#well missing the spider yeah. but drawing this?? not in the LEAST

[samstinysymphony]

SUPER GRAPHIC ULTRA MODERN ✨️

[butterflywannabefree]

Moodboards for @camhues

So, I've been getting a bit bored with my life lately and decided I needed to do something to get busy. My art skills are killing me and I'm trying to practice but I gave up for a while. Then I'm scrolling through Tumblr and admiring everyone's amazing OC's and I wish I could draw like them and some of them are underrated more than should be so...Why not just celebrate them ?! I can't for my own life draw anything good but what I can do is find good aesthetic choices and I love making moodboards and such for characters. So that's what I'm doing for OC's of people who need more attention ! Today we are starting with the beautiful and talented @camhues. If you don't know them, she is a artist of Tumblr mostly known for her LMK OC's and does a lot of doodles with them. And she makes only women and OH MY GOD, THESE ARE THE MOST GORGEOUS WOMEN IN MY LIFE AHH- Enough, I need to get on. She has a lot and I did one for all of them ! (Sheesh-) Or at least the ones I know. So Here's the Moodboards for them and a quick summary of what I think of them.

First off, Mama Jun. Her main OC from what I know and sort of a mother figure to MK and a reincarnation like Pigsy and Tang. Um, she's so gorgeous. I want that braid and the simplistic design works in her favor because there is something so simple and charming about her when I look at her. Also, her Mama-Son bond with MK is adorable-

Then there is Daiyu who from what I know is a Plant-Controller Demoness...or something ? Oh, and she's shipped with Red Son and their name is RedJade. Not as simplistic as Jun but it works in her favor here because she could step on me and I wouldn't be offended. Just let me smell the roses you grow, Daiyu !

Next here is Ling who is a Jade Maiden and is probably one of my current favorites. One of the simpler designs which I love and the lore behind her is also something I wanna find out. Her aesthetic was something I struggled with but it worked out. And as for who she is dating, it is unclear as Cam said she could be with one of three characters. Azure, Wukong or Macaque- I think she and Azure would be really cute-

Here we have Miss Suyin, secretary to the Spider Queen and Resident Mommy according to those who repost her- That's why I added that 'Mommy, sorry-' picture, I couldn't skip the joke. This woman is one of the many reasons I like women with glasses and she's a spider and her 4 eyes look cool-

Another one of my favorites, Baozhu. A Monkey Painter who is someone who I really wanna exist in real life so I can touch her fur and hair because it looks so fluffy ! I mean, look at this girlie ! She's FLOOFY ! I wanna touch the floof ! <333

And now we have domineering Lady in Ao Jiang who from that name I believe is somehow related to Ao Lie ? And is part of Mei's family ? I don't know that much yet but yeah, I love this one. Also, the little jewels hanging from her horns ? *Chef's kiss*

Space Lady Polaris who is giving me stars in my eyes for how cute she looks alone. She looks like someone who would be waiting in my dreams so I could just talk to her. I don't wanna burden her with my troubles though-

Brave Knight of the Falling Stars Asterius who I think might be related to Polaris in some way. They are both Space related in a way. I wonder if there is a connection ? But I love how she looks. She seems like a tomboy and I love tomboy characters :)

Lychee, Oh Lychee, how I tried to do justice for you ! But your aesthetic was something I couldn't nail down much. But at least I added real Lychee's for your sake and put some baking and wrestling into it. Please don't hit me...Or you can. You're gorgeous as you are friking intimidating. For a wrestler and a baker anyway.

Meihua who is honestly one of the most wholesome characters I have seen in a while. She gives me hopeless romantic vibes which I tried to add in here. The flowers for his florist work as well and mainly pink for this one because it matches her hair. Younger me would've loved her while current me thinks she's a lovable character who needs protection.

This woman, however, doesn't need protection as she can use her heels to murder her way through the crowd. Xin Yan, everyone. An evil woman who is gorgeous and she knows it. I heard she was a dancer and singer and the owner of a nightclub so that inspired this a lot. Xin Yan looks like she could kill me with a stare...and I would thank her for it.

Zhenzhu who I don't know much about but damn I really wanna give her a hug because she looks so sad in this picture. She's a handmaiden from what I know for the Empress of Heaven. HOW IS SHE A HANDMAIDEN WITH THE LOOKS OF A GODDESS ??

Chenguang is the ancestor of Jun who once went on the Journey to the West disguised as a man. Her aesthetic was hard to nail down but I eventually went for one that has themes of independence, journeys and outdoor backgrounds.

Ehuang who I thought was another version of Wyldfyre from Ninjago: Dragons Rising. If I didn't know she couldn't control fire, I would've thought fire would be her entire thing. That's why I added boiling water. Along with potions and lots of red.

And last of the OC'S, Chyou ! Who I really don't know much about except for the fact she is an Egret Celestial. So she's graceful as the bird itself and as beautiful as it as well. She is really lovely and the flowers in her hair are a nice touch <3 And that's all the OC's belonging to @camhues ! Or at least the ones I know. If I missed anything, I apologize and I'll make one for them on another day. But for now, have this. These were so much fun to make ! :)

Also, Cam, if you are looking at this, this is for you:

This moodboard is for you ! Don't take this the wrong way but you give me Chaotic Academia vibes- That's not an insult ! I'm sorry, your art is lovely and should be viewed by everyone ! Maybe I'll do this again but I don't know yet. I have to find time to do so. For now, have these gorgeous women ! And guys, please go and take a look as Cam's stuff. They are a very talented artist with a unique style and just a lot of women who you will grow to love ! For now, I'm Vee and I'll see you later when I can :D

All these beautiful characters belong to @camhues (Do not steal from her)

[demvalhaken]

I will eat your house

HOLY SHIT I HAVENT POSTED IN LIKE 4 DAYS, SORYY GUYS IVE BEEN FOCUSED ON SCHOOL, I HAVE TO GET A VIOLIN PLAYING VIDEO IN BY FRIDAY AND I CANT EVEN PLAY THAT WELL DUDES!!! PRAY FOR ME GUYS, I CANT EVEN GET MY HOMEWORK DONE, I NEED TO STOP PROCRASTINATING!!!

Anyways Queen Bloodlust is a very large black widow cus her immortality causes her to never stop aging/growing… She used to be Divine’s height

Oh yeah if you didn’t read the older post about Bloodlust which is also buried in the termite post. Divine (Guy at the bottom right) is her great-great-great-fucking too many great grandson, he’s king of the spiders, they do not care if its a king or a queen, they are desperate

I’m like the hugest nerd ever, I watched an in depth video about cannibalism and then I proceeded to eat all of that information so I can babble to my friends that don’t even listen to me… I wish I could talk to people rather than somehow ruining my relationship with everyone, it’s giving Never Love an Anchor by The Crane Wives. There’s also like 100 Tyler, The Creator songs in my playlist, there’s a 50% chance after every song that it’s Tyler. It’s crazy how good I am at being lonely, like bro, why can’t I keep friends with me without doing something wrong… at least my teachers are nice to me :D

Wtf am I on, please don’t give me coffee, It brings the locked up depression out of my brain. I actually don’t think the depression left from Covid… I think it’s just been dormant… GUYS THIS MIGHT BE A HUNCH BUT I THINK IM NOT OKAY!!! Sorry if I go off track in literally every single post, my brain wanders too much. MY HANDS ARE SO FUCKING DRY, THEY BURN, THEY HURT, AND THEY ARE BLEEDING :( I’m still gonna wash my hands 40 times a day, no one can stop me

STOP YAPPING BRO THATS TWO PARAGRAPHS GET TO THE LORE

Queen Bloodlust misses her home because after a battle/war, they had to move, this was during the reign of Bloodlust’s mother, her mom died in the fight… poor Bloodlust, forced to live eternally and watch everyone around her perish slowly

All lore previously stated is subject to change as I’m always rethinking lore but it does stay fairly consistent and rarely changed unless its boring and bothering me

Okay love you guys, sorry for yapping, also be a menace to society, just don’t eat uranium

Edit:

Hehe reference, this was during the drawing, I got bored

Edit 2: Why are my parents always mad at me for washing myself constantly, like bitch what? You can’t just say “stop” and expect that one word to work, I’m just trying to keep some goddamn cleanliness! It’s like they want me to be covered in grime, dirt, spilled drinks, and grossness! Then they get to be homophobic and racist without any consequences when that’s literally worse than being clean 24/7 and tired. At least I actually like black people, we literally all have the same insides, stfu parents… ALSO THEY SAY THAT OFFENSIVE WORD, LIKE BRO WE ARE VAMPIRES YOU CANT BE SAYING THAT

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 168

I'M GONNA. I'M GOING TO.

Oh thank goodness Frederick has a cat-like flexibility. No but fr tho. The fact that he can fit in small places and just, fold his body??? He's a cat.

OH I AM SO DOWN TO GWEN, AURELIA, THE POSSUM, AND THE RAT PROTECTING FREDERICK LET'S GOOOOO. Also The possum and Gwen's sharp teeth and Aurelia's spit? Heck yeah. AND THEN AURELIA PROTECTING GWEN!! I'm so glad she had a redemption arc :')

OH. OH. I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS. Do you understand the amount of time I've been thinking about Frederick throwing a book at his bullies and Leland to the point I want to draw it but give up midway due to unable to draw anatomy of a person throwing a book? Yeah. And Frederick calling Leland a doofus LOLLLL.

Curtis not being able to see shit but still defending the aid kit station pretty well? That's what I call true skill. I mean he's really fighting multiple soldiers with armor and spear, and he's winning. But man his hand tho. I'm guessing those are from splinter and maybe some sorta swelling from holding the broom too long (idk how to describe it) or smth? Those has got to hurt...

HAHAHAHHAHAH I can't believe I didn't expect she would say that LMAO. Also she looks so goofy in the second image HAHA.

Nah the commander really went for Laverne too... Did Leland even agree on that?

Omg....Lorena catching Suzie....Lorzanna....

Leland's strength continues to terrify me. He just broke stair railing that seems to be made from marble, WITH HIS BARE HAND. I swear the Pastel palace is gonna need LOTS of renovation after all of these end.

"You don't decide what you want" oh bull I say, bull. Boooo Leland rotten tomatoes rotten tomatoes boooo nobody likes you go home boooo rotten tomatoes.

Eugh I'm surprised Frederick hasn't broken AT LEAST a bone with how much he got slammed and thrown hardly. The door broke bro the door broke. His spine...

Now that I think about it never have i ever with syrah would probably be wild XD

Okay at this point I am the most glad that frederick told cpc because otherwise many bad things would happen...

Wait a minute. What happened to spider Prez? I can't seem to remember...Did she pass out after breaking the door?

Wait so the Plaidypus isn't the royal plaid army?? Wait cause I'm kinda confused now :') if someone can explain it to me that would be great.

OH CRAP OH NO.

Shit, Frederick fr need a doctor asap. All those tossing around, the dusts, nah...

Okay this is sad and all but Syrah with the long nose made me giggle.

THANK YOU PRINCEL-WHOSE-NAME-HASN'T-BEEN-REVEALD!! Blaine really missed like ¾ of the war lmao.

I swear cpc is responsible for me learning new vocabularies daily.

OH??? BLAINE?? BLAINE??? I don't, I really don't know how to start.

First of all, there's a new meaning to this. So what I'm getting here, Blaine wants to be at the top because if he gets all the attention, Lance and Frederick won't be in trouble because he thought Leland wouldn't notice him much then. I suppose what's in Blaine's mind is, it's better to be neglected by your shitty parents rather than being noticed and verbally/physically abused by them?

Okay, I'm starting to get it. I'm the youngest sibling so I don't know if I'm getting it correctly, but this is what I get: "I will take all the abuse from our father so you, my younger brothers, can live a happy life without being notices by him."

Older siblings, amirite?

So, Blaine has been trying to protect his brothers but because Frederick keeps upsetting Leland and then making him proud, Blaine's plan keeps on being in shambles?

One thing I'm confused about though. Hear me out, Blaine most likely has golden child syndrome right? So how do we draw a line between which act is because wanting to succeed due to believing that's all his worth, and which act is from protecting his brothers?

Oh but he still owes Frederick and Lance lots of apologies though. Don't think I can forget what you said to Frederick in the dungeon, Blaine. That chapter broke me. To Lance, well, to be honest I don't exactly know what he should apologize about, but I feel like Blaine still has to? Sorry, I'm not making sense. Maybe apologize due to not talking to Lance and Frederick about his plan?? Oh man someone help me–

Imagine this tho: Blaine apologizing to Lance and Frederick for letting them get hurt by father, but then Isolde came and assured him that what Leland do isn't his fault. Haha I love to analyze this guy's mental health.

I hope he goes to therapy after this is all over. The plaid princes really need a lot of therapy. Actually the whole plaid family need therapy.

Okay say goodbye to my professionalism for awhile.

OABDUANSUAKSBW BLAINE??? PROTECTING FREDERICK?? THIS IS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE. LAMBCATTTT THANK YOU LAMBCATTT!!!!

Frederick looks so amazed and I won't blame him cause I WOULD TO. IF I WAS ABOUT TO DIE, And someone suddenly came to save me, then proceed to throw the bad guy and himself out of the window by breaking the window and letting the damn sun rise view come in. I. I would look like that.

Blaine looking at the sunrise and realizing the true meaning of life and contemplating what he has done. I love him so much you got this bro.

Also Blaine turns out to be strong! I remember headcanons of him being the weakest out of the three. I mean that could still happen, but the fact that he carried Leland in which who knows how much he weights, and threw him out of the window. Damn.

But they're still falling though, that's not good. I doubt Blaine will die for that matter. It would be wasteful. He barely had his redemption arc. I'm thinking either he uses Leland to break his fall, or Nell's premonition about the tent save him. But the forest is a little far though... Oh! Or maybe, because the pastel kingdom is full of hills, they would fall and roll down towards the tent! That's a possibility!

SHE'S WEARING RED. I REPEAT, SHE'S WEARING RED!!!! YOOOO I WONDER WHAT SHE DID?? I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER...which is in 20 minutes lmao

That's it for now. See ya next chapter!

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts. Please actually tell me your thought on this because I NEED answers and theories. Also psychology analization will actually make me go insanely happy)

[artastic-friend]

Do you have a human/Humanized design of DJ? 👀👀

/j /ref (Clone high reference)

Ok but on a more serious note:

I’m not usually one to push human DJMM propaganda as I generally prefer the spider robot as he is 😁 so.. No I don’t have an official design really???

Well….. at least I DIDN’T until nOW-!

I present to you the big man himself :D

This design is not entirely finalized since I sorta just drew it up on the spot, but this is sorta how I’ve imagined DJ?? If he was human??

I wanted to make him very soft and inviting, the way I like to imagine DJ to be, he’s ofc very tall, and I like to imagine that he has a bit of that clown look since I think a lot of people agree that the music men as a whole are somewhat clownlike 😁

I think that a lot of human designs I’ve seen really miss out on giving the man the chub he deserves 🥺

🗣️that man is not skinny‼️ /lh /pos

Ofc I still welcome any and all designs 😁

But this is mine :)

Unless I decide to change it later💀 idk, I sorta came up with this on the spot so there are bound to be some details I might wanna adjust

Hugs!!!!

But yeah.. just letting y’all know that I probably won’t be drawing him as a human much because I prefer keeping him a spider UvU

But still wanted to try my hand at the idea 😁

[berrypass-de-murdler]

79. Murder at the Movies

I'm currently very sad because

a) my depressive streak is not ending nor getting better

b) MY AUREOLIN PLUSH IS MISSING

It says she was delivered and she was in the mailbox and she is not there. And now we have to complain about a missing package.

And of all the packages to go missing, it's the one with something completely irreplaceable.

Here's the draft for Pearl, AGE, designed by Fletch. She is a vaporer moth, a species in which females lack wings, although she has a more ant/spider-like face. She speaks in an Australian accent that is so thick, she's nearly completely unintelligible. This is just a draft, Fletch will make her full official artwork eventually.

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

Logico decides to see a movie, bc this season is about movies.

LOGICO: Even though all murder movies are actually BAD. Unless I’m in it. 

The usher is dead!

LOGICO: Well, that’s more entertaining than the movie would have been.

Unfortunately, Blaxton, Smoky, and that Dusty idiot from one season one episode had the same idea. And some insect lady named Pearl, American Guild of Editors.

PEARL: OI, MAY. NOISSA MEECHU. NAYM PUUHL. A-MEE-WAKEN GILLA EDIT US. LOGICO: …

Suspect time.

BLAXTON: I’m sorry, I HAVE to get my movie made! I can’t live without it, and I couldn’t have anyone in the way! LOGICO: That was the earliest confession we’ve ever had. BLAXTON: I’m not confessing to the MURDER, what the fuck! I’m talking about my obviously poisoned popcorn!

He inhales some and passes out. Even though he's a puppet. Pearl slides a dagger into her purse.

LOGICO: Why do you have a dagger, unless you killed a person. PEARL: I’MOY SELF-EFFENSE DAGG’UH! ‘CASE A PRICK!

Smoky launders in the corner.

SMOKY: I wish I could kill. It seems like everyone else has done it but me. Am I just not strong enough? I know I’m big enough. I can do it… can’t I? Oh father, oh father, why have the stars gone by? Oh father, oh father, why- LOGICO: WELL, that’s enough.

That means the only person who could have done it was Dusty! Or, y’know, someone’s lying. Logico shivers as he thinks of what he has to do next…

IRRATINO: Logico, it’s good to hear from you. LOGICO: STOP IT! Your soft voice is making me agile. IRRATINO: I think, if you look, you’ll find a chip of actual bone was discovered in the lobby. Or at least I did when I was remote viewing from house arrest. LOGICO: You’re watching me? IRRATINO: Yea… LOGICO: EVERYWHERE?!? IRRATINO: …no?...

Logico pouts. So gay! <3 Turns out he didn’t even need to admire his goat, because Dusty really DID do it. Honesty pays, kids!

DUSTY: We were watching the movie, and he told me about his idea for a mystery film, and it was so good, I had to have it! So I killed him, yeah! But now I have his idea, and if they don’t let me make the movie, then I won’t share it with everyone, and only I will enjoy it! LOGICO: Literally everyone hates you. PEARL: WEH NAW, OY-KEN GE’A BEYA SATE DEN EH? BLAXTON: And I can make my movie! SMOKY: And I can kill my first person!

So it all worked out after all.

The end!

I cried drawing this I'm so fucking sad right now

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[skyward-floored]

I miss Berry Link 😭

- hero-of-the-wolf

Me toooo 😭 *gently holds* I just. I love him so muchgbjcdbkhvn

This ask actually got me to look at what I’ve got so far on him, and I realized I had this nice little fic here that was almost finished. So I finished it up, hehehe <3

————————————————————

Link panted as he wiped greenish blood off his sword, a weird surge of excitement and leftover fear making his legs shake. That had been a huge spider, but he’d beaten it, and now he could get that thing that grandpa had said he needed!

Link sheathed his sword, and went through the door that had revealed itself after he’d beaten the spider. A soft light shone on him as he went inside, and Link looked around, blinking at the sight in the middle of the room.

A softly glowing crystal hovered a few inches off the ground, and Link approached it, squinting in confusion. It almost looked like...

He stepped closer, and his eyes went wide as he realized there was a person inside the crystal, eyes closed, face serene.

And then he ran as he realized it was his sister in there.

“Del!” Link shouted as he reached it, and pressed his hands against the crystal. Her eyes opened when he smacked a palm against the barrier, and she looked at him, the faintest of smiles pulling on her cheeks.

“Link,” she replied, though her mouth didn’t move.

“Hold on Del, I’ll get you out,” Link said frantically, pressing his hand against the crystal. “Just—”

“Link,” she repeated, eyes sad. “I’m afraid you can’t help me right now, you don’t have the power necessary to break me free.”

“What? But I’ve got to! I’m not going to just let you be stuck in there!” Link said, and Del closed her eyes.

“Link. You need to leave me here for now.”

“But I don’t want to leave you!” Link said, his voice beginning to tremble. “I just found you! What if the monsters move you and I can’t find you again? What if they do something to you? Grandpa said they were g-going to use you all to do something awful, I can’t—”

“Link, I’ll be okay,” Del replied, her voice gentle. “Don’t worry about me. Focus on what grandfather told you to do. Find the blossoms, then find the sword. Then you’ll be able to help us.”

Link quickly wiped his eyes on his sleeve, blinking back the remaining sting. “How do you know what grandfather said?”

Del’s eyes shone a little. “...it’s a bit complicated.”

Link let out a wet laugh. “Everything has been.”

Del smiled, then her face creased, pain flickering over it. “I’m afraid I can’t speak with you much longer, Link. The blossom of courage you seek is in the chamber behind me. This is the first you’ve found, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Grandpa didn’t know where the other two were, so he sent me here first,” Link said, trying not to sniffle again. He was on a mission right now, and people were counting on him. He wouldn’t cry. “He just said they’re somewhere in Hyrule.”

Del’s eyes shone again. “I can faintly sense the blossom of wisdom. It’s to the south, by a... a lake, I think. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you.”

“Well that’s something to go off of at least,” Link said, trying to draw up a smile. “Thank you Del.”

“You’re welcome,” she said softly, and worry shone in her eye. “Please be careful, Berry. I... wish this task hadn’t fallen to you.”

“I’ll be okay. And I’ll come back for you,” Link said, splaying his palm on the crystal. “Promise.”

Del set her hand against his, and Link blinked away the sting in his eyes as he looked at his sister smiling at him.

“I know you will.”

Her eyes drifted closed shortly after she finished speaking, and the crystal dimmed, making it harder to see inside. Del’s hand slipped from the crystal, and Link knew she’d fallen back into whatever state she’d been in before he’d come in here.

Link sniffled, and set his head against the crystal.

“I’ll save you and everyone else, Del. No matter what,” he whispered.

Link stayed there with his head on the crystal for a moment longer, and then he wiped his eyes, and went to collect the blossom.

“I’ll see you real soon.”

[purplekoop]

FINALLY saw Mutant Mayhem, and it was really good!!! I might wanna give it a second watch later along with other Turtle stuff rewatches and do a more in-depth review then, but I'll say the spoiler-free highlights now.

The obvious striking thing is the film visual style, which going in I knew broadly as "like Spider-verse", but that feels like a gross oversimplification for this movie's fantastic look. It's a mix between grungy realism, rough sketchiness (my mom said it looked like one of my drawings, which, yeah I'll take it), and oddly some vague claymation vibes? The turtles especially feel like chunky molded clay in the best way. It's a super cool style that definitely stands out on its own but still feels thoroughly Ninja Turtles despite not quite looking like any one individual prior incarnation. A bit of 2012 with the grungy blockiness, a bit of Rise with the vibrant expressive animation, and a heaping dosage of just general "this would've been the coolest thing ever in the 80's."

Other major high point is just how... exceptionally pleasant the movie is. It's arguably the most light-hearted Turtles incarnation to date, even beating out Rise in terms of friendly vibes... well, barring the bottom-shelf swears and on-screen puke, personally could've gone without the latter but oh well. From the moment we see the turtles we get to see how much this movie appreciates the mundane, with dialogue, visual details, and quick gags that just... I dunno, feel natural? Like, this movie pulls of an astounding amount of reference humor that feels like it'd be irritating if it weren't so believably honest. Yeah, if they were teenage brothers they would say Mikey's head looks like a mix between Hey Arnold and Stewie Griffin. Of course they would. Also the "cringy" music choices rubbed me the right way too, again this movie's tone is so sincere that I can't help but love these too. My mom also specifically cited this as a high point. The "pleasant vibes" praise extends throughout the movie, but I think going fully in-depth on that point would require spoilers. Rest assured, this movie's an exceptionally feel-good watch.

I guess only critique is one I saw coming but because I was dodging spoilers I didn't have the full expectations for. I heard vaguely that there were gonna be a lot of classic mutants showing up for this movie, hence the title I suppose, but I was worried it was gonna be a Spider-Man 3 kind of situation where it'd be constant bad guys that don't leave much individual impact. Which... is both true and not true for this movie. It's not THAT detrimental by any means, but I do still wish the individual characters got to do more. I like what they do get to do, but only a couple actually get to do much, even Bebop and Rocksteady barely have a few lines despite being THE mutant bad guys and having some of the biggest celebrity voices. I think maybe even two or three of them could've been cut and their presence wouldn't have been missed, but I can also appreciate the novelty that these characters probably wouldn't get a big screen debut otherwise. I dunno, maybe I'm just petty these are all classic picks and aren't new characters from my eras of turtles. Fishface for the sequel, come on folks if I believe then you can too.

On that note though, I am hoping that obvious sequel bait goes somewhere, because this movie deserves it. I wanna see this incarnation again, which... I mean I'm pretty sure did well enough to where it's already in the works? If Spider-Verse is gonna be a trilogy (still haven't seen Across yet btw) then this movie certainly deserves at least one followup.

But yeah, great movie! I think I do have to put this as my favorite TMNT movie ever now, so uh... sorry to the original two live action movies and none of the others.

(also I was gonna do a season 1 review of TMNT 2012 but I started it a while ago right as I finished it early in January but then it got overwhelming and I didn't have as much as I wanna say so I don't know what I'm doing with that yet, I might move on to season 2 but idk there's still a lot I wanna say about the show but I still don't know the format. Also expect Things I Love #4 about a completely unrelated show I'm due to finish a rewatch of soon)

[blujayonthewing]

7, 9, 11, 14 for Felix! [Shaking him like a magic 8 ball]

[cowbell rattling sfx]

7. favorite animal? why?

you know, thinking about it, I feel like this is one of the things we have in common lol-- how are you supposed to pick A definitive favorite animal?? there are so many good animals and they all have completely different merits!

he definitely has a soft spot for squirrels, having grown up with a lot of them around all the time. he really likes crows and pigeons; they're clever and friendly, tremendous gossips, and crows especially tend to have a great sense of humor. he also has a soft spot for rats, for a lot of personal reasons but also just because they're surprisingly intelligent and sweet. and all memeing aside, he really is a pretty major cat guy

9. favorite food? least favorite? are they a picky eater? do they have any dietary restrictions?

to say he 'hates' fish is sort of an understatement; for one thing, he hates fish the same way most westerners hate spiders? which is to say it doesn't even parse as food at all, and the idea of eating it is gross on principle. but also seafood stinks and also (alive) fish are so slimy just-- WHY would you--!! he CANNOT with seafood on so many levels, lmao. he is generally sort of a picky eater-- not because he's particularly fussy, actually, he just has a couple of really strong textural aversions :\ he can't do cooked mushrooms at all (frustrating, there's a lot of mushroom in gnomish cuisine), he has trouble with marbled red meat and would rather just avoid it than fuss with it, he's very particular about eggs, etc

he likes apples, especially if they're really crisp. he likes a good grill cheese, which is maybe more of a comfort food than a 'favorite' food per se. There are definitely very traditional forest gnomish foods like spider or rabbit that he doesn't get to have much anymore, and misses whenever he's in the city for a long stretch of time; he does probably have a distinct favorite food, but I'm not sure exactly what it is yet, haha

11. what do they have in common with you? how are they different? would you get along with them?

LET'S SEE. he loves animals and being outdoors; he draws, and carries a sketchbook (I do this rather less than I used to lol I need to get back into the habit). he's really curious about everything and loves learning and figuring things out. he really likes people and being around people, but doesn't feel like he knows how to interact with others-- he's much worse at people than I am, but we very much share a love of hanging around with other people without being expected or required to be the center of attention or 'participate' in something per se. he's very tactile, although he doesn't act on it as much as I do. he's got a non-zero number of Issues that were not intentional projection but coincidentally ended up aligning with some of my issues, which I'm not going to detail too much, partly to not tell on myself and partly because I'm trying to leave some things for justin to find out organically at the table as a fellow player, lol

he's DEFINITELY more proactive and adventurous than I am. a crucial difference is that he's not ruled by fear of embarrassment-- he's absolutely not immune to embarrassment by any means, he just doesn't let it stop him. on a couple superficial notes, I love seafood the most lmao, and felix does not like dogs. he would love big complex board games and hate ttrpgs (roleplaying would make him too nervous) :') for all my awkwardness, I very often have Can't Shut Up Disease, but he's pretty reserved, thinks a lot of thoughts but generally tries to keep them to himself, and even gets completely silent if he's stressed out enough

we would get along so well it's ridiculous lmao. I can forgive him about the dogs if he can forgive me about the sushi

14. are they any good with numbers?

yeah, I think so! he's got a good memory and a good mind for logic and problem-solving; he doesn't know any advanced mathematics or anything but he's generally Good With Numbers

ask about my OCs :3

[softgrungeprophet]

I was rambling about this in my insta stories and had been thinking about making a post like this off and on for a while so, i'm just gonna do it now

Spider-Man comics to get to know me:

(Peter Parker: Spider-Man #47 (Jenkins/Ramos))

These are comics I like, comics that make me go "AUGHFDHGH" etc. I'm not saying they're masterpieces (though some of them are), but I'm saying I like them and they are a good insight into my tastes and why I write and draw the way I do, for my AUs, etc...

apologies in advance, this post is going to be a bit long.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

first: a comic arc (really, arcs) that makes me feel crazy (in a good way)

Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44-47 (Jenkins/Ramos) and Spectacular Spider-Man v2 #3-10 (Jenkins/Ramos) (also issue #27)

I am still randomly working my way through these comics in bits and pieces because I read like a weirdo (aka, sometimes out of order, often with large breaks in between) but in general I do recommend these specific issues to at least some extent if you want to understand my tastes in comics and what subplots make me absolutely feral

with the caveat that these comics are incredibly early aughts for better and for worse; some of the jokes don't quite land (particularly Nurse Helga in SSM, which is a textbook example of the Brawnhilda trope, such a staple of 2000s humor and just not funny), and I find Jenkins' take on Venom (and Eddie Brock's backstory, mannerisms and speech) to be lacking... though it's not entirely uncompelling.

but as far as Peter, and his life, and the stuff involving Flash, and also the scene where he makes Ock beg for mercy, it's very much my shit. He makes Peter feel lost and directionless in a way that feels very believable, and it's clear that Peter really gives a shit about people. Even just the other people in his apartment building breaking into his apartment to play games using his TV is like... Yeah. I love it.

Extremely "this was made for me," and I am definitely the target audience when it comes to taste. When/if I ever have the money I'll definitely be looking for used copies of the trades with these issues in them because I really do like it a lot. I guess there's something about the way Jenkins writes (not to mention Ramos' stellar compositions) both in terms of character but also in terms of style itself—something dreamy and melancholy but not trudging—that really speaks to me as a reader and drags me in, even when he sometimes misses the mark or makes a joke that isn't funny. (which i'll admit isn't... uncommon)

I WANT TO SAY ONE THING THOUGH which is that even though I like their Spectacular stuff, the Ock arc (issues #6-10 iirc) deals with the Israel/Palestine conflict as part of the plot and while, writing-wise, it's actually surprisingly thoughtful (tho idk if i can judge whether it's truly deeply thoughtful or just not as offensive as it could have been, especially for such a fraught topic in a superhero comic), there is an Israeli character that, to be frank, the way Ramos draws him feels very antisemitic to me. I know that he has a very stylized way of drawing and he exaggerates a lot of characters' features, especially facial features, but it's still fair to point out that the IDF character is undeniably drawn in a way that is questionable at best and clearly rooted in antisemitic stereotypes whether intentional or not.

Similar goes for the Palestinian character, tbh. Ramos is, again, very stylized, but definitely is leaning more into the big hawkish noses for the arab and israeli characters...

🕸️🕸️🕸️

Sensational Spider-Man v2 #23-40 (Aguirre-Sacasa/Medina/Crain)

NOT marvel knights spider-man, I do not like marvel knights spider-man, this is a different creative team, it got the title changed from MKS I guess? idk 23-40 is literally the entire run, it starts on 23 lol

well. no 23-41 is the whole thing but 41 is OMD and I still haven't read it 🤷 Also this is concurrent with a lot of Civil War stuff, like, Aunt May getting shot, and like one of the trades actually is a Civil War branded book, but like... I didn't read basically any of that stuff. If you know the gist of what happens during Civil War, it makes plenty enough sense on its own.

This run is... my shit. Overall, I just like it. And more specifically the issues from the POV of, respectively, Aunt May, MJ, and Felicia, made me cry like a little baby. Hell—I don't even like the villain who's revealed at the culmination of the first arc but I still really like the first arc as a whole. (though I'll admit, while Aguirre-Sacasa writes a Peter I really like, he does fall into my biggest pet peeve (he's not the only one) of talking about Peter's Inherent Pure Goodness but like... he still writes a great Spidey imo)

Also. It turns out I have a thing for moody 2000s comics where it's pouring rain with art that can occasionally be described as "wack" 😂 I actually... unlike Ramos' art, I don't really find myself defending Medina's. It's ridiculously lumpy, it's very mid 2000s aesthetically, it's kind of fuck-ugly. But. The atmosphere is impeccable. I'm also not really a fan of Clayton Crain (who did the art i put up above), generally (he's just not to my taste most of the time) but like, again, the mood is impeccable and Crain is good at what he does when what he's doing is meant to be uncomfortable or creepy. The atmosphere is off the charts, man.

It's absolutely not for ages 9 and up ("A") and I really don't know how or why it got that rating instead of the 15+ "Parental Advisory" warning, because even the briefest of glimpses shows that it's a pretty intense run from the start... it's really just not for kids at all imo, though young horror buffs I'm sure could handle it for the most part.

Also yes this is the comic run where Peter meets and talks to God (#40, the Book of Peter) which. i know sounds weird. and it is weird, i won't lie. But... I liked it? I think it rewired my brain a little bit. When I mention Peter punching dumpsters in fics, this issue is where I got that from. It really made a lot of things click for me.

This run is also why I draw Felicia's hair down to her fuckin ankles lol like—even though I said! that I don't really like Medina's art! The way he draws Felicia in the pouring rain with her long, long hair plastered soaking wet to her body, like. again, rewired my brain a little bit.

THAT BEING SAID—

I feel the need to put a VERY BIG TRIGGER AND CONTENT WARNING on this recommendation.

Issues #38 and #39 are The Last Temptation of Eddie Brock.

The Last Temptation of Eddie Brock is upsetting to read (regardless of your opinion on Venom and/or Eddie as a character(s)).

Listen, I like angst. I write and read a lot of angsty stuff. I like sad endings. I like reading stories that are dark, to an extent. One could probably accuse me of liking edgelord-y or grimdark stuff. I don't even think The Last Temptation is bad. BUT. It's upsetting to read and I think it really requires a trigger warning for the things it deals with—not just cancer but also attempted suicide and self harm, and graphic violence/blood—because it's kind of intense even in its briefness, and it was a little bit upsetting for me to read even as someone who usually isn't bothered by this stuff in fiction. It's just kind of a lot.

So just keep in mind that those two issues but especially #39 might be... kind of intense or upsetting, especially if you don't know what to expect going in. I did know what to expect, I knew what happened in it already, and it still really threw me for a loop just because of the presentation of certain scenes and the visuals themselves, and it kind of stuck with me for a few days just cause it's that kind of heavy.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

Grim Hunt (Amazing Spider-Man #634-637) (Kelly/Lark/Chechetto)

What can I say except AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

another comic that feels like it was made just for me 😂 you might be.. noticing a pattern here.... lmao it's true i'm the target audience for edgy, violent superhero comic books (i'm just also the target audience for like. the ones where the interpersonal relationships are just as important as everything else)

Grim Hunt's got it all: it's got angry Peter, it's got dangerous Peter (perhaps even... murderous Peter), it's got Kaine being tragic, it's got nice art overall, it's got Kraven being a DILF (thanks checchetto)—also it opens on Peter with swine flu 😂

I really enjoyed Grim Hunt when i read it recently, and it really does tap into exactly the kinds of things I like in Spider-Man, in making Peter really give a shit about people, and in having Kaine trying to do the right thing, and especially in having Peter switch into my favorite mode: Horror Movie Serial Killer Mode.

It's a lot of fun!

It's not perfect, of course, and like many of the other comics on my faves list, does that "innate goodness" thing which I disagree with and I think is a thing Kelly often does? At least, twice, i guess, cause it's in Non-Stop as well sort of (though it feels more justified there). And it makes me go NOO Peter's anger does not take away from his humanity, his anger is PART of his humanity! His flaws are what make him human! But other than that it ruled and I really liked it, and like the other comics on here I'll probably try to snag a trade someday if I can find one, cause I like to physically own my favorite comics, generally.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

Non-Stop Spider-Man (Kelly/Bachalo) (all of the issues; it's not very long, it fits in a single trade, you can read it in like. an afternoon.)

(note: I haven't had a chance to read the follow-up to Non-Stop (Savage Spider-Man) yet, so I can't say if that's good or not but Non-Stop is fantastic so it's gotta be at least halfway decent)

Something I'm realizing is that I think I might like Joe Kelly's writing 😂 even his arc in SM/DP is genuinely not awful (I mean, anything that gives me Peter being sexy in a sleek black suit with claws, threatening people, ends up a minimum level of decent just by that virtue alone)

Others have said this: Bachalo's art does feel a little rushed, especially compared to other comics he's done, and yet, despite this, visually it is a TREAT. It is a FEAST for my eyeballs. The layouts are fucking WILD, it's like 90% diagonals, it fucking RULES. It goes 500000 miles an hour. This is hands-down one of the best modern (past 10 years specifically) Spider-Man comics I have read. Period. It rips, slaps, fucks, etc. It's bitchin' and I'd recommend it for the art and layouts alone!

(even if, yes, Bachalo makes Peter the most twinky twink to ever twink; at least he's fuckable) (even if not as fuckable as in SM/DP #23... with the DSL...)

But I like the writing a lot too! It's not just visually appealing, it's simply a stellar all around piece of comic-making, from the art, lettering, writing, the whole team really made something amazing.

And also, okay. So. This comic. I think it's well-written and well-drawn. But. Okay. The dialogue. It's... very very clearly influenced directly by things like the popularity of the MCU by which I mean: over-reliance on Whedon-esque, frequently memetic dialogue (which is weird because none of the other stuff I've read by Kelly has this kind of dialogue style?)... it's Cringe, essentially. That being said, I think Joe Kelly is significantly more successful and better at using this style of dialogue compared to basically every other writer I've ever seen doing it—not that that's saying much but, I do think he was largely successful with it, as cringe as "Nazi, please" is. It doesn't really stop being cringe but it is, for the most part, fairly snappy and well-paced with a good patter that matches the pacing of the art very well. It's called Non-Stop Spider-Man for a reason, it really does not stop.

Also, even with that dialogue and trying to make Peter more hip and cool (which I assume is at least partially editorial), well, Kelly remains very good at writing Peter. He just has a great handle on the character.

I also think that there's a really huge point in Kelly's favor here which is that he's completely, 100% candid, upfront and straightforward about the story he is writing. The villains in this comic are racists. They are neo-nazis and anti-semites. Kelly doesn't shy away from that or try to couch it in metaphors. They're just racist, and that is why they are bad people.

There's a scene where Zemo makes a crack about gold fillings, to Peter's face. Kelly and Bachalo allow for a single completely silent panel following this (which is very impactful in a comic that's this frenetic) and then he snaps. It's a very effective scene, and unlike some other "Character Experiences Discrimination" scenes (such as, for example, Zodiac's violent homophobic assault of Johnny Storm) even despite the fact that "Peter is Jewish" is the only thing that does remain only subtext, it feels very cathartic and well-done because Peter is allowed to be angry and fight back in response; he's not the object of the scene, he's the subject and he gets to act rather than be dehumanized or objectified as nothing more than a victim, and I really liked that and I know that I've talked about that with others who felt that it was very well executed as well.

AND that fighting back and anger is presented as justified, and right, rather than an unfortunate flaw. Peter's rage is sympathetic, justifiable, and not presented as Wrong. He is allowed to be angry, and it is okay that he is angry—in fact it is good that he is angry. Because it means he gives a shit. I like that.

I don't think the plot twist at the end entirely hits right, like... I do 100% see what Kelly was going for with it, and I don't think it's necessarily unbelievable or bad, but something just didn't click right for me there. But overall, I still think it's a good comic and is a good window into my tastes.

To quote myself: it takes big swings, some of them miss, some of them hit really hard, and it feels like it has a lot more teeth than some of the more recent comics. and i can appreciate teeth.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

(Spider-Man: Redemption #3 (DeMatteis/Zeck)

Not specific runs per se but I also really just like anything DeMatteis does—sometimes he does whiff it a tiny bit (rarely) but overall I love his writing stylistically (he's one of few writers that can get me to enthusiastically read a wall of text in a comic book), in terms of characterization and interpersonal relationships—

comics like Spider-Man: The Lost Years or Redemption were really enjoyable for me to read (thanks for the recs TC)

and of course there's Spectacular Spider-Man (Flashback) #-1 (That Thompson Boy!) which is such a foundational issue for Flash's backstory at this point

and who can forget the iconic Child Within (i'll admit i haven't actually read TCW myself but I've seen many, many pieces of it via discord lol)—he and Buscema are such a dream team for comics, really... they work so well together. Nothing hits harder than Harry's death...

Anyway, those are like, The Comics That Define My Taste to some extent (or offer the best window into what I like and understanding my taste) but

There are also other comics I know I would like that I have not read yet! Though I've read a couple issues from JMS' ASM run and enjoyed them, such as ASM #55 (love teacher!peter so much), but there's still a lot I have yet to make my way through. (i still haven't read Kraven's Last Hunt 😂 yeah I know)

(Amazing Spider-Man #55 (JMS/Romita Jr.)

(peter's like, in his mid-to-late 20s at this point i'm pretty sure lol)

And there are other single issues I won't be taking the time to list just cause, there's a lot, you know? Like...

The B story in ASM 622 (or the A story, if you're horny and want to look at peter's biceps and beautiful profile)

(Amazing Spider-Man #622 (A-story: "It is the Life," van Lente/Quinones (peter gets vampire hypnotized), B-story: "Stages of Grief," Weisman/Ross (peter and the crew throw flash a birthday party so he knows just how much he is valued and loved))

or like... ASM Extra! #3 where Flash comes back w/o his legs and Peter beats the shit out of a z-lister because he feels so guilty, and so on and so forth.

(Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #3, "Character Assassination: Coda," Guggenheim/...Fiorentino I think? There are two artists in this story, for the two different things happening, but I think the artist for this sequence is Fabrizio Fiorentino, not Olliffe)

anyway

Good shit!!

obviously there are the classics as well, Amazing Fantasy #15, early ASM, etc., like of COURSE. Silver Age is a lot of fun (or, sometimes, tragedy) and the silver age gave us the coffee bean gang, and peter's bitchiness, and such good character dynamics, and was the start of all of it—obviously none of these comics would exist without the silver age, and like, gwen's death is iconic, and so on. but to try to pick specific issues, idk if i can single any out? i hop around so much when i read, you know? it's hard to keep track or to pick favorites 😂

but I do think that Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 has really valuable insight into Peter as a character (spoiler: he's not very nice), though requires some basic understanding of Cold War politics and the Rosenbergs (thank you Traincat for pointing that second part out to me, it really brings nuance and clarifies subtext that might go missed otherwise)

but you can like… go on wikipedia for that really… I just think it's a neat comic and tbh for every fan (or pro) who tries to insist that Peter is a perfect, delicate, harmless boy maybe they should go to the source and see that Stan Lee disagreed. lol

(and also those people owe me... five bucks and a pizza 😉)

[hecateisalesbian]

UNO REVERSE. GIMME ALL 50 OF 'EM.

For the wild card... what was your least favorite question out of all of these to answer?

 Do you have freckles?  i think? Yeah? Only like a few tho

 Do you drink tea or coffee? How do you take it?  hohoooo your gonna regret asking me this question >:3 For Tea I have a very specific tea brand I always buy and it’s the Arizona Green Tea Diet and then yknow occasional Peace Tea and on some occasions tea leaves. For Coffee when it’s at Starbucks I get one Grande size Vanilla Iced (Gay) Latte with 2 Splendas and almond milk! At home though I just brew up some coffee and put creamer and vanilla unsweetened almond milk with a 1:3 ratioish and a spoonful of Splenda.

What was the last song you listened to?  The entire Nimona album lol

Do you sleep on your back, stomach or side?  Back or Side because I rotate but never directly on the stomach

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?  Yes. The amount changes tho. But rn I have a stuffed animal called Rat Cat and then my dog 🐶

Do you prefer drawing or writing?  they equally suck

What’s your ideal number of blankets to sleep with?  i always always always have to sleep with a very specific blanket for my anxiety and that’s really all I need

What’s your favorite band/artist?  errrrr Lovejoy or Lemon Demon or Mother Mother?

When is your birthday? Not sharing that but my fake one is March 7th

How tall are you? Like 5’2”

What color are your eyes? Very dark brown (boring Ik)

Who are five (or more) people you want to hug right now? My Irl friends and my sister

Fears? Bugs, Spiders, T h e D a r k

What’s your favorite color? Purple obvs 💜

What’s your favorite season? Fall, because depending on where you are it’s so wonderful and the weather is perfect and everything is so pretty and also it’s SPOOKY SEASON 🎃

Want any tattoos? What of? Many. Idk how many but my basics are a sibling tattoo with my sister, a matching tattoo with my mom that I’ve already designed, a star, sun, and moon tattoo with my sister and my mom, a snake or two somewhere, some flowers maybe, a semicolon, etc

Want any piercings? Where? YES. Lots of places! I want to deck out my ears, probably get some nose piercings, lip piercings, eyebrow piercings, and then idk from there

Who is the last person you texted? My friend

Do you have a best friend? How long have you been friends? I used to but not anymore

What/who do you miss? My sister

How was your day today? Well I woke up like 2 minutes ago

How much sleep did you get last night? Idk man I just pass out whenever

Do you believe in aliens? Idk theirs probably smth else besides us on this dingy space rock

When was the last time you cried? Why? When I sneezed 6 times in a row a minute ago

What’s your favorite decade? Hmmmmm. Idk. Early 2000’s maybe, 60’s-80’s seem cool

What are some seemingly childish things you like? Stuffed animals, ‘kids’ shows, wanting to play on swing sets

What’s your favorite book? Or just one you’ve read a few times? Uhhh Idk if this is my favorite but I really really like the book series called Strange The Dreamer!

How are you, really? Idk

Does it take you a long time to make decisions? I’m extremely indecisive

What are you looking forward to in the near future? Doing some musicals/plays, Halloween, seeing my sister again, going to a con

What are you looking forward to in the distant future? Moving lol, hopefully finding a partner

If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go? My home state Colorado

Do you sleep with your door open or closed? Who- who sleeps with it open? Ew. Closed.

What’s your favorite flower? I don’t have one 🤷🏼‍♀️

Do you currently have a squish?  😎 🤏🤨🕶️🤏 a what. Okay after a quick google search this looks like a QPR. I used to but not rn

Do you like your middle name? I love it! It holds a lot of meaning to it and it’s actually the name I choose after realizing I’m trans (and also I generally hated my first name)

Do you prefer dogs or cats? Im allergic to cats so I have to say dogs but I love cats. But snakes are number one 🐍

Do you have any phobias? Arachnophobia

Do you stay up late? Well let’s just say im daggers friend from two days ago

Do you like the beach? Do you prefer it sunny or cloudy? Hate the beach. Clouds all the way. Mountains are THE BEST

What’s your favorite cartoon? The Owl House 🦉

Tag 5 of your favorite blogs @bloodied-dagger @el-fandom-birb @haystarlight@imhumanguysiswear@stars-and-birds@threegoblinart@childlikegoblinqueen@artkittycatty@tardismama@fandomsandflyingstingrays@rosy-tickles@ALL OF MY MUTUALS

Do you have siblings? How many? Uh I have two blood related sisters, two step brothers, and one brother in law

Who was the last person you said “I love you” to? My dog probably. Other than that my mom

Is there anyone you would die for? My sister, my dog, my friends, my parents

What do you need when you’re sad? Happiness lol. Naw in all seriousness my dog

Have you memorized your phone number? If you haven’t I hope you like dying

Who’s someone you can trust with your life? My sister 

What does your last text say? “Oh”

My least favorite question was all of them because I woke up 6 minutes ago why am I doing this

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 064 Wig Snatched (SSM 53-58, SSM Ann 3) P2

MASTERPOST

In this post...

Two bitchslaps!

We're reading Spectacular Spider-Man 58, then Annual 3 in this post!

John Byrne... Are you trying to make Slim!Peter happen? In which case, congrats, your version has become the most common and I hate you.

Anyway, it's a new semester!

What in the Steve Ditko is this Peter face?

Anyway... Ah yes, Greg Salinger... Or, as I shall call him, Flash Light. We've got 2 Gwens, 1 Flash... What a great cast.

Anyway, in the Tinkerer's old lair...

Alright, sure. The Ringer quickly gets beaten up by another bad guy...

Meanwhile, at ESU, Peter's about to get into another unethical relationship with a student...

"Intense", he says while barely able to stand on his feet.

The trial of Steve Hopkins v. ESU hath begun...

The verdict? Guilty.

The punishment?

Good for her! She slays, I have to say.

Peter asks Debra to join him that night at Benihana (which I know from One Day At a Time). He says there was a terrible misunderstanding and he's "hate for it to interfere with [their] friendship". Their "friendship"?????? What kind of mixed signals are you giving, Peter?

And she accepts.

WHERE ARE YOUR THIGHS, PETER?!

On his way to Benihana, Spidey has a quick encounter with a reluctant Ringer (who's actually being manipulated by the other villain).

At the restaurant, Peter and Debra finally resolve their misunderstandings. Debra says she'd like to continue their conversation, and Peter tells her to find him at his apartment half an hour later. I thought for a moment he would miss the obvious implication that she wanted to peg him, but thankfully, he didn't.

Uh-oh. Something tells me Peter's not gonna be in the mood to get pegged anymore.

Except only the belt itself explodes. Our Ringer is fine, and quickly delivered to the police.

I'm not sure they'll talk much.

The secret villain was... the Beetle! And the belt actually gave him informations to beat Spidey. Hm, sure.

Anyway, onto Annual 3!

Man-Wolf's being a bit chaotic in town.

I'm glad we finally keep going with this plot thread.

The two characters fight for a bit, then Man-Wolf flees and returns to Kritine, his girlfriend, who faints when she discovers he wasn't dead.

Peter being kind of bitchy at the Bugle (good for him).

Jameson's understandably shocked that his son might be alive.

Spidey crashes into Kristine's window.

I'm NOT going to read that. But wasn't he an illusion anyway?

Anyway, Jameson gets there too, and they all go together to see Curt Connors. Things don't work out so well.

That middle drawing... is... a thing.

After bitchslapping his father twice, John finally gets rid of the Moonstone. Yay!

After the story, we see May's photo album. That's cuuute.

Yeah I'm sure he was just... fiddling with the device.

Red shirt!!!!!!!!!

Lovely callbacks <3

We also see plans of Peter's office, which is neat, and a quick introduction of who's whom!

They're finally starting to feel realized! Phil doesn't look very Asian here though...

This is cute! And yeah, I finally "get" these characters. That's nice! We met them around ASM 196, but I feel like it's been much longer. SSM doesn't help.

Next, we get "Spider-Man's Most Famous Foes", as in... Morbius (alright), the Gibbon (what?!), Jonas Harrow (this really is another era...) and Hammerhead (OK). What a peculiar gallery.

At least I know I'm not alone.

[80pairsofcrocs]

baby scarab || 39

anon - I feel like, y/n does ALOT to protect her inner child and she's working on healing her, but I feel like she has hallucinations and she can sometimes see her 8 year old self running around and giggling since the incident, it stops after a while, but MAN was she glad to see that her inner child is growing strong

~~~

anon - Baby Scarab: A piece of literature synonymous with greatness. What if there was a total rise in rent in the building they all live in and it's gonna be a genuine struggle for Y/N to keep up with it as well as pay for all other life necessities so the boys just offer her permanent residence in their flat?

~~~

@brry-b - I want me some more grandpa Khonshu moments so I have an excuse to draw fanart of him heheh 😈🫴

~~~

anon - what if it turns out y/n has never had something trivial like raspberries or something silly and they have her try them and IMMEDIATE ALLERGIC REACTION, BLUE TO THE SKY PEOPLE

~~~

A/N : brry-b i love your fanart :))

masterlist - marvel masterlist - series masterlist

A/N : an important question is asked <3

please enjoy, and don't be shy if you want to be in the taglist, just ask <3, sorry for the long wait

pairings : steven grant x (platonic)reader, marc spector x (platonic) reader, khonshu x (platonic)reader, jake lockley x (platonic)reader

TW : medicine (pills), language, spidey stuff, eating disorders, hallucinations, allergic reaction, crying, child abuse, fluff, let me know if i missed anything

~~~

you’ve been sitting across from steven for almost ten minutes, your food untouched while he kept eye contact with you.

you couldn’t even rip off the bandages around your waist, due to it being from khonshu making it almost indestructible.

you were making this harder than it had to be.

it all made you think to about ten minutes ago.

~~~

ten minutes earlier, you sat nervously in your seat at the table while steven made lunch.

they all thought you were all better, and ready to eat again without feeling insecure.

but you weren’t, you still had that feeling in the back of your head.

they are just saying these things to make you feel better, not because it’s true.

steven came over and set your plate down in front of you, and you glare down at it.

he sat down across from you and noticed the look on your face.

“y/n, you alright?” he asks and you nod slowly.

“i’m not-“

“if you’re going to say you’re not hungry, save it” he starts, making you look up at him.

“you have to eat”

you sigh and stare back down at it, and you admit that it looks really good, but you just can’t bring yourself to pick up the fork.

“y/n” steven says in a more stern voice than before.

“yeah?” you respond, looking back up.

“eat your lunch” he tells you and you hum.

“can i save it for later?” you ask quietly and he shakes his head.

“you’re not leaving this table until you finish that” he points to your plate with his own fork.

“yeah? who’s gonna stop me?” you begin to get up, but are stopped when mummy like bandages wrap around your waist and the back of the chair, keeping you from leaving it.

“what the hell, khonshu?” you look beside you to see the bird, steven raising his eyebrows at you.

“i’m sorry, spider child, it must be done” he leaves, and you turn to glare back at steven.

“it’s a simple task, really” he begins. “at least half of it. please” his tone softens.

you sigh again and shake your head lightly. “why is it such a big deal?”

“because you need-“

“this is going a bit far, isn’t it?” you cut steven off, and he scoffs quietly.

“y/n! please!” he exclaims, and you stare at him wide eyed.

“sorry, just- just at least have a little” he switches up the deal, and you look down to your lap.

you sense a switch, so you brace yourself for whatever he’s going to say.

he clears his throat and you look up at him, and you see that his hand is out and reached towards you.

“give me your phone” he orders and you scoff at him.

“no-“

he raises an eyebrow at you, challenging you to argue back.

you let out a breath and dig your phone out of your pocket, smacking it in his hand as hard as you can, making him wince.

“watch it” he points at you, pocketing your phone.

you flip him off and pick up the fork, chucking it at him, just to have him catch it.

“wow, real mature” he says, tossing it back, making a clattering noise against the table.

you covered your ears when it did that, the sharp noise hurting your ears.

“sorry” marc mutters and you nod.

you angrily pick up the fork and start eating out of annoyance, and the fact that they would keep you there until you did.

they were just worried. 

and you were just not feeling yourself at the moment.

and it was the hunger.

you were hangry, basically. you hadn’t eaten breakfast and now you were too far gone to want lunch.

except, before you didn’t have a marc. or a steven, or a khonshu to make sure you were staying healthy.

steven ended up coming out again, watching to make sure you actually ate your food.

he felt bad. he felt terrible. he shouldn’t have pushed you, what if you really weren’t hungry?

but you hadn’t eaten all day.

but-

but nothing. 

this is what they were all here for, they were here to make sure you don’t accidentally kill yourself trying to keep your life together.

your whole life you were alone. you had nobody.

they understand that they made you uncomfortable by pushing you to eat, but you needed it as much as you don’t want to admit it.

“i’m sorry” you whisper while slowly eating your lunch, steven leaning forwards with careful movements.

“don’t be sorry, we-“

“i need to tell you guys something” you blurt, making steven nod and you take a shaky breath.

“first off, thank you” you begin, all three of the boys listening intently.

“before you guys i.. i don’t remember the last time i ate there full meals a day” you take another breath.

“as i’ve said before, i was basically starved in one of my homes, but there’s another that did the same thing. except… except it was worse.” you tell them slowly.

you feel the bandages around your waist fade away as you continue, mentally thanking and cursing out khonshu at the same time.

“i couldn’t.. they used to lock me in the basement without food for days if i looked at them wrong” you take another bite of your lunch.

“if i had more than two meals a day they’d call me greedy and..” you trail off quietly while you hear steven’s breath hitch.

“they would.. uhm.. hit me” you let out a breath.

“i just don’t- i know you guys wouldn’t hit me but it’s always-“

“in the back of your mind?” steven finishes for you and you nod.

“we don’t think you’re greedy. if anything, we want to give you more than just this” you see steven make eye contact with marc and jake through the reflection on the table.

“so that’s leads us to ask you something” he starts. “something very important”

you furrow your brows and nod, finishing almost half of your lunch.

“how would you like to.. move in with us?” steven asks quietly, you dropping your fork on your plate in shock and freezing.

“they turned your power and your water off, plus you stay here most of the time anyways so-“ marc starts, and you interrupt him.

“yeah- i’ll… i’ll- i would love to” you stammer over your words, tears gathering in your eyes and you get up, steven doing the same and bringing you into a tight hug.

your chin was resting on his shoulder while you stood on the tips of your toes, one of stevens hands on the back of your head, and the other holding your back close to him.

both your arms were around his torso, making sure your still healing leg didn’t press too hard against his.

you take a sharp breath and chant a couple dozen ‘thank you’s’ to them, which results in steven tightening his grip on you.

“you don’t need to thank us. this is your home. officially” he says and you chuckle, slowly letting go of him.

“listen, i’m so sorry those people did those things to you” steven changes the subject and you look down at the floor.

“but hey, i’m sure jake will try and find them to talk” he pokes your chin, making you look back up at him.

you smile at him and shake your head.

“don’t, jake. they aren’t worth it” you shrug and you hear him groan.

“but princesa, talking is my passion” 

“by talking he means beating the shit out of people” marc scoffs and you purse your lips.

“yeah. i got that”

~~~

you were currently taking down any and all shelves and posters you had up on the walls of your room.

in the dark.

because you’re too broke to pay the stupidly high rent.

marc was in your kitchen, boxing up the few plates, bowls, and cups you had.

you accidentally dropped a thumbtack on the floor, making you silently curse and bend down to find it, seeing that it rolled under your bed.

you peek under and see most of your egyptian stuffed animals under it and one thing you thought you’d never have to see again.

it was a wristband you had forgotten about.

something you never wanted to think of ever again.

something you didn’t want to tell anybody, not even steven, marc, or jake.

you grabbed the tac and the wristband, rubbing your thumb over your name printed on it.

“don’t blame yourself” you heard a young voice say.

you shoot your head up and see nothing, making you blink a couple times while clenching your jaw.

now that you think of it, you recognized the voice, and it sounded a lot like-

“me” you whisper to yourself, looking up and seeing yourself for a split second.

but it was you as a child.

specifically when you were with the worst family ever.

you remember it clearly, your cheeks were hollow, and your eyes were sunken.

the dirt and dust that gathered in your hair and on your skin disgusted you.

you weren’t allowed to come upstairs more than half the time, and there was no bathroom in the basement.

meaning you could clean yourself, and you had to sneak up to go to the bathroom and steal food away without anyone noticing.

she was gone as soon as she appeared.

you closed you eyes for a moment before looking back down at the wristband.

it brought you pain to even look at it. but you still couldn’t bring yourself to throw it away.

until now, that is.

you stand back up and look across the room to where you had a trash bag.

clutching the plastic bracelet to your chest for a moment, you let out a sigh and toss it in the bag, watching as it settled on top of the other garbage you found in your room.

you wanted to let go of those memories. your brain didn’t let you because it was the only thing keeping you in reality.

but now you had your dads to keep you grounded.

you smile to yourself and hear your younger self laughing from behind you, making you turn around to see nothing.

you don’t remember laughing when you were a small kid, let alone smile.

whatever you were hanging onto with that wristband must’ve kept you attached to the memories.

and now, that shell of a child you were? she was happy. she was finally at ease now that you finally let go.

marc took that time to come in, lightly knocking on your doorframe.

“you doing alright?” he asks softly and you turn to him and nod.

marc tilts his head at you and tries to hide a small smile forming on his face by frowning.

“don’t do that, you look like a muppet” you tell him and he gives you a look.

“you’re gonna have to be nicer to us now that you’re our new roommate” he says to you and you scoff.

“thank you again” you respond quietly, marc pushing himself off the doorframe to approach you.

“i don’t know what i would’ve done honestly” you begin. “id probably just go find some other dilf to live with” you shrug and marc makes a face.

“are you calling me a dilf?”

“if the boot fits” you mumble, looking away from him and taking down another poster.

“rude” he mutters and you chuckle.

“you and layla literally fucked on the couch” 

“be thankful we didn’t do it on the bed, you sleep there” marc tells you, and you turn around, making a face at him.

“you’re lucky i don’t just-“

“just what?” marc presses and you hum.

“nevermind”

“that’s what i thought”

marc helps you roll up the poster, sticking it in one of the boxes.

“we can take a little break, come back tomorrow” marc suggests and you nod.

“we have a week before they ask for my key back” you shrug, putting the thumb tacks on your empty nightstand.

“how about we relax, maybe we can go on a walk and i can get you raspberries or something” he says and you hear jake and steven groan.

“you’re so lame, spector” jake voices and you snort.

“what? raspberries are good” he turns to you. “you like raspberries, right?”

you smile and shrug. “i’ve never had them” 

marc stops in his tracks, as he was about to open the door.

“how have you never had raspberries?” he asks and you shrug again.

“they’re expensive” you say quietly and marc grabs your hand, leading you out of your soon to be ex apartment.

“i’m definitely getting you some raspberries, now” he tells you, now pressing the button for the main floor.

“raspberries must be the lamest thing you can get her” jake starts, making you raise an eyebrow.

“get her a puppy”

“yeah, marc get me a puppy” you agree and he shakes his head.

“no more pets, you’re lucky i let you keep those cats” he tells you and you shrug.

“i guess that’s fair”

you two step out of the elevator, marc still leading you to where the nearest market there is.

once marc had bought a small plastic container of raspberries, you two quickly found a spot in a half filled park, both of you sitting down at one of the old picnic table across from each other.

“how long have you been thinking about asking me to move in with you?” you ask, making marc think about it for a moment.

“well not long. you basically already lived with us, it just wasn’t official” he answers and you smile.

marc opens the small container of the tiny dark pink fruit, picking one and popping it into his mouth.

“..are they good?” you ask, only a little nervous since you’ve never tried them before.

“yeah, just at least try one” marc tells you and you nod.

you pick one up out of the container and study it for a second before putting it in your mouth.

you chew it for a second before swallowing it, looking up to marc who had a look of anticipation on his face.

you nod at him. “it’s good- they’re good” you say, your spidey senses tingling all of a sudden.

you look around, seeing nothing again as marc makes a face.

“what’s wrong?”

“i can sense something. and it’s right here” you say, looking all around you.

you notice a small sting in your throat, causing you to cough to try and ease the sensation.

“are they supposed to make your throat hurt?” you ask marc and you see the color drain from his face.

“no- are you feeling okay? your face just turned really red” he says and you feel your breathing become wheezy.

“yeah, why can’t i breath now?” you ask him, itching at your hand which had the raspberry in it.

marc gets up and circles the table, coming to sit next to you.

“heyheyhey- i don’t want to alarm you but i think your body isn’t reacting well to the raspberries” you hear steven say, and you start coughing into your elbow again.

“you either need to throw it up or we need to get to the emergency room” steven panics, jake staying quiet out of the weird sense of anxiety he felt.

marc had a hand on each of your shoulders, nodding along to what steven was saying.

“okay- just..-“ you quickly get up, going over to the nearest trash can, taking a minute to throw up into it.

you couldn’t care less about the stares you were getting.

marc rushed over to pull your hair back, and glaring back at anyone that makes a face in your direction.

when you were done, you wiped your mouth with your sleeve and sat down on the ground.

marc was standing above you as a couple came walking over to you both.

“is she okay?” one of the men asks, and marc nods at him.

“yeah, she just got a little sick, that’s all” he waves them off, and you give them a thumbs up.

“are you sure? does she need anything?” the other man asks.

marc looks down to you who’s shaking your head, marc looking back up to shake his own.

“no, she’s alright”

“if you say so, hope she gets better!” he says, both of the men walking away while you bring your knees to your chest.

“they were good while they lasted” you joke, marc sitting down on the grassy surface next to you.

“i guess the universe had a reason to not have you try raspberries” marc says and you chuckle.

“you wanna get home?” he asks.

home.

“yeah” you murmur, marc helping you up and making sure to take the raspberries as well.

“marc, she’s allergic to those!”

“it’s not like she’s going to eat them” marc argues and you nod.

“steven he’s fine” you start. “besides, it’s not his fault, i didn’t know i was allergic to raspberries” you shrug, already seeing your destination in view.

“so how’s the boyfriend?” marc asks out of no where, making you shoot your head to him, ceasing the itching on your hand.

“he’s not my boyfriend” you mutter, and you hear jake chuckle.

“but you want him to be, cariño” jake teases and you scoff.

“you didn’t deny it”

“shut up, jake”

~~~

later that night, after you could breath properly again, jake was rewrapping your leg.

even though you had faster healing, it still wasn’t instant.

jake had to hold your leg down, since you kept flinching away.

he had you sat on the bathroom counter, luna and pedro sitting next to each other watching you from the doorframe.

“you’re almost done” he tells you, finishing the last stitch, and unraveling the bandages while you clutched the counter as if your life depended on it.

jake looks up at you with a tight lipped smile, and stops his movements for a moment.

“i’m sorry if i made you uncomfortable” he apologizes and you lift an eyebrow in confusion.

“i mean about.. your guy friend” he clarifies, and you sigh, smiling back at him slightly.

“i know you’re just joking, that’s why i’m not uncomfortable” you tell him and he nods, going back to wrapping your leg.

after he does so, he helps you off the counter, to which marc puts everything away in its rightful places.

you pick up pedro, holding her close to her chest as marc turns back to you.

“why are you so attached to those?” he asks, moving past you to walk back to the living room.

“they are my babies, and you named this one” you run in front of him to shove pedro in his face.

marc raises an eyebrow and reaches a hand up to pet the cat, then taking her from you to hold himself.

“yeah but what’s the point?”

“…they are cute”

“is that your excuse for everything?” 

“only when it’s the cats and steven”

“why steven?”

“because he’s british”

“stop this nonsense” khonshu bangs his stick on the ground, making you and marc turn to where he had been standing.

“the felines used to be worshiped” khonshu starts. “let the child have her fun, spector” he says, making you chuckle, luna hopping up on the couch and curling up into a little ball.

“whatever” marc mutters, putting pedro down on the ground.

“stevens making dinner and you-“

“are going to eat it, i know” you finish for him, moving to sit on the couch next to luna as steven did his thing.

“you know, i never took jake as a cat mom” you tell khonshu, as he is perched up on the back of the couch.

“of course it’s the only one with a brain that is obsessed with the tiny creature” khonshu tells you and you hum.

“do you know any gods that aren’t egyptian?” you ask him and he nods.

“like thor? maybe loki?” you ask again and he nods again.

“it was in my youth that i saw the odinsons. before i was banished from asgard” he informs you and you nod.

“i believe it”

khonshu hits you in the head with the moon on his stick, making you throw your fist at his beak.

khonshu groans and rubs the spot you hit, surprised by your sudden act of violence.

“i think lockley has rubbed off on you too much”

“maybe” you respond, khonshu tilting his head at the sleeping cat beside you.

“so about asgard” you begin, khonshu groaning in annoyance.

that evening was spent eating dinner, then begging khonshu to tell you about asgard.

you read somewhere that loki fucked a horse and you had to know if it was true.

khonshu refused to answer, just leaving you in the dark.

it was whatever.

now, the boys were a bit more confident now that you were officially living with them.

i mean, you were basically their kid already.

it just needed a bit more time, and they already had a huge thing planned.

layla was in on it, and even khonshu was.

now, they were thinking of getting another certain someone in on it as well.

and they knew just who could distract you long enough to get it ready.

when the time came, of course.

which is soon since they aren’t scared of what your reaction will be.

they are sure it will be fine.

great even.

~~~

A/N : hope you all liked it! also the stuff about khonshu being banished from asgard, and even being there in the first place are made up by yours truly.

idk if khonshu has ever even heard of thor or loki. but whatever

thank you all for the support too! i love interacting with you guys, i swear you guys make my day better when i see a notification in my inbox :)))

ALSO YESTERDAY WAS BABY SCARAB 2 MONTH ANNIVERSARY!!!

see you all in two days <3

taglist ---

@alexloveskili @ihatemyselfmorethanmydepression @thebiggestsimpshrimp @guyinachair27 @astrobuzzsstuff @mooonlight-and-stars @moonlighting87 @mateihavenoidea @inactive-things @alondrashultz @femalemarvelself @queenthorin1 @haileymorelikestupid @jvdethirlwall @justtiredandvibing @winterfrostsarmy @themapoftinyperfectthings @littlebird101 @atzlena @httpslinow @arrowurboat @m-brekker @lifeandbandmembers-blog @adamcarlsenslvr @violet-19999 @seninjakitey @bestgirlpip @panic-in-the-multiverse @in-between-the-cafes @branolagar @bl6o6dy @annoyingmarvelreader @bee-a-cool-kid @buzzitsbeee @wintergirlsoilder2 @crow-carcass @you-bloody-shank @distinguishedmakerpandapatrol @valiantphantomangel @50shadesofcrocs @rayrlupin @kingshitonly @brekkers-desigirl @hutaos-gh0st @kayane28 @nevaeh-jasso @lizlil @scarabgrant @luvxxee

[flowerbarrel-art]

~ Alan Becker, AvA, AvM

~ Reconfigured Dark AU ~

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part five (you are here)

Part Six

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“OUCH!”

Chosen jolted up in bed and sat rubbing his eyes for a moment.

“You okay?”

Chosen got to his feet and trudged towards the door, opening it quickly to see Red holding Dark and Green holding his nose tightly.

“He decked me in the face!” Green exclaimed.

“He probably didn’t mean it,” Red sighed.

“Here, let me see,” Yellow said, carefully pulling Green’s hands down. “It’s fine. Not bleeding or anything. Come on, maybe just take a break. I’ll take over.”

Green scowled and shook his head.

“I swear this guy’s trying to trick us…”

Chosen balled his fists.

“He’s not.”

The Sticks jumped and stared at him in surprise as he walked over. Dark reached out for Chosen, who carefully took him from Red.

“How do you know?” Green mumbled, folding his arms.

“His aura was the same except for its color,” Chosen sighed as Dark hugged him around the neck. “It used to be yellow…now it’s green. And he…I really think he doesn’t remember me, or anything else. He’s the same Stick, but he just feels different.”

“How come he seems comfortable around you, then?” Green asked.

“Do you really think he’d be giving me a hug if he remembered me?” Chosen asked, narrowing his eyes.

“…guess not,” Green muttered.

Chosen glanced around.

“Where’s the others?” he asked.

“Second’s asleep and Blue went to the Nether,” Red explained.

“Alone?” Chosen asked with a frown.

“He’s gone there before,” Yellow said. “He’ll be fine. And if he takes too long we go check on him.”

Chosen shook his head and held Dark out to Red.

“This doesn’t feel right,” he said. “If he went because of me and something happened…”

“Blue was planning to go anyway,” Red said. “He can take care of himself.”

“And you still look like you need rest,” Yellow said, hands on his hips. “So you’re not going.”

Dark began squirming and Chosen put him over his shoulder.

“…alright,” Chosen sighed. “But I don’t want to sleep now. I’ll watch Dark for a while.”

Red gestured to the couch nearby.

“If you can’t go back to sleep, at least sit down.”

Chosen hesitantly took a seat on the couch.

“You can put him down,” Red told him. “He’ll be okay.”

Chosen reluctantly set Dark down on the couch.

“So…what does he usually like to do?” Yellow wondered.

“Uh…I got a playpen and some toys for him,” Chosen mumbled, crossing his arms. “Dominoes, stuffed animals, bouncy balls…I forgot them back at the house though.”

“I can program all that in,” Yellow said. “Second might even draw some things for him later. He’s been wanting to get back to it.”

“What did you do while I was asleep?” Chosen asked.

“Blue got him to sleep before going into the Nether,” Yellow said. “We played with him a little, but he was pretty tired. He woke up not long before you did, and we were trying to give him something to eat when he punched Green.”

“Was it something he didn’t like?” Chosen asked.

“No, he was just kinda flailing his arms around,” Yellow said. “We thought it meant he was hungry, but he just kept yelling…something. I don’t know what he meant.”

“He seems better now that you’re here, Chosen,” Red put in. “I think he missed you.”

Dark crawled into Chosen’s lap and beamed at him; Chosen picked him up and found himself smiling back.

“Well, whether Dark’s hungry or not,” Green said, “I know I am.”

He briskly left through the front door.

“Oh, uh…I’ll go program some more stuff in,” Yellow said, also leaving in a hurry.

“So….” Chosen said after a moment. “You play a game called…what again?”

“Oh, Minecraft!” Red said. “It’s fun! You take care of animals, and explore or fight or farm. You have to watch out for Mobs, but once you get used to them, they aren’t so bad.”

“Mobs?” Chosen asked. “Are there other Sticks in the game?”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I meant,” Red answered. “Mobs are monsters. Zombies, spiders, skeletons, Creepers, Endermen…”

Chosen stared at Red.

“You can check it out sometime if you want,” Red went on. “But I mostly like exploring and taking care of animals.”

Dark suddenly reached up and grabbed Chosen’s face.

“What?” Chosen asked, startled.

“I think he’s bored,” Red noted. “Yellow should be done soon. He’s pretty good with computers.”

Footsteps thumped down the stairs just as Green came back into the house.

“He should like these,” Yellow said, rolling a blue rubber ball towards Dark before setting an armful of toys on the ground.

Dark picked up the ball and giggled, then looked up at Green.

“Uh, Dark, don’t do that…” Chosen said, and reached for the ball just as Dark threw it at Green.

Green stumbled back a few paces when the ball bounced off his face, and he picked it up with a glare.

“You’re not getting this back,” Green snapped, but Dark crawled towards the pile of toys. He picked out another ball and threw it again, but Green dodged. “Hah! Missed!”

Dark clapped his hands and laughed.

“…he just thinks we’re playing dodgeball, doesn’t he?” Green asked.

“Yeah…sorry,” Chosen muttered, pulling Dark into his lap. “He likes throwing stuff.”

“Great,” Green sighed, passing out bread and apples to Yellow, Red and Chosen. “So…what do you want?” he asked, glancing down at Dark.

“Oh, right,” Yellow said. “Got some letters. Blue told me he likes those.”

Yellow knelt and held out a handful of letters; Dark grabbed some and began chewing on a small E.

“I’ll take the rest,” Chosen said. “Thanks, Yellow.”

“Sure,” Yellow said with a shrug. “We can type more.”

“Second never eats letters,” Green said, folding his arms curiously. “So what’s up with you two?”

“We…we kinda just ate whatever we could, I guess,” Chosen muttered with a shrug. “We knew how to program things, but after we…went off on our own, we didn’t like staying in one place too long.”

“So you really were friends,” Red said quietly. “Alan said you were, but it just seemed weird since…well…the fight and everything.”

Dark held his hands out; Chosen gave him more letters.

“What else did Alan tell you?” Chosen asked quietly.

“Just that you used to live on his computer,” Yellow said. “Is that true?”

“…technically,” Chosen sighed.

“Was that…bad?” Red asked hesitantly, giving Chosen a worried look.

He’s lost his friends before.

Victim’s words came back to Chosen, and he felt a little shiver trail down his spine.

“Do you all like it here?” Chosen asked.

“Oh, yeah, it’s really nice!” Red exclaimed with a smile. “Alan lets us do whatever we want as long as we don’t get too crazy, and he doesn’t mind if we play his games either! Minecraft’s just our favorite.”

Do they not remember? Chosen thought, confused. He glanced around briefly. I wish I could talk to Vic…

“You okay?” Red asked, touching Chosen’s shoulder, causing him to jump. “Sorry!”

“It’s…it’s okay,” Chosen sighed. “Just tired.”

“You can take a break,” Yellow said.

“I’m fine,” Chosen said quickly. “Thanks though.”

“You can say you’re not.”

Chosen jolted in alarm at hearing Vic’s voice.

“What?!” Red burst out, also jolting in surprise.

“N-nothing, sorry,” Chosen stammered.

“You don’t look so good,” Yellow noted. “Do you still hurt?”

“K-kinda,” Chosen mumbled. “But I can…I…maybe I will go get some rest.”

He looked down at Dark.

“Is that ok? Will you be good for everybody?”

Dark gazed back at him, then smiled.

“That’ll have to be enough, I guess,” Chosen said, patting Dark’s head.

“How old is he, anyway?” Green asked. “Like…a week old?”

“Yeah, just about,” Chosen said. “But I don’t know if he’s normal or what.”

“Well, a Stick baby’s not normal for us,” Green said. “And not for you either, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah…Alan drew us,” Chosen mumbled.

“He might technically be a week old,” Yellow said, “but I think he’s too big. Can I see him?”

Chosen pulled Dark a little closer.

“Just for a bit,” Yellow said. “I’ll be careful. Promise.”

Chosen hesitantly stood and held Dark out.

“Alright…well…” Yellow murmured, lifting Dark up, “I think he’s too heavy. Might be more like a couple months old.”

“You sure?” Chosen asked, shaking his head. “I only found him recently.”

“I guess I’m not completely sure,” Yellow said, lifting Dark over his head and studying him. “Babies are usually small at first. I wonder why he’s been growing so fast…”

“Have I been feeding him too much?” Chosen asked nervously.

“Oh, no!” Yellow exclaimed. “I didn’t mean he was overweight. I don’t know how fast Sticks are supposed to grow, but I think you’ve been doing a good job.”

Dark began to wave his arms and kick his legs.

“Careful, Yellow,” Green cautioned, and Yellow passed Dark back to Chosen.

“Thanks,” Yellow said. “Now, I’ll get the awkward topic out of the way and say that Sticks can have babies.”

“Please don’t explain it,” Green muttered.

“I never thought about it,” Chosen sighed.

“I didn’t plan to explain,” Yellow said with a shrug. “Anyway. We’ve just never seen any Stick babies in person until now. We only found out when reading about them.”

“Where?” Chosen asked in exasperation. “All I’d find when I looked anything up was how to take care of stick bugs.”

“Yeah, you have to read StickCity news,” Yellow chuckled. “Human search engines won’t mention them. Sometimes StickCity families will put an article in the paper asking for a babysitter, or they’ll write to columns asking for advice. Families have even put up announcements that they had a baby. A long time ago, when StickCity was just getting started, Sticks started up encyclopedias and help books. There are a ton now. There are books on babies, like pediatrics and psychology, but my favorite genres are engineering, astronomy, chemistry, physics…”

“Yellow, as fascinating as that is,” Green interrupted, “Dark won’t be a baby anymore if you keep that up.”

“Fine,” Yellow said with a roll of his eyes. “And about a billion other topics that some Sticks don’t appreciate. I’ve read most of the books in the StickCity library, and they’ve got thousands of books.”

Chosen raised his eyebrows.

“I read everything,” Yellow said with a shrug.

“Yeah, we’ve been to StickCity a couple times,” Green said. “Alan made a shortcut so we could get there easily. We never knew it was near…you know. The lab. It’s been a little while since we went to the city, though…”

Green trailed off and looked away.

“You went to the city for fun?” Chosen asked.

“Pretty much!” Red chimed. “There are a lot of other Stick kids, but I never thought they might’ve been Stick babies once. We thought they were programmed like that, the way we were.”

“Maybe we could all go to the city sometime,” Yellow said. “We’ll pick up a few newspapers and do some shopping.”

“Uhh…I…” Chosen stammered. “Maybe just you all go and…tell me and Dark about it after. I’ll just read the paper.”

“I think you’ll like it,” Red told him with a smile. “Sticks write short stories or draw little comics and send them in. They’re pretty fun to read! There are digital copies of them too.”

“Yeah?” Chosen asked, glancing down when Dark tugged at his hands. He gave him a couple letters. “How far back do they go?”

“Pretty far!” Red chimed. “The oldest article I’ve read was from ten years ago. You wanna see? Yellow and I can show you how!” He laughed. “Well, mostly Yellow.”

“You’re good at it too,” Yellow said, patting his shoulder, and Red smiled.

“Maybe not now if that’s alright,” Chosen mumbled.

“Oh, yeah, you should rest,” Red said. “C’mere, Dark. Chosen’s gotta sleep.”

Dark looked curiously at Red, then held out his arms.

Chosen passed Dark to Red, then stood up nervously.

“You sure it’s okay?” Chosen asked, scuffing a foot against the floor.

“No problem,” Yellow said. “But we’ll call if we need help.”

“Okay,” Chosen sighed, then headed into the bedroom.

“Well, good for you,” Vic said after Chosen had curled up in bed. “You’re learning.”

“I don’t like the sound of that Minecraft game,” Chosen muttered sleepily. “But maybe we could go live there so we wouldn’t see Alan all the time…or maybe we could just go there now so we don’t have to meet him at all.”

“That wouldn’t be a good idea,” Vic said. “You don’t know anything about it.”

“I could find a guidebook,” Chosen retorted. “I could learn.”

“Even after what you heard Red say about Alan, you still think a game with monsters everywhere is the better choice?”

Chosen rolled over with an irritated growl.

“Just calm down for now. If you were at 100% it’d be a dumb idea to go barreling in there, even if you didn’t have a baby with you.”

Chosen gave an annoyed sigh.

“If Blue’s not back from the Nether by the time I get up, I’m going after him.”

“Or I could,” Vic said. “You should just sleep.”

“You don’t know anything about Minecraft either,” Chosen retorted.

“No, but I can’t get hurt. I’d go in before you did.”

Chosen let out an exasperated sigh.

“I know you don’t want to see Alan again. I don’t either. But at least we won’t have to until later.”

“…why is that, by the way?” Chosen asked, rolling over and staring in Victim’s direction. The room was dim, but he couldn’t see Victim anywhere. “You know him too. How?”

Victim was silent, and Chosen sat up slowly.

“He’s the reason you’re a ghost, isn’t he?”

“He…deleted me,” Victim whispered. “He created you to be an ad blocker. He created Dark to kill you. He created me to be a punching bag. I fought back, and…”

“We shouldn’t have come here,” Chosen groaned.

“…Hey, I made you come here. And at least Alan’s doing better with Second now…even if they all had a rough start.”

“Rough’s an understatement!” Chosen hissed. “When I’m better, we’re leaving.”

“Maybe seeing Dark will help him. He might even be able to see me.”

“How would that help?” Chosen demanded.

“I don’t know how he feels about what he did. I think if Dark hadn’t tried to conquer the internet, he’d just have left him alone. But he didn’t have a choice. Maybe he’d have apologized for what he did. He could feel guilty about it. We won’t know everything, but it’ll be a start.”

Chosen suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

“What are you doing?” he demanded, jerking out of bed and scrambling away from where he thought Vic was.

The chill lessened a bit, and Chosen felt an arm around his shoulders.

“Listen, Chosen…” Vic sighed, “this isn’t a perfect situation, but I brought you here so you wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. I’ve been on my own for a while and got used to it. Even started liking it a little. You had Dark as a friend once, but you’re basically his parent now, and there wasn’t anybody to take care of you.”

“You were there,” Chosen said.

“Yeah, but it’s not the same as having living Sticks around.”

“You helped me, though,” Chosen protested. “Even before I knew you were there.”

“I know, but it’s alright. These Sticks will help you, even if it’ll take a while for you all to trust each other. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay. Maybe once you don’t need me anymore I’ll disappear. But for now at least, I’ll stay for you. I want you to have a better chance than I did.”

Chosen felt a little warmer.

“And honestly,” Vic went on, his voice moving away, “I think it’ll be alright. So come on. If you see Alan and don’t want to hang around after that, you can decide. I don’t think he’ll try to stop you this time. But you need help right now. You need friends.”

Chosen didn’t respond, but felt Vic helping him to his feet.

“Get some rest. It’s easier to think when you don’t feel like garbage.”

Vic helped Chosen back to the bed, steadying him when he stumbled.

“…alright,” Chosen finally murmured, huddling under the covers. “I think they forgot about what Alan did…in one way or another…but they do seem happy at least.”

“Yeah. They do.”

“I was scared of Alan…and so angry at him…but I’ve wanted to talk to him for a long time.”

“Me too. We have time.”

“Yeah…thanks, Vic,” Chosen sighed wearily, finally letting himself drift off to sleep.

[redhairedwolfwitch]

Pink Hair Dye - Gwen Stacy x Reader - Spider-Verse

Summary: just some chaos because i can't help but notice a slight pink tinge (it's a hair shadow honestly but my mind says pink) of Gwen's hair that's grown out a bit in the Across the Spider-Verse trailer, so I'm being chaotic and have watched my flatmate have their hair dyed blue/purple in our kitchen a few times now...

"Did you get it? Did you get it?" You jumped around as the window opened, revealing your best friend, Gwen Stacy, also known as Spider-Woman to the rest of New York.

"Whoah, whoah, you're excited and it's not even your hair!" Gwen chuckled, passing you the bag of items.

Gwen smiled softly as she watched you run the bag over to the kitchen counters, pour out the items across it and look through them.

"Oooh, yes, you even got gloves, I mean, I can try rock dyeing my hands pink, but thank you for the gloves... I also charged my clippers by the way." You rambled as Gwen chuckled, heading into your bedroom to change from her spidey-suit to some old clothes she was willing to get dye on.

"Huh, you want to get pink on your ESU jumper?" You raised an eyebrow, looking up from where you were reading the instructions for the hair dye.

"Oh, now you admit it's mine? Anyway, I have more than one, since you steal my clothes." Gwen deadpanned, hopping over the couch to reach the barstool you had prepared for her.

"So, blonde to pink dip dye, and sorting out whatever's happening to the side of your head that Morales got stuck to way back when?" You voiced your thoughts, watching as Gwen nodded and sat up straight for you to work.

///

A laugh left your lips as you stepped back, glancing at Gwen's hair with the newly dyed ends tin foiled up.

"Stop laughing, otherwise your hair will be next!" Gwen smirked, gesturing to the leftover dye.

"Not tonight, at least..." You trailed off, folding your arms as Gwen arched a brow of intrigue.

"You're going to let me do it?" Gwen enquired, but the scoff that left your lips had her playfully glare.

"Depends on how much you've learned from your session tonight. Anyway, that needs to stay on a bit longer, so I'm going to order pizza." You affirmed, checking the timer on your phone before grabbing the menu for Eddie's Pizza.

///

Gwen paused as she got up for the bathroom, staring at the mirror as she took in how it looked.

"Hey, so you'll have to watch your bedding, since you'll get pink all over it- whoah, jeez, that spidey-sense is sharp!" You yelped as Gwen reacted to you breaking her concentration on the mirror.

"You mean, you'll have to watch your bedding, since I'm crashing over tonight?" Gwen retorted, smiling as she watched the recognition wash over your face.

"Yeah, yeah, need to watch my bedding for pink dye now..." You laughed to yourself, hurrying over to the door as the pizza arrived.

///

"Psst, hey... smile!" Gwen whispered, drawing your attention away from the laptop the two of you were watching a tv-show on.

Turning your head with a smile on your face, Gwen grinned as she snapped a photo, uploading it to her instagram, then the band instagram account for the Mary Janes as you rested your head on Gwen's shoulder, narrowly avoiding her freshly dyed hair.

Smiling to yourself, you shared the photo onto your instagram, sneakily adding comments to Gwen's post when she wasn't looking.

"You're the best, you know that, right?" Gwen stated after the episode finished, having looked at her phone whilst you set it up to go onto the next episode.

Humming as the episode started, you smiled at Gwen who smiled back.

"Yeah, but I'm not the one with super cool blonde and pink hair." You pointed out, resisting the urge to curl a lock of Gwen's hair around your finger.

"Well, maybe we should do yours next time?" Gwen proposed, smiling to herself as you hummed, gasping and nudging Gwen in the ribs as you realised.

"Hey, we're missing the episode!"

[delimeful]

Helpless (2)

the next chapter in the drider virgil fic!

warnings: spiders, slight dehumanizing language, assumptions/jumping to conclusions

-

Logan was certain that he’d tracked down his quarry.

Of course, he’d also been certain the last two times he’d found promising evidence around a swath of woods, but this time was different.

He had learned plenty while traversing through the varied lands of his kingdom, and while physical evidence was ideal, word of mouth was one of the most useful tools a researcher could use to find leads.

That was part of the reason why he’d been so careful to observe typical travelers for weeks before his departure, the reason he was wearing worn, cheap fabric and staying at the second-cheapest room at this town’s inn, despite having plenty of money still hidden on his person. He didn’t want a single rumor about a suspiciously rich noble traveling alone.

The last thing he needed was for his investigative journey to be interrupted by bandits, or worse, would-be do-gooders attempting to return the missing prince to his place in line for the throne.

Logan resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the very thought, putting aside the last half of his travel rations and stopping at the edge of town to stare into the woods beyond. He checked his compass habitually, and he was pointed firmly westward, exactly towards the point of the woods that were occupied by a dangerous monster, according to the barkeep that Logan had plied for information last night at supper.

The whole town knew of it, even the younger residents, which was a point in favor of the creature really existing rather than just being another folk tale.

There was one other potential source on the creature, a town outcast going by the way others’ noses wrinkled at the mention of him, but Logan was more than ready to begin investigating for himself, and the odds that the outcast actually knew anything were low, anyhow.

Decided, he headed into the forest, prepared for the day-long trek that was sure to follow. If he was prone to less scientific notations, he might have jotted down that he had a good feeling about this particular town.

Exactly an hour and a half later, Logan had found himself almost entirely immobilized by layers and layers of gossamer threads strewn about the trees.

Needless to say, he was ecstatic.

Even the foolish manner in which he’d landed himself stuck in such an obvious trap couldn’t dampen his spirits, not when faced with undeniable proof that there was in fact a drider in these woods. He’d been too hasty in his attempt to collect some of the biological material, and by yanking too hard, had ended up pulled forwards into the thick of the intricate spider web.

His immobility was a bit concerning, but mostly frustrating, since he couldn’t reach for his journal to note down the surprising level of the webbing’s tensile strength. Still, proper scientists had to be prepared to hold onto their observations for as long as it took for them to be able to write them down.

Besides, he could hardly complain. His current predicament practically guaranteed that he would actually get to see the creature!

-

There was a person stuck in his webs, and Virgil was freaking out about it.

It had never happened before. Virgil very specifically made the webs closer to town thick and opaque so that any passerby would see them and avoid this exact situation.

Virgil peered around the cluster of bushes he had half-flattened himself behind. The stranger didn’t seem too panicked, at least, going by the way that the web barely swayed with his presence. He didn’t even seem to be breathing hard, which was… admittedly sort of strange.

Skies above, what if this was a trap? Virgil turned his head sharply to scan his surroundings, wary of human hunters suddenly popping out of the undergrowth.

Several moments of silence, and even with all his senses pushed to their farthest, he couldn’t detect anything. It seemed the only one trapped here was the human.

A pang of guilt curled unpleasantly in his first stomach. He grimaced, wishing desperately that Patton was here to mitigate the utter terror Virgil was surely about to inflict on this guy.

No point in drawing it out. He rose up to his full height, grateful that the human had gotten stuck facing the opposite direction, and quietly crept up behind him. All he needed to do was announce his presence and let the human know he wasn’t going to hurt them, but he was immediately distracted at the sight of just how tangled his webs had grown.

“How does one human manage to touch every single support thread at the same time?” he asked, voice incredulous.

The human stiffened, and he couldn’t help but tense in response, cursing his big mouth.

… Really though, he spent hours crafting these, and now this one would have to be completely reconstructed!

“Are you the monster spoken of in town?”

The measured voice snapped Virgil out of his thoughts as easy as a clap of thunder, and he shuffled a bit from side to side nervously. His many steps must have been louder than he’d thought, because the human immediately attempted to twist around and see him.

He failed, naturally, because Virgil’s threads weren’t exactly easy to wriggle free of, but Virgil’s nerves only grew. “I… why do you ask?”

There was a short silence, and then, “Considering my current situation, it’s only natural I would want to know, isn’t it?”

Virgil resisted the urge to wince at his own dumbassery. “Right. Well. Yeah,” he confirmed, already bracing for the fear that nearly every human bore when confronted with him. Even Patton had been afraid at first, though Virgil really thought him braver than any other human, to be so terrified of even normal spiders and befriend a Drider of all creatures.

“Oh, excellent,” the human said with clear excitement. “Would you mind coming around so that I can see you?”

Virgil blinked, befuddled. The last thing most humans wanted was for him to come closer. Maybe it was the natural fear of him being in their blind spot? The guy certainly didn’t sound very afraid, even with Virgil’s less-than-stellar first impression.

“Do you have a weapon?” he asked warily.

“I have a knife,” the stranger offered, “but I can’t exactly reach it at the moment.”

Virgil could see the glint of it, caught bladefirst at the very edge of a web as though it had been used on the threads themselves. He slowly circled around the clearing, watching the stranger closely for any sudden movements, until he stood before him, all eight legs and thorax visible.

“Fascinating,” he breathed, eyes blown wide as they skittered from point to point as though noticing every little detail. Virgil would have thought him afraid had it not been for the prideful little grin that sat on his face. “I thought maybe you were lying to me-- I hadn’t expected you to be so fluent in the common language, living in the woods and all-- but wow!”

Virgil felt his front legs rising up a little bit in an automatic defense against the unexpected reaction. He ran his tongue over his fangs nervously, trying to figure out whether or not he should be insulted about the language thing. And what exactly did this guy mean by ‘expected’?

The stranger’s hands twitched slightly, still stuck firmly in place, and irritation briefly flitted across his face as though he’d forgotten his position. He blinked, as though remembering something.

“Oh, right. Are you planning on trying to consume me, then?” he asked, the question as politely curious as an inquiry about the weather.

Virgil recoiled physically at the idea, skittering back a few strides and baring his fangs despite the difference in size and strength and trapped-ness between the two of them. “What? No!”

The stranger managed to drag his intrigued gaze away from Virgil’s fangs, his hands twitching again almost subconsciously. “In that case, would you mind helping me down? My leg has begun to go numb, and I really would like access to my journal.”

“I-- I mean, yeah, if you aren’t-- I can--,” Virgil stumbled over his words, drawing closer with his body lowered non-threateningly and waiting for the inevitable flinch or shiver of disgust.

It never came. The stranger continued to stare at him with no trace of terror in his eyes, even as Virgil grew close enough to reach out and touch him.

“Take your time,” he offered, despite being the one trapped in a monster’s web. Virgil abruptly felt a bit silly about his obvious wariness, and lifted his front legs to rub them together at the ankles. The stranger’s head tilted to the side slightly, watching the gesture intently.

“... It’s the oils that make the webs not stick,” Virgil explained. “I produce it naturally on my feet so I don’t get, y’know, stuck. I’ll have to touch the webs that are attached to you. With my feet. The spider ones.”

Virgil didn’t have any other kinds of feet, but the stranger graciously didn’t nitpick.

“A built-in solvent… I wonder if natural spiders have similar traits,” he mused instead, and then, “Do whatever you need, I don’t mind. The opposite, really, I appreciate the assistance.”

Sure enough, he didn’t shy away when Virgil began carefully plucking at the threads entangling him, sliding the sides of his legs along them to coat them in the anti-stick oils. Bit by bit, the entanglement loosened, and Virgil had just freed both arms when the human abruptly twisted around to reach for something on his person.

Of course, now that much of the webbing holding him in midair had been removed, his weight was significantly less supported. A few threads snapped, and he dropped a few inches with a startled yelp. If he continued, he’d be in for either a rough fall or getting caught in a whole new layer of webbing, and Virgil wanted neither of those things.

He quickly reached forwards with his human arms and lifted the stranger up and away from further entanglement, batting away any stray threads with his front legs. Belatedly, he realized he had forgotten to check if it was a weapon that the human had reached for. Even more belatedly, he realized that this was the second human he’d picked up in this impromptu carry.

Weird that it had happened twice.

“Perfect, thank you,” the guy said, and then he started writing furiously in a little book, occasionally glancing up at Virgil and locking onto a feature before returning to writing. It was as though he didn’t mind at all being held aloft like a human might lift up a misbehaving cat.

Virgil took the opportunity to continue cleaning any web remnants off the guy while he was distracted, his mind whirring. A stranger who had clearly never done a day of hard labor in his life, who didn’t seem at all afraid of him, and was taking notes.

... Oh, shit.

Virgil set him carefully on the ground while he was still preoccupied with scrawling out a label for a diagram of Virgil’s teeth. He backed up, softening his steps, and by the time the stranger pulled his attention away from his book, Virgil was already well out of sight and planned to keep it that way, regardless of the confused little call the stranger made.

He was not messing with what was clearly a mage out for his parts.