#this is like a today occurrence not anything beforehand btw

[chagrin-roses]

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[fanfics4homoships]

Name Change Nerves (Part 1)

PART 1

So this is a Spideyson fanfic about him being biologically a Stark and coming out to the world, I hope you enjoy.

Peter is flamboyant and gay in this fic BTW.

It is such a small change when you really think about it, but this will affect Peters life forever. The problem is it isn't even anything that needs legal action, this has always been his name just nobody outside his family knew about it. You see, Peter has been known to the outside world as Peter Parker for his whole life. Everyone was under the illusion that his last name was Parker, that just is not the case. Peter Anthony Parker Stark is his legal birth given name, and that makes him the child to one of the richest and most influential people in America.  

He knows deep down that once this is out he will still be the same person, however, the idea that he could change his mind screaming at him in self-doubt and anxiety-ridden dreams. This is the secret worry he has been hiding from his family as soon as they told him when he turned 18, he would have to tell the world who he truly is. This isn't something they all want to do, if Peter could live his life out of the spotlight Tony would give anything to do that for his kid, but when that kid is inheriting a multi-billion dollar company and is the Queens vigilantly Spider-Man it is impossible to achieve.

Peter woke up at 6 am on Monday morning on his first day back at school, although he never wakes up early normally, Peter was excited because this was the year he was going to be himself fully. Peter stood up and turned off his alarm before making his bed again, he walked over to his ensuite bathroom to have a shower and facemask before getting dressed. As he stood in his walk-in wardrobe he picked out items to create his look, his Dad told him that since in a few months time it will be confirmed that he is a Stark he might as well dress, act, and look like one to spice things up in the media. Tony was very excited about the news talking about this new rich kid on the block and the speculations on their relations. So keeping that in mind Peter looked at himself in the body length mirror, he was wearing 6inch wedges in black with black skinny jeans. He has a Gucci belt and a science pun polo tucked in a french tuck, over the top he had a grey denim jacket over the top covered in patches on the back and on the front one that said "Gay-ish", he had a Sekonda black and navy blue watch on and a single piercing in his left lobe. He felt amazing, now to go to school and be self-conscious secretly all day. 

"Petey come down here and have your breakfast" he heard his Mom call from down the corridor.  He grabbed his pre-packed bag and walked out of his room and down the long hallway filled with half of his household family's rooms, stepping into the living room he smiled as he watched his crazy family getting ready for breakfast. Steve and Bucky had just gotten back from their morning run and now we’re sitting on the sofa with a bowl of cereal each, clint was sat in his nest (on top of the bookshelf in the corner of the room) he had a chocolate bar hanging out of his mouth and was cleaning his bow watching everything happening in the room. Sam and Pietro were sat on the sofa by the windows chatting and eating popcorn, Thor had been rummaging through cupboards looking for his pop tarts and Loki was seen putting 5 boxes of pop tarts under the sofa. Natasha and Wanda were having a long discussion with Bruce on the island waiting for their breakfast to be ready, Tony and Pepper were stood together over the hob making sausage, bacon and eggs for the people who wanted it. Peter was smiling widely to himself, he loves seeing his family together like this, especially since it wasn’t an everyday occurrence. 

“Hi everyone!” Peter beamed, he waved to everyone as he placed his backpack next to the lift for when he leaves. He walked over to the island and pulled out his chair sitting down. Tony turned around with a pan full of bacon and placed a lot onto the plate in front of Peter.

“Hey Kid, what car do you want to take to school today. You’ve got the entire garage as an option from now on.” Tony asked Peter turning to the other to place the rest of the bacon on the respective plates. Pepper was doing the same with the eggs and sausages smiling at her husband and son decided which car they were taking.

“I saw you have the Lamborghini Veneno in the back that you haven’t used much, do you think we could take that? It is really cool!” Peter smiles at his father continuing to eat his meal.

“Sure thing kid, I’ll drive you in today.” Tony ruffles Peters’s hair and went back to his food. Today was going to be full of changes and people staring so they might as well have some fun with it.

Time Skip To When They Are Pulling Up To School

Also, this is the car they are in if you want to know.



As Tony got closer and closer to the school grounds Peters confidence was slowly deteriorating, this morning he had told himself that he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks but now he is almost there, he just wants to curl up in a ball and hide from the world. This shift in mood was noticed straight away by Tony, Peter had stopped ranting about nothingness and was staring out the window only talking to respond to a question.

“Hey Peter, you’re going to be fine, you know that right? Ted and MJ will be there with you and I’m just one button away. It’s fine to be nervous, hell I’d be more worried if you weren’t.” Tony’s voice was soothing but also playfully joked to try and lighten his son’s spirits, he placed a hand on Peters’s knee squeezing slightly before taking it way to continue driving. 

“Thanks, dad. I know I’ll be fine I’m just nervous, I promise to call you if anything happens.” He turned towards Tony smiling and reached down to grab his backpack from next to his feet, they were just turning into the car parking area outside the front gates, Tony insisted earlier to drop him off right outside because as he puts it, “You might break your ankles wearing those shoes.” As they pulled up everyone around them turned to look at the expensive and unknown car, many even had taken their phone out to record and take photos. Luckily the windows were heavily tinted so nobody will be able to see or recognise Tony, Peter turned and gave his dad a big hug and said bye and that he loved him before opening up the passenger side door and stepping out.

When Peter got out he made sure not to look at anyone right away, he turned around and gave a small wave to Tony and shut the door waiting for him to drive off. Once Tony left he saw how many people were watching him, he stood up straight and kept his head up. Some advice Natasha came to mind and when he turned around to go inside he decided to follow it and it worked, Natasha told him if he is ever feeling nervous but all eyes are on him and he wants to look strong to think about killing or hurting the person you want to keep your head straight and don’t make eye contact. This makes everyone separate and not get in your way and makes you look very confident in yourself even if your not. So as Peter walked past everyone he thought about every single criminal he has stopped and the ones he will and strutted down the corridor, everyone was staring at him but he was too focused to care. He walked over to where his locker was and saw Ned standing there waiting for him, his face softened intently at the sight of his best friend. Once they got close enough to each other they started doing their handshake as normal.

“Hey, Ned! How have you been?” Peter said while opening up his locker to sort out his things for the day. Ned told him all about the holiday he had been on and the new lego set he was given, Peter loved to hear his friend talk about his life. Although the two had been best friends for years Peter was never able to talk fully about his family and was never allowed to take his friend around his, this was because Ned was terrible at keeping secrets and his safety previously had relied upon secrecy. Ned understood because he knew one day he would be told for now he just fantasised about the possible awesomeness of Peter's life. Before school started he had messaged Ned telling him today he would find out the secrets of his life, he promised he’d explain everything at lunch. Ned was talking about that now, his theories were ridiculous which amused Peter but what was the funniest thing was that Ned hadn’t even noticed his expensive clothing and some obvious giveaways such as the not released Stark Phone he held out in his hand.

The pair were walking towards their first lesson, it was chemistry together with Mr Cobbwell, they were meeting up with MJ in class beforehand. She already knew Peters secret having found out in her own way, luckily she kept it a secret and they had become even closer than before, they had even agreed to be each others wingman/woman. When they walked into class they greeted their teacher and went to sit next to MJ who was currently reading a book called ‘Surrounded By Idiots’ very fitting.

“Sup losers.” MJ put her bookmark in and turned to see her two friends. Peter sat next to her and Ned was across the table to them both, they were talking about pleasant nonsense as the class started to fill up. They stopped talking when Mr Cobbwell told everyone to be quiet for the register, this was the moment Peter had been dreading. On the school system, his name has been changed back to saying Stark and since there is also a Peter Andrews in this class Mr Cobbwell insists on saying both their first and last names. 

Peter sat nervously bouncing his leg viciously, Ned was giving him a strange look and MJ was trying to calm him down since she had already guessed what was about to happen. Mr Cobbwell was saying the names off the register and had just finished the P section, Ned noticed this and looked over at the teacher and back to Peter. Peter looked at him and smiles slightly whispering a simple “Wait for it.” this made Ned very excited.

“Amy Sitlock, Louise Sopper, Jake Sopper, oh is this correct?” Mr Cobbwell read off the names on the register stopping at Peter, Peter nodded his head shyly at his teacher and sat there in anticipation. This was the moment everyone was going to find out.

“Peter Stark.”

There were a few seconds of silence when he said those two words then an uproar of questions arose from the class all directed at Peter and only a few to Mr Cobbwell mainly checking that they heard him right. Ned looked like a deer in headlights for a few minutes before he jumped out of his seat and ran to hug Peter as hard as he could.

“Oh my, Thor! Oh my, Thor! I can’t believe this! You’re Mr Starks kid! I’m best friends with Iron Man's son!” Ned shouted not letting go of Peter until he finished and didn’t stop jumping up and down until the teacher told him to get back into his chair and for the class to quiet down so he could finish the register.

“Everyone Quiet!” his voice echoed throughout the room, he could be very serious if he needed to be. “ I’m sure you have lots of questions, however, it is up to Peter if he wishes to answer any and I expect you to respect his decision whatever it may be. I need to finish the register and then you can ask a few questions, only if that is okay with you Peter.” The class went silent looking at Peter in anticipation, they hoped he’d let them ask their questions now.

Peter sat up in sit properly now there were lots of eyes on him, he thought his answer for a second before deciding to let them question him. He didn’t want to get too swarmed at break and lunch today.

“You can ask questions but some answers might classified information so I’ll just say classified if that is the case and you can’t question further on that. If that okay?”

There was a chorus of agreements before it went silent again for the register, this was going to be a long day.

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[nekodracones]

How to Run a Team, as Instructed by A Shitty Leader

So you have a team.  You know that you need to recruit to replace the slackers. You know that you need to enforce rules and keep your remaining cats in line.  You know that you need to Exhibit Leadership Qualities.

But how?

At this point I should remind you that when I say ‘leader’, I mean that I have some really terrible innate leadership instincts, not that I actually ran teams into the ground by leading them.  If you read this post-

- I wasn’t exaggerating.  I had been leader of my team then for minutes at a time, when my leader forgot himself and accidentally promoted me on occasion.  Maybe that qualifies me for both definitions of the word!  

However, in the two years I helped to run my team, said team has had fewer than 5 teammates leave for a different team because they were dissatisfied with how things were in our team.

I should clarify that not all these points describe how we ran our team, but rather how I wish we could have.  It’s often not possible to stick to all these pointers; but we must all do the best we can.  I don’t help to run that team, now; I’m not even on that team.  Even so, I feel like the points below are mostly universally applicable and honestly pretty common-sense.  

Sometimes, we all just need a reminder.  Who better than this shitty leader who needed constant conscious introspection and reasoning to lead a team?

...---...

BASICS

1. Know your team.  Take the time to get to know your most active members, and then take the time to reach out to and speak to your less active members.  This helps to build a bond between you and your individual members.  It’s helpful to make your teammates feel like they can come to you when they have concerns.

2. Know your leadership.  Your officers, your leader- these are the people who will be supporting you in the weeks and months to come.  It is important to ensure that all of you can trust each other to come forward with opinions you may have. Keep your lines of communication open so all of you are aware of what’s happening within the team at any one given time.

3. Help your team know each other.  It’s good to have at least one common chat open for game discussion and socialisation.  This helps your team get to know each other better and build stronger bonds of community that make this social game a much more fun one to play. - You can opt to separate the two, to cater to people who may want a pure game-related chat.  Ensure that you police the division between game-related and social chatter.  The upside of this is that you can add random people and alumni to your social chat and not have to worry about them SPYING on your team.  My old team’s social still manages to be one of my favourite chats in LINE. - Speaking of LINE, some teams choose to use Discord, WhatsApp, or Slack as messaging alternatives.  I’m fond of LINE, as it’s the most popular messaging app and is hence more convenient for getting in touch with people who aren’t on your team.  It’s also anonymous, which is important for some people to feel comfortable. - Starting weekly team calls is something that many teams choose to do.  It, however, often falls to leadership to initiate and begin such a team tradition, so it’s less socially pressuring for teammates to join and establish such a habit.  Feel free to inform your team beforehand so they can set aside time, if they’re interested.

4. Know your partners.  Particularly relevant for Atlas teams, know your 5ta leadership well and get to know your extended alliance’s leaders well, when you get the chance.  Atlas is a political game, except it’s politics are based on who you’re friends with, and who will vouch for you.  It may sound scary, but really it’s just about making friends with the people you want to be friends with.

...---...

MINIMUMS AND EXPECTATIONS

5. Set your rules and guidelines.  And then make them clear and accessible in the team wiki, LINE notes, or otherwise.  Ensure your team is aware of them. A good team is one that expects all it’s members to adhere to the same standards, and a clearly visible set of guidelines is key in enforcing that. 6. Ensure that your new recruits are aware of these expectations.  Again, no matter their size, it’s important to hold everyone to the same standards.  Make sure that you’ve impressed this upon your new recruits so they aren’t surprised when they join.

7. Be flexible.  This may seem to stand at a counterpoint to the last two points, but it’s important to recognise that at the end of the day, War Dragons is only a game, and real life can often get in the way of us fulfilling in game obligations.  I personally emphasised that if anyone was aware they wouldn’t be able to meet minimums for any particular week, it would be fine to seek clemency in advance.  If they don’t meet minimums without letting you know, consider asking what’s up before booting them.  For longer periods of time, though, consider discussing moving them off the team, to keep it fair to the rest of the team.

8. Think about why you’re setting certain minimums and policies.  Sometimes, leaders may choose to set minimums arbitrarily without considering why exactly they’re doing so.   - Personally, I never set minimums for Fort and Breed- I wanted my members to be able to progress the way they wish instead of arbitrarily spending resources to get points. - Troop minimums made very little sense for our team- we had recruited a team of responsible people who knew how to manage their troops, and we didn’t want to stop people from sniping their little hearts out.  This team I speak of is currently ranked amongst and above a majority of diamond teams for troops killed, now. - Bank policies are good to think about- how can you make them fair for your team?  Do you want people to pay taxes, or submit donations, or otherwise?  Does it make sense to restrict food and wood withdrawals outside of fort and breed?  How can you make the distribution system fair? - I made a post about PvP minimums here, too, if you want to look into this topic further.  

9. Give your teammates a voice.  Make sure that they’re aware that they can speak up if they agree or disagree with certain policies, minimums, and expectations.  This helps your teammates feel included and cared about.

...---...

RECRUITMENT AND REPLACEMENT

10. Recruitment: Long Term vs Short Term.  This is an important consideration for any team, and you should consider your team’s specific situation to make a decision on this.  Anything I say in this section holds true for merges, as well, btw. - Long term recruitment: You hold off on many meh recruits for those recruits you want to keep and grow, in the long term.  The downside of this is that you’ll probably be waiting a long time. - Short term recruitment: You go through new recruits by constantly upgrading to newer, better models.  The downside of this is that you’ll probably destabilise your team’s social fabric in the long term by making so many changes to your roster in short order. 11. What makes your team attractive?  This may be quite duh, but, what sets your team apart from everyone else’s standard egg tokens, castles, etc.?  Every team has those.  What makes you different?  Capitalize on these to stand out to new recruits.  Also please stop with the one-note recruitment posters, unless you have fun making them.  Then carry on.

12. Give the people you’re replacing time to find new teams.  With few exceptions, these are players who have contributed to making your team what it is today.  As much as possible, give them a few days to find a new team. 13.  Vet your recruits well.  Remember, these are people you’re letting onto your team.  What they do and how they behave will directly affect your team’s performance.  You can spare an hour to just chat with them and get a better feel of their personality and how they will fit on your team, beyond their game performance. 14. Make your recruits feel welcome.  Take the time to go through team conventions and rules with them when they first join.  They may be from a very different team environment.  Check in with them often in the first week to see how they’re settling in.  It’s good to send out a weekly mail to introduce everyone to each other, to ease transitions into the team.

...---... EVENTS AND ATLAS 15. Be gracious.  Don’t take losses personally, and don’t gloat (too much or publicly! Have some fun!) over your wins.  Leadership’s attitude towards any occurrence in the game will affect team morale.  Other people’s opinions are secondary, but they’re entitled to what they think, too.  Accept this as well.

16. Your team comes first.  Ahead of your personal interests.  Ahead of the interests of your friends on other teams.  You’re responsible for the gameplay and enjoyment of 49 other people.  Please don’t be that team that does officer only guard swaps, or sets up farm bases to swap with another team without informing your members.  This also means that you can and should feel free to ignore opinions by other teams, on your team.  They matter far less, so long as your team is happy.  You know your team best, and haters gonna hate.

17. Be certain of how you want to play your game.  There’s no shame in sandbagging.  There’s no shame in choosing to target only certain teams in PvP.  There’s no shame in sniping.  Are you certain you want to take a gifted castle?  Are you certain you want to swap guards?  Are you certain you want to help in this failed raid?  There’s no shame in playing the game as you are allowed to play it.  All that matters is that your team is in agreement, and you can reconcile how you play with your conscience.

18. Do what makes you and your team happy.  You don’t need to be efficient to enjoy your game.  As long as your team is fine with it, go pirate your little hearts out!  Sandbag away!  The world is your oyster!

19. Form your own opinions. In this age of some pretty propagandised Atlas movements, consider what you’ve personally observed of the subjects at hand and form your own opinions based on that instead of listening in to gossip.  You’ll be much happier distancing yourself and your team from drama, too. 20. Think long term.  If you agree to gate this T4, you’ll get a T4, but in the long term, will your team’s troop loss be worth it?  If you don’t participate in Atlas battles with your alliance, what happens when you’re forced on defence?

21. Stay humble.  No team is the best in every single category.  There’s always something new to learn from everyone else.  Some pride in your team is good, but too much is hubris.  It results in things like teams threatening to destroy other teams and getting destroyed instead.  Conversely...

22. Keep your own counsel.  If you play your cards close to your chest, this is how you become that team that destroys all bragging comers.  Crouching tiger, hidden dragon!

23. Be proud of your team.  This may seem contradictory, but you know your own team’s strength best.  Confidence boosts your team’s morale, and increases activity.

24. Communicate early.  If you have a guard swap coming up, give a few days’ of notice.  If you need people online for a mega wave at the end of a fight pits round, tag in advance.  If you’re going to change minimums for the week for any given reason, give notice.  This gives time for people to discuss any concerns they may have about changes with you.

25. Lead by Example.  Leading a team is a thankless job, but in return you get the respect and recognition of all your teammates.  This means they will look to you to embody a platonic ideal of the team they love.  Make sure that you’re helping them open paths in TR, that you’re supporting them for XP runs, and that you’re right there with them hitting low glory teams to open paths. That’s all I can think of for now.  If you have other topics/points to add on, feel free to PM/submit an ask to me so I can add it.