#but getting an alien attached to my arm and becoming a cool guy about it? fuck yeah...

[itsclydebitches]

I don't go here, but I really dislike how ubiquitous the notion has become in fandom that 'strong and independent woman' is somehow mutually exclusive with 'woman in a romantic relationship/prioritizing romance'. I feel like that's the kind of attitude that leads to terrible readings like 'The Little Mermaid is anti-feminist because Ariel gives up her voice for a man' which requires ignoring several key aspects of the film's plot and Ariel's character specifically (such as the fact that she sings Part of Your World before she ever lays eyes on Eric, and she spent her entire life collecting artifacts from the surface world and arranging them in her grotto), nevermind the fact that a story where someone falls in love and values that highly enough to make significant changes to her life to fight for it would still have value! Because love has value!

Like you said, just because there are a lot of cases where female characters are reduced to love interests and nothing else doesn't mean a female character caring about love and being motivated by love means she can't also be strong and independent. I feel like a lot of people just swing the pendulum way too far in the other direction and seem to think that being in love is what devalued those female characters, and not the fact that they were (by and large) written to be accessories for the male characters they were attached to and had nothing else to contribute to the story.

That is the problem, not romantic storylines themselves.

Precisely, anon! I'm really glad you brought up The Little Mermaid, both because the latest adaptation showcases how important intersectionality is (a black mermaid getting the "generic" love story is not the same thing as another white mermaid getting it) and because I've had similar gripes about many fans' readings of Cinderella. To be clear, I think the Disney + princess craze is a complicated subject with an equally complicated impact on kids, but a lot of people will attempt to simplify that conversation down to, "It's bad because she wants a man." Putting aside that this is not, as discussed, inherently a bad thing... did we miss the part where she's in a clearly abusive household, wants only to experience one fun night, and happens to meet the Prince without ever actively aiming for that to happen? This is a debate my friend and I have had for years, to the point where "Cinderella" is a bit of a code-word for, "We're never going to agree on this topic and others are getting annoyed at our impassioned arguments, so can we just move on now?" lol

I experienced similar frustration back when Jupiter Ascending came out and -- putting aside the quality of the film (or supposed lack thereof) -- people were up in arms about how terrible it is that the woman lead needs to be rescued by the guy, with the reason for that terribleness boiling down to, presumably, the idea that a woman is automatically weak if she needs help. Meanwhile, I was reading things through the lens of the show's realism (of course the average cleaning lady is not going to be able to fight off alien kidnappers without assistance) as well as the joy of seeing parts of myself in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy story. I'm not physically strong. I'm not a martial artist. I'm not someone who's going to immediately come up with a cutting remark and satisfyingly punch someone in the face. As cool as that archetype is, it's reductive to present a Strong and Independent Woman as solely physically strong and romantically independent. That definition should -- and does -- mean a thousand different things!

I do get it. I often have a knee-jerk reaction to certain writing choices for women (there was a maybe baby plot-line for one of Ted Lasso's characters this season that, far more than Keeley, I've been side-eying), but overall I try to approach each story as the individual text that it is. Yes, there are issues with these trends across media... but is this story actually falling into those stereotypes and harmful depictions, or have we just trained ourselves to reject anything in this category by default?

[badapricot]

Lovely Writer: Special 1

This is a rough translation of the first Lovely Writer special. There are 8 in total and other side stories that the author compiled. I’ll try to post 1 a week since they do vary in length, and some are a lot lengthier than this one.

This special is from Nubsib’s POV and it’s about Nubsib remembering his feelings for Gene after seeing him on Facebook, and becoming fixated. Nubsib is 15 at the time and Gene is 20.

At that time, I was in the ninth grade.

Since middle school, my parents had sent me to study abroad with my brother. Because of the wealth of my family, this was never an inconvenience. But living alone in a place that wasn’t your home country required a lot of adjustment, mainly doing everything on your own. You had to learn things that you’ve never seen and known. 

This was one of the methods of teaching the sons of the Thanakitpaisan family.

It was their luck to have a son who was mature since childhood. It didn't take long for me to get used to the culture there, where I went to parties, attended sports clubs, worked a part-time job, and even had typical American teen sex. Being Asian did give me some advantages, when it came to distinguishing myself from the others.

I could only smile when talking to the many blonde women who bragged about our experiences in bed, amongst their group of friends. After some time, I felt differently about it.

"Sib.”

"Yes?" I leaned back on the sofa, and raised my head from his screen when I heard my name.

Neung came downstairs. He was wearing a thick gray cardigan with a scarf. "I’m going to go meet a friend. You're not going anywhere today, right? "

"Hmm."

"Okay, I might be coming back late. Please get my package when it arrives. You’re not going out with your girlfriend, right?”

"We broke up.”

"Huh?” Neung frowned. "You dumped another one? Again? You know, you don’t have the face of a womanizer.”

"…"

Neung opened the door of the house. For a moment, the cool outside air blew in, until the hot air from the heater disappeared. I didn’t care much about either, and stayed looking at my phone screen.

I’m not a womanizer.

It’s just that every time I got together with a girlfriend, something felt wrong. I knew I wasn’t in love with the first girl. The others, I didn’t like particularly much. Sometimes the girls didn’t like me much either, and only wanted a partner themselves, so we’d eventually separate.

It was true, that I was only in the ninth grade. But sex here was too normalized. It had become so normal that I’d become bored. When sex became so commonplace, all excitement was lost.

Mom: (send picture)

Mom: I’ve sent you Thai ingredients that should be delivered soon. They’ll be waiting for you.

Mom: Today, I went to see Aunt Run, do you still remember the house next door? Today is the Aunt's birthday. All of her sons have come home.

Mom: I saw it and I missed you and Neung.

I looked at the message that popped up, from the other side of the world. It was dark here, but over there it was probably in the middle of the day. It was time for them to eat.

Mom: Do you remember Gene? Gene and Jap are all grown up.

Gene?

After reading my mother’s message, it was natural to think of the past. I missed it. During my childhood I would run and play with him everyday, and just the same, Gene would play with me almost every day.

I still remembered “P’Gene” clearly after all these years.

We were five years apart. But we somehow became closer than me and my own brother. Since I moved out of the house, we never saw each other again. We didn’t have any more contact with each other.

When my mother talked about that time, I felt nostalgic.

I moved my finger to type to ask for a picture from my mother. In the end, I sent a simple sticker. I sat on the sofa in the living room for awhile before retiring to my bedroom to shower.

In my warm bedroom,  so different from the night air outside, I picked up my phone again. I went to Facebook to catch up with everything back home. My finger kept scrolling through my news feed, my face blank. I started to feel sleepy, but before I could fall asleep I saw a status.

I wasn’t friends with the person who posted. But I was friends with his mother, who was tagged in the photo.

Jap Jarernpipat posted a picture.

This year, my mother has lost another year, haha.

In the picture was a group of six people. The background was a wide garden and a long table. Both of my parents, and Auntie Run and Uncle Teep were there. But the one that most caught the eye was the man in the lower right corner.

The other person grinned until his eyes were crescents. His hands were raised, flashing a peace sign. His hand held a cake tray with a delicious golden egg. The corner of the mouth was stained with white cream, like he was teasing someone. He was smiling, which made his cheeks round and full.

I couldn't take my eyes off of him. For a second, there was a strange numbness in my fingertips and toes.

I didn’t need anyone to tell me who that was.

P’Gene.

He was still wearing a white uniform shirt. It had been many years since we’d met, if counted by age. Gene would have been in university for three years.

Usually, I was the kind of person who didn’t care about the people around me, or anyone else. But this time, I couldn't control my fingertips. I clicked onto Jap’s Facebook page.

Chasing him down, I found a status posted with the person I was looking for tagged.

Jap Jarernpipat posted a picture

My brother brought me to the movies. What kind of crazy alien movie is this? I might puke, but maybe you guys on Facebook will like it.

The post was from three days ago. One was a picture of a cinema ticket on the top floor of a department store in the heart of Bangkok and the other was of P’Gene in a T-shirt and jeans. He hugged a bucket of popcorn. His hand was holding a large glass of water, lifting it up to his lips and sucking. It was a funny candid photo that many of his friends on Facebook commented on to make fun of him.

...but for me, the only word that came to mind was “lovely”.

I didn’t know why I was doing this but I pressed “save that image”.

Jap Jarernpipat posted a picture

My stupid little brother, you make the whole house look bad.

They were in a garden in the corner of the house that felt familiar to me, but was a little fuzzy. They were in front of a flower bush that had been trimmed into a square. Gene was sitting down, with his butt on the ground. A blue hose fell next to him, the hose spraying in another direction. It made him wet all over soaking his shirt, the thin material clinging to his body.

Both of his arms were behind him, to support his body. Therefore, his shirt and body were stretched, so I could see two small nubs contrasted and poking through his white shirt.

My eyebrows furrowed together, and I frowned.

I cursed when my body immediately had a strong reaction, just from the one picture.

I pressed the comment section, when I saw the high number of comments.

Jiranon Jarernpipat: Jap stop posting pictures of other people.

(Reply) Jap Jarernpipat attached video clip.

I clicked play immediately.

"Ow, P’Jap!”

“Hahaha, why would you say you’ll help me water the plants? You can help if the grass is dead.”

“Can you turn off the water for me first? Why are you recording?”

P’Gene raised his white hand. He wiped the water from his face, and pushed himself off  the ground. His shirt clung to his body, so I could see everything. He had the voice of a man, but he was still so cute.

Finally, the clip ended.

There were still a lot of other videos that Jap posted pranking Gene, all of which stopped me from becoming bored. I saved all of them to my phone and computer. In the end, when more and more accumulated, I created a whole separate folder.

That night when I fell asleep, my brain was filled with pictures of the boy next door, who I hadn’t seen in years.

Another morning, days later, I woke up frowning, and I had to gently breathe out. I’d dreamt of P’Gene again. Since seeing that picture that night, there hadn’t been a day where I could go without seeing his face.

I knew Gene’s Facebook. But he didn’t update much, except to change his avatar or cover photo. But Jap’s Facebook page had tons of pictures of Gene. So I was still able to look at Gene’s pictures and progress in life everyday, like some kind of psychopath.

Even when I closed my eyes to sleep sometimes, I still saw his pictures.

I didn’t want to be this way, but I couldn’t control my subconscious.

I always saw Gene lying in my wide bed. He would smile at me, his cheeks soft and reddish. His hands would hold on to me, and his mouth would gently say, “Sib.”

It was a fantasy that any teenage boy would have. But it wasn’t a woman. Instead, it was the boy next door, who always loved and saw me as a brother.

I circled back to look at his pictures every day. In the end, the feeling accumulated like a huge mountain of snow.

I want to meet him in real life.

I want to hug him.

I want to smell him. 

I want to kiss his mouth. I want to do to him what I do in my dreams.

Since the day I saw his picture and until today, my thoughts and feelings had become more and more intense. So intense, that sometimes I was afraid of myself.

I’d already decided how I’d deal with this.

“Will you finish school here?” Neung had packed all his bags and was ready to go because he finished his studies. I leaned against the door frame, looking into his room.

“Actually, it’s nice here too, you know.”

"No, I'm going home."

“So you’ve changed your mind then?”

I nodded.

“Well, our house is nice and of course, our parents miss you too.”

"…"

"I'm not going to be here anymore, don't bring any women into the house...but you're not dating any girls lately. So it's fine."

I sent off my brother, who took a taxi straight to the airport to go back home to Thailand. Personally, I still had a year to complete my studies.

In the past, I had never thought or worried about how fast or slow time would pass. But now, I felt jealous of my brother.

Back at the house, I picked up the phone. I was still for a while. Maybe it was because Neung had returned to Thailand, but I felt like chasing pictures wasn’t enough anymore. My fingers moved before I could decide to send a message to someone.

Nubsib tanagijpaisarn: P'Jap.

Nubsib tanagijpaisarn: Do you remember me?

I wanted to talk to someone who could tell me everything about P’Gene. 

I wanted to learn everything about him.

[the-final-sif]

BNHA Venom!AU (set in the US for ease of writing) where Izuku is a baby symbiote who accidentally ended up on earth. He ended up lucking into a host, an 8 year old Katsuki who’d been backpacking through the woods nearby where he landed.

Katsuki was always a bit of a weird kid. He didn’t get along well with any of the kids he knew, and his parents were rather distant, being high-end fashion designers meant they were always off across the world doing other things. As a result, when this weird alien attaches itself to him, he’s annoyed for sure, but he doesn’t panic, or call the police, or really do any of the normal things that a child should do in that situation.

He just kinda,,, puts up with Izuku. Sure, he’s pissed off and he tells Izuku to go away for awhile, but soon enough he learns to accept this weird alien that’s a part of his life.

Quickly, both he and Izuku discover that Izuku can help him do some pretty cool things, and Izuku needs lots of chocolate to stay healthy. Both things are just fine by Katsuki, and he ends up deciding that Izuku is actually alright in his books.

Some government agents snoop around, at least somewhat aware of an alien being in the area, and Katsuki quickly learns to hide Izuku from anyone else. He doesn’t want them to take his new friend and hurt him like they described. Katsuki manages to escape suspicion as not even his own parents know about his backpacking/hiking hobbies, and nobody really thinks a spoiled 8 year old kid of two fashion designers would be 10 miles out in the woods.

After that, life keeps going for Izuku and Katsuki. They learn to live together, how to adapt to all the various quirks of sharing a body, how to use the powers Izuku can give Katsuki, and how to keep Izuku well hidden.

It’s all going great, right up until Katsuki makes it into an extremely prestigious boarding school; UA. It’s his dream high school, but it’s so much harder to hide the fact he’s got an alien living in his body when he’s living with other teenagers, and the security at the school is much higher than what he’s used to. For fuck’s sake, the vice president’s kid goes to this school! There’s no way they aren’t getting caught.

Still, Izuku doesn’t want Katsuki to give up on his dream and encourages him, so Katsuki reluctantly goes to UA anyways, trying his best to keep Izuku hidden.

But there are... incidents. Not ones where anyone dies, but people seem intent on harassing Katsuki, from fellow classmates to muggers outside the school, and Izuku is very protective by nature. After a few of these ‘incidents’, a certain underground branch of the government starts getting suspicious again, launching an investigation into the school.

Meanwhile, Aizawa, Katsuki’s primary teacher, has started noticing lots of weird things about Katsuki. Like how he always has two columns in his notebooks, with one side full of carefully written notes and the other side filled with random excited musings in rushed handwriting. Or how sometimes he'll seem to become a different person for a moment, or how he seems to vanish at odd moments.

Weirdest of all is his homework/essays, where Aizawa would swear half the time it's a different person writing them (he only knows for a fact it's Katsuki doing both, since he's watched the kid write most of his essays at various stages in the library). The core ideals themselves seem to change between essays, and that’s what bothers him the most since he’s never seen that in a student before.

Being the good concerned teacher he is, Aizawa considered all the evidence before he called Katsuki into his office. Katsuki and Izuku are sure they've been caught.

Then Aizawa asks Katsuki if he's ever been tested to having multiple personalities.

And listen, Katsuki does not believe in faking mental disorders. But by this point, he's really worried that the government is gonna get Izuku, so when he sees the chance to excuse all his weird behaviors he latches on with everything he’s got.

So Katsuki explained, while trying to lie as little as possible, that he's never formally been tested (and he doesn't want to be), but there is another person living in his body named Izuku. Izuku is very shy though, and would prefer to not be mentioned/brought attention to. As such he asked Aizawa to not tell anyone else about him. Aizawa agreed easily, after all he doesn’t see any real risk from Izuku, and he’s happy that Katsuki was honest with him about the situation. He tells both of them that they can come talk to him any time if they need help, Katsuki agreed to that, and for a little while Izuku & Katsuki were safe.

I dunno exactly how the class finds out about Izuku, but I do know that Iida is one of the first ones during a tense situation. As a result, Katsuki and Izuku get to watch as straight laced goody two shoes Iida looks a government agent right in the eyes and lies his ass off to him to protect Izuku.

 For this AU, the ‘Kidnapping’ happens when the government managed to catch onto Katsuki. They’re sure they’ve finally found the alien, and they move in to capture Katsuki.

Only, Katsuki gets wind of this ahead of time, so in a quick moment of desperation, he forces a weakened Izuku to transfer off of him and onto Shouto, since Enji is like the vice president in this AU and that makes Shouto much, much harder for a government agency to fuck with. Shouto is somewhat aware of what Izuku is, and he agrees to take the other to safety.

Poor Izuku can only watch as Katsuki is captured, while Shouto forces him to stay hidden for all their safety.

It's okay though, because the four people who know about Izuku and what happened (Shouto, Kirishima, Iida, and Momo) decide to break into the government base to get Katsuki back, with Izuku's help obviously.

They get most of the way through their super secret infiltration mission, but something goes wrong and they’re almost caught. 

Until while they're hiding and the people search for them are a hair away from discovering them, an absolutely furious Aizawa just fucking waltzes in with the fucking president (All-Might for this AU) to demand his student back.

Now at this point, the agency has no actual proof of alien life. They have half connected incidents and eyewitness reports, but nothing definitive. When they took Katsuki into custody, they’d tested him immediately, sure that they were going to get their proof that way, but since Katsuki no longer has Izuku, the tests all came back negative. As such they have no real justification for having basically kidnapped him.

The agent guy or whoever has been chasing them tries to justify themselves by offering proof of 'Izuku' existence, specifically recordings of Katsuki talking to himself and referring to an ‘Izuku’ as well as written notes. Aizawa's responds that he was already aware of Izuku, that Katsuki had already discussed the other with him, and that he cannot believe they've detained a 16 year old on account of him having multiple personalities. All-Might backs Aizawa up, and shuts down the entire thing as there’s no evidence they’ve done anything but harass Katsuki.

That leaves the agents shit out of luck, so they have to let Katsuki go. The other kids sneak out the way they came in, before quietly joining Aizawa and Katsuki. Aizawa waits until everyone is outside and out of range of any cameras, and then he just turns on the entire group.

"Okay, so first of all, I'm extremely disappointed that you four decided to break into a government agency with armed guards before so much as texting me."

"I'm so sorry sir."

"We could've thought that through a little better, I'll admit."

"Katsuki was in trouble, but yeah, I guess we could've asked for help."

"I stand by what I did and I'd do it again."

Aizawa, actively chooses to ignore Shouto's comment for right now, but does still glare at him for it.

"Second of all, that man may be a fool, but I am not. Where's the alien?”

Everyone's quiet for a tense moment before Izuku makes his choice and pokes his head out from Shouto, introducing himself politely.

After getting a full explanation on what happened, Aizawa gives Katsuki a Look (tm) to which Katsuki defends himself.

“Listen, I did not lie, I just purposefully omitted that the person living in my body is also an actual alien from outer space.”

And Aizawa can’t really argue with that, so he just accepts that his class has an extra student in it from now on.

They let the rest of class 1-A in on the Izuku secret, since a lot of them had been coming close to figuring it out anyways, and so the entire class slowly adjusts to having an alien as one of them. It’s surprisingly easy to come to terms with, and as Izuku slowly starts coming out of his shell (ie hiding inside Katsuki whenever someone tries to talk to him), the entire class discovers he’s a total sweetheart & adore him.

[herstarburststories]

Important Milestones (Damian Wayne x reader)

✾ Summary: An intimate look through your and Damian's relationship. Requested! It’s been a hot bit since I wrote for Damian, so I hope this one is good!

↼❈⇁

First meeting

Dick was taking Damian to the circus

Add a long conversation and lots of "Yeah, Dami. I'm sure the animals are treated well-- Actually, animals aren't allowed in legal circus anymore. You don't have to worry."

They were watching the show, and Damian couldn’t believe that Grayson was so excited about clowns

Damian excused himself to get some food

Dick asked him to get a hotdog, but Damian will bring him popcorn #beaveg

Thing is, you and Damian arrived the food trunk at the same time

Which leaded to an argument

Y/N: I got here first!

Damian: You are not on the line!

Y/N: Because you almost ran over me!

You two kept going long enough for a worried Dick to show up

How to trust each other

You know when you've never seen a person before, but once you lay your eyes on them, you start seeing their face in every crowd?

That's basically you and Damian

How come you didn't know the idiot from the circus was also the Wayne guy that studied with you?

How he, with Talia and Batman's observation skills, never noticed you walking around Gotham's School and now he always caught a sight of you?

You and Damian quickly fall into a weird routine:

Glare each other during lunch

Rolls your eyes when the others was talking in class

Annoy each other whenever you had the chance

Jon teased him a lot

Talking about Superboy...

He seemed off in the morning and he hadn't showed up for lunch like he always did

Damian decided to look for his best friend

Surprisingly, he found Jon crying in your arms in the middle of the chemistry laboratory

You just looked at Damian and nodded for him to come in

Y/N: His parents had a big fight. I found him here alone and thought I could help. Since you are here, guess I'll go.

Damian: You can stay. I mean, Jon probably could use your emotional assistance.

Damian still finds you annoying (and so do you), but you helped his friend

He trust you... A bit

Recognize your feelings

Damian came to school one day. He is clearly hurt-- he couldn’t even walk straight

Jon remained quiet. He was there when the week's villain throw Damian against a wall as if he was a bag of potatoes

But you don't know about the Robin detail

Besides, you are sort of a trinity with them now

Therefore, you worry

And you ask

And you worry some more

It's been a few weeks since your friendship started. Damian trusts you, he really does, but not enough to tell you

Let's keep in mind that pretty much like Bruce, Damian isn't the best when it comes to expressing his feelings through anything but violence

So, he acts like an idiot

Y/N: Damian, come on. I'm not stupid enough to believe you’d fall hard enough to get yourself hurt like this. Talk to me.

Damian: Stop pushing your need to fix everything on me, Y/N. You are not my mother. Don't waste your worry on me, I don't need it.

You realized you liked him when you felt way more worried than you usually would

But Damian just noticed his cherish for you when you glared at him with evident hurt in your eyes and left the table

He just wanted you back, making silly jokes with Jon and stealing his fries

Kiss me, idiot

Two days

48 hours + 12 minutes since you two fought

A whole weekend

LISTEN, his life was going perfectly well before you came along

Now it seems like you opened a spot that's exactly your fit and put yourself there

Whenever you aren't around, Damian feels this weird sensation of missing

Jon convinces him into talking to you

As soon as he sees you in school, he does

Apologize becomes another argument (surprise, surprise)

Damian: Why do you care so much?!

Y/N: Because I like you, idiot!

Damian: You, you like me? As in--

Then you kiss him

Because, let's be clear, you'd end up kissing or punching him

Finding out he's Robin

It's the most stupid way possible

Like, for real

Last night, his Robin's duties kept Damian up until 5am

Instead of leaving his clothes inside the Batcave as usual, he just crumbled to his bed

The sun arrived and so did you

School project

While Damian was out to grab some books, you were studying his room

A picture of him and Jon. Some papers with Arabian words. A dog's bed. Robin suit. A sword

Wait, come back

A. Robin. Suit.

Damian Wayne was many things, but cosplayer certainly wasn't on the list

The pieces glued together fast

A rich family would make sense: Batman and Robin's instruments never looked cheap. Four Robins existed among the years, and Damian had 3 brothers. Not to mention that he'd show up with random scratches and never explain what happened. He was good with swords, and the current Robin had been seen with them a lot of times. Besides, Damian Wayne would never wear a costume willingly, much less keep one in his room

He walks inside the room to see you wearing his cape and mask

Y/N: Guess I'm robin' your persona, huh? Wanna tell me something?

Meeting the family

You come from a big family

Good thing because anybody else would be scared if they were in your shoes

MESS, MESS, MESS

Dick is smiling like a crazy all the time, and making dad jokes

Tim is teasing Damian by asking you to blink twice if you need saving

Jason is directly fighting Damian and calling him devil spawn

Bruce is quietly watching everyone with a subtle smile on his lips. He asks you a few questions, and occasionally asks the boys to behave before answering his phone and excusing himself

Babs, Steph and Cassandra come in later

Now the teasing is divided between you and Damian and Steph and Tim

You tease them a lot, blushing Tim is adorable

You are wearing purple boots, and Steph already loves you for that

Dick tells Babara about you being aware of the family secret

She offered to train you for some self-defense

YOU ACCEPTED, DUH. SHE IS THE BATGIRL!!

Cass is more quiet, but very friendly

Alfred was the first batfam member that you'd met, though (also your fav)

You try (key word being try) to help him in the kitchen

Batcow became your best friend, sorry Jon

You met the Titan family as well

Now you had munition to tease Dick as much as he teased you and Damian

Thank you, Kory

Also, Kor is a real life alien princess, how cool is that!?

Beast Boy is the funniest guy -- and now you are pretty sure you became a vegetarian because you can't eat animals after seeing his transformation

Raven reminds you of Cass

Donna is so powerful, and she knows so many languages!

You get along with his two families

Although Damian rolls his eyes a lot during y'all interaction, he is really happy

First kid

You and Damian are in university when it happens

You both know it's a big step

There's no turning back, you two will always be connected

Damian and you are now responsible, parents

Of the cutest bunny!

Yep, you insisted on naming him Robin

The first kid you both adopted together

Get on your knees for me

Damian isn't much of a romantic

You don't really mind

But when he proposes, it's the sweetest thing

You two had ordered some veggie food to celebrate the end of your finals

Finally a break!

Damian was holding you on the couch as you both watched one of your favorite movies when Robin, the bunny showed up

Y/N: Batbunny, just because we have vegan food, it doesn't mean you can get some. Go eat your lettuce.

Damian: Beloved, maybe you should see what he brought for you.

The bunny had a necklace wrapped around him!!

And the said necklace was attached to a ring!!

A FUCKING DIAMOND!?

Extra of love:

You became a vigilant for a bit before deciding how you truly wanted to help people

Besides charity, you became a lawyer specialized in cases of racism and immigration

Your and Damian's wedding was a mix of your culture and his

Comment/Reblog if you liked it, feedback is magic! Wanna see more? Check my Masterlist! How about get tagged on my batboys or just Damian works? Ask me or add yourself to my taglist!

[malfoymuch]

“Rivals Don’t Look At Rivals That Way” pt. 2 [draco x reader]

Pairing; Draco x Reader 

Genre; ANGST, with uh, some fluff

Prompt: Part 1 Inspired by “THAT WAY” by Tate McRae 

Word Count; 4k+

A/n: Hey everyone, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for posting this WEEKS later, after the first one. To be honest, things are getting a little hectic and the workload for school is only increasing (it’s insane really, at least to be). Anyway thank you for all the love and support you gave to me, especially for the first part!! It may seem a bit rushed so I apologize, and it is a lot of ANGST, so yeah...thank you guys and love you!! 

Warning; idk major angst, and it’s a bit rushed so i apologize (there also may be a few grammar errors but i always miss them) 

Part 1 || Masterlist

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Previously: 

“Rivals don’t look at rivals that way… rivals aren’t supposed to feel jealous when the others dating someone else…” you droned on, ignoring the look of astonishment Draco had. “I don’t think we’re rivals, because if we were, then I’ve read everything wrong. And so are my feelings…” 

So you looked back up to him teary-eyed, clutching his robes and pulling him closer to you. 

“Tell me the truth, I want to know whether or not there was a possibility we have something… tell me if you feel absolutely nothing so I can stop-- there’s no point of me continuing on if nothing’s going to happen so tell me, Draco. Do rivals look at rivals that that?”

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Now: 

He felt comatose, not from your hinted confession, but the reality he cloaked suddenly unveiling. Complexion faded, his lips quivered and his throat unbearably tight. It had only tightened more as he watched as your face begin to form tears, sniffles already beginning. He was always a malefactor, wasn’t he? 

“I can’t,” Draco lamented, inspecting your deepened expression. 

“The last thing I want is for you to be mocked by all these students…” a frog caught in this throat as the three next words passed his lips. “...from my father.”  His eyes widened as he left a cool drop fall stream down his face and drip off his chin, landing on the ground. The sudden moment he couldn’t restrain his emotions… he didn’t even know he felt even an ounce of melancholy.

“So you admit that we’re more than rivals?” You whispered, stirring Draco from his unsettling behavior; a frown quickly cracked through, despite his oblivious state.  

“I never said that, don’t put words into my mouth. Plus, you know better than anyone that we couldn’t possibly--” 

“What’s stopping you?” You grilled, quickly overlooking his (weak) counter, stunning him for a moment. “Why is there always something stopping you Draco? Someone?” 

The interrogation seemed to madden him. Out of the blue, a harsh growl erupted from his throat; harsher than he’d ever done before. Of course, he knew what stopped him, what always stopped him. Merely the thing that daunts him every day, makes him question himself and his actions… 

“Nothing...” Draco snarled, laced in displeasure.“Nothing is stopping me.” 

“There is something...” you pressed on. In this exact moment, you could’ve been deemed the antagonist, forced to alienate everyone around you. 

You didn’t want to, but you knew that the exterior front he seems to maintain isn’t his true nature; you knew that deep within, everyone is a bit broken inside, and there was a nagging feeling in you that he was much more broken than anyone you’ve ever seen… maybe even more than you. 

“I know there’s something Draco, whether or not you want to tell me about it.” You didn’t want to, but if making him angered was the only way to see his genuine emotions, you’d do it in a heartbeat. 

Draco’s jaw clenched at your words, resisting the urge to snap. He should be open, he wanted to do nothing more than surrender. To you, to everyone, he trusted, to everyone who deserved it. He’s done already to you, partly. Accidentally, but was it worth it? It was, it always was, so... why can’t he go further? Why were so many things prohibiting him? And why were they all linked to the same thing? 

“You don’t understand, you don’t see the world I do (Y/N). You’ve managed to see through people, and believe that every person should have a chance. I didn’t get to, you haven’t seen this school as I have… being a Malfoy. People change, and not for the better, sometimes... You can’t fight for me for too long, (Y/N), you’ll end up giving up too.” 

His eyes glistened with fresh pools fell down, uneasy hands bringing themselves up to cradle your weeping face. A thumb, calloused, guardedly moved higher, pushing the water threatening to flood. He watched as the spark in your eyes dim, and he knew he’d done it again; he’d break another one. It was heart-wrecking. 

“You mean more to me than anything, (Y/N). I mean it…” he started, stepping closer and bringing you to his chest; shielding him from seeing the agonizing expression, guilt beginning to already eat him alive. 

“The last thing I’d ever want to see, is for you to be shattered… and for it to be all my fault,” he choked out, knowing very well you were already tattered… much less than what could happen later. His hand slowly went up to place itself on the back of your head, soothingly rubbing and playing with the strands. Not to calm you down, but for him. 

With his words, time seems to stop, as well as your heart; no words formed. 

How could he? 

You’d known for some time rejection was an option, but it was before his feelings… before the pain knowing how close you were; seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, reaching for it, grasping what it seemed to be it, and falling through the seams. 

Blame is all that seemed to loom him, clouded by what he convinced himself to be responsibility.

How do you persuade someone damaged like that? Reassure him that he didn’t have to worry about your well-being? About the world around him? 

That simply having him near and embracing you, knowing how he truly felt was all you needed; his mere existence was enough, his worth didn’t need to be proven. That the feelings were both mutual, was all he needed. The world’s view shouldn’t matter, because it was the two of you… not them. 

He didn’t need the world to love him, because you did. And even if you weren’t enough, he’d have others, family, friends… but did he really? 

For once, in your entire life and being, you felt… defeated. Taunts and arguments were small failures, but resulted in your victory… for the first time, you didn’t know what to do… how to make a comeback.  

“So there’s nothing? We’re destined to be stuck like this?” you sobbed, arms encircling his torso, pulling yourself into his chest deeper, a habit to muffle the cries escaping from you; a tactic you developed as a kid. Draco only pulled you closer, silent; chewing on his lip hard to the point he could begin to taste the metallic fluid oozing from it. “I don’t want it to end… anything at all is fine.” 

He knew what you meant or what you were getting to… It was either going back to being the world’s little display of chaos or having a secret little love affair. 

Now usually, he’d be head-over-heels at the idea, the moments of cuddling or secret rendevous in the garden or past curfew. Stolen times under the moonlight or just with the two of you, it sounded like bliss. 

But there was a possibility that it could all end in an instant. The moment he’d become extremely attached, to the point where a mere sideglance from another male could send him unhinged. Or someone catching the two of you, unfolding the curtain for all to see; backlash was his first thought. 

The thing was, he was untouched. Draco Malfoy was taken to such a high degree that most didn’t want anything to really do with him-- get on his bad side. The only people who’ve ever given him a run for his money was the Golden Trio, other than that, he was fine. 

You were the complete opposite. Yes, you have held a stable title of being strong, a determined and bright-minded individual. But people would still gossip, attempt to enrage you, simply because they could. You would fight back, that was definite… but there’s only so much you could take. Only so much before you either become numb or do something near expelling-worth. 

He didn’t have the courage. Call him a wimp all you want, but Draco Malfoy wasn’t going to hurt someone else ever again. He’s already done enough to himself.

Cut ties, to have you blame him and move on. Hate him, mock him, he’d heard it all before-- but with time, you’d be happier. It would hurt, more than anything, but he’d rather have it from you now than having it all, still brawling students will a weak caliber. God, he’d never forgive himself for that. His selfish acts weren’t going to be at the price of your glee.

“We can only be what they see us as of now,” he retaliated, hearing another choke from you; the heartstrings pulling excruciatingly tight. “For both of our sake, for your sake, especially.” 

“Draco--” 

“Please, do it for me. Stop trying to reason with me, because I’m doing what’s best for us, for everyone. For you.” 

Anger. 

For you… for you… why was it always “for you?” 

Why was it that everyone’s decision revolved around what’s best “for you?”  

No one ever asked, but it was always with the best intention “for you.” But who knew if they left before they could? 

The saying made you sick to your stomach, but you couldn’t retaliate. Instead, with a shaky breath, you took everything left of you and removed his hands from you, already missing the warmth from him. You didn’t need a second opinion to know you were an absolute wreck; the feeling already weighed you.

You held onto his hands in yours, just blanking out, staring at it. The sheer touch of his hands made butterflies explode within you, the frog trapped within your throat refused to budge. The grooves of his hands were intricate, you could hold onto it for forever, intertwining it with yours.  Instead, a few more tears plopped from your eyes and onto his hands. What a silly thought… 

Holding his hand out to him (with yours in it), you pushed it towards him, staring at him. This was your last attempt. Draco’s eyes bore into the hand holding his, signaling you were complying while saying, 

“If you truly feel that way… take these back too.” 

Draco didn’t want to… it was too nice. It felt right, like home. A safe one. Maybe even an escape. But if it didn’t, and let his heart voucher for him, all that he’s said, all he’s done, would’ve been for nothing; the struggles. 

So, he made his decision. 

As his hand withdrew and landed to his side, you had sprung forward. Grabbing the collar of his robes, you pull him down and peck his forehead. Draco’s body turned crimson, his body hot; if it was possible, steam would’ve been blown out from his ears. Just as quickly as it happened, it was gone. 

Putting on the best smile you could muster, which you knew wasn’t much, you pulled away with another few inches of distance; the wood creaking beneath your feet. You didn’t know why you did it, maybe for once, you wanted to be selfish… you wanted to take something, a memory before it all ended. 

“I should go before someone comes to check out the books in this section.” You didn’t want to leave, his eyes were telling you to stay, but if you did your heart would’ve split into two. You made your lips smile wider, almost maniacally, as more tears cascaded down your face; everything you could see started to blur. Turning away, you scurried off, resisting the urge to turn back. 

Something overcame Draco. He sunk onto his knees, against the bookcase, ignoring how loud it must’ve been. He leaned against the bookshelf, his lip quivering more than ever as all his emotions poured out; by himself, once again. His knees came to his chest as he flicked his wrist with a series of words. Books encompassed him, cloaking the withering Slytherin, finally expressing his emotions… with no one to hold. 

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You stared off into space, elbow digging into your thigh, despite the thick robs above it; you rested your head on your chin as everything around you seemed to be in a blur. You were so wrapped up in your mind the stem of your apple was barely between your fingertips, dangling. 

“You shouldn’t look so glum, people might get the wrong idea,” Dean teased, nudging your shoulder as he stole the apple from you, taking an enormous bite out of it. You gasped and punched his arm, screaming at his stupidity for eating your food, and finishing it off. Grinning the best he could, he threw the apple core to the side and folded his arms over his chest, making a sad face. 

“Now what’s the problem?” He questioned, in a childlike manner, his bottom lip popping out to create an (almost) irresistible pout. The action made you roll your eyes, giving Dean his answer. 

“Geez, it’s the same thing… well, if you want, we could do something to get revenge.” You gasped in exaggeration, eyes blown wide as a hand came to your chest. “Did a Gryffindor just suggest revenge? What’s the world coming to?” 

“Oh, put a sock in it. You’re simply just rubbing off of me too much for my own good,” he mocked back, smirking. Shaking your head a bit, you stealthily grabbed the sketchbook from him and flipping through the pages. His eyes bulged. 

“What are you doing?! Are you mad?” 

“You know...” you trailed off, scanning through the context. “You really shouldn’t draw people without their permission. Especially if you’re drawing the same person.”  You taunted, displaying the picture of Ginny. Dean’s face grew red, taking the initiative to take the book back and hide it under his robes. He groaned aloud, revealing it once more. 

“First off, I don’t only draw her, I draw all my friends.” He muttered, flipping through the pages irked until he found it. “I drew you too,” he finished, displaying the specific drawing.

Honestly, you were surprised. Shockingly enough, Dean Thomas was in incredibly talented kid, believe it or not, especially in art-and-crafts. You never belittled his talent, unlike the other Hogwarts students, you just teased him from drawing his little crush for an unspeakable amount of days, months. But seeing you made you crack a smile, even with the thought of Draco’s denial. 

It had already been two weeks. Fortunately for you, Dean was about the perfect person you needed, a supportive, caring friend. It was well reciprocated, it seemed Dean was completely in love Ginny; he didn’t even talk to her much. He had tried countless times, but there were a few moments filled with stumbling over his words, walking off embarrassed. You didn’t know if Ron had noticed Dean’s fascination with his sister, you just hoped he wouldn’t chop Dean’s head off. 

“Why draw me? I mean, that sketchbook’s pretty much occupied with one person inside. You could dedicate the entire book to her.” Dean rolled his eyes, clutching the sketchbook against his chest tightly. “I draw everyone I hold dear, (Y/N). And if you didn’t know by now…” Dean’s voice began to come softer, leaning close. “... you’re apart of that list now.” 

“You’re too goofy sometimes,” you laughed. Both of you smiled brightly as laughs were exchanged, gaining the attention of a few students, who began to babble. Dean stopped before you did, gazing at everyone.

“Hey, don’t listen to them. They have nothing on you,” you whispered, ruffling his hair. “Entitlement only gets you so far, you need brains to get anywhere, and a majority of this school doesn’t really have any.” You continued on, knowing that a few students must’ve heard. 

“You’re going to get in trouble for saying things like that, y’ know.” He whispered. “It’s the truth, and maybe for once, the school would shut up and mind their own business.” You spoke a bit too soon because a bundle of boys came trudging their way over.

“I heard (Y/N) and Dean are really together, look they’re all touchy and--” 

“Crabbe, Goyle. Do me a favor and put a cork in it.” Draco sneered, leaning against the pillar as he watched people from a distance.

Yes, most would find it creepy. But Draco was much more observant to the people around the two of you rather than just you. Keen to people’s words, the way they spoke hollow lies, yet it seemed it mattered more than the value of truth. Deception and myths blinded people, false hope. He stares too often, but it’s mostly the people around rather than the person. He did it with Potter, got him in trouble more times than he could ever count. 

But Draco knew the truth, he did it to help him. It was the only time he could ever see you, without other’s wandering eyes. He just didn’t feel the overwhelming need to do anything or desire. Crabbe and Goyle still praised him, always as countless other Slytherins, but it didn’t help that he himself felt guilt. Felt like a complete blistering idiot for rejecting probably the best opportunity he could’ve had, but he made his word of it to never come in contact if there was a chance of it down spiraling… if things were to get out of proportion.

You made sure to give the biggest grimace to the leader of the boys, looming over you as he shifted his weight on his back leg. 

“Heard you two were together,” he jeered, his misshapen finger pointing accusingly at Dean. “the muggle-born.” The attempt to belittle your friend made you scoff aloud, unlike Dean, who’d kept his head down to avoid the spur of conflict. 

“Obviously you’ve heard wrong because we’re not together. That or you’re just plain stupid.” The male looked baffled before he stomped closer to you, a poor attempt of intimidation. “What did you just call me?” 

“(Y/N), quit it.” Dean tried to reason, finally looking up from the ground. 

“I think you heard me, or are your eardrums clogged? You know what, don’t answer that, we all know the answer to that,” you taunted. “The latter one, if you didn’t already know.” You saw red. That and the sudden silence of everyone nearby, practically gawking at the scene before them; it even caught Draco’s full attention, making a beeline straight for you. 

The boy suddenly grabbed the collar of your robes, his other hand reaching down to reveal his wand, you let out a maniac laugh. 

“Are you that embarrassed that you attack a woman? Especially one unarmed as you reach for your--” 

“Oh shut up!” He screamed, his wand pressing against your chin, making an indent on your skin. “You just wait and see you--” 

“I dare you to finish that sentence,” someone grunted; a wand pressed against the male’s head, who shivered. You didn’t need to look twice to know it was Draco, though you were more irritated that he came to help you now than relieved. 

Doesn’t give you a glance and suddenly came to act like your knight in shining armor out of the blue? 

“Go on,” Draco rasped, “get on with it. Finish what you were going to say before I came here.” You felt the pointed piece of wood disappear, a slight tremble in his hands as he placed his wand to the side. 

“I can’t...” the student croaked. Draco’s furrowed his eyebrows and twisted his face, adding pressure. “And why can’t you? Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly chickened out, have you?” He remained silent before Draco finally released him with a quick click of his tongue. “Beat it, coward.” 

As if on cue he scurried away, not once looking back. Draco gave you a steady look, scanning your face for any sign of injuries, mutely. 

“If all you’re going to do is stare, I’m going to leave,” you said, patting down the wrinkles in your robes. Draco didn’t say anything as he grabbed your forearm, tugging you along to who-knows-where. Stopping in front of Goyle and Crabbe, he growled. 

“By the time I get back, I demand to know everything about that tosser, clear?” The compliant nods cracked a small smile from Draco, before whispering something to the boys you weren’t able to catch. He turned back to you and gave you a hard stare, turning around and yanking you with him. 

The walk overall was uncomfortable. You were petrified to try and break the heavy silence, knowing Draco was still full of steam. The doors to the library swung open as he made his way inside, his grip as vicious as a viper, tightening at the slightest struggle. 

“Are you always trying to get yourself into trouble?” He snapped, pushing you towards a bookshelf, and trapping you with his arms. You hated this. Being stuck beside him, near him, when he hinted there was nothing he could do to change anything between you. 

“I don’t want to talk to you, Draco. I have nothing to say to you, so let me leave.” You ordered, searching for a way to flee. 

“I don’t care if you don’t have anything to say to me, because I know you’re lying and I have things to say, so you’re not going anywhere until we sort this out.” A pained laugh followed from his words finally decided to stare up at him and into his eyes. 

“I think we’ve already sorted it out, you established that weeks ago, if you’ve forgotten,” you chided, ignoring your shaky breaths. “There is nothing to sort out, ‘cause we aren’t any--” 

“Don’t finish that sentence.” 

“And why not, huh? Afraid it’ll hurt your ego if I might?” You wanted to stop, you really did. You didn’t understand the words coming out from your mouth, but in that second everything within you just broke. 

“We are nothing, you made it crystal clear, Draco. Don’t tell me you’re suddenly backing out on your word--” 

You felt something on your lips. Something soft, wet. 

He was kissing you. Draco Malfoy was kissing you. It wasn’t happy either, it was vulnerable. His hands intertwined with yours desperately, assertive and fragile. It wasn’t until then you realized he had been crying from your words, his actions. 

When he pulled away his head hung low, ashamed. 

“I’m sorry. If you still hate me you can hit me, do whatever you want. I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry, for everything.” His eyes pierced into yours, another tear forming on his tear-streaked face. “You deserve much better than me.” 

Again, you were in a tight spot. 

Could you accept him? This time? 

You got what you wanted, he finally decided to open himself up to you, after months of trying, months of failures. But now… you didn’t know. He was so distracted by everyone around him, would it work? The two of you? 

Weeks ago, you would’ve been all for it; ready to face the world if it meant he was by your side every time, both thick and thin. 

But now you were thinking, actually taking the time to think it through… were you going mad? You loved him to death, without a doubt, but what would happen if his father did find out? It would be an emotional hell for him. 

What if you weren’t enough for him, and he realized that? 

“(Y/N), nononononono don’t you ever discredit yourself… ever.” He panicked, taking your face into his hands and raising your eyes to him. You didn’t even realize you voiced out your thoughts to him.

“You are everything, (Y/N). Nothing would change that, you did nothing wrong. I did it, okay? It’s my fault.” And there it was...

It’s my fault. 

“Why are you so persistent in everything being blamed on you. Why do you intentionally make people blame you?” 

“Because it’s easier to have everyone hate you then knowing your true intentions… your true feelings. It’s been easier, until now,” he explained, muttering the last part under his breath. “When you asked what was stopping me…” Draco trailed on. “...It’s been me. I know, it’s stupid but… I don’t want to be broken again, (Y/N). Not again. So I tried to push you away, evidently, that didn’t work.” He joked, stroking your hands. 

“I’m not asking anything of you, (Y/N). I just wanted to say I’m sorry; I won’t ask for your hand, just know that you mean more to me than anything. Whether we’re rivals or more.” 

He said gingerly, a little grin forming on his face. 

You thought again. 

Was it really okay for him? Was he really all right with everything? With the thought of you hating him and moving on? Being nothing more? 

“Draco…” you whispered, you didn’t believe the words coming out from your mouth. “Will you go out with me?” 

Draco was speechless for a while, before kissing the top of your forehead. “Only if you’ll have me.” 

You’ll take a chance, if he was willing to, you’d take it any day. 

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Tags: 

(those who asked for a tag and then wanted a part 2)

@dreaming-legend

@swonpl

@blisfvll

@s-njj

@that-weird-kid-charlie

@paaaam97

@simple-live

@jiminie-slytherin

@jadewestwriter

@lumbs17

@un-limit-edd

@blue-and-yellow-jjk-pjm

@theres-a-dog-outside-omg

@fire-in-her-veinz

@zphyersworld

@babyde-er

I think that’s everyone, thank you for reading and I hope you all are healthy and safe !!! 

[sapphicmsmarvel]

SG: Livewire JR

masterlist

the first story in my livewire jr series! 

Okay so this is a marvel x dc crossover, the reader is an inhuman (as well as Leslie because you two are sisters in this) and instead of the terrigen crystals transforming the inhuman person, the electrocution and supergirls DNA helped transform Leslie. 

And you, transformed before Leslie so she hates you. You are also more powerful than her. 

(For those who never watched Agents of SHIELD, inhumans are a breed of humans who have alien DNA in them. And the powers get awakened by terrigen crystals, terrigen crystals can get attached to any person, but only inhumans survive. And they will survive as a normal person with powers or become a monster)

The reader is also related to Lincoln from AOS. Spoiler warning for those who have not watched the entirety of season 3 of AOS. 

Idk i just think this backstory is cool! And it was really freaking fun to write! This story has been in my head for (not joking) three years and i finally got to write it!! 

(also im totally rewriting the end of the livewire episode, it fits my story better😂)

You learned to be invisible. 

Being an Inhuman with a psycho power hungry family that abused you both physically and mentally as well as emotionally; you learned to hide in plain sight. 

Your brother, the only person you loved in your shithole family died. His girlfriend, Daisy, went AWOL after and then you left SHIELD.

There was nothing without Lincoln, you wanted a fresh start so you moved to National City. Fitzsimmons had tried reaching out but you told them you’d come back if they needed help but you couldn’t be around somewhere that Lincoln lived. 

Your parents told you to keep an eye on Leslie, so you went to National City and that was your version of following your parents rules. 

Once Leslie fucked up and you could send her away, you would be from your helicopter parents. 

Leslie was the loose canon that always listened to mommy and daddy. You listened and followed what they said, and you were good at it. Being evil. Lincoln….Lincoln challenged and then broke away when he was eighteen and took you with him. Showed you that being evil wasn’t okay and neither was hurting innocents. Then years and years later, Daisy taught you more good morals to have. 

She became the sister you were proud to have, she still called you sister-in-law even though Lincoln was gone and they didn’t get married. 

Your heart sank, you flipped over your phone, it had a clear case and there was a polaroid of you, Lincoln and Daisy. Gemma took it, you three were smiling cheesily. 

You looked up at National City’s version of Times Square. It was your sister’s photo.The headline read, “Radio star injured in near helicopter crash, Supergirl saves the day.” You sighed. 

Damnit. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You hated hospitals, the smell, the suffocating walls and feeling of death. You would need to take about five showers after this. 

You walked passed a cute girl in glasses with Leslie’s boss. She was blonde and had adorable blushy cheeks. They went redder when you smiled at her, and when you walked away you looked over your shoulder and caught her staring at you. You winked as you turned the corner. 

Your dating life in National City has been scarce. It was fun to flirt, it made you feel happy that somebody paid attention to you since your parents didn’t. 

That happy feeling diminished when you walked into her room. 

Leslie was gone. 

You walked around the room, the thing about having lightning as your power and in your DNA was that you could detect amounts in the air, like static. And there was a smell to you, it was metal. 

It reeked of metal and the static choked your throat. You quickly fled the room and walked as quickly as you could down the halls. Trying to follow the smell like a dog. Leslie was considered a disappointment in your family. 

The terrigen didn’t work for her, she was considered a dud. But you guess this crash awakened something. Something powerful in a horrible person.

You had work to do. 

---------------------------------------------------------

Daisy had taught you a few things about hacking. You traced her cell signal all day, random power surges in the city, her credit and debit cards. Anything.

It was late at night when she started heading towards CatCo. You raced to get there, if you didn’t, Cat was gonna die. 

You hacked into the security cameras at CatCo from your phone, Supergirl and Cat were in Cat’s office. Cat Grant was most likely the first target on Leslie’s list. Supergirl might be next, you knew that Supergirl would be hard to kill but Leslie was hellbent on hating her. 

Even sexualized her on her radio show, it was disgusting. Especially coming from another woman. 

You traveled through the electric wired through the building and popped in at the doorway of the office. But with Supergirls hearing, she heard you. She spun around, her cape following dramatically. She pushed Cat Grant behind her. Her eyes, glowing. 

“Easy, laser eyes, relax. I’m not a threat.” You held out your hands, showing you had no visible weapons, she didn’t know of what ran in your veins just yet. 

“Who are you and why are you here? Office hours are closed.” Cat said. 

“If you think I work for your office, you truly are unobservant for a boss. I would think someone of your social status would make sure she knew everyone in her building to insure your own safety.” 

“You really aren’t helping your case, as far as I’m concerned you are a threat.” Supergirl stood her ground, which wasn’t surprising to you. 

You sighed. “I’m Leslie’s sister.” You said to Supergirl. “And I want her locked up as much as you do.” 

They both stopped in their tracks and spun around, shock coloring their faces. Cat Grant walked towards you. “What? Leslie doesn’t have a sister. She never mentioned one to me and I was her mentor.” 

“Yeah, Les doesn’t enjoy the fact that we share a father so it’s not shocking that she never mentioned me.” You shrugged then stepped closer to Cat, Supergirl eyed you. “Relax, I’m here to stop Leslie.” 

“You knew about her powers?!” 

“Yeah, in fact, Supergirl, I have the same exact powers Leslie has.” You swallowed, ignoring nerves. 

“How is that possible?” Supergirl asked. 

“I’m what they call an Inhuman. Thousands of years ago aliens came to earth and mated with humans. There are thousands, possibly millions of Inhumans out there who have no idea what they are.”

“And your point?” Cat asked. 

“My point is, we aren’t well known. But, my other point was, use me to lure Leslie or something.” “Use you?” “Leslie has always had a problem with me. She was desperate for not only our parents approval but our brothers. Then, he died. She moved to National City, I followed because she’s got a lot of anger issues and sooner or later, she’d come in contact with terrigen and maybe it would work this time.” You stepped closer to Supergirl, “or some other alien component that reformed her DNA and made her a monster with anger problems.”

“Am I supposed to apologize for saving peoples lives?” Kara asked, getting in your face. 

“No, but if you would’ve let her die then my life would be a hell of a lot easier.” You hissed.

“What a sweet sentiment sissy,” you heard that bitches voice, you all spun to face the many, many TV screens on Cats wall.

“Leslie, the people you’re hurting are innocent.” You said, 

“Innocent?!” She laughed, “you’re standing with Cat Grant, she is not innocent.” 

You looked at Cat Grant, “I feel like Cat was more nurturing to you than our own mother.” You deadpanned. 

“I gave her one hug.” Cat recalled. 

“Yeah, that makes you more nurturing than our mother.” You said. 

Then Leslie let out a blast. You all flew back, you bashed into the glass wall, Supergirl went flying out the doorway and then Cat fell onto the couch. Then Leslie went for Cat. 

You pulled energy from the lightbulbs in the room, and then shot in front of Cat, putting a forcefield in front of her. “Oh my God,” Cat said, gasping at the sight of you in front of her. You heard Supergirl walk closer and then pause. 

The room was lit up in purple and blue. Leslie’s powers were blue, yours were purple. Your eyes glowed like hers. It was a terrifying sight, and you knew it.

You used your leg strength to push her back, she flew into Cat’s desk. You leaned down and gently but quickly got Cat back on her feet. You rushed towards Supergirl who was still staring at you in shock at your powers, “I told you, I wasn’t a threat to you.” 

Then Leslie threw a bolt at Supergirl, and while you knew that she could handle herself, you wouldn’t let her get hurt. Or anyone get hurt at the hands of Leslie ever again. You pushed Supergirl and Cat Grant out of the way as you shot out at Leslie. You kept the power streaming at her powerfully as she got pushed back, “negative on negative, sista.” You said, “doesn’t work out too well.” 

She screamed in agony as you pushed her further into the floor, you pushed her further into the ground, “call your friends.” You said to Supergirl. “She’s getting locked up, for good.” 

“Too much of a pussy to kill me.” Leslie choked. 

You gritted your teeth, and used your free hand to deck her. 

She fell to the floor with a thud, your knuckles throbbed as you watched blood come out of her mouth. You sighed, then used your electricity to form a net around her to hold her. 

“I called someone to come get her,” Supergirl said. “I didn’t know...her powers could do that.” She said, gesturing to the net. 

“She can’t.” You said, kicking the bottom of her boot. “I can because I’m stronger than her.” 

Supergirl nodded, “respect.” 

Cat went to the hospital (with a lot of pushing) while you guys waited for Leslie to be taken away. Your makeshift jail cell glowing as Supergirl asked you, “how’d you take her down?” 

You folded your arms, “science. Negative on negative energy never goes well.”

“And you seriously want her put away?” Her head cocked, it was adorable. She was like a cute puppy.

You nodded, “my family sucks ass.” You deadpanned, “Leslie was the worst of them, the only relative I got along with was my brother.” 

“You said he died.” 

You nodded, “he saved the freaking world and nobody knew it.” Tears rimmed your eyes, Lincoln was always a sore subject. “He’s a hero, and I promised him once that I’d take down Leslie if her powers ever happened.” You sighed, wiping away your tears. “I guess I have no purpose now,” you shrugged, chuckling to yourself out of sadness. “My parents are psychopaths, my brother is dead and my sister is locked up forever.” 

“Do you want another purpose?” She asked walking up to you as DEO people came up the elevator with tech to transport her. 

You looked at her, “yeah, I do.” 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three months later: 

Kara and you were having a platonic (to your sadness) picnic on the top of CatCo. Cat Grant knew of your abilities and your superhero name, Sparks.

In your opinion, you thought it was cheesy, but you’re starting to enjoy Cat and she has kept your secret. You had a mask on your face now when you were Sparks. So you could still walk around without having a disguise.

You also knew that Kara was Supergirl because you two worked together. She told you the second you signed on to the role of being the darker hero of National City. 

Yes, they called you ‘the night to Supergirl’s day.’ People said you were ‘the ‘evil’ version of Supergirl’. To be fair, you did have different attack methods than Kara did and you did admit that you were not as kind-hearted as Kara was. You did not believe everyone was good like she did. 

It was one of the things you loved about her. Her good soul. You were surrounded in darkness your entire life, as well as sheer evil, your parents were not kind people. 

“So,” Kara said munching on cheese. “You never told me something.” 

“Hmm?” You asked, you thought you had told Kara everything.  

“How did your brother save the world?” 

You scoffed, looking at the sunset, “there was this creature, Hive, he was a sort of virus thing I guess. I’m honestly not too sure what he was. Nothing could kill him, guns, superpowers, lethal injection, absolutely nothing. He could adapt to any planet but he needed a planet for his power.  So, Lincoln trapped him in a space shuttle, then drove them both into space and blew it up. He kept Hive from making this world into something horrible. Nobody will ever know. Our parents found out and said he was a disgrace for killing something like that. They said Hive was amazing.” You wiped your tears. 

“You never talk about your parents,” Kara said fiddling with her glasses, she did that whenever she was anxious. 

“That’s for a reason.” You said, eating the baguette with homemade pizza deep. Cooking helped you cope. 

“You can talk about it with me if you want.” She offered. 

You smiled lightly, “my parents are cruel people Kara. The thing with our lineage is that we are perceived as villains. Even at the refugee camp that my brother and I sought solace at, those people feared us because of our ancestors. They had a right to, my family did awful things. My parents raised me to be evil, Leslie is the only one who turned out how they wanted but she was messy.” You grimaced, “they said she did things sloppy, and brash. I was neat, I did what mommy and daddy said until Lincoln showed me the issues.” 

“What were the issues?” 

“Killed anyone who went against them. I thought, since I was raised that way, it was normal. Then I met a woman named Daisy, she showed me that killing willing nilly was bad-don’t look at me like that, I was raised way and I fixed my attitude when I was thirteen.” You scolded as she gave you a look. 

“My parents….they think I’ll come around, but I will never be that way again. I hated it. It always felt wrong to me, but my parents called me broken, stupid, ignorant. They’d beat me around if I didn’t hurt someone.” 

“How many have you hurt?” 

“I used words not violence, I killed two people and I still know their names, I still know how it felt. It was awful. I still think I’m a bad person, isn’t that crazy? I think I’m crazy for not being a sociopath or psychopath.” 

“It shows you have a soul.” Kara answered, “it shows you are no longer that person, that you’ve not only grown from your mistakes, but you learned from them.” 

You shuddered a breath, “I never want to kill again, I can fight to defend with no problem but I will not kill again if I don’t have to. But I will kill if someone's safety is in jeopardy, no problem.” 

Kara grabbed your hand, “you give me hope.” 

You scoffed, “I give you hope? Babygirl you need a new role model.” 

She blushed at the nickname, it made you feel better to flirt with her, but at the same time broke your heart because you were falling hard for her. You didn’t flirt with anyone. You flirted with the girl you really, really liked. 

The girl who stuck her neck out for you. Who vouched for you and gave you this amazing life. You couldn’t mess this up.

[yabookrevu]

Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer (in which I finally fully lose it)

I am putting on my calmest mental voice. I am remembering that I made a choice to do this. I am refusing to blame myself for anything. I'm not going crazy. Probably.

I re-read Breaking Dawn, along with the rest of the Twilight series, to prepare for reading Midnight Sun. There's more of an explanation in my Twilight post for why, but it doesn't really matter. I did it, it's done, and now I get to talk about it, shouting into the void of the internet about the nonsense we have all endured. Spoilers a-plenty, if you haven't already read the book. Only a masochist would.

Bella finally gets boned down. It is awkward, not for either of the participants of said boning, but for the reader. Bella manages not to die, but does get bruised up by Edward's passionate lovemaking. To which I say, he warned you, madam. You're lucky your head didn't pop off mid-coitus and roll out onto the beach. Bella is totally cool with their little bit of unplanned S&M, Edward thinks he's a monster. At this point, that could be the summary of the entire series. Sad sack emo boi.

Oh yeah, Jacob has OPINIONS about B&E having sex on their honeymoon. They are not positive feelings. He almost squeezes Bella's arm off when he finds out. She is less okay with this bit of bruising. But still, she's more upset that she hurt Jacob's ~feelings~ than that he hurt her arm. What a shock.

Edward and Bella somehow produce a vampire baby. Never mind that the sperm of a dead man would be dead as well (or that he probably wouldn't even be able to get an erection), because I'm straight up not touching the mechanics of vampire sex with a ten-foot pole. Many others have done so, notably in the form of fan-fic, so I'm just gonna leave that alone.

Edward wants to remove the little presumably monster baby, Bella says no. It's very important that you know she's pro-life, guys! Monster baby is too strong and keeps breaking Bella's bones. She is, of course, totally cool with that. This is what gets me... babies don't actually HAVE to stay in the womb for the whole time. When the baby was big enough, why didn't they just safely c-section that sucker? Like yeah, it was growing at a strange rate, but they can all do math. They can figure out when the baby is the size at which it would have developed working lungs and stuff. Especially when it's sending out its little love thoughts into the world. That means its brain is working. Carve that ho out.

But no. For some reason (lazy storytelling), the baby had to stay in until it could rip itself out like the chestburster from Alien.

Bella explodes, dies, becomes a vampire. Jacob feels a need to comment mentally on Bella's naked, broken body. Everyone in this book sucks.

Bella names her baby the dumbest fucking name ever, closely followed by what she intended to name the baby if it came out as a boy (Charlisle? I can't remember, and I refuse to open the book again). Jacob imprints on baby dumbname.

Look, a lot of people are severely creeped out by an adult imprinting on a baby. This is one of the rare times that I think smeyer laid enough groundwork earlier on that the audience DOESN'T have to take it as creepy. Weird, sure. Heavy-handed? Obviously. Not necessarily creepy.

Bella and Edward do some more boning. Bella is apparently the best baby vampire that ever was. Baby dumbname grows too fast and has magic powers.

Seth is the only acceptable character in this book, and I will not be taking comments on that.

We meet lots of other vampires. They are mostly strange, some seem chill. I skimmed over a lot of their names, so I didn't really have any attachment to them. The book (helpfully?) includes a list of their names, but with no other information than where they came from. I didn't care.

There is a final "fight" in which no one fights. The movie version was a lot more entertaining. We learn that baby dumbname isn't going to grow old and die immediately. Shame.

The book ends, and everyone is happy, except me. I became much more bitter over the reading of this series. I remain bitter as I write this. Just... if anyone knows a GOOD vampire book, let me know. Recommend something. I need a palate cleanser.

[monochromemedic]

“Get the hell away from me you freak-” the man’s exclamation was cut short as a wet force shot into his legs, his body slamming against the pavement with a loud thud. A direct slime bullet shot, and the last of the gang was contained within their gooey prisons. I sighed in relief, lowering my arm. ‘I should quip, that’s what all the good heroes do right?’ “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” I said softly before realizing that no one, not even the gathering crowd could hear that. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?!” I repeated before realizing how weak that was. Baby steps... just needed to not show my face around here for a week so they’d all forget how much I fucked up. I rubbed my neck, fingers gliding along the cryo collar as it released a blast of cold air, waves of relief flooding my body. The crowd erupted in clapping, something that startled me back to the situation at hand. A small rising gang had been causing havoc over the city, something larger heroes would only keep their eyes on before attempting to resolve. They were there to help with big tasks, real villains or aliens, something that would cause real devastation. It made sense but that didn’t mean that some real low lives could sneak under the radar and cause some damage as long as they spaced what they were doing enough or kept it the damage to a minimum.  The Graveyard Gang was playing with that line and it was obvious that if it wasn’t stopped some hero would have to come down and take them out themselves. If not for me. I raised a hand sheepishly, waddling to the side of the street to meet the crowd that formed around me. “Hey... hello. Did someone call the police already? Is everyone ok?” My words were met by the sound of sirens drawing near, a large news van trailing not too far behind. A frantic woman nearly rolled out of the van, mic at the ready as she bolted through the crowd, ushering a small man lugging a camera to follow her. “Hi, hello, out of the way, Channel 9 news. Hi, I’m Sandra Stevens of Channel 9 news would you mind giving an interview about the heroic deed you just committed?”  Her words were fast and rehearsed, like she had either done this a million times or dreamt about doing it so much, the words burned into her brain. Her mic was pushed into my face, knocking against my chin and drawing a thin strand of goo onto the mic. The woman didn’t seem to notice however, her eyes laser focused on me. “I... I su-sure. I’m just not very good on camera-” “Don’t worry honey, editors make everyone look good. Cameron! Start rolling, everyone please clear the place we need a nice shot of...what do you call yourself, Miss?” “G...Grey Matter.” “Grey.” she repeated, a eyebrow raised in silent judgement. “Well Grey Matter, hope you’re ready for your 5 minutes of fame because we’re rolling.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My fingers ran across the laptop keys, restarting the video again for the 11th time in a row. I couldn’t stop, my first interview, my first well known appearance as a hero. And the interview was... terrible. The comments didn’t say that but I couldn’t help but notice how nervous I looked, how much I stared into the camera at times, the way I showed my powers and how one guy said it was like a bad hentai. I knew that but god when others said that made everything feel ten times worse. However other commenters were nice, saying how cool I looked, how good it was to see another hero on the streets, taking care of baddies that the others didn’t get. I felt like my ego was a metronome switching from feeling like a god to feeling like a dumbass. I readied my finger to press the replay button as the video neared the end when a knock came to my door. Strange, I didn’t expect anyone, and not many people knew where I lived. Maybe it was a neighbor coming to congratulate me? Not like I could easily disguise myself and not many other people had the consistency of tar. I slid my pants on and walked to the door, opening it to a face almost 3 inches away from  mine. “Hello-” I jumped back, arms raising and balling like huge slings, ready to attack only for them to deflate and fall to my waist as I realized who it was. “You really do stretch! It’s like you’re one big sticky hand toy. Neat, Neat...” Plastic Man commented, his neck extended to look at me further. “Mind if I come in? I’d like to talk.” “I... Y-yes of course Mr... Mr. Plastic Man I... Um.” I could feel myself beginning to melt as I went to close the door behind him, gesturing to my messy house before him. He towered over everything easily, walking past my fridge and ducking to get into my living room to observe more of the house, making eye contact with the laptop. He smiled widely to himself before shifting his eyes back at me. “Please, Mr. Plastic Man was my father, just call me Plas. And I assume you know about me from the way your fangirling?” “I... yes of course you’re an inspiration to me ever since I became like this. The way you quickly maneuver and creatively problem solve with an air of ease is inspiring. Not to mention the way your so cheerful with the public, it puts alot of people at ease, I...starting researching you because we have such similar powers.. not in a weird way just, how you do things.” I rambled trying to literally hold myself together as I felt my body begin to dribble to the floor. “I’m sorry can you excuse me-” “Go ahead, you need... help there?” He asked as I sped past him to my room, grabbing the collar and placing it around my neck. In an instant it came to life, a release of cold air wafting over my body. I returned to the living room, head craning to look at the tall hero. “No thank you, I’m alright. Sometimes when I get nervous or overheated I start to lose my form. The cold from the collar helps me keep me together.” He lowered his head, neck stretching once again to look closer at the device. “I get that, hell sometimes on summer days I gotta put myself in a freezer and become a Plas Pop or else I nearly melt down the storm drain. That’s just another thing we have in common I guess. And that’s what I came here to talk to you about.” I swallowed hard, his hand gesturing to the opened interview on the laptop. “Everyone’s been talking about the girl who took down the Graveyard Gang and word gets around fast.  So fast that even I got word of it almost as soon as it aired. Boy was I surprised when I saw you on camera, showing of a little of what you could do. Another stretcher like me! And one who’s new to the game, a fresh face. It got me thinking.” He paused, crossing his arms as he glanced towards the ground. “Things have been quite in the League, least for ol’ Plas. Much as I love my job and helping the universe, seems like I’m always backup number 54 on the list of who to call when the world’s gonna end. Which isn’t bad but it leaves a guy with alot of time on his rubber hands. So I was thinking maybe I should give the whole mentor thing a shot, take someone under my wing. Just haven’t got the chance to meet someone I could actually teach anything to, till I saw your little stunt. So what do you say? Willing to make what the Batman described as ‘A horrible decision that no one would agree to’?” This was crazy. A proposal like this? And so soon? Learning under one of the League, one of the bests? “Yes, I’d be honored to be mentored by you Plastic Man- er... P-plas. I hope I don’t disappoint you, um... you know I can’t shapeshift like you right. I can’t turn into lions or trucks... I... I can’t do alot of those things actually, just basic stretching and modifications.” “Hm? Oh well that’s ok, besides I didn’t expect you to be exactly like me, that’d just be crazy thoughts. Also that’d make you my son, and that’s just weird. You got something else that I don’t have, you got that goo shot. I can’t shoot bullets of myself at people and you said you can set up traps and knock people out in a hail of slime. That’s kick ass, we just gotta embrace that side of you and you’ll be up there with Superman at the table, talking about what multiverse crisis was your favorite.” He grinned, lowering himself to my level and wrapping an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close against his body. I felt my face grow warm as I looked away from him, my chest pounding despite the lack of heart in my breast. Now he was touching me? Telling me how cool I was? I felt myself begin to drip again, knees beginning to buckle. “Y-you really think so?” “I know so. You got spunk kid, we just gotta polish you up and you’ll be golden, Pony Boy.” The force of his palm hitting my back sent me jolting forward, his shadow looming over me. “How about you meet me outside of your place, tomorrow. 1pm. We’ll assess your abilities and work from there. Sound good? Too bad, crime never waits. I’ll see you there.” And with surprising grace he dipped out of my apartment, leaving me like it was just a frantic dream. If it wasn’t for the sting from his palm I’d assume I was merely daydreaming, but it was real. Plastic Man and me, working together. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Come on, haven’t you ever seen Spider-Man. Leap of faith!”  “I don’t know if you’re legally allowed to reference that...” I muttered, eyeing the large gap between buildings before staring back at Plas. “I haven’t really done much uh... traversal practice. What if I fall and hit the ground I... I mean I don’t think I can die like that but-” “I won’t let you fall, I promise you. I’d be a real bad trainer if the first person I mentored became a permanent stain on 4th street. You got this!”  Plastic Man grinned widely, flashing a thumbs up and stepping back. His words echoed in my head, as I stepped back a few feet, already making my plan as I dragged a line of slick slime in front of me.  ‘I’ll run forward, using the slime to propel me even further to close the gap. Then when I get as far as I can, I’ll stretch my arms out, attach to the building and slingshot my way up to the roof.’ I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, waiting until every last bit of air left my lungs.  And then I ran. My feet slid against the slime trail like a skater on the ice as I raced towards the edge. Before I could even attempt to jump, I hit the edge, my body fling more downward then I expected. I felt the air leave my lungs, my head snapping up towards the roof top I was aiming for and snapped my arm forward, splatting against the brick a few feet down. Damn it, Damn it, I got this. I got this. I felt the tension build in my arms, threatening to snap under the pressure. Just when I thought it was going to be too much, it released. And I found myself ascending just as fast I was falling. Up against the building. A wave of pain shot through my body as I was bashed against the wall, slowly feeling the way my body spread and slowly began to peel away from the window. Just as I felt the last few strand of myself start to detach, I felt a warmth wrap around my body, lifting me up to the roof of the building. “Hey you good? I never saw anyone but me rubber band that hard into a building before.” I tried to nod my head, wheezing and groaning as I laid on my back, staring up at the titan of a man before me. “I’m ok... just the wind got knocked out.” “Mm, yeah I’m not surprised. I mean if anything I guess we found out that a fall from here would be a-ok. Painful but... if you can survive going mach one into a building a fall should be no sweat.” He stretched his arms and sat down beside me, hands forming something just out of my range of vision to mess with. “Take your time, and we can try again. Maybe something with less of a gap to fall down.” I closed my eyes, a sickening knot forming in my stomach. I fucked up the jump, and fucked it up bad. Was he disappointed? Rethinking his decision to choose me? He had been teaching me for 2 weeks now, and I couldn’t help but think that I wasn’t enough by the way he’d sometimes look away, seem upset, maybe wanting to be anywhere else but here. My body slumped forward, lingering pain in my core. “Plastic Man?” His head cocked to the side, eyes unidentifiable behind his goggles. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask him what he thought of me. The words caught in my throat, my fear too great to hear the truth. I didn’t want to seem too pitiful, too... “I’ll try better next time.” “That’s what I like to hear.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “GM what were you thinking?! You know you can’t handle that kinda heat, why did you head into a burning building?! No one was in there! Everyone was safe!” I ducked my head away from Plas’ rage, watching the soot swirl around the remains of my arm. I was hurt bad, nearly melted and burned in a raging fire me and Plas tried to contain. But I was careless, eager to please a man I thought was losing interest in me. Despite the fact the building was clear I thought if I could help put out the fire before the firefighters came he would praise my boldness. But I only ended up making a fool of myself, having to had Plas rush into the building and collect me himself. He didn’t fair well himself, parts of him still goopy from harsh heat damage. “Look at me when I’m talking to you! Why did you do that.” His eyes were angry, his usual smile twisted into a disappointed frown. “I wanted to impress you-” “Impress me?! Yeah your new power to turn into a corpse was real freaking impressive Jenna. Why the hell are you trying to impress me like that-” “Because I don’t think I’m good enough to be taught by you!” I exclaimed, shocked by how I raised my voice at him. “I... I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to... I just... I feel like ever since you started to mentor me I haven’t been good enough. I’ve always been messing up and-and I feel like if I don’t do anything to impress you, you’ll just abandon me and I’ll fuck up the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I-I look up to you so much, and I feel like it’s such a privilege that you chose me I... I feel like it’s a mistake. And so I’m just waiting for you to realize that and I feel like you’re catching on so I had to do something to make sure that you didn’t fuck up with your choice.” Plas’ face immediately dropped, a look of concern replacing his scold. “Christ... I gave you Imposter Syndrome. Is this what the other people with sidekicks have to deal with... Woozy was never like this. Er...well, no he was he just didn’t have powers.” He bit his bottom lip, and sighed, inching to take a seat beside me. “I’m not good at this teaching stuff, I don’t know if you noticed. So if I made you feel like you weren’t impressing me, I swear it isn’t true. I remember when I was first getting the hang of being a hero. I was dog shit. The amount of times I did somethings stupid or tried to impress others without knowing what I was doing myself, god... and when I was part of the league? The first month was a hell, I didn’t get anything done. I still mess up, I just make it seem like I don’t cause I play it off. We all screw up, even Superman. I would know, I was there for a couple of those times, etched em right into my head.” He glanced away, tapping the side of his head where the words ‘Pantsing Incident of 05’ appeared.  “Point is we all started somewhere and we were all ass at it. You think Flash got the hang of dodging every car while he ran down the road? No, it was just that no one remembers those times cause he’s  too busy kicking ass now adays that no one cares that one time he ate asphalt. No one accept me who uses it to blackmail him occasionally because I’m petty and like to knock him down a peg every once in a while. You’re doing great.” I could feel the tears dripping down my face as he spoke, using my palm to desperately hide my emotions from him. His arm wrapped around my shoulder in a cautious, yet caring touch. “Can we just not... run into burning buildings next time we’re trying to prove something? I might not be able to get you out next time.” “Yeah, of course sir. Thank you, for believing in me, after I did that, and that you believed me in the first place.”

[whoisbxcky]

After School Special

request: Your writing is amazing!!!! I have a request for a peter Parker imagine where the reader has healing powers and he falls for her and he gets hurt on a mission and she rushes in to save him and she heals him and the gets hurt and peter carries her out and stays by her side the whole time? Sorry if that was confusing

pairing: peter parker x reader (!!reader and peter both 16 in this fic!!)

word count: 3500 +/-

warnings: reader suffering from anxiety and a lil panic attack thrown in the mix, some angst but a lot of fluff also, descriptive violence, gunshot wound

author’s note: Okay first ever Peter Parker fic, apologies if it’s a little iffy (especially at the end- i flopped lol) I really struggled getting this one written despite the fact it ended up being uber long by my standards! I think I struggle writing for Peter purely because of the ‘trying to get into the mindset of a teenager’ thing lmao. 

But as always, feedback welcomed and appreciated, big huge thank you to anon for the request, and I am currently accepting requested so hit that inbox my lovelies! ~ Toria <3

“You ready for your first ever mission tonight, Y/N?”

You practically jumped out of your skin, your head crashing into the top of your locker with a sickening thwack.

With a groan of pain, you spun on your heel, murderous eyes fixating on Peter Parker, who was now stood staring at you with a mixture of shock and fear etched rather comically on his face.

“Well, geez, Peter. Hard to say, you think I can manage it with a concussion?”

You softened your gaze, shaking your head with a rueful smile as you brought a hand tentatively to your head and letting it rest over the knot that was rapidly growing there.

You let your eyelids flutter shut, summoning a warm, white light to your palm and allowing the healing energy to envelop your injury, smiling softly as you did.

When you opened your eyes, your head felt good as new, and you were met with Peter’s wide, curious gaze.

You frowned at him then, raising your brow dubiously as he continued to stare. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, you cleared your throat, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Something the matter?”

Peter blinked a few times, his cheeks donning an unmistakable pink hue as his gaze shifted anywhere and everywhere that wasn’t your face. You strained to contain an eye roll as your fellow Avenger stuttered uselessly for a minute.

“I… Well no… No, it’s just… Well… Mr. Stark said we shouldn’t use our powers just out in the open like that and well…”

He trailed off, swallowing hard as you fixed him with your best ‘keep-going-and-I’ll-flatten-you’ stare. You had to hand it to the guy, usually when you gave people that look, they turned tail and got as far away as possible from you in the other direction.

“Well, what Mr. Stark doesn’t know won’t land me with another lecture, now will it, Peter?”

You folded your arms, flashing him with a conspirator’s grin.

“Besides, you’re the one announcing tonight’s mission to the whole school.”

You raised your brows, turning to slam your locker shut before grinning at him once more, taking off towards the school exit, after a few beats, you heard Peter scrambling to catch up with you.

The two of you discussed the task ahead of you in hushed tones as you left the school building and hastily made your way across campus. You tried to focus on the conversation at hand, but the nausea gripping your stomach at the thought of your first ever mission made it increasingly difficult.

It had been a year since Tony Stark had found you and recruited you.

A whole year of missing school dances, mall dates with your friends, even class sometimes, in the interest of training to become one of the Earth’s ‘mightiest’ heroes.

You winced at the thought.

After the alien invasion in NYC back in 2012, footage had emerged of an eleven-year-old you healing wounded civilians, an ability you had been entirely unaware of possessing up until that day.

You’d thought nothing of it at the time, given that the video quality was… questionable, at best, and you magically healing the wounded was far from the strangest thing to have occurred in NYC that day.

And, despite the magical healing hands, you had done a spectacular job at being a regular old, boring high school student. Right up until Stark had shown up on your doorstep and told you the Avenger’s needed your unique skill set, and you had found yourself agreeing, against your better judgement.  

Now here you were, a year into your training and about to embark on your first ever mission as a fully-fledged Avenger.

Oh joy.

Your inner musings were interrupted by Peter’s distant voice, alerting you to the fact you had arrived at the tower. You had been so lost in thought, you hadn’t even registered getting into the car Tony had sent for you both.

You reluctantly made your way up to the briefing room, nervously chewing on your thumbnail as Steve hit you with the ‘health and safety come first’ speech, in between briefing you for the mission at hand.

The task was simple: you, Peter, Sam and Wanda would head to a warehouse housing a Hydra sleeper cell, you would infiltrate the building, eliminate any threats and gather as much intel as you could. Easy-peasy. What could go wrong?

A few hours later, the Quinjet was parked up a little way away from the warehouse, and you and Peter were stood just outside the sole entrance, neither of you saying a word.

Sam and Wanda had gone inside already to do a primary sweep, ordering the two of you to wait outside as backup, as well as taking out any hostiles that may try to flee.

Five minutes had past, and the silence was becoming deafening. You could see Peter out of the corner of your eye, his body poised and ready, his focus absolute.

You let out a defeated sigh, before clearing your throat, your eyes fixated on the pebble you were kicking around at your feet.

“They’ve been in there for a while… You think they’re alright?”

You glanced up to find Peter’s perplexed expression staring back at you, sighing again, you continued.

“I mean I know they’re the professionals and all… But shouldn’t they be back by now? What if something’s gone wrong and they-“

You were cut off in surprise as a gentle hand on your shoulder caused you to flinch. When your eyes snapped up once more, Peter was stood just inches from you, a soft smile on his face and warmth in his eyes.

“They’ll be just fine, Y/N. We’re Avengers, this mission will be a piece of cake, you’ll see.”

You felt an uncomfortable heat rising in your cheeks and you studiously averted your eyes, clearing your throat in embarrassment.

“Oh… Of course.”

Peter chuckled then, offering you a boyish grin before your amicable exchange was interrupted by the sound of shouting, followed by gunfire, followed by an explosion.

As the two of you whipped around to face the warehouse, you half registered the fact that Peter had your hand in his and had pulled you to stand behind him. But the sound of Sam’s panicked voice over the coms kept you from thinking too much about it.

“Parker, Y/L/N, we need backup, now. Get in here-“

There was more gunfire, a yell, and the coms cut off. You felt your stomach drop.

You stumbled slightly as your arm was pulled forward, and you yanked it back, your wide eyes meeting Peter’s.

“Y/N? Let’s go, they need us!”

“I… I can’t…”

Peter stared at you incredulously, glancing back at the warehouse that was now half on fire. More gunshots. More yelling.

“Our teammates are in danger, we have to-“

“I know! But I… I can’t do it, I…”

You could feel the ice-cold jaws of panic latch around your throat, making breathing feel almost impossible. You looked around frantically for a way out, but only found the chaos unfolding in front of you.

Peter let out a breath of despair, before turning on his heel and running into the building ahead of you. You moved to call him back but found that the words would not leave your throat. They were trapped there, fear holding them in place and making you choke.

I can’t do this… I’m not a hero. I’m just a sophomore for gods sake. I should be doing homework right now, making weekend plans with friends… Not running into a burning building to risk my life fighting god knows what…

You let out a sob of frustration, falling to your knees in the gravel, your hands coming up to grip your hair desperately. Your breathing was erratic, and you knew you were having a panic attack.

As you willed your breathing to slow, trying to find a calm place in your mind, Peter’s face materialised in your thoughts. You found your mind subconsciously wandering back to the first day you met in the Avenger’s Tower, your surprise at learning your classmate was the infamous Spider-man...

“I can’t believe it, Peter Parker, a hero… And… Part spider…?”

Peter gave a short barking laugh, and you flashed him a sharp-toothed grin. The two of you were sat on the balcony of the Avenger’s tower, the day of your recruitment. Despite the fact you were both freshman at the same school, it was the first time you’d ever conversed with the guy.

“I mean, yeah, you could say that. Here, check this out…”

He grinned at you then, his eyes twinkling in the growing darkness around you. With a flick of his wrist, a strand of web shot out, attaching to the rafter above you. Next thing you knew, he had pulled himself up on the web and was now dangling upside down in front of you, waving his free arm in a mock ‘ta-dah’ fashion.

You grinned at him once more, overcome with a fit of giggles as he let himself drop back to the ground, tripping over the chair as he did.

“Very cool. Doesn’t it scare you though? Putting your life at risk for complete strangers like you do…?”

You trailed of, worrying your lip between your teeth as you stared out onto the skyline. Peter paused for a moment before responding, his gaze moving from the view to rest fondly on you.

“I guess a little… But you got to do what you got to do, right?”

“I suppose… but why you? I mean… There’s a whole tower of heroes here, couldn’t you just… Not? You know, have a normal life?”

Peter chuckled then, and you slid your gaze from the city below to find his eyes fixated on you, and you smiled shyly at him.

“The way I see it? Those with the power to make a difference who chose not to, are just as bad as the bad guys.”

You stared at him for a beat, his words settling deep in your subconscious. After a moment of thoughtful silence, he hopped to his feet, offering you a hand.

“Come on, let’s go check out the cinema room.”

Your eyes lit up, and you accepted his hand as he pulled you to your feet, steadying you with a hand on your waist.

“You guys have a cinema room here!?”

Peter’s laugh mingling with your own faded into the darkness of your subconscious once more, a nearby blast drawing you out of your memories.

You found yourself back on your feet, breathing even once more and a new-found resolve coursing through your veins.

Peter was right, you were afraid, and that was okay. But if you let your fear win and abandoned your teammates right now, you didn’t deserve to call yourself an Avenger.

Sprinting towards the now half destroyed warehouse, you paused for a moment to pick up a nearby steal pipe that was laying in the gravel, likely thrown there in one of the explosions. You may have healing powers, but combat lessons had not been your strong suit, so you hadn’t bothered to bring a weapon with you, other than some knuckle dusters that Natasha had gifted you and a mace from Rhodey.

As you entered the building, your senses were momentarily overloaded. You could see Wanda facing off against an armada of automatic weaponry, bullets raining down on her in succession. Sam was off to your right, engaged with a particularly large man with a suit that echoed Tony’s Iron-man get up. And there, in front of you, Peter was taking on the bulk of the Hydra forces, dipping and weaving to avoid their gunfire while taking them out one-by-one.

A yell to your left alerted you to an incoming hostile, and you cried out in determination as you swung the pipe at the man’s face, knocking him out and onto his back.

You ducked behind a slab of concrete to your right as gunfire peppered the wall behind you, cursing as a stray bullet whizzed past your ear, far too close for comfort.

With a grimace, you stood up, ready to throw yourself back into the fray, when Sam’s voice screaming down the coms made you stop dead in your tracks.

“Grenade, everyone down!”

You threw yourself back behind the concrete slab, your heart stopping in your chest as a deafening boom went off from the other side of the room. You were vaguely aware of debris, fire and the occasional body flying over your head, and you screwed your eyes closed.

You thought things couldn’t get any worse than this, surely, they couldn’t get worse.

You were wrong.

“Peter is down!”

Wanda’s panicked tone came crackling over the coms and you felt bile rise in your throat.

Without thinking, you clambered to your feet, steel pipe abandoned. You stumbled over concrete, bodies and scrap metal as you blindly made your way over to where you had last seen your friend.

“Peter!?”

You heard a voice screaming and took a moment to realise it was your own, horse and cracking with fear as you scrambled to find him amongst the wreckage on the far side on the room.

There, a flash of red and blue under a few wooden beams.

“Peter!”

You called out for him, rushing to his side as you began to dig him out of the rubble. You almost sobbed in relief when he let out a groan of disapproval, helping you shift the largest beam from his torso. He glanced up at you with a lopsided grin, although the pain in his eyes was unmistakable.

“You came.”

You stared back at him, the relief at him being alive giving way to worry for the wounds he had clearly sustained in the explosion.

“I did. Hold still while I fix you up.”

Without another word, you placed your hands gingerly on his chest, willing the warm, white light to manifest in your palms and spread throughout Peter’s whole body.

You heard him gasp and felt his whole body relax, as tendrils of your focused energy reached out throughout his wounded form, finding cuts, breaks and bruises and restoring them as you went.

Once you were done, you summoned the white light back into your palms, sagging forward in exhaustion as your eyelids fluttered open.

Peter sat up, entirely healthy once more, to catch your shoulders.

“Are you alright, Y/N?”

You smiled up at him weakly, nodding.

“Mhm. I’ve just never healed that many injuries all at once before, it’s… Taken it out of me a little”

He gave you a warm smile back, and a whistle from behind you made you both spin around to attention. You found Sam and Wanda heading your way, delicately navigating the warehouse floor.

“You two alright?”

Sam called out, fixing you with a concerned look.

“Yeah, we’re good.”

Peter called back, hopping to his feet and offering you a hand up, which you gladly accepted. You felt completely drained, both from the adrenaline that was now depleting in your blood stream and the expended energy, but you managed to hold yourself up steadily in front of your fellow Avengers.

“Good. That seems to be the last of them. Let’s get to the control room, get those damn files and get the hell out of dodge.”

Sam started walking towards a gaping hole in the wall behind you, which you recalled from the building’s blueprints would lead to a concrete bunker under the warehouse. Everyone nodded in agreement, moving to follow him.

You had only taken a few steps when the sound of a gunshot rang out, thunderously loud in the silence of the decimated room.

Everything seemed to happen at half-speed then.

Your eyes caught the flash of the sniper rifle on one of the corridors above you.

Wanda, without missing a beat, captured the perpetrator in a net of red energy, launching him from the balcony and through a hole in the warehouse roof.

There was a deafening ringing in your ears, making the world around you feel blurry. You became numbly aware of the sensation of warm liquid running down your arm and chest, freezing in terror as you glanced down to see a stream of red on your tactical vest.

You’d just been shot.

Your legs gave out from under you, your eyes rolling to the back of your head in shock. However, the feeling of your body hitting concrete never came.

Instead, when you opened your eyes once more you found yourself in Peter’s arms, his face twisted in fear, panic and rage as he called to you, telling you to hold on, to stay awake.

You could hear Sam telling Wanda to fetch the first aid kit while he started up the Quinjet to extract you.

Wanda’s voice in your mind telling you to stay awake, that you’d be okay.

You took in a shaky breath, willing your voice to return to you as the ringing in your ears finally subsided, and everything became clear once more.

“Stop!”

You half-croaked, half-yelled. Your fellow Avengers stopped dead in their tracks, staring at you in confusion.

Peter grabbed your hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he held you.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. You’re fine, okay? You’re fine-“

“It’s not that.”

You winced as a fit of coughing racked your trembling form, and you met each of your teammates’ stares with a determined one of your own.

“We have a mission to complete. You guys go and get the files.”

Stares of confusion turned to disbelief, and it was Wanda who finally broke the stunned silence.

“That bullet has torn through your chest, Y/N, you need assistance right now.”

You coughed again, struggling to sit up, but Peter held you firmly down in his arms, moving to speak before you cut him off.

“I can stem the bleeding with what’s left of my energy. That’ll keep me going while you guys do what we came here for.”

You met Sam’s gaze, your eyes burning with fierce resolve, and he nodded slowly.

“Alright then, Parker, you get her outside and into the Quinjet ready to go. We’ll be as fast as possible. Y/N, you hang tough until we get back, you hear?”

You nodded in response, offering him a small smile as he and Wanda took off running down the corridor.

Peter followed by scooping you up in his arms bridal style, murmuring reassurances to you as he briskly navigated your way back through the debris and out of the warehouse. You let your head fall against his chest, focusing your energy on the part of your chest the bullet had gone through.

By the time you were both safely aboard the Quinjet, you had successfully stopped the bleeding and made a haphazard attempt at patching the skin up, but given the complete lack of energy you now possessed, it was far from your finest work.

Peter gently lowered himself to the floor, keeping you securely in his arms and bringing you to settle in his lap. When he finally spoke, his voice held an unmistakable waiver of emotion, and you glanced up to see the worry mixed with pride etched on his face as he spoke.

“That, what you did back there, Y/N… That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”

He smiled gently down at you, reaching up to your face to move a stray strand of hair from your eye, you smiled in response.

“Honestly, I just thought to myself: what would Peter do? The confidence came naturally after that.”

You grinned up at him, wincing as a giggle bubbled up in your throat.

Peter began to chuckle in turn, shaking his head with a dazed smile.

“First official day as an Avenger, and you take a bullet to the chest. That’s pretty badass, you know.”

You smirked, the pain from your wound subsiding as you lost yourself in oak-brown of his eyes.

“Badass enough to take you on, I think. What do you say, sparring session when we get back?”

“Oh, it’s a date, Y/N!”

You both burst into a fit of laughter, half delirious with exhaustion, half relieved at having survived the day.

Despite your fear, despite your doubts, despite getting shot on your first day on the job, you became absolutely clear of one thing in the safety of Peter’s grasp.

With him by your side, you had the strength to be an Avenger.

[mojavehearts]

Fallout 4 Companions REACT to a small child becoming attached to them

plot twist theyre just as attached hhh (I did this more in a way of a first meetingjfjd)

(REQUESTED!) ( sorry this one took a bit longer than usual xx)

It was a strangely colder than usual day in the wasteland, it wasn’t exactly the dry heat they were used to, as if this was unusual for the companion, turning to look towards the newly built gate to Sanctuary they noticed it was open, and the guards were walking around the perimeter with confused looks on their face, they start to ready their weapon when their legs are tapped on they turn and they are met face to face with a small and obviously scared child they’ve never seen before

Cait:

Cait when usually seeing children, becomes sad and not just because how bad her childhood was, she knows how hard it can be in the wasteland and in the commonwealth in general. She stares down at the small girl for a while, couldn’t have been more than 6 and smiles at her sadly ‘’Were you the one who came through the gate little one?’’ as the child nods hesitantly she crouches down ‘’Its alright to be scared, but we woulda let ya in didn’t have to come in all quiet and give the guards a scare, lets get you taken care of’’

Curie:

Curie gasps in excitement under her breath, she loved children called them mini humans she loved how small they were and immediately crouches down to them and smiles they little boy peers up at her expectantly ‘’How old are you?’’ Curie asks softly, hoping to come off as kind as she could, she didn’t want to startle the boy ‘’...8′’ she covers her mouth and smiles ‘’did you come here alone?’’ the boy nods and frowns she reaches up to pat his head softly and then stands, offering her hand for him to take ‘’here let me take you to the other children’’ she smiles widely when the boy happily takes her hand

Codsworth:

Codsworth has had experience with children (well a month of experience with a baby) it was in fact what he was programmed to do he was a male nanny bot he hovers close to the child and stares down, a young boy stares up at him in wonderment ‘’Hello there young lad, are you lost?’’ the boy shook his head ‘’do you have...Parents you need to get too’’ the boy shook his head again and looked down ‘’Oh dear...Well you are certainly welcome here, I am Codsworth, let me graciously show you around this fine settlement’’

Dogmeat:

Dogmeat turns his head to the side and nudges the young girl with his snout, sniffing her, he huffs again happily afterwards and gives her arm a few licks he walks to go pick up his teddy bear and gives it to her to borrow, he barks out at Sole to get their attention, happily receiving pets from the little girl as he waited

Danse:

Danse quirks up an eyebrow at first then as the young boy peers up at him through big eyes he softens, ‘’Are you in the Brotherhood Mr? can you take care of me’’ Danse’s heart pangs deeply and he frowns ‘’I was, and I can’t personally take care of you but we can certainly find someone who can, we have tons of kids here you will fit right in’’ Danse then smiles at the child, his hand on his shoulder the child nods understandingly but then looks at him again through thick eyelashes ‘’Could you teach me how to be a solider?’’ Danse knew he couldn’t well...Not exactly but he could humour him at least, tell him how to shoot a gun ‘’Of course’’ his eyes widen slightly as the child jumped up to hug him in excitement danse smiles wistfully and 

Deacon:

‘‘Oh hey little buddy, what are you doing here...Ah don't tell me, you’re an alien sent from space to make us pay for something or other and I’m gonna start crafting pyramids and sleep walking and making crop circles and ill be so close to being institutionalised but then right before that a whole fleet of you come and take the entire neighbour aboard’‘ Deacon speaks in theatrics and the little girl giggled softly and slowly goes down on one knee and smiles at her she reaches up and takes off his glasses, he lets her after all she’s probably scared and alone out there she smiles when they make eye contact and she places them on her eyes instead ‘‘hey you look great! better than I could ever look’‘ Deacon chuckles and then sighs he smiles and slowly picks her up, raising up fully he looks around for a while ‘‘I could take you to Mac he has a kid, but you’d think he was smelly, looks like you’re going to Sole then huh, She’s/He’s pretty you’ll like them, not as pretty as me though obviously’‘ the little girl laughs almost non-stop as they walk on

Hancock:

‘‘ah what do we have here, you alright sweetheart’‘ he gave them kudos for not being scared of him, not all but some kids have been the little girl he was looking at couldn't have been older than 10 he looks back at the guards that were walking towards him and just waves them off and turns back to the girl ‘‘What’s your name honey, I’m Hancock’‘ ‘‘Martha’‘ he goes frigid a little and then laughs looking at the girl with a soft smile, eyes all dopey ‘‘that's a beautiful name, it was my mothers’‘ the girl smiles back at him and he clicks his tongue ‘‘you want me to take you to the park we got here all the kids would be there right now, the girl/guy running the place does some good work, even got a school’’ he sends a wink to sole as he said this sole nods at him knowingly and the girl excitedly grabs his hand, happily swaying. He now had another soft spot but that was alright with him

Preston:

Preston smiles and holds out his hand for the little girl to shake ‘’Preston Garvey, of the Commonwealth Minutemen’’ he watches the girl stare at his hand and then he coughs awkwardly, ‘’probably a bit for formal huh?’’ the girl blinks up at him and he sighs, rubbing his neck softly he slowly crouches down to eye level with her ‘’You here all alone?’’ she nods softly a small bag of supplies in her small hands he nods once and smiles ‘’You’re very much welcome here, we have a school, warm bed, good food and tons of things to play with we will take care of you alright?’’ the girl smiles up at him and points at his hat ‘’I like your hat mister Preston’’ he laughs and softly pops it off his head ‘’just for today’’ he gently places it on top of the girls head and chuckles when she pulls it up so it didn’t cover her eyes ‘’could I be a minute man mister?’’ ‘’just Preston, and yes, of course you can’’

Piper:

‘‘well hello there? are you the scary thing the guards are lookin’ for? wow they don't stand a chance do they?’‘ the little girl in front of her giggles a bit and she bends down ‘‘I have a little sister, well, guess she’s not so little anymore, she’s probably a little older than you. I can take you to her if you wanna say hi? don't be shy now’‘ Piper smiles down at the girl, watching her look back at the guards ‘‘Nah don't worry about them they’re cool, just...Probably very confused, you’re a little ninja aren’t cha?’‘ the girl giggles again ‘‘Come on little lady ill take ya to see Nat’‘ 

Valentine:

‘‘Hey doll you alright?, the guards woulda just let you in you know you’re just a little girl’‘ the little lady plays with the dirt with her feet shyly her arms behind her back ‘‘I was scared’‘ Nick nods understandingly fixing his hat slowly ‘‘Its alright to be scared, but we gotta tell the guards everyone is safe alright? can you do that with me?’‘ the girl nods shyly and nick smiles ‘‘Alright doll, lets go then, you’re pretty slick for a child where did you learn that’‘ she smiles sadly ‘‘My daddy’‘ nick frowns down at her as they walked ‘‘I’m sure he would have been very proud’‘ he jokes with a light heart she smiles happily and nods ‘‘You’ll fit in just fine here’‘ nick reassures 

MacCready:

‘‘Hey there little buddy’‘ MacCready smiles picking up the small boy slowly, careful not to make him feel in danger ‘‘where are your parents?’‘ the boy starts crying and Mac tenses up, shushing him gently and bouncing him slightly patting his back ‘‘I lost them, the ferals’‘ Mac sighs sadly, he knows that all too well ‘‘Its alright buddy you’re safe here and you can play with my boy Duncan, we got everything you need’‘ he delicately rubs the small boys back and then wipes some tears away ‘‘You’ll be just fine’‘

Strong:

 when strong saw children he either wanted to eat them or thought very little of their chance of survival, but he had since recently really warmed up to Shaun and the other kids at the settlement, Shaun called him Shrek and showed him the old world DVD and since Strong had a pretty big ego, he loved the nickname and now all the kids called him that and they would all hang off him like a jungle gym during play time, so when he turned to tower over a small child he was excited to say the least and picked them up, they didn’t seem scared of him it looked more like the girl was studying him. As he held them up to eye level by their shirt he speaks ‘’New child, fit right in with others Strong is Shrek to you, take care of little human like I take care of master little human’’ he places the girl a top his shoulders and she holds on to the top of his head as the walk to the other kids

X6-88:

‘‘Why did you breech these walls.’‘ he spoke down at the little boy, domineering at best. The boy simply smiles up at him innocently ‘‘I ran here, those scary doggies were chasing me’‘ X6 stared down at the child, arms crossed over his chest ‘‘you are trespassing’‘ the boy then frowns ‘’oh...’‘ x6 stares at the disappointed boy for a while and then catches a glance of Shaun and sole happily playing together across the settlement and then uncrosses his arms, ‘‘You’re safe here, just do not break anymore rules’‘ the boy smiles up at him happily ‘‘are you my daddy now?’‘ as X6 hears laugher coming from behind him he turns and death glares deacon through his glasses and turns back ‘‘Better to be me than that guy’‘

(HOPE THIS IS ALRIGHT! x went the ‘heartwarming’ route for this one, I usually just make a joke of things hdjhfdhfuhu tried my best to stick to something sweeter ) (thank you for requesting ! xxx)

[bigfan-fanfic]

Wisdom, Warfare, and Useful Crafts (Son of Athena! Ironkid Headcanon)

Requested by anonymous for “ I just thought of a cool concept (idk if it’s any good actually). What about the reader being the son of Tony Stark as well as Athena? Like imagine the reader having the combined intelligence of Tony and the goddess of wisdom (as well war)”

Tony met her at a Stark Expo. He normally can’t stand the people who he meets at these things. Business execs looking to ambush him into deals. Screaming fans trying to touch his goatee.

But she was none of these things. She was staring at him during his presentation, but in a way that made him feel like she was judging his very thoughts. He found her afterwards, staring at a prototype Iron Man suit with her storm-grey eyes.

“Impressed?” he asked with a smirk, holding out his hand when she turned. “Tony Stark.”

She looks at him disdainfully. “Not particularly. I’ve been around the block a few times. I’ve seen a lot more done with a lot less.”

“What’s your name, miss?”

“Athena. Athena Pallas.”

“Palace?”

“Pallas.”

“What is that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

She smirks, and Tony feels electricity surging through his soul. “It’s Greek, in fact.”

Somehow he wheedles a date out of the strange woman. It’s a match made in heaven. 

She’s wicked smart, and immediately understands any concept thrown at her.

Tony normally is a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy, but it’s different with Athena. There’s desire, but a desire to be around her. It’s a meeting of the minds.

And eventually she vanishes without a trace. Tony has Pepper try and track her down, but it’s as if she never existed, like Athena was only ever the goddess of wisdom from Greek myths.

But then she appears once more. And Tony knows something’s weird because she’s dressed in full armor and riding in a chariot pulled by giant owls and carrying a bundle in her arms.

And after she explains herself, she gives the bundle to Tony, and he finds himself enthralled with the little baby inside. You.

“Our son,” she says. “He will be a great man, but it will be up to you to teach him to be a good one. Teach him well, Tony.”

Tony’s still not sure how he explained it to Pepper.

He was so unprepared for you, but later he’ll come to wonder if anyone could really be prepared for a kid like you.

When he was little, they labeled him a genius and wunderkind by the time he was out of diapers. You... there was an intelligence in your gaze that had no business being in a newborn’s eyes.

By the time you can talk, it seems like you’ve had a million ideas, and get frustrated at your inability to communicate them.

Tony indulges you - he doesn’t care what the parenting sites he’s researched say about giving you a normal childhood - your mom’s a freaking goddess, after all. Normal, he doesn’t care. You happy is what he wants.

So if you want to wander into the workshop and give him mechanical pointers and draw up technical blueprints on his white boards, go ahead.

You wanna alter the architectural plans for Stark Technologies facilities so that they’re more environmentally-friendly? Have at it, kid!

You wanna ask him to develop an e-textile for you so you can personally weave a bulletproof vest that can redistribute kinetic energy and send bullets back at their source? He won’t sleep until he’s found the best possible material for his little genius.

He’s also set a small robot to exterminate any bugs that attempt to enter your home - because you’re deathly afraid of spiders and in the absence of spiders, other bugs try to enter. (Yes, it will be difficult when you meet Spider-Man)

Maybe you don’t feel like using that big brain of yours today? All you need to do is ask, and he’ll take the day off to spend it with you. Often, this will lead to you both spending all night in the lab and inventing until Pepper makes Tony make you go to bed.

You don’t go to school, because not only are you in danger of monsters because you are a powerful demigod, but because you are in danger from mortals because you are Tony Stark’s son. And also because you’re so smart, the only possible teacher for you is JARVIS, who handles your education, tailoring it to your specific needs.

Tony’s loathe to let you go to Camp Half-Blood, but allows it on the condition that during the rest of the year, he gets you. He misses you terribly when you’re gone, but knows he can’t always keep you all to himself.

You, of course, help him with the Avengers

It’s a bit disconcerting for him how you excel in battle tactics and strategy at such a young age. But you become the best tactician, even better than Steve and Natasha.

“You been teaching the kid military strategy, Stark?”

“No. I think he gets it from his mother.”

“Who’s his mother?” Steve asks.

“Greek goddess of wisdom.” Tony says, blandly.

Steve honestly isn’t surprised. He has a threshold of weirdness, and it’s permanently at 100%

Thor immediately senses that you are not completely mortal and makes it his duty to protect you from particularly vicious monsters. Occasionally you’ll see a column of rainbow light in the distance as Thor descends to destroy a monster that might head in your direction. Heimdall has been instructed to turn an eye in your direction occasionally to make sure you’re safe.

Banner gets used to the three of you being in the lab together. And teaching him how to weave has significantly improved his ability to stay calm. Tony’s terrible at it, which also gives Banner the opportunity to tease him.

And yes, Nick Fury does consider recruiting the Greek gods into the Avengers.

During the Battle of New York, you called in Camp Half-Blood to help defend Olympus, and they arrived. While Cap directed the Avengers, you directed the campers, Party Ponies, assorted Amazons, and unfortunate vacationing Roman demigods, who swarmed the Chitauri army with the mundane metal weapon edges you designed, which attached to their Celestial bronze swords, spears and arrows, allowing them to damage the alien force.

And then they all disappeared after the battle, making sure the media didn’t notice a group of kids, women warriors, and horse-people with weapons trudging around New York. And you refused to tell Fury where they came from, earning a high-five from your dad.

And finally, you design your own suit, which takes inspiration from Ancient Greek armor while incorporating the full body design your father uses.

Imagine an Iron man suit with one of those plumes Greek armor has, then imagine it even awesomer

It’s only a pet project you and your dad have plans to someday make. But one day you two walk into the lab and it’s waiting there, perfect, to your exact specifications, with one difference. This one comes equipped with a spear made from Celestial bronze-and-vibranium alloy painted red and gold to match your and your father’s suits. There’s a note taped to it, neat and precise. It’s on stationery, with an owl-symbol letterhead. Written in crisp grey script are seven little words.

I am proud of you, my son.

[hellzyeahwebwieldingreviews]

Untold Tales of Spider-Man 14: My Enemy, My Savior – by Eric Fein

Meh

This story’s title page features a great John Romita, Sr. illustration of J. Jonah Jameson sweating it out as he watches Spidey fighting the Scorpion on a viewscreen, with Alistair Smythe gaping at him from another screen. (We don’t know where Jonah is but will soon find out that he’s inside a spider-slayer.) That’s a good way to start.

In the story itself, J. Jonah Jameson has just won the Humanitarian of the Year Award, chosen by the citizens of New York City. After working late at the office on his acceptance speech, he climbs into his limo, heading for home. But suddenly, the limo swerves out of control, running up on the sidewalk. The driver claims he can’t release his foot from the gas and the car is not responding to his actions. When he tries to turn the ignition off, he convulses and falls unconscious. The car drives into a dead-end alley and crashes into the wall. JJJ, bloodied and dizzy, crawls out of the car. Before falling unconscious, Jonah sees “the form of a large man approaching him.”Like that scene? Here it is again from a different perspective. A man “at a control console in a dimly lit lab” watches JJJ get into his limo. He presses a button and a “spiderlike droid” attaches to the car’s rear bumper. The man pushes another button. The spider-droid shoots out “a bundle of fiber-optic tendrils.” Some of them attach to the steering column. Others bore “through the floorboard: where they grab “the driver’s right foot, attaching it to the gas pedal.” These tendrils contract, forcing the driver’s foot down on the gas. After the limo crashes, the man speaks “into a commlink,” saying, “Mr. Gargan, our prey has been subdued. Please, take the necessary action.” Those of us in the know recognize Gargan as the real name of the Scorpion. Of course, those of us who looked at Johnny’s opening illustration already know the Scorpion and Smythe are the villains in this piece.Meanwhile, Spider-Man webs his way to the Daily Bugle. He drops down into a nearby alley, changes to Peter Parker, and takes his latest pix of Spidey battling the Rhino to the city room. There he finds all sorts of frantic activity. Robbie Robertson tells him that “Jonah’s missing” and presumed kidnapped “or worse.” Kate Cushing sends Peter to the crime scene to get some photos. “I’m sure Jonah will be all right,” Peter says, “He’s a tough old goat.”Just then, JJJ wakes up, chained down on a hospital gurney in a lab. He sees “a large mechanical construct twenty feet tall and ten feet wide, surrounded by scaffolding and held up by suspension cables.” “Several smaller robots” service it. The lab’s resident reveals himself as Alistair Smythe, which makes Jonah realize that the robots are spider-slayers. Smythe tells JJJ that he has “inherited my father’s journals and his lab equipment. And I have inherited his crusade. My father’s enemies became my enemies.” And, for Jonah’s pressuring of Spencer Smythe into making more slayers, Alistair blames the publisher for his father’s death.

Then Mac Gargan joins the conversation. Smythe says he and Gargan “recently crossed paths and he explained to me how he was another victim of your crusade,” of how Jonah financed Gargan’s transformation into the Scorpion with “no thought to the psychological damage the treatments had done to Gargan.” (These guys sort of have a point.) When they learned of Jonah’s Humanitarian of the Year award, “the hypocrisy [was] too much…to swallow.” So Smythe built a giant spider-slayer designed to carry Jameson as a helpless passenger. “I’m going to arrange for you to finally be the hero you’ve spent years saying you are, by letting you destroy your favorite public enemy, Spider-Man,” Smythe tells Jonah, “Of course, there is the chance that Spider-Man will finish you off first.” With that, the Scorpion loads JJJ into the giant slayer.Some time later, Spidey is on the Daily Bugle building’s roof expecting an attack. He has received a tip from a “street source” about an event at the Bugle. “And the guy behind it was the Scorpion.” When the giant spider-slayer attacks, Spidey knows that Smythe is also involved. He grapples with the robot. 

Just when he thinks he has won, the slayer jettisons four legs. One of them wraps around Spidey’s leg and administers an electrical shock. Ignoring the pain and further shocks, Spidey rips it away from his leg. Whereupon the slayer blasts a hole in the roof.Inside the slayer, JJJ winces at the destruction to his building. As the slayer burrows from floor to floor, attacking innocent people, he starts to wish that Spidey would stop the robot. “What a revelation,” says Smythe over the radio, “Rooting for your greatest enemy to succeed.” And, sure enough, Spidey yanks on some wiring and circuitry and stops the slayer, only to have a voice announce, “This mechanism will self-destruct in sixty seconds.” Hearing this, Spidey picks up the slayer, takes it to the roof, and throws it toward the East River. As soon as he does, the Scorpion attacks him. But the Scorpion also opens his big mouth, saying, “First you knock off Jameson for me, then I kick your butt.” Realizing that Jonah must be inside the slayer, Spidey puts a spider-tracer on Scorpy, snags the robot with his webbing and climbs onto its back.Even as Smythe taunts Jonah, Spidey rips the top off the slayer, climbs in and frees JJJ from his bonds. 

But then the slayer lands in the river. Spidey drags Jonah, who is “unconscious and very pale” from the wreckage and brings him to shore. Just as he is about to administer mouth-to-mouth, Jonah comes to. Spidey promises to bring help and tries to web-sling away, only to find his shooters clogged up with “river muck.”The Scorpion is ready to celebrate the deaths of his greatest enemies but Smythe tells him both Spidey and JJ are still alive. “I saw you disobey my direct orders by making yourself known to Spider-Man before Jameson was dead. As a matter of fact, because of your big mouth, they’re both alive,” Smythe says, adding, “You’ve ruined everything, you thickheaded lout! I should kill you, but I have more important things to do. So just get out.” Scorpy doesn’t take well to this and attacks Smythe with a “stinger-blast.” Smythe sics his mini-slayers on Gargan. Then Spidey shows up, having followed his tracer (and he had extra web-fluid in his belt) and defeats both foes. 

Rather too easily, unfortunately. As he does so, he says something that may well be the theme of this story, “Oh, here we go again, another chorus of ‘My life stinks and it’s all your fault.’ Well, let me tell you something, bug-boy, I’ve had it with you idiots. Neither one of you can admit to the fact that you’re both responsible for the shambles that your lives have become. Yeah, Jameson helped by making the offer or funding the projects. But you dopes embraced his cause all the way.”The next night, at the Humanitarian of the Year dinner, JJJ gets up and refuses the award. “It would at this point strike me as hypocritical to accept it,” he says, “having just come face to face with two villains whose origins in a small part can be traced to me.” Still, he promises to “continue to crusade against the costumed vigilantes and other superpowered crazies that they attract. Especially that menace Spider-Man, who I can assure you exacerbated the problem with Smythe and the Scorpion.” Jonah gets a standing ovation for his speech but Peter doesn’t take a photograph. He has changed to Spidey to stop “a band of heavily armed men about to break into the banquet.” And so it goes.

This story was merely okay. Pretty much every story has strived to represent an aspect of Spidey’s mythos and this story zeroes in on Jameson. What’s a bit more baffling is the story’s placement. The prior story was set in the very early 80s during O’Neil’s run on Spidey before Roger Stern. This story though could only occur after ASM #373 as that was when Spidey first encountered Smythe after he became the Ultimate Slayer.

However, given how he went into custody this makes one wonder how Jonah didn’t know about Alastair’s upgrade? I can let that go since it’s by no means the first or most egregious fo continuity errors in this anthology thus far. What’s more problematic is that we’ve jumped from like 1981 all the way to 1993. Which is doubly baffling when you consider this book was put out in 1997. For a book titles ‘Untold Tales of Spider-Man’ why would you skip over 10 years worth of material in favour of an era less than 5 years old? Surely there would be plenty of great tales to tell during the Alien Costume Saga alone, which would in turn represent the symbiotes, another iconic aspect of the Spidey mythos.

Beyond that there isn’t much to say about this story. it was kind of cool to check out Smythe and Scorpion teaming up as they are the two villains most associated with Jonah. But other than that...I mean we’ve kind of seen this before haven’t we?

It’s not that it’s poorly executed but it’s just pretty ‘same old same old’. I suppose you could say the same of ‘Livewires’ but at least that told a typical Spidey story set during an oft forgotten era with oft forgotten supporting players. This story is something we’ve seen before since the 1960s.

At the end of the day this is a story that’s skippable as far as entertainment goes but sort of necessary in terms of representing a key component of Spidey lore. From that POV it would’ve been conspicuous by it’s absence.

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issues 4&5

its delphi time babey

I'm sorry but drift & co look like such fuckin nerds on their scooter things on the cover lmaooo

oh god. seeing the first page just reminded me of how horribly confused i was for this whole little arc the first time i read it. i was like ok, who are all these new characters, and also why does everyone look so similar

anyways now i now what's going on. i love first aid

love the running continuity of rung being the literal only psychologist on cybertron (except for fr*id but that's later). no wonder everyone's fucked up they all have to share a single therapist 

ok i find it extremely funny that first aid was demoted from doctor to nurse, as if that's a thing that happens EVER - I mean it'd be one thing if first aid was a nurse practitioner (which i doubt is a position that exists here), at least that demotion would make sense, but like...the doctors i work with don't know how to do most nurse stuff (like BP, cathing, vaccinations, hell even using some of the thermometers - that's all stuff nurses/etc do), so demoting one to a nurse would be a disaster (just like promoting a really good nurse to a doctor would be a bad idea). anyways i know I'm being pedantic but it Be like that when you work in the medical field and read something that has medicine-related stuff in it

i love swerve giving ratchet the tiniest free drink ever lmaooo

is that skids being a rowdy drunk in the bg lmaoooo

unironically i love medical statistics. keep it comin

i love magnus’s giant sternal chestpiece thing. its like a bird’s sternum but without the massive pec muscles attached 

i love magnus and rodimus’s dynamic so much

oh pipes....im so sorry but this fun space adventure is going to be not so much fun for you

ratchets ideologies are certainly interesting, and i liked seeing how they changed over the course of the story

drift: why would i be SCARED of the DJD, I've got a SWORD, two swords even,

hvbhajkhfbsdjkf pipes really said ‘oi, you two - what's this, then?’ that's the most british fucking thing, that's literally something i say when I'm doing an overexaggerated british accent, oh my god,

PIPES IS SUCH A TINY DUMBASS. ILY SIR BUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING

aaaand now you're covered in dead bodies, pipes. look at your life, look at your choices

drift epic sword moments

drift confirmed for the kinda weird guy who has katanas that he uses to like, cut up fruit and water bottles in his backyard while rodimus films him

‘i thought i heard...bickering’ lmaooooo

ah, so its covid

this arc is how i feel working in healthcare lmaooo especially now that i probably have covid 

so rewind condensed the entire war into an 11 second long cringe compilation. nice

seeing the mechanical stuff past tailgate’s visor is so cool

poor tailgate, this guy is getting slammed with history from multiple sides. and like, bias is inevitable in ANY sort of recounting of events, especially controversial historical events, so poor tg just kinda has to take it all in and decide who to listen to 

that’s...not really how immunity works, guys. also, you shouldn't be exposed to so much disease with proper ppe usage

is there even such thing as ppe in the transformers universe?? there are fluid- and contact-transmitted illnesses, so there SHOULD be

is there even OSHA in this universe??????? unbelievable 

first aid, holding a giant fucking claw clamp: we haven't tried EVERYTHING............

first aid read a human wikihow article on how to jumpstart a car and took notes 

i love tailgate’s ‘mom says its my turn on the xbox’ pose 

tailgate has a point - he’s from pre-war times, where things weren't as grey so of course he would try to divide the two sides into ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’

CYCLONUS BE NICE DONT HIT UR FUTURE HUSBAND

go get some character development and then maybe you'll feel better

seeing the word quarantine is making me twitchy w/my possible month-long complete isolation quarantine on the horizon

drift pulling his swords on pipes and ratchet pushing down drift’s arms...lmao

poor pipes...even tho this is completely his fault, its still rough

also jesus, pharma and ratchet look so goddamn similar, reading this was so confusing the first time around 

drifts idea of subduing pipes involves turning into a cool car and also posing with his sword

also. never gonna be over drift’s massive thighs. jesus man

ooof now drift has the rona. ouch 

poor drift, his covid realization is getting overshadowed by pharma being flung around

first aid bustin thru w/the epic medical nipple clamps and some Big Boi Backup

ok that's an epic pre-beatdown speech from fort max right there, daym 

im just gonna continue on w/issue 5 now for continuity’s sake. yay!

the cover of tailgate in magnus’s autobot school is so cute

and we open with an incredible shot of fort max str8 up ripping a guy in half. i mean, to be fair, he DID just give an epic speech about how much he was gonna do that, and he certainly followed thru

yeahhhhh, fort max is not doing so well atm

when he puts that dudes head in his chest vent thing and then snaps it shut....man 

also i fucking LOVE when their faces are shaded all in black w/only the eyes/mouth fully drawn...fantastic stuff

ratchet: phew i am not equipped to deal w/this level of Fucked Up Mental Trauma. u good m8?

ratchet is already writing up a referral to rung for fort max as this is happening

drift is just laying on the ground dying like, oh hey yeahh I'm still here too 

i fucking love when punctuation is drawn in story - like here where first aid has a little ? over his head....fav

ratchet holding drifts hand ;_; 

ok tbh ambulon having switched sides 10 yrs ago is wild bc like, 10 years is barely any time for these guys, especially in a war that lasted 4 million years. that would be like a human switching sides in a war like, 3 months before it ends. probably. i sense some math bs, I'm just extrapolating here

all that mexican standoff shit is going down and first aid is just like But That's None Of My Business

ah so ambulon is an asymptomatic carrier 

and there's first aid with the save! iconic

pharma calling ratchet ‘buddy’ hbvakjdsbfhkasdf

ooooh i love that they figured it out - and i love that twist, that transforming is what triggers the start of symptoms. remember when drift turned into a cool car? yep

s/o to Ambulon Transformers for helping me in my medical terminology courses, bc now ill always remember: Leg(tm)

also this explanation makes a ton more sense (in universe, at least) than the whole ‘i guess we as medical staff have been exposed to enough Germz that we’re more immune to this or something’ theory 

ah, i love the meaningless (to me) alien robot medical jargon 

drift and ratchet hhhhhhhhh

‘I'm too wide’ fort max L O R G E

also once again drift is forgotten in favor of a bunch of other dramatic stuff happening vbhjksdfbjhskdf

godddd i love tailgates little flashbacks where we see how Important and Special he is, complete with his ‘bomb disposal’ arm label...augh its so good! 

and tailgate’s autopedia page even reflects his lies! like, did tailgate go edit that first thing upon waking up??? seriously, I'm fascinated by tailgate’s meticulous dedication to his fake life

also the fact that ultra magnus believes everything he read on autopedia is amazing lmao

ultra magnus: you think somebody would just go on the internet and tell lies? 

fuckgin love magnus’s long ass name/title placard 

tailgate hvbahjkdfbjhaskf i mean, he’s gotten the abridged version of everything else, of course he would assume that’d be the case here too...but not on magnus’s watch

magnus cant even say ‘fun’ hvukdasdbjfkjsadf i love my uptight law dad

love rung implying that upon questioning, he would easily divulge a patient’s name and maybe even information about said patient’s treatment while under him....love the disregard for patient confidentiality and hipaa in general 

not that hipaa seems to exist here, at least not in a fully realized form 

also i mean the above genuinely, i think rung’s tendency towards at least slight malpractice is very interesting 

poor red alert....super bad luck that HE was the guy to get roped up in that overlord business 

I'm glad that, at the very least, red alert was able to prove that he was Actually hearing something to rung, rather than get brushed off completely 

god magnus and tailgate’s interactions are golden 

also tg is much more sarcastic/quippy than anyone gives him credit for tbh

‘thought warfare,’ ultra magnus says with complete seriousness. god i fucking love this comic

now i can tell pharma apart from ratchet bc pharma has let his true Petty Bitch nature emerge and you can see it in his expressions

the whole ‘tarn is addicted to transforming’ thing didn't really go anywhere, right? i feel like i noticed that on my second readthru as well 

also pharma is such an interesting character given the context of him like, trying to strike a bargain w/the djd to keep them from destroying delphi, but that arrangement inevitably kinda making him lose it as the situation escalates. he’s also just really entertaining bc i feel like he kins the joker or st and probably gets into really heated arguments w/people on twitter about just abt anything

‘sound bomb’ i love this comic

another important facet of pharma’s character becomes clear around this time as well - how he’s really into ratchet. i also choose to read them as awful exes tbh, it makes their dynamic even more entertaining

‘killmaster, with the wand’ is one of my favorite running remarks lmao

also, was killmaster even a character before mtmte? or, if he was, was he an important one? it would crack me up the most if he literally didn't exist at all, but any way you spin it is still funny 

ratchet’s tiny humansona facing off against pharma is wild

‘I'm miles from anyone i truly care about’ brutal, ratchet, drift is dying like 2 floors away (im p sure)

SUDDENLY DRIFT IS HERE, ACTUALLY 

oh don't worry first aid, that sure isn't the last we’ll be seeing of pharma 

so like, did first aid save everyone by posting that data log to his wreckers fan blog or something? lmao love it 

i love the pretty fucked up reveal of ratchet having stolen pharma’s hands. like, damn dude. 

and that wraps up the delphi arc! our first true ‘arc’ of mtmte, and a fantastic one at that. short and snappy and fresh, with some very clever writing and cool new characters, and a lot of great plot threads to be picked up later. plus, we got to see the beginnings of drift and ratchet’s whole thing (and ratchet and pharmas whole thing). and the lost light gets some much needed extra medical staff, so everyone wins! 

well, we’ll see how fort max feels about this all pretty soon.....

[brittle-bone-gabe]

Long Time No See

Summary: People say life flashes before your eyes before you die, of course, nobody has possession over the Soul Stone as they die besides Tony Stark. So maybe his version of what happens when you die isn’t the same as anybody else's.

Pairing: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

Read on Ao3: Here

“And I… am Iron Man…”

After the words left Tony Stark’s mouth the only thing he could hear was the sound of his metal fingers clanking together as a sudden burst of power jolted through his body, a power that he’s never felt before. Of course, this was the first time Tony had actually felt a power that wasn’t his arc reactor or his suits, other than that he was that . A normal man in a suit of armor. Even his armor couldn’t protect him from the power of the Infinity Stones. If it weren’t for the arc reactor and the nanoparticles that lived within it then the snap wouldn’t have been possible at all, he knew this tech would’ve been good for something.

Tony tried looking around at the scene now, it appeared as though everything was moving in slow motion and he couldn’t tell if it was from the snap or his eyes were playing tricks on him, but either way he didn’t like this. All the aliens around them were quickly turning into dust, just as Thanos did to the universe only five years prior; ruining lives and families. Even though Tony’s vision was starting to blur, he could make out the outline of Thanos taking a seat on the ground, knowing what was to come next, and Tony refused to move until he saw him disappear into dust just like all the others. The Titan looked tired, letting out a sigh, knowing he was defeated and there was nothing else he could do besides look at all the dust and destruction that was brought upon him. What he had thought would bring stability to the universe was his ultimate downfall and nothing could bring him back for this. Failed. Thanos had failed. He closed his eyes as he too turned into dust, blowing off into the wind.

Finally, the monster was defeated.

Having his final moment of pride, Tony grunted as he used a wall of rubble as support, trying to catch his breath but it seemed impossible, and what air he did manage to breath in was filled with dust and certainly irritating his already failing lungs. He held his burnt and broken right arm close to his chest as he collapsed, pressing his back against the rubble, breathing slowly yet heavily. He knew this was his time. He knew he wasn’t going to make it back home. He knew that he was never going to see his daughter again, never going to see Pepper again. At what cost? To give her a better future. To give the universe a better future. Hopefully everyone could see what Tony Stark sacrificed here today and can understand that they now had the chance to turn everything around.

Tony looked up just as Rhodey landed in front of him, his mask falling back into the suit to get a better look at what was going on with his friend. Tony’s suit was burnt up, mainly on the right side that spread up to his face. He was growing more and more pale, his eyes following Rhodey but seemed as though they couldn’t actually focus on anything in particular. Seeing Rhodey made Tony think about Happy, his bodyguard for years and who was currently babysitting Morgan while he and Pepper were out to fight Thanos. He was never going to give his final in person goodbye to one of his best friends.

Rhodey knelt down in front of Tony, putting a metal hand to the side of his head to make sure he was still alive. There was something oddly comforting about the coldness of the metal, giving Tony a glimpse of hope that maybe, just maybe he would be able to pull through this, just as he did all those other times he should have died. A stupid hope, Tony had decided, tossing the thought away as if he didn’t even have it. Too much was going through his mind right now to focus on such a silly hope.

“Mr. Stark?” Tony could hear the familiar voice of Peter Parker. Hell, the kid was quiet on his feet, Tony didn’t even notice him… or maybe it was his senses that were starting to fail him. He could feel more and more of himself starting to shut down every second and it was hell. “Hey!” Peter said calmly as he knelt down in front of the man who he thought of as a mentor.

The silence coming from Tony was extremely unnerving to both Peter and Rhodey as he was never the guy to stay silent too long. Even in a room of high tension Tony had to make a joke to get the ball rolling, whether that meant the ball was everyone turning their anger at him for making a joke at a wrong time or laughing and starting to ease up. Peter had the right to be confused, Thanos was gone. Shouldn’t Tony be happy about that? Happy that everything was going to be semi normal again? Why wasn’t he saying anything? Why wasn’t he expressing it?

“Mr. Stark. Can you hear me?” Peter asked him again, putting a hand on him, trying not to let the tears fall but his sadness and panic came out through his voice that was coming out as almost a whimper. He couldn’t lose another father figure. “It’s Peter,” he pleaded, trying to get something out of Tony. “We won, Mr. Stark. We won, Mr. Stark. We won! You did it, sir, you did it.” Peter felt Rhodey put his hands on either one of his shoulders, and that’s when he couldn’t take it anymore, the tears started falling, shaking Tony slightly. “I’m sorry, Tony,” he said through his tears.

There was so much Tony wanted to say to Peter. No. There was so much he needed to say to Peter. How talented he was, how he was going to excel at life, how he was going to be a phenomenal Avenger. Unfortunately, Tony couldn’t even open his mouth to speak, no matter how much he tried to he just couldn’t. He was tired. So, so tired. He couldn’t fight anymore even though he wanted to.

Rhodey helped Peter stand up just as Pepper came into the picture, kneeling down in front of her husband, seeing him for the last time. As heartbreaking as this was for her, Pepper knew that it was time. All she wanted to do was cry and hold him, to plead with him that it wasn’t his time to go, that they had a daughter at home but… she knew.

“Hey,” she said softly, putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder to grab his attention.

“Hey, Pep,” Tony managed to say so softly that Pepper wasn’t quite sure if it was real. It took everything he had and more, but he needed to make sure she was aware that he could hear her. Tony gently placed his hand over Pepper’s, which was now over his heart.

“FRIDAY?” Pepper asked Tony’s AI.

“Life functions critical,” the woman AI voice responded.

There were tears in Tony’s eyes as he was trying to gather more energy to say something more. If there was one thing left he wished he could do was say something to everyone who fought hard here today.

Pepper gave him a sad smile, trying not to break down. “Tony,” she said calmly yet firmly, “look at me. We’re gonna be okay,” she reassured him, it was so hard to not let the tears fall now, especially with the wheezing Tony was now producing. “You can rest now.” She stroked his hair until the wheezing stopped. The arc reactor went out and eventually Tony’s hand dropped from Pepper’s.

He was gone.  

“You need to start applying yourself.”

“I don’t want to go to boarding school!” “Yeah, well, maybe it’ll teach you something.”

“Aren’t you proud of me, dad?” “Mhm, great. Go show Jarivs.”

December 16th, 1991 “I never got to say goodbye to my father.”

“Howard? Howard!”

“Did you know?” “I didn’t know it was him-” “Don’t me bullshit me, Rogers. Did you know?” “Yes.”

“What is and what will always be my greatest creation… is you.”

“If I were Iron Man, I’d have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She’d be a wreck. She’d always be worrying I was going to die, yet proud of the man I’ve become. She’d be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more crazy about me…”

“If we can’t protect the world, you can be damn sure we’ll avenge it.”  

“You know what I think is really cool? This webbing. That tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?”

“I did.”

“I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for a reason. I’m not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it’s right.”

“You can rest now.”

“I love you 3000.”

Tony gasped as he woke up, his eyes shot opened, taking in deep breaths as if he had been holding them under water. He had died, right? He felt his own heart stop, he remembered Pepper and Peter mourning him as he was slowly slipping away. He could remember the sad look on Rhodey’s face trying not to break down in front of him. He could remember Thanos and all the other aliens turn into dust after the snap he created. Why was he here? Was he given a second chance?

He stood up, swaying slightly as he did, almost as if he had a few too many drinks the night before and was working off a hangover, complete with the headache. The world around him wasn’t covered in dust or rubble, in fact it was quite the opposite. It had a peaceful tone, the sky around him was a gentle yellow and orange blending perfectly with each other, but… nothing else was around. It was completely empty.  

“Hello?” Tony called out, looking over his shoulders and doing a full turn as if he’d find something in this great unknown. “Did I just… have too much to drink last night? What’s goin’ on?” He called out again as if someone was going to answer him.

He took a couple of steps before he stopped, suddenly hearing a calm, quiet humming from behind him. When Tony turned around he saw a man that wasn’t there before, leaning over a sink to look in the mirror that was more or less floating in the air as it wasn’t attached to anything since there was no wall to back it. Tony felt a wave of dejavu. Had he been here before? He tried to sneak a glance of the mirror to see who in the hell was shaving their face in a floating mirror in the middle of nowhere, but there was no reflection, almost as if he was a vampire. Honestly, Tony was scared to approach him, the past couple of years were a nightmare, so who knew what was going to happen next.

“Um…” Tony started, not sure exactly what to say, “Wh-” he took a step forward but was cut off by the man.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” was all the man said, which baffled Tony. As if appearing out of nowhere, Tony was now holding a car battery that was hooked up to his chest, but the battery itself felt as though it didn’t weigh a thing.

“What the hell’s going on?” Tony finally blurted out, not able to take this nonsense anymore. He hated not knowing what was going on around him, it drove him absolutely insane. “Where’s Thanos? I killed that son of a bitch, right?”

“Hmm…” the man hummed, turning on the sink, which logically shouldn’t have been possible due to the fact there was no way that plumbing could be hooked up to it. “You haven’t changed much, yet at the same time, you’ve grown,” was all the man said as he rinsed off his razor.

“Wh-” Tony was once again cut off by his own doing when the man turned around and he instantly recognized the face. The man he saw in half of his dreams since he escaped from that cave in Afghanistan. “Yinsen,” he said, feeling a strange sense of warmth and comfort in the man's presence.

“Stark,” Yinsen said with a huge smile on his face.

Still holding onto the car battery, Stark gave Yinsen a hug, a hug which the older man returned. This was a long time coming, Yinsen had been waiting for this moment to acknowledge all that Tony has done.

“My, my, Stark. You’ve turned into the man who has everything but nothing to a man who has everything.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Tony said as he pulled away from the hug.

“No? You wouldn’t?” Tony wasn’t sure what Yinsen was getting at. “You have a wonderful family, Stark. That is what I would call everything.” Tony only nodded, feeling the tears in his eyes just thinking about Pepper and Morgan, hoping that he could just see them one last time. “All the self doubt that you had was proven wrong, was it not?”

“What do you mean?” There was so much self doubt Tony felt through his life, Yinsen had to be a little more specific than that.

“After you escaped and got home safely all those years ago. You doubted that you had made the right choices in your life. You weren’t sure if you were worth me giving up my life. Well? You were proven wrong.” Tony opened his mouth to speak but Yinsen continued. “You saved the universe, Stark,” he said with a huge smile, putting both hands on Tony’s shoulders, “if you didn’t escape that day then… well, who would’ve saved them?”

Tony shrugged, looking away. “Well… I mean, maybe if I didn’t escape then none of this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Ah, ah. Don’t think that way,” Yinsen said, holding up a finger to him, “that is all in the past. What’s done is done, you proved that you are more than just a… man in a metal suit. You’re a hero. To the world, and most certainly your daughter. They will grieve, many people will grieve, but that just shows the impact you had on the world.”

“I did some stupid things…”

“Stupid, sure, but your heart was in the right place. Tony Stark, I am proud of you.”

Tony blinked, his eyes were burning again as he could feel the tears starting to trinkle. That may have been the first time anyone has ever actually said that they were proud of him. For years Tony thought that his father wasn’t proud of him, but all he really wanted was to hear him say it.

Moving forward, Tony unexpectedly hugged Yinsen again, the tears silently rolling down his cheek as he did so.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Stark. We can rest now.”

[ducklingdraws]

My Idea for a Scooby-Doo! Reboot

So a while back, after noticing that Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated was on Spectrum On Demand, I decided, "Hey, I'm gonna rewatch this show." I don't know why I did it, because I rarely ever rewatch shows. I'll watch reruns, but never have I actually decided to rewatch a television series. But, I did it for Scooby-Doo.

And frankly, I had forgotten how good the show was. It's honestly really dark, while also being absolutely hilarious; and in its humor, the show actually does really unique things with the Scooby-Doo gang, with the biggest example being this show's version of Fred Jones. It's wild. But in my opinion, the thing that really makes this show what it is...

...is its story. I feel like the story and characters are fuel for this show in a way that feels different from other shows, somehow. I don't really get it, but that's the way I see it.

So, seeing as there's all these serialized cartoon series nowadays, and Scooby-Doo is always getting rebooted in one way or another, I figured... what if I rebooted Scooby? If I had the opportunity to reboot Scooby-Doo and the only Warner Bros requirement was "just make it," what would I do with it?

Without further ado, this is To the Future, Scooby-Doo!

First up: The Premise

To kick things off, I'll discuss how the show is set up. This version of Scooby-Doo is set in the future. Technology has become more holographic and stuff like in the movies, but fashion hasn't evolved to be nothing but latex bodysuits yet. Flying cars are real but not very widely used, and clothes can tell the time.

On the biological side of things, prosthetics are holographic as well, and incredibly easy to attach. It's almost like having your original limb. Food is healthier while also being more environmentally friendly, and animals have been genetically modified for a very long time. They have been allowed to mate, which has eventually lead to many domesticated animals being able to speak!

The main setting is a large port town known as Port Intrigue, where all sorts of goods are traded, and many people lead peaceful lives. It's a nice place, and a lot of the economy is structured around it. There are other important trade cities like it, but Port Intrigue may be the most powerful.

It's also probably the weirdest, because in true Scooby-Doo fashion, no one can just "be a criminal." Heck no! Where's the fun in that?? If you're gonna try and get money through illegal fear tactics, you've gotta do it in style!!

And for some reason or another, the police get a little help with solving a lot of the more, uh... colorful mysteries. Help from a group of kids attending Intrigue High...

Next up: The Scooby Gang!

So here's the big part! All of my redesigns of the classic gang! Let's kick it off with:

FRED JONES

So this version of Fred is definitely toned back from various recent versions of Scooby-Doo, particularly the DVD movies and Mystery Incorporated. He's a lot more laid back, and has a sort of "cool guy" persona.

One day a long time ago, his parents, 2 great scientists, didn't pick him up from school, and apparently they mysteriously disappeared. So since then he's been living with Shaggy. At Intrigue High, he is in the theater program as a Tech, so he's good with pulleys and ropes and other various behind-the-scenes theater things, which makes him really good at making weird Rube Goldbergs - and traps, whenever the need arises. But when would Fred ever need to build a trap?

NORVILLE "SHAGGY" ROGERS

...Y'all can excuse the scribbles in the lower corner, right?

Anyway, this version of Shaggy is just as uptight as he always is, but instead of that only being attributed to mystery solving and creepy ghoulies, it's evolved into some much, much greater!!!

He's the mom friend now.

Y'know, telling everyone to watch their eating habits and be careful of opening soda cans because so help me if you scratch yourself...!

Long time ago he lost his arm so now he has one of those cool prosthetics. The trauma of losing it though has made him extra cautious, and a bit of a scaredy cat. Of course, he's willing to do whatever it takes for his friends, just like the Shaggy we all know!

He still likes to eat and is a bit of an amateur chef, participating in the culinary club at Intrigue High.

VELMA DINKLEY

This is my rendition of Velma Dinkley. She's still the smartest one of the group, and good at technology, but is also a boxer! She's not just strong, but also strong willed!

The Dinkley's have a long, long history of scientific endeavors, and Velma's father is a great scientist as well! Though really, it's more of a hobby for him.

Velma lives with her younger sister Madelyn (who some of you might remember from Abracadabra-Doo) and her father, Victor.

This Velma is snarky, yet quirky. She's got a real go-getter mentality, which everyone can't help but to respect.

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne Blake is a bit of a softie. She was never very forward with making friends, but developed a clique of her own with Fred, Shaggy, Scooby and Velma.

Her house used to be the gang's main hang out spot, but after the kids moved on to high school, they haven't been over to her house at all.

Daphne likes to draw, and really wants to be a fashion designer. In fact, she's a part of Intrigue High's costume design team for the theater program!

SCOOBY-DOO

Scooby-Doo has been part of the Rogers family ever since he was a puppy, and Shaggy was a little kid. The two have been basically inseparable their whole lives, with Scooby even attending school with everyone else.

He likes belly rubs, scratches behind the ear, and food. So in other words, he's the same Scooby we all know and love! Still fearful, but dedicated to his friends, including...

MEASLES

Shaggy and Scooby may have been buds since they were little kids, but before Shaggy, Scooby had Measles.

Since they're both GMO animals, they both have the ability to speak human language, which they would use to try and get food. Eventually, Measles was able to get Scooby into a good home with the Rogers family. Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Rogers couldn't afford to take care of Shaggy, Fred, a dog, and a cat, but Measles promised to visit Scooby whenever she could, or that they'd at least see each other around. And she's kept that promise! Even to this day, the gang will sometimes find her in random locations, like... the Theater Program's costume box?

Measles has a lackadaisical, yet somewhat snarky personality, but definitely cares for her friends. It just may take a while to show it.

Last up: Everything Else

Uh, hm. I guess this is the generalization of the show.

Well, it's a giant celebration of Scooby-Doo. The gang wears different outfits, rarely wearing the same one in consecutive episodes. And each outfit would be pulled from a previous Scooby series (yes, including *shivers*... Get a Clue).

Also, other characters from previous series and Scooby media are not only in the show, but play decently sized rolls. For example, I already mentioned Madelyn Dinkley, but there's also Red Herring from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, or Mayor Nettles and Sherriff Bronson Stone from Mystery Incorporated (they're married from the start this time!). Even the dreaded Scrappy Doo makes his return at (what I imagine to be) the start of Season 2, hopefully to redeem himself and not be relegated to a tired joke about "lol Scrappee sux XD"

Flim-Flam is back too, but is rebranded as Frida McScam, the fast talking troublemaking free spirited girl who takes everybody's crap and spins it in her favor (and also might be psychic).

Scooby's family tree is mentioned, and his parents even have a major role in Season 1.

Just a whole lot of Scooby-Doo trivia and stuff. Stuff that I imagine the people working on the show would be way, way better at remembering and putting to use than I am!

As for the overarching plot?

Well, what futuristic setting would be complete without aliens? I imagine the aliens would be a race of owl creatures known as the Willawaw (another Scooby reference because I hope this show is FULL OF THEM). Basically, these aliens are the bad guys, both in the show proper, and in a lot of the show's backstory. They're like myth villains, or greater scope villains, or something.

I was even thinking like, when the gang ends up running, rather than using a recyclable run cycle from a side view, everyone could have brand new running animations, like to distinguish them all as unique. Although I guess that's what the running cycles were... but the chase scenes are a lot like Mystery Inc, where they were a lot more action packed. It could be great! And of course, everyone would use the classic running style at some point throughout the show, because that seems to be tradition for Scooby-Doo.

This was a really big post! But if you read all of it, thanks a million! I hope you liked the small amount of art within, or just the idea in general! Maybe I'll even draw my reimagined takes on the other characters some day. But for now, I'll leave at this.

[marvelousbirthdays]

Happy Birthday, lj-todd

June 27-Peter Parker/Eddie Brock, something that is angsty but a happy ending with “Let me keep that promise.” for @lj-todd

Written by @celiaequus

Peter knew he was dying.  He tried to raise his arm to ensure his mask was in place, but he couldn’t move.  The pain was completely debilitating.  If he puked, he wouldn’t even be able to turn his head.  Imagine the headlines: Spider-Man Chokes to Death on Vomit.

At least it happened because of a battle, and not some underage drinking spree.

He could hear the others shouting into his earpiece, asking him to make contact, but he didn’t have the energy to respond.  Everything was becoming grey at the edges.  Then black, and all he could think of was that he hoped someone would take care of Aunt May.

He felt something slithering over his body.  Is this what it was like to die?  Feeling like you’re being encased in jelly?  Or was this a secret function of his suit, trying to cryogenically freeze him until he could be transported to Wakanda?

Well, it sure felt warm, instead of cool, but it was numbing the pain.

Peter’s eyes shot open as his whole body seemed to become someone else’s.  It was like another brain was squished in beside his, like his skin wasn’t his own, and the pain… of broken limbs straightening, bones knitting together, skin and muscles stitching back into place.

Oh God, that’s weird, he thought.

I am not God, a voice said.  In his brain.  It was gruff and growly.  I am Venom.

Oh shit.  There’d been reports about Venom on the news for months.  He went after the bad guys, they said, but he still killed them, and Peter was against killing.  And now… was Venom killing him?  Did he think Spider-Man was one of the bad guys?

You think too much.  I am healing you.

Oh, Peter thought.  Thanks.

He did feel better.  When his mind felt lonely again, he blinked and looked around.  Everything was in colour again, and his team-mates were still yelling at him, saying they were on their way.

“It’s okay, guys,” he said.  “Just got some… assist.  I’m good now.”  He looked down at his badly torn uniform and lack of injuries.  Mr. Stark would be pissed about the repairs, but relieved.

“Hey, you alright?  Kind of a nasty fall you took there.”

“I was thrown, actually, but thanks for asking,” Peter said, looking up at a scruffy man… with Venom attached to his shoulder.  What?  Double what?  “Wait.  You said my soul words.”

“Shit,” the man muttered.  “Right.  Uh, I’m Eddie Brock.  Venom shares my body.  We saw you were hurt and figured we should help out.  He healed you.”

You were nearing death, Venom said, voice still otherworldly, even spoken out loud.

“I’m, um… can I tell you my name?  Can I trust you?” Peter asked, standing up.  “Even if you’re my soulmate, I have to be careful.  If the press got to hear about it, my… my family and friends would be in danger.”

“I’m press, but I wouldn’t betray your trust,” Eddie said.  “You can just tell me your first name, if that makes you feel better.”

Peter pulled off his mask and ruffled his hair out of place.

“I’m Peter,” he said, as Eddie’s eyes bulged.

“How old are you?” he squawked.

“...Nearly eighteen.  In this universe.”

“Oh my God,” Eddie said, covering his face.

Was is the matter? Venom asked.

“He’s underage.  He’s a freaking teenager!”

“I’m a superhero,” Peter said.  Sure, usually he’d be creeped out by an adult being interested in him.  But this was his soulmate, who was clearly not turned on by Peter being, to quote Clint, ‘a genius twink in spandex’.  It was both reassuring and disappointing.

“I… I’m not a good person,” Eddie said.  “We’re not, Venom and I.  We know a lot about you, Spider-Man, including the fact that you never kill.  You don’t condone it.”

“No, I don’t, but I know not everyone feels the same way,” Peter said.  “I usually only take on small-time bad guys - or girls - so killing isn’t necessary.  But I don’t like it.”

“I didn’t like it when I was young, either.”

“You’re not old,” Peter said.  “Look, I realise you’re not interested right now, and I’m trying to focus on my education while I can.”

But you belong to us, Venom hissed, stretching towards him.  Peter nervously stepped back.

“I’ll turn eighteen in a few months,” he said.  “If you’re a good enough journalist, or whatever you are, you’ll track me down.  Come find me when you think I’m old enough, and we can get to know each other then.  I’m not gonna push you.  I’d hate it if someone did that to me.”

“The age difference isn’t gonna change, kid,” Eddie said, trying to pull Venom’s head back.

“No,” Peter agreed.  “But maybe your perspective will change.  Promise you’ll at least send me a birthday card or something?”

We can bring you the head of your worst enemy, Venom offered.  The head is the best part.

“W-what?”

“We’re not beheading anyone for our soulmate,” Eddie said firmly.  “Look, Peter, I’ll see what I can do, but please don’t hold out any hope.  We’re not good for anyone, least of all you.”

He disappeared back into the shadows.  Peter tried to follow, but the last he saw was a man speeding away on a motorbike, and it wasn’t bulky enough to be Captain America.

So… Peter’s soulmate was the vessel for an alien symbiote that ate humans.

Not promising, as partners went, but he sure was intrigued.

The months went by.  Peter would’ve felt slighted if it wasn’t for the arrival of someone named Carnage.  He was laid up with a broken leg at the time, and Barnes was babysitting him to make sure he didn’t try to join in the battle.

Then again, his birthday had been weeks ago, so unless Venom and Eddie had known about Carnage way in advance and had been fighting him all that time, they definitely could’ve at least gotten a message to Peter to wish him a happy birthday.

So he still felt slighted when, yet more months after Carnage was defeated, his soulmate/s still hadn’t visited.

He sat up with a yelp when something was lobbed through his window with a crash and rolled to his feet.  It… it was a head.  Some guy with longish red hair.  There was a clear moisture all over it.

Peter wanted to heave.  If it wasn’t for the voices outside his window, he would have.

“Look, you brought him that stupid gift, now let me keep my own damn promise and leave!”

How will you leave without me, Eddie?  You do not like heights.

Peter gingerly picked up the head by the hair, cringing at the slimy substance coating it, and went to the broken window.  He peeked out and saw Eddie and Venom almost fused together, but not quite.

“If the police find this here, I’ll be arrested,” he said.  “Thanks for the thought, though.”

Venom quickly slurped the head down.  Peter winced.

“Uh… happy birthday,” Eddie said sheepishly.  “For a while ago.  We’ve been kinda busy.”

“No kidding,” Peter said.  “Do you… wanna come inside?”

“You’re still too young,” Eddie said, even as Venom forced him to crawl up the wall.  “It feels weird to me.”

“Oh, so I’m the weird one,” Peter said.

“Um… no?  No, you’re not, of course not.”

“I wasn’t inviting you in for anything, except maybe a talk.  I don’t know you… either of you.  If we’re soulmates, we need to change that.  But please.”  He grimaced as he looked down at his saliva-covered hand and the shattered window glass on the floor.  “Don’t give me any more body parts for my birthday.  Or Christmas, or Easter, or any other time.”

More for me, Venom said, sounding happy.

“I think that’s a promise that we can both keep,” Eddie said.  “Hi.  I’m Eddie.  It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi.  I’m Peter Parker, and it’s nice to meet you too.”

They smiled at one another while Venom hid away, and Peter felt hope stirring inside him.

This could be okay.  This could even be good.