#i'm almost looking at this as like. a superhero origin story of some sort. like this is my spider-bite moment. maybe.

[sciderman]

I swear I have read your big post regarding Peter Parker's neurodivergence and why it is best to avoid labelling him, but he definitely has a weird brain

Can't find it and feel kinda sad about it cuz I deeply related to it

i know exactly which post you're talking about and i can't find it either! i've raked through my archive, and it's just - nowhere to be seen. i think tumblr eated it (it happens.)

really, tumblr's search functionality is so so useless, i don't know what to tell you. there are plenty of keywords i can search to find it that post, but the search functionality actually just does not work!

undiagnosed audhd-addled peter parker, my darling, my light, my life, my everything.

i think peter parker's such an interesting creature to write, because a lot of people will point to a certain behaviour about him and say "this is an autistic thing, right?" but a lot of those behaviours are actually, in my head, tied to certain traumas in peter's life too.

people say "oh, the food thing, peter's a picky eater because he's autistic" and yes, absolutely. but also it's tied to his trauma with his parents.

peter gets overstimulated, and yes, it's an autism thing, but also he was bitten by a radioactive spider and his senses are dialled to 11.

it's a similar case i've found for myself, too – where a lot of friends i have kind of diagnose me because i have autistic traits, but actually - i'm hesitant to claim the label or pursue diagnosis because, actually, i know where these certain behaviours come from, and they come from certain traumas. there are events i can pinpoint in my life and say "yep. that's where this behaviour comes from."

so - i think there's a lot of overlap between trauma and autistic traits. the brain is very complex! i think the reason for that overlap is maybe as simple as the fact that people with autism and people with trauma are both doing the same thing - developing behaviours to protect themselves or soothe themselves. so - i think it's nice to be able to see a character like peter parker, who may or may not be autistic, but recognise behaviours in him and see yourself in him.

people who go undiagnosed for whatever reason - people who are really good at masking - so good, in fact, that they have no idea they might be on the spectrum - everyone and anyone at all can look at peter parker and recognise themselves. because i think we discredit the thought that every single brain does the same thing! develops certain behaviours in order to survive. every brain has that same software - we've just all been faced with different hardships that we need to overcome, and that's were all the differences come in.

autism is a spectrum, i guess - everyone falls into it to some degree. and i think events in your life probably push you along on it. but i don't know, i didn't study brain science. probably what i'm saying is very stupid and uninformed. of course there's brain chemistry involved. but i know people in my life living with autism and certain events in their life have exacerbated certain behaviours or made coping with it a lot more difficult. so maybe trauma is a catalyst.

#a lot of my traits have been exacerbated lately and i remember it was much easier for me before #and some of my friends have said “oh it's because you've been masking too long and now you're facing autistic burnout.” #and that made sense to me i think. #but then i found out about the stress thing. me overproducing stress hormone. and that's a very physical thing. #and that explains why i've been overstimulated more than usual lately. and why everything feels like too much. #and i wonder how many of these traits of mine are going to subside once i have lamar removed #and it makes me wonder a lot of things. and it's so weird how much your brain is tied to your biology. #i wonder how much i'll change. i wonder how i'll feel. i wonder if i'll still feel like me. i wonder how much me is me right now. #and how much of me is being altered by weird freaky hormones. who am i?? who will i be?? #i'm almost looking at this as like. a superhero origin story of some sort. like this is my spider-bite moment. maybe. #will i be different? will i cope with things differently?? now that my body isn't fighting something anymore?? #maybe i'll be normal. i don't know. i don't know. #i don't know what it'll mean for me. #but all of these things mean i relate to peter parker in a certain kind of way #i don't think you have to be diagnosed with autism to recognise and empathise with those traits i think #i think everyone can see themselves in peter. and i think that's the benefit of having characters that aren't diagnosed. #because there's so much overlap in the human experience. and certain feelings aren't exclusive to just one group of people. #peter has such a rich identity actually. it's an autistic thing. it's a queer thing. it's a jewish thing. it's a trauma thing. #there are so many overlapping parts of peter's identity that inform who he is and how he behaves and it's never just one thing. #it's a product of all of his things. #just like me! just like everyone. #so me? i guess i can be a million things. you can explain what i am in a million different ways. #a hundred different psychologists can all come up with different ways to explain why i be the way i be. #i don't think it's something that can be simplified. #sorry wow. i'm really going off here in the tags. #i hope people don't think i'm stupid. i don't know brain science. i'm just philosophising as usual. #sci speaks

[batmanego]

SO YOU'RE TIRED OF BATMAN: AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO DC SUPERHEROES

one of the most common things i hear when trying to get people to read comics is that they're just not that into batman. which boggles my mind! not because i'm a huge batman fan -- which i am, but i can understand why people might not be interested in his comics -- but because it's insane to me that batman (or superman, or wonder woman, or any other dc superhero they've made a movie about) is people's default perception of dc superheroes.

there's a whole world out there! and if you're intimidated by the big superheroes, or uninterested in their stories, or even if you like them but you're looking for something different, this is the guide for you. without further ado, i present:

DC MINUS THE BIG THREE: A FIELD GUIDE FOR THE DISENCHANTED AND DISINTERESTED

DOOM PATROL (1987)

to nobody's surprise, doom patrol is first on my list of recommendations. it's a comic book about a group of disabled people who have been labeled freaks, weirdos, or otherwise undesirable by society, coming together to save a world that doesn't care about them because there has to be beauty in it somewhere.

good for: well, i'll let the introduction quote do the talking. “remember when all the other kids on the block had superman and batman as positive role modes? well, if you could only identify with a human brain in a metal body or a guy wrapped up in bandages, and if you grew up weird, welcome home. you’re among friends now.”

read doom patrol here. trigger warnings for: ableism, child sexual abuse, medical abuse, transphobia.

2. HELLBLAZER (1988) BUT ONLY THE FIRST 41 ISSUES OK?

hellblazer is a 300 issue long comic book, mostly comprised of dogshit stories by dogshit writers. i am recommending it because i genuinely think the first 41 issues are art. please do not do as i did and read all of hellblazer. you won't survive the experience. ok? ok.

hellblazer is a comic about aging punk magician/occultist john constantine trying desperately to sort out his life in late 80s london while constantly being beset by poor life choices, poverty, and also lots and lots and lots and lots of demons.

good for: punks, anarchists, fans of the occult, enemies of aleister crowley, anyone who has a personal vendetta against margaret thatcher.

read hellblazer here, BUT STOP READING AFTER THE FIRST 41 ISSUES OK? trigger warnings for: literally almost everything you can imagine, but specifically discussions of child sexual abuse are prominent in the original sins run. also, it was written by a white man in the 80s, so it suffers from "white man in the 80s" syndrome.

3. WILDCATS (1999)

"FERRIS", some of you comic book knowers cry, "WILDCATS IS WILDSTORM NOT DC". to that i say Shut the fuck up DC acquired the rights to the wildstorm universe it's close e-fucking-nough.

wildcats 1999 is about cole cash (a conman and ex-special ops man), hadrian 7 (an alien robot posing as a human named jack marlowe), and noir (a bisexual ex-arms dealer from france who talks in the third person) picking up the pieces of the OLD wildcats team after they all found out they were soldiers in a war that ended before most of them were born and nobody bothered to tell them, and trying to 1) run a company and 2) save the world.

good for: people who hate the military, tacky sci-fi fans, anyone who wishes guys would suck more, anyone interested in the horrors of war.

read wildcats 1999 here.

4. SLEEPER

"ferris i want to leave wildstorm" too fucking bad. we're talking about sleeper right now.

sleeper is about holden carver, an undercover agent in the world's largest underground crime organization/network, who gets stuck undercover when his handler (the only guy who knows he's undercover and not just a traitor) gets shot and put in a coma. it is about grappling with your own morality, losing faith in your ideals, and (like most wildstorm properties), how war is a pointless exercise in horror.

good for: fans of spy thrillers, evil women enjoyers, evil men enjoyers, anyone who has ever thought they could make someone worse, people who want bad things to happen to people in power.

read sleeper season 1 here, and then sleeper season 2 here. trigger warnings for pedophilia (the pedophile gets beat to death in issue 2), homophobia, and child abuse.

5. THE AUTHORITY (1999)

stop crying we're almost done with wildstorm. the authority is a comic book about 6 super-people (who are very loose parodies of the justice league) forming a self-described "anarchist cell" to operate against the wishes and outside the influence of earth's governments to defend the planet against extraterrestrial threats and handle human rights violations.

good for: political science fans, good sci-fi enjoyers, people who think batman and superman should have kissed instead of making a million movies, people in polyamorous six-ples.

read the authority here. trigger warning for "this writer probably shouldn't have written this asian nation like this", homophobia, sexual abuse.

6. SUICIDE SQUAD (1987)

hey, remember how i was talking about wildcats? imagine the same sort of themes of wildcats (the horrors of war, the effects of being in the military, american imperialism, what it means to be a hero or even a good person), and then apply them to the worst group of people you've ever had the displeasure of being in the same room as, and they all fucking hate each other. suicide squad is about a bunch of incarcerated villains being "recruited" (forced) into working hero-missions for the government, because nobody will miss them if they die.

good for: villain apologists, people who (in the immortal words of hack/slash) think "there just aren't enough big mean women in comics", and this guy:

[ID: a comment on read comics online by “the king of anime” reading, “I want to give this a try would it be worth it”. end ID.]

read suicide squad here. trigger warning for, again "white man in the 80s syndrome", along with... probably pretty much everything else imaginable (it's been a while since i read this!)

7. STARMAN (1994)

starman is a story told with the drama of a theater production about jack knight, a late-20s to early-30s punk antiques dealer who gets the mantle of starman (a well-known superhero from the golden age) thrust upon him suddenly. it is a story about legacy, family duties, identity, and most importantly about being kind of a loser who gets shot at all the fucking time.

good for: sci-fi fans who are too proud to admit they also like fantasy, rock opera listeners, family disappointments, single fathers.

read starman here. trigger warning for sexual assault.

8. ARKHAM CITY: THE ORDER OF THE WORLD (2021)

"ferris you said no batman" i did. i did not say no batman villains.

arkham city: the order of the world focuses on some of batman's lesser-known foes, and the fallout of arkham asylum collapsing. i can't really explain it more than that, but it is good and legitimately unnerving at times.

good for: horror fans, enemies of the psychiatric system, villain enjoyers, people who live in new york city.

read arkham city: the order of the world here.

9. THE SHADE (1997) and THE SHADE (2012)

hey, remember starman? want a series about the old immortal victorian man with an "ambiguous sexuality" from it? okay. the shade (1997) follows his origins: specifically, his long-standing beef with one specific family. the shade (2012) is a sort of cross-country whodunnit as the shade tries to track down who is trying (and failing) to murder him.

good for: bisexual enjoyers, dramatic theater kids, vampire fans, goths, people who would have fucked lord byron given the opportunity.

read the shade (1997) here, and the shade (2012) here.

10. METAL MEN (2007)

lastly (but not least), a comic featuring will magnus from doom patrol. metal men (2007) is... a complicated story. it's about robots? it's about being mentally ill. it's about a guy who is so divorced forever. it's about being a little loser guy. it's about time travel, and terrible relationships with your brother. it's hard to describe. but it's fun.

good for: bad sci-fi enjoyers, people who can understand the timeline of looper, robot fans, anyone who has ever been consumed by a desire to create.

read metal men (2007) here.

BONUS:

not included in this list because batman is there, i encourage everyone to have a look at the original justice league international series. it is a superhero comedy. it is silly and stupid and i love it.

OKAY, THAT'S ALL! THANKS FOR READING!

#ferris reading list #comic recommendations #HOO BOY!

[theamityelf]

A sort of random question but do you think the Kamukuras would get varied clothes? Or just the same regular ol’ black suits for each of them

I was absolutely thinking about this, too, so we are on the same page! 😁

I think when they first emerge from the labs, Izuru and Byakuya are in black suits (Hajime's reserve course uniform and Byakuya's expensive clothes) and Makoto is in a hospital gown. Nagito was given his original main course uniform once he no longer needed the hospital gown, but he's modified it over the course of his time in the labs because he was bored, so now it no longer really looks like the main course uniform. And Mahiru might still be in the hospital gown, timing-wise, since she's the most recent, but instead I'll say that her outfit is more like pajamas; not the disposable hospital gown she'd be wearing if she were still regularly being operated on, but not the cohesive outfit she'd be wearing if she were considered "complete" as an experiment. She was still being reviewed and approved when they broke out; she was in the final stages of being considered "finished", whereas Izuru, Nagito, and Byakuya were done and Makoto was going to be taken in for more work.

After they leave, they all have different ideas of what they're supposed to be doing. Byakuya still just thinks his job is to be the Togami heir, Makoto wants to learn about Makoto Naegi and his friends (At least, that's the surface level; the underlying thing is that he needs to become his own person and develop wants and feelings of his own.), Nagito wants to just continually be doing stuff, Izuru just vaguely wants to keep a handle on all his successors and be in control so nothing bad happens to any of them, and Mahiru is almost on a superhero arc where she wants to right the world's wrongs in ways only a Kamukura can.

Byakuya sticks with the suit because it's his, he's Byakuya Togami, etc. To be more specific, he can still make use of his entire wardrobe. Like, he could just straight up go home, sleep in his own bed, and all that. This genuinely could just become the wacky story of all the Kamukuras living in one of Byakuya's mansions. Byakuya also cuts his hair. It won't be the same style he had before; it's slightly longer, since he has a more precise sense of what look favors his face the best. But basically, he still sees himself as the Togami heir and puts effort into his appearance.

Izuru sticks with his suit and his long, unkempt hair because he can't be bothered to change it. He doesn't find clothes terribly interesting, but he does care about what he, Nagito, and Makoto are wearing, collectively. By which I mean, he would care if Nagito and Makoto were dressed similarly and he wasn't, so I'm thinking when he is finding Makoto something else to wear besides the hospital gown, he would specifically opt not to get him a main course uniform for that reason. He also doesn't want Makoto wearing what he used to before the project. I'm thinking he would find Makoto something fairly neutral to wear, and it would coincidentally look a lot like Hajime's casual outfit (like, collared shirt and necktie). As Makoto gradually gains his own identity, he starts to choose not to wear the necktie, maybe one of his old friends gives him a hoodie, etc. (It might even be Junko, as an attempt to provoke Izuru's possessiveness while also doing a nice thing for Makoto.)

Nagito I think would be the most into clothes. He's the one who would get excited by new clothes, by trying out a new style, etc. He would regularly acquire new clothes just to combine them in fun ways. He likes to style Makoto's hair and dress him in new accessories. I'm just picturing him walking Makoto into some sitting room at Byakuya's house to show the others the new outfit he put together for him, and they all just have an extended conversation about it. Byakuya thinks the outfit is ugly, Izuru just shrugs that it's fine, and Mahiru flatly asks Makoto if he likes it. Makoto just says, "My hair feels crunchy."

Nagito might give Makoto or himself a new hair color on a whim.

Mahiru I think would be the one to wear normal clothes. Not her outfit from before, but still a regular casual outfit. Like, t-shirt and shorts, t-shirt and skirt, t-shirt and jeans. That type of thing. Something that won't draw a lot of notice or get in her way. She would cut her hair, but she'd deliberately avoid emulating the bob she used to have, since she thinks it would be disrespectful to the person who lived in this body before. She leaves it at just past shoulder-length. Maybe she gives herself bangs. Her objective is to be someone who can blend into a crowd, kill a killer, and then blend into a crowd again.

#danganronpa #makoto kamukura au #mahiru kamukura au #byakuya kamukura au #nagito kamukura au #izuru kamukura #makoto naegi #byakuya togami #nagito komaeda #mahiru koizumi #junko enoshima #kamukuras au

[partyanimal167]

Hiya, please mote Miguel o'hara x black female reader please, particularly on the fluff side.

Heyo~

It'd be my absolute pleasure! This one is simple, but I hope you enjoy it.

Secret Happy Place- Miguel x F!Reader

CW: none, fluff, slice of life (in Spider Society), black fem reader in mind, silly reader

When asked, you told people that you were a librarian. And to be fair, that is the truth. You catalogue items, keep track of borrowing, repair books, and are a guardian to what seems to universes-worth of knowledge. Except that last part is a bit more literal than people would think.

You don't have a fancy origin story or secret powers. Simply, you were at work really late when some sketchy looking guy came in and tried to take a textbook in the 'Reference' section. You threw your shoe at him, security escorted him out, and that was all.

Until he came again and was acting...different.

You don't like to bore people with the little details. This guy was some weird villain who was trying to steal books and could appear and reappear sporadically. Spider-Man came, saved the day, the whole thing yada-yada.

But public funding got cut for some new solar rail system thing, and you were out of a job.

So then, you were doing a part-time gig cataloging experiment logs for a fancy rich bio-tech company, saw a strange bird-man-thing break in, witnessed a hero battle up close, and watched Spider-Man's suit glitch to reveal the face of one scientist whose name you recognized while the villain got away.

One smart, handsome Miguel O'Hara offered you a job at some secret superhero club, and now, you spent your days reading different literature on Van Gough's varying lives and direct Spiders through an extensive science section--most of those guys were such nerds.

So your life was a little different now.

Life was weirdly peaceful. You didn't see Miguel that much. He had a plethora of missions to organize and direct, so you mostly got emails with files to sort through and organize. At first, you wondered even why this job existed, but there was always something to do, so someone needed to do it.

On a slower day, you were wandering around trying to find a history book fish for Spider-Cat (you didn't ask why), when you saw your technically-boss staring at a bookshelf. You hadn't seen Miguel for some time, so you cleared your throat a little as you approached. "Is there anything I can help you look for?"

Miguel turned and looked at you as if he had expected not to be interrupted in this area. You were almost certain he forgot you existed for awhile if it hadn't been for your email exchanges. The shock quickly left his eyes; he only took you in for a second before shaking his head. "Uh not really. I was just seeing what was here. That's all."

You looked at the area he was in and noted that there were different books on varying species of spiders. You chuckled to yourself. "Is there a newbie giving you trouble? Different powets than you expected?" There were plenty of spiders that existed in one universe. You could only imagine what odd one got its genes reworked before creating a new hero.

Miguel scratched his head before turning away. "Uh no. I'm just checking to see the varying levels of paralysis that different spiders cause...I'm hoping to better control mine." he seemed shy to open up about that. It was an ability you heard existed--unlike the others--but you weren't sure why it was bothering him.

You cocked your head to the side a little. "There should be something we can find. But why would you want to change that? It only happens when you bite people, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to only hurt people when I bite them." Miguel went on.

You giggled a little. "I mean when else would you bite people- oh my god," you gasped. Miguel was starting to look flustered. "You have a girlfriend!?"

"What! No!" Miguel quickly denied.

You placed your hand on your head and nodded to yourself. "Ah that does make sense. Look at you! I mean, I don't think she'd want to stop moving if you guys are-,"

"Y/n! Please..." his cheeks were red, and you covered your mouth to stop from laughing. "Just forget I said anything." he mumbled before starting walk away.

"It's okay! Your secret's safe with me!"

"Stop yelling! We're in the library!"

"We're the only ones here!" you laughed.

~~~

So what if Miguel found a couple books with sticky notes filled with page numbers on his desk the next day? So what if the information was extremely useful? So what if he started thinking about the possibility of dating just because you brought it up? So what if your laugh rung in his ears ever so often?

It took a few days, but Miguel returned to the library floor and saw you typing away with an iced coffee in your hand and lo-fi playing in the background. He placed the books on the desk, and you finally looked up.

Miguel coughed a little. "Thanks for the books and notes. The information I found was really useful."

You shrugged. "Of course! I mean that's what you hired me for. Right? Not just to shut me up because I know you're Spider-Man?"

Miguel chuckled a little, but it was a sound you appreciated. "That's not why you were hired. You fit here well. I know the others like you." He paused unsure of how to continue this conversation. "I was wondering if you could help me find some more information..." he trailed off.

"On spider venom?"

"Dios-, no. Other things to research. It seems you know your way around here." he clarified.

You stood up from your desk and smiled. "Yeah! Let's do it!"

No one said anything if they couldn't find Miguel brooding in his office. Lyla would only chuckle when Miguel told her that he was going to the library for some quiet. You didn't even question it when Miguel came over since he could relax and hang out with you.

~~~

Fluffy~

Thanks for reading. Shout out to all the people who did their college work study in the library lol. Maybe that'll be my job once I retire.

Feel free to hit my inbox if you have an idea or wanna chat.

#atsv #spiderman #miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #spider society #miguel x reader #fem reader #black fem reader #librarian #atsv fanfiction #mine #partyanimal167

[jimintomystery]

Makoto headcanons

[Above: Uh, yeah, that's probably fine]

Originally I found Makoto to be an extraordinarily bland protagonist, which made him seem a bit two-dimensional. Eventually, though, I got a handle on the character, and saw at least some potential for depth...

We learn very little about Makoto in Trigger Happy Havoc, other than what he learns about himself from the experience. He thought he was just some guy, y'know, and then he turned out to be some sort of...non-giving-up...school guy. He's a blank slate compared to his classmates, even Kyoko, who is supposed to be the officially designated blank slate. His most distinguishing feature is the ability to chin up amid the horrors he's witnessed. I think that's taking an unseen toll on him.

When the Tragedy happened, Makoto reassured his friends the crisis would be over soon. It wasn't. When the Killing Game began, he promised Sayaka he would get her out of there. He didn't. By the end of the game, a third of his classmates have murdered another third, and the remaining third seriously considered letting him die to save themselves. When he came up with a plan to rehabilitate the Remnants of Despair without killing them, the Future Foundation branded him a traitor. Said plan almost backfired and nearly doomed himself and his closest friends. In the Final Killing Game, the Future Foundation largely went knives-out on him, and then a mind-control program nearly brainwashed him to kill himself. He doesn't process this stuff, he just puts it on his tab. He's running up a big bill.

I'm not saying all this is going to break Makoto, or that he's on the verge of succumbing to despair, or anything like that. The idea that this can't happen is what makes him interesting--the story won't let him falter or fail, so he just has to endure. He can't cope with his problems except in terms of helping others cope with theirs. In that sense he reminds me of Hajime Hinata, but Hajime is a surgically enhanced ubermensch, so for better or worse he's built to handle such weighty problems. Makoto is just an ordinary man, so it's kind of scary to realize he carries such an epic burden.

If I'm making Makoto sound like Jesus sweating drops of blood over his duty to the world...well, yeah. Personally, I am extremely tired of writers cramming Christ tropes into American superhero stories, so I'm loathe to look for one in Danganronpa, but it's hard for me to avoid it this time. Not that I want Makoto to be crucified and resurrected (any more than he already has been). But I'm intrigued by the idea of a Christ/martyr figure who can't get off the hook by peacing out to heaven.

Anyway, the point is that Makoto avoids his trauma by helping his friends with their problems. Which is ironic considering he spends a lot of time getting Kyoko comfortable with facing her trauma. Kyoko benefits greatly from having someone she can trust and finally open up to, so it doesn't occur to her that Makoto might need the same sort of help, or that he would hide it as well as she does. Overcoming that takes a lot of work, for both of them.

I haven't decided what sort of relationship Makoto and Kyoko had before their memories were wiped, but I tend to think it wasn't romantic. At most they might have had some basic attraction, but neither of them expected anything to come of it, so they paid it no mind. Even during the Killing Game, I don't think Makoto realizes what he's starting to feel. He's just curious about her because she's mysterious, or worried about her because she's missing, that's all. She's cute, but he'd never have a shot with her, so there's no point going there. Meanwhile Kyoko is gradually facing her feelings about him, and getting a little frustrated that he's not making a move. It's not until after they escape that everything hits Makoto all at once.

As Makoto learns more about Kyoko's family, he isn't afraid to call out the bullshit they've put her through. He's willing to believe her father might have had a reason for walking out on her, but that doesn't excuse the harm he caused. He's also not wild about her grandfather pushing her through the family traditions, and (from what I've gathered) exploiting her abandonment issues to hone her emotional discipline. If Fuhito Kirigiri ever meets Makoto, I think there will be a lot of friction there.

#danganronpa #danganronpa thh #danganronpa 1 #makoto naegi #dork squad headcanons

[noblehcart]

because its my blog and i can post what I want and so here's ZARA'S TOP TEN LIST OF FAVORITE BOOKS below the cut and with a very brief discussion on why.

Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux This book was one of the first books that really truly catapulted me back into reading as a young adult (the first being A Winter's Tale) and I remember sitting up and crying at 2am in my bed as I finished this book just sobbing and if i'm honest ? Feeling so ashamed that I take my normal life for granted. I have never had such a reaction to a book before and honestly I don't think I ever will again in such a resounding way. For me this is not a love story its a story about humanity and our relationships with each other.

Phantom by Susan Kay This book comes second because I don't have the same emotional connection as I do to the original but hands down in reading a book cover to cover and returning to reread snippets I have read this book so MANY times my god. I always go back to this book when I'm bored or need to revisit a friend. This book is definitely flawed and its got its issues but its one of my all time favorites and I'm so glad to have like three copies (hardcover, pdf and kindle) so its always on hand. I love the depth and exploration for Erik and what shaped him and his life and the people around him and how they were affected by him. Like wow. Its just a book I will always have on my shelf forever till I die.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy Its just so good and I don't know why more people haven't read it. Its the beginning of the creation of superheroes and double identities and it has a FEMALE LEAD. The entire book is in the POV of the brilliant and beautiful Marguerite and honestly if I had known years back that it was from a female pov I'd have gotten into it much MUCH sooner. Its dynamic, the characters are so good and the villain is so deliciously good at being bad. I loved the movie, but the book just captured my heart because Margot is this wonderfully clever but soft heroine that just speaks to me.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo WHAT can I even say about this duology other than the characters are flawless and by that i mean they are so flawed and relatable and complex. Its a wonderful book of found family and slow burns and enemies to lovers with fantastic representation. I absolutely couldn't make myself get into S&B but you can pry the crows from my cold dead hands because I adore them and go back to reread this series all the time!

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova This is also a big reread for me, but mostly I go back and reread sections that interest me most but the entire book is just gold. Its just MINDBLOWING that we never know the main heroine's name which is just shocking, but we never needed it or would've noticed if it wasn't pointed out. Its this complex beautifully woven story with history, globetrotting, mystery, suspense and some thrilling aspects that I just love love about it. This is the book that sent me down the Dark Academia rabbit hole guys.

The Golem & Jinni by Helene Wecker This book honestly is on par with The Historian for me because the pacing is very much the same and it took me a bit to read it as did the The Historian, but man am I glad that I did because its complex, its such a human story told in such a supernatural fun way that's just thrilling in a slow build sort of way that ends beautifully and I can't wait to start on the second book soon! The character development and the world building just really draws you in and makes you forget your current time to be absorbed into theirs and its brilliant.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E Schwab I'll be honest and say that this book almost didn't make the list because at first I didn't think the book was as good as the hype, but upon looking back and rereading snippets again and rereading the ending more thoroughly- my god, this book is definitely going to be a CLASSIC. Its beautifully written and one of the books I made myself slow and savor each word and sentence as it wove the magic over the years of addie's life. Its a VERY good book that I'd definitely recommend to anyone and everyone. Addie has grown on me in such a different way and I love love her.

Entwined by Heather Dixon THIS is one of my all time childhood/youth/teen favorites. Yes its YA and yes it might be a little boring to the adult reader, but its one of my absolute favorite retellings of the 12 Dancing Princesses. I still go back and reread it because its that good and has a special place for me. The villain and world building is so good and easy to follow along. Its fantastic and I'd go back and reread this book over and over again. Its great if you love magic, sisters, princesses, unexpected love, dancing and magical objects.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte This is on the list because I remember loving reading the story in highschool and feeling so connected to Jane and now as an adult I love her even more for her actions and choices. Its one of the first classic books I ever bonded over with my brother on and so that in itself is a miracle. Jane just has a special place in my heart for the romance, the mystery, the dynamics and the characters and their development is just absolutely wonderful with a fantastic ending. Can't really ask for more.

The Book of Esther I have done and read and watched nearly everything I can find on the book of Esther, which is kinda the oddball on this list because its a book in the Bible, but its still a book in my definition. Its just such a beautiful story of overcoming oppression, tragedy, fear, genocide and this beautiful painting of faith in terrifying times. The twists and turns and thrills and complexities that come with this story before and after if you know the history and its setting- Persia (-gestures to Kay's Phantom-) just absolutely has me fascinated. There's also the aspect that just maybe the 1001 Nights are inspired or based off the story of Esther just absolutely delights me with its fantastic similarities because I adore that story just as much as this one. I love Esther's bravery, courage, wisdom and discernment and she's absolutely one of my heroines IRL that I look to.

Honorable mentions:

I, Strahd by P. N. Elrod - The only reason this isn't in the top ten is because it reads sO MUCH like Kay's Phantom that if I had to chose one of these it'd be Phantom, but this book was so good and really helped get me back into reading during one of my many many slumps. It was a great blend of myth, royalty, supernatural and tragedy that I've reread it a few times already recommended it to a LOT of my friends.

Wintersong by S Jae-Jones- The only reason why THIS one didn't make the ten list is simply because I already have ten and because it would be between this and Jane Eyre and lbh Jane Eyre is almost the perfect book. It was a toss up of faerie girls and Miss Eyre won it because she really was my first classical book love.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier THIS BOOK omg its another 12 Dancing Princesses retelling and its so beautifully and wonderfully crafted in its world building and the magic and the everything of it. ITS SO GOOD and tbh I'd definitely recommend this book more to the adult reader than I would Entwined, but- BUT it didn't make the list because I would personally pick up Entwined far more often and remember the characters far more than I did in this book. It is a very very good book and I also highly recommend you read it if you like retellings, vampires, fae complexities and a blending of fairytales.

ACOTAR by SJ Maas- I did really enjoy reading this series but it is definitely not one of my top faves because its really only the last two books (not the novella) that I actually devoured. Its a good series and I def recommend reading it because its almost worth the hype but my quibble here is that I could EASILY slip out of that world/the books never absorbed me like others have. Also I didn't care for the main heroine shhh don't come after me guys.

A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers So this book was a toss up between it and Esther and it was a TOUGH one because I do go back and reread this trilogy at least 2-3x a year, but I do reread and study and think a lot more about Esther so it lost out in that competition spot. But its an excellent series and the first two books just have my heart for the romance and the intrigue going on during this time period. Its a wonderful slow burn though I'll admit the third book is slightly out of pocket, but still so good that I had to make pinterest boards about this series.

Eye of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland THIS book is so so SO GOOD if you're into reading about the Romanovs and Russia shortly after that. The entire series is so so good and I normally don't like mystery and thriller plots but this book does have a special place for me, but was beat out by the golemn & the jinni. Pekkala is fascinating and the people and cast he meets along the way just build up in such a delightful way.

The Holy Thief by William Ryan Again this only got beat out by The Historian by a margin because vampires, but The Holy Thief oh my god is very much on par with the Eye of the Red Tsar because its the same time period and magnetic energy. I was so invested in this book and its characterse and it might be due to my love of all things Romanov/Anastasia musical wise, but it was so good and I highly recommend it. I wept, I laughed, I sat on the edge of my seat it was a great read.

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran This is a recent read and like wow...it just really blew my mind and touched me in a way I don't usually get outside of my belief system and IDK but this book is everything and more than the hype and the only reason its not on the list is because it didn't quite beat out Esther for me but its such a good book.

Tagging you because I would love to see everyone's Top 5 or 10 favorites : @walkingshcdow, @myhiraeth, @kingmakercastle, @demonstigma, @historiavn, @swede, @lordofthestrix, @fasciinating, @reverdies, @ensnchekov, @malka-lisitsa, @paramounticebound , @delanuit, @starlsssankt, @aigonakru

#// ooc #forgot to mention but 'a gentleman in moscow' omggggggggggggggggg ONE OF MY FAVES #I'd put it in the top 10 if i could bc its that good

[theartfulmegalodon]

Well dang it, I've had a nibble of engagement, and I'm finally letting it tempt me. Wanna read my comic scripts? I'm really hoping you do!

It is planned as a 30-issue comic series. I have chosen to write the entire thing and make it as good as I can before I attempt to draw any of the actual pages. Partly this is perfectionism, and partly it is because I know how long it would take me to attempt to draw it, and how unlikely I'd be to ever complete it. I wanted to focus on completing something, and I've chosen the writing.

I have written 15 (half!) of the 30 issues, and they have already seen many, many revisions. (Much thanks to the three people who have read them and given me feedback!) I am quite confident that these first 15 issues are very close to their final forms, and they are definitely good enough for me to share with you all.

I have also done a few sketches and bits of standalone art for the characters*, so while I have no comic pages drawn yet, I will occasionally include some of these sketches in with the script, just to give your optic nerves more of a workout. It's the least I can do! I'm thinking I can post one issue script per week? That's 15 weeks of new content for ya, with more to eventually follow!

*All designs subject to small changes down the line.

I post these issues mainly to share them. My experience has been that people almost never want to read a comic script, but sadly, the writing is as much as I can do right now, and I am in fact proud of what I've done so far, and very much looking forward to tackling the second half. However, I am always looking for feedback, and I will be WIDE OPEN for questions, critique and suggestions. Not saying I'll necessarily change things based on your feedback, but I do welcome it! Also, of course, I'd love it if you shared these around, talked them up to your friends, if you like them!

Read on for more about the story itself!

River & Ash is a slow-burn supernatural gay romance, set in an alternate version of our real world. The material is treated maturely (I like to think) but with only about a PG-13 rating. (No smut, no super-strong language.) There is angst in parts of it, but there is also a lot of wholesome shmoop. And while the focus is mostly on the evolution of the relationship between the two main characters, there is also plot, and mini-arcs, with minor superheroics, alternate history pop culture, and an original mythology and history that is teased and then slowly revealed over the course of the story. It also happens to have a very proactive, driven individual for a main character (River). I say this just in case, like me, you don't love when magic/the supernatural just sort of happens to the protagonist to kick off a story.

Ripped from the introductory page that begins every issue…

"Once, the world was full of magic… because humanity once shared the world with demons. History tells that for thousands of years they coexisted, sometimes happily, sometimes not, but one truth never changed: any human who made a deal with a demon would be granted incredible power of their own… for a price.

But in the Middle Ages, during the rise of the Catholic church, a small pocket of humanity attempted to purge these magical beings from existence. The details were lost to time, but what is known is that the demons who survived collectively renounced mankind and disappeared, removing themselves and their influence. 1101 became known as the year magic vanished from the world.

Centuries later, on the same day he suffers a horrifying loss, River McAllister is given what appears to be a real demon book. These rare, indestructible relics have been mostly hoarded away, and there hasn't been a confirmed demon sighting in over a thousand years. It seems impossible. He knows it probably won't work. But if he can find a way to translate it, he might just be able to summon the demon that belongs to it… and maybe make a deal of his own."

The first will be posted forthwith. Thank you in advance so very much!

#River&Ash #comic writing #comic scripts #really hoping to find even a smidgen of an audience here #Godlings? never heard of it

[dr-jem-nutcase]

MvA: The M Files take-a-peek, pt. 4

Two chapters today. First one's rather small so it's not exactly a double feature

Chapter 4

Is it "shh" or "sshh"? You tell me. Artbook says "ssh"

And like that, slight panic starts not in the streets but in the White House

Maaaaan, someone sure let the White House front lawn go

Mr. President of the 1960s/70s, even though you definitely don't look one bit like John Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson, you've described a handful of times in America between your time & now (2023, in case some reads this in 2024 and beyond)

That is one heck of a color scheme for Monger's hair. Just about as mysterious as the president's hair: like how does that combover work? Or what is that supposed to be?

So there's a basic map of the facility we all came to know and love...or loathe...whatever. The artbook has a much bigger description of it, a LOT more detail. But you can kinda figure out where everything is in this picture in comparison with the movie, kinda maybe sort of. Hm

So, I guess Link is no longer on dry ice or whatever. Yay, I think

Chapter 5

Welp, so much for that mushroom cloud footage. Explosions were almost a comedy staple in 2000s cartoons, like the cooler & wagon crash landing on top of the SUV in Over the Hedge or the chain reaction explosions of the hunters' trucks courtesy of a propane tank in Open Season. Why Insecto's origin story was changed to exclude that...idk

First off, you wouldn't want any amount of radiation exposure in that close amount of space, especially with little aeration holes...in front of kids, no less

What does the kid second from the left have in his mouth? Definitely does NOT look like gum

I'm getting major bridal Thumbelina vibes from the girl in pink, that hair

Hey, is this a parody of Spiderman's origin story? Imma say yes! Japan's own superhero, Grubman!

No, I think we ended up with Spiderman meets Bruce Wayne. Or just a rich guy who had to undergo a good amount of medical treatment for a very abnormal bug bite. Boo hoo. But moving on!

How quickly did Insecto grow? And that would probably determine how she got from a museum to a marketplace. (Yes, Insecto is female. Confirmed by the artbook)

Whitewashing some of the locals or just tourists? You tell me

That's some lazy Kanji right there

So Japan already had experiences with giant monsters AND robots? I mean, there was Godzilla (who got blown up in the B&W OG movie), but still. My curiosity is P-I-Q-U-E-D. If Japan had this sort of problem before 1950, good luck convincing the Japanese public that monsters are just stuff of myth & legend. Japan must've been the chillest place in the world when the monsters made their debut

Indestructible. But not for an alien robot

RIP, pilot. We thank you for your service. You are forever in our hearts

Ooh, W. R. Monger-- "CAPTAIN! Captain W. R. Monger." If you don't know what this reference is, I'm very sorry for you

I know English is becoming more & more of an international language, but I'm not sure that it was THAT international in the 1960s/70s. So a Japanese general that was fluent in English back then was a miracle

So, was Insecto just there for that one night or was she just sitting there in downtown Tokyo for more than a day?

I just realized Monger's hair turned gray really quickly in between BOB's story and this one...and now it's brown again

For the record, his eyes aren't blue

Bright lights...like stadium lights, movie premiere searchlights, interrogation spotlights, tell me more

Oh! Christmas lights. I'm disappointed in you, Tokyo. Wait, there's stage lights...and a disco ball!! Lol! I stand corrected

I guess Monger names his monsters on the fly. As is shown in the movie, "Escar...gantua"

"We saved the city!"

"At what cost?"

"Ummmm...the city"

Goodbye, downtown Tokyo

Those lights must've bleached the fur on Insecto's back

And so...there they go, about to tow a 350-foot colossus across the world's biggest ocean and a few hundred miles inland through Cali and into Nevada

I just realized...how does Insectosaurus almost always stand upright if most, if not all insect species are invertebrates? A lot of invertebrates have exoskeletons, so hers is probably underneath all that fur. Pardon this quack/wannabe entomologist

I think there's two more posts after this, which both should be coming this week. Whoopee!!!

FYI: yes, I have been the proud owner of a hardcover copy of The Art of MvA since the early 2010s. You will have to hunt me down for it if you want it for yourself

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to mourn the end of Phantom of the Opera 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

#mva #monsters vs aliens #dreamworks #general monger #general w r monger #insectosaurus #insecto #kidsbooks #childrensbooks

[ufonaut]

This has almost definitely been asked before but I'm curious to know if you like Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron?

i love roy thomas' squadron! believe it or not, i love most of roy's work even if he's the man responsible for retconning alan scott as straight (and i mean exactly that, infinity inc annual #1 is a move that could've come only out of an acknowledgement of decades-long coding and a conclusion of that being a thing to be 'fixed') and i've got some tremendous respect for him & his contributions to the study of comics and fandom in the original sense.

all-star squadron is quite possibly his finest hour, it's my third favourite jsa run (after all-star comics 1976 and 1940) and it's got this fantastic reverence for the original stories that's nothing short of charming even during roy's moments of purple prose. above all, it's mature and high stakes in a way nobody had ever dared to approach golden age comics before and it really succeeds in developing the wartime setting. it's a good solid read that i'm endlessly fond of.

however, squadron occupies a really interesting place in the present day because it's old enough that it's reached the nostalgia value phase and average readers tend to interpret is as the 'correct' way to do a jsa book, which is extremely funny because roy thomas commits every big 'no-no' of modern comics -- he introduces original characters for 'the sake of diversity' (will everett as amazing-man retroactively becomes the world's first black superhero, danette reilly takes over her brother's mantle of firebrand due to a distinct lack of women in the team), he references comics published too long ago to have been read by anybody at the time (and in fact, in 1981 there was no access to 1940s comics at all outside of private collections), he updates or erases well-established character histories (johnny quick had never dated any women at all in his original stories), he opts for 'dark and gritty' reimaginings of defining character traits (first comic book to ever call rex tyler an addict & explore his story as such), he makes the team bigger than even jsa 2008 had attempted, etc etc. and it makes for a sincerely fantastic book!

it's just such an interesting book to look back on, especially since it works on two entirely distinct planes depending entirely on your own familiarity with all-star comics 1940 -- squadron is effectively an adaptation of those golden age stories down the minute details but for first-time readers it works perfectly fine as a standalone book and it was certainly intended as a sort of 'replacement' of asc 1940 when no access to it existed.

it's great stuff! i could talk about it endlessly!

#asks #anon #jsa #all star squadron

[tendebill]

I heard you have a multiverse in your story pleas tellm me more I fkuninging love worldbuilding

forgive the typos I amn excited

yeah! :D The main story and all my side stories are set in 8 different dimensions and I have at least a few of "important" ocs in every one of them!

I won't go into too much detail, some worlds are more developed/detailed and play a larger role in the story than others, and some of them I'm still working on and they might change.

So the most important one is Drakenterra. Sephoras and Huen are from there, as well as a lot of other ocs. A large chunk of the story happens there and its magic system is probably the most important for the story! It has a decent amount of lore and its version of Earth has completely different geography/history/creatures from "ours".

Sepaterra is similar to Drakenterra in geography and origins of its magic system, but it has a major difference in history. A war that happened in both worlds had VASTLY different outcomes that impacted how magic evolved. Other than that its pretty underdeveloped and i dont have many ocs from there (maybe one or two that are 100% canon). It appears once or twice in the main plot.

Nullterra is just... Like "our" world. No magic or anything. Ellie comes from there! Appears in the main plot about 2 times i think.

Deiterra is also very important, has the same geography as Nullterra, only its lore/history is WAYYY different. It has gods, all of whom originate from the three Major Gods that existed before everything and created Earth and all that. I have some extensive lore for this one too, that i won't get into here (because OH BOY it would need a post of its own) and it appears frequently in the main plot + has some side stories of its own! Angelica Emperor is from here!

Quaterra also looks like "our" Earth and has mostly the same history, with the difference of having ghosts! The "magic system" aka the ghosts are largely sorted out and I have one side story that takes place there! It also appears a few times in the main plot. As for ocs, Thomas and Vincent are from here (but i dont talk about these two much :/)

Elterra is another VERY important dimension! David and Maffi come from here and it also plays an active part in the main plot. The lore in here might be a bit outdated and I plan on refreshing it, but the magic system is very simple - just elemental powers. It also has a third type of geography on it's Earth, completely different to Null's or Draken's!

Aliterra has the same geo type as Elterra! I have a couple of ocs here, none of which i introduced yet, but one of them (Caroline) has a small but important role in the main plot. They are probably the most "isolated" dimension and almost don't interact with the other worlds at all. They have a similar magic system to Elterra, only their powers can get very specific and be more abstract (for example: Stars, Mud, a particular kind of flower, but Water, Fire etc. still exist as a power someone can have). I have some lore but it might have to be refreshed as well. They have a side story with Caroline as well!

Evoterra has the same geo type as Null. It appears only a few times in the main plot and has its own side story! The "magic system" here is basically this: people can have different powers unlocked if you tamper with their DNA, these powers usually relate to concepts in physics (liquifying, turning things into gasses, manipulating time, dark matter etc.) and every person could potentially have one unlocked. Unlocking them is very rare/dangerous and there are tests being done on people against their will to find a safe way to unlock certain powers for the rest of the world. The most important oc from this dimension is Bitzy, the only person who managed to have a gravity power unlocked and crime-fighting vigilante :D It all spirals into a kind of superhero vibe thing, as least with Bitzy!

Some other important things:

These worlds purposfully "reflect" each other/can be paired up with each other (Draken/Sepa, Evo/Null, Qua/Dei, El/Ali) for plot reasons!

Other worlds DEFINITELY exist in my multiverse, but only these 8 are really important to the story, so i never really considered making more.

Certain worlds are "closer" to others in the multiverse, depending on how many similarities they share

All worlds share in the concept of a life force, that manifests differently in people from different dimensions (their magic for Draken's people, elemental powers in El, souls/ghosts in Qua, mutations is Evo, etc...).

I think that's about as in-depth as I can go without making this a whole-ass essay about each dimension. When it comes to lore & worldbuilding my faves are Drakenterra and Deiterra. I put the most effort into them and they're the most detailed.

Thank u sm for the questions :') they fuel me to keep thinking about and keep making stuff for my ocs uwu <3

#long post #tendebill ocs #oc #original characters #worldbuilding #ask box #ask response

[marsnolias]

Villainized! (I'm a sucker for superhero stories with a twist)

"So what's this newest project?" Tessa said. "You haven't said a word about it."

"You will see." Berl-zig's robotic voice bounced off the walls of the narrow hallway, her mobile suit rattling as she rolled down the passage. Originally from a planet with very low gravity, Berl-zig would be reduced to a pancake outside of the specially pressurized suit.

They made one turn, then another. Tessa had never explored Berl-zig's ship in any capacity, so she had no idea where they were going, and no idea that Berl was going to stop in the middle of the hall.

Tessa almost bumped into her as she halted in front of a door. A long, multi-jointed arm unfolded from the front of the suit, stroking the smooth panel of the door in an intricate spiraling pattern. It unlocked without a sound, and Berl-zig rolled inside.

Most of the room was filled with a massive tank. Inside it was a featureless blue blob suspended in some sort of clear fluid. It moved, undulating like wax inside a lava lamp, with pieces occasionally breaking off and floating towards the top.

The rest of the room was covered in monitors. Most of them were off, but a few showed live feeds of what looked to be a sterile lab environment.

"Behold." Berl extended an arm to point at the blob. "Panoptica."

"The all-seeing eye?"

"Indeed." She rolled closer to it. "It is a symbiotic colony of individuals connected by a psychic link. Those individuals, when introduced to the host, burrow into the occipital lobe and transmit visual information from said host to the main colony."

"That's what's on these monitors, then?"

"Precisely. With this, we can see through the eyes of anyone. Provided they have a piece of Panoptica."

#Berl zig I imagine look kinda like the Flatwoods monster #A big metal cone topped with a glass orb #With an Octopus thingy inside #Maybe I'll draw her sometime

[rendevousz]

freak

avengers x teen!fem!reader

summary: you get captured during a mission and the team saves you.

warnings: language, violence, brief misogyny, torture, **NO sexual assault (because as i was proofreading, i only implied most of the torture scenes because i didn't want to write it in graphic detail and i realised the vague wordings might be misinterpreted as sexual assault which IT IS NOT, just clearing it up), and also again, my inability to write good endings

word count: 4589

notes: i just rewatched iron man 2 so that explains justin hammer LMAO also ooc justin hammer because even tho mans evil, he gets extremely um.. cruel here but anyways i hope you enjoy this!!

you were 13 when you first met the avengers and 16 when you officially joined. you grew up as one of HYDRA's experimented children and the team had found you when they raided the base that you were in.

a small, sickly-looking kid you were, sat against your cell wall, hugging your knees. 13 but you could probably pass off as a 10 year old due to how malnourished and miserable you were. burying your head in between your knees, you covered your ears as the loud gunshot noises filled the whole place. the metal door of your cell slamming open against the wall had you whimpering, hands above your head in fear.

every time the door slammed open, guards would come drag you out for more experiments so it was an instinct for you to cower in fear at the sound.

"last room in the west hall, i found a little girl."

you heard nothing because you were covering your ears, preparing yourself to be forcefully dragged by the guards to the experiment room. but it never came.

"hey," a soft voice called. you were violently shaking at this point, breathing heavily as you tried to calm down. "hey, it's okay." the voice called out again and you felt them touch your shoulders.

your head immediately jolted up, flinching away from the stranger's touch. your eyes met a blue pair as you backed away into the corner in fear. "i'm sorry! i'm sorry, i didn't mean to." the man apologised. you slowly looked up at him, observing him. he had on a full black outfit, a quiver of arrows slinging on his shoulder and he was holding onto a bow.

"don't be scared. i'm here to help," he states with his hands out, as if to calm you down. "that's what they all say." you hissed through gritted teeth and a tear-stained face, glaring at him even though that could've been a very wrong move had it been with an actual HYDRA guard.

despite the strange feeling of being safe around this man, you didn't let your guard down. that's exactly what those scientists said seven years ago. trusting kind-looking men got you into this hell you never thought you would ever escape from and you weren't going to make the same mistake again.

"clint," a red-headed female, also in all black, entered through the open door of your cell with her pistol up. at the sight of the weapon, you broke your glare towards the man. your breathing quickened and you went back to your original position before the archer came; body pressed up against your knees and covering your ears with your palms.

"i'm sorry! i'm sorry! i'll come! please don't use that on me again," you whimpered, voice muffled as your face was hidden against your knees. the woman freezes mid-walk, looking at her friend with a bewildered expression.

"nat! put that away!" clint whispered harshly, eyes glaring at the pistol in nat's hands. nat's jaw dropped in realisation, a small gasp leaving her lips as she immediately put away her weapon.

she slowly makes her way to you and clint puts his arm out before she could get closer. he looks at her with a worried expression as he shook his head, as if telling her that she can't get too close to you. nat nods understandingly, crouching down a distance from you.

"hey," she spoke softly. "i promise you that we're not here to hurt you." you kept your face hidden from her, still hugging your legs tightly. nat sighs before sitting down.

"here, let's introduce ourselves. i'm nat and this right here is clint." you hear her speak and when you slowly lifted up your head, you saw the both of them sitting down in front of you, seeming to have made themselves at home in your pathetic cell. "what's your name?"

name? you had never been able to use your name before. you always kept your own name deep in your heart despite no one ever using it, afraid you would forget it if you stopped thinking of it. the only name they ever called you here was 'number five'.

"y/n," you whispered, still doubtful about these people's intentions. you almost burst out crying when you said your name out loud. that was the first time you introduced yourself with your actual name and not the number you were given ever since you were captured.

nat must have noticed this because she immediately spoke up, trying to distract you from your consuming thoughts. "y/n...that's a pretty name for a pretty girl like you. how old are you, y/n?" she asks again.

you contemplated once more but decided it was fine. you knew you were probably going to regret trusting these two strangers but what could be worse than what HYDRA has been doing to you for years?

"13," you muttered, looking down at your lap. you were now timidly seated cross-legged, playing with the tattered hem of your shorts. you heard a small gasp from one of them and looked up to see clint with his jaw dropped.

the two adults were both thinking of the same thing. how could you be 13? you were so small and sickly-looking, they didn't even think you were older than ten, let alone an early teen.

"i know you're scared and you have all the reasons in the world to be, but i promise you, we're here to help. we'll get you out of here, only if you trust us. will you trust us?" nat says. your mind was conflicted. you were either going to finally get out of this hellhole or you were going to be taken somewhere even worse than here. but could anywhere really be worse than here?

you decided to take a leap of faith and trust these two strangers. that decision had to have been the best decision you've ever made in your life.

you were now 18, an official avenger and you had the most amazing family you could've ever asked for. they were a bit on the crazier side but could you really have a normal family when said family consisted of superheroes? but you weren't complaining. you loved these people.

they were the ones who took care of you when you thought you had no one. having been a HYDRA experiment, you had abilities the normal human didn't. said ability being shapeshifting and healing. that's why you became an avenger. your shapeshifting ability was essential during missions where you had to sneak in and you being able to heal others was crucial when medic wasn't able to be there on time.

you pretty much came along to every mission despite the adults saying you don't have to. you knew they were only doing that to protect you from dangers of all those missions but how could you not when you had such abilities? they'd be much better with you helping.

that was why you were here, in bulgaria, fighting alongside the team. well, just steve, nat, clint, bucky and tony.

justin hammer had managed to get his hands on a type of out-of-this-planet weapon that tony was also trying to retrieve, and he had big plans with it. hence why the avengers had to come where hammer had wrecked havoc in; sofia, bulgaria. he had upgraded his robots with the tech used for the stolen weapon.

with evil robots attacking the whole city, it felt like you were living the story that wanda told you of what happened in sokovia before you met the avengers.

an hour passed before all of the robots had finally been taken down and you all knew you had to get to hammer before he activates more robots to distract you guys and uses the weapon for bad things.

"tony, have you located hammer?" steve's voice sounded in your ear through the comms. you had just finished healing the nasty gash on clint's side, nat's cut on her forehead and the bruises all over bucky. you were feeling significantly weaker now, from the amount of healing you did. you stumbled slightly when you walked and bucky immediately held onto your arm. "doll, are you okay?"

"i'm fine, buck. nothing i haven't dealt with before," you told him, gently removing his grip on your arm, walking back to the quinjet.

-

"no, absolutely not. we are not sending y/n right into a death trap. she's not even strong enough right now, she just finished healing us."

you were all back at the compound now and planning a second attack on justin hammer.

"it's not a death trap, buck. and i know you're worried but she's the only choice we got. y/n, all you gotta do is sneak in as one of his henchmen and provide entrance for us. once we get in, we'll take all his guards down and get that weapon from hammer and we won't have to worry about his world domination plans anymore. it'll be over as soon as it starts and she'll be back safe with us. sound good, y/n/n?"

"yeah, sure." you agreed, already having a person in mind that you were going to change yourself to.

-

the plan had gone just as steve wanted and they managed to raid justin hammer's building, tony stealing the very item that could've aided in the massacre of millions. justin and his henchmen managed to escape the building before the avengers could catch them.

"well, that was anticlimactic," tony scoffs, already making his way to the quinjet. "but good job, y/n. you saved the day once again."

he expected to hear a laugh from you, like you usually did, being the only one who ever responds to him after missions. but instead he was met with silence. "kid?" still no answer.

"y/n, where are you?" steve panicked, finally realising that you were the only one who hasn't responded in a hot minute. "y/n/n, this isn't funny." he breathed out.

"she's...she's gone."

-

"well, well, well," a voice spoke right as you woke up from your slumber. you squinted, noticing that you were in some sort of dark room with only one light bulb right above you. "what do we have here?"

a figure walks right in the light and you could barely make out justin hammer's ugly face with how dizzy you felt. "if it isn't the little freak." he states condescendingly, smirking down at your helpless position, both wrists and ankles cuffed onto the metal chair you were sat on. you struggled against the restraints, trying to get free but to no avail.

your breathing quickened, your current vulnerable state reminding you of your later years in HYDRA. they had started off experimenting on you on a metal gurney but as you grew older, you realised that what they were doing to you was bad so you started fighting back. that ended you up on a metal restraint chair instead of the gurney, strapped to the chair with cuffs on your wrists and ankles.

this felt like deja vu. the same panic you felt, the same breathing difficulties, the same amount of effort put into trying to get out of the restraints. "you should know, princess, that that doesn't work." hammer chuckled, a fake pout on his lips as he crouched in front of you, a rough hand on your cheek. you instinctively jerked away from his touch, to which he paid no mind to because he had expected that. he then grabbed your chin harshly, turning your head up towards him. you glared at him.

"you think i didn't know what you did? snuck in as one of my men using your freaky powers? not to mention useless. imagine having powers but not being able to use them to even escape from mere humans," he laughs in your face, harshly letting go of your chin, throwing your head backwards. "you tell me where stark planned to bring the weapon and i'll let you pretty little thing go."

"no."

before you could even comprehend, his fist came flying at your face and your head dropped to the side at the impact. your left cheekbone was throbbing and you could already tell you were gonna have a black eye. despite the pain, it wasn't something you weren't used to. you were an avenger, after all. getting decked in the face was practically in the contract.

he grabbed your chin once again, pulling your head upwards to face him. "you're gonna tell me where it is or i'm gonna make you regret it."

you looked up at him with a bored look. he punched you again. and again. and again. until you could taste the blood on your tongue. "think you wanna tell me now, sweetheart?"

"never. not to someone like you."

the man seemed to get a kick out of beating you up because he punched you again in the face. your whole face was pretty much numb now and the metallic taste in your mouth intensified. you smirked at the man before you, chuckling darkly.

"sure, beat up the helpless girl. that's the only way you can beat me, right? when i'm all tied up? what a man,"

his hand was around your throat within a second and he forced you to look him in the eyes again. "sweetheart, you're a girl. tied or not, you're still weak. not even with that useless power of yours."

taking advantage of how close his face was to yours, you gathered as much bloody saliva in your mouth before spitting it in his face.

it was very much the wrong thing to do because after he wiped off his face, he left the room and two men came in, various tools in hand for their fun with you.

-

"stark! my buddy! how's it going?" justin hammer's face appeared on the screen in the conference room, where the avengers were having a meeting about your possible whereabouts.

"where is she?!" wanda growled, standing up abruptly.

"what ever do you mean?" hammer smirked, feigning innocence. "you know what we mean. where is she?" steve spoke authoritatively, trying to control his anger at the sight of the man's face.

"i'll tell you where your thing is if you tell me where my thing is." he smiled wickedly. this caused wanda to get angrier. "y/n is not a thing! and the weapon was never yours in the first place!" vision held onto her to calm her down and it worked because she sat back down, though still glaring at the screen.

"oh she's not a thing? seems like it to me, though." he smirked and the team frowned, not understanding what he meant until they heard screams and justin's smirk widening at the sound. what a sick bastard. "what are you doing to her?!" bucky screamed, knocking his chair back as he stood up.

"i don't know, you tell me." he chuckles, and the screen changes to the live footage of you in the restraint chair with the two men in the room.

you were no longer fighting back now, just sat limply with your head dropped to the side. the first hour with them, you had been fighting back like you did with justin, despite the restraints, but now entering the second hour, you were too exhausted for anything.

your left eye had been swollen shut, you could barely breathe through your nose, your cheeks were throbbing like hell and your bottom lip was busted. your head was the only thing that moved freely when hit so the men seemed to find satisfaction the most when they punched you in the face. though that didn't stop them from inflicting pain on other parts of you.

"let her go, she's just a kid!" sam exclaimed, his grip on the edge of the table tightening to control his anger. peter and wanda were crying looking at the awful state you were in, clint, tony and bruce were silent in shock, steve and bucky were getting increasingly angry as the abuse continued.

"are you going to tell us where stark is keeping the weapon or have you not gotten enough?" one of the two men was heard asking, pulling your hair back to make you look up at him. you look at with your half-opened right eye, breathing heavily. "my answer's never gonna change no matter how many times you ask."

he scoffs, stepping back before the other man swings a bat right at your stomach. the air was immediately knocked out of your lung. the men laughed as you coughed up blood profusely. this caused wanda to get more hysterical.

"well, looks like she wants more. i'll call back when she's had enough. toodles," he waves his fingers at the camera with a sinister smirk before abruptly ending the call.

the room went silent after the call, save for bucky and sam breathing heavily from the anger they felt. bucky then turned to steve, pain could be seen on his face. "you said she would be safe."

"i–i'm sorry, buck. i didn't know he was gonna take her with him." steve was still frozen in shock, the image of you on the chair now permanently ingrained in his brain. in everyone's brains actually.

"guys, gear up, he's in colorado."

all heads turned towards natasha and she looked back at them with a 'what?' expression. "you were tracking him down the whole time?"

"um, duh? now come on, gotta save our girl."

-

you awoke to a stinging sensation on your inner forearm. after your bloody coughing fit, they proceeded to beat you up again and you were knocked out then. now you were slowly regaining consciousness but you were starting to prefer being passed out. your whole body was in pain and the fact that you couldn't even move made it even worse.

"oh, lookie here. sleeping beauty is up." you were met once again with justin hammer's ugly face. he was sitting on a chair perpendicular to your left side. you couldn't wait to get out of here so you didn't have to keep seeing his face every time you woke up. your inner forearm was stinging even more now so you looked down at it. you gasped at the sight.

"how'd you like my artwork?" he chuckled at your reaction. there on your arm, obviously carved out with the bloody knife that the asshole was so proudly holding on to, was 'FREAK'. carved out big and bold. on your skin. "pretty fitting, eh? freak? because, you know, that's what you are."

the blood was seeping out through the cuts and it stung even more now that it had been exposed to the air. the asshole moved his chair to your other side. "what should i write on this arm?" he feigns a thinking expression, looking up thoughtfully with his thumb and pointer finger on his chin.

"please, i–i don't know where tony put it. i really don't." you cried, tears now flowing freely down your face without a shame.

he looks at you with amusement. "what is this? are you...are you giving up already? can't take anymore?" he smirks and you sigh, closing your eyes. you just awoke but you were exhausted. so, so exhausted.

he takes out his phone, the smirk now permanent on his ugly face. "stark! kid's finally had enough. wanna tell me where the weapon is now or do you want to find her body at the bottom of the ocean?"

you couldn't even be bothered to react to his statement. the pain all finally registered and you were tired. tired and in excruciating pain.

"kinda busy right now, can you call back later?" you could hear tony's voice sound from justin's phone and the man beside you laughed. "i see you don't care for the girl. what could possibly be more important than saving her?"

"i don't know, you tell me." a voice said from behind you two and before you knew it, hammer was knocked off the chair he was on. you weakly turned your head just in time to see a metal arm force hammer up onto his feet before wrapping around his neck. "don't you fucking touch her again."

"y/n!" you heard wanda's voice as she entered the room with peter. more tears flowed down your face at the sight of them, stinging when they rolled past the cuts on your face but that didn't matter. your family was finally here to save you.

you saw the red mist of wanda's powers surround your cuffs before they clicked open. "oh, bubs, i'm so sorry." she cried, both hands hovering around your face, hesitating to touch you in fear of hurting you. her eyes fell onto the words carved out onto your skin and her mouth fell open before covering it with her hand. "i'm so sorry we couldn't get to you sooner." peter's voice cracked and you could tell he was emotional.

"it's okay," you told them, giving them a small smile, the biggest one you could give in your current state.

tony, sam and steve entered the room to see bucky relentlessly beating up your captor and wanda and peter standing by you as you cried.

"cupcake, we're here now. don't cry, you're safe now." tony came closer and despite knowing that you were because your family was finally here, you couldn't help but let out all the pent up emotions you've kept throughout your time of captivity.

sam had a go at justin once bucky was done and steve had to physically pry them both off of the sick bastard so that nat could cuff him and bring him back to the jet.

"y/n/n, i'm so sorry. if i hadn't–"

"it's okay, stevie." you cut him off. truthfully, you only did so because you knew he was going to giving a long-winded explanation justifying his actions and your headache couldn't bear to hear lengthy sentences. but you also didn't think it was in any way his fault so he didn't deserve to be beating himself up for this. shit happens, anyway.

"let's get you out of here, doll." bucky says, cringing when he sees the blood on the floor of your chair, as well as on your clothes. he quickly reaches to lift you off the chair but stops when you let out an ear-piercing scream of pain. "doll, i'm so sorry! did i hurt you?!" bucky questions in panic.

"y–you didn't, they did. it...it hurts everywhere," you cried, feeling hopeless that you couldn't even bear being carried by someone, let alone get up by yourself. their hearts broke when you said that. you never really cried much in front of them and you were known to withstand pain well because of how much shit HYDRA put you in as well as your powers being healing, meaning you had a higher pain tolerance than most people.

"it's okay, bubs. i got you. let's get you home, alright?" wanda's calming voice broke you out of your breakdown and red mist surrounded your whole body, wanda moving you with her powers. you were thankful of that because it didn't cause any more pain to your body.

maybe hammer was right. maybe you are just a freak with useless powers. wanda floated you into the jet and she set you down on the bed. "y/n, oh my god!" clint cried out once he sees you. you looked much worse than you did on hammer's camera footage during the call an hour ago. "kid, i'm so sorry."

"clint, take the wheel. bruce doesn't have all the resources needed. she needs to be treated ASAP." nat tells her best friend and he nods, taking the wheel and immediately taking off once everyone had boarded.

you were laid on the bed, right eye slightly open as bruce examined you. exhaustion hit you like a truck and before you knew it, you blacked out.

-

"how is she, doc?"

"pretty banged up but y/n, as i already knew, is a strong girl. lots of internal bleeding, broken bones, bruises and scars but she'll be fine. you can check her file later if you want," doctor cho tells tony outside of your room. "it's fine, can we see her?" he asks on behalf of the whole team standing behind him.

"yeah, of course! she woke up five minutes ago. i'll be off now, call me or my team if you need anything." she bids goodbye and left the group of superheroes.

steve slowly opens the door and there you were in bed, staring up at the ceiling. "hey, y/n/n," he greets sheepishly, feeling as though he had interrupted your alone time of blankly staring at the ceiling. the team trailed in behind him and soon your bed was surrounded by the avengers.

"hi, cupcake."

you looked away from the ceiling and turned your head towards tony. "oh, hey tones." you smile as sam helps you sit up while the rest sat on chairs all around you. "how you feeling, bub?" nat asks, eyes flickering down to the bold scarring of letters on your forearm.

"as okay as i can be." you answered truthfully, pressing your inner forearm closer to your body so the team doesn't see the letters carved onto your skin. you already know what you are, you didn't need the rest thinking so too.

"you're not a freak, bubs."

you look up at wanda. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to read your mind. but they were awfully loud. you're not a freak, y/n. and you're not useless too. that bastard may have carved out that word onto your skin but the scar will fade. it's not permanent. you know why? because that's not what you are." she tells you, taking off her jacket to wrap it around you because you felt self conscious of the scars all over your arms where the team could see.

"yeah, doll. you're an amazing person and your powers help us so much. i mean, you saved millions just helping us get the weapon back from justin hammer. if you hadn't, well, who knows what could've been happening right now?" he places a gentle hand at the side of your head, stroking your hair.

"yeah and who heals us when we get really hurt during missions, huh? i mean, if you hadn't healed that stab wound i got during that mission in new mexico, i probably wouldn't even be here at this moment." clint tells you and you roll your eyes at him. "you're exaggerating."

"i am not!" he laughed and you playfully rolled your eyes once again.

"y/n/n, i'm really sorry for—"

"i don't wanna hear it, stevie."

"but–"

"no. it's not your fault. shit happens." you brush him off. "lang–"

"you say language to me, i'll blame this shit on you even when it's not your fault. try me, rogers." you glare at the blond super soldier. he raises his arms in surrender, leaning back on his chair as the team laughs.

the team continue to entertain you and you couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of you. these were the people who would drop anything for you and were willing to dropkick any asshole in the face for hurting you. justin hammer never had a chance against your family to begin with.

taglist <3

@amourtentiaa @rqmanoff @abitofeverythinggg

#avengers x reader #avengers x teen!reader #bruce banner x teen!reader #bucky barnes x teen!reader #clint barton x teen!reader #marvel x teen!reader #natasha romanoff x teen!reader #sam wilson x teen!reader #steve rogers x teen!reader #peter parker x reader #tony stark x teen!reader #wanda maximoff x teen!reader

[discrunkled-twog]

Chapter One

I'm Not Going To Say It No Matter How Much You Want Me To

Edit: Stuff has been changed. Nothing major, but this WIP has gone through a lot, and I would like to say there's more to it now. Just not yet, haha. It's the first chapter, what do you expect?

Tagging you two because you asked, so uhh... yeah. Finally have an actual working title for this! Very fun, very exciting. Two people showed interest in this while I was developing the story:@jezifster and @ae32156

Warning: This is VERY cartoony. The original concept for this was an animated series, but since I can't draw, let alone animate, this will remain in written form for quite a long time.

You can read it here, or on Ao3 or Wattpad if you choose to read it. :)

********************

The weather and specific yet unspecified location are of no importance at this point in time.

Unremarkable and insignificant, the narrative surroundings in which you might currently find yourself are kept for a later mention in passing, as they should be. Instead of a wide range, how about instead, I bring you to a small apartment in the suburbs?

Not inside, of course, because that would be rude, and it’s not like either of us has the keys anyway. But merely to the fifth door on the right on the second floor, room 205, at an affordable price of $575 a month.

The relative importance of these numbers and this address are mostly up to you, but if you take a look— whether through your mind’s eye or otherwise— you might find the forthcoming events to be of some sort of interest.

It’s unbeknownst to me, of course, whether or not you’ve ever been particularly fond of people-watching, but stay for a while regardless.

There was a knock on the door.

Oliver hadn't been doing anything. Granted, if he had been, he knew it wouldn't have been anything important. Besides, what was he supposed to do with so many bottle caps anyway?

He glanced over at his watch, which was resting on the table beside him.

4:48.

He probably should've been asleep, seeing how the slightest jolt would have woken him up anyway, but he was insistent on organizing the caps. By color. Maybe tomorrow, he'd do it by date—if he managed to remember the days he came into possession of said bottle caps. He decided a sweatshirt and shorts were acceptable enough to answer the door.

What the hell...

It was a superhero.

Now, slow down. 

It shouldn't have been much of a surprise, all things considered. No, what was more surprising was his stupid costume. Now, superheroes' costumes had been silly before—supervillains were often worse—but this guy truly had no standards.

He was wearing a cape and bodysuit that were much tighter than anything Oliver ever cared to wear, but it was an almost irritating fluorescent yellow. He was much taller and much more well-built than Oliver, and wrapped from head to toe in bright yellow and white, with an insignia on his chest that appeared to be a badly disguised lightbulb. The worst part was, he had a hat on. A tacky, annoying, highlighter-yellow colored hat with the same insignia that couldn't help but remind him of the hat he was assigned at his old fast-food job simply because of the sheer ridiculousness of it.

Apparently, clothes told you a lot about a person—Phoebe had told him that countless times—and looking him up and down for a few seconds gave him a pretty good idea of the man standing in front of him.

This guy's an idiot.

"Hello, young man!" he greeted.

His voice was deep and booming, almost sounding like it was reverberating through the room.

"I've been watching you closely for about a year now, and I wanted to finally meet you in person!"

As he spoke with overdramatic pronunciation; a bright light shone behind him, while a chorus of angels sang, his cape flapping in the wind.

Now, what wasn't right is that the trees weren't moving. The wind seemed to be isolated to move his cape and only his cape– ridiculously adorned with the same insignia on his chest. Even his hair was still, which either alluded to insane amounts of hair gel, supernatural wind, or both.

I'm going with both.

"Well, look alive, son!" he yelled, patting him on the shoulder. "Can I come inside?"

Oliver was no stranger to unannounced house visits. He’d gotten a few visits from reporters, and occasionally someone trying to sell him something, but he’d learned how to evade them or otherwise get them to leave fairly quickly without being rude. What he didn’t know was if this guy deserved to be spared from his wrath.

"Why are you here at this time? And come on, man, I don't know who you are. Why are you asking to come in?"

"What do you mean, 'at this time?' It's nearly five in the afternoon," he said, grinning with his hands on his hips, cape still aflap.

Right, other people don't sleep at this time.

As if he was even sleeping.

"Son, I wanted to meet you! I thought it wise to-"

"Wait, wait, hold on. Who are you…?"

"Oh, you don't know me? I'm a famous superhero!" 

He laughed triumphantly.

"How famous can you be if I, a civilian, don't know who you are?"

Immediately, the light switched off and the wind and music stopped.

What the…

"Hmm, you certainly are a feisty one. So quick to jest, too! Alas, I must inform you that I know for a fact that you are not a common civilian! You, my friend, are a superhero, like myself! And a fairly good one at that!"

Oliver playfully darted his eyes around.

"Who told you?"

"Son, you're all over the news! Well, maybe not all over the news, but I am fairly certain I have seen you somewhere in something before."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"As I've previously mentioned, I am a famous superhero of sorts, whether or not your geeky little fanboy self has heard of me or not…"

Geeky little fanboy?

"...and I wanted to have a serious discussion with you. A meaningful heart-to-heart, if you will," he said, leaning as nonchalantly as he possibly could appear, what with his ridiculous getup, on the doorframe. "Now, can I come inside?"

"So, let me get this straight."

Oliver sighed.

"You came to some rando’s house– and I am a rando because we have literally never met– and thought it would be a good idea to have…?"

"A heart-to-heart, an inspiring discussion—even a manly convo, as the kids say."

Manly convo? Yeah. Right. 

"Listen, uh… Who are you?"

"Well, I could tell you my birth name…" He chuckled. "But I suppose, since we’re talking as the grand heroes we are, I should tell you the truth."

A single note from a trumpet played in the background, in the rhythm of a fanfare.

"I am Lightbulb Man!"

The door creaked awkwardly as he grinned, his pride slightly faltering.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of hero name…?"

"What do you mean ‘supposed to be?’ It is my hero name, and I don’t see what’s wrong with it," he said, crossing his arms.

Oliver sighed.

There were so many imperfections and mistakes with his entire demeanor– not to mention his costume– that he would’ve loved to scold him about, but he decided that now was not the time to point them out.

"Look, ‘Lightbulb Dude-’"

"Lightbulb Man," he corrected.

"Alright, Lightbulb Man, I don’t expect you to know all about my schedule, so I’m gonna cut you some slack… But you can’t expect me to just let you into my house for no reason, especially when-"

"My, my, what a humble abode you have, son!" he shouted, pushing Oliver to the side and walking inside. "Definitely much smaller than I expected…"

"I-" He sighed. "Okay. Whatever."

Oliver closed the door behind the two of them and followed the man, hoping to keep him from bringing forth mayhem.

"This tiny, smelly apartment of yours is a bit too humble. Frankly, it’s strange," he said, lightly pushing around a piece of clothing with his foot. "I would’ve expected nothing short of a small mansion."

"A ‘small mansion’ seems like an oxymoron. Also, what?"

"What kind of little packrat are you? What are all these things?" he asked, gesturing to a wide array of bottle caps, lined up by color. "Do these have something to do with your powers, because-"

"Don’t-! Touch those…" He moved his hand away before he could grab them. "It doesn’t matter, okay? They’re just a stupid thing I like to-"

"Don’t worry, I have no intention of probing to find out what you do in your free time." He moved in closer to read one of the labels. "Though, it is still a surprise to me that your tiny room of a house is in such a disorderly state. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to tidy your things?"

Oliver scoffed.

"Speak not of my mother, you weirdo. I wasn’t expecting visitors."

"You should be prepared for anything the universe throws at you! How do you expect to be a decent hero if you can’t handle a little surprise…?" he asked, leaning on the edge of the couch.

"You mean breaking and entering?"

"A surprise."

Oliver rubbed his forehead as the superhero walked around the couch and examined the rest of the small room.

"Okay, what’s your name?"

"Lightbulb Man, I already told you," said Lightbulb Man.

"No, your real name."

He gasped dramatically.

"Though I am appalled at your distaste for my thoughtfully chosen hero name, I will set this aside and tell you my birth name," he said, grinning. "After all, since we are to be ‘chums,’ it’s imperative that we know each other’s names. I am Charles Green, born to Lyle and Maya Green, in the town of-"

"Okay, that’s enough," he said, gesturing with his hands to shut him up. "I don’t need to know your whole life story, geez. So your name’s Charlie?"

"Charles, son."

"Yeah, I’m calling you Charlie. So-"

"A nickname? I am honored that you consider us close enough to be so friendly!" he said, beaming. "Now, if only I could have your name, I could come up with one for you!"

Oliver was beside himself.

"What is it now, boy? You look pale-"

"You mean to tell me that you don’t even know my name? And you’re in my house? And you didn't know my name? How-"

"Alright, you don’t need to shout at me! Perhaps it might’ve been a wise decision to learn your name before my visit-"

"Perhaps?"

"-But now if you were to stop making such a fuss over every little thing, you could tell me your name and this little squabble could be resolved."

Oliver chuckled.

"Squabble, wow…" he muttered under his breath. "My name is Oliver Barrison, uh… born to my mother and father… in a hospital, my liege," he said, bowing and tipping an imaginary hat.

"Oliver Barrison… Not a very grand name, but it’ll do. Also, as for nicknames, there’s not much to work with…" He sighed and stroked his chin in thought. "No good…"

"So, Charlie, what is it that you wanted again?"

"Ah yes, that…" He was about to speak when a cat crawled out from under the couch, curling its tail around his ankle. "Oh! Who’s this little guy…?"

The cat was white with brown splotches trailing along its tail and torso, with a distinct marking over one of its eyes. It rubbed up against the base of his leg until he picked it up, cradling it in a rather maternal fashion.

"Amazing, son! You’re fighting crime consistently, and yet you’ve found a way to care for a small creature!" Charlie cradled the cat, petting its head. "I didn’t know you liked animals. Caring for all creatures is an important quality in a-"

Oliver looked back at him, grimacing.

"What is the meaning of that expre-"

"I don’t like cats," he said, scoffing in disgust.

"Oh? Then why do you have one?"

"It’s my friend’s stupid cat," he said, staring at it rather distastefully. "Her name is Missy."

"Missy? What a–"

"Stupid name? I know, but she-"

"---wonderful name for such a kind, loving kitten!" he said, bringing Missy up to rub their faces together.

"Okay, maybe you don’t want to do that—"

"Do what?" Missy appeared perfectly content with his touchiness.

"Oh, that’s not fair. Why does she like you?" He could’ve sworn the cat was giving him a dirty look. "She always tries to hiss at me, and screech at me, and mess up my things–-"

"Well, I don’t seem to have a problem with her at all!"

"---and pee on me, and stink up the place–-"

"Alright, that’s enough of your fussing! It’s your own fault for having the cat with you in the first place," he said, bonding pretty hard with said cat.

"I- It’s not my fault, it’s my friend’s, because she needs help with the stupid cat sometimes…" he muttered, "And then I want to strangle it and wring its teeny neck until its beady little eyes pop out of its skull and bounce on the floor, putting it out of its misery and me out of mine, but I can’t do that because then Phoebe would kill me…"

"I can’t understand a word you’re speaking; you’ll have to speak up," he said, showing no interest whatsoever in learning what he said, seeing as he was already putting the cat down and roaming the rest of the apartment.

"Do you have other animals living here with you, or is she it?" Charlie asked, kicking around clothes and other miscellaneous items strewn across the floor. 

"Where are you-"

"This place is so small. And you were correct– it does in fact smell like cat waste."

"I- Okay, yeah, seriously, what are you doing?" he asked, walking after him as he walked into the small hallway, looking the place up and down.

"Which one of these rooms is your secret lair?" asked Charlie, about to turn the handle of the first door before Oliver grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"Quit it or leave. I swear, I’m going to kill you…"

"That’s a bit overly hostile for a peacekeeping hero, don’t you think? What’s made you so angry?"

"What’s made me so angry? I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that you literally came into my house- room- apartment or whatever, and you just started poking around at everything when you…!" Oliver sighed. "I swear, if you don’t tell me what the hell you’re doing here, I will strangle you."

"Unlikely!" he boasted. "You’re much smaller than me, and likely weaker, as well. But either way, I suppose I’ve been overly absentminded now."

"You think…?"

"My visit today was not without purpose. In fact, I came to offer an opportunity to you– a proposition, if you will. I wanted to offer you myself– as a mentor, to shape you into the best hero you can possibly be!"

"Huh?"

Charlie walked out of the hall and back into the living room.

"You’re a new hero, son. And for only being in this sort of business for a year or so… Started when you were eighteen, yes?"

"Uh… Yeah?"

Where is he going with this…?

"You’re so young, Oliver. You’ve already made a sort of name for yourself, even if it’s not a first-page, show-stopping appearance. You should be proud of yourself, but there are many things that you still need to improve on." Charlie faced him, starry-eyed but judgemental, and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You often deviate from the high standard that professional heroes such as myself work to maintain, and I want to help you remedy said situation."

"Remedy said what now?"

He let him go and motioned to the couch and floor.

"This is no way for a grand hero to live. Frankly, you fail to practice and hone in on plenty of techniques that heroes– such as myself– use daily when fighting crime. I am offering you the chance to work alongside a hero of my skill level. Just think of all the progress you can make! You can work with me, kid, and be my loyal sidekick!"

"Sidekick?"

"Just think about it! We can work as the fictional heroes once did! BearBoy and Ronan!"

"What- Wait, who?"

"You don’t know?" Charlie looked at him in confusion. "The famous fictional hero duo, BearBoy and Ronan? Y’know, that cartoon series in the 1960s? With the hero who’d been orphaned at a young age, and his trusty sidekick? They’re rather famous!"

Oliver snickered. "Wait, you mean like Batman and Ro-"

"Hey!" Charlie waved his hand at him. "Not them! BearBoy and Ronan! They’re much better than those other heroes you mentioned. You must watch out for copyright infringement, Oliver!"

Why would I have to worry about that in my own-

"Anyway, whichever you choose to see it as, I’m sure you get the point. I came here to talk to you about this, and see how soon we can arrange things to–-"

"No thanks," he said, walking over to the door. "Was that it? Because then you can–-"

"What do you mean, ‘no thanks?’" He cleared his throat. "Do you not realize what a great opportunity this is…?"

"Yeah, I’m good. Now, are you going to leave…?"

"But why not? Is there something stopping you?"

"Nope," he said, shrugging. "I really don’t care, honestly. I’ve been doing things just fine on my own, thank you very much, and I don’t need your help to make me… Well, more like you."

He held in a snicker.

"There must be something…!" He walked up to Oliver. "I’m sure you need to improve on something! There has to be at least one thing that can lead to me having to mentor you!"

"Look, have you been keeping up with the statistics? The crime rates have been declining, no?"

"Well, yes."

"And no ‘evil villains’ have hunted me or my family down, right?"

"A-Ah, right, but I-"

"And I haven’t made a big mistake, or gotten seriously hurt or anything, in the year I’ve been doing this… Right…?"

"Right…"

"So," he said, opening the door and motioning to it, "I can handle things just fine, and you can leave now! Thanks for the nice little visit, but I should probably sleep now."

"You really don’t-"

"Nope, I’m good. Bye-bye now," he said, practically pushing him out the door.

"I- well, if you truly aren’t interested in the slightest, I guess-"

"Okay, thanks!" And with that, he shut the door.

Finally. Thought he’d never leave.

Oliver sighed and sat back down on the couch. Though he didn’t need to wake up for work later, sleep was best taken during business hours, when the math had proven there was less crime to bust.

He laid down, staring up at the ceiling.

Now would be the optimal time for Oliver to actually sleep, but whether or not he does is beyond anyone’s control. We can only hope he will allow himself to succumb to his inevitable beddy-bye time, even in the light as it is.

He began to drift off into slumber…

A tap on his window awoke him before he could properly doze off. Charlie tapped on the frosted window above his door, his figure hardly distinguishable from the afternoon daylight. He yelled, “I’ll be back!”

His tactless surprise left Oliver with a sleepless afternoon, and himself with a pay dock.

#odd logic #oliver and his fantabulous friends #oliver barrison #charles green #original content #my writing #writeblr #writing #original fiction #comedy #writers on tumblr

[traincat]

I feel like I've read a ton, but I'm honestly still pretty new to comics rn. That being said... What is one more day? Ik we don't like it and it happened a while ago, but that's about it [,=

Time for Spider-Man History With Traincat: Highly Controversial Storylines! And that feeling is totally normal with comics with huge canons -- you can read a ton and still have some fairly big blindspots in your understanding of the total picture. That being said, this is kind of a big one, both in terms of Spider-Man history/canon and in terms of how Spider-Man fandom functions. I would say probably no other storyline has had quite as much impact on how the fandom views and interacts with the source material as One More Day/Brand New Day. It's been the Wild West out here ever since it happened. (Which was in 2007, so like, yes, fairly long ago, especially when you look at how Spider-Man canon has evolved since, but in the grand scheme of things, also kind of recent. One More Day is not old enough to rent a car.)

So when people talk about Spider-Man's One More Day, they're usually actually talking about two related arcs: One More Day and Brand New Day. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to be covering both. For the sake of transparency, I am going to admit that I think One More Day, as a self-contained story, is good, actually. This is controversial! I admit that! But I stand by my stupid opinions on this blog, for some reason. I think One More Day when you examine it on its own, by which I mean you ignore the decade and a half worth of canon that came after it, as a Spider-Man story and as a PeterMJ-centric story holds up under scrutiny and that people who don't like it don't like complicated love stories and might actually throw their own mothers under buses. No offense to the OMD haters. Little bit of offense to the OMD haters. Brand New Day, which is the continuation of One More Day, on the other hand -- largely bad. Very largely bad.

But let's backtrack. One More Day is a four issue crossover storyline that takes place directly after Civil War, during which Iron Man and Captain America got divorced and divvied up the superhero community and Spider-Man made some startlingly bad decisions and made a fugitive out of himself and his family in a manner that got Aunt May shot, and Spider-Man: Back in Black (Amazing Spider-Man #539–543) which examines Peter's actions immediately after Aunt May is shot and ends with him humiliating the Kingpin in front of an entire prison. One More Day consists of Amazing Spider-Man #544 -> Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 -> Sensational Spider-Man v2 #41 -> Amazing Spider-Man #545. In One More Day, Aunt May is dying, all of Peter's efforts to save her have thus far failed, and, consumed by guilt, he is rapidly running out of time. Approached by Mephisto, a literal demon from hell, Peter is offered a deal: Aunt May will live -- and Peter's identity, which was previously revealed to the world at large during Civil War, will once again be hidden from the memories of all but a select few -- if Peter trades him his marriage to Mary Jane. Peter and Mary Jane struggle with this, but eventually both agree to the deal. The clock strikes twelve, the deal is done, and Peter and Mary Jane's marriage fades into history.

(ASM #545) A reasonably simple premise for a story that caused so many problems -- most, I would argue, not actually the original story's fault. So obviously, this was an unpopular move -- Peter and Mary Jane had for a long time been a fan favorite Marvel couple, and in a fictional universe where most relationships are doomed as soon as they begin, the enduring Spider-Marriage was sacred ground. And then, with a snap of its fingers, it was gone: Peter wakes up in Aunt May's house, no longer married, with Mary Jane out of the picture. (She would not return to the book on any sort of consistent basis for over 50 issues.) In the wake of One More Day began Brand New Day, which is basically what it sounds like: a promised "brand new day" of "exciting" Spider-Man content and a publishing schedule where Amazing Spider-Man came out three times a month. (Which sounds good on paper but I think in practice caused more problems than it created good storylines.) Peter, newly single again, had new love interests! And also Harry Osborn was alive again for some reason! I generally like Harry's post-BND stories so that part's fine with me.

But overall? Brand New Day is a mess. It knows it wants to tread new and exciting ground with Peter -- tell new stories! ensnare new readers! make them fork out for a book three times a month. -- but it doesn't know what those stories should be. Readers who were invested in Peter and Mary Jane's relationship -- a major facet of Spider-Man comics for decades at that point -- felt rightfully betrayed that the marriage could be so easily traded in and that Mary Jane herself, perhaps the second most important figure in Spider-Man comics after Peter, could be tossed aside. From a personal point of view, I think Brand New Day fails in large part because it abandons what has always made Spider-Man such a compelling series, and that's the mix of Peter's personal life with his vigilante life. BND sees Peter with new friends, new jobs, new love interests, etc -- it is very much a brand new day! But it isn't a better day compared to the stories that came before it. I do like some post-BND stories, especially American Son (ASM #595-599) and Grim Hunt (ASM #634-637), but compared to pre-BND where I think the majority of canon is good, it's a very lacking body of work that is hurt by the way it divorced itself from the PeterMJ marriage as Spider-Man's central relationship.

"But Traincat, I thought you said you liked One More Day?" Yeaaaaah. I do. This is why I keep saying I like One More Day on its own merits, and not on the merits of the stories it opened the doors for. I like a good romantic tragedy in fiction, and the way Peter and Mary Jane's final scene in One More Day plays out is beautiful. I like the idea of Peter caught in this impossible situation, being asked to choose between two women he loves more than his own life. A really common criticism I see leveled against One More Day is that Peter should have chosen his relationship with Mary Jane over May's life, which is -- okay, I think it's weird that people keep insisting on this, not in the least because by asking Peter to sacrifice his aunt's life they're essentially demanding he commit a callous, out of character act in order to further his own interests. It's also weird because the thing is, Peter already chose Mary Jane over May -- that's what gets them into this situation. It's literally in the scene where May is shot:

(ASM #538) When the gun goes off, Peter's spider-sense kicks in, and he covers Mary Jane, leaving May in the path of the bullet. He does choose Mary Jane over May, regardless of whether he realized what he was doing. And that's why he can't make that choice a second time. His actions in One More Day do make sense for him as a character, whether or not any individual reader likes them, and Mary Jane's actions make sense, too -- after all, she's the one who ultimately tells Mephisto that they agree to the deal when Peter can't bring himself to voice it.

A lot of people also like to nitpick One More Day by going, well, why could (x) or (y) with life saving powers save Aunt May which is like -- yeah, I guess, but if we're going to ask that about this specific comic book near death setup, you kind of have to do it with every single one, and I'm not going to stake every single moment of comic book drama on whether or not that gold kid from the X-Men was busy at the time. Comics are soap operas in flimsy paper form: serialized longform storytelling that relies heavily on melodrama. Sometimes you have to go with things. Sometimes you sell your marriage to the devil. Stuff happens. That in and of itself doesn't make One More Day a bad story -- and while some people blame the Spider-Marriage's dissolution entirely on One More Day, I think that's a little shortsighted when you look at the history of Spider-Man since the turn of the century. It's clear -- and Marvel themselves have been perhaps a little too open about this -- that Marvel in the past few decades has had trouble with the direction they want to take Spider-Man. They WANTED Spider-Man to appeal to a distinctly youthful audience that they didn't think they were actually reaching -- understandable, considering that Marvel nearly went bankrupt around 2000 and was saved by Ultimate Spider-Man, an out of main continuity series which retold Spider-Man from the beginning and focused heavily on Peter as a teen -- but the problem was Spider-Man in the main continuity was at that point in canon a happily married man who was pushing the dreaded 30 whether or not they wanted to admit that. This is also why Marvel has continually pivoted away from Spider-Man having kids, because they feared that making him a dad would age him too much and make him unrelatable to their coveted audience of Teens. (This is also why almost every new Spider-Man property, especially the live action movies, perpetually stick him back into high school, despite that occupying a very small slice of 616 canon.) So around the year 2000, they started trying things in relation to the Spider-Marriage, which was viewed as a major problem -- after all, what's more adult than being married and liking your wife. First, they had Mary Jane presumed dead. Then, they had Mary Jane and Peter separate. Then, when Mary Jane and Peter had only recently gotten back together, One More Day struck. If One More Day specifically hadn't gone the way it had, it's pretty clear that the Spider-Marriage was going to go one way or another -- it's a little bit of a shame it happened when it did, because OMD is the end of J Michael Straczynski's run, and JMS wrote a really beautiful Peter and MJ relationship. But Marvel as a company and especially editor in chief at the time Joe Quesada viewed Peter and Mary Jane's relationship as a major problem in how they wanted to portray Spider-Man and thought that striking the relationship from the books would allow them more freedom in their portrayal of him as younger and more relatable to their Desired Audience of people who I guess really wanted to see Peter sleep with characters who weren't Mary Jane.

(ASM #546. Younger! Fresher! Less attached! Kissing random women in the club!)

The problem with One More Day has always been in the follow through -- from the content of Brand New Day to the pacing of events to the fact that Marvel withheld key information for such a long time that it allowed misinformation to thrive. After all, what does it MEAN to trade Peter and Mary Jane's marriage to the devil? It altered the events of canon in Peter and the majority of other characters' memories so that the marriage didn't exist, but it left people wondering -- did the relationship as they remembered it existed? How much of Spider-Man canon was altered? And the answers didn't come for over 100 issues of Amazing Spider-Man. One Moment In Time or OMIT (Amazing Spider-Man #638-641), which revealed that while Peter and Mary Jane never got married in the altered canon they did continue their long committed relationship up until just after Civil War, was published in 2010, so essentially readers were hung out to dry without answers for three years. That's a long time to string people along, but not as long as it took Marvel to confirm that the popular fan theory that Mary Jane retained her memories of the original timeline as part of her own deal with Mephisto was also true, which happened this year. I would say, at least from my perspective, a lot of the frustration doesn't come from the individual One More Day storyline so much as how Marvel has continually dragged out the aftermath, using the promise of a Spider-Marriage return to keep fans on the hook. Which is why One More Day continually comes up in discussion of current Spider-Man, because Spencer's run has relied very heavily on imagery from that period with a serious question of whether or not there actually was going to be payoff, something which is still up in the air.

This has been Spider-Man History With Traincat, brought to you by anonymice like you.

#traincat talks comics #long post #*replies

[somersetmummy]

(A/N) This chapter takes place right at the beginning of the story, prior to TNA Chapter 1. Some characters property of Pixelberry.

Original characters: Katie Hide (MC), Jenny Blake

New characters: Lucinda Hansen

Rating/Content Warning: Mild adult language

Word count: 2005

Summary: MC Katie Hide is an English rose, living in New York. She’s down on her luck and desperately needs a job before her visa expires and she’s sent back to London. A chance conversation with a friend leads to an unlikely opportunity. Little did she know that one little interview would change the course of her life forever.

- Bonus social edits at the end -

Just like any other Thursday morning of recent weeks, Katie and Jenny were killing time together in their favourite coffee shop just down the street from their shared apartment. It had become Katie's haven and her go-to place when she wanted to lose herself for a few hours people watching, letting the stories of their lives unfold around her.

She'd always had a knack for paying attention to the details, noticing things which passed by most others. It was a skill she'd relied on heavily in her work, always giving her the edge, at least it had until the time it led to her downfall at Panacea Labs.

Katie had recently walked out of her job after piecing together a scheme under the radar to roll out a costly new drug for treating MS, despite there being multiple warning signs that it was ultimately ineffective but instead just masked the symptoms. Anyone else would've just glossed over the signs, not even noticing, but to Katie, the anomalies jumped off the page unmistakably. It was when she tried to escalate her concerns that she was shut down and her life in the lab made a misery by the VP, Declan Nash.

It hadn't taken long for her to realise that the company was more concerned about profits than actually helping people and she knew that the battle to fall in line and keep her job wasn't worth it. After calmly and quietly sending a company wide report on her findings, she gathered her things and walked out before she could be accosted by security. Little did she know that Nash had already been keeping tabs on her communications, in his eyes she was a trouble maker, and the report never saw the light of day.

Unfortunately for Katie, the current opportunities for young women in the biotech and pharmaceutical world just weren't what they should have been and she spent the next few weeks furiously searching for something else to avoid her work visa being revoked. 

Having moved from London to attend the New York Institute of Technology and graduating with a Masters in Chemistry & Bio Engineering three years ago, she'd fallen in love with the city and the life she'd built. She didn't know exactly what the future held and couldn't put her finger on why, but she had a very strong feeling that she needed to stay in New York.  

Today, Katie had planned to work through all the job adverts remotely relating to her experience and qualifications, with Jenny on hand to offer moral support. Tiring quickly of hitting one brick wall after another, they'd long forgotten the laptop and instead had spent the last 30 minutes idly chatting about Jenny’s upcoming gallery event when Lucinda arrived, phone to her ear, her body tense and voice sharp as she wrapped up a call with her boss.

"Of course I've got someone Angela, I wouldn't put my name in the mix if I didn't. My candidate is going to blow the others out of the water, I just know Mr Dalton will be impressed....no not just impressed, he'll be awestruck..."

While waiting for her to wrap up her call, Katie heads to the counter to order Lucinda a much needed coffee and returns to place it down in front of her just as she hangs up. She tosses her phone onto the table and slumps back in her chair, defeated.

Jenny stares her down waiting for an explanation which she and Katie both know Lucinda desperately wants to give but is holding off for dramatic effect.

After a long sip of coffee and a moment of holding her head in her hands she finally exhales.

"I am so SO SCREWED."

Katie and Jenny share a look before returning their attention to Lucinda.

"I've just promised my boss that I have the perfect candidate for some billionaire business man's nanny position....." She glares at them both as if they should understand why that's a problem. "I never touch these sorts of jobs, I only ever look for candidates in finance, nannying isn't worth my time."

Katie chooses her words carefully, knowing how Lucinda can bite back pretty quickly when she's stressed. Speaking softly, cautious not to poke the bear, she looks Lucinda in the eye and internally braces herself for whatever might come next.

"So what made this one so different?"

Fortunately Lucinda seems to finally be relaxing, she replies more quietly.

"Filling this position will put me on the map, nobody in the firm has been able to secure someone for this guy, they only seem to last a few weeks before they quit so the sign on bonus never kicks in. If I could find the perfect person I wouldn't only get a great bonus, I'd be next in line for promotion to Senior Head-hunter."

Her demanding demeanour melts away and she's left looking almost vulnerable. Something Katie knows Lucinda doesn't find at all comfortable.

"Anyway, I'll figure it out, I always do."

She gives Katie and Jenny a soft smile, allowing herself to momentarily forget about her woes so she can refocus the attention back to them.

"So what were you guys talking about before I came in?"

As Katie opens her mouth to speak Jenny cuts in on her behalf.

"Oh Katie's just been trying to work out how to get a job before her visa renewal date comes up in a couple of weeks."

Katie lets out a sigh of her own, suddenly remembering how dire her employment prospects are and feeling equally as defeated as Lucinda.

"I can't believe I've worked so hard for my degree, I found the perfect job in the perfect city but now it's all gone down the drain and I'm going to have to go back home and never see you all again."

Jenny wraps her arm around Katie's shoulders, pulling her close. "Oh come on, like you'd be able to shake us off. Even if you are in another country!"

As suddenly as Lucinda dramatically entered the coffee shop she slams her hand onto the table making the others jump.

"THAT'S IT!" She cries, her idea almost exploding out of her. "This is just too perfect...."

Katie and Jenny share a confused look before turning back to Lucinda who is practically foaming at the mouth, clearly onto something, though they're not quite sure what.

"You need a job, I need a candidate." She says in her signature matter of fact style.

Katie still has no idea where Lucinda's going with this.

"It's win win. I'll put you forward for the nanny position, you'll get a great job which means you get to stay in New York, I'll get my bonus. Not to mention I'll look like a damn superhero at work!"

The cogs start to turn in Katie's brain as she begins to digest what Lucinda is proposing.

"But I'm not a nanny....and what about my visa, it's only valid for work in relation to my degree."

Lucinda waves her hand at her, dismissing her concerns. "No problem there then. This guy's family owns one of the biggest Biotech companies in the country, surely that's related to your degree? He's so desperate for a successful match I'll make sure the visa thing is part of the contract."

She cuts back in quickly just as Katie opens her mouth to object.

"And as for you not being a nanny, what about all those times in the lab when you had to pull rank and sort out the shit that went down between your useless colleagues? You've done more nannying of adults in the last two years than most actual nanny's do in their whole career with children."

Jenny suddenly chimes in "OH MY GOD, this is genius!"

Defeated, Katie turns to look at Jenny in disbelief. She may have had a chance saying no to just Lucinda but with Jenny on board with this idea as well she may as well give up now.

"This will solve both your problems, I mean come on, who wouldn't want to work for this guy..."

Jenny turns her phone to Katie, clearly having been searching while she and Lucinda were talking. On the screen Katie sees the most devastatingly handsome man she's ever come across. He's nothing like the guys she'd known before, this person, was a real man and the sight of him caused her stomach to flip.

While undeniably handsome, it's not just the physical attraction that she's drawn to. Her eyes move to the company bio underneath his headshot and in true Katie style, she scans all of the accolades and achievements the company has to boast about. Her mind races at the possibilities. There's no mistaking that working for this man could open the door to so many opportunities and experiences in the future.

With a sigh she resigns herself to the fact that Lucinda might actually be on to something, this could be the break Katie had been waiting for and would certainly solve her imminent visa problems if she could get it taken care of as part of the contract negotiations.

With a silent nod and slight shrug of the shoulders, she begrudgingly agrees, much to the delight of her friends who squeal at each other in delight. Lucinda immediately pushes her shoulders back, standing to attention, furiously beginning to type on her phone.

"You TA'd for your old professor right?"

"Yes, I did a year as their assistant after graduating. Mainly doing research and going to conferences with her."

Lucinda's eyes never leave her phone as she works her magic, spinning Katie's words into an impressive resume. After a moment she raises her eyebrows and flits her eyes over to Katie, a small gesture which Katie realises is an invitation to elaborate.

"Oh, yeah so that's actually how I got into Panacea Labs, I met a rep at one of those conferences."

Jenny rolls her eyes at the mention of Katie's old company, now affectionately known by them both as Pariah Labs. Despite what she felt about Katie's previous employer, she was immensely proud of Katie's achievements and wanted to make sure they were included.

"Weren't you the youngest lab boss thingy they'd ever had?"

"Senior lab technician." Katie corrects, knowing full well that Jenny hasn't got a clue about the finer details of her work. "Well, yeah eventually, after two years of working my butt off. But I hardly think they'd rave about that in any reference they give me. If they even give one to begin with..."

Lucinda waves a dismissive hand at her.

"With this resume, you won't need any reference from those bastards. Trust me."

Katie had no idea what Lucinda had written or how she'd managed to spin her experience to be more favourable for a nanny position but it must've worked because half an hour later Lucinda slammed her hand down on the table once again, causing everyone around them to jump out of their skin.

"YES! It worked...he wants to see you, you've got an interview tomorrow at the Dalton Enterprises headquarters".

She turns her phone to Jenny to show off the email and they fall into an animated conversation, no doubt planning how they're all going to celebrate once Katie inevitably gets offered the job. As they fall into a blur in the background, Katie looks back over the picture of Sam Dalton on Jenny's phone, not quite sure how she can be so hypnotised by someone through a photograph.

There's something about him which feels familiar, something drawing her in. It's almost as if they're viewing each other through a looking glass and she wonders whether in this exact moment he is feeling the same magnetic pull towards her, a stranger whom he hasn't even met yet. Tearing her eyes away from the phone, Katie's tries to steady the stream of unanswered questions flooding her mind and focus on how she's going to win this man over.

"Here goes nothing."

TAG List: @shewillreadyou @chemist-ana @txemrn @silma-words @thefrenchiemama @secretaryunpaid @sfb123

- Bonus - pre-interview pep talk with the girls -

#the nanny affair #fanfic #tna #choices

[dogbearinggifts]

you. I like you. I like the way you think. I like your umbrella analyses. shhdejeijskasnkv I'm fangirling over here. ye s

Thank you so much! I sometimes get a little nervous sharing my thoughts, especially if they go against more commonly accepted opinions, so I’m glad mine made you happy. ^_^ 

So far as those analyses, and me pointing out Vanya’s more villainous traits, I think I do it in part because of what Umbrella Academy means to me. 

See, I started reading the comics about a year (maybe less) after I moved out of my abusive parents’ house. A friend, who knew I loved MCR, asked me if I knew Gerard Way had written a superhero series, I said I most certainly did not, and tracked down Apocalypse Suite and Dallas right away. Up until then, the two main fictional abuse survivors I was most familiar with were Harry Potter and Rapunzel from Tangled. They’re different protagonists and their abuse is handled far, far differently by their creators, but what they have in common is that they are both still very much heroes despite what they’ve been through. They’ve been abused all their lives, but their personalities were never altered by it. 

The Hargreeves were something I had never seen before. 

In this family, everyone is fucked up. Everyone is an asshole. Allison abuses her power, Diego is firmly in antihero territory, and Five is a terrifying murderchild. Vanya, who would have been the woobie in the hands of an author like Rowling, straight-up joins an apocalypse cult to get back at her siblings. They’re deeply, horribly flawed, and it is made abundantly clear that their flaws are a direct result of the abuse they suffered. Reginald’s abuse didn’t grant them strong character, as Dumbledore predicted; it broke them. It made them bitter, and mean, and selfish. 

And they’re still sympathetic. 

They’re not always likable, but that’s never presented as a barrier to sympathy. I identified most with Klaus in the comics, as in the show—but I identified with him because of his flaws, not in spite of them. In many other stories I’ve read and seen, his crippling addiction and dark sense of humor would have made him an antihero, if not a villain; but in TUA, they’re never presented as anything but a coping mechanism. His powers are terrifying and his dad was a monster and he uses drugs and humor to keep from taking anything seriously. I don’t have any direct experience with substance abuse, but refusing to take life seriously because then the monsters will get you? I felt that in my soul. 

When I see this fandom glossing over Vanya’s flaws (or, just as frequently, fobbing them off on Luther) it makes me feel like they’re missing out. I understand why they do what they do; it’s far more comfortable to identify with a woman who was only ever the victim of an uncaring family than it is to identify with one who treated her only friend worse and worse until she passed the point of almost no return. It feels safer. It feels validating. 

But for me, TUA has always been about a different sort of validation. It’s not the sort of story that lets abuse survivors see themselves in a heroic boy wizard whose abusive relatives couldn’t keep him down. It’s the sort of story that tells survivors, “Yeah, you’re fucked up. Of course you’re fucked up; just look at your parents! And all of that brokenness is hurting you, and it’s hurting others, but you can still get your shit together.” It’s not a story about how abuse can’t keep a good person down. It’s a story about how abuse can turn sweet young kids into awful adults—but how those awful adults can still be capable of selflessness and heroism. 

Characters like Klaus and Luther and Vanya and Diego and all the rest aren’t heroes. They’re not villains. They’re people who had one of the roughest starts you can imagine, and now they’re left to put themselves back together. They’ve done horrible things and suffered horrible things—and Vanya is no exception. She’s just as bad as the rest of them, and most of her flaws are a direct result of the abuse she’s suffered. Glossing over those flaws means ignoring some of the most horrific effects of her abuse. Her suffering changed who she is, and it changed her for the worse. Seeing that acknowledged in the original comics and in the show wasn’t safe or comfortable for me, but it was strangely comforting.  

The point of Umbrella Academy isn’t that some people are better than others, and it’s not that abuse is something people of strong character can survive unscathed. I’d distill it down to a different message: 

“Yeah, abuse screwed those kids up. It screwed you up. That’s what it does.” 

#the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #tua #tua meta #abuse #tua comics #answered #bigzubeblanket