#this too is prewriting

[qzwrites]

Based on that last post, I was thinking about the Theory Of Romance Novels (especially as found in Romancing the Beat) that the components of a romance story fill some lack or need in each other.

So basically the void in Jaz's life that Sasha is filling is a: job dissatisfaction which is caused by b: the fatal american need to have a pretty good time (desire for Adventure and Shenanigans)

The romance novel part is from Jaz's POV so I figured that out pretty early on, even if I don't know that I ever made it explicit in any of my notes or anything. I mean that's why I have already roughed out the scene where Sasha grandly presents Jaz zeir very own ship to captain and Jaz is like "Oh. It turns out I don't want this actually." And then when ze tries to explain that like. Being a mercenary owner-captain is not going to be nearly as exciting without him around, Sasha is like AAAAA okay this is objectively nuts it has been three months but marry me? Like, the Thematic Point of that scene is pretty clear even if I do end up changing parts of it later, I think the bones of that scene are going to stick around. I have in fact referred to it in installments set in the future lmao.

But I just now thought about what Sasha is getting from Jaz here, which is mostly: LESS KAVAGORAN. Part of Miles Vorkosigan's problem is how Very Barrayaran he is, and his struggles with reconciling those values with his objective inability to embody parts of them. He does this with increasingly unhealthy coping mechanisms until he literally fries his brain and trashes his career, and I think it's pretty important for Miles specifically that he doesn't meet the future Lady Vorkosigan until he has become Even More Disabled and unavoidably so--and in a Very Barrayaran position that is simultaneously NOT REMOTELY the career path of his father or grandfather.

But Sasha necessarily (in order to get him to be more willing to acknowledge how into Jaz he is) (Miles is transparently into Bel he's just mired in internalized homophobia THIS IS TEXT retroactive text but text!!!) is a little older and had a little more success Being An Officer, it's just that his moral compass wouldn't allow him to. Be part of a military organization. Which is kind of a problem for a Kavagoran. But Sasha also spent more (or at least paid more attention to) time on Gnilles, plus he made it through the Academy, which I refuse to believe is anything other than a hotbed of furtive bicurious exploration that everyone studiously pretends does not happen, so Sasha is not nearly as concerned about being into men or nonbinary people as Miles is when he meets Jaz.

But importantly, he still has to make the Wild Series of Decisions that leads to him inventing a fake mercenary troupe and suborning an entire ship until everything snowballs out of control and he solves a civil war, so he's still Having A Time. He feels out of place in Kavagoran society, much like Miles frequently did as a youth, except this isn't youthful growing pains, this is...him taking a moral stand and a career hit and not regretting that, which kind of DOES make him regret the fact that he's planned his whole life out around a thing he's not sure he believes in as much as he thought he did. He's Too Old-Fashioned for the modern Kavagoran military (believes too much in honor and morality, which he chalks up to Being !Vor, but is really like. Pretty specific to a Certain Type of nobility who understand the Spider-Man Principle, which is not actually the entire nobility--either on Kavagor or Barrayar!) but also Sasha is Too Modern for traditional Kavagoran society (visibly disabled, absolutely reliant on modern medical technology to live any semblance of an independent life) (i mean not anymore, most of his accessibility needs now are like. extremely old technology like "joint braces" and "cane"). He's feeling at a loss! And useless! He's too Gnillesian for Kavagor but still too Kavagoran for Gnilles, and really, it's a nice planet but he's not going to build a life there! Even if it is Part Of Him!

And while shuffling through this crisis of identity he runs across Jean, a tunnel pilot who is ready to go down with the obsolete ship, and is like, Oh no this loser is My People. Plus the cyborg/disability resonance with Jean, who has literally been obsoleted by his assistive technology becoming obsolete, and was definitely being talked about like he was human garbage (as much as Gnillesians talk like that about anyone, which is more than they would claim). Sasha does the same exact scam Miles does (why fix what isn't broken, especially since it can be Humorous Backstory for why he has become a con man) and is suddenly saddled with a need to Make Money, which he has. Never attempted.

He also picks up Dimitri, who is the foil to the OTHER part of Sasha's predicament, which is: he deserted, yes, technically in the heat of battle, yes, but also, he was given a criminal order he refused to carry out and couldn't think of another way to handle the situation. Unlike Sasha, Dimitri is not a noble with connections; he's just some prole who did well in the engineering corps. He deserts to save his skin and his morals, and Sasha is like, Oh no THIS loser is ALSO My People.

(Helen gets to have the cultural knee-jerk revulsion of Dimitri as a deserter, especially since she is resentful that she isn't allowed to join up even though she would literally be better than half the fucking assholes in the military. She's unable to get even a nod of recognition from the military apparatus, and Dimitri THREW IT AWAY. She is a lot more sympathetic when she learns more about the criminal order, and conflicted about the dissonance, even though it's personal in a different way for her than for Sasha. She also gets concrete confirmation that he's Not Like Other Kavagoran Men, since around a bunch of galactics and hitting it off with Jaz, Dimitri is very chill about things like women with jobs, women soldiers, queer people, etc. He's...less immediately cool about Sasha's disabilities but he's trying? It's condescending and unhelpful, but still better than most Kavagorans' reaction. At which point she's like...okay Dimitri say more about the fact that you have a thing for me.)

But while Sasha is more okay with his queerness and his weird half/nothing cultural identity, and he's gotten better at working within his physical limitations, he's still, like, closeted about his disabilities. As much as he can be when it's visible that he's Not Right--he doesn't use his cane, he dresses to hide his leg brace or any other braces he needs, he tries not to call attention to his height, he does still also get his clothes tailored to "correct" his asymmetries, etc. He's constantly downplaying his needs and differences, mostly because of Kavagoran attitudes, but also like tbh most galactics who aren't Gnillesian are also still pretty ableist. He (feels he) gets more respect and better results when he Puts On A Brave Face and tries to look as "normal" as possible.

It really helps that Jaz is immediately thirsty for him TBH. Like, Jaz is Objectively Attractive, and also specifically attractive to Sasha, and ze is down so bad. Ze is practically vibrating with how hard ze's holding back asking to suck him off. (And, when they do get together, continues to be Very Enthusiastic while also actively attempting to accomodate him before he asks. Like, ze double checks how much force ze can use in normal things like "flipping them over on the bed". Ze asks what positions are easier for him before he hurts himself pretending he can do something. Ze asks about his comfort levels with his assistive devices and other parts of his body being touched, and doesn't push him [until ze knows him much better and is more capable of judging when he's being conservative out of shame].)

And it helps that Jaz has a non-normative body. Like, ze's totally normal to zemself, and to Sasha, and to Helen and Sasha's family (...not the Baron. is the Baron dead yet? I think so. Someone should definitely make a tasteless joke about this killing him.) but is Not Normal to Kavagor, and frankly to most galactics. Like, ambis are definitely the most well-represented third gender, people know about them, but there are few enough of them that leave Gnilles that most people don't know one personally and have never met one. Even on Gnilles, they're a minority. A large, visible minority that most Gnillesians would proclaim their pride in, but...mathematically, we know that's not true, don't we? Ambis are not half of the population of Gnilles, as they would be if everyone let chance decide the sex of their baby. They're not even an even third of the population, as they would be in a true gender ternary. They're like a quarter of the population, and most ambis are born to families that are either not fiddling with their embryos or already have ambis in their immediate family. Jaz is marked out as different in most places, despite having grown up thinking of zemself as totally normal.

And by the time Sasha meets zem, ze's been out in the galaxy for nearly ten years, Being A Minority and having to baby people through seeing zem naked. Yet, far from attempting to hide it, or blend in, ze is almost aggressively nonchalant about it. Like, ze is so Not Making A Big Deal About This that it almost shames people around zem into being cool. Ze's totally even and chill about people saying wildly offensive shit, just like "Interesting, can you expand on that?" like people aren't being weird. Ze is matter of fact about correcting misconceptions. Ze doesn't often get worked up (in public) about people being dumbasses, but ze is also not altering zeir behavior about it; ze is going to keep being openly zemself regardless of how other people feel about it. If you cannot deal with someone in the locker room wearing a sports bra and a jockstrap, that's your fucking problem, not zeirs.

And that strategy, of Pointedly Normalizing Zemself, works fine for zem. It also makes it clear when people are being unreasonable that they are the ones being unreasonable, not Jaz. Sasha will adopt more of that attitude moving forward, starting with being pan and having an ambi spouse who is very much not his wife, and moving on into using his cane in public or wearing clothes that don't conceal his braces. Why would he not use his cane? His leg's acting up and not using it will only make things worse. Why are you looking at him like that? If you don't have anything to say, at least get out of the way, he needs slightly more room to maneuver than people without mobility aids.

Jaz has also had to grapple with the contradiction of Gnillesian technology enabling passive eugenics. Like I said, ambis are not the proportion of the population they are genetically designed to be. Few people actively say they wouldn't have a baby runt, but few people choose one, if they're not already an Ambi Family. Most Gnillesians "just happen" to want girls or boys. Like most Gnillesians "just happen" to want hearing babies, and babies without developmental disabilities. There are ways the Gnillesian medical profession (with guidance and, let's face it, pressure, from the disability communities) try to limit this, but there is a fair argument to be made that screening for embryos with conditions that would endanger the viability of the infant or the health of a mother (even though few babies are carried to term in an embedded womb) is necessary. There are things they won't tell parents about unless asked, and there are things that basically never had tests developed (because people were like THE ONLY POSSIBLE USE FOR THIS IS EUGENICIST), but it's really hard to correct a societal problem on an individual level. Every individual (or couple or polycule or whatever) parent has fair and valid reasons to feel they could not care for certain kinds of babies.

There are still fewer runts born than there should be. There are still fewer little people born than there should be. There are still fewer deaf babies born than there should be.

Jaz is not unreservedly for all Gnillesian advances and norms, because some of them are bad. Ze is part of communities (ambi and queer) that are critical of some aspects of Gnillesian culture, for reasons that aren't as in your face as similar issues on Kavagor and other "less developed" planets.

Importantly, ze is also willing to fight back against those societal issues, even when they seem insurmountable. Less so for zeir own sake, but ze is super willing to fight people about being ableist or sexist, and Sasha feels more equipped to fight people for being binarist and cissexist on Jaz's behalf. They have each other's backs, and Jaz provides the support and security on top of the inspiration for Sasha to draw a line in the sand and say, no, I'm not budging on this. You move.

Lmao I think to some extent Sasha makes Jaz feel adventurous and exciting, while Jaz makes Sasha feel safe. Sasha's going to get into messes, into which Jaz will eagerly follow him, and together, they can clean them up.

Jaz would also be extremely amused by the idea that ze's providing the safety and security in their relationship. Yeah ze's so stable lmao (but Sasha has always had external stability--he has a rich and powerful family, or he wouldn't have survived to be an adult who doesn't feel comfortable being unreservedly himself; Jaz has always been unreservedly zemself, which is part of why ze was restless even while doing the objectively high-risk mercenary work.)

[stealingyourspins]

referencing (and recreating) this post

[echotunes]

sitting here vibrating because i need to write more fics i need to write more fics but there's too many wips to choose from. the paralysis of decision-making

[bitchfitch]

Idk why Lasha and Casimir are such a problem for me. because like. I have Such a clear image of their Vibe and how they work together and what I want their story to be about. But actually stringing it all together? Hell.

I keep bouncing between formats. The story should be told entirely through Lasha's visits to confession. The story should follow Lasha and his journey of realizing he's miserable as an angel and wants to be human. The story should follow Casimir as he sees something that could destroy him in a heartbeat that's in such a vulnerable place that he sees and takes the opportunity to manipulate it to fitting His image of what Lasha should be. The story should flip between their perspectives. no it should be told from one of Lasha's brothers. No it needs to be in the form of Casimir telling the story decades later. no it needs to be Lasha explaining himself to his brothers. it's just. Frustrating.

and this has been a consistent problem with theses two. it doesn't matter how often I pick them up and drop them. The same problem of format comes back. I know the archs and beats I want to include. I know how their characters develop. I know where it ends and where it begins. but I can't Pick which way to tell it because every format has its pros and cons.

[goatmilksoda]

Man, it would be so cool if I could get PAID to write shit. If I stopped writing for a newspaper "for exposure", for school assignments, and strange age regression fanfiction for myself it would he all over for you people.

[kastlequill]

wishing i had the power to write very fast because i have so many ideas for so many vastly different ships but so little time and speed. and thats how i end up with lots of half-written first drafts :<

[neonganymede]

Still gotta decide what to post for wip wednesday ><;

[eccentricallygothic]

creating something and i can't help but think to myself, this could be heaven and this could be hell

[prosebushpatch]

I have every intention of being better at doing prewrites, but see, so far that has just accumulated a couple of folders with documents named after characters and when I click on them months-years later, it's just maybe one sentence describing a scene I meant to write.

[darkysilverwing]

I’ve never DM’ed a game of DND before

However, I already know I’m a type of DM who wouldn’t be opposed to bribing players. Like “Hey guys, so if any of you decide to play a tiefling for this campaign I will let you roll during session 0 and get a random magical item at level 1”

[robins-stims]

i dont think im gonna be able to get any stimboards for halloween made this month, my main blog got incorrectly marked explicit and ive sent appeals but so far i havent gotten it back :(

[the-power-of-a-pen]

A Way Home

Fandom: Spiderverse

Summary: Following the loss of his alternate universe daughter, Miguel is reluctant to risk letting anyone close to him and breaking canon again. However, as most anomalies are returned to their universes, there's the issue of you. You don't have a universe to return to. So, after having you on his team for half a year, he adopts you as his child.

Word Count: 4654

Pairing?: Father-child relationship btwn Miguel and gn! reader.

Trigger Warnings: Some cursing, reader is hinted to having a traumatic past (very briefly and vaguely described), 1 reference to reader as "Spiderman" (meant as a gender-neutral phrase)

A/n: This turned out to be longer than I had planned b/c I realized how much I had to add to make the change of heart even slightly natural, so let me know if y'all want a part two of the reader and Miguel interacting further along the adoption. Not sure how I feel about the structure + characterization in this one. Feedback much appreciated! Please!! I'm on my hands and knees, begging for feedback!!!

------

"Lyla, status on current anomalies," Miguel ordered. He leaned over the yellow panels in front of him, watching the same scene of him and his child playing over and over again. His grip on the console tightened.

She blipped into view. "Currently, there are 918,503,201 anomalies to be returned to their home universes. That's 40% less than yesterday! Spider-Byte does have an update for you regarding-"

"I'll convene with her later. I'm busy."

"Busy brooding over your twelfth cup of coffee. Not enough sugar this time around?" Lyla teased, only to be met with a glare. "Alright, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. But seriously, it can't wait. A canon event was disrupted and now there's a spider-person without a universe to return to."

Miguel turned around dangerously fast. "What did you just say?"

"Talk to Margo -- she'll fill you in." Lyla blipped away.

------

"There you are," Margo mumbled to herself as Miguel approached. "This one's in rough shape, got dropped in Earth 616 and put up a fierce fight before Jessica took them to HQ. I tried to send them through the Go Home Machine, but it just dropped them back here."

"And you're sure it's not a hardware issue?"

"It's 2099," Margo drolled and rolled her eyes. "There's no hardware issues anymore, grandpa."

"Then try sending them home again. I don't see why this requires my supervision."

"This machine tears people's atoms apart and throws them back together in other dimensions," she explained. "If I run the same person through the machine too many times, they could die."

Miguel sighed heavily and began pacing around. "Well, what am I supposed to do? Keep them here forever?"

Margo looked at him like he was crazy and slowly nodded. "You can't leave them here to die."

"They're an anomaly anywhere they go, Spider-Byte. Maybe death would be a mercy."

"To you," Peter B. called from behind him.

"Maldito sea, carajo" Miguel cursed under his breath, turning around. "I thought you were taking the week off."

"Well, I was going to, but Mayday was begging me for another one of these cafeteria burgers," he said with his mouth full of food. "They're really good, you should seriously try them sometime."

Miguel's eyes darted to Mayday and quickly darted away. "I have work to return to in my office, so if you'll excuse me-"

Peter stepped in his way. "I'm sorry, Miguel, but I can't let you walk away from this problem. It's gone too far."

"I'm sorry, what?" Miguel questioned, laughing bitterly.

"Ok, I'm not great with words, especially not in front of big, strong, angry men, so MJ had me prewrite this, let me just get it- oh, Mayday has it. Mayday, hold the paper up for daddy, thanks, sweetheart."

Peter cleared his throat and began to over-annunciate his speech. "Everyone in this building joined your society because they believed in your ability to lead, shape, and change the world. We trusted you to use humane practices behind your actions and to keep the safety and rights of humanity at mind before all else. However, given the fact- Ok, this is bullshit - sorry, Mayday, don't tell mommy. Point is, Miguel, that you claim that you're all about saving the multiverse and saving humanity, but then you throw half of your sanity away to hunt down a 15 year old kid who just wants to save his dad. You're so obsessed with the concept of saving humanity that you forgot what it's like to care about individual humans. You forgot how to be a human."

"I never forgot what it felt like to care. To love."

"It's okay to admit that the new kid reminds you of your daughter, you know."

For a moment, Miguel and Peter B. just stood across from each other in silence, unable to break eye contact. Miguel's expression was intense, but otherwise unreadable. Then: "Go home, Parker. More and more of you prove that you're untrustworthy when it comes to prioritizing the greater good. I'm not afraid to get rid of you, too."

Peter's arms gripped on tighter to Mayday. He seemed to want to say something, but found it in him to walk away. Once he went through his portal back home, Miguel called for Lyla.

"Hold the chatter, Lyla," he said before she could open her mouth, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Silence any notifications except for the urgent ones. And I mean urgent."

"Well, since you asked so nicely," she remarked sarcastically, but complied.

------

Everything in Miguel's office repeated like a broken record. The video of his daughter. Peter's comment that he "forgot what it's like to care about humans, forgot how to be human." Gwen's "we're supposed to be the good guys." The feeling of his own child glitching out of existence in his palms, the very reason he got into this work. The ticking of the clock. The ticking of that motherfucking clock.

He zipped a web to the clock and smashed it into the ground, falling to a knee amidst the broken glass.

"I understand that you're having a very emo moment right now, Mr. O'Hara," Pavitr began, "But Jessica told me to drop this off." He placed the file on the floor and nudged it over with his foot as far as he could without getting too close. "I'm heading home now, have a great day!"

"Wait."

"Oh, I was afraid you would say that."

"Tell Jessica to report to my office."

"She said to tell you that she's not available until noon tomorrow."

"Of course," he chuckled angrily. "One person's off for the week, another needs 3 weeks of recovery. Now one of my only trustworthy members can't report for duty until tomorrow. But who's checking in on me, huh? That's right - no one. I took on this leadership role because I know firsthand what it feels like to have the only joy in your life, your only reason for living, taken away from you because of your own reckless mistakes. And despite all of that, I made it my life's mission to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. But now I'm the villain?! "'We're supposed to be the good guys!'" "'You can't leave them to die!'" "'They remind you of your daughter.'" But does anyone else here know the pain of losing a child you weren't even destined to have?"

Pavitr blinked heavily. "With all due respect, sir, I'm 17."

Miguel barely seemed to hear him. He sank to the floor, running his hands through his hair and not bothering to clear the glass shards around him. "Maybe they're all right. Maybe I'm the one hurting everyone else. Maybe I'll make the same mistake I did before, and take another innocent life because I want to feel fulfilled, just for a moment."

"Should I get someone?"

Miguel sighed. "Just go."

------

“Morning, sunshine,” Jessica called, taking a seat in Miguel’s office. “You had a chance to go through the file?”

Miguel hummed in agreement. “Need a second opinion.”

Jessica flipped through her copy of your file. “Teenager, been Spiderman for 2 years, originally from Earth 45, but got dropped in Ben’s world. A slippery one for sure; took nearly two hours to get them on the ground. Tried talking to them, but they wouldn't speak. I know my stance on this, but what’s yours?”

Miguel paced around the room. “We can’t keep them here. They’re an anomaly regardless of where they go. Margo said that it would be too inhumane to send them through the Go Home Machine again, so… I think we should let them go quietly.”

“Are you serious?”

“When am I not serious?” He took a seat across from Jessica. “I’ve been hearing it from everyone else. I need to hear it from someone who was there from the beginning. Someone who I trust. Am I falling off the edge? Have I gone too far?”

She raised her eyebrows. “You’re just now questioning that? Look, as your friend, I’ll say this: you’re taking too much weight onto your shoulders. You need to stop being Spiderman for a moment and start being Miguel.” She shifted in her seat. “But, as your teammate, I want you to know that I’ll be by your side no matter what you choose.”

Miguel nodded, but he was totally spaced out. All he could think about was his daughter. How he wanted to take this one in so bad, just to feel like a father again, feel like a man again. How he feared the consequences of love. 

Jessica snapped in front of his face. “Earth to Miguel.”

He shook his head. “What?”

“Look, I can’t say that I don’t agree with your initial idea. But I look at them, and at Gwen, and at my future kid, and-” She put her hand on her stomach “-I just can’t imagine leaving them in the dust like that. I was wrong about Gwen, yes, but these kids are suffering. And I don’t know if we can keep making these hard decisions that put these people right back where they were trying to escape from and still call ourselves heroes.”

Miguel held his face in his hands. “I don’t know what’s up and down anymore, right or wrong. I was all of these kids once: Miles, Gwen, Hobie. I know what it’s like to love your family so much that you throw everything else to the wayside. But that cost me my child, and thousands of other lives. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do anything to stop it. I just want to stop the suffering. I just want it to stop.”

Jessica gave him a moment. “Let’s meet the kid. Give them a trial before we make any decisions we can’t take back.”

“Alright,” he agreed, “But if you’re wrong about this-”

“Then lunch is on me. Come on, mafioso.”

------

“Here they are,” Margo announced. “Just so you know, they’re fully aware of their situation, but not very talkative.”

“Let me talk to them,” Miguel insisted. “I want to hear what they have to say.”

As Miguel and Jessica approached, you refused to meet their eyes. Instead, you drew your hood closer to your face.

Miguel took a knee by you, talking through the red barrier. “Hey, kid. My name is Miguel. Miguel O’Hara. I’m Spiderman.”

You gasped dramatically. “No way! Really? I never would have guessed!”

He took in a breath. “So you do speak. Look, we’re trying to relocate you, but we need to have your account of what happened. Why doesn’t your home exist anymore?”

You shrugged and counted off the events on your fingers. “Dalmatian-looking dude crashed through a window at my internship. He went straight for the collider room, and most of my mentors were at lunch, so I went after him. I tried to shut off the collider at the same time he stepped through it, he pushed me into a hole, that lady behind you caught me after an uncomfortably long chase, and here we are.”

“You worked at Alchemax,” Miguel mumbled, though mostly to himself.

“Yeah,” you replied, leaning back. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Did you get bitten by the radioactive spider before or after working there?”

“Did I fucking what?”

“That’s how you got your powers, right?” He asked.

“My powers? Oh, I see what’s happening here,” you laughed. “You’re all off your rockers! Let me guess, this is some alternate dimension Alchemax where everyone’s trying to biologically get the abilities that I developed through technology. Ooh ooh, or, this is an elite spider society trying to save the multiverse from itself!”

“That was really just a guess?” questioned Jessica.

“I read a lot of sci-fi,” you explained.

“Nevermind all of that,” Miguel groaned. “What’s your story, kid? What’s your motive? Because if we don’t have that information, we can’t help get you out of there.”

Your expression became grave for a moment as you considered your options and chuckled bitterly. “My story? My story is that I’m a poor kid from the slums who worked their ass off to get into a good school so that I could do better for my family. My story is that my family never loved me, my friends never cared, and I was forced to choose between what I love to do and what the world needed from me. I didn’t have the power to stop my parents from hurting me or stop people from hurting each other. So, I manufactured that power and took it into my own hands. My story is that the moment I was released from that hellhole of a world, I was locked up in a three foot wide cage and forced to talk about my feelings. I heard what you guys were talking about in that back room. All I ask is that you do it quickly. I don’t like waiting.”

“Miguel, we can take a quick debrief if you need one,” Jessica offered, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Miguel didn’t budge. He looked into your eyes and felt your pain like it was his own. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Finally: “Let them go, Margo.”

“What?” 

“You heard me,” he asserted. “Let them go.”

Margo released you and offered her hand to help you step down from the pedestal, which you reluctantly accepted. “Didn’t know you were one for sob stories, Mr. O’Hara,” you mocked, though your comment fell through as soon as your legs trembled from lack of use.

“I’m not,” he responded, walking up to you. “But I know an innovator when I see one. You’re hurt, yes, but you have the capacity to do so much good. I’m offering you a place on my team.”

You approached cautiously, your arms crossed. “And if I say no?”

“I’d ask you to reconsider.” He held out his hand for a shake. You accepted, and he smiled. “Welcome to HQ.”

Margo whooped in the background and gave your shoulder a squeeze.

------

“Ok, first mission briefing,” Miguel started, walking backwards.

“On the move?” you asked.

“That’s the only way to do it.” He shot a web to a nearby building and dropped from an HQ terrace. 

You followed suit. “Where exactly are we going?” you shouted over the wind.

“Earth 616. There’s a rogue Vulture stealing tech from Osborn. We’d let it happen, but the man's the only thing between a country of people and an all-out war.”

“Got it.”

“We go in, capture Vulture, and bring him back to HQ. Shouldn’t be too difficult.”

 You stepped through your portal and immediately got whiplash from the pure speed of a nearby aircraft. 

Vulture swooped down from above and tore the tail off of the police helicopter. It crashed into a skyscraper and gained speed as it headed for the street below. 

Miguel spoke to you through the comms. “Trial number one, newbie. I’ll pursue Vulture; you stop that helicopter from hurting civilians.”

“On it.” You dived off of your skyscraper to gain speed and pulled yourself forward with your webs. In one smooth movement, you grabbed the two co-pilots and placed them on the closest rooftop. 

The helicopter was quickly approaching the ground, where children were playing in an enclosed playground. 

“Shit,” you murmured, propelling yourself under the machine to create a landing pad for it at a safe distance from the kids. At the rate you could fire, you wouldn’t be able to stop it on time. 

In the distance, you saw Miguel struggling to keep Vulture away from a construction site, and reached out to him over the comms. “Have him ram into that crane.”

“What?”

“Just trust me.”

Miguel redirected the Vulture, dodging last second when he attacked so that the crane would fall down. 

The crane caught the chopper where it was, and you used it as a crutch to help you redirect the chaos to the empty street. You swung around the crane five times, wrapping an immense amount of webbage around it and attaching along the side of a business building. When the helicopter threatened to fall due to the weight of it, you shot three web bombs at it to keep it in place.

When you reached the ground, you were out of breath and half-heartedly waving to the clapping children and their parents. Miguel placed his hand on your shoulder as you observed the incapacitated Vulture.

“Not bad, kid,” Miguel chuckled. “Not bad.”

------

A good six months had passed, and you had risen in the ranks of the Spider Society. You were still without a place to stay, and had been bouncing from place to place in between missions. The first month, it was Pavitr and his aunt’s place. Then, Hobie’s, then HQ, and finally, Gwen’s. Most of your free time was spent discussing tech with Margo or trailing behind Miguel. 

A building-wide alert had gone off, sending every spider-being into high alert as they searched for the threat.

“What’s the sitch?” you asked Miguel as the two of you bounded down the hall. “A futuristic Rhino that’s suspected to work for The Spot just invaded HQ. He’s trying to destroy our tech and pick us off.”

Just as Miguel had finished his explanation, Rhino crashed through a door four floors below. You both zipped towards him, barely avoiding running into Peter B. as he took a picture of himself, Mayday, and Rhino. Miguel attacked Rhino head-on, performing a spin-kick to the face before webbing his arms together and latching onto his back. Rhino broke his constraints effortlessly, and threw Miguel out of a nearby window. You helped Noir get to his feet and went after Rhino.

By the time you got there, Rhino had Miguel pinned to the cracked concrete. His web shooters were broken, and he was using all of his remaining strength to stop Rhino from snapping his neck. When he saw you approaching, he tried to silently signal for you to go, but you didn’t listen.

“Hey, Alexei!” you shouted. “I never really took you for the dominant type! It doesn’t suit you.”

You swung a piece of concrete at his back and zipped to deliver a punch to the face. Rhino was quick to return the favor, and charged you through a nearby wall. 

Miguel attempted to stand up as backup arrived. He climbed onto Rhino’s back and sunk his teeth into his neck, effectively, though temporarily, paralyzing him. A team of 15 spiderbeings worked to get Rhino back to HQ while you and Jessica helped Miguel to his feet.

“What the hell were you thinking, kid? You could have died,” Miguel snapped.

“You were the one near death,” you argued. “If I didn’t come when I did, you could’ve died. Was I just supposed to let that happen?!”

“Yes!”

“No!” You dropped his arm from around your shoulder and Peter B. went to pick up the slack. “Why is it so hard for you to understand that people care about you? You gave me a chance when no one else would. I lost my world, my home, and my friends. I couldn’t lose you, too.”

“That’s not for you to decide. I can’t trust you like an adult if you refuse to act like one,” he grunted, before wavering in his stance. Jessica helped right him. 

You took a step back and pressed your lips together. “You know, I joined this team because I wanted to save people. I have the ability to save them. And… if you can’t acknowledge that ability, then… maybe you need to reevaluate your interests.” With that, you took off.

Jessica and Peter sat Miguel down to rest. 

“How bad did I fuck up?” Miguel inquired.

“Give them a few minutes to sit on it,” Peter suggested. “Kids are like that. They need time to cool off. Just make sure you talk to them later.”

------

You sat on the slanted glass roof of HQ to listen to music and blow off some steam. Heavy footprints sounded from behind you. You sighed. “If you’re here to argue, can you at least wait until the end of this song?”

“I’m not going to argue with you. I wanted to talk. And… apologize.”

That piqued your interest, but you tried to sound nonchalant as you gestured to the space next to you. “Go ahead, then. Sit.” You turned the music off.

He obliged. “I’m sorry for saying that I couldn’t trust you and that you needed to act like an adult. It wasn’t fair. I do trust you, and there’s no reason for you to act like an adult when you’re still a kid. I’ll be more conscious of my words in the future.”

You nodded. “Thanks.”

You sat in silence for a while, and you began to get up.

“Wait,” he asked. “Please.”

“What did you really come here to say?”

“Just sit, and I’ll tell you.” He waited for you to return to your spot and took a deep breath. “When I was first messing with the multiverse after working at Alchemax, I wasn’t as careful as I am now. I found a world where I was dead, but had a daughter, so I replaced myself and began raising her. I loved her more than anything. But, I was an anomaly, and had disrupted canon events. I felt her glitch right out of my hands. Thousands of innocent people died that day because of me. So, I made a vow to myself: never again. I wouldn’t let this happen to anyone else, and I wouldn’t let anyone get close to me.”

He paused, gulped, and forced himself to make eye contact with you. “Then I met you. And I tried to hate you, I really did. But you’re funny, and you’re smart and passionate, and you have a damn good heart. And everything in me just wants to protect you. I’m so mad at myself for hurting you and-”

You cut him off with a bear hug, to which he slowly responded once he understood what was happening. You shed a few tears into the crook of his neck and mumbled, “I’m sorry, too.”

He laughed, partially in disbelief. “For what?”

“I called you a dick behind your back for the first three months because I thought you had a stick up your ass.” You backed away snickering and wiped your eyes. “But you’re more my family than my parents ever were.”

Now or never, Miguel.

“About that,” he began. “I know you’ve been staying at Gwen’s place - and you’re completely free to stay there if you want - I just thought it might be nice for you to have a permanent place to stay, a school to go to, a familiar face, you know?”

“Not really,” you expressed. “What do you mean?”

“I- it’s better if I just show you.” Miguel took a folder out of his bag and handed it to you. He looked the other way as you processed what he gave you.

“Are these adoption papers?”

“Um… yeah,” he relented, still refusing to look your way. 

“And this isn’t a joke?”

“Of course not. But, it’s also up to you. I don’t want to pressure you into anything you don’t want to do-”

“Yes,” you cut him off and wrapped him in an even tighter hug. “Absolutely yes.”

------

Miguel helped you carry your few boxes of belongings that you had left at Gwen’s into his modern duplex. 

“Jesus, dude,” you commented. “You didn’t tell me you were rich.”

He laughed. “This is what being a scientist earns you.”

“Damn.” You took the space in. The windows in the living room were from floor to ceiling, the couch a cool grey with ornate yellow and green pillows. Everything was open concept, and both the Mexican and Irish flag hung on either side of the TV. Aside from the occasional painting, the apartment was largely monochromatic. 

“The kitchen is under that loft area, which I usually use as office space, but you’re free to use it, too. Bathrooms on first and second floors,” he explained while walking up the stairs. He stopped in front of the third door to the right. “This is your room.”

You gently pushed open the door. Miguel had prepared for your arrival intensely. A twin bed sat in the back left corner of the room, a desk in the back right. There was a wide panel of windows with shades and a nightstand with knick knacks. A mirror, bookshelf, decorative rug, and bean bag filled the empty space. A poster with a Spiderman symbol hung over your desk, and a smile fought its way onto your face. 

“There’s a closet, too,” Miguel said proudly.

You opened the closet to find it fully stocked with casual, formal, and tactical clothing. “You did all of this for me?”

He smiled warmly. “Welcome home.”

------

It was the following year on Father’s Day, and you were waiting for Miguel to come home when you heard keys turning at the door. 

“Hey,” you called from the kitchen island. “I made dinner for us. And we can watch that crappy comedy show that you like.”

He hung up his jacket and gave you a hug. “Thanks, sweetheart. How was it with your friends?”

“Pretty good. But it took an hour to get Miles out of that Famous Footwear. I swear that boy has enough sneakers to cover the Mediterranean. How was work?”

Miguel grabbed a plate and took a seat next to you. “Well, we finally figured out the malfunction in the control room. Hobie had been messing around with it for his own projects. Shocker, right? But other than that it was just a bunch of boring meetings.”

“Oh, I just remembered something.” You rushed upstairs to get a gift bag from your room and returned, out of breath. “I made this for you. It’s not much, but my job doesn’t start until July and I wanted to give you something, so…”

He removed the tissue paper to find a carefully knitted shawl with his suit designs on it. He remained speechless for a moment. 

“What do you think?”

“I love it.”

“Really? Cuz I could get you something else if you’d prefer-”

“I love it,” he repeated, giving you a bear hug. “I’ll wear it all the time when the weather takes a turn.”

“I thought it might be useful for winter patrols,” you admitted. 

“It will be. I know you don’t like getting too sappy, so let’s watch some TV, yeah?”

Halfway through an episode of the comedy show, you got up to use the bathroom. Miguel paused the show and admired your work on his shawl. When you came back, he was still staring at it as if he were examining each individual stitch. 

“I’m back,” you said when he didn’t acknowledge you. 

He hummed in response. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

You furrowed your brows, worried now. “Is something wrong?”

“No, not all, it’s just…” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I wanted to let you know that I would understand if you want to look into seeing if there’s any way to find your real parents. I love you and I want you here, don’t get me wrong, but if this is something you feel strongly about, I wanted to make sure you knew that my feelings wouldn’t be hurt.”

You stared at him for a while before bursting into laughter. 

“What’s so funny?”

You grabbed his hands and looked him in his eyes. “I found my real dad the moment you brought me here. I’m home.”

He squeezed your hands and repeated your words as if convincing himself of the truth. “You’re home.”

------

[washed-up-wurmcoil]

The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One is the first DnD media I've ever encountered that's actually GOOD. Like that's not to say that others like NADDPOD or Dimension 20 or CritRole are bad, they're highly enjoyable and fun, and I've been or still am a fan of all of them, but they all tend to have a lack of cohesiveness and too tight a focus on being DnD based that ultimately leaves them, from an artistic perspective, rather wanting. They don't give you much to really sink your teeth into in terms of theme and narrative, though they are highly successful in developing character. And I think a big part of that is that they are primarily improv comedy, whereas WBN is very much not a comedy, and is less wholly improvised. Like I'm not saying they prewrite scenes, but that the creators came into it with a huge amount of conversation of what sort of story they wanted to tell and what they wanted to explore which leads to the entire think having a richness to it that all other DnD (and honestly a good deal of non DnD) media I've encountered lack.

[thebomb-thebird-andtheburntbitch]

Wishing on Golden Stars [TEASER]

a/n: this is a short little 1k snippet of my large wip for ayato, Wishing on Golden Stars! its an isekai fic with a long list of progression and development that has both canon and canon-divergent scenarios that i hope i don't absolutely bomb (◎_◎;) (seriously im putting a lot into this- my notes are insane) this fic will have a fem!reader!!

the plan is to prewrite the fic in its entirity and then section it off into chapters so it's less overwhelming and i dont fall behind on not continuing it bc i have a rly bad habit of that ㆆᴗㆆ" [the chances of things being altered/incorrect is highly likely here bc i didn't edit this snippet hardly at all]

When you finally leave the last inching grounds of the Tenryou Commission, you find Thoma obediently waiting for you. Feeling free of the burden of delivery, you meet up with him and put your hands on your hips while he hops back to his feet. 

“Alright,” you breathe, “where to now?” 

“Ritou!” He cheers and his suddenly bubbly attitude- although normal- was a hop, skip and jump away from his push over attitude when you strongarmed him into coming to the city with you. Your eyebrow raises and you shift your weight onto your side. 

“Ritou? What, something else needs ‘Fixing’? Or are your ears just burning?” Thoma waves his hand dismissively and laughs as you both start walking off. 

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. Captain Beidou is coming back into port I hear,” he hums with a skip in his step that seemed way too excited. “She’s got some interesting ‘cargo’ this time around- or so rumor says.” 

“When you talk like that- you sound nefarious, Thoma.” 

“What? Do I really?” Leaving the city, you wonder just what cargo she’s brought with her. If it was a rumor, surely you should’ve heard it too- since you ran in the same circles more or less. In the back of your mind, you felt like you should know, but it never came to you. 

You join Thoma at the docks, sitting himself comfortably atop some crates as he offered you a snack- which you accept. You look around the docks and feel a little bit nostalgic. This had been where you had floated in from your world. Seeing it always made you feel a bit melancholic when you came by for one reason or another. 

Soon, the ship Thoma had been anticipating appeared off in the distance on the water's horizon. You still couldn’t get the nagging out of the back of your head that you should know what’s coming. It wasn’t until seeing the head of blond hair shining like stars and the floating white fairy that is their companion at the front bow of the Crux, it hit you like a truck. 

The Traveler has arrived in Inazuma..! 

While you were giddy at seeing them and figuring out which twin it would be, on top of getting a pretty good idea on the timeline of events now, you also felt a pit forming in your stomach. Things were about to get pretty shaky in Inazuma and there was no way in hell you’d be able to steer anyone out of the way of the path. 

From the moment Thoma jumped up from the boxes he was sitting on while flipping a coin in his hand aimlessly, to jumping up and hoping down to greet Beidou you felt like you had no place in the moment. It was the first time since getting used to Inazuma that you could recall parts of the game so vividly; seeing it play out in front of you like this made you feel isolated in a way that completely overshadowed your original giddiness. 

You had been excited to possibly get to greet Beidou before she set sail back off since having Kazuha, a wanted figure in Inazuma, currently on the Crux didn’t make for a full-scale dock. The shackles of invisible misplacement bound to your ankles keep you in place as you soon see her turn her back on the three others and retreat back to her ship. Thoma speaks momentarily to the new ‘honored guests’ afterward.

“Now then, first things first, we need to get you registered at the border checkpoint.” 

“Um, Paimon thought we were supposed to be keeping this on the downlow… Are we just going to walk into the government's hands?” 

“Haha, don’t underestimate the reaches of the Sakoku Decree. You wouldn’t be able to avoid inspection even if you tried. So we have to play by the rules… even if we’re kind of bending them.” 

Thoma wraps up his spiel before gesturing towards you, nearly completely hidden behind the crates that smell like sea salt-stained wood he had previously been relaxed on. The other two hadn’t even realized you were there. Cupping one of his hands around his mouth, he shouts your name. 

“Come over here and say hello to our new guests!” His hand that had been cupped to help his voice travel, moves over his head in an eager come here motion. You swallow and it feels like there's a handful of sand in your throat. Clearing it helps none. 

You try and find your footing- both literally and figuratively- as you make a very conscious attempt not to slip down the few wooden steps to the trio. You place your hands behind your back so you could fiddle with your fingers anxiously on the downlow. Thoma gently gestures to you once you stand at his side with one arm, the other towards the Traveler and Paimon. 

“This lovely lady is y/n. She’s a dear friend and coworker of mine, so she’ll be sticking around for the remainder of this errand.”  

“Hi!” Greeted the so-called ‘voice’ of the Traveler. “It’s nice to meet you. Paimon’s, Paimon and he’s, Aether!” She points one of her small hands towards the male twin who offers you a friendly smile and head nod. You release one of your hands and offer a small, friendly wave to the both of them. 

“I’m glad you managed to sail in safely,” you speak. Your voice is quieter than normal and judging by Thoma’s raised brow in your direction, he noticed. “Of course, you were in good hands, I hear.” 

“Oh yeah!” Paimon agrees, proudly crossing her arms. “That storm was no match for Beidou!” 

You didn’t realize you were staring at Aether until his eyes met yours and you suck in a breath so abruptly, you begin coughing. Thoma, panicking at your sudden fit, rubs your back as you hunch over. Hands on your knees and face down towards the dock. You could see the water waving between the wooden planks and you squeeze your eyes shut. ‘Get it together!’ you scream at yourself. 

Briefly apologizing and catching your breath, you reassure Thoma that you’re fine and that the whole process of bending the rules to get Aether into Inazuma and past the Decree wouldn’t wait forever. No better time than the present to get work done after all.

Following beside Thoma, who was leading the way for Aether and Paimon, he gently nudges your arm, leaning down to whisper to you. Once more, he asks if you were really doing okay. And once again, you reassure him that you were perfectly fine… like a liar.

a/n: once again, this is only a snippet that is sure to go through another round or two of editing! I kinda picked a random scene early in the script lol. At the time of posting this, the wip is now over 12k words long with the end no where in sight lmao rip

also lets ignore the absolute lack of ayato in the ayato fanfic pls... T-T I cant help it if he's away on business okay

[hawkeyejrhuntress]

Bishova Holiday Challenge 2024 - Rules and Prompt Ideas!

Background History:

On November 24 it will be three years since Marvel brought the Hawkeye series to the little screen. 6 episodes and 5 weeks of getting to know Kate Bishop with a hint of Yelena Belova. Despite having less than 45 minutes of screen time their chemistry was explosive. Since then, amazing fanfiction writers around the world have created amazing stories about these two. So, with the anniversary of the show coming up, I decided to bring back the Bishova Holiday Challenge.

Thank You:

After a month of voting the Bishova Community has spoken. Below you will find the 5 top themes/prompt ideas. We had 728 votes, which is crazy. I want to thank all the writers, and fans who voted. I want to thank Oh Alpha My alpha discord friends. Who voted and came up with some of the ideas. The remaining prompts that did not win will be reposted just as prompt ideas for the public.

Rules:

This year the challenge will be 6 weeks with the last week being the writers’ choice.

These prompts will have mini-ideas attached to them but you do not have to follow them to tea, just stick to the general theme.

The stories must be posted on A03. Use #BISHOVAHOLIDAYCHALLENGE2024 & Week # for which week was written for

Only can be 1-3 chapters long while the challenge is up. After the challenge if you want to continue them, please do.

You can prewrite your stories and co-write them with others. But they cannot be published before the challenge.

It is encouraged that you participate in all 6 weeks to be eligible for the prize but if you can’t it’s all good.

Also to be considered for the top Grand winners you can’t miss a week. So if you miss week 1, you can still participated and try to be a weekly winner but you will not be eligible for the Grand Prize over the whole challenge.

Challenge Weeks:

Week 1: Nov 10th – Nov 16th

Week 2: Nov 17th – Nov 23rd

Week 3: Nov 24th – Nov 30th  

Week 4: Dec 1st – Dec 7th

Week 5: Dec 8th – Dec 14th

Week 6: 16th – Dec 21st

Prizes:

There will be 6 weekly winners. After each week I will create a poll with the stories that qualified, and readers can pick the winner. The winners get bragging rights. 

After all, 6 weeks are done the writers who participated in all 6 weeks and followed the rules will be entered on a poll to qualify as the top 3 winners of the WHOLE CHALLENGE, voted on by the fans.

It is not completely finalized, and it can still fall through but right now I am working on getting art pieces for the top three winners. 

Prompts/Ideas:

Week 1: Nov 10th – Nov 16th - Grinchmas (Idea Credit – Chi_Raven) (Suggested Rating – G) Yelena gets a part time gig as a mall Grinch. She does it too well and ends up on Kate Bishop’s Naughty list daughter of Santa Clause or Yelena dresses up as the Grinch and runs around scaring kids.

Week 2: Nov 17th – Nov 23rd – Fake Dating Winter Love – (Idea Credit MidnightJuilet) (Suggested Rating G-E) Yelena created a fake girlfriend to attend her ex’s winter wedding. Enter Kate Bishop!

Week 3: Nov 24th – Nov 30th -Eggnog Love – (Idea Credit MidnightJuilet) (Suggested Rating E) The villain of the week spikes the eggnog at the Holiday Party with liquid sex pollen. Freakiness ensues!

Week 4: Dec 1st – Dec 7th- Lumberjack Christmas - (Idea Credit MidnightJuilet) (Suggested Rating G - E) Kate goes to the mountains to get away and meets her mountain woman!

Week 5: Dec 8th – Dec 14th -Winter Blaze Saved by the Sexy firefighter (Idea Credit CelticKitten25 & DYL) (Suggested Rating G - E) Yelena wakes up to her apartment on fire out of nowhere a short buff fire fighter comes in with her one-eyed dog to rescue her and her akita. And she is only wearing a nightie.

Week 6: 16th – Dec 21st – Writer’s Choice

Above are the 5 prompt ideas and remember the 6th week is writers’ choice. The ratings are suggestions, and the little excerpts attached are just meant to be guides to help facilitate story writing if you get stuck. Please when posting your story please give credit for me (MidnightJuilet) for hosting this challenge and to the specific fan which is also listed above who came up with the prompt idea.

[sleepy0s]

schooool

Soo.. Hi guys! It’s been nearly a month since I last posted and i actually dont know why. But woo im here! And now i have inspiration ima prewrite a bunch of things

YHS!Grian: School sucks.

Gem: I know, but you have to do it so you can get a job.

YHS!Grian: What are jobs like?

Gem: They suck.

253 words

~~~

They had an assignment due the next day because, believe it or not, random people showing up from the ‘future’ does not mean school stops!

Grian was sat on the couch, his laptop resting on the arm of the couch. Taurtis was practically sat ontop of him, legs resting over Grian, he was not doing the homework. GeminiTay, or Gem as she had asked to be called, was leaning over the back of the chair attempting to help with the homework. 

She was struggling, since it’s all in Japanese. She had agreed to help, and forgot they were in Japan.

“Griannn, hurry up i’m bored.” Taurtis huffed, leaning down so he was collapsed on the sofa.

“Your not even doing the work!” 

“So?”

“Ugh, T your no help. Gem do you- Gem?”

Gem hadn’t spoken in the past few minutes, she had her comm up, taking photos of the work, and inserting the photos onto a website- Oh. She was translating it. Grian tilted his head back to look at the girl, “You know you don’t have to help if you don’t want to?”

“No- no, no. I said I would. I am going too!”

~

Half an hour later.

~

“This sucks! School sucks!” Grian had decided he had enough of this, slamming his laptop closed. Gem quickly reopened it, unfortunately she didn’t know his password. “I know school sucks, but.. You have to do it so you can get a job.”

 “What are jobs like?” 

Gem didn’t respond for a bit. “...They suck.”