#spider-person x hawkeye

[olsenmyolsen]

This Is Me Trying - Four - (A Y/N Parker Spider-Woman X Kate Bishop Story)

masterlist

Summary: Kate can't shake the feeling that she knows you. What happens when she asks?

Word Count: 4K

Content: Blood, Violence, Flirty Kate Bishop, Feelings, Cute Pizza Dog, Clint being protective, Bones

But Kate would know if she had ever met the Spider...

So, who were you?

The question remained in her head the whole.. swing... home.

If that's what you want to call it.

However, that question was quickly moved elsewhere in her mind when she finally lifted her hand from your back as you landed the two of you onto the fire escape to her aunt's building.

Red.

Her hand was covered in your blood.

Kate's mouth dropped as she looked at her right hand. Then to your back. An open wound showing where your suit was ripped.

You felt the bullet graze you when it sent pieces of glass flying above you earlier. But you didn't have time to react; you were too busy focusing on protecting Kate.

Plus, injuries came with the job.

"You're bleeding." She stated as she unwrapped her legs from around you. "It happens." You played it off as you stood up and waited for Kate to open the window.

But Kate, being Kate, stood with you on the freezing fire escape. "You knew?!" You leaned back against the railing and took in Kate's disappointed look.

It was so cute.

Her nose is so red from the swing here.

You shook your head. "It's not the first time." Kate's mouth dropped before she picked it back up. "This has happened before?" She asked, making you nod. "Like I said, it happens..." You looked away from her gaze and awkwardly shuffled your feet. "I also have this thing..." You started. Kate stepped forward as she adjusted her beanie with her non-blood-covered hand. "Thing?"

How do you tell someone who happens to be a superhero and your crush that you have a healing ability? Do you just say that?

"It'd be easier if I could show you." You then pointed to the open window. Kate looked you up and down but didn't move. You saw a look of worry pang across her face. "You're sure you're not in pain, right?"

The truth is, is that you were. But as opposed to it being excruciating, it felt itchy and like a weight was pressing on top of it.

"Not enough for you to worry." You said, making Kate dawn a little smile. "Thanks." She said shyly. "I was worried that I hurt you more..." She lifted her red hand. "Exhibit A." You smiled under your mask.

"No, Hawkeye, you didn't hurt me."

You could never hurt me.

Internally, Kate was screaming that you called her Hawkeye privately, but on the outside, she just smiled in a way where the corners of her mouth moved up and down before awkwardly nodding and entering her aunt's apartment.

You followed behind her after taking a second to breathe.

Kate Bishop is the other Hawkeye!! _

You closed the window behind you as your eyes found Kate at the kitchen sink. Scrubbing your blood off. She sent you a smile before pointing with her eyes to the couch in front of you.

You looked down as you wore a goofy smile, thanks to Kate.

"You have a dog!?" You asked, even though it totally made sense—a golden retriever for a golden retriever.

Plus, you're pretty certain you had seen this dog on Kate's social media posts.

Okay, you had definitely seen this dog before.

The dog, who had been aware of your presence since the two of you landed on the fire escape, just sat on the couch staring at you. "Yeah!" Kate smiled as she finished drying her hands. "He's not allowed on campus, so he moves from place to place. Name's Pizza Dog or Lucky. Depending on who you ask." Kate said, making you smile. "Which is?"

She froze. "Just Clint and I..." Her voice faltered at the end as she bent down to grab something from under the sink.

"Do you think Clint's okay?" She asked you to calm her worries.

"He's an ex-Avenger. I'm sure he's fine." You said to calm your own worries, no matter how accurate your statement was.

Kate nodded as you took cautious steps towards the dog. You've had a few run-ins with some neighborhood dogs, and let's say they're more bite than bark.

Probably didn't help that you liked cats more.

You then briefly wondered what type of cat Kate would get.

Kate bent back up with a medkit in hand just in time to see the gloved hands of The Spider lay a gentle pet on the top of Pizza Dog's head.

And then she grinned as you took a more confident step forward as Pizza Dog rolled onto its back to get some belly rubs.

Which Kate allowed even though you were slowly bleeding down your suit because this moment was too precious to ruin.

She loved what she was seeing. And you loved being here, petting a dog with Kate Bishop.

"I think he likes me!" You sounded cheery as you looked up at Kate. She just smiled back and nodded.

"You've been chosen!" She made a dramatic voice that she immediately regretted. "Sorry! Ignore what I just did!"

You laughed, and Kate's ears noticed something, but she couldn't quite place it. However, you realize what you just did and sat straight up before looking at Kate again.

"Sit at the table." She gestured with her head as she placed the medkit down. One that was clearly put together by the older Hawkeye.

It had labels like: Kate don't use this for fun! on it.

You took steps closer to the dining room table as you took in the decorations and vibe of the apartment. It had an older woman's style, but now that you knew Kate liked to crash here, you could see her influence all over the place, especially with the Christmas decorations and tree.

The purple tinsel gave it away.

As you grabbed onto the chair to sit, your mind finally looked in this direction. You tilted your head at the centerpiece—a menorah. 

Kate opened the kit as you looked from it to her. "Are you Jewish?" You steadily asked. Being mindful of whether this was a sore subject or not. Also, Kate had never mentioned it before, so this would be news to you.

Kate plainly shook her head. "My aunt is. I'm not." You nodded. "Oh, okay. Cool." You looked at the candles. "You?" Kate looked to you with some sanitizing wipes in hand, fishing for information.

You shook your head.

"So..." Kate started as she pulled the sides of your torn suit back to look at the wound on your shoulder blade. She almost gagged in the process. No matter how many scrapes and injuries she and Clint sustain, blood still eeks her out. "What did you want to show me?"

"Wipe the blood, and you'll see." You balled your hands into a fist and prepared yourself for the stinging of the wipes.

When the wipes did their job, Kate couldn't believe what she saw. "You-your skin! It's- you're healing!" You nodded as Kate took a step forward to look at the side of your mask. You turned to her and smiled even though she couldn't see it.

"This is why I protected you first." You spoke honestly about your power but hid the fact that you protected Kate on instinct.

"Any other special powers I should know about!?" Kate teasingly asked as she bumped your arm. You once again let out a natural laugh. "Just heighten senses and strength. The webs I make myself. Obviously."

"Obviously," Kate repeated and nodded to your words, but she had that feeling she couldn't shake come up again.

So, as she walked back to the kitchen, she tossed the dirty wipes into the trash along with her gloves. She asked: "You didn't protect me for any other reason?"

She took a breath as she placed the medkit below the sink. Her eyes found you as she rose. They trailed up your back, where she placed a gauze on the wound to the suit that stitched itself back together above the tear. Her eyes finally found themselves at the back of your mask.

"What do you mean?" You kept your voice low as Kate walked back and sat at the wooden chair across from you.

Kate opened her mouth before stopping to think. She brought her hands onto the table and started picking at her fingers. "I don't know..." A nervous habit of hers you learned over a year ago. "I just can't shake this feeling that I know you... being in your arms... it was familiar." Kate looked up at you and saw the eyes of your mask staring back.

Silence filling the room.

Quietly, Kate sat up in her chair and took a closer at you. "I do... don't I?"

She wanted to believe that it was true even when you shook your head. "No." You said. But Kate's ears once caught an inflection in your voice.

"I don't believe you. If you were a stranger, I don't think you'd be as comfortable as you are now." Kate looked at your figure and then back at Lucky.

Her spy training with Clint was finally paying off.

On the other side of the table, you were torn. You wanted to tell Kate the truth, but at the same time, it would forever change what you two are and what you could be.

Kate watched you lean forward. She watched the way your hands moved on the table.

You were nervous.

Kate's eyes followed your hands as they touched the side of your mask. You grabbed onto the fabric before opening your hand as you sighed. "I can't." You got up from the chair and went to walk past Kate, but she stopped you. "I'm sorry." You said as you shook your arm out of Kate's hold. "I want to, but I can't."

Kate furrowed her brows before catching up to you and pulling you back.

Lucky watching this interaction from the couch as you two stood in the middle of the living room.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Kate!" You said her name in a voice that Kate could finally place it.

She gasped as her mind raced to believe whether it was true! "I wear the mask to protect the people I care about. I can't have any more people than I already do knowing." You said as Kate stared at you.

You watched her take a step closer to you.

"But if you're-" She stopped. Is it really Y/N? She thought.

Your mind and body were fighting on what to do. Kate took a breath and opened her mouth again. Her blue eyes taking you in. "But if I know you- you can trust me. You can show me that it's you..." Kate nodded to her own words and sent a calm smile your way. "Please. You know it's me..."

It's true you knew now that Kate Bishop was Hawkeye.

You could trust Kate.

You have since freshman orientation. When she ran into you because she tripped over her shoelaces, it was cute and clumsy as hell because she did it again a minute later.

You also literally just received a bullet wound by protecting her.

But... "Kate..." You sighed. "You don't understand... I've lost people because of them knowing the real me."

"You wouldn't lose me," Kate said as she stepped closer, putting your hand in hers. "You don't know that Kate." You shook your head.

"Try me. Because I know I wouldn't lose you."

Kate tightened her hand around yours. You turned your head slightly away.

Things were about to change.

Slowly, you lifted Kate's hand to the side of your mask. You let the tips of her fingers run over the fabric of the mask before they stopped at the base of your neck.

"I want you to know that I trust you. I always have."

"And I trust you, Y/N..." She whispered as she pulled the mask forward and off.

Your red face immediately felt cooler as the air in the apartment hit you. Your hair looked like a mess after being under there for hours, but Kate would argue that you looked perfect. Because this was you.

No double identity.

The Spider and Y/N Parker were the same person standing in her aunt's living room.

"Hi.." The hushed greeting fell between the two of you as she held the mask. "I can't believe MJ was right," Kate said as she took another step forward. "It is you, right?" Kate brought her other hand up to your chin and pinched it, making you swat her hand away. "Ow! Yes! Bishop, it's me!!"

"Holy shit!" She said as the mask slipped from her fingers. "It's you! You're The Spider??!! Once again, MJ was right???" Kate loudly spoke, making you put your arms up and down—a silent way to say shhhh.

"I know. It's annoying that MJ knows but doesn't know!" You said back, making Kate laugh. Her eyes looked you up and down. "How long?" She said as she could barely think fast enough to form more questions.

"How long?" You asked, watching Kate sit down next to Lucky, giddy as can be. "Have you been The Spider?" Kate was truly fascinated.

"A couple of years now." Kate darted her eyes up your thighs and arms before they found your eyes again. "You've only been Hawkeye for a year, right?" You asked, earning a nod.

"Did you know it was me?" Kate asked. "Before tonight?"

You shook your head.

"It was more than a shock to see you in that building earlier." You said with a slight chuckle. "But it made sense. I mean, you're actually one of the best archers in the world."

Kate bit her bottom lip and stared at the floor below her feet to hide the blush on her face. "I can't believe it's you." She spoke up as she lifted her head.

Her cheeks still pink.

"I can't believe it's you." You repeated with a smile.

"Who else knows?" Kate asked. "Just Peter and Ned. Well, and my Aunt May." Kate nodded. "No one else?" You shook your head. "Now you."

Kate sighed. "You're like the hundredth person to find out I'm Hawkeye." You laughed at that, making Kate chuckle. "Taking down 30 Rock does do that." You said, and Kate had to agree. "Clint and I did look cool, though." Kate scooted over, giving you room to sit next to her and Pizza Dog.

You sat down as your mask still laid on the floor.

Kate took in your side profile. She loved the definition in your jawline and how your freckles hide themselves away in the cold of winter. She then smiled as she noticed a mole near the top of your head that was covered by your hair before your mask moved it out of place.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Kate asked as she draped her arm across the back of the couch. Her hand almost touching your back.

You sighed.

"Kate, it's like I said. No one can know. I don't want people getting hurt because of me."

Kate did understand that. She did! But what she wanted to know in this moment was if you and her were ever going to be closer than you currently were.

"I know. But I can protect myself." Kate replied and let the silence linger for just a second. "Be honest. Were you?"

You looked at Kate and her piercing blue eyes. The ones that could lift you up and shoot you down with just a single look.

"Probably not."

You looked away while Pizza Dog huffed and got off the couch to stretch.

Nothing separating you and Kate anymore.

"Why?" She asked as she licked her lips. "And don't say it's because of danger and secret identity and all that." She mocked. You laughed. "I mean, that's part of the reason." You pulled a face that Kate smiled at before tilting her head.

"What's the other reason?"

You shot your head toward her question and noticed how close she had gotten. "Nothing." You shook your head. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't do that, Parker." Kate sighed. "Come on, we're friends. Superfriends now! You can tell me." She half-jokingly teased. Yet you shook your head.

Kate Stubborn Bishop asked again. And again.

At this point, she was right next to you when you turned your head and loudly proclaimed: "Because I like you!"

Your face fell along with hers.

You shot up off the couch and immediately started rambling. "I didn't mean that! No- yes, no, yes I did! I did. I do like you! Like a friend but more! Oh my god! Parker, shut up!" You ran your gloved hands through your hair and waited for Kate to say something. Anything!

And yet she sat there with her mouth agape as you paced.

The Spider, Y/N Parker likes me?!?!?

Slowly, a smile formed.

"Y/N..." You stopped and looked at her like a deer in headlights. "Kate, we can pretend I never said anything. Like you when you did that weird voice thing earlier. Please, I-"

Kate cut you off by putting her hand up and standing up. But before she could speak, the front door flew open.

Clint hobbled in with new cuts formed on his face as he sported a new limp. Broken hearing aid in one hand. In the other, his bow.

"Kate?? I need some help!!" Clint called out as he stumbled into the kitchen. Kate turned her head to look at you, but you were gone.

Kate looked around, confused. "Kate!" Clint called out again as he rested up against the countertop. Kate instantly ran towards Clint, stepping on your mask in the process.

It stayed smooshed into the ground before a web shot down from the ceiling to pick it up.

Kate helped Clint move into the dining room and the exact seat you found yourself at earlier.

Clint looked tired and took a beating, but judging by him still standing, it's safe to say the other guy got it way worse!

Kate immediately grabbed the medkit once again and brought out numerous bandages and antibiotics that Clint began using.

Carefully, you started to crawl away before a loud clearing of the throat stopped you. You looked down to see Kate standing behind Clint with her arms crossed. "Where are you going??" She asked in a hushed yell, "Clint's here! I have to go!" You whispered, shouted back as you put the mask on.

"Hi, Lucky," Clint whispered as the dog sat next to Clint to make the old man feel better.

"Stay," Kate whispered, even though she knew you couldn't. So when the rest of your mask went on, she nodded to herself.

But then she remembered what you said.

So, as you sat on the ceiling thinking of ways to get out of here without Clint seeing. Kate took it upon herself to help. "You look like shit." She stood in front of him so he could read her lips. He chuckled and wiped his forehead. "I can take the hint." He said before looking up at you.

"Spider." He nodded.

Kate turned her head up with wide eyes.

How did Clint know???

"I'm old, and I've done this shit for more years than you've been alive." He said to Kate as you dropped down from the ceiling. "Hi, Clint." You awkwardly waved as Hawkeye got up. "I'm gonna shower, kid." He said to Kate before placing wrappings and bandages into his pocket for later so he could pull Kate into a side hug.

"You okay?" He asked while peering at you.

Kate nodded before looking up at him. "I'm good. You?"

"Yeah. I'm told I look like shit." Clint smiled at Kate before nodding at you and leaving the room. The water to the shower ran shortly after. Giving you and Kate a much-needed buffer.

"I can't believe you were just going to leave!" Kate examined as she rounded the couch to push you. Not hard, but just enough where you went onto your back feet. "Well, I kinda said something I didn't mean to say!"

"Well, is it true?!" Kate asked, stopping you. "You like me!?"

"How long?" Kate asked after a moment of silence.

You laughed. "Since the day I met you." Once again, Kate couldn't believe the words coming from your mouth. "And you never did anything about it?" Kate asked, making you shake your head.

But at this point, you and Kate knew why.

The Spider.

You gripped your fingers and waited for Kate to say anything else as Pizza Dog ended up back on the couch.

"How's your wound?" She asked, throwing you off. "Huh?" You cocked your head. "Turn around." You did as Kate said and felt her hand peel back the gauze. "Looks like it'll be done healing by morning." Kate placed the gauze back on. "Y/N..." She said as you heard her take a step forward.

"Yes?"

"Is this okay?" Kate asked as she slowly wrapped her arms around your waist. The action sending a wave of pleasure and a bundle of butterflies throughout your body. "Yes." You said as her front touched your back. She placed her head against your shoulder and on your neck, you could feel her breathing through her nose.

"I remember the day we met—freshman orientation. I literally tripped and fell into you. I knocked your glasses off your face." Kate felt the vibrations from your laugh. "You then apologized a million times and offered to buy me lunch."

Kate nodded. "You said you couldn't because you had to meet up with your brother."

"I lied." You said, making Kate lift her head. You turned your head to her side. "NYPD was moving The Shocker to Rikers."

"So then you don't know what happened after that?" You shook your head. "I do. You immediately tripped over your shoelaces again and ran into someone else."

Kate laughed. "I didn't offer to buy them lunch."

Kate unfurled her arms from around you as you turned to face her. "I like you too." You grabbed her hands. "For just as long." You couldn't believe it.

"What happens now?" You asked as you swallowed.

Kate squeezed your hand. "Archery practice is tomorrow. Please be there." Kate looked up at your mask. "I wasn't going to miss-" Before you could finish, your phone started to vibrate.

"It's Peter." You told Kate. She nodded and let go of your hands. "I'll see you tomorrow."

_

As you jumped off the fire escape and called Peter back, you couldn't believe how your night had gone.

But across the city in a high-rise, neither could The Kingpin.

"You mean to tell me twenty of our guys got taken out by this man." He said as he watched a video of Clint defending himself in the apartment building from earlier.

"He's an ex-Avenger." The Kingoin craned his neck towards the man who spoke up. "At the end of the day, he's a man. He's breakable." He turned back towards the screen. "And if he keeps interfering, I'll be glad to remind him of that."

The room stayed silent and seated as Wilson Fisk rose from his chair. They watched him walk towards the man who spoke up. Wilson placed his hands on the man's shoulders. "Now, does anyone need a demonstration?"

Before anyone could open their mouths, Wilson roared as he grabbed the man by his head and lifted it before slamming it down onto the wooden table. Again and again. Till the sound of bones turned to mush.

Wilson's hands were red with specks of white. Bone.

"Track him. His comings and goings." He said as he pulled out his handkerchief. "Anything else?" He asked before Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter. A right-hand man to Fisk spoke up. "There's also this."

Wilson looked from the man to the screen.

A video of you and Kate swinging away being shown.

"Spider and the girl." He whispered.

Tagging List: @daddy-jareau

dividers by @/benkeibear

[unholyhelbig]

Um?? Keep going

[A/n: So demanding! I'm kidding, obviously, I'm going to keep going. The reception to this little story brings me immense joy. Though, the next part will be the last!]

Title: Magnetic

Ship: Kate Bishop x gn!reader

Disclaimer: I did not proofread, if there are mistakes, I'm sorry!

Trigger warnings: Blood, Some brief mentions of physical abuse.

Main Masterlist | Ao3 | Request Prompts | Join my Taglist!

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five]

Summary: Reader is a spider!person from earth-2099 and Kate Bishop is curious about why she's so drawn to them.

The suit was hidden behind the back panel of your closet, a small piece of faux wood that had been glued down, but then dampened away. It was easy to pop away from the rest of the structure.

You used the light of your phone, the small circle catching the vibrant colors, the blacks and the poisonous red, the deep silvers that reflected with the green of your inhuman eyes. You were content to leave it here, in this universe, when just two days ago you were going to rip a hole into the space-time continuum.

“Your place is…”

“Sad. It’s sad.” You pulled the suit the rest of the way out, rising to your feet. Kate was leaning by the window, looking at the view of the rain-damp street. Her features were shaded with a flashing green sign, then a dark orange. “You can say it.”

“Yeah, it’s sad. You need some like, houseplants or something.”

You couldn’t help the smile that bloomed against your lips. Decorating had never been your forte. Your Kate had a designer’s eye, and by the way this universe’s Kate scrunched up her nose and tracked the wall space with her grey stare, you knew this one did too.

She took the edge of the suit into her hands when you got close enough for her to do so. You both held the fabric, her fingers tracing the horizontal lines that wicked electroplate. Your breath mingled with hers, eyes moving from the suit, lingering for just a moment on her lips before you thought better of it and focused on the large spider emblem in the center.

“You know I don’t-“

“Can we talk?”

You both spoke at the same time, heat moving to your cheeks. You shook your head, chuckling nervously “You go.”

Kate took a deep breath and squeezed the fabric, letting out a small, tepid breath. You had never seen her nervous before. There was always a confidence to her actions and her words. There was a pinkness to her skin, moving up past the collar of her shirt.

“Things are complicated, and I understand that. You’re from another universe, your homicidal father could be here any minute with your brother who also really, really wants to kill you.”

“Kate,” 

“Right, sorry. That’s not the point. Do you remember the day that you moved in?”

Of course, you did. You were wet, and cold and had placed your clothes on the radiator to dry off. Once they had, you wandered down to the lower part of the building. There were a few damp dollars in your pocket and it was just a short walk to the bodega. Your stomach clenched in hunger.

Kate was pushing every button on the directory, soft beeps moving through the lobby. You glanced around, looking up the stairway, down the hall where a room full of washing machines lumbered in a near-silent hum.

Eventually, you opened the door, staring at the woman in front of you. Rain dripped from her hood, loose strands of hair saturated. Her eyes were gray, something you noticed under the light positioned above the door. Her breath was puffing in front of her. Kate would leave you slack-jawed in every universe, you decided in that moment.

“I… forgot my key.” She smiled weakly.

You couldn’t manage words, instead you stepped aside, watching as she lugged a few bags in with her, a few drops hitting her jacket after sliding across her nose. This was a cruel joke. You’d entered this world without permission and now karma was testing you as it always had. There was no way to avoid her.

“You know, you shouldn’t go barefoot in here. This building is not up to code.”

You croaked out “Shoes are wet,”

Kate smiled and it made your knees feel weak. You shoved your hands into your dampened pockets. Where were your manners? Buried under the pure shock that came with the ringing in your ears, was your natural instinct to cater to not only Kate, but every single person you came across.

After learning how to play the piano when you were six years old, your mother ushered you into the cello, and then the violin. Anything she could get her hands on. You’d play at family gatherings, and at charity events. Your music became guilt, and that guilt became the need to please.

In this case, it manifested in offering to help Kate upstairs with her bags. Anything was better than the out of order sign on the elevator, and even if it was in working order, you wouldn’t trust it with your life- unnaturally fast healing or not.

Your fingers brushed against hers and the both of you pulled back as electricity danced across your skin and ended at your elbow. It pulsed, something of undeniable warmth that was replaced with a deep cold. The only way to quell it would be to press your fingers against hers, to touch her once more.

“Sorry,” You apologized quickly, filling the awkward space by grabbing half of her bags and sprinting up the stairs. You smiled “Race you.”

Kate seemed disoriented, blinked a few times. “You don’t even know where I live!”

You had feigned being out of breath when you got to the top of the stairs and Kate thanked you profusely for helping her with the groceries. Your heart beat a little faster knowing that she lived across the hall. And naively you believed you could form a friendship.

“Of course, I remember.”

“It’s all I thought about for days.” Kate scoffed, shaking her head. “There were so many times when I just stood in front of your door, waiting to knock before I realized I had no good reason to talk to you. And the thing is, Y/n, I knew that you felt it too that day. And I know that you’ve felt it everyday since.”

“Kate, there are-“

“Circumstances, I know. What happened to your Kate, and so many Kate’s in-between is… I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through. But maybe after all of this time, the universe is doing something for you”

You swallowed hard, trying to quell the dryness in your mouth. Weak light is cast against her features and her expression is hopeful. The two of you had stepped closer, inadvertently through recall of memories. Her exhale was warm against your collarbone, you closed your eyes and whimpered.

Kate’s hand softly cupped your cheek, and you leaned into it, her thumb gently tracing the contours of your face. “Sometimes, you have to do something for yourself. Sometimes, you have to take what you deserve.”

You opened your eyes, stared into Kate’s. They had the same gold flecks, the same rings of emotion that bloomed from the iris. You leaned forward and took what you wanted, pressed your lips against Kate’s and melted into the kiss. She hummed against your lips, dropping the suit and using the collar of your shirt to pull herself closer.

Your hands were on her hips, squeezing mildly to assure that she was there. Kate tasted honey-sweet, her tongue moving against your bottom lip, begging for entrance. The kiss was slow and deliberate. You never wanted to pull away.

That same electric feeling was dancing across your throat, filling your body with tendrils of fate. Kate’s fingers were smoothed across your jaw. She pulled back, drew in a sloppy breath. Her forehead was against yours, both of you panting.

Kate’s voice was a mulled whisper “There’s no way I’m letting you leave now.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

That was easier said than done, you realized, not fifteen minutes later when your apartment was brimming with people you had yet to meet in this world. All of whom had explicit opinions about your decorating skills (lack thereof) and you as a person.

You felt uncomfortable and exposed, your suit hugging your body, mask in hand, arms crossed over your midsection. Kate’s eyes lingered on you, the tightness of the mesh not leaving too much to the imagination. You felt your cheeks heat up, clearing your throat. 

Kate really had rallied the troupes. You had to hand it to her. This felt like an odd meeting of a group of superheroes that had a higher body count than the Avengers themselves. And still, you waited awkwardly for the last few people to straggle in.

“So let me get this straight,” Yelena said, leaning against your empty kitchen counter. “You are Spiderman, but Peter is also Spiderman?”

“Yes,” You both answered at the same time, shooting each other a quiet look. You cleared your throat and continued. “I’m from Earth-2099, I’m that worlds Spiderman.”

Cassie raised her hand in a small wave, calling attention to herself “Did you also get bitten by a radioactive spider?”

“My father, he spliced my DNA with a spider. It was the first time he had done so successfully. Hence why he’s so determined to get me back.”

“Huh,” Clint lilted his head to the side “creepy.”

You couldn’t agree more, nodding felt like an understatement of the obsessive tracking. There was still an apprehension lurking just beneath the surface, but watching the five people that surrounded you, so willing to help, some of the weight had been lifted.

Yelena Belova eyed you nervously, she was slow to trust, and it seemed even slower in this world. You could hardly blame her. She was a spy, after all. There had been worlds where she never broke free from her widow hold. There were others where she was never inducted in the first place.

There was one in particular that you remembered where Yelena had been a wedding caterer. That freaked you out more than anything you had seen likewise. Right now, she had her arms crossed over her chest, eyes flitting from you, back to Kate.

“Have the two of you had sex?” she asked bluntly.

“What?”

Kate’s voice was six octaves too high. You made a startled noise and put your head in your hands. Clint made a disgusted noise that mirrored exactly how you felt. You said “Maybe we should come up with some type of strategy,”

“We should wait for the others, no?” Yelena said, shrugging her shoulders with disinterest. “There is a weird energy between the two of you. We should address it before putting ourselves into a risky situation. It can change the dynamics of the fight.”

“She has a point,” Peter said, “have you?”

Kate grits her teeth, had settled back into her place next to you. Your shoulders were against one another, and even the subtly of that touch sent currents to your fingertips. “No, we haven’t.”

Cassie asked, “but there is something there, right?”

You glanced at Kate, who had pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, chewed on it. “It’s… complicated. But I believe so.”

“There is a wedding ring on the chain around your neck.”

“Lena.” Kate warned.

“It’s alright, I get it. I’m practically a stranger. I’ve given you no reason to trust me, much-less fight beside me. In 2099, I was just a musician, and more than that, I was a wife. Kate was my wife.” You swallowed back the thickness in your throat, the metal taste in your mouth, the memories. “My father killed her.”

“That’s all I need to know.”

Rain had started to fall generously by the time you had descended the stairs in the apartment building. There were spots that you knew to avoid; a sliver at the top of the third-floor landing that wasn’t sealed against the weather. A bucket on the stretch between doors 207 and 205.

Normally, these areas would be something you took note of in passing. But today, you lingered. The warmth had slowly left your bones the closer you got to the lobby. You craved Kate’s touch, her reassurance. This was the first time you had been alone in the last few days.

There was anger there, too, mixed cruelly with the fear. It made the suit hugging your body hot and sticky. Your father had always pushed you to the side, had moved you to the very edge of the family photos as a power trip. He’d entertain your one-minute of stage time between tentative bites of mashed potatoes and pot roast.

The darkness in his eyes lingered each time you closed your own. There were small bursts of rage that would escape him. He’d snap at your mother in a hushed voice. Your father’s receptionist would sob quietly into wadded up tissues as you waited to be buzzed in. His hand would move fast, reddening the skin of your cheek.

You knew better than to lift your gaze. The one time that you did, he delivered another open-palmed smack to the face. There was a time to stand, and a time to fall. As you walked down the final flight of steps, you knew that if you wanted to stay in this universe, in the timeline that delivered you a second chance, you’d have to not only stand- but you’d also have to hit back.

The streets were nearly empty, a broken fishbone moon cracked against the sky. Dark gray clouds enveloped it, plunging you into darkness and then welcoming the pale light once more. You could hear the buzz of the neon signs over your own breathing, your mask slipping silently over your features.

Carefully, you made your way between your apartment building and one that had long since been condemned. Your eyes darted to each side, idling over bags of trash, sour and pungent as their rotted scent mixed with fallen rain. The coast was clear, and you scaled the wall with ease, slipping into a high window that had long ago been hollowed out.

You had the pocket watch. You had a plan.

Deep flashes of colors in the most vibrant of blues, and whites, and reds flashed as you removed your mask, strands of damp hair falling into your gaze. Broken beams of wood, dust and shattered glass started to hum around you, your finger on the ribbed button of the watch.

Dozens of times, had you hit this button. You’d watch as the air in front of you solidified and then tore in half, much like a piece of sheet music. Objects in the room danced around in stilted notes, a concerto of sharps and flats. You breathed in the electricity of the room. The composition threatened to pull you in, begged you to let its tendrils grip onto your fingers, weave into your veins.

This time, you wouldn’t let it. Your finger moved from the switch, and everything went dark. The room baked in silence, your chest heaving up and down. Glass, nails, and insulation slammed to the unsteady floor of what was once an office, or a home. Dust had been kicked up, caught in the porcelain light.

“The light,” you explained, circling the poorly drawn building with the black marker “It’ll let you know where I am. Once you see it flashing, you need to get ready. I’m almost certain that he’ll pick up on the signal and be there within five minutes.”

“Almost?” Cassie asked, her ankles were crossed, fingers dancing strangely on your empty counter. “I don’t like almost. What if he’s faster?”

“Or slower. Are you sure that’s erasable?” Peter said.

Kate frowned at the one piece of art that you purchased. It wasn’t important, a mock copy of sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh. The colors had faded, and the glass cracked where the wood met glass. She used her sleeve and squeaked it against the front. Erasable, it was not.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m 99.9% certain that it will take at least that long for them to get to me. Fifteen seconds for the signal to reach them, 45 seconds for the Lyla to get my exact coordinates. Three minutes for the machine to boot up, and one minute for them to travel through space and time.”

Yelena was pacing back and forth, watching each part of the map that you drew. You’d expertly rendered the stairways in the abandoned building, the entry point of each window. She chewed on her bottom lip, stopped behind Clint- who sat cross legged on the floor.

“Theoretically, there should be a weak spot in the unit above this window, correct?”

You nodded, pushing down on the cap of the marker. “The whole building will be weak. It looks like it’s been rotting since the early 2000’s.”

“I will take Cassie with me, and we will be above you. That way, we can hear if they are in that .1%. Kate and Clint, it makes sense if the two of you stay on the rooftop of this building. Range will not be an issue.”

“And me?” Peter asked.

“Outside the door,” you directed, “There’s an entry point on the west side of the building that will give you access to the hallway. You’ll have to be careful, I’m not sure how sturdy the floor is. But I want you nearby. You know how Miguel fights, what his default is. Spider-senses and all.”

Kate shook her head. “I want to be closer.”

A cacophony of voices interrupted her suggestion, yours included. Different degrees of objection. Clint shook his head, mumbling a “No way, kid” and Yelena said something in Russian that you couldn’t’ quite grasp.

“Absolutely not.”

 Kate frowned, and the same fire that you had seen since you were six years old burned deep within her. You didn’t tell a Bishop what to do once they made up their mind. Not without the right type of authority, the right type of conviction.

Gently, you guided her eyes to yours, nudging her chin with the edge of your hand. “Kate, listen to me. I know you want to be there, but you simply cannot. Your blood has been on my hands once, and I swear that it’ll never be again. There is a fate worse than death at stake here.”

Your thumb moved over the smoothness of the gold ring around your throat, tucked neatly into your suit. It was a good luck charm, you supposed. Though, after slipping it from Kate’s finger, easy to do with the wetness of her wounds, before gliding into another universe, it hardly felt as such.

There were flashes as you pressed your lips to the inscription of the date propositions were made in the rain. When you clenched your eyes shut, you could see the way she held you close on prom night. Her hand was steady on the small of your back during your fathers speech. Her words were soaked in remorse as blood blossomed past cracked lips.

Your grip tightened around the ring, cold and hard. Anger welled in your chest like cracking waves against a rocky shore. It never went out to sea; however, each rush was stronger than the last. Mere seconds now, you could feel it in the air.

Kate told you that she didn’t feel any pain as she clung to your shirt that fateful night. Red swipes of blood were left against your cheek as you held her hand there, clammy and half-dead. You would do anything to take away the pain that she claimed didn’t exist.

Now, as the world around you swarmed with particles of energy and you took a small step back to avoid the ripping of space, and time, you knew that pain had been saved. It had been embedded deep within you until the moment presented itself.

You were quite unceremonious about your entries into different universes. There was typically a force that pushed you through instead of guiding you. But as you made out the two silhouettes between the flashing atoms, there was a chill that settled over you.

He was taller than you remembered, though, the last time you had seen him, he’d been dwarfed in a lab coat. His facial hair was unkempt and there were deep gray bags under his eyes. Your father had since shaved, held his shoulders back with a certain type of power that made you nauseous.

Still, you stood strong, breath coming in faster rhythm’s until you willed it to still entirely as the universe patched itself back up. Miguel postured by his side, smiling wickedly, teeth glinting against the bleached moonlight.

“I see you’ve embraced the gift I’ve given you.” His voice was gravel, his smile half-feral, half-charming as he lilted his head to the side with the slowness of a man anticipating this moment for centuries. “Spiderman.”

Taglist 💜: @lovelyy-moonlight

[stackthedeck]

My favorite thing in the world is when a superhero has a kid and that kid is meh about their parent but absolutely obsessed with another hero

[ashecampos]

<3 MASTERLIST <3

hi guys, first off thankyou for reading and second welcome to my page <3

ASKS ARE ALWAYS OPEN, pls feel free to request.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ✍🏽

hi I’m Ashe,

- she/they

-19 years old / scorpio ♏️

🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗

Incorrect quotes <3

tears over beers (nevermore kids)

would you live for me? (wednesday)

never kissed a dude (tasm)

perfume (nevermore kids)

every woman is a lesbian (avengers)

🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗

Oneshots <3

radio silence - Wanda x nb reader

reader and their twin sister, Yelena Belová have found themselves trapped in an active shooting at a local museum, what happens when the team can’t reach them and Wanda and Nat are left to worry?

Life Line - Yoko Tanaka x nb reader

Reader is depressed due to her mother figure, Miss Weems being stabbed with the nightshade needle, Weems is in hospital but presumed dead by poor y/n, yoko being y/n’s girlfriend has been with y/n as much as possible during her time of mourning.

is that my jacket? wandanat x reader

r is a part of the avengers and wanda is the one of the new recruits. basically nat makes wanda nervous and she thinks the woman hates her when really nat is attracted to the girl and trying hard not to show it. and wanda mainly goes to r for comfort and advice all the time. i'm thinking nat and r are close (maybe dating?) and wandas this oblivious little bean who doesn't realize they like her?

Smoking hot - Wanda x reader

Y/N’s a hot smoker who Wanda is so desperate to impress, so desperate that she would go up to the girl having never smoked before and ask the girl for a cigarette

Fuck me eyes - yelena x reader

🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️🕸️

ANYONE BUT HER

masterlist

[ponett]

I spent a whole sunday reading through immortal hulk with the free trial, is there anything else good you would recommend to go through before the week's end? (I dont read many comics, the last one was I read was archie megaman)

Oh hell yeah, glad my tweets exposed at least one other person to Immortal Hulk. It's great

Admittedly I've only really started reading a variety of Marvel comics recently. I've liked characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men all my life, but I've only recently gotten over my aversion to just diving into random popular 616 stuff and not worrying about having the full context for everything. (I was finally like, oh yeah, I don't have to put up with the MCU and most of the cartoon adaptations being extremely mid, I can just go jump around and read the good stuff.) So I'm not the best person to ask. But here's stuff I've been enjoying recently:

Fantastic Four (2022) by Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics fame. Easily my highest recommendation here. Extremely fun and funny and heartfelt and creative science adventures. Immediately made me care about the Fantastic Four way more than I ever have. I subscribed to this one immediately upon catching up, and I hope North stays on for a good long while. (On a related note, I need to read North's Squirrel Girl run soon.)

Unbelievable Gwenpool (2018). As a series about a normal human girl transported into the comic world and getting by with her knowledge of comics, it's EXTREMELY meta, but instead of just going "haha isn't this all so dumb and tropey?" it ends up being a story about searching for meaning in superhero comic books where creative teams change all the time and the status quo reigns supreme. It's good stuff that goes some wild places. My only real gripe is the inconsistent art.

And they're only a few issues in and are still setting things up, but I'm enjoying the new Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man comics, which pick up following the Ultimate Invasion miniseries and the Ultimate Universe one-shot.

And uh... actually that's all the Marvel stuff I've been reading recently aside from Claremont X-Men - which is of course very good, but it's not as easy to recommend as these shorter, more standalone runs.

Some other relatively self-contained Marvel stuff I'd like to read soon:

Immortal Thor, the current series by Immortal Hulk writer Al Ewing that I hear is just as good

Ms. Marvel (2014)

Hawkeye (2012) by Matt Fraction

Spider-Man: Life Story

The Vision (2015)

And I hear Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) is pretty good and has Miles doing some crazy shounen anime shit while still being a street-level series, so I'm interested in checking that out

I'm also open to recommendations! I'm aware of many of the big hits, but, y'know, there's always gonna be good stuff that gets buried given the sheer volume of comics Marvel puts out every year

[xxdjsunsetxdxx-blog]

Random Ships I Like In No Particular Order:

-

* Loubbie- Lou Miller x Debbie Ocean- Ocean’s 8

* Sabina x Elena- Charlie’s Angels (2019)

* Macgyver x Riley- MacGyver (2016)

* Magnum x Higgins- Magnum PI (2018)

* Shoot- Shaw x Root- Person of Interest

* Rizzles- Rizzoli x Isles- Rizzoli & Isles

* Wondercheetah- Wonder Woman x Cheetah- DC

* Camren- Camila x Lauren- Fifth Harmony

* Blackhill- Natasha Romanoff x Maria Hill- Marvel

* Xialing x Katy- Shang-Chi

* Peggy Carter x Dottie Underwood- Agent Carter

* Supercorp- Kara Danvers x Lena Luthor- Supergirl

* Daniela x Carla- In The Heights

* Mira Harberg x Laurie- Irma Vep

* Judy Hale x Jen Harding- Dead To Me

* Florence x Madeleine- Gunpowder Milkshake

* Ronance- Robin Buckley x Nancy Wheeler- Stranger Things

* Eleanor x Drea- Do Revenge

* Harlivy- Harley Quinn x Poison Ivy- DC

* Wenclair- Wednesday Addams x Enid Sinclair- Wednesday

* Meddison- Meredith x Addison- Grey’s Anatomy

* Emily x Stephanie- A Simple Favor

* Mercymaker- Mercy x Widowmaker- Overwatch

* Akko x Diana- Little Witch Academia

* Dovesso- Professor Dovey x Lady Lesso- The School for Good and Evil

* Cassie Lang x Jentorra - Quantumania

* Spideypool- Spider-Man x Deadpool- Marvel

* Superbat- Superman x Batman- DC

* Batman x Catwoman- DC

* Princess Audrey x Wonder Woman- DCAU

* Jon Stewart (Green Lantern) x Hawkgirl (Shayera Hol)- DCAU

* StephCass- Stephanie Brown x Cassandra Cain- DC

* DinahBabs- Black Canary (Dinah Lance) x Oracle (Barbara Gordon)- DC

* DicKory- Nightwing (Dick Grayson) x Starfire (Koriand’r)- DC

* Wondermagic- Wonder Woman x Zatanna- DC

* Daphne x Velma- Scooby-Doo

* Cassie Dewell x Jenny Hoyt- Big Sky

* Choni- Cheryl Blossom x Toni Topaz- Riverdale

* Bechloe- Beca Mitchell x Chloe Beale-Pitch Perfect

* Khalopatra- Kleopatra x Frida Khalo- Clone High

* Talia Burns x Margot Fairmont- First Kill

* Question x Huntress- DCAU

* SuperWonderBat- Superman x Wonder Woman x Batman- DCAU

* Wonderhawk- Wonder Woman x Hawkgirl (Shayera Hol)- DCAU

* Dana Scully x Monica Reyes- X-Files

* Barbara (Barbie) Handler x Gloria- Barbie

* Julethief- Carmen Sandiego x Julia (Jules) Argent- Carmen Sandiego

* Seven Of Nine x Raffi Musiker- Star Trek

* Larissa Weems x Morticia Addams- The Addams Family

* Swanqueen- Emma Swan x Regina Mills- Once Upon A Time

* Alicia Florrick x Kalinda Sharma- The Good Wife

* Danny James x Cable McCrory- Bull

* Kim Possible x Shego- Kim Possible

* Peachline-Princess Peach x Mayor Pauline- Mario

* Gelphie- Elphaba Thropp x Glinda Upland- Wicked

* SamBucky- Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes- Marvel

* PeggyNat- Peggy Carter (Captain Carter) x Natasha Romanoff- What if?

* Maxine “Max” Baker x Abby Littman- Ginny & Georgia

* Ashrah x Nitara- Mortal Kombat

* Johnshi- Johnny Cage x Kenshi Takahashi- MK

* Barlissa- Barbara Howard x Melissa Shimmenti- Abbot Elementary

* Cabenson- Olivia Benson x Alex Cabot- Law & Order SVU

* Caroljess- Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) x Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman)- Marvel Comics

* Bishlova- Kate Bishop x Yelena Belova- Hawkeye

* Chlonette- Chloe Burgeois x Marinette Dupain-Cheng- Miraculous Ladybug (in theory)

* Clawdeen x Draculaura- MH (Gen 1)

* Teleanor- Tahani Al Jamil x Eleanor Shellstrop- The Good Place

* Hanamusa- Jessie x Delia Ketchum- Pokémon

* Jemily- Emily Prentiss x Jennifer “JJ” Jareau- Criminal Minds

* Mellivia- Olive Pope x Melody “Mellie” Grant- Scandal

* Malvie- Mal x Evie- Descendants

* Mileena x Tanya- Mortal Kombat

-

talk to me abt them if you want :)

couldn’t fit all the tags lol

[traffic-light-eyes]

Ninja as Marvel Superheroes

Lloyd:

To me, this is the most obvious. He would be Spider-Man; Spider-Man is young, witty, and learning the ropes along the way. I'd imagine he'd make his design off of a green lynx and still keep the ninja motif with baggier pants, maybe. I just genuinely think he'd be Spider-Man if anything.

Nya:

Hear me out. Iron Man. Her being iron man makes so much sense!! It calls back to her days as Sam X with her mech. And don't even bother talking to me about how it's Iron Man, I really don't care. She'd be, like, Iron Samurai or Iron Maiden (because I totally think she'd name herself after a killing machine). She's techy, incredibly smart, and resourceful! Maybe a bit prickly at first, but that's her <3

Zane:

This one is kinda a tie between Hawkeye and Vision. Skill wise, I feel Hawkeye would fit more, but personality and being, well, a robot, Vision fits better. So, I think I'll go with Vis! Like I said earlier, both are robots/nindroids/synthezoids, and both have a very similar personality! Even the Ice Chapter could fit in with what happened to Vis in WandaVision (I won't spoil!). It's definitely a good pick!

Kai:

He was a bit difficult. I feel like he gives Black Widow vibes, though. He is very skilled, stealthy, and not above killing for the people he loves. He's a fierce protecter of his people from the shadows and a bit standoffish at first - just like Nat! I just feel that Nat is way more suave than he could ever be.

Jay:

FALCON!! It calls back to when he tried to make wings from the junkyard! This was probably the easiest one to choose!!! I think that instead of his wings being from the military, he made them himself. He loves his people and wants nothing more than to do what is right. I don't think that a single person could fit him better.

Cole:

Hulk or Cap! I feel like using Hulk is a bit of a cop-out because, well, big strong man smashes things woah. Seems too easy. He doesn't have much in common with Bruce aside from strength, really. So I didn't want to fully choose him. Cap, however, seems like a much better fit. Cap had spent his days as a show-pony, basically. Singing, dancing, the likes. This feels similar to Lou's pushiness to the arts. Similarly, Cap (if you didn't know) loves to draw! Two confirmed drawings in his sketchbook are the monkey riding a unicycle and a little sketch of the city in the corner of the page. This really draws back to Cole. Not to mention, both Cap and Cole seem like the grounding glue holding the team together. The mother-hen. The face of the team. (Don't even lie to me and say he isn't. You don't have to be the main character to be the face - he's not even my favorite character, and I completely agree that he's the face. Everyone I know, when asked, says that they had a crush on Cole. It's ridiculous.) I just love the idea of Cole as Cap!

[dark-nimbus]

A Rant on Representation in Media (mostly comics)

CW: ableism, disability erasure, mentions of fat phobia, mentions of fetishization, lmk if there’s anything I missed

I can’t believe that here in 2023 we still have to say this, but fuck it this year has already been hell enough so why not add another thing

Representation, whether it be for disabilities or culture, race or religion, any marginalized group— ALWAYS MATTERS

I spent the majority of the other night dealing with people trying to downplay the impact of Barbara Gordon’s paralysis being retconned. Wanna see how that went?

“Oh, but it’s okay if Barbara Gordon still has some mobility because there’s paralyzed people that regain their ability to walk”

Her spinal cord was completely severed, she was left fully paralyzed from the waist down

“There’s a 60yo fighting in a Kevlar bat suit and shifting clay people, but Barbara getting her legs back again is a problem?”

Okay, can clay people restore a spinal injury? Can Batman punch a nervous system into fully functioning? What relation does that have?

Aside from the fact there’s zero connection between the two, paralysis actually fucking exists. Batman and clay shifters, believe it or not, don’t. Lemme know if you find an irl Batman or Clayface that needs representation. Go on, I’ll wait

“Barbara being able to walk again isn’t disability erasure, there’s other paralyzed characters”

The definition of disability erasure is literally terminating someone’s disability under the belief it makes a person less than. The fuck you mean it’s not?

And how many paralyzed comic characters can you name? I’m willing to bet it doesn’t come to 50. Every character belonging to an underrepresented group matters. Whether their representation is taken away completely with that one character’s erasure or not isn’t the fucking point. You’re still fueling the already negative stigma around disabilities and sweeping disabled people further under the rug

“Her disability erasure doesn’t matter, DC will just paralyze her again in later issues”

I’m sorry, are you completely paralyzed from the waist down? Do you embody each and every paralyzed person and their experiences? No? What makes you think that you get to determine whether the erasure of something you don’t even have matters?

As for DC re-paralyzing Barbara, it’s been retconned since 2011. Even if they do plan on undoing whatever whack job microchip magic they’ve got going, they sure as hell are taking their sweet-ass time

I can’t believe people were actually arguing in favor of Barbara’s disability erasure, but here we are. Representation has always mattered and always will, and yet media loves grossly misrepresenting everything. Barbara was such a strong character as Batgirl, and flourished in her character development even more as Oracle. Her struggles, overcoming them, and learning to love herself and value her abilities beyond the mantle made her a well-loved inspiration for many. To have all of that stripped away and undone with a microchip was just as insulting as it was a destroyed opportunity for character growth

And unfortunately that’s not the first conversation I’ve had regarding the representation of characters

Oh, you thought I was done? Ha! I wish. How about Spiderverse?

“Oh but Sun-Spider can’t be a superhero, she’s wheelchair-bound!”

Professor X. The Chief. Oracle.

And just to cover all my bases: Bucky Barnes, Daredevil, Hawkeye, Doctor Mid-Nite, Hornet, Jericho, Cyborg. And that’s not even going into characters with much more hidden disabilities. Disabilities never stopped anyone from being able to achieve anything, nor should it ever

“Fat spider-people? Really? That’s just unrealistic”

Yes, really. What’s the problem with that? Surely it’s not the webbing, which have been proven to be durable enough to support buildings. No way it’s how they’re shaped when there’s a car, a horse, and a whole ass T-Rex spider variant

Some people really forgot the whole concept behind the first Spiderverse movie. How Stan Lee made it clear that “anyone can wear the mask.” It doesn’t matter your body type, whatever disorders or disabilities you have, your ethnicity or your upbringing. Being a hero is so much more than that, and the diversity of each spider-variant only reinforces how Spider-Man represents everyone

But let’s go even further with voice acting

“So what if Sunspot is being voiced by a white person instead of an Afro-Brazilian voice actor? It’s animated”

Oh wow I wasn’t aware that representation stops at the sound machine. Yes, Sunspot’s newest voice actor is Brazilian, but with a character whose ethnicity plays an integral part in his story, you’d think Marvel would figure casting an Afro-Brazilian VA would be more authentic for the role than the fourth white dude in a row, but no. Of course not

And with each VA they cast, Marvel pushes Afro-Brazilian VAs out of this role they’d intimately understand and be passionate in representing. VAs that Sunspot fans would love to see knowing that their favorite character (or even themselves) would be understood, rather than being hollowly voiced with characteristics that don’t match the person

“If Sunspot should be voiced by an Afro-Brazilian voice actor does that mean Magneto should be voiced by exclusively German Jewish voice actors? It’s not a monolith”

And neither are Brazilians. Hell, neither is any religion or race. That’s why we want an Afro-Brazilian VA. There’s so many nuances that can only be breathed into the character by someone who understands because they themselves have lived that life. It may be small but those nuances are what make the character feel alive to their audience, and the closer a VA is to the experiences of their character, the more genuine the character feels

Portraying animated characters doesn’t fall completely on the writers and artists. Artists may take control visually, and writers may be responsible for plot and voice lines, but it’s the VAs that are in the spotlight. VAs are the ones that gives these characters character. And those characters can’t be fully and properly represented for viewers if it’s not all there

Representation always matters. Its significance doesn’t go away with erasure, and it definitely isn’t less important because other people who aren’t among that marginalized group refuse understand. Disabilities don’t define who someone can be, nor does body type, or culture, or religion or any other background. It doesn’t stop at the sound machine. Anyone who says otherwise are just adding to the ignorance most media uses to excuse the already shit representation of the entertainment industry

Every marginalized group is valid. Every minority deserves to be portrayed as they are and not feel like they’re being fetishized, infantilized, or inaccurately represented for the sake of plot

Little me, the queer adopted Asian kid with raging ADHD, severe anxiety, and shit communication skills deserved more than the fetishization from anime characters and shouldn’t have needed to wait until they discovered Cassandra Cain, the first character to show that superheroes could look like them too

And people that never struggled to find themselves represented in media sure as hell don’t have an excuse to encourage lacking representation and feign ignorance when common decency and basic human empathy is free

[andrewmoocow]

My personal roster for a potential Marvel vs Capcom 4 that I call Marvel vs Capcom 4: Resurrection, filled with as many newcomers and veterans as I could gather to fit this template I found on Twitter a while back, with everyone bringing something new to the table.

Marvel Side

Spider-Man

Captain America

Iron Man

Thor

Hulk

Black Widow

Hawkeye

Wolverine

Storm

Gambit

Deadpool

Magneto

Psylocke

Doctor Strange

Black Panther

Captain Marvel

Loki

Ms. Marvel

Star-Lord (assisted by Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Mantis)

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic assisted by Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing)

Doctor Doom

Ultron

Spider-Man (Miles Morales)

She-Hulk

Squirrel Girl

Ant-Man (assisted by Wasp)

Green Goblin

Daredevil

Scarlet Witch

Thanos

Capcom Side

Ryu

Ken

Chun-Li

Luke

Jamie

Kimberly

Mega Man

Mega Man X

Zero

Tron Bonne (assisted by Servbots)

Morrigan Aensland

Felicia

Demitri Maximoff

Leon Kennedy

Lady Dimitrescu

Dante

Vergil

Nero

Phoenix Wright (assisted by Trucy Wright)

Apollo Justice (assisted by Athena Cykes)

Amaterasu

Viewtiful Joe

Gene

Frank West

Asura

Akira Kazama

Tessa

Mike Haggar

Strider Hiryu

Ruby Heart (assisted by Amingo and Son-Son)

DLC (not pictured)

Mister Sinister (also appears in Story Mode)

Juri Han (also appears in Story Mode)

Moon Girl (assisted by Devil Dinosaur)

Monster Hunter (assisted by Palico and Palamute)

Venom

Akuma

Spider-Gwen

Sakura

Elsa Bloodstone (assisted by Blade and Man-Thing)

B.B. Hood

Morbius

Jedah Dohma

Doctor Octopus (assisted by Sinister Six)

Doctor Wily (assisted by Robot Masters)

Namor

Edward Falcon

Howard the Duck

Miles Edgeworth (assisted by Ema Skye)

Silver Surfer

Abyss

The story mode involves an alliance between Apocalypse and JP from Street Fighter 6 as the two work together to take over the worlds of Marvel and Capcom by bringing together a new team of Horsemen of the Apocalypse to collect the Infinity Stones, the Cosmic Cube, the Power Stone, and the Celestial Brush, and the heroes of both companies have to stop them before it's too late. Pretty simple premise, all things considered, but the character interactions and rivalries will be where it's at!

Rivalries

Spider-Man vs Mega Man

Captain America vs Leon Kennedy

Iron Man vs Tron Bonne

Thor vs Dante

Hulk vs Gene

Black Widow vs Chun-Li

Hawkeye vs Frank West

Wolverine vs Ryu

Storm vs Amaterasu

Gambit vs Morrigan

Deadpool vs Viewtiful Joe

Magneto vs Mega Man X

Psylocke vs Strider Hiryu

Doctor Strange vs Nero

Black Panther vs Felicia

Captain Marvel vs Akira Kazama

Loki vs Vergil

Ms. Marvel vs Kimberly

Star-Lord vs Ruby Heart

Fantastic Four vs Mike Haggar

Doctor Doom vs Demitri

Ultron vs Zero

Miles Morales vs Luke

She-Hulk vs Phoenix Wright

Squirrel Girl vs Jamie

Ant-Man vs Ken

Green Goblin vs Lady Dimitrescu

Daredevil vs Apollo Justice

Scarlet Witch vs Tessa

Thanos vs Asura

Mister Sinister vs Juri

Moon Girl vs Monster Hunter

Venom vs Akuma

Spider-Gwen vs Sakura

Elsa Bloodstone vs B.B. Hood

Morbius vs Jedah

Doctor Octopus vs Doctor Wily

Namor vs Edward Falcon

Howard the Duck vs Miles Edgeworth

Silver Surfer vs Abyss

Base: https://x.com/DreaminErryDay/status/1811493788214256113

[practically-an-x-man]

Was watching Multiverse of Madness with my dad last night and we got into a discussion about Marvel multiverse theories... and I actually came up with one that I think is pretty neat?? Not that I genuinely believe this is the direction they're going with things... But it would be cool.

Gwen Stacy and Kate Bishop are the same person.

Explanation for this idea under the cut.

Now I'm trying to figure out how best to articulate this thought, so bear with me if this sounds a little funny.

First of all, the obvious point is that they're both played by Hailee Steinfeld - Gwen in Spiderverse, Kate in Hawkeye. Now, the MCU is kind of inconsistent when it comes to actors playing characters across the multiverse (Benedict Cumberbatch is always Doctor Strange, but there are three different Spider-Men, things like that), and I know most of this media-wise is just fan service for the audience, but I think I've uncovered a little bit of logic behind it.

Characters with innate powers are always the same actor, characters who develop powers are not. AKA, Wong and Mordo and Strange are consistent because they have a natural affinity towards magic, Professor X is consistently Patrick Stewart because he's always a mutant (assuming the James McAvoy version is meant to "age into" Patrick Stewart), and Wanda falls alternatively into either of those camps depending on what version of her we're referring to (she's either a witch or a mutant, but has natural abilities either way). However, Spider-Man is given powers by the spider, not born with them, so it can be a different person/actor. Same thing with Mr. Fantastic (cosmic radiation), Captain Carter (supersoldier serum), Captain Marvel/Binary (more cosmic energy), and the others we see in MoM that already have variants in different movies. Different actors, since logically those powers could be given to anyone in the right circumstance. Black Bolt is an Inhuman, but doesn't have another film version we've seen, so he's not a problem.

Now, Hailee Steinfeld plays both Gwen and Kate - neither of which have innate abilities. Kate is a skilled archer but doesn't have superpowers, and Gwen was bitten by a radioactive spider like any other Spider-person. So her being played by the same actor makes things... interesting.

There is the hitch that these characters have completely different names, but the MCU has already changed up some characters' names while maintaining the same character (i.e. Mary Jane Watson becomes Michelle Jones), so I'm not particularly concerned about that little discrepancy. So what if Kate Bishop is the version of Gwen that could have become Spider-Woman, but didn't?

Now let's think about things age-wise: Kate Bishop and Tom Holland's Peter could have been the same age. Kate is 23 in Hawkeye, and Peter is meant to be roughly 18 at the end of No Way Home - but Peter Blipped and Kate didn't, which explains how she's five years older.

Two superheroes, who pre-Blip were the same age, who both live in New York... what if they were on the same school trip?

You know the one I'm meaning. We don't see it in the MCU's Peter Parker, but the story is always that he goes on a school trip, gets bitten by the spider, becomes Spider-Man. But if Kate was with him on the same trip... that means there are two versions of how this could go:

The MCU version: Peter gets bitten and becomes Spidey, while Kate/Gwen takes an interest in archery and becomes Hawkeye.

The Spiderverse version: Kate/Gwen is the one to get bitten, and Peter ends up becoming that universe's Lizard instead (notice that the MCU/Earth-616 doesn't have a Lizard of its own either...)

But they're the same person. Genetically, multiversally, the same. Kate Bishop could have become Spider-Woman, but she missed her opportunity and Peter was bitten instead. Kate Bishop is the MCU's equivalent of Gwen Stacy.

(disclaimer that yes I know they're completely different characters and the comics are nothing like the film/TV versions, I know that Gwen and Kate have different backstories and family lives and all that, I know that Hailee Steinfeld was just cast bc she's a talented and popular actor right now, this theory is just for fun and I'm not trying to claim it's actually something Marvel is planning)

[s10127470]

The MCU Synergy Problem

It’s been a month since X-Men ‘97 came out, and just about everyone’s has already pointed what makes it so good.

-Staying true to the spirit of the original while still striving for its own identity

-Staying true to the characterization and depiction of the characters, and in some cases, improving on their characterization such as in the case of Jean Grey and especially Morph.

-Introducing new concepts, elements and characters that haven’t been explored in other adaptations yet.

-Having so many callbacks to the original while not coming off as nostalgia pandering.

-The animation and action! MY GOD! The animation and action!

Really, the only problem people have with this show is the weird love triangle between Rogue, Gambit and Magneto.

We already had to deal with the infamous love triangle Cyclops, Jean and Wolverine in the original, we did not need this.

Not only is this just unnecessary, it’s also just weird since in the original, it was never even implied that Rogue or Magneto had any sort of history between each other at all.

But here, they met during Rogue’s days with the Brotherhood. And I think when they met, Rogue was still a teenager.

During that time, the two grew an attraction towards each other and although it’s not explicitly stated, it is implied that they did….ya know…

Man….

Although I do enjoy Magneto, unlike a lot of other people, I can acknowledge that he’s kind of an awful person.

He’s a supremacist, a terrorist, a mass murderer, a violent, abusive psychopath, and a deadbeat father (well, when he used to be a father but we’ll get to that soon).

But never though that “groomer” would be an addition to that list as well.

All I can say is that….if this show took place in the modern day, Magneto ain’t beating any allegations.

But besides all that, another major positive people have with this show is just how….comic booky it feels, which is something that’s been lacking with a lot of Marvel content for the better of a decade now.

But before we get into that, let’s take a little history lesson.

Marvel was founded all the way back in 1939 by Martin Goodman….but it wasn’t called Marvel at first, it was actually called Timely Comics. But by 1951, the name of the brand was changed to Atlas Comics. 

During this era, the comics saw the introduction of several characters include The Human Torch (the android), The Whizzer, Miss America, The Destroyer, the original Vision and The Angel. 

But the two most notable characters introduced during this time were none other than the patriotic fighter of justice Captain America and the anti-heroic aquatic incel Namor the Sub-Mariner.

But Marvel would become the comic book powerhouse we know them as today starting in April of 1961, when Altas Comics was changed to be part of the newly-named Marvel Comics brand, helmed by the legendary duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

And over the course of the 1960s, Marvel would not only quickly become the biggest name in the comic industry (only being rivaled by who else, but DC), but also introduce many of their most recognizable stars.

This would include the likes of The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Iron Man, The X-Men, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, The Inhumans, Black Panther, The Silver Surfer, Black Widow and Hawkeye, and of course, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

And in addition to tons of, in the words of Yogurt…..

Marvel would also see plenty of entries into the wider world of television. 

From the anthology series Marvel Super Heroes, to the acclaimed five-season run of The Incredible Hulk starring the legendary bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, to the absolute meme-fest that was the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon.

But Marvel really found their footing amongst the public consensus in the 1990s, largely thanks to their animated shows.

We had X-Men ‘92, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Fantastic Four ‘94, and The Incredible Hulk ‘96. 

What made these shows stand out from their predecessors was that they strived to actually be adaptations of their respective comics.

Yeah, prior to these shows, all of the cartoons were largely villain-of-the-week shows with little to no continuity and apart from the characters, didn’t really take a whole lot from their source material.

But these shows actually went out of their way to actually adapt storylines from the comics, had ongoing plots, and much stronger characterization than before.

And even besides that, and of course, merchandising, Marvel was making quite the name for itself in the world of video games. Most notably the ones that were made by Capcom, which included the likes of The Punisher, X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, and most famously of all, Marvel vs. Capcom.

Their status among the public consensus became even stronger when the 21st century rolled around.

This was largely thanks to the multiple films based on Marvel Comics properties that came out during the 2000s.

This included the likes of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Ang Lee’s Hulk film, Tim Story’s Fantastic Four duology, Mark Steven Johnson’s Daredevil, and (Sirs whose names will not be mentioned here at all)’s X-Men series.

And apart from the merchandising (which was stronger than ever before thanks to the movies), the 2000s would also see some of the best video games based off the Marvel Comics and its IPs.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: A New Age of Heroes, Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, X-Men Legends and its sequel Rise of Apocalypse, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Spidey himself had a multiple of great games from this era.

From ones based off his cinematic outings, to ones based off his alternate universe escapades (Ultimate Spider-Man), to ones that featured the characters’ worst voice actor to date and was responsible giving us that famous depressed Spidey walking meme (Web of Shadows).

But everything would change for Marvel in 2008 with the release of….

This film would not only serve as the invincible armored Avenger’s first outing on the big screen, but would also be the start of one of the most well-known and influential pieces of media in Marvel’s entire history…..

The Marvel….Cinematic….Universe….

Just about everyone knows about the MCU.

It only not made the characters of Marvel even bigger than before (along with introducing some of the more lesser-known characters to the general public), but also helped popularized the concept of the shared cinematic universe in general.

The franchise has gone on to become one of, if not, the biggest and most successful film franchise in history and has left a major impact on the world of cinema and even Marvel themselves.

And unfortunately, not really for the better…..

Everyone has already pointed how much of a negative influence the MCU has had on the media we consume.

From the multiple failed attempts from studios who desperately wanted to trend chase by making their own cinematic universe, only for these attempts to end up being massive failures, to a lot of writing in many films post-Avengers having this quippy and observational sort-of-write that while beloved at first, has gone on to become seen as annoying and tiresome…..

But I really want to focus on the effect it’s had on Marvel as a whole.

To start this off, let’s look the place where this MCU effect has been the biggest problem…..and it’s ironically enough, the comics.

Ever since MCU began, Marvel has been adapting elements from the MCU into the comics, which became especially more apparent after the first Avengers film.

And while Marvel is no stranger to adapting elements from Marvel media outside the comics, it’s never been to this extent.

This synergy has seen major changes in the appearances and characterization in many of its characters, including…..

-Iron Man being portrayed as far more snarky and quippy than he previously was. At first, people were on board with this change, not only because people liked Robert Downey Jr’s portrayal, but also because during the mid-2000s, Iron Man was not a popular character. Not in the frankly overused and tired “nobody knew who Iron Man was prior to the release of the first film” way. But more in the sense that everyone hated him during that time. This was largely thanks to the absolute clusterfuck known as Civil War, which turned Iron Man into a full-on villain. Plus he was indirectly responsible for One More Day, aka the worst Spider-Man story ever written.

-Loki became far more heroic and started looking and acting more like his MCU counterpart. Hell, the Loki we know today isn’t the same one introduced back in the 1960s. That Loki died all the way back in 2010, and the one we know today is essentially his reincarnation. And this reincarnation was not only introduced in the exact same year that the first Thor movie released, but in the exact same month as well!

-Thor started acting far more goofy and air-headed like his MCU counterpart following Thor: Raganrok.

-Hawkeye started giving off what could be best described as “uwu small bean tired dad” in the Matt Fraction run, which started just 4 months after the first Avengers film.

-Agatha Harkness having her appearance changed into that of a much younger woman following Wandavision.

-Introducing the Ten Rings following Shang-Chi, and having the titular hero being the user of them instead of just being Bruce Lee like he had been for last 50 years.

-Literally everything involving the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Its also led to tons of the characters getting somewhat phased out like….

-Iron Fist, due to the poor reception of his MCU show and complaints towards him being a “white savior”.

-Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, aka the original Ant-Man and the Wasp, who were also two of the five founding members of the Avengers. But despite that, neither of them appeared in the first Avengers film. And although it was a loose adaptation of The Ultimates, Hank and Janet were still present in that story as founding members of the titular team. Hell, Hank definitely has this the worst as he was killed off back in 2015, and was only recently brought back from the dead…..and he’s an old man now. I wonder why?

-Valkyrie, who was not only killed off permanently after Thor Ragnarök, but replaced with not one, but two characters very similar to the Valkyrie that appears in Ragnarök.

-The Inhumans, who had a major push in relevancy in order to promote their upcoming movie and TV show. But after the former got cancelled and the latter ended up being a massive flop, they ended up being banished to the shadow realm and barely acknowledged anymore. Also, the reason for their push plays into a later point.

-Quicksilver, which also plays into that later point I just mentioned.

-Black Panther, who Marvel seems to be somewhat edging out in the comics literally because of Chadwick Boseman’s passing.

And worse of all, retcons……such as…..

-Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch being revealed to have never been Magneto’s children nor mutants at all….shortly after the release of Age of Ultron.

-Shang Chi’s biracial heritage being rewritten to have him being fully Asian shortly after his film.

-Nebula, in addition to being made to look and act more like the movie version, also was revealed to be Thanos’ adopted daughter and Gamora’s sister….just like in the movies. 

-Ms. Marvel being revealed to have been mutant all along instead of an Inhuman…..just months before the release of The Marvels.

-Thor and the other Asgardians are not mythical beings, but actually aliens who were mistaken for gods by humanity….who just so happen to use magic (yeah this is a weird one because it constantly keeps flip-flopping between one or the other).

-Nick Fury being revealed to have had an illegitimate son who looks exactly like the MCU Nick Fury, who himself was based on the Ultimate Universe version of Nick Fury, who was African-American and modeled after Samuel L. Jackson. This is really weird because if they wanted a Samuel L. Jackson inspired Nick Fury, they could’ve easily just waited for the 2015 Secret Wars event and just had the Ultimate Nick Fury be one of the surviving inhabitants of the Ultimate Universe to be brought over to the 616 Universe along with Miles Morales, The Maker, and that son of Wolverine everyone forgot the existence of (even Marvel themselves!).

So yeah, as you can see, this is quite a problem.

Marvel has essentially been trying to make the comics resemble the movies rather than the other way around.

Which has not only gotten annoying and tiresome, but it’s also pretty disingenuous.

I mean, you’re pulling from a source material that has literal decades of content and lore to use, and now you’re actively trying change and contradict that lore just because of a series of movies adapting said source material?

This is obviously because they’re trying to appeal to new Marvel readers who came right from the movies.

But for some reason, Marvel seems to believe that general audiences have never heard the word “adaptation” before.

But this isn’t just an issue for the comics, it’s also an issue for…..pretty much every medium Marvel can be represented in.

For over a decade, Marvel has been essentially trying to push the MCU as the default everything.

Anything Marvel related: it all has to be similar to the MCU and barely anything else. And if it can, just utilize any of the comics written post 2010.

It’s pretty much the same problem that a lot of recent Spider-Man media suffers from.

When they’re adapting stuff, it’s almost always from the cartoons, Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man and Dan Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man.

And this has often come to the detriment of many of the non-MCU projects released during the 2010s.

Three of the best examples of this I could think of were Avengers Assemble, Square Enix’s Avengers, and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. 

Avengers Assemble is famous for being the Marvel cartoon that was only created just to ride on the success of the first Avengers film.

But in spite of this, it was apparent during the first two season that this show was striving to have its own identity. Specifically utilizing some of the lesser-known faces of Marvel.

But as the series went on, the MCU got bigger and bigger. And as a result, the show started to get bogged down by MCU synergy.

From having storylines that were obviously done to tie into whatever movie came out not that long ago, to even changing characters appearances in order to better reflect their MCU counterparts.

The best example of the latter was with Falcon, who was a member of the main cast.

During the first three seasons, he actually stood out from the rest of the team visually as his outfit wasn’t trying to emulate the MCU.

It wasn’t emulating the comics either because I think that outfit of his was wholly original to this show.

But during season 4, Falcon ends up going through a time warp. And when he comes out, he’s been aged up from a young college-aged man to a grown man around the Avengers’ ambiguous age range and is wearing an outfit similar to his MCU counterpart.

Now we come to Square Enix’s Avengers.

My God…..was there anything this game did remotely right?

Or at least competently?

And one of the many flaws of this game was its roster.

And this actually plays into another major point on how stifling MCU synergy is.

Ever since the first Avengers movie, whenever the titular Avengers appear in just about anything, they’re almost always shown having the same roster.

That being Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Sometimes there will be other members like Falcon, Ant-Man, Wasp, Black Panther, Vision and Captain Marvel, but that’s because those guys are also major names in the MCU as well.

Like for God’s sake, switch it up a bit! 

For the next major thing the Avengers appear in, how about we have a roster based on like…..

The Heroes Return roster, or the Hickman roster, or the Englehart roster, or the New Avengers roster, or the Stern roster, or the West Coast roster, or even the Classic roster!

But back to the Avengers game, they didn’t even commit to that never-changing roster I just mentioned!

When the game released, the Avengers video game had Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Black Widow as the main Avengers roster until Ms. Marvel joined up.

Yeah, Hawkeye didn’t appear as a part of the roster until his own DLC with Kate Bishop!

As for the other additions to the roster, we had Spider-Man, Black Panther, The Winter Soldier and the Jane Foster Thor.

Yeah, when looking at this game as an adaptation of the comics (which it barely was), the roster is absolutely pathetic when you look at the INSANE amount of members the Avengers have had over the decades.

And when looking at this game as an adaptation of the MCU, it didn’t even commit to that!

This is even more of the case when you look at the list of characters they initially had planned, but they obviously had to drastically cut all that for the sake of time constraints.

Hell, if you want to see something really sad, just look at the villain roster.

Over the 3 years this game was around, it only gave us 4 (yes 4) villains.

M.O.D.O.K., Taskmaster, The Abomination and Klaw….

Yep! Just these four schmucks!

No Red Skull, no Mandarin, no Baron Zemo, no Leader, no Ultron, no Kang the Conqueror, no Absorbing Man, no Wrecking Crew, no Enchantress, no Whirlwind, no Crimson Dynamo, no Circus of Crime….

Hell, they don’t even have Loki, the most popular and well-known Avengers villain!

It’s even more sadder when you consider the DLCs, i.e Spider-Man, who despite having undoubtedly the most well-known rogues gallery in all of Marvel, not one of them appear at all in his DLC!

In the wise words of a young redheaded YouTuber who likes to talk about Spidey….

“How easily you got showed up by Fortnite!”

If you want more detail on the history of this game and what went wrong, I suggest watching Matt McMuscles’ What Happened video on the game, but basically the reason that the game was the way that it was due to the laziness and apathy of Square Enix, the inexperience and slight incompetence of Crystal Dynamics, having WAY too many cooks in the kitchen (i.e., they worked with five studios, all of which were located in different parts of the world), and most of all, the utter greed of Marvel.

And funnily enough, this game ties into my next talking point…

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite! The fourth and possibly final game in the series….and is regarded by just about everyone to be the weakest game as well.

Just like Avengers, one of (if not) the biggest criticisms of this game was the roster.

Infinite had a roster of about 36 characters, having the second smallest roster in the series’ history, only surpassing Clash of Heroes’ 15.

This was quite the surprise when compared to the previous game, 3’s 48 characters and especially 2: A New Age’s 56.

As for the roster itself, it was made up of both veteran characters and new characters.

Returning from the previous game, we had Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Doctor Strange, Dormammu, Ghost Rider, Nova and Rocket Raccoon.

Also returning were two faces that hadn’t been seen since 2: Venom and Thanos.

As for the new characters, we had Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Gamora and Ultron.

Yeah not exactly the most interesting roster.

And I’m sure many of you noticed by now, there’s something notable characters missing from the roster.

Namely the X-Men, their villains and Doctor Doom, all of whom have been staples of the franchise since the beginning.

And there’s a reason for that….

A very, scummy reason….

I already mentioned this in my X-Men: The Next Mutation post, but it does bare repeating her.

As the MCU became more popular, Marvel became focusing on pushing the Avengers as their premiere superhero team, with the Fantastic Four and X-Men essentially being dethroned.

Along with that, their relevance in the comics notably began to degraded, and barely began making appearances in media outside the comics.

The reason for this, apart from Marvel focusing on cashing in on the Avengers, was because despite still owning the overall rights for the FF and X-Men (which, why wouldn’t they?), their film rights were still owned by 20th Century Fox.

Since Fox was pretty much a rival company to Marvel until Disney bought them out, Marvel basically saw any form of FF and X-Men representation as free-marketing for Fox.

So they decided to essentially not to allow any FF or X-Men related characters to appear in any media outside the comics and even reduced their overall presence as well.

Which is why Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and the other non X-Men mutants were retconned into not being mutants, why Quicksilver himself has been sort of been an afterthought in recent years, why the Inhumans were pushed so hard, and why the FF and X-Men characters weren’t in this game.

Plus the justifications and excuses for this from the developers are absolutely hilarious, because you can just tell that they’re lying through their teeth while being held up at gunpoint by a bunch of Marvel executives.

Oh yeah, let’s bring up the other biggest elephant in the room and want led to Square Enix developing Avengers.

After Infinite came out and got quickly abandoned by the player-base, many people at Capcom have come out to reveal just how awful it was working with Marvel and Disney.

They weren’t just pushy with who and who couldn’t be in the roster. 

They were also pushy about how the characters that would be in the roster would be portrayed (specifically wanting them to heavily resemble their MCU iterations) and even changing their themes to be exactly like the MCU ones. 

Hell, this pushiness was so bad that for the trailers, they did not want the Marvel characters to be depicted as losing!

This was also an issue back during 3 as well, but it was essentially amplified during this game.

This really shows just how petty Marvel really is….

They’re willing to ignore and downplay the existence of two major players of their brand that people have loved for decades and were created by the two men them helped make the company they are today.

They’re unwilling to compromise and it has to be their way or the highway.

And this pettiness eventually came to bite them in the ass as Capcom’s statements about working with them eventually reached many of the other big video game developers.

And soon enough, when Marvel was trying to find someone to develop Avengers, none of the big game developers wanted anything to do with it!

Eventually, they did find a developer with Square Enix, who already had experience working with Disney via Kingdom Hearts.

It’s actually ironically hilarious that the heads at Marvel believed all three of these projects would actually be successful because of the MCU synergy, but they all ended up being flops because of said MCU synergy!

But this desire for MCU synergy has not only negatively affected non-MCU project of this time, but even ones that either came out before this desire or….never came out at all.

I’m sure many of you remember The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

This show was essentially a love letter to the Silver Age comics of Marvel  and strived to be an near-faithful adaptation of many classic and even recent Avengers storylines, while also having its own unique spin on it.

Hell, in some cases, the EMH versions of these storylines are actually better than the originals, especially in the case of Secret Invasion. 

Sadly, the show got cancelled in 2012 after 2 seasons and 52 episodes…and to this day, EMH probably has one of the dumbest and scummiest reasons for cancellation in television animation history.

The reason this show was cancelled because Marvel wanted to replace with it a show that was more in-line with the MCU, aka Avengers Assemble.

Yep! Not low ratings. Not bad critical reception. Not budgetary reasons. Hell, not even bad toy sales, which was a major reason for a lot of action cartoons around this time getting the axe!

And it doesn’t get much better from here.

During the 2010s, there were a lot of promising Marvel projects that never saw the light of the day, with two of the most notable being the animated Deadpool series and Marvel Era.

Following the success of 2016 film, FX and Marvel Television decided to collaborate to created an animated series based on the merc with the mouth, with Donald Glover (yes, that Donald Glover) being one of the main showrunners, alongside his brother Stephen.

However, the series was cancelled almost a year within its development, with the main reason being that Marvel wasn't particularly big on the vision that the Glovers had for this series.

And apart Donald speculating racism on Marvel’s part (which given that Jeph Loeb was meant to be an executive producer on this series, that possibly could be the case), another possible factor for the show’s cancellation was because of Deadpool’s connection with the X-Men, and during this show’s production, Marvel was still in their “the X-Men don’t matter anymore” phase.

And it really sucks because the pitch animation for this was really good and made this seem like it was going to be a very fun show.

New we come to Marvel Era.

Out of all the cancelled projects, this was perhaps the most interesting.

Marking a first for their animated shows, this would’ve been an anthology series released in 2014 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Marvel Comics.

It was going to be produced by Powerhouse Animation (best known for Netflix’s Castlevania series) and it was gonna have 7 stories, with each one being themed around a different decade and focusing on a different character.

There would’ve been a 40s story focusing on Captain America, a 50s story focusing on either Wolverine or Namor the Sub-Mariner, a 60s story focusing on the X-Men, a 70s story focusing on The Heroes for Hire, a 80s story focusing on The Punisher, a 90s story focusing on the aforementioned Deadpool, and a 2000s story focusing on Captain Marvel.

This honestly seemed like it was going to be a really great show, which was enhanced by the absolutely gorgeous animation of the pitch trailer.

Unfortunately, Powerhouse announced that the project was cancelled because it wasn’t what Marvel Television were focusing on.

Which is code for: Marvel didn’t want it because it wasn’t MCU adjacent….

To wrap this up, I just wanted to bring up the reason I made this in the first place.

Over the last few weeks, there was a leak for a upcoming episode of X-Men ‘97, which showed a shot of Captain America’s shield.

And this led many people to somewhat groan, believing that this was yet another case of MCU synergy. 

And although this was proven to be false, it really does speak volume with how much influence the MCU has had.

Although it has brought lot of Marvel’s star characters into the mainstream, the MCU has shaped and changed them so much, that it seems like they can no longer exist as characters who have existed for literal DECADES.

They always have to be associated with a film franchise that has existed for about 1/6 of their existence in fiction.

But I think the biggest takeaway to all this is that this constant MCU synergy kinda shows a lack of reverence for Marvel’s legacy.

Look at this merchandising from the 2010s and 2020s....

In most of this merchandise, the character roster featured is almost always the same.

The Avengers, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and the Web Warriors, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The Inhumans were also apart of this roster until, as I mentioned earlier, got banished to the Shadow Realm....

Occasionally you'll get some of the other cosmic characters like Nova, She-Hulk and some of the street-level heroes like Daredevil, Elektra, Ghost Rider, and The Heroes for Hire.

But those are few and far between.

But other than that, it's largely the four I mentioned earlier.

Because they're the main faces of the MCU, and as we all know, everything has to be related to the MCU in some way....

But now let's compare that to some Marvel merchandising from the mid-to-late 2000s and early 2010s....

Upon seeing this, you can tell that there’s a far greater sense of appreciation for Marvel.

This merchandising pulls from nearly every corner of the Marvel Universe you can think off and features characters from the heavy hitters, to the borderline obscure.

Plus it still heavily features the Fantastic Four and X-Men characters, who, may I remind you, spent a good chunk of the 2010s having their presence greatly reduced and their existence constantly threatened or denied because of movie rights!

All in all, Marvel really needs to stop the MCU synergy.

In spite of what they think, it’s clearly done nothing but harm and stifle many potentially good (even great) projects.

Not only that, but it’s also gonna start harming the Marvel brand itself with how homogenized they’ve made everything and the rapidly increasing lack of interest in the MCU.

Plus its also brought out the worst in Marvel.

From cancelling projects for stupid reasons, to showing a lack of respect for the legacy they’ve build, to literally being difficult to work with because of how they want everything to be their way.

But things do seem to be looking up a bit….

There’s been the multiple of Spider-Man media of the last few years , which has been one of the few Marvel projects that aren’t bogged down by MCU synergy.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur also ended being shockingly really good, and although it does have some MCU synergy, it’s pretty minor.

And now we have X-Men ‘97.

It does appear that there’s some kind of movement in Marvel to actually start making projects again that aren’t being made to be a glorified MCU circle-jerks.

And hopefully, this could led to some really unique and interesting projects, specifically for this year.

Since remember, this year marks the 85th anniversary of Marvel Comics, so that’s pretty big!

But then again, their corporate overlord had an utter embarrassment of a year for their centennial….

And Marvel themselves also contributed to that as well….

[olsenmyolsen]

This Is Me Trying - One - (A Y/N Parker Spider-Woman X Kate Bishop Story)

masterlist

Summary: The Winter semester is challenging as you fall behind on exams and essays all while an old threat emerges.

Word Count: 3.3K

Content: College stress, cutie Kate Bishop

You, Y/N Parker, loved Christmas time.

You loved how it changed the city from a smelly concrete jungle into a smelly concrete jungle but with snow!

Lights went up with trees covered in decorations. Lattes got better, and so did the cookies.

The air got colder, and sometimes the people got warmer. Whether it was buying things for strangers or for a lifelong friend. Random acts of kindness increased, but on the flip side, so did the rate of crime.

Plus, swinging in the cold was awful, but with some insulation in the suit, it helped.

All of this to say you still loved this time of the year.

"You know, since you love it so much, how about you let me go? You know, like you said, kindness of strangers and all that!"

You looked at the guy webbed to a pole who just mugged a woman coming home from work and tilted your head.

"You know what you're right. Tis the season!" The man nodded as you took a few steps closer. "However, on second thought!" The man's eyes widened before you webbed his mouth shut.

"Marv, how many times are we gonna do this, buddy?" You patted the man's head as the sirens were approaching.

"Happy Holidays!" You yelled as you swung up to the nearby rooftop, looking for the woman whose purse was in your hand.

As you stay perched on the corner, your phone starts to ring. It was Peter—your best friend and brother. You debated whether to answer it or not, but eventually, you gave in and pressed the side of your mask.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"Not much... I know it's late, but I- I was just wondering if you started on Dr. Ohnn's paper yet? I'm completely lost. H-He knows we're sophomores, right?!"

You chuckled and sighed.

You haven't started on the paper yet.

"Sorry, Pete. I've been busy..." You heard Peter let out a disappointed sigh.

"Y/N... you're out, aren't you?" You felt bad. For the last couple of weeks, Peters has been asking you to take it easy with your after-school duties due to the number of exams these previous few weeks have had and, as mentioned before, the crime rate, but you haven't. If anything, you tacked on more. "Y/N, you know how dangerous I still think this is."

You rolled your eyes. "Yes, Peter, I know, but-" Before you could finish, you saw a person jump from one rooftop to another two blocks down from you. "Hey Pete, I gotta go..."

"Wait Y/N... Y/N!"

The line went dead as you tapped the side of your mask and took off, swinging purse in hand to the stranger on the rooftop.

As you front-flipped from your webbed, you laughed. "Well, if it isn't the purple bird!" You said when you got up from your landing pose, scaring the crap out of the archer. He jumped and drew his bow on you before realizing who it was.

With an exaggerated groan, he withdrew his weapon.

"What do you want, Spider!?" He sounded annoyed. You put your hands over your heart. Purse still in hand. "Ouch! I just wanted to check up on the man who destroyed 30 Rock last year."

Clint Barton rolled his eyes.

"It was a tree and a skating rink. Get over it." You raised your hand and mocked the archer as you stepped onto the roof's ledge.

"Where's the youngster?" You asked switching topics. Clint raised an eyebrow. "What are you spying on me now?" You put your hands up. "As if! Just curious. Making conversation. It's not my fault you two happen to fall into my patrol area."

Clint looked at you. "Your patrol area?" You nodded. "It's called New York. Ever heard of it?" Clint rolled his eyes again. "You can be a pain in the ass sometimes, you know that."

"I've been told."

"By friends?" You laughed. "No by enemies. Wait..? Why did you hear something?"

Clint cracked a smile. "Maybe." He hadn't, but he enjoyed this back-and-forth you two played. Like his protege, it was nice to have someone around who reminded him of the heroes of the past. People that brought hope for the future.

"So is that purse yours or?" Clint looked up from his binoculars at you. "No. It's not my color." When Clint didn't laugh, you continued. "Lady got mugged, and I don't know where to find her."

Clint looked from the purse to you and did it two more times. "What?" You asked when no words were spoken. Clint huffed. "You have her purse. It probably has her ID." You tilted your head before your eyes got wide. "Oh! Her address!"

Clint nodded yes and grumbled about you before looking into his binoculars again.

"Thanks, bird man!" You said as you looked at the address. It wasn't far. "Same time tomorrow?" You asked as you twhiped away.

Clint sent you a thumbs-up even though he wasn't paying attention. But you didn't know that. You saw a thumbs up and smiled.

You were getting through to the old man.

As you twhiped to the woman's place to return her purse, a bright-eyed Kate Bishop saw you.

"It's the Spider!" She very awkwardly whispered to no one else before running to the building; she had no idea you had just left from.

And when she got to the top: "Clint!" She shouted, making the archer jump before realizing who it was. "What!?" He said, looking at her as she smiled with excitement. "The spider! I just saw her!" He nodded like a dad would. "And?" He said. "And! And! And isn't that cool!" Clint shrugged. "I guess. She was here. She actually asked about you." Clint held in a smile.

It was a not-so-secret that Kate had a slight crush/admiration for the web-slinging hero.

"And!?" Kate took the binoculars from Clint and awaited his answer. "And... that was it. Nothing else. She joked around. I rolled my eyes. That was it."

Kate was going to press for my information, but Clint was useless when it came to details so mundane.

"Ugh. Fine. Here." Kate tried to hand the binoculars back, but Clint shook his head. "Look and tell me what you see." Kate looked through them and into the window of a known wheelman. "Tracksuits." She said, making Clint nod.

"See the guy with the awful chops?" Kate shifted her focus to a guy with bad facial hair. "Yeah."

"Look past him on the wall." Kate did just that and smiled. "I thought people only drew on blueprints in the movies?!"

"Our guys must watch a lot of movies," Clint said as he chuckled.

Kate put the binoculars down and looked at Clint. "After last year, do you still think Kingpin and these guys are connected? I mean..." Kate made a gesture that said, "really, these guys??" while pointing in the direction of the Tracksuits.

Clint shrugged. "I think it's best to believe they're connected than to not. Plus.. drugs and money still need to be run for guys like Kingpin. Any disposable person that's easy to pay is like Christmas to these guys."

Kate thought about it and nodded as she looked through the binoculars again. "Remember when we destroyed 30 rock."

Clint groans and closes his eyes. "It was a tree and an ice rink. Not the whole city!"

While Kate was busy trying to figure out what annoyed Clint and what Kingpin was planning next, you were busy climbing into your dorm through the window.

You tore your mask off as your feet landed on the floor. You ran your covered hand through your freshly shortened hair and took a deep breath before frowning. You sniffed the air before lifting your suit close to your nose. "Ah, man.."

The city really got to it tonight.

You tossed your mask into the hamper in your closet as you started wrangling out of your suit. You've been meaning to make adjustments to your suit since your arm muscle has only grown, but you hadn't, which left it a bit tight to get out of sometimes.

Lucky for you, you never had people drop by unannounced, so you could always take your time-

"Y/N is that you- OH MY GOD!"

You turned towards the voice of your brother as the top half of your suit fell, showing off you in your black sports bra and toned abdomen.

"Peter!" You yelled as he threw his hands over his eyes. "I didn't know. I'm sorry!" He shouted as he went to run out the door but hit your wall instead, causing him to fall to the floor, knocked out.

An hour later, as you moved your clothes from the wash to the dryer, Peter woke up. And after scolding him about not knocking, you and him got to work on Dr. Ohnn's paper.

But with your exhausted brain and body. Plus Peter's... mild concussion, you two didn't get far. So, just as you were about to suggest calling it for the night, your roommate came home.

Where she was or who she was with was always a mystery to you.

"Hey, losers!" Michelle-Jones, aka MJ, greeted you and Peter as she ran to grab the TV remote sitting on the table. She clicked it on and found the local news channel. "MJ, what are you-" She held up a finger and shushed your brother. "Look!" She pointed to the screen as a reporter was standing in front of a run-down apartment building that was on fire. "It's the fifth one this month!" MJ stated. "Everything thinks I'm crazy, but I know insurance fraud when I see it."

You and Peter weren't sure how to continue.

"Okay..." You started. "What's your point?" You questioned, hoping your roommate and friend was going somewhere with this. "Obviously, someone is doing something very illegal."

"Okay..." Peter said. "What can we do about it?"

"We can't do anything about it. But someone here can." MJ started motioning her head towards you, making you sigh. "MJ. I've told you multiple times. The pictures were a summer thing. I don't take their pictures anymore!" MJ rolled her eyes. Clearly not believing you. "Whatever you say..." She narrowed her eyes at you. "Spider!"

Before you could argue back, MJ got up and went to the fridge before taking a box of pizza to her room. "I'm gonna crash. Night."

"I brought that pizza..." Peter quietly said as you collapsed onto the couch. "You were gonna give it to her anyways." You turn your head to Peter. "Was not!" He defends, but you see through him. "You've had a crush on her for the last year, so please let's be honest here."

Peter closed his mouth and then said: "You're the one not being honest with her."

"Dude."

"Sorry," Peter mumbled. "It's just she's going to find out on her own if you don't tell her." He whispered. You nodded. "I know. I know. But you and I both know that the fewer people that know, the less I have to worry about. The less people get hurt."

Peter wore a sad smile on his face. "You're right. I.. I just hate lying to her."

You looked at Peter as he brought his knees close to his chest on the other end of the couch. "I'm sorry, Pete." He nodded. He knew it was easier for you to do this if the less people knew about your other life, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could lie to MJ.

The following morning, after Peter returned to his dorm, you woke up late.

Apparently, in your sleepy daze, you hit 730 into your calculator app and not your alarm clock application. On top of that, you forgot to charge your phone, so as you panicked to get ready for the day, you quickly put in the cable to charge.

You grabbed your closest pair of jeans and threw on your school sweater, all while grabbing the textbooks scattered on your desk.

You ran into the kitchen and grabbed your last pair of pop tarts before heading to the door and slipping on your vans. You zipped up your bag and bolted out the door.

However, you immediately reentered your dorm, ran into your room, snatching your glasses and phone, now on 16%.

_

The lecture hall was full by the time you entered. The booming of the door attracted the attention of everyone.

Your brother included. Your eyes found his, and he gave you a weak smile as you sat at the first seat you could find.

When you pulled out your textbook and looked up, you saw Dr. Connors sigh before he continued speaking. "As I was saying. Yes, just because the holidays are upon us doesn't mean we won't have our test on Friday. I want something fun to grade over the break, people." He gave an awkward chuckle that few students, including you, gave back. "Oh, and don't forget. Your papers on physics are still due by the end of the school year. If you've forgotten... well, there's a reason I'm tenured, and this class lasts all year." He smiled and proceeded to dismiss everybody.

Everybody but you.

"Y/N Parker. A moment."

You knew it was coming, but you kept your head up high. You look to Peter, and he nods. He'd see you after class.

"Dr. Connors, look, I'm sorry about being late-"

"Late?" He cut you off. "You missed the whole dang class." You sighed and adjusted the bag around your shoulder. "Look..." Dr. Connors started. "You're a bright student. I've seen it firsthand, but lately... it's like you're not even here. Your grades have been steadily declining. You always appear exhausted."

You nodded. "I'm trying. I wanna be here!"

"Then be here." He said before he sighed. "You still haven't told me what your physics paper is on."

You perked up at that. "I plan on doing it about fusion and Dr. Otto Octavius."

Dr. Connors sighs. "Well, planning is not a major at this university." He walks past you and goes to the giant board in the middle of the room. He then stops. "Octavius is a friend of mine. Better do your research, Parker." You nod. "I'd really hate to see you fail."

"I don't want to, sir." You say, making Connors look at you with a sad smile on his face. "I can pass along your information to Octavius. Whether he contacts you or not is up to him. After that..." He looks at you. "It's up to you, Parker."

When you exited the lecture hall, you found Peter talking to your mutual friend Ned. The closer you got, the more you saw Peter panic and tell Ned to "shut up."

"What's going on?" Peter shook his head as if nothing was wrong. You looked to Ned, who sheepishly looked away. "Ned." You drug his name out.

Ned took one look at you and broke. "I think I might know about the fires around the city!" He smiled and looked excited. It paid to have Ned be the guy in the chair.

You looked at Peter. "You didn't want him to tell me?" Peter sighed. "Y/N, you have so much going on already we don't need you." He gestures with his hand as if he was shooting a web. "Right now. Besides, you haven't even started on your essay, and you just got in trouble with Connors!"

Before you could defend your lack of action, you get interrupted.

"Hey guys!"

Immediately, your stress melted away as you looked down at Kate Bishop. Captain of the Archery Team. Your friend and study partner.

Oh, and your crush.

Katherine Elizabeth Bishop.

"Hey Kate!" You said a little too excitedly, something that everyone caught on to. Thankfully, they chose not to make a big deal out of it. "Hey, Y/N." She looked at you and smiled.

There goes the butterflies.

"So what are you three amigos talking about?" She bounced on her heels as she looked away from you and to the other two. "Oh, nothing!" Peter said. "I don't think you're allowed to say that?" Ned added with a confused face.

"Doesn't sound like nothing," Kate said, making Peter glance at you. "Sounds like Y/N is getting in trouble with Connors." She replied as she turned to you with a teasing smile. "Let me guess..." She made a thinking face. "Too busy studying for our History test?"

History test!! Oh crap, that is Friday!

"Okay, based on the look I just gained, you forgot." You nodded. Kate made a hmm noise but kept her head towards you as she thought.

"Shit," Ned spoke up. "Peter, we gotta go, or we'll be late!" Peter looked at his watch and came to the same conclusion. "Gotta go! See you, Y/N! Bye, Kate!" Peter and Ned took off running down the hall and out the doors before they sprinted across the courtyard.

"What class do they have?" Kate asked.

"Robotics."

"Sounds about right." She said. "We should probably get going." Kate smiled and gestured her head in the general direction of your History class with Kate. "Don't worry about the test," Kate said as you two walked side by side. "You always do just fine." You shrugged her compliment off.

Kate noticed. "But I was thinking if you want..." You looked at Kate and noticed her fingers interlocking with one another. "Maybe you could come to my dorm to study some more. Besides, I still need help on the laws and how they changed once the Sokovian Accords were ratified."

You and Kate had always hung out in mutual gatherings and settings. You two were good friends, but you had never been to her dorm.

On top of that. Alone.

You suddenly felt very warm and wary of your every move.

"That sounds great!" You managed to say. "When were you thinking?"

Kate thought. If it were up to her, you'd come over tonight, but Kate wasn't sure what her roommate Cassie was doing. Plus, she and Clint had a hot new lead to follow up on. "Ummm, is it cool if I text you?"

You nodded. "Sounds great." You smiled widely and pushed the door to your History class open. Letting Kate walk in first. You and Kate walked to your seats and sat beside one another.

"Shit." You heard Kate mumble when she opened her bag. "You okay?" You asked. "Uh yeah.." She bit her lip. A habit you noticed that she only got when she was embarrassed. "What's wrong?" You asked when you tore your eyes away from her chewed-on pink lips.

Kate sighed when her lips parted. "I forgot my textbook. I thought I packed after Clint- Clint-on Clinton and I got back from Archery, but I guess I didn't." Kate didn't look your way.

She was now warm and aware of every move she made.

"Hey, I surprisingly remembered mine." You pulled yours out. "We can share." You moved it in between the two of you. "Really?" She charmingly lifted her eyebrows. "Really." You said.

Kate let out a little cheer and wrapped an arm around you. "You're a lifesaver!"

If only she knew.

Kate didn't remove her arm from around you as quick as she usually would have; instead, you could feel her hand slide up your muscles to your shoulder.

Kate had been noticing your muscle growth as of late but didn't know where it came from...

Eventually, Kate removed her touch from you.

Yet you still felt her.

"It's no big deal." You said about sharing the textbook. But you and Kate both knew that based on your actions recently, you remembering to bring your book or not falling asleep in class was a miracle.

This was Kate's first time forgetting a book, and she could sense Clint's disappointed sigh.

Kate smiled as she watched your fingers turn the corners of the page in the textbook. Her eyes lifted to your fingers, to your sweater, and up to your face. She watched your side profile as you silently read a paragraph to yourself. She only stopped when you looked her way and hid a smile when you pushed up your glasses. "What's up?" You quietly asked.

"Do you want to come to my archery practice tomorrow?" Kate whispered back.

Kate wasn't sure what you had going on in your life. You and her were close but not close, like with Peter, Ned, and MJ. So she never pushed.

Plus, she liked you and didn't want to ruin what you two might have.

But when you said, "Yeah! That sounds awesome!" Like a dork, Kate smiled.

dividers by @/benkeibear

[jewish-ship-showdown]

Ships that have already qualified (read before submitting):

Jude Lizowski/Jonesy Garcia

Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand/Carlos Reyes

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)/Gwen Stacey

Willow Rosenberg/Winifred "Fred" Burkle

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Susan Ivanova/Marcus Cole

Kate Kane (Batwoman)/Renee Montoya

Barry B. Benson/Vanessa Bloome

Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago

Willow Rosenberg/Tara Maclay

Jack Zimmermann/Eric "Bitty" Bittle

Justin "Ransom" Oluransi/Adam "Holster" Birkholtz

Danny/Reuven

Larissa "Lara" Bogdan/Jasmine

Kelsey Pokly/Isabella "Stacks" Alvarado

Rebecca Bunch/Audra Levine

Rebecca Bunch/Greg Serrano

Rebecca Bunch/Nathaniel Plimpton

Samantha "Sam" Manson/Danniel "Danny" Fenton

Bruce Wayne (Batman)/Selina Kyla (Catwoman)

Bruce Wayne (Batman)/Clark Kent (Superman)

Clark Kent (Superman)/Lois Lane

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Leah/Chanan

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Marvin/Whizzer

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Perchik/Hodel

Tzeitel/Motel

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Rachel Berry/Noah Puckerman

Fiddleford McGucket/Stanford Pines

Cristina Yang/Owen Hunt

Cristina Yang/Preston Burke

Levi Schmidt/Nico Kim

Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam

James Wilson/Gregory House

The Baker and/The Baker's Wife

Kim Possible/Ron Stoppable

The Jewish People/The Shabbat Bride

Alec Hardison/Parker

Max Eisenhardt (Magneto)/Charles Xavier (Professor X)

Steve Rogers (Captain America)/James "Bucky" Barnes

Arnold "Arnie" Roth/Michael Bech

Arnold "Arnie" Roth/Steve Rogers (Captain America)

Billy Kaplan (Wiccan)/Teddy Altman (Hulkling)

Bobby Drake (Iceman)/Hank McCoy (Beast)

Bobby Drake (Iceman)/Johnny Storm (The Human Torch)

Layla El Faouly/Mark Spector (Moon Knight)

Matthew Hawk (Two-Gun Kid II)/Clint Barton (Hawkeye)

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)/Betty Brant

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)/Eugene "Flash" Thompson

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)/ Felicia Hardy

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)/ Harry Osborn

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)/Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)/Mary Jane "MJ" Watson

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)/Wade Wilson (Deadpool)

Steve Rogers/Bernadette "Bernie" Rosenthal

Wanda Maximoff/The Vision

Midge Maisel/Susie Myerson

Hal Emmerich (Otacon)/Solid Snake

Casey Goldberg-Calderon/Lunella Lafayette

Fran Fine/Max Sheffield

Ben Gross/Devi Vishwakumar

Winston Schmidt/Cece Parekh

David Jacobs/Jack Kelly

Seth Cohen/Summer Roberts

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Anon's Mom/Dad

The person reading this & their partner

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Danielle/Maya

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David Rose/Patrick Brewer

James T Kirk/S'chn T'gai Spock

Worf Rozhenko/Jadzia Dax

Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla

Brian Jeeter/Krejjh

Bobby Singer/Rufus Turner

Jonah Simms/Amy Sosa

Reish Lakish/Rabbi Yochanen

King David/Yonatan

Devorah/Barak

Moses/Tzipporah

Ruth/Naomi

Yaakov/The Angel

Rowan Roth/Neil Mcnair

Klaus Hargreeves/Dave Katz

Cecil Palmer/Carlos The Scientist

Josh Lyman/Donna Moss

Little Ash/Uriel

Lucille "Lucy" Kensington/Dr. Edison "Ed" Tucker

Fox Mulder/Dana Scully

Anshel/Avigdor

Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer

Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch)/Jericho Drumm

Bruce Wayne (Batman)/Shondra Kinsolving

Bruce Wayne (Batman)/Talia Al Ghul

Ben Grimm (The Thing)/Alicia Masters

Velma Dinkley/Daphne Blake

Velma Dinkley/Marcie Fleach

Didi Pickles/Stu Pickles

Velma Dinkley/Coco Diablo

Babushka (Tatiana)/Dedushka (Ivan)

Kitty Pryde/Illyana Rasputin

Natasha Romanoff/Wanda Maximoff

Marc Spector (Moon Knight)/Clint Barton (Hawkeye)

Hillel/Shammai

S'chn T'gai Spock/James T Kirk/Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy

S'chn T'gai Spock/Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy

Frankie Bergstein/Grace Hanson

Annie Edison/Jeff Winger

Maxine Myers/Paula Cohen

Baby Houseman/Johnny Castle

Tevye/Golde

Michael "Mike" Wazowski/Celia Mae

Talmudic couple having gay sex in the attic

Tim Drake/Kon El (Conner Kent)

Violet Baudelaire/Quigley Quagmire

Reuben Kent/Feliks Kaufmann

Anshel/Avigdor/Hadass

Amram/Zelikman

Anshel/Hadass

SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL MAY 8, 2023 @ 12:00 AM EDT

[catnipkdodowrites]

Clint Barton and Midoriya Izuku deserve good things, and here’s why.

Look, I may have an agenda in saying this but in Marvel x MHA crossovers I fully believe Clint Barton and/or Kate Bishop should get to interact with Midoriya at any opportunity, because there is so much narrative potential! (But especially Clint because he’s my favorite. Did I mention I might have an agenda?) Have them interact please, I am begging you! Even if it’s just for one scene and has no real influence on the plot, or if it’s just Midoriya finding out about Hawkeye's existence and getting excited! Midoriya deserves to have quirkless role models, okay!? (The same goes for Iron Man and other characters who rely on their skills and intellect, but I am the Ultimate Hawkeye Fangirl, alright?) 

If you took these characters and stayed true to their canon personalities (or as true as you can with Marvel comic continuities), had these two characters meet, and wrote out a scene with them in it, both characters could benefit from each other and would have a good relationship if their canon characters ever got to interact. Conversely, if you tweaked their characters a bit or just one of those characters or went with a different canon version of one of those characters they would make excellent foils to each other. They have a lot in common, and there’s so much untapped potential between these two. So much untapped potential there are like five fics on Ao3 tagged as the two of them having an interaction significant enough to be worth tagging. FIVE. 

Disclaimer, I believe you can and should write whatever you want for the most part, opinions be damned, but some of the phrasing I use in this post may seem like I’m trying to dictate how others should write MHA x Marvel crossovers. Please understand I am not trying to sound like an asshole, I am just very autistic about both these pieces of media and I express my opinions in very specific language.

I’m going to focus on Clint for the purposes of this rant because… look at my icon for Christ’s sake. Plus, I may or may not have an agenda. Well, okay, the actual reason is that I think Clint and Midoriya interactions have more potential than Kate and Midoriya, but it’s like comparing the value of platinum to gold. Both are extremely valuable, but one is more valuable than the other. Now, please, allow me to explain. (Significant word vomit incoming, 4700+ words, there are footnotes at the end plus a TL;DR.)

Look, Clint is literally just a guy who works his ass off. Sure, he’s a super-talented marksman but that talent would be meaningless if he didn’t constantly work for it! Midoriya and Hawkeye are both surrounded by people with extraordinary/supernatural abilities for significant parts of their stories even if Midoriya does get superpowers. Both of them get to where they are in their stories through sheer determination and hard work, even if it was for wildly different purposes. This applies even more so in fics where Midoriya stays quirkless! They are the powerless heroes in worlds filled with heroes who have powers! Characters like Black Widow, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Falcon are way closer to having powers than Hawkeye. Widow was enhanced by the Red Room program, Iron Man and Ant-Man are defined by their gear, and Falcon... it changes from media to media. Sometimes he has a psychic connection to an actual falcon named Redwing, other times his gear is a lot more advanced, and sometimes both. Iron Man has infected himself with nanites to gain a form of technopathy in multiple stories! (1) Hell, Spider-Man was originally Marvel’s “Everyman” character but Clint sniped that title right out from under him. Few things highlight how defining Normalcy is for Clint better than the opening panels from Hawkeye 2012 Issue #1 (also I will take any and every excuse to promo Matt Faction and David Aja’s Hawkeye it’s just so good.)

No matter what, Hawkeye has always been the normal guy on a roster of people with superpowers, super-intellect, fancy weaponry, and magic, and I love it! Ironically, that’s what makes him and Kate stand out, their normalcy. 

Side note, have you ever fired a bow? I have. (Did I mention I have autism and am obsessed with Clint?) It’s fucking hard. Forget aiming and hitting your target, have you considered repeatedly pulling back and holding the bow steady for an entire battle? Ouch ouch owie owie ow, my fucking muscles. The human body was not designed to handle that kind of constant repetitive motion, Clint and Kate have arm muscles for days, not to mention the dedication it takes to have aim that good. Aiming with a bow is hard. Sometimes Clint is depicted as being such an excellent marksman he uses the bow and arrow specifically to flex how good his aim is. There are other reasons  (Versatility of trick arrows, non-lethality, having been an archer since he was very, very young) but this is objectively the funniest one. He’s also used coins and pebbles when he needs to make a shot that an arrow is unsuited for or when he doesn’t have his bow, i.e. in his civvies. 

In fact, Hawkeye (2012) focuses almost exclusively on what Clint gets up to when he’s not superheroing. In the first issue, Clint gets out of the hospital and heads to his apartment. Clint can afford the rent jacks because of his Avengers and Shield pay, his neighbors cannot. We are explicitly shown the landlord mafioso Ivan evicting a single mother of two after tripling her rent. (2) We are shown Clint witnessing this. He knows that neighbor and she trusts him enough to have him double-check the lease to make sure that what the landlord is doing is legal. (It is.) Clint cares about his neighbors, enough that he regularly attends the semi-potluck grill night they have on the roof of the building. In fact, he doesn’t regularly eat except when he’s with the Avengers or on potluck night. So what does he do? 

He puts on a cheap suit and tie, heads over to an underground casino, and he gives a slice of pizza to a dog on the street. This dog belongs to the guards of the underground casino. He convinces them to let him in and he hunts down the landlord. He drops a duffle bag and gives the mafia a shit-ton of money in a duffle bag to pay rent for all of his neighbors tax-free. The mafia refuse the deal because they are jacking up the rent so they can evict people for not paying rent on time. This is because they want to sell the building. Clint then beats up the mafia until they accept the money. (3)  Well, okay, not exactly. The mafia attack him first, but Clint uses a playing card as a projectile to disorient one of the guards with a gun, and room devolves into chaos. 

Clint gets thrown out the front window of the laundromat and runs for his life. As the outer guards fire on Clint, the dog he gave pizza attacks them for it. They then throw the dog into traffic and he turns around to beat the shit out of them because, and I quote “What kinda man throws a dog into traffic? *punches sunglasses off of tracksuit Mafioso* Seriously I ask you.” Clint takes a Nickle out of his pocket and throws it with enough force to shatter the door windows of the car that’s about to hit the dog in a desperate attempt to get the driver to swerve. The dog still gets hit.

Oh yeah, allow me to introduce you to Hawkeye 2012 Issue #1 page 4. 

Unrelated note, Faction and Aja do a masterful job of storytelling in issue 1. The story is told out of order, but the proper context is given at the perfect moments so you can easily piece the story together, most of the flashbacks and flash-forwards are one-page long, when they aren’t things from one time period seamlessly blend with another, and the entire color pallet changes to signify what point in the timeline the panels are occurring... and that’s only issue 1! I am refraining from doing a keyboard smash here, as that is the only thing that can properly convey how much I love Hawkeye 2012.

Anyways, he takes the dog to the vet, and the tracksuit mafia show back up while he’s in the waiting room. He once again rocks their shit, and they take it outside. (4) We cut to Ivan sitting in a cab while Clint is outside. It’s raining. Ivan has a handkerchief to his bloody nose and- actually, I don’t think a cliff-notes does this justice. I’ll transcribe the dialogue below here because my attempts to do a scan of the page came out poorly and I’m unsure if there’s a high-quality scan online, just know you’re missing some of the pacing of the scene.

Ivan: “Bro, what kind of Avenger does this? I broke no laws, bro. Allowed to raise rents. Is touch luck for you and your friends but I know my rights.”

Clint: “Hold that thought, ya Tracksuit Dracula. You asked about the Avengers. Y’wanna know the best part about being an Avenger? having Captain America around you all the time He just-- the guy brings out the best in people. You... want to be good when he’s around. You really do.”

“Ivan, Look around you real quick. Because, right now? Captain America ain’t here. I’m going to pay you everything everyone in that building owes you and another 12.5 for the building outright. And that’s it. Negotiations’re over. You wanted to sell it? I want to buy it. I take care of my people and you get rich. The end.”

Ivan: “I had buyer.”

Clint: “I don’t care.”  

He turns to the cab driver, hands him a wad of cash, and tells him to take Ivan to JFK. Fast. The vet tech calls Clint back inside. The dog has a broken pelvis, broken leg, two broken ribs, and lost an eye, but will recover fairly well with proper care and rest. Clint pets the dog while he’s laying on the table after surgery. Clint keeps the dog after this. The name on the collar says “Arrow,” but Clint decides to come up with something better.

This whole story is really just Clint trying to do the right thing as best he can. At first, he’s just going for the first solution to the problem that he thinks of, but he adapts once Ivan turns him down. He saves Lucky because A. he likes dogs. and B. the dog saved him. Hell, the whole reason Lucky tried to save him was that he gave Lucky a piece of pizza because, again, he likes dogs and Lucky just happened to be standing there, looking cute. He cares about his neighbors. In later issues of Hawkeye 2012 Clint repeatedly is shown helping out his neighbors or just providing entertainment at the potluck. 

Clint also had a really, really rough childhood. His dad was an alcoholic, his parents died in a car crash because of that, before they died his dad beat both him and his older brother Barney, he and his brother ran away to join the circus, Clint was beaten and left for dead by one of his parental figures after he caught him stealing money from the ticket box, his relationship with his brother really fell apart after that- and that's the cliff-notes version! It varies somewhat based on continuity but the most consistent part is runaway orphan joining the circus. Personally, when writing Marvel stuff, I adapt it to “Foster care was shitty and my brother and I wanted to stay together, so we ran away, and the circus happened to take us in,” to modernize it a bit.

So in short, Clint is kind, determined, and has had a lot of hardship in his life, particularly his childhood. Hmm, kind, determined, a lot of hardship during childhood? Now, who does this remind me of? Oh yeah, fucking Midoriya!

A huge part of what I think makes MHA so interesting is that its main character is fairly untraditional as far as Shonen protagonists go. Hell, he’s kinda untraditional as far as superhero protagonists go in general. Midoriya is defined by his kindness, he is emotional, he wants to save people above almost everything else. The most iconic battles Midoriya has been involved in thus far are motivated heavily by his drive to save. Think Muscular, Overhaul, and Gentle. (Kouta, Eri, and Eri’s chance to smile again.) (I’ve only seen up to Season Four, although I’ve seen manga spoilers. Don’t ask.) Funnily enough, this all reminds me somewhat of Hawkeye’s traditional origin story. I shall now give you the cliff-notes version that spans multiple years of comics. (At least I think it does, I’d have to double-check and I only have so much time, y’know.)

Clint is inspired by Iron Man to use his skills to fight crime instead of just being a circus entertainer. Unfortunately for Clint, on his first outing after he stops a thief and picks up the money they stole to return it, he gets mistaken for the original thief. Then Iron Man shows up and beats him up. Clint is forced to go on the run, falls in with Black Widow, becomes a recurring Iron Man villain with Widow, falls in love with Widow, gets kind of depressed when Widow disappears (actually recalled to Moscow and reprogrammed), saves Jarvis (the Avenger’s butler, originally just Stark’s Alfred) from a muggers, gets Jarvis’s help to demonstrate to the Avengers that he’s trying to change, and has been an Avengers mainstay ever since. Clint later played a significant part in breaking through Black Widow’s programming and helping her defect to Shield, saving her.

It’s a very unconventional origin story. Redemption arcs have been done, but not many involve wanting to do the right thing from the beginning of a character’s story. My personal favorite adaptation of this backstory is from the cartoon Avengers Assemble, where Clint was a member of the Circus of Crime, but never felt good about it. He triggered the alarm on their biggest heist ever, getting them arrested by Shield, but Fury saw something in him and gave him a chance to make amends, becoming Hawkeye. I understand I am very biased on this though, so I will not argue for it being the best. That aside, it’s unconventional mainly because of how integral to the Avengers Hawkeye later became to the point where the Avengers have very few adaptions without him. So many story arcs involving Clint are based in his desire to do the right thing. All of Hawkeye 2012. His backstory. Widow’s defection. His near divorce over his wife killing someone. (It was justified and accidental.) 

There’s another parallel between Midoriya and Clint one could draw, although it depends somewhat on your interpretation of quirklessness in the MHA world. If you think about it, both Clint and Midoriya are disabled. Clint is Deaf. Depending on the continuity, he had progressive hearing loss as a child, had surgery to fix his hearing when he was older (11?), then his ears are injured in a fight, making him lose about 80% of his hearing. Most depictions of Clint’s deafness that I’ve seen stem from Fraction’s Hawkeye Issue #19 but Clint being deaf and wearing hearing aids dates back to 1983 and there’s some comic history after that as to why it didn’t become a frequent part of Hawkeye’s depictions until Fraction but we’re not getting into that right now. (5)

Ignoring Red Shoe theory, (I don’t subscribe to it but it’s still an interesting premise) the interpretation of being quirkless as a disability is a completely valid reading of the text! The pity Midoriya gets after his diagnosis, people treating him as lesser and weaker, his mother apologizing to him, these are all things people in the disabled community have dealt with! I’m not even pulling from fanon, that’s all canon stuff there. Clint has frequently used ASL and lipreading in comics since 2015! He’s worn hearing aids in various depictions on and off since 1983, when he first became a deaf character! He is disabled and a total badass! If you’re doing a story where Midoriya becomes a quirkless hero, well there’s a hero in the public eye whose main thing is trick arrows, i.e. support gear! In addition, the disability interpretation of Quirklessness would be an excellent parallel to utilize in a story that mentions or features disability advocacy.. And this is ignoring the possibility of them both being quirkless in a blended reality crossover. They could bond over having to grow up with quirklessness in a world that discriminates against the quirkless! Midoriya could have grown up idolizing the world-famous archer! 

On the other hand, if your Midoriya has OfA, Clint becomes a foil to Midoriya and a great one at that. Clint is a badass member of the Avengers who doesn’t have powers but rather kicks ass with trick arrows and a weapon from the Paleolithic era, plus some martial arts training. He’s what Midoriya could have been. Hell, Hawkeye showing up in the MHA dimension asking for help and hanging out with the next generation to give them some pointers while he’s there could lead to Midoriya doing some serious soul-searching. This isn’t a very far-fetched idea, he mentored Kate Bishop and has led several branches of the Avengers over the years, primarily the West Coast Avengers.

Another way Clint serves as a foil to Midoriya is his impulsiveness and brashness. Clint is generally trying to do the right thing, but he doesn’t always think it through. Again, the mafia thing. His origin story. The serious clashes he had with Cap when he first joined the Avengers. The times he’s been seriously tempted to kill his abusive father figure Swordsmaster. His tendency to flirt with every woman he meets. (6) The shotgun wedding with Mockingbird in the eighties comics (the issue he marries her in is also the issue he is deafened in.) I could go on. To contrast he’s also insanely loyal, once you've earned his respect. (Cap, but Widow as well. And Mockingbird. Kate Bishop.) 

On the subject of Ronin, that gives you a pretty good excuse to put Clint n Japan, he could be taking care of unfinished business for the previous holder of the Ronin moniker. (7) This works best in a blended universe of course, but could be tied into a dimension travel fic as well.

But back to the foil thing, Clint does tend to act on his anger as well. This is an excellent contrast to Midoriya. When Midoriya is emotional and expressive, it’s generally his sadness and stress, or his excitement. When Clint is expressive, it’s anger or self-loathing. Parallels, people! Parallels!

Another parallel/way they foil each other is how unhinged they can be. Look, Midoriya grabbed onto All Might’s leg, he rushed the Slime Villain to save Bakugo, he counteracted Eri’s rewind by breaking his bones faster than she could erase him. But Clint is his own brand of crazy. I mean, you have to be pretty nuts to fight superhumans with a bow and arrow, but sometimes Clint takes it to another level. One of the craziest things he’s done, though, is use a combination of a Life Model Decoy, a small-scale time machine, and careful planning to masquerade as his alternate persona Ronin while leaving most of his coworkers and friends under the impression that he was not, in fact doing that. He has on several occasions and in across several media fired a shrunk-down Ant-Man on an arrow (Pym and Lang, although this originated with Lang), in one incarnation had a distraction arrow that when triggered unfurled a “Bang!” flag, frequently utilizes boomerang arrows, and well, you read my summary of Hawkeye Issue 1.

Listen, if you don’t want to write Hawkeye into your story that’s completely valid but the opportunity is right there! It just- it’s just a pet peeve when someone does a hybrid universe and just writes Clint as having a “Perfect Aim” quirk. It’s not a deal-breaker for reading a fic if the rest of the story is interesting enough but it always hurts my heart because that’s just such a disservice to his character. I would take him having literally any other quirk over that. Because his whole deal is that he’s just a guy who’s really, really, good with a bow. That’s what makes him such a badass to me. He’s got a good head for tactics, some martial arts training, and perfect aim that he has cultivated his entire life. If you give him perfect aim as an actual power you have proven to me that you fundamentally do not understand the character you are working with. (Related note, I have mixed feelings about the version of him that appears in the Ultimate universe. Not a point I wish to delve into at this time, but worth mentioning nevertheless.) And you don’t have to understand him write a good story, I just… it’s just a waste of potential. And comics are so vast and the MCU version is so bland I don’t blame anyone for not knowing his character that well! It’s understandable! I’ve long since expected it since I became a Hawkeye fan!

I have read fics where the author is doing perfectly, I am completely engaged by and loving whatever universe they have set up, they have written these characters in such a way that it feels like a totally believable version of how their stories could have gone, and then BAM! Marksmanship quirk for Clint and I just... have to take a break and come back later. I understand this is not a normal reaction, but I am incapable of being normal about him, so here we fucking are. It’s just such a waste of potential. 

Listen, you have every right to do what you want with your fic, but I promise you your story will be more interesting if you just let Clint’s character exist in the way he was meant to, as a guy who’s super dedicated to his training and very skilled. I would be happy if there was just a moment, particularly in fics where dimension travel is involved, if whoever Midoriya’s mentor-figure-of-the-day is was thinking about how to deal with Midoriya’s frankly abysmal self-esteem, and essentially went “Hm, my favorite sunshine green bean really needs some encouragement and positive quirkless role model. What if I told him about the quirkless badasses from my reality who, to my knowledge, haven’t been enhanced by magic/genetic modification/cybernetics and still go toe-to-toe with people who have those things! Frequently! I bet he’d think they’re really cool and would maybe be able to hold his head a little higher knowing there are people like him out there who are heroes. He’d really start to believe that he can be a hero too and that he’s just as capable as his peers!”

Or, or, or! in blended reality fics, if Clint had a quirk that was just something kinda dumb like, I dunno, Binocular Eyes, and Clint just uses the bow instead, (Or he’s openly quirkless, IDGAF, just not Perfect Aim please for the love of god) and mentor-figure-of-the-day has a similar train of thought but instead of just telling Midoriya about them they cash in a favor or two that Clint owes them to have Clint meet with Midoriya. And Clint, being the somewhat kind-hearted person that he is, would absolutely be a good sport about it! He would encourage Midoriya! He’s been a mentor and leader before and encouraged other members of the Avengers to guide the Young Avengers rather than try to shut them down!

Alternatively, and this is only something you could pull off in a fic where Clint is a central focus and not part of the backdrop, Clint is faking having a “Perfect Aim” quirk. Or several of his colleagues are aware of it in order to help him conceal it, and mentor-figure-of-the-day spills it in while swearing Midoriya to absolute secrecy. Clint himself telling Midoriya would be really cute though, and perfect for a Mentor fic! Or Clint stumbling onto Bakugo (8) and co harrassing Midoriya and telling them off/threatening them! He would do that, he’s impulsive enough! Clint makes bad jokes, Midoriya is kind and sunshine incarnate, they would get along! 

There’s so much, I could go on and on and just- Oh goddammit, I was saving Clint and Midoriya interactions for my long fic that eventually devolves into has dimension travel as a part of the plot but I guess I’m adding a fic where Clint properly mentors Midoriya to my fucking to-do list. I only have myself to blame. Happy Valentine’s Day to me.

This is a cross-media thing too! It happened in Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Y’know, the one where he, Rhodey, and Pepper are all teens at the same high school and Tony is basically this world’s Spider-Man! Actually this is on brand for Armored Adventures, having watched that show. Very chaotic storylines, condenses like decades of comic books storylines into two seasons while staying unquestionably rated TV-Y7. It was actually pretty good, was the first animated series to feature Pepper Potts as Rescue, and also contains one of the best modern adaptions of Hawkeye’s original introduction. I’m not kidding. Oh, and the Avengers are formed at the end of the series, in a sense. I think they just wanted to leave themselves with some potential future storylines in case they got renewed past a second season while still having a satisfying ending. They did not get renewed.

Her name is Simone, in issue #12 of Fraction’s Hawkeye Clint watches cartoons with her kids while she uses Lucky as a pillow. He falls asleep watching the cartoons with them and Simone pulls a blanket over him as she takes her kids back to their apartment. Oh yeah and the whole thing takes place during Kwanzaa because the issue is a winter holiday special that uses the cartoon to tell a story that’s an allegory for Clint’s role in the superhero community. Very wholesome moment, I love Simone.

This marks the point part-way through writing the first draft of that paragraph, I went upstairs to grab my Hawkeye volumes to reread issue 1 and brought all four of them back to my desk to keep them on hand for easy reference. I also wished to make the point I was writing at that time more articulate. I also brought down my Hawkeye vs Deadpool volume and Marvel-verse Hawkeye volume. I had no intention of referencing either of them I just like having all my Hawkeye comics in one place.

This is quite possibly one of the hottest Clint Barton moments ever. I’ll probably upload a scan of it sometime in the future but it ends with him pinning Ivan to the wall by the throat. The next page where he threatens Ivan into selling him the building is also pretty hot, but you’ve already seen the dialogue for that. Ah great, now I’m tempted to a make post ranking the hottest Clint Barton moments across all his different incarnations, for fucks sake.

I can talk comic history of Hawkeye and how Hawkeye has evolved as a character all fucking day. I vibrate with joy when I get to info-dump about this shit and vibrate with stress when I have to dial it back. When I am both talking about it and dialing back, I cease to vibrate as all of my focus goes into scientifically measuring out the maximum amount of info dumping I can get away with. Please ask me questions about Hawkeye, I beg you. I know so much about his many incarnations across different media and I am waiting for any excuse to talk about them or do more research.

His character evolves out of this but classic comics Hawkeye is all about the ladies, and he frequently has minor storylines involving his romantic endeavors. I can’t say I blame him, I’ve seen the women he rolls with. Unfortunately for him they never seem to go well.

The previous holder of the name was Kingpin’s daughter. It’s a long story.

I wanted to talk about using Clint as a foil to Bakugo and/or Todoroki with his impulsiveness/anger issues but having better control over it and being quirkless but I just did not have the energy or the time. Could also be a foil to Eraser or All Might as a mentor figure but I would have to think on that some more and my cats are getting between me and the keyboard. :/

TL;DR: Clint and Midoriya are both characters defined by their determination, their kindness, their lack of power in a world full of powers, and I just think that’s neat. 

[jihyocentric]

Was very busy procrastinating doing uni work, found this and oh twicevengers thoughts plaguing my mind yet again

tbh i'm probably only writing the blackwidow jihyo x hawkeye jeongyeon if i do get to write what i was thinking about writing (it would be a oneshot too).. but this is nice! i saw an edit that had jihyo as spider man and spidey doesn't fit her personality at all 🥲

[cherrycheolcoups]

WHO I WRITE FOR

alexander ‘tig’ trager [sons of anarchy]

filip ‘chibs’ telford [sons of anarchy]

juice ortiz [sons of anarchy]

happy lowman [sons of anarchy]

jax teller [sons of anarchy]

opie winston [sons of anarchy]

dean winchester [supernatural]

castiel [supernatural]

evan buckley [911]

eddie diaz [911]

aaron hotchner [criminal minds]

spencer reid [criminal minds]

derek morgan [criminal minds]

emily prentiss [criminal minds]

all camp counselors + travis hackett [the quarry]

arthur morgan [red dead redemption 2]

cullen rutherford [dragon age series]

alistair theirin [dragon age series]

morrigan [dragon age series]

solas [dragon age series]

the iron bull [dragon age series]

anders [dragon age series]

fenris [dragon age series]

sebastian vael [dragon age series]

leliana [dragon age series]

josephine montilyet [dragon age series]

cassandra pentaghast [dragon age series]

zevran arainai [dragon age series]

isabela [dragon age series]

merrill [dragon age series]

varric tethras [dragon age series]

garrett/marian hawke [dragon age series]

dorian pavus [dragon age series]

wolverine [x-men]

erik lehnsherr [x-men]

charles xavier [x-men]

iron man [mcu]

hawkeye [mcu]

black widow [mcu]

thor [mcu]

loki [mcu]

doctor strange [mcu]

spider man [mcu]

ant man [mcu]

nathan drake [uncharted]

sam drake [uncharted]

rafe adler [uncharted]

elena fisher [uncharted]

klaus hargreeves [umbrella academy]

diego hargreeves [umbrella academy]

seventeen [kpop]

monsta x [kpop]

exo [kpop]

ateez [kpop]

bts [kpop]

rick grimes [the walking dead]

negan [the walking dead]

carl grimes [the walking dead]

glenn rhee [the walking dead]

daryl dixon [the walking dead]

this is all i can think of for now! if there is a particular person/fandom that you want but don't see, please don't hesitate to ask me if it's something i write for!