#i finished this comic the night before an exam. pray for me

[demigod-of-the-agni]

A DEVIL REBORN

Happy Halloween!!! A detailed ID will be placed under the cut (it's close to being 1K i could literally post this to Ao3)

p1. ड्याम्म (dyamma) - Nepali for "(feeling) full", "hitting something"

p3. Chutiya - Hindi for "idiot", "moron" and other related insults

p5. க்ரீச் (kreech) - Tamil onomatopoeia describing scraping/screeching sounds

[Extended Image ID: DYAMMA! Slamming his hands on a table, Achanba Okram finds himself in the darkness of his laboratory. He is wearing black clothes and a white lab coat on top, and has a bowl cut with rectangular glasses.

His thoughts whirl within boxes that are coloured gold and are outlined with red; they put a voice to the uneasy feelings Okram knows are stirring inside of him. The thought boxes read:

With Pavitr gone, I finally have time to string my thoughts together. Half-drowned answers bleed out of my pores. Coalescing like some great, abysmal creature of unknown origin.

Bracing his hands against the table, Okram is acutely aware of his body, of the gaping holes in his back that bubble with demonic energy. His thoughts narrate, My body quakes when I begin to question, wracked with paranoia. With dread, as if the idea of what I had to face was unbearable.

The holes in back — four of them, spaced evenly from each other — begin to ooze golden liquid, hot like fire and viscous like tar.

And yet, Okram thinks, I felt it all the same: that crawling, scintillating horror of my reality. Of my tainted flesh and blood. My being here is the work of demonic forces.

Golden arms, fluid yet bony, powered by some otherworldly thing, unravel from the void in his back. They flounder and expand around him, filling the lab with a cold glow. The fingers are tipped with talons, and, if he looked hard enough, Okram swears they are edged with blood.

I died years ago, Okram thinks. I lost my humanity to the fire of the devil's madness. Thus, the question remains: what is the future of Achanba Okram, a DEVIL REBORN?

The lights of the lab suddenly brighten, and Okram hears him before he sees him. His arms register the presence of the other person, immediately unraveling and slipping out of reality. Just outside, Pavitr Prabhakar's voice calls, "HEY, DOCTOR OKRAM! Sorry I'm late! Traffic was abysmal today."

Pavitr's entrance catches Okram by surprise, and he stutters out, "PAVITR?! You- ah- you have one of your shifts today?"

His thoughts reprimand him, You CHUTIYA! Pavitr always has his shifts on Tuesdays!

Pavitr is unaware of Okram's turmoil, sauntering into the laboratory while hefting up a white plastic bag. He's wearing a black and white flannel shirt, and he has circular earrings. Pavitr's eyes are trained on the bag in his hand. He answers Okram's question with, "Yeah, I do. I, uh, got a little hungry along the way (I'm always so hungry)." Pavitr whispers the last part as he lifts the bag up. He continues, "so I went and bought some vada pav, and—"

He suddenly pauses, his eyes locking onto Okram. He can't tell what is going beyond Pavitr's eyes, but the other man's analysing gaze unnerves Okram to a degree beyond description.

(In Pavitr's POV: his Spider-Sense was just triggered. Red and gold squiggly lines emanate from and surround his head in a halo.)

Pavitr lowers the bag slightly in concern. "Uhm," Pavitr says "are you okay, Doctor?"

Dread and fear floods Okram's system. Suddenly he is hyperaware of everything in the room, including the golden arm that has sprouted from his back and was lying on the workbench behind him, right in Pavitr's line of sight.

Play dumb! Okram's mind screams at him. Accordingly, Okram replies, a tad too tightly, "Of course I am, Pavitr! Why wouldn't I be?"

KREECH. The golden arm scrapes its taloned fingers across the table, no doubt giving away its location.

Okram chuckles nervously, sweating almost immediately, at which his mind howls, Not that dumb!

Pavitr narrows his eyes at Okram and at the golden arm on the workbench. "Are those...demonic arms?" he asks Okram, a shadow crossing his face.

(In Pavitr's POV: In the back of his mind, Pavitr sees a vague and faded image forming in response to seeing the arms. He remembers Doctor Octopus, the man with two extra sets of arms who had attacked him many years ago; he was one of the first villains Pavitr fought as Spider-Man. But... Doctor Octopus died a long time ago. Perhaps...?)

"Oh, Doctor..."

Pavitr's gaze softens as he asks, "Are you being haunted by demons? Have you been attacked by them? Why didn't you tell me? I'm so sorry this has been happening to you. I can't imagine how stressful this is for you." A moment, and then, "Do you want to talk about?"

Okram hides his face in his hands, quickly responding, "No, I'm alright, Pavitr."

Pavitr walks forward, placing his bag down and reaching down to place a reassuring hand on Okram's shoulder. "But, Doctor, men of your generation have ignored their mental health for too long."

"Yes, I know," Okram sighs.

"It'll be okay, Doctor," Pavitr promises, "we can figure something out!"

"And what?" Okram asks somewhat sarcastically. "You will be here with me 'every step of the way'?"

"One hundred percent!" Pavitr says.

Behind them, one of Okram's demonic arms reaches out to peer at Pavitr and Okram; if an arm could be happy, it certainly was. The arm is seemingly pleased with Pavitr's helpful and understanding nature. /.End ID]

#i finished this comic the night before an exam. pray for me #anyway THE COMIC IS HEREEEEEEEEE #this thing has been rolling around in my mind for SOOO LONG lmao #only real spidey fans will understand that this interaction is based on that one scene between peter and otto octavius- #-in the first ps4 spidey game #friendly reminder that pavitr prabhakar (at least in the comics) does not know the identity of his version of doctor octopus #so my brain knew it would be super fucking funny to have this scene happen in the mmau except the roles are swapped. how fucking funny #(please tell me it's funny i worked so hard on this hyperspecific joke) #also yes that picture of pavitr with the bag? that i've been reblogging where he picks up sad peter parker or gets jumped by miguel? #yes that came from here. I AM A COMEDIAN #but narratively-speaking. considering this is now canon for the mythic mumbattan au.... #thinking about how i far i can push the insomniac spidey agenda into this universe. thinking. just THINKING. wait I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHI #and it is FANTASTIC oh you guys are gonna love it #cackling. you'll have to wait for it tho <3 #spider man #spider man india #pavitr prabhakar #achanba okram #(also in case you didn't know. achanba okram ISN'T REAL. HE'S MY LITTLE GUY. I MADE HIM) #(he's like. half oc half established character) #artoftheagni #mythic mumbattan au #atsv #across the spider verse #atsv pavitr #doctor octopus

[dramaticironyoflife]

Exam Escape

Ignis adjusted his glasses and shifted his weight slightly. So slightly that it didn’t appear that he had moved at all. He was surveying the mess that was the prince’s apartment. Bags of trash lay absolutely everywhere. He wasn’t sure whether to be appealed or astounded by the amount of litter that had accumulated over the course of a few short days. However, it was exam week for his young charge and it was natural that chaos would dramatically increase in such a time of stress and panic.

But that didn’t mean Ignis had to like it.

He sighed and set about trying to straighten the mess. He wasn’t quite sure where to start though. The advisor was decidedly off this Friday. Perhaps it was the daunting reality that, after today, Noct would be home for the whole of the Summer. As long as he had not managed to fail any exams, that was. The long hours of chasing the prince down and running through practice exams had worn Ignis down over the last few weeks. Even last night Noct has called him up in a frenzy and wouldn’t settle until Ignis had drilled him on at least half a dozen practice questions. Not the oddest activity he’d done at 3:27 in the morning but the prince’s excited state had left him unable to drift back off. He thought of this as he took a gulp of Ebony. His fifth can of the afternoon. Gladio had absolutely refused to let him train for their full session. He instead led Ignis through a series of stretches to attempt to get him to relax. He probably would’ve let the advisor sleep through a portion of the session as well if Ignis had not so stubbornly refused. Gladio had a small victory in the end though. He’d made Ignis promise not to drive himself home that night as his sleep deprived state was hardly considered safe. This was a point that Ignis not only couldn’t argue but flat out didn’t want to. Gladio brought a certain amount of peace into Iggy’s life, taking on a good portion of the responsibilities that came with watching over the future heir.

Ignis finished piling the trash together and began to sort through the rest of the mess. Magazines and comic books had been mixed in with the important reports and briefings that Noct had, most probably, neglected to read. Future king or no, the prince procrastinated better than anyone Ignis had ever met. He sorted through the papers, making different piles before sitting back on his heels. The time was ticking by far too fast for Ignis’ liking. He wasn’t needed to make Noct’s dinner tonight, thank heaven, and would rather like to leave before he and Prompto began their celebrations that came at the end of each exam period. There would most likely be shouting and cheering and all sorts of merry making that sounded absolutely dreadful to Ignis’ blossoming headache. Still, he couldn’t help but come by the rooms and see exactly how bad it had gotten over the past three days. Once he’d witnessed the pigs dye, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. He cursed his instincts to help the prince and resisted the urge to sweep everything left on the floor under whatever available spaces lay before him. Honestly, he was almost sure that Noct would never realize the difference. He swept the floor carefully, picking up odds and ends he’d missed as he went. He shifted the sofa out of the way and grunted as he bent to retrieve a few magazines and marbles that had taken up residence there when the door slammed open.

“FREEDOM!!!” The shout was so loud that Ignis jumped. He lost his footing and landed none too gracefully on his behind. It seemed though that neither of the boys had heard him.

“YEAH!!” Noct joined in the blond’s excited squealing and tore off his jacket, tossing it in the direction of the kitchen. Ignis peered over the edge of the sofa, unwilling to get dragged into the celebration. Prompto slipped of his satchel and grinned definitely at Noct,

“We did it! We’re done and you wanna know what I think about school?!” Noct applauded, waving his hands like an impromptu rapper,

“What’d you thing about school?!”

“You wanna know what I think about books?!!”

“What about ‘em, Prom?!”

“YOU WANNA KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS SATCHEL?!”

“WHAT?!”

“I’LL SHOW YA WHAT I THINK!!!!” With this and a somewhat pathetic war cry, Prompto slammed the bag down on the ground and began jumping on it repeatedly. Noct cheered and began some odd dancing ritual around the excited teen. Ignis blinked.

He was definitely not coming out now. He sunk lower behind the sofa and tugged out his phone. He scrolled quickly to his contacts and located Gladio’s name. He pressed call before he could over think anything.

Gladio was lounging on the sofa in his dad’s office. Clarus was sifting through some papers, allowing Gladio to scroll through his phone undisturbed. Gladio grunted as Iggy’s contact lit up the device and pulled himself upright. Clarus glanced at him, cocking an eyebrow.

“Hey, Iggy,” Gladio announced the greeting and his dad nodded before resuming his work. “You ready for me?”

“Six, yes, come get me.” Gladio tensed. The words were whispered in an almost desperate voice.

“Iggy? Where are you?” His dad noticed the change in his son’s voice and dropped his paper. Gladio was tense, ready for action.

“At Noct’s...” Ignis peered quickly at the boys to see they were now throwing assignments into the air like makeshift confetti, still shouting in jubilation. 

“What? Why are you at Noct’s? I thought you said...”

“That I wouldn’t go over to his chambers today, I know! I tried, Gladio, believe me. I just knew that his apartment was a mess and I thought it would be nice for him to come back to a clean apartment-”

“Just so he could mess it all up again?” Gladio chuckled and Clarus relaxed. Gladio rose from the sofa and grabbed his jacket. He raised a hand in farewell to his father before slipping out into the hallway. “Hang tight, Iggy, I’m on my way.” 

Ignis heard the call disconnect and sighed, hunching further in on himself. Being tall and lean was a disadvantage in this moment. He felt dread sink into him when he heard the boys approaching the sofa. 

“You wanna order pizza while I set up the game?” Noct’s voice was followed by the sound of someone throwing themselves onto the sofa. Ignis flinched as it shifted slightly with the force of the prince’s body. Prompto’s giddy response was followed by some tapping.

“Whoever made apps for ordering pizza is a genius.” Prompto commented, his voice now also sounding dangerously close to Ignis’ situation. “They eliminated one of the most awkward conversations in human history.”

Noct hummed in agreement as the noises of the TV hit the room. Prompto cheered and then the sounds of the two gamers settled on the apartment. 

When the noises coming from the boys were grunts, shouts, and explanations that would’ve made any well spoken individual cringe and no longer intelligible words, Ignis deemed them invested enough in their game for him to start his escape. On top of this, Galdio had texted that he was less than five minutes in his estimated time of arrival. Ignis huffed silently and set his eyes on the bedroom, mere feet away. 

The journey to the bedroom wasn’t a long one but it wasn’t one that Ignis would ever want anyone to see him perform and not one he wanted to perform again himself. Although it was almost comical to see that he could slip past the boys without their knowledge due to their distraction. He lay on his belly and slid himself neatly across the wooden floor a good portion of the journey. The remainder of his mission was merely going the rest of the way without being seen. He crouched at first, creeping along like some common criminal. Once he was near the door however, he was forced to reassess his situation. The door was open but only just enough for him to slip through if he stood. Eyes never leaving the boys, Ignis slowly inched himself to his full height. Noct stood at the same time, shouting at the TV and tossing his remote off to one side. Unfortunately, the side that was closer to Ignis. Prompto was laughing at the prince’s tantrum and teasing him relentlessly. Noct, vowing revenge turned to pluck his remote off the floor. 

Ignis had never prayed harder in his life that he would remain unseen. Or turn invisible. Or that the floor would swallow him up. Instead, it was the well timed delivery of the pizza that saved him. The doorbell was the diversion Ignis needed to slip to safety. Once in the bedroom, he forced himself to ignore the mess that was taking over the prince’s personal space. He pulled out his phone.

In Noct’s bedroom, near the window. Gladio texted back a few minutes later.

Here. What’s the plan? Ignis sighed before sliding the window open and peering out. Gladio was standing below him, looking up with an amused expression. Noct’s window wasn’t very high off the ground, Ignis had no doubt that he could make the jump and role the landing to prevent injury. Assessing the height once more, he nodded.

I’m going to jump, stand back. Gladio’s eyebrows rose and he looked up at Ignis then pocketed his phone. Ignis nodded and pulled his long limbs through the window. He took a deep breath and then pushed himself off the edge; only to land in Gladio’s arms. 

“What in the Astals?!” He gasped. Gladio grunted and deposited his catch onto his feet. 

“What? You’re wearing nice clothes. Didn’t want you to ruin them.” He shrugged and began to wander back towards the street and their get away car. Ignis followed, grumbling and straightening out his outfit. 

----

“Gladio!” Noct and Prompto looked up from the campsite at the squeak they hardly recognized as Ignis’ voice. The Shield was holding the Advisor in his arms while the thinner man struggled.

“Nope! You’re going to rest or I’m going to tell Noct and Prompto about the ‘Exam Escape’.” The two boys blinked, whatever the ‘Exam Escape’ was, it made Ignis freeze in his attempts to free himself. He stared at Gladio with wide eyes,

“You wouldn’t.” Gladio cocked an eyebrow,

“Not if you rest.” Ignis groaned and resumed struggling,

“I can walk myself to the tent, thank you!” Prompto and Noct exchanged expressions and shrugs. 

#ffxv #ignis scientia #gladiolus amiticia #prompto argentum #noctis lucis caelum #fanfiction #My writing

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

In Sorrow and In Joy- Part 5- Grocery Shopping

Luke learns the hard way what it means to be a dad and how to keep his family safe and together. Dad!Luke with a South Asian Reader. This is a collaborative experience with A Family of Five.

CW: Over the course of this series, themes of racism and prejudice on the basis of religion are present. Please read or skip as necessary. This part, specifically, has themes of prejudice on the basis of religion and bigotry. 

Enjoy my masterlist | Series Masterlist

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No one has my permission to repost my work of fiction. This includes translations as well. 

_________________________

Luke’s grocery shopping this week. Not a crazy feat or undertaking. It’s just the way things worked out. You have to proctor a mid-term exam and then meet with a student about their paper after your lectures, so you lack the time today. Wrangling your three children is a task and a half. Noor isn’t the problem, the oldest two groan and complain. Ra dislikes the grocery shopping because why does it take all of them to go. Zeek dislikes it because he can never get the chance to race the shopping carts. Typically due to safety reasons. He’s never seen someone get seriously hurt by a cart, but he can’t refute you or Luke. 

Luke tucks some of his hair away, reading over the list you left as the oldest two bicker of something. The headphone incident was already taken care of, so who knows what this argument was about. He decides to let them hash it out. Though he’s praying that things are settled soon. There’s nothing else he needs to add to the list, so he shouts up the steps, “Guys! C’mon.” Luke purposefully adds cracks into the shout because it grates their nerves. 

A couple minutes go by and they still haven’t descended the steps. “I’ll keep shouting!” he bellows, more cracks breaking into his words. 

“Geez, alright!” Zahra shouts back, climbing down the steps. Followed behind her is Zeek. 

“Thank you for joining us. Your baby sister and I have been waiting for you two,” Luke laughs. 

He situates them all in the back two rows of the car, double checking that none of them have tried to get around the seat belts. Luke settles into the driverseat and sets off. Zeek lets out a small sigh. Luke glances in the rearview mirrors to see his arms folded. “What’s up, bud?”

“Nothing,” is Zeek’s mumbled response. 

“He’s mad that he lost in rock, paper, scissors,” Ra speaks. 

“I can speak for myself,” he retorts. 

“Hey, whoa, let’s take a moment,” Luke mediates. “What was this game of rock, paper, scissors about?”

“Window seat,” Zeek replies. He stares straight forward. He can sort of see out of the front window. But it’s not the same as the window seat. Noor is to his left and Zahra’s to his right. He has no freedom in the middle. “I thought it was going to be the best two out of three.” 

“I never said it would be,” Zahra defends. 

“But it always is the best two out of three and you know it.”

Luke sighs. It’s a little too late for him to do anything to rectify the situation as it stands. “Okay, well, Ra next time you need to make sure everyone’s clear on the rules. If not, that’s cheating.”

“I didn’t cheat,” she protests. 

“But you manipulated the situation in your favor. That’s not fair. That’s cheating.” 

There’s a grumble from the back. Maybe her dad is technically right. But she didn’t cheat during the actual game of rock, paper, scissors and that has to count for something. “He can have the window seat on the way back,” she offers. 

Zeek looks to her. She’s glancing at him out of the side of her eyes. She doesn’t want to be known as too nice. Just nice enough as the older sister. Zeek nods, with a small twitch of a smile. They weren’t always at each other’s throats. Just most of the time.

At the grocery store, Noor volunteers to be set in top of the basket. Zahra glances up to Luke and he caves. Lifting her up into the basket, Zahra settles down. She’ll have to climb out soon enough. But for now she can enjoy the space. Zeek gets to steer the cart. Luke, however, wraps his hands around the handle next to his. “Love you,” he whispers to his son. 

“Love you too, Dad. Where do we start?” he asks. 

“Produce,” Luke responds. Zeek nods and pushes along.  

Grocery shopping is fine. Noor helps decides on the grapes. The leafy greens excite no one in the group but it’s on the list so Luke dares not ignore it. Especially since he skipped them last time and got an earful from you. Ra climbs out of the basket before they hit the aisles, wandering through the junk food before begging for a packet of oreos. Luke is much too soft to say no. 

The four of them stop at the cereal aisle. Luke’s eying the cinnamon toast crunch for himself. Though he knows if he buys a box, the children will want some. Just as the family box hits the bottom of his cart, he catches someone grumbling further down the aisle. 

Luke ignores them. “Mommy’s going to be upset,” Noor laughs. 

He grins, tucking a section of her curly hair behind her shawl. She wanted to wear it out today and he couldn’t deny his baby girl. It made him a little nervous. How would people react? How would he handle it if it went south? But it all faded away when she pleaded with her pouting lips and big eyes. “Eh, she won’t be mad when she’s eating a bowl.”

The little girl laughs. Knowing it to be true down to the core. Luke does decide to grab the raisin brand that you listed. He knows late at night the two of you will be sneaking bowls of sugary cereal. As they continue on, Zahra t pauses, pointing out a box of Trix. Luke sighs. “It’s that one or the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Gotta choice.”

She whines, knowing it’s going to go to a vote. “Fucking terrorists, I’m telling you,” a gruff voice whispers. “Take them back!” he shouts loud enough for everyone on the aisle to stop. 

Luke turns to the offenders, red MAGA hat on their head. His knuckles tighten around the basket handle. “These are my children you’re talking about,” he speaks through gritted teeth. “Their mother is the most loving woman I have ever met. The only thing she and my children need is for racist assholes like you to fucking disappear. You and your racist beliefs are the problem here, not me, not my children, not my wife, you bastard.”

The man shouts more at Luke, but he turns his back. They get a few aisles over; Luke thinks about walking back over and punching him in his pink face. He’s never seen himself as a fighter, but his family- the people he loves more than anything- he’ll fight for. He’d take a bullet for. He wouldn’t want to, but it’s them first. 

“Baby girl, you okay?” he asks, turning his attention away from the drama. 

She nods, eyes a little teary. He pulls her from the seat and sets her on the ground with her two siblings. They watch their father in shock. “Do not ever, and I mean ever, listen to people like him. You belong on this earth; you are not terrorists because of your beliefs. You are my children and I love all three of you to death. Our society is not always safe for you all.” Luke pauses, feeling the tears stinging behind his eyes. He sniffles, pulling back some snot and wipes the tears. 

He clears his throat and continues. “I wish I could change that with a snap of my fingers. But when you encounter people like that, if you feel safe enough, stick up for yourself. If you don’t, walk away. Find help if you can. Call me or your mother. Call Uncle Calum; call Uncle Michael; call Uncle Ashton– it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is your safety, above all. You have to get back home safely to me.” His voice cracks on the last sentence. 

They nod at their father, seeing the tears falling down his cheeks. He hugs each of them one at a time and then they attach to him in a group hug. The rest of the grocery trip finishes in silence. 

You walk to the house and Zeek runs up to you. “Mom! You should’ve seen it today! Dad yelled at this guy for saying bad stuff about us. It was a little scary.”

“He swore too; I made him put money in the swear jar,” Zahra adds on. 

“Dad was basically a superhero though,” Zeek continues. 

You look over to Luke and can still anger and fear lingering. His fists are clenched. His jaw twitches as he looks down at the recipe book. You make sure everyone is okay. Zeek and Zahra blow it off. But Noor clings to you a little. You rub at Luke’s back, one hand resting against Noor’s shoulders. “Wanna talk about it?”

He shakes his head. A small piece of his hair falls into his face. You tuck it back for him, gently cupping his face. The scruff is turning into a beard. But not even that can hide how tight his jaw is. It’s best to leave this alone for now. So you distract with homework, listening to their day. You even go over homework. 

Dinner goes by fine. Luke makes the kids laugh, double checks that the veggies are eaten. He’s more relaxed now than before. You know better. You can see the soft turn to his eyes. Something is not completely resolved. During clean up, Luke bends down, taking his son hands into his. You watch with the two girls, still holding plates to be cleared. “I know you called me a superhero, but you’re the real superhero. You’re my superhero.”

Your son throws himself into his father’s arm. “One day,” he starts, pulling away from Luke, “I’m going to write the best superhero comic ever and they’re going to look like me. And they’re going to beat up all the mean people and help save the world.”

Luke smiles. “Your old man’s going to buy the cost copy too.”

#luke hemmings #luke hemmings fanfic #luke hemmings fic #luke hemmings imagine #luke hemmings series #dad!luke #dad!luke series #5sos #5 seconds of summer #h writes #luke hemmings x south asian reader #luke hemmings x reader #5sos fanfic #5sos fic #5 seconds of summer fanfic #5 seconds of summer fic

[lovefollowsknowledge]

God is in the Awkward

So I just watched the new Spiderman movie. Again, I don’t know anything about the comics, so I can’t comment on that. But here are 3 things I love about Peter Parker and his story :)

1) I love the restlessness inside of him. Which I know sounds weird because who wants to be restless. But the reason why he’s restless is because he saw something great! He experienced something great. He was part of something great. And now he just can’t go back. It made me think of Papa Ben saying, ”The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” I feel like Peter’s restlessness was a prime of example of this. That yeah he could go around preventing grand theft bikes and giving sweet old women directions, but he also knows he was made for more. And he refuses to settle. He refuses to settle for comfort. He wants to do more; he wants to be more. This is something I try to instill in every youth I have the privilege of speaking to. That we were made for more than this world! That there’s MORE. More than we can imagine. More LIFE. If we only we surrender ourselves to the Lord. If only we entrust our lives to Him. If only we let Him in. But surprisingly this isn’t something that every kid wants to here. Some kids are completely content with where they are. I tried explaining this to a group of kids once by comparing a plain, ordinary burger from McDonalds with this super juicy, mouth watering steak from a local steak house…and they wanted McDonalds! I was like welp, there goes my talk. Haha. I was so floored though. I was like seriously?! And they all were super confident in their answer in choosing McDonalds. But those who had tried that juicy steak, those who knew the place I was talking about, they knew the better choice was the steak and not McDonalds. It’s like once you get a taste of it, once you get a glimpse of that greatness, you can never go back. I just love that about Peter. He’s always aspiring for greatness.

2) I love love love his awkwardness. I love that he’s a 15 year old nerd that makes legos cool. I love that he falls many times. There’s a scene where he’s chasing the bad guys, and he’s running/swinging through the backyards of the neighborhood, and he just takes hit after hit. He messes up a lot. He fumbles. He’s just super awkward. I’ve always loved that about Peter Parker (in all the movies) because it makes him so relatable. It brought me back to a verse I just happened to be reflecting on earlier in the day. 1 Timothy 4:12 “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” I feel like this verse has become a bit cliche, but nonetheless, it’s still true! I’ve always loved Peter Parker because he shows that even when you’re young, you’re still called to greatness; you’re still called to go beyond yourself. Even at a young age, you can still do great things; you can still be selfless. Awkwardness and all ;)

3) Finally, I loved that Peter’s greatness ended up being something different than what he had always envisioned for himself. He literally spends all his days dreaming of being part of the Avengers. He waits anxiously by his phone for Tony Stark to call him into battle. He declines hang outs, he quits school activities, he flakes on commitments because of the off chance he will finally be called back to join the mission. He basically plays the waiting the game. He believes his greatness hinges on being part of the famous Avengers, fighting side by side with the Captain America. When the reality is, there is greatness to be had right in his very own day to day life. It made me think back to my college days where everyone wanted to be a part of everything. I went to a school where people were conflicted between going to daily Mass or finishing a paper, going to Tuesday night praise and worship or continue studying for an exam. I went to a school where the struggles of time management included juggling studying with commitments to a mission team, and a retreat team, and a prayer team, and a holy hour. Kids had to prioritize which holy thing they should go to and which they had to skip, which talk to attend, which holy hour to make, which 6:30am Mass to offer sacrifices at. But the one thing you heard consistently by every leader of every event or group, every priest or spiritual director, even in most homilies was, “your vocation is to be a student.” They reminded us time and time again that yeah we wanna do great things, we wanna be a part of great things, but we are first and foremost called to be a student, so we needed to prioritize that. Obviously do what you can to keep your relationship with the Lord up and running, but your studies always came first after that. It wasn't like “you need to have good grades to be a part of this.” It was a genuine call to what the Lord has presently set before us. They taught us to pray through our studies, to offer our studies, our struggles in class up as a sacrifice for petitions. They taught us to be present to our current vocation, which was to be a student. They knew we were called to greatness, but greatness looks different depending on what season of life you’re in. We’re all called to greatness but usually according to the life the Lord has already set out for us. It’s great to go out and become a missionary, to become a well known Catholic speaker and author and effect change by the masses. There’s a point when Iron Man takes Spiderman’s suit away. Peter begs and says, “I’m nothing without this suit.” Tony replies, “If you’re nothing without this suit, you don’t deserve it in the first place.” Which brought be back to Mama T when she said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” What I felt like Tony was teaching Peter was it’s not about the suit. It’s not about the stunts, not about the tricks or the cool moves and gadgets. It’s not about the fame and fitting in with the Avengers. It’s just about the greatness you pursue in your own day to day life, with or without the fame and explosions. Because the truth is we’re called to be saints, but not all of us are going to be Saints, with a capital S, where we get our own feast days and the Church remembers us for years to come. The truth is most of us are called to live ordinary, mundane lives. We’re called to our current vocation, to the life the Lord has already set out for us. Not because we’re not made for greatness, but because there’s greatness to be had in our very own life. Mother Teresa said, you wanna effect change, you wanna bring peace, you wanna bring God’s love, start with a 10 feet radius. Start right where you are. If you’re a wife, then you’re called to be a GREAT wife. If you’re a mother, then you’re called to be a GREAT mother. If you’re a student, then you’re called to be a GREAT student. If you’re a teacher, than you’re called to be a GREAT teacher. If you’re an engineer, then you’re called to be a GREAT engineer…You don’t have to go far, you don't have to do such extreme things to aspire for greatness.

And by greatness of course I mean live to be the best version of you in every season of your life. But what does that mean? What does that look like? That means to live the life you were made to live — a life with Christ, a life enriched by the Holy Spirit, a life entrusted to the Father. By greatness I mean live a life for the world you were created for — a life of love, love of God and love of neighbor. In everything that you do. In every season of life. We can go out and serve in third world countries, we can live our life hopping around to different cities giving amazing talks, we can want to grow up to be priests and religious. We can live our life on the go, forever on mission. Or, like Peter, we can live our life on the ground. We can live the life we have now and still choose greatness. We can live the life we have now and still choose holiness. We can live the life we have now and still choose love. Greatness doesn't always look like fame. It doesn’t always look fancy and fabulous. Sometimes it looks like fumbling around, taking hit after hit, being incredibly awkward. And that’s ok. Because God is in the awkward. You are called to greatness NOW. Don’t wait for something great to come along. Simply find God in the ordinary, and choose Him.

All glory to God through Mary!