he's always been.

He even relearned his super speed over the course of the short period of time he was bumming it in the palace. Though I think an underappreciated joke in this section is he's talking and acting more courtly like Blaze because he's mostly been around her since waking up. Look at that pinkie!

The other much more likely scenario for Surge is she sees Sonic having all of this power, all of these abilities, all of that stuff... Maybe he doesn't remember exactly what he can do right off the bat, but you know he's going to. First off: she fuckin' hates it. This asshole still has all the superpowers naturally, the stuff that Starline popped her body open like the hood of a car to brutally build into her, but now he has none of the context of the things he did with them in the past? The times (she feels) he screwed up by not using them to finish fights with Eggman? The things (she feels) he did to her that led to her current status? She would be impossibly, unspeakably frustrated. Not only did he not care before, but now he doesn't have have to carry the burden of memory? Bullshit

Sonic wouldn't get why she's so mad. Maybe he'd push to try to figure it out, as he did once before, but I believe the end result would be an impasse between both of them again. What would make her even more frustrated would be Sonic starting over fresh again and then ending up once again better at the things Surge is doing than she herself. You know he will, and you know every second of it is going to be like pulling teeth for Surge.

It would ultimately wind up as a return to the status quo and Surge would hate every single second of it. Kind of cruel when you think about it.

[hollowsart]

Peter Parker's great struggle in his life is mostly the death of his uncle. that's technically the catalyst to his whole thing of becoming Spider-Man the superhero. We all know how this goes and plays out.

Gwen's great struggle in her life is the death of her best friend, Peter Parker, and less-so the fact her father is deeply against her. The loss of Peter affected her greatly and is a major driving point for her and her overall motivations afterwards and how she acts and reacts to things.

Mile's great struggle is similar to Gwen's in that it's the death of Peter Parker. but unlike Gwen's. Peter WAS Spider-Man before Miles. Miles felt like he could have saved him if he wasn't running away from the "responsibility" his powers gave him apparently. (comics he didn't make it there in time at all to do anything, while in the movie, he was too afraid although he did have the opportunity to intervene. he didn't take it, he ran away scared and filled with regret.)

Acedia, similar to Spider-Punk, doesn't have a great struggle that deals with loss. But unlike Spider-Punk whose struggle is with his entire world being fascist America run by President Norman Osborn, Acedia's struggle is within herself.

(cut for length)

it's a personal struggle. Anxiety, Social Anxiety specifically, can feel like a suffocating claustrophobic glass prison placed in front of a crowd of millions with a blinding spotlight constantly bearing down with a crushing intensity.

this struggle is both what makes her HER and is what also affects her life and her actions greatly. without it, she wouldn't be herself. She'd be like everyone else. she'd lose her character and uniqueness. Without her anxiety revolving around social interactions, with 1 more more people, she would just be.. boring.

There's nothing else there for her to have any real interest or conflict. She'd be like a Spider-Man variant whose uncle or parents never died. like a Batman whose parents are still alive and healthy and he's mentally and emotionally stable. a Superman whose home planet never exploded and he never went to Earth (ok wait that actually sounds interesting--).

Acedia's struggles with anxiety is literally her driving point. She does everything she does because of her anxiety and tries to work around it in some way to the best of her abilities. She struggles a lot in her own ways.

She was anxious when she rescued Otto. Anxious when he escaped the hospital. When she was being chased by Otto. When she confronted Mysterio for the first time.. and several times thereafter before feelings started to bloom. She was anxious when she had to try to figure out what to do when dealing with Electra. Anxious when she encountered Curt in the sewers after his unintended transformation.

And so many more instances than just those alone.

Only time she wasn't was when she was bit by the spider that hitched a ride in her bag from her visit to the lab. She was fine when she went to the lab, aside from the arachnid section of the tour. Fine when she got home. and fine when her powers started to show. She was excited and amazed about the powers, finding it fascinating and kind of fun. Learning how they work and what she can do.

She stopped being anxious with Otto after their first confrontation at Oscorp. She stopped being anxious with Mysterio after he waned off using his fear inducers in their subsequent encounters. She stopped being anxious with Vulture after she visited him after their first confrontation at Oscorp after Otto's incident.

Anxiety plays a huge part in Acedia's life. it's in the background, always present, but never the main focal point of the story.. it's still a major "character" in her overall story and life. It is a major controlling factor in her behavior, way she thinks, way she feels, way she acts and reacts.

[neonbrutalism]

RIP Dead Guy (working title)

Unfinished WIP time.... there's a lot more to this but too many scene gaps to post officially, so here's the first bit for the Tumblrerers.

(Speculative Post-BTSV in which Miguel O'Hara of Earth 928B dies saving the multiverse and defeating the Spot. The Society is in mourning and the Spider-Gang is forced to reckon with their feelings. Complicating matters is that Peter's brought back another Miguel from the multiverse who is obviously not comfortable with how they're projecting all this on to him.)

Why hadn’t Miguel put a chair at his work station? 

Peter cracked his back and peered again at the the symbols on the glowing, orange screens, trying to make sense of whatever organizational system Miguel was using. 

Had used.

Dammit.

He didn’t want to bother LYLA anymore with this. She’d been subdued for weeks – well, almost everyone had been – and Peter wasn’t sure how long AI took to mourn. She did her scans and ran numbers, sure, but it was all without any … snap. 

Peter didnt think she was, well, aware enough to grieve… but he also didn’t think Miguel would put her mourning his death in to her programming. Hell, Peter was pretty sure Miguel wouldn’t have wanted anyone to mourn him at all, the stupid, stubborn, broken bastard. If only Peter had moved faster, had recognized what was about to happen…

But maybe it wouldn’t have changed anything. He saw Miguel’s face at that last moment, before…

There was nothing else for it.

“Hey, LYLA?” 

“Yes, Peter?” LYLA appeared next to him, expression unnaturally blank. 

“Sorry to … bother you? I’m just trying to, uh—“ Peter gestured at the orange screens, “I can’t make webs or tails of this.”

He paused, waiting for a reaction. None came. Miguel wouldn’t have reacted either.

“Anyway, uh, I keep seeing this symbol on certain earths? Looks like a… U?”

“A closed eye,” said LYLA, “After the incident, Miguel cut off any viewing access to mapped earths with… other versions of himself.”

“… Oh,” said Peter, slowly,”I guess he, what, didn’t want the temptation?”

LYLA’s eyes narrowed at Peter, “If you think it would have been tempting for him after what hapoened, you didn’t know him as well as you think you did.”

“Uh. Sorry?”

“Is that all, Peter?”

“Yeah, uh. I guess so. Th—“

LYLA vanished before he could finish thanking her.

Peter shook the interaction off and returned to the screen. He touched the closed-eye symbol. The system pop-up counted 793 locked earths. More than Peter was expecting – but maybe that wasn’t a crazy number, since there seemed to be tens or even hundreds of thousands of Peter Parkers. Had Miguel locked them all manually, or had LYLA done it automatically as their map of the multiverse expanded? 

In the corner of the pop up, there was an Unlock All button. 

He shouldn’t. 

Miguel had once told him, when he asked about seeing versions of Aunt May or Harry, that the only thing that spending time watching the dead live without you in another world was good for was torturing yourself.

Ha. Maybe if Peter had remembered to point out the irony if him saying that, Miguel wouldn’t have…

Fuck it. Whatever. Miguel wasn’t here to tell Peter not to. Miguel was just a miserable, guilt-ridden, self-loathing, dead hypocrite and… and Peter wanted to see his friend again.

He pressed the lock. There was a buzz of haptic feedback and all at once, the eye icons blinked open and Peter found himself looking at dozens of versions of a dead man’s face. 

Plenty of them were scowling, wiping blood off their faces after pulling their masks off or boredly picking at paperwork in an office or laboratory. Mostly they were just familiar in a way that felt like a punch in the gut. Stretched all the way out, slouching in a chair looking crabby or curled in with their hands hooked around the back of their necks, poorly dealing with some emotion or stress or another. Some of them, though, looked … happy. Or, at least they looked happier than Peter had ever seen Miguel, outside of those few weeks he’d spent with Gabriella. He didn’t see any versions of her, though. But still, at least there were some versions that weren’t alone.

One Miguel was standing looking out of a large broken window, expression dark and triumphant while a pretty, asian woman in a lab coat and inexplicably a pair of high top sneakers from 1993 curled her arm around his waist and smiled. Peter decided he didn’t want to know what they looked so happy about. 

A teenaged version of Miguel and a girl – maybe a younger version of that woman in the lab coat – with her hair in purple pom-poms, sat in a bedroom. The girl pulled out a box from under her bed, revealing what looked to be a lot of ancient Star Trek merchandise, smiling like she was a little embarrassed. Peter pushed that node aside too, he didn’t want to intrude on that.

A pink haired woman covered in chitin and with a thousand needle teeth hovered in the air on vibrating wasp wings and chatted happily while Miguel in his spider-suit listened, sitting on the edge of a tall building. Behind them, the sky was dark and filled with pistons and girders – Downtown Nueva York.

And speaking of Downtown Nueva York – an explosion caught Peter’s eye. He pulled the node forward – Miguel, in a different mask but it could hardly be anyone else, was fighting, his suit torn and bloody, not flickering with broken light like the suit Peter knew. Someone else – some kind of cyborg or robot, slammed a whirling metal thresher down on the spot Miguel had been lying less than a second earlier. He was losing the fight. 

Okay, calm down, Peter. Miguel was tough and could take a lot of hits  – he just needed a chance to recover. Miguel, no matter the dimension, was perfectly capable of surviving – until he wasn’t. 

Behind the cyborg … A Green Goblin rose up on his glider, bombs in hand. Miguel looked up at the Goblin and Peter was through the portal to Earth 416647 before he could stop himself.

(UNFINISHED FIGHT SCEEEENE!)

Peter stared.

This Miguel looked a little younger — or maybe just got more sleep. He was less gaunt, less haunted. Less like he hadn’t eaten or drank in weeks. His hair was little reidder, messy from his mask, curls hanging over his forehead. He had a small scar across his upper lip that the original Miguel hadn’t had either.

Peter realized he’d been staring too long only when Miguel took an awkward step back from him and exchanged a quick, nervous look with the now unmasked Green Goblin. He looked a lot like Miguel too.

Oh… this was Gabriel — his brother. Miguel had mentioned him once or twice. Peter was pretty sure the Original Miguel’s brother was dead — but then again, he’d never really asked.

“Uh — sorry, I’m. Spider-Man.”

“We know,” said Miguel.

“You said that already,” said Goblin.

Peter was struck with a terrible idea. One of his worst. But … the society hadn’t been the same in the past few weeks. A dark cloud had come over it and Peter wasn’t sure how to get it to pass. The fact was, nervous breakdown in the last couple of days notwithstanding, just about everyone had liked Miguel. He’d been their leader, he’d taken care of them and listened and tried to help them. They’d all loved him … 

Not that Miguel would have ever believed that in a hundred years.

But without Miguel, things were kind of falling apart. Not literally, LYLA ran the place like clockwork, but emotionally. Miguel could de-escalate petty arguments and fights that broke out better than any Peter Parker could (because most of the arguments involved at least one other Peter Parker). But now, arguments festered, problems went unresolved and still, every time that Peter went to the cafeteria, he almost picked up some empanadas before he remembered himself.

Maybe … a familiar face would help everyone move on? Or at least return a sense of normalcy until people got used to the idea that Miguel, their Miguel, was gone.

“Right! Right – um,” shit, how had Miguel done this ‘I’m from another dimension’ shpiel? “I’m from another dimension! I’m part of a – uh, strike team? Thing? It’s a few hundred other Spider-People and we travel around the multiverse to help people! And stop anomalies — wait, no, we don’t do that anymore. So just the helping people. That’s why I came to help you fight — well I guess you didn’t need help, you two weren’t fighting – but it’s cool! We have a headquarters! And a cafeteria and a gym. Just … amenities. You should come check it out. Miguel should – uh. No offense, Mr. Goblin, but a Spider-Society is kind of. Spider-centric.”

“Wow,” said Gabriel in a familiar flat tone, “I’m devastated but I think I’ll survive.” 

“Pass,” said Miguel. He turned to leave. 

“Wait!” said Peter, “I’m underselling it. I promise, it’s … really cool. Super elite.”

Miguel raised a skepical eyebrow, “Super elite with ‘a couple hundred’ people?”

“There’s a bazillion different universe, so I mean, it’s all relative.”

Miguel pulled his mask back down over his face, “Yeah, still pass.”

Miguel fwizzed a strand of web (pale, organic, not like the glowing orange Peter was familiar with) to the upper corner of the building and the Goblin kicked his glider’s power on. 

“Wait! Please!” said Peter, his voice breaking a little, “just – just come see it? And then you can come right back! Please?”

The lenses on Miguel’s mask squinted at Peter and then he sighed, “Fine. Okay – Gabri, will you tell Xina I’m …” 

“Being kidnapped by a time traveller?” 

“Dimensional traveller.”

“Whatever,” said Miguel, waving his brother off, “I’ll be home later.”

Gabriel gave a lazy salute and sped off on his glider.

Peter opened the portal to 928.

Miguel — this new, other Miguel — eyed it suspiciously, then stepped through.

[tiptapricot]

Thinking of this realization and just. God man. How did it happen? How did it play out? What was it like to be there?

Just thinking of like… Miguel just cleaning up the multiverse holes, just patching things up and putting people where they belonged after the collider events and getting spider help for it. And in that time, going between universes putting things right, he finds that universe where he’s happy and where he dies and where he has a daughter who’s left alone.

And they’re fine to be in other worlds, right? They do it all the time, talk to each other, interact, so he just thinks he can step in, can say “hey I found a different universe I’m gonna stay in, check in with me there” and it’s fine for a bit. Maybe he even talks with Peter about Gabriella as MJ is pregnant with Mayday.

Do they ever visit? Does Miguel ever say “this is my friend Peter, this is my friend Jessica,” when they’re off the clock, or “hey can you guys take care of that anomaly she has a soccer game today.”

Is there a brief period both Peter and Miguel are fathers at the same time?

What is it like when it goes wrong? What is it like when the readings go haywire and things start to disappear? How many people does Miguel call, how desperate does he sound? How hard does Peter try to help, try to salvage and save this world? How does he hold his own daughter afterwards when he’s seen Miguel’s disappear in his arms?

No wonder Peter doesn’t push back. No wonder he kisses Mayday’s head after seeing it all again. He was there. He believes it. He can’t let that happen to the people he loves.

And Miguel’s anger makes sense too. They didn’t save things, so now they have to, have to stick to what they know because what they don’t is too dangerous and they don’t have the safety net to explore. Canon has to be real, has to be rigid, because otherwise Miguel O’Hara is the one to fuck up so bad an entire Earth disappeared because of it.

He clings to events, to predestiny, to algorithmic guesses because he has to, because something that is thought of as harmless and good, something like saving someone and being there for someone, could destroy everything. And he can’t do that. He can’t do that kind of grief again so soon.

The collider, Miles, all of it is what started Miguel having to patch things up in the first place, what brought him into multiversal travel and to his daughter and his life and losing that. It’s been less than a year, depending on when he found it, how long he was there, and how quickly things went to shit.

He had everything and lost everything.

And it doesn’t make his reactions right but holy shit.

[thevideogameshutterbug]

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5) Thoughts - Beginning At The End

No photos this time (I might add a few later). But I've got a lot of thoughts (and photos) about this game now that I'm finishing it up, but I just got finished my last sidequest in the postgame and I wanted to gush about it.

Spoilers, by the by. Quite a few of them.

----

The Mysteriums were a lopsided a pain the ass but man am I glad I saved this quest for last.

I've been thinking a lot about how much this game seeks to embody why Peter's beliefs in having empathy for the people he fights and getting to know who these villains are as people matters, and this quest - as well as Quentin Beck's final words to cap off the story - are such a perfect capper to that.

Nothing is as it seems, especially when you look at heroes and villains. Anything can change for anybody faster than you could ever realize it. When you take the masks off, it's all people making decisions. A good person can go down a dark path, a bad person can decide they no longer want to be that person any more. Not everyone is going to, but it's important to know that such a thing is always possible.

Heck, this game has an almost ''unprecedented'' number of reformed villains for a superhero franchise: Sandman, Mysterio, Tombstone, Mr. Negative, Prowler technically Lizard, all people who understand they did wrong and whose only motivation now is trying to make their way in the world going forward.

Jonah has a podcast early in the game where he insists that people never really change (about either Sandman or Lizard, iirc), advocating for criminals to be just kept in prison in perpetuity (which, I like this version of Jonah, but goddamn is he hard to like sometimes). Wraith advocates just killing these guys because naturally they're never going to change and they might as well be removed from the equation. And naturally, Symbiote Peter eventually starts considering the idea that maybe the best way forward is just to kill everybody who could be a threat.

But this game doesn't just counterpoint that by having its ultimate evolution be monstrous like most superhero works: instead, this game makes a strong point of why that mentality doesn't work - this is a fantasy story, but it's also a good point for real life.

Coming from a law family where I had a lot of interaction with formerly incarcerated people, and living in an inner city relationship where - again - anything can happen to skew a person's life in ways nobody thought they would go, it's not just a more realistic point - it's an essential point: people always change, and any belief otherwise is just an excuse not to examine the world around oneself. They can change for the worse, they can change for the better, or just kind of laterally shift, but they always change. A failure to recognize it is a failure of the self, not the other.

There's a strong trend of former villains in this game being taken advantage of by other villains, with the new villains doing so with the expectation that nobody will come to the former villains' aid, trust them, or aid them in any way (Mysterio's partners try to frame him, Tombstone and Negative get abducted by people who were sure no one would come for them, Sandman gets driven mad and dumped onto the city to be tossed into prison). And it's absolutely amazing to be Spider-Man in this game and be the one who fights tirelessly for everybody, even the people who have spurned their chances before, because that's who Spider-Man is.

Even if their stories still don't always end positively. Because it's still the right thing to do it, and it's a worse crime to stop.

Man, I love Spider-Man.

As a final note, I especially like that none of the former villains really expect to be forgiven and several never are. This might be the philosopher in me talking, but it's not in forgiveness that one finds redemption, but in the capacity of change in and of itself.

[dalekofchaos]

Spider-Man and the Defenders. Wilson Fisk is free, not only that but the Hand is trying to seize power in NYC. It's up to SPider-Man, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist to stop this threat.

The Avengers finally return to NYC and get off their fucking asses after all this time requests Spider-Man's help against Kang the Conqueror(this time not played by an abuser) Loki or even better, the Masters of Evil ran by Norman Osborn, Doctor Doom, Loki, Red Skull, The Leader, and The Mandarin

My Punisher pitch:

Imagine if we get these Punisher challenges.

Peter gets word that The Punisher is in town and set up a bunch of hits on mob bosses and their lieutenants. Much like the Black Cat stakeout missions and Taskmaster challenges, Peter has to pinpoint where Frank is stop him from executing his victims and stop him.

Ideally, I'd love a callback to Punisher and Spider-Man's firs interaction. Being hired to kill him and realizing what a mistake it could've been. "Don't make me make that mistake. Stay out of my way."

It all leads to a boss fight against The Punisher.

Make it clear that what the Punisher is doing is wrong.

Peter calling Frank out on his bullshit and saying "you're just a guy who uses his family's name as an excuse to be a murderer". JJJ calling him a murderer that gets innocent people killed in his one man war on crime. Danika being absolutely repulsed by the Punisher's existence. Then we get a limited time third podcast. The Microchipcast. aka Microchip being the only pro-Punisher voice justifiying his actions and blaming Spider-Man for letting them all for walking alive.

The Spiderverse was already teased, so let's run with it.

Okay, not a full on Clone Saga. Just something that gives us Jackal, Ben and Kaine.

Not sure on the specifics. Baxter Building is already there, want to see Peter and Reed do science together and see Peter and Johnny's unmitigated gayness

Something's happened to Peter. His powers begin to evolve and he doesn't know what to do. He seeks help from the X-Men. His unforeseen mutation not only gets him the help from the X-Men, but the attention of Magneto. Peter fully transforms into Man-Spider and for a brief moment, you get to play as the X-Men while Miles administers the cure.

Deacon Frost comes to NYC and attacks Dr Morgan Michaels. Dr Michaels then tries to research a cure with Spider-Man's help. However it's too late. Dr Michaels becomes Morbius, the living Vampire. This gains the attention of Blade. Blade hunts Morbius, Spider-Man fights him, Spider-Man fights Morbius while trying to help him and then the three teams up to fight Frost.

We've seen the Sanctorum, we could see Baron Mordo leading the "Cult of Dormammu" causing chaos while Mordo is planning a mass sacrifice to unleash Dormammu upon the world.(pretty much the same plot from SMA arc, but with no Fox censorship)

Don't care about the context, I just wanna see Spider-Man and Johnny Blaze team up to kick Mephisto's ass

[tracing-lines-in-the-infinite]

re: blow up my inbox rb

who are your fave characters from person of interest, bones & leverage, and why? :) !!

Ooh!! Thank you for asking I'm so excited to talk about my guys.I'll talk about my fav main & side character for each (though I had to force myself not to just keep typing because I adore all of these shows and characters.)

Person Of Interest:

John Reese is probably my favourite character, with Root and Sameen Shaw as second and third. Honorable mention that Root's line about the universe being chaotic and cold and there not being a plan before the machine from / (Root Path) is what I put on my cap when I graduated. And Shaw's a fav because I love her loyalty and that its tough to earn- I wish we could have seen her and Cole more but her and Lionel's relationship is probably one of my favourite from the show. In the Crossing(i think?) she saved his kid because she thought about what he would prefer she do and the way that she's careful with him and he thanks her.

Reese is my favourite for several reasons. The first of which is summarized in one of my fav episodes of the show, SNAFU, where Finch says "John has the heaviest heart of us all but he's trying his hardest to be good". To be honest I feel like he's just such a sad guy and yet even when he's trying to be good he's constantly failing in certain respects (though the show doesn't often take that perspective.) He's definitely helping people but he's also hurting a lot as well. There's just something about a character that's supposed to be dead trying to do life better while on borrowed time. The episode where we see a world without the machine and John is dead really hit home how the entire show is his attempt to make up for the sins of his life and it ends with him feeling accomplished that he's done something good (save Finch.)

My fav side character is Peter Collier. I will forever be mad that he died via Greer/Jeremy. He's a character that I want to rewatch season 3 and give my full attention to analyzing. This is in large part due to Leslie Odom Jr's incredible acting, but the fact that I truly believe he was right makes him all the more interesting to me that he was both a pawn and an antagonist. The fact that he made it a priority to not hurt innocent people in so important to me and the fact that Vigilance got framed for the explosion at the end of S3 makes me so mad. I will never forgive Decima/Greer for it.

In general I'll also say that the antagonists in POI was always great. I absolutely hate Greer and Martine which I think speaks to how well they were written as 'villains'. Elias, Anthony, Mini, Simmons, Alonzo Quinn, and all the members of HR, Vigilance, and the Brotherhood were such full characters that I enjoyed watching them interact with and antagonize team machine and each other throughout the show.

Leverage:

My fav main characters are the OT3, and I truly cycle through them all as my favourite so I'll just talk about everyone.

Parker is Parker and the way that's everything is so incredibly important to me. I adore her purely because of how incredibly written and developed she is. Her "I want to do the right thing" speech from The Long Way Down Job makes me cry just thinking about it.

Alec Hardison. Age of the Geek baby! As a black person ins STEM he's an inspiration for me. I just love how he's such a complete person. He's kind. He's soft. He's the smartest man Eliot has EVER known. He got to go to space! He started doing crime to pay for his foster mom's healthcare. Thinking about him makes me cry.

Eliot Spencer. He reminds me of John Reese but I don't cry as often with Eliot because to me he's much more settled(I don't think that's the right word so I'll be thinking about it more and lyk if i figure out what I mean). That said I think the fact that we don't get a full backstory on him (the least info of anyone besides Sophie iirc) makes him such an interesting character because he could have truly done ANYTHING! He's a chef. He plays guitar and sings. He's a baseball star. When he knocks people out they tend to stay knocked out. He can identify anything of important through its most distinctive quality and is right every time. All of these things come together to make a man that has done terrible things and knows- not believes but knows- that he will never be clean of them and decides to wake up everyday and help others.

Fav side character is Sterling. I love him and I love to hate him. He's just such a good antagonist. I absolutely adore him especially the justice vs order debacle during the long goodbye job. The fact that he's the one of them that understands Nate the best at the start and I find the dynamic between him and Eliot really entertaining.

Bones:

Hodgins is my favourite guy of all time. I truly adore how invested he is in his bugs and plants and spores & how excited he gets every single time they're able to help him solve a mystery. He's my inspiration for wanting to do something that I have a passion in and I cannot put words to how much I adore all of his antics. The ease with which he gave up his money as if it wasn't a question was something that made me appreciate him so much more and the development that happened afterwards was really lovely.

Side character(s)-wise I love the squinterns. I could maybe do some kind of ranking but I do think my top two would be Daisy and Edison. Honestly the more I think about them, the more indecisive I feel because I adored Wendell and Nigel-Murray and Arastoo and Fisher (and Zack tho I don't consider him a squintern).

Edison I connect to because his first and last name are two towns near where I grew up and he's so focused & serious with his work that it ostracizes him- which I felt with dance when I was younger.

Daisy I connect to a lot because she's unapologetically herself and refuses to change who she is- especially when it comes to her work! Her deciding to prioritize her career over her romantic relationship/Sweets meant a lot to me because it was such an in-character decision for her that a lot of others shows wouldn't have allowed to happen.

Thanks for the ask! Always happy to ramble about these guys.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Still not watching Captain America 4. I want to, but I'm not going to. Literally, don't ask why. I'm not dealing with that headache again.

Thunderbolts...looks like fun, but the ugliness of the film makes me less willing to go out and see it. I'm going to need a trailer that BLOWS ME AWAY to do it.

I really want to love Fantastic Four. I WANT a GOOD Fantastic Four movie and everything that I've heard surrounding the film makes me more and more intrigued, wanting to see what comes with it.

Avengers: Doomsday...I don't know. It is very plain to see that this is the last saving grace for the MCU, and that if they fuck THAT up then there's no returning for this franchise. They're putting all their cards on the table over Robert Downey Jr. playing Doctor Doom of all characters, and that's the kind of "all or nothing" idea that COULD work but could just as easily backfire. I just hope that, whatever happens, it works out for the better. I don't want the MCU to die out of an act of desperation. It is to me what Star Wars is to many people, and the thought of it ending because of a gamble...is depressing.

Also, Spider-Man 4...is either a prequel to Doomsday or a movie that takes place in Battleworld as Peter's thrown in the middle of a patchwork of the universe and has to work his way out of it. And I...don't want that. Don't get me wrong, it COULD be cool, but I REALLY wished that Peter's first movie as a TRUE Spider-Man wasn't some multiverse shenanigans that has him teaming up with Toby and Andrew again. No Way Home was fun, but it's only fun as something that happens ONCE. Doing it again would just feel more desperate than casting RDJ as Doctor Doom. MAYBE it'll be good, I'm still hopeful either way. But I can easily see this being a let down for Spider-Man fans, who are already vocal enough about the MCU's portrayal of the character.

And I guess we're going right into Avengers: Secret Wars. And here's the thing, if they're trying to adapt the 2015 comic idea...They're in trouble. That is such an EXPANSIVE crossover, going super weird with it all as we have these new, interesting worlds and wildly different versions of characters we love interacting with each other. It is, quite frankly, something that could take up an entire Phase of the MCU, maybe even a whole SAGA. So to go right from the universe breaking apart to then fixing it feels like a disservice to the story being adapted and makes it way too much of a similar concept to Infinity War and Endgame. People want to see something NEW. Not the same story done over and over again.

I don't know...This lineup isn't really exciting me as it would ten years ago...

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Action #1071 seems to have been delayed a week simply because Amazon didn’t feel like releasing it. USM #10 too but since that leaked elsewhere I was able to read it.

World’s Finest #32 - Maybe I’m less grumpy this time but I enjoyed this part more than the opening. Glad we didn’t drag out Batman and Superman being mind controlled for longer than an issue. Gutiérrez on art remains the star attraction.

Jenny Sparks #3 - Not only does Atom not blow up, he actually wins a fight! Wish he did that more often as a good guy though... I have to admit the whole bit with Superman and Jenny in Iraq went over my head. It sure seemed like a test for Superman despite what Jenny says. Felt like one he failed imo, he saved the Americans from the Iraqis but he won't save the Iraqis from the Americans. This cuts to the core of my qualms about King. I believe he could be one of the greatest Superman writers ever, he’s willing to put Superman in tough moral quandaries in a way that someone like Waid is too chickenshit to do. If he did a Superman run that tackled something like this, that kicked off with Superman as the cowardly hands-off liberal who doesn’t have the balls to get involved, and transformed him into someone willing to fight against America when it is the aggressor/“villain”, then he would go down as the second best Superman writer after Morrison for me. A Superman run that rebukes both Byrne’s super patriot jingoism and Waid’s comfort character nostalgia, a Superman run that actually has something to say? Folks, that is what Superman desperately needs. My fear however, based on what King has said in interviews, is that not only would he not do that, he would try to justify this pathetic hypocrisy that Superman demonstrates here as somehow admirable or heroic.

Wonder Woman #14 - I am happy that Lizzie will at least be a Diana/Steve clay baby, even if I'm not thrilled at Steve getting killed off like that. For those who asked, yes I do think Lizzie seemingly set to be Diana and Steve’s “biological” (for whatever that’s worth when it comes to magical clay babies brought to life) daughter will cement her existence as a permanent addition to the Wonders. King's stilted dialogue hurts my ability to empathize often, but I did love the scene at the end where Diana prays to her mother to bring her own child to life. For some reason that really connected with me. I'm going to guess that it won't be that easy however, and that Emelie's child will still play a role in Lizzie's creation. Perhaps the child is a stillborn and Hippolyta is able to recycle the child's soul into the clay body? Unless that was merely a red herring. I also think Steve won’t stay dead, I can see Lizzie going on a quest to the Underworld to bring him back.

Ultimate Spider-Man #10 - Are Ben and Jonah brain damaged? Do they really think Kingpin is going to be fooled by them going “Haha it wasn't us, it was Ben Reilly not Ben Parker! Why yes Reilly is my late wife's maiden name but that is merely a coincidence :^)”. For their sake I hope this just some legal maneuvering to avoid getting sued, not that suing is the worst thing Kingpin can do to them... Otherwise I love the Ben/Jonah team-up, I can see future adaptions of Spider-Man taking from this even if they don't take anything else from USM. They were so damn funny this issue, especially with how they kept trying Harry's patience. We badly need an MJ/Gwen focused issue, I want to see those two interact next. MJ doesn't consider Gwen a friend yet and I'd like to see those two grow closer the way Peter and Harry have. Speaking of Harry he continues to get dangerously close to crossing the moral line with how he openly states he was considering killing Ben and Jonah if he had to.

[osmiumamygdala]

What do you think would be an interesting sole storyline for Colossus? For me it would be if he met his son in the savage land.

Obligatory readmore because you already know I'm gonna ramble like no tomorrow

To start, I have so many Savage Land Son ideas

Funny idea, but take it with a grain of salt because of my fuzzy memory: you know how Piotr’s son is named Peter Jr.? And Nereel told Piotr she named him after his father? Well, iirc, looking back, Spider-Man was on Savage Land around that time... because Peter Parker had been sent to get the scoop on the place! So I like to think that's one reason Piotr doesn't put two and two together; he thinks, "Wow. This journalist gets up to some stuff, huh?"

I also like to think the only reason Longshot hasn't said anything, other than Nereel telling him not to, is because any time he goes "maybe it's time to check on my old pal Colossus," Piotr's whole life is falling apart again, so it is Never The Right Time

All that aside, I like to think it could be a mini or an ongoing where the first arc is Piotr discovering that Junior is his, and storming his way IMMEDIATELY to Savage Land. If anybody tries to stop him for some reason... it will not go well. This man is GETTING TO HIS SON and making up for lost time! Nothing is going to get between him and his family again! But he doesn't want to take Junior away from Savage Land. To Piotr, home and culture are really important, so he thinks Junior needs to stay. First few stories are sort of episodic about Piotr and Junior bonding on Savage Land.

The next arc would, of course, be that something drives Piotr and Junior out of Savage Land. Probably some big threat going after Piotr, but Junior is determined to tag along because, 1, he loves his dad, and 2, he wants to explore the world! Cue traveling shenanigans and Junior meeting his extended family. Look, I NEED to see Illyana as an aunt. And I NEED to see her and Junior being little shits to each other and towards everyone else together. Also, could you imagine? Piotr and Illyana keep seeing pieces of themselves (and even Mikhail) in Junior. It draws them all closer together

But you asked me MY solo ideas!

I don't really have many solo ideas for Piotr now that I think about it

I heard about a pitch a Marvel creative had for him that I sorta latched on to (wish I could remember who it was). It was Colossus: God's Country in nature where Piotr would just be hoofing it around the United States, getting into trouble and finding his way out of it. I like to think a story like this could have the added drive of "he's on the run," and there are many options for who could be after him: bad guys, of course, but maybe also his allies, trying to get ahold of him.

Colossus Clean Up Crew. Colossus' whole thing-- even more than his strength-- is his durability, his resistance to the elements. Would love a mini or a series of him going where others can't to save the day. Thwarting a radioactive leak! Going into heats even firemen can't brave! Facing down a raging storm! Shielding people from collapsing buildings with his body! And, as the name suggests, he would hang around after to make certain that everything is cleared away and everyone gets out safe.

Not a solo, I know, but I desperately want a series where Illyana and Piotr co-star. The Illyana parts would focus on her magical adventures. She's always leaping in to help where needed, interacting with her magical buddies. And then you have Piotr, who is sort of the mundane focus, meaning his parts deal with more worldly issues. It, of course, overlaps a majority of the time because Illyana and Piotr would be rooming together and everyone will finally remember that Piotr's metal skin is invulnerable to some types of magic, and straight up hurts some magical creatures. There'd be themes like "It's Okay To Need Help" and "Just Because I Don't Always Understand You Doesn't Mean I Don't Always Love You" and they'd get to grow closer together, do some REAL, ON PANEL mending work for their sibling relationship, and really learn about and appreciate each other. The book could switch mood from cozy to creepy to whimsical to gritty on a dime.

If anybody else has ideas they want to share please please please don't be shy. I will do a whole front flip of joy.

[ill-say-this-fast]

Hi! Idk if you're still taking scarletsilver/maxicest asks but I'll just shoot my shot I guess.

Idk if I'm alone in this or not but one of my biggest maxicest headcanons is that if Wanda didn't magically create her twin babies... she still would have had them... with Pietro. (Ya know what I mean).

I know, I know, I know. There's plenty of reasons why it sounds illogical. BUT! I feel like if Wanda never loved Vision (or just said "frick it" and just elopes with her brother) or if she really really REALLY wanted to have babies (the 'traditional' way) and asked Pietro... you know that man is 1000% gonna go with whatever his beloved sister wants whether he likes it or not.

Another reason why is because I want them to raise my boys Thomas/Tommy and William/Billy. Especially our lil speed. Baby boy deserves all the nice things. We already see how Wanda interacts with her boys as their mother-not-mother. But imagine if Pietro was their actual dad and how he would interact with the boys?? So many possibilitiessss

And if Wanda and Pietro did raise them, they would also train/mentor Billy and Tommy with their powers early on which would probably make them more powerful or at least more in control in their powers.

Anyways, sorry for the rant! Just wanna know what you'd think of this headcanon of mine and anything you'd like to add really! :)))

I'm never not taking asks, thanks for sending this!

i love having them all as a family. for tommy especially. the kaplans are good parents, but tommy never got to have that and that sucks because wanda loved him so much the whole time and ughh they could have been happy. i would love more wanda and tommy stuff in canon or otherwise. but i also love pietro being more a part of tommys life. not sure if pietro is more competitive or concilliatory with him? bit of both probably. seeing himself in tommy and whether that creates friction or pride or pity.

like in 616 i feel like they have major old cat vs new hyperactive kitten energy and idk if that would be the same if pietro helped raise him from birth but i do love it. pietro's slightly put-on long suffering exasperation and tommy's overwhelming need to annoy this one guy in particular but underneath pietro's really fond of him and tommy's looking for attention and for someone to appreciate him and care that he exists. but they should also get to have stupid fun at high speeds (and together cause i imagine its usually pretty isolating).

in 616 i go with the headcanon that billy and tommy are pietros genetically, like wanda made them as if they were his, but it was still done magically and he just had to see it from afar. theyre the children she always imagined having, the ones she really wanted. so i have no qualms about just making them fully biologically his in AUs, its the way the rebirths and subsequent life experiences affect their personalities that i have to work around.

im working on (slowly) a 616 post childrens crusade fic where the two of them sort of readopt tommy. and they form this kind of nuclear family but dont talk to each other about it really because theyre all afraid the others will reject it. 100% happy ending they get the family they were supposed to have eventually.

also something i probably wont write but have as an idea. a very lighthearted fox xmen au where billy and tommy exist and theyre like 12-14 and pietro (peter i guess) has to keep juggling his job of Saving the World(tm) with dealing with whatever bullshit the boys have done. like the phoenix force is out of control and we need to do something to stop jean from destroying the world, but billy really wanted to see a dinosaur and now theres a time rift in the garden and pietro cannot let his coworkers find out about his children and their godlike powers, so he's bouncing between some really deep placatory conversation with jean and trying to find enough cages to put all the velociraptors in before wanda gets home and finds the house in a mess.