#from the other adult friends you have. it should be closer to mentor figure/role model than bff

[autisticstarseed]

anyways sorry that i just soapbox abt this every now and then bc of The Trauma Feels TM comin out to the surface but. @ teens, dont ever let adults become obsessed with you, even platonically. if you are 18+, under no circumstances should you let yourself become best friends with a teen. as in, whatever relationships you ever happen to form with a minor, they should be Different from what you view as friendship amongst your adult peers. you cant let yourself form an emotional dependence on them. you cant rely on them to take care of you as your ‘bff’ or think you can do whatever you want without consequence. you cant even rly expect the same care back from them, theyre a kid and you’re an adult. no matter what, balls in your court to regulate your behavior towards a minor, bc they obviously dont deserve mistreatment from you just bc You werent thinking abt it or didnt care. its your job to do that! you choose to take that on when you try to get buddy buddy with em! 

you can have a friendly relationship or w/e, but it literally isnt the same as your regular adult friendships, and Cant be Treated like that. you cant ignore your power imbalance even a little bit, theres Zero margin for error, you will Hurt them if you ever let yourself just Forget they are a child. the gravity of your impact in this situation should be very important to you. you cant treat a young friend like your adult friends, bc they cant Be an adult for you. they DEFINITELY cant do MORE for you than you can do for them, no matter how much you feel you ‘need’ them. you definitely cant ask for emotional labor, you cant deflect any kind of manipulation patterns off of your personal issues. thats shit you shouldnt even do to your fucking adult friends but god, to do it to a kid is just another level of power trip and abuse. theres a Huge responsibility on your part here, and it honestly includes refusing to let it cross a line where you are the one being cared for. sometimes it means to ask for less and put in more, to expect to have to hold some things back and put in some efforts you might not usually think about. if you just cant do that, okay, then distance yourself. if you want equal maturity literally just. seek that out. pick someone of the same age, instead of trying to force kids in ur life to grow up for you. look for people who can meet your needs instead of taking whoever comes along and trying to pry more out of them when they cant meet your standards. thats just basic consideration.

if you are an adult who befriends a minor, you cannot seek an equal relationship, let alone one where they give You more. “but i have dependancy issues, thats an unhealthy relationship, thats not fair, Friendships require equal-” you are not best friends. because it is not equal. this relationship is inherently different from that of your adult friends, your maturity levels ARE different. if you selfishly ignore that to get what you want out of them, you’ll be willfully damaging them. like. dude im tired of feeling this leftover guilt and stress that like, even tho i was killing myself and losing my mind because i couldnt ‘do enough’ for others in relationships like this, i must have been a bad friend who was doing something wrong to make them that mad at me all the time when... i was just 15... like i was fully Just a regular 15 yr old..... thats all it was.... and the only Real relationship problem there was that nobody Cared abt that shit.

[snarkythewoecrow]

h! you write so well 🥰🥰 If I could request something, like Peter catching (high school) Morgan almost smoke with her "friends" (but she doesn't, he barges in before she could) and then she calls him a hypocrite cause she's seen him smoke like, 2 packs a day? Love your stories 🥰

Thank you, and sorry this took forever to write. I haven’t been in a great place to write Peter for a while, but I felt up to it today. I really enjoyed writing an adult Peter. It was fun. I hope you like it. 

Warning for Underage Smoking. 

Read on Ao3

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Peter stubbed out his cigarette on the brick wall beside him, then trudged to his car. He wasn't proud of his smoking, but somewhere along the line, he’d picked up the habit. He couldn't believe he’d be twenty-eight soon. It had been nearly eleven years since Mr. Stark died in front of him, since it felt like his life ended.

Maybe that was why he’d picked up smoking. It was a way to distract himself from the grief. Either way, his life was a dumpster fire now, bouncing between jobs and staying out way too late patrolling because Peter could never give up being Spider-Man.  

He’d gone to college, but because of life and the way it never seemed to go smoothly, he'd struggled. Coming back from five years away wasn't easy. It was like the blip had completely messed up his life, and then there was losing Mr. Stark. He could still remember how his eyes looked, staring out at nothing, dull and lifeless. That had changed everything. He’d lost another mentor, another father figure. It left a hole in him that he didn’t think could be filled.

It really wasn't fair, but that was the Parker luck.

Mr. Stark’s death left him with a new role, though, one that he never saw coming. Somewhere between the battlefield and the funeral, Peter met Morgan, and she melted his heart, hurting in the best ways. He could see Tony in her eyes, and in the way she asked questions, ever the curious mind. He might not have had Mr. Stark anymore, but he still had a piece of him in her. Peter had a responsibility now to keep her safe since Mr. Stark couldn’t. He promised himself then that he would be the best big brother anyone could ask for.

As for being the best role model? It was still a work in progress.

He steered the car away from the curb and toward Morgan’s school. She was a senior this year, even though she was only sixteen. Pepper tried to keep her from skipping grades, wanting her to make friends and stick with them, but they couldn't hold her back. She just wasn't being challenged enough. Honestly, she probably could have graduated years ago, a true legacy to her father’s name.  

Peter tried his best to look out for her, picking her up from school and helping her with homework if she needed it, not that she often did. He hadn't known Mr. Stark when he was a teenager, but Peter thought he might have been a lot like his daughter. She wasn't a bad kid, per se. She was just spirited. Morgan always had an opinion, and she was always looking for a better way to solve a problem. Sometimes this made her clash with her teachers, but between Peter, Happy, and Pepper, they managed to keep her mostly out of trouble.

That's what he thought anyway.

Peter pulled into the parking lot behind the school, scanning the area for Morgan. Normally she waited for him outside. He caught movement over by the side of the building and stretched his neck to see who was over there, wondering if it was her.

Then he saw something that he didn’t expect, making his brain seize up because Morgan wouldn’t do what he was seeing. He looked through the windshield, jaw hanging open, staring at three kids who were standing by the corner of the building. One of whom was Morgan. Smoke lingered in the air around them, a lit cigarette being passed in their hands. He hadn't seen her take a drag yet, but he wasn't gonna wait for it to happen.

He clenched his jaw, ripping the keys from the ignition and throwing himself from the car. He didn’t care that he slammed the car door. He stormed over to where the kids were standing. As he got closer, he could smell the acrid stench of cigarette smoke.

Morgan had her back to him when he approached, and one of the kids passed her the cigarette. They were laughing, and Morgan was bringing it to her lips. He bolted to her, grabbing her wrist and yanking the cigarette out of her hand, throwing it on the ground and stepping on it.

“Hey!” Morgan shouted as the other two kids startled and ran. She spun to face Peter, eyes wide. “What—?” she stuttered. “It's not what it looks like.”

“Good try, Morgan,” Peter said. “I can smell it on your clothes. It was in your hand. What were you thinking?”

Her expression hardened, chin jutting up, and Peter knew she was about to dig her heels in and fight.

“Why do you care?” she snapped. “You don't think I see you smoke two packs a day? Hypocrite.”

Peter narrowed his eyes, mulling over what he should say. He was angry, and he didn't want to say something he would regret. He was just so frustrated Morgan would try smoking, especially after she'd seen him struggle to stop. He’d tried to quit more times than he could count. She’d watched his every failure, seen him struggle. She'd even lectured him before about the dangers of smoking, and somehow that made this all so much worse.

“We're not talking about me here. How did you even think to start smoking after all the trouble you've seen it cause me?”

She shook her head a little, looking off to the side. “This is stupid. I don't want to argue. I don't see why you care, anyway. It's not that big of a deal.”

“It is that big of a deal, Morgan!” Peter was nearly shouting. “And I care because I'm your brother. I don't want to pull this card on you, but I don’t think I have another choice.”

“What card?”

“Your father, Morgan. Honestly, what do you think your father would think? Do you really think he’d want you out here smoking?”

She snapped her gaze back to him. “Don't bring my dad into this.”

“I'll bring whoever I need to into this. I'm not letting you walk down this path. You're too damn young to ruin your life like this. Is this some type of rebellious thing? Do you need attention?”

“Shut up, Peter. You wouldn't understand if I told you.”

Peter threw a hand up. “Try me. Tell me why you would think this was a good idea. I’m all ears.”

Morgan worked her jaw for a moment before straightening her shoulders. “You want to know? Everyone thinks that I should be perfect, be smart, graduate early. Everyone thinks I'm as smart as my dad, and I'm not. I'm not him, and I can't take this kind of pressure. I needed to do something to prove that I was my own person.”

“So you decide to try smoking? Morgan, come on, you know better than that.”

“Whatever, I told you that you wouldn't understand.”

“No one expects you to be your dad,” Peter said gently, some of his anger leaving him. “Yeah, you're really smart, but you don't need to prove yourself. You know we just want what's best for you. We want you to be happy. No one expects you to walk in your father's footsteps. If you want to become a zookeeper, or an artist, or a street performer, we'd be just as proud.”

She rolled her eyes, then scuffed her foot against the ground. “Yeah, maybe. It's just a lot, you know. I barely remember him anymore. It's not fair that I didn't get that much time with him.”

“I know, kiddo. It's not fair, but he wouldn't want you out here doing this either. I'll talk to your mom. We can figure something out but don't do this. There are better ways to handle stress.”

Morgan’s brows knit together, and she tilted her head. “So you gonna quit, too?”

Peter sighed. God, he wished it were that easy. He'd be a hypocrite, though, if he kept smoking. He knew he should quit. Maybe it was time. Dragging a hand over his mouth, he said, “Yeah, I'll quit, too. Fair is fair.”

A small smile spread across Morgan's face, and she nodded a few times. “Okay, then we can do it together.”

Peter ruffled her hair, making it stick up in places. “Absolutely, kiddo. Together.”

[butcanijustnot]

Taste Of The Light - A Young Justice FanFic Chapter Two – Disagreements without goals

Author: Crystalline / @butcanIjustnot

Fandom: Young Justice x OCs

Part number:  Chapter Two of Seventeen

Tagging: @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69  It’s here! It’s finally here! I phoned this in to within an inch of its life but it’s here!

Summary: Young Justice debate tournament with questionable characterization. Shout out to Nat (tagged above) for helping me out with this!! Thank you so much!!

Also, this fic takes place between season 1 and season 2 of the show, as shown by the timestamps in the chapters.

Word Count: 1.6, shorter than the others and by my estimate the shortest chapter I’ll write in this series.

Warnings: None. Not even swearing this time. Yay me!

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

Mount Justice

1pm. 9th October 2011

The Young Justice team had had this mission, dubbed the Villainous Descendants mission, for a week. It was thrown rather haphazardly onto them by the Justice League, and with that came the decision of what to do one they found these villains’ children. The best way to deal with the simple existence of these kids, much less find a way to keep them safe. That meant that for the last week, a fierce debate had been raging between various members of the team on what the hell it is that they should do?

“Wait, no, when we find these people, we’re sending them to juvie, right? I thought that that was what we decided yesterday!” Wally said, looking around the room at everyone. His words seemed authoritative but his face just looked confused. Understandable really, at one point or another these arguments just kind of blend together and blur into one huge chaotic mess.

“Wally, no, that’s not humane! We can’t just lock them up! THEY haven’t committed any crimes! My god, Wally, are you ever listening?!?” Artemis was vocal on this topic. The things that she’d experienced made her believe strongly that just because somebody is the child of a villain doesn’t mean that they themselves are inherently evil.

Wally glared at her from across the boardroom table. In light of the constant arguing and difference of opinions, Kaldur called a meeting in the hopes that they could reach a decision. That was two hours ago, they were no closer to an answer, and the team was about ready to tear each other to shreds. “So we are just supposed to wait around until they do!?! Its simple statistics, Artemis, children with parents in jail tend to be more likely to commit crimes in the future.”

“Okay, wow… Yes, there is a chance that they will commit crimes, but there’s also a chance that the WON’T, but I can guarantee that if these kids aren’t bitter towards us and the Justice League now, they will be after they’re unfairly incarcerated and scrutinized. Much as it might make sense now, we have to consider the potential that we’re doing more harm than good in the future.” Artemis half-yelled back, this constant arguing taking a serious toll on her emotional health.

“Team…,” Kaldur said, but his voice was drowned out by the surrounding arguments. He needed their attention quickly, what he had to say was no doubt important, but these disagreements were causing control on his team to slip and fall to the wolves.

“I suppose that if you feel so strongly about this, you think I’m evil too!!” Connor yelled from his spot on the opposite side of the room, engaged in a fierce debate with M’Gann, clenching his fists and shaking his head. “The first time that I met the team, I attacked them without even thinking about it!! That’s evil, right?!?”

“That’s different, Connor, you were being mind-controlled!!!” M’Gann screeched back. “If these kids do something terrible, it’s completely on them!!” She yelled as loud as her voice could go without cracking. She turned and gestured to Roy and Karen, who was sitting down at the conference table watching the arguments around them unfold. “Come on guys, back me up!”

Karen and Roy had, for the most part, been completely quiet in the middle of all of this chaos. Roy shook his head, really not wanting to get in on this argument. To be honest, he didn’t really care, but that gave him an advantage over the rest. He was the only truly impartial source on the squad. “Both sides make good points, but I can’t help but see a bigger problem. If we choose not to lock them up, we have to find something else to do with them. If we can’t incarcerate them and we don’t feel comfortable just releasing them back into society, then we would have to find another place to send them where we would still be able to keep an eye on them. The way I’m seeing it, there is no middle ground, no way to keep them safe that doesn’t compromise their freedom in some way.” He explained.

“Everyone, we need-” Kaldur tried to intersect again, but was talked right over once again.

“There is no reason that we shouldn’t be at least a little suspicious. The fact is that their family makes them dangerous.” Wally attempted to explain himself.

“Hey!” Dick grimaced, shaking his head at his friend. “Just because you share blood with someone doesn’t necessarily make you a family.” He attempted to defend. “I agree with Artemis. Don’t judge them on their parent's mistakes.”

“Of course you would say that! Your mentor is BATMAN! That's like the Champagne of parent-figures! Maybe you’ve had a great role model in your life, but they definitely haven’t!” Wally fired back.

“EVERYBODY STOP!” Kaldur finally yelled, having had more than enough of these arguments and needing everyone’s full attention immediately. The room went stunningly quiet as the team members slowly returned to their seats at the conference table.

“I should have done that an hour ago…” He mumbled, pulling up the screen sharing software of TechTalks computer. The Justice League had gifted it to them in a half-hearted effort to help them with this mission, but as much as Dick and Kaldur had been taking turns watching it, nothing of interest had been happening. Just an inordinate amount of time spent on questionable…. adult websites. Nothing, at least, until the last couple of hours.

“There’s been a development in the case. I need everyone’s attention. NOW.” He said, directing the team's attention to the screen. Text messages flashed up on the screen between TechTalk and ‘W’.

Planning ambushes on targets at 10 O’Clock tonight. One at Fitcherson St, Gotham, and another on the old LexCorp Warehouse at Gotham Docks. Are you willing to send me back up? I’ll reimburse you when I’m successful. ~W

I’m dubious, but alright. I’ll send six beta-class drones. ~TechTalk

Harsh, TT, I’m hurt. How about ten? ~W

Seven, and if you send them back in pieces again, I’m footing you the bill. ~TechTalk

Good talk… ~W

The team read through the messages in stunned silence. Slowly, murmurs began to arise around the room.

“Well, there we go! That’s the lead we’ve all been hoping for! Finally!” Wally said, far too excited about the idea of some children getting attacked. “Now we know where he’s going to strike!” He exclaimed, darting to the door. “We just need to get there first and stop him!”

“Not so fast!” Artemis said, gesturing for Wally to ‘calm down’. “We still haven’t decided what we are going to do once we get there.” She continued, looking around at everyone’s mixed expressions, dismayed.

“And we have no idea what to expect when we get there. We don’t know who ‘W’ is or how these kids are going to react to us confronting them. If they’re anxious, they could lash out at us” Dick added. Everyone turned, looking anxiously at Kaldur and waiting for his decision.

Kaldur thought for a second, before shaking his head and rising to his feet. “We can’t afford to do nothing. This is the first lead we’ve had in weeks, and if we pass this up, we might not get another chance. There are two separate attack points so we will have to split into two separate teams and take on two threats at once.”

Short murmurs spread across the boardroom. “So, what’s the plan?” Connor finally asked.

“Connor, M’Gann, you two head to Fitcherson St. Lay low in stealth mode until the attackers are sighted, then engage and neutralize. If possible, find the victims and bring them back to Mount Justice. If necessary, detain them temporarily.” He finished, working off of the mixed expressions of his teammates. His eyes darted between Connor and M’Gann. “I trust that you won’t let this argument get in the way of doing your jobs.”

“Of course we won’t,” M’Gann said, smiling at Kaldur, but the unsurety she was feeling bled into her voice.

“Good,” Kaldur said. M’Gann turned and flew out the door and down the hallway, to get ready for the mission. Connor followed behind, mumbling something incoherent under his breath. Kaldur watched them both leave and nodded at Artemis. “You go too. Keep an eye on them.”

“Oh come on! I don’t want to be the awkward third wheel, especially not in the middle of an argument!” She complained, but none-the-less getting up and walking after her teammates, hitting Wally with a glare on her way out.

“Dick, Wally and I will head to the second location, the Lex-Corp Warehouse.” Kaldur went on to explain. Dick and Wally bumped fists quietly, careful not to let there conflicting opinions get in the way of there friendship. They were appropriate like that. In fact, this was about the only way that they were.

Dick piped up. “I think that I’ve been there before. Batman took me on a mission once to bust a nuclear smuggling ring. Turns out Lex was dumping large amounts of nuclear waste containers into Gotham Docks as to not arouse suspicion. I thought it had been abandoned since then, why would ‘W’ choose to go there of all places?”

Kaldur shrugged. “We don’t know, but I have a feeling we will find out. Everyone else will stay here and be ready to act as the backup should we need it. We will regroup after the mission and discuss our options. Understood?” He said. The room looked around and nodded slowly. “Dismissed.” He finished, his team standing and filing out of the room to get ready for whatever the hell lay ahead for them.

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

I’m sorry about this guys, but I had to remove the links because tumblr is throwing a little bit of a tantrum in regards to links and NSFW content at the moment. As a result, me and many other creators are walking on eggshells until tumblr takes a fucking chill pill. As such there aren’t any links on this fic, but if you liked this and you want to see the rest of it, DM me and I’ll send you all the links to all the chapters I’ve written. Thanks guys and sorry again!