#female superheroes of colour

[anki-of-beleriand]

Bad Liar ch.8

Summary: Life is about lessons, and Wanda has been learning some harsh facts that had define her life and taken her to a place in which she was given a second chance. Then, all of a sudden, she meets you, and she realizes why it's easier to lie to yourself than to accpet what's right in front of her.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff/ Female!reader - America/Kate - Mentions of past Vision/Wanda - past Natasha/Reader - Some Female!Reader/Carol Danvers

Warnings: Slow burn - slightly Enemies to friends to lovers - Mentions of abusive relationships - Toxic relationships - angst - drama - mentions of abuse - idiots in love - homophobia - more tags as the story progress.

Author's note: Here is a new chapter and Reader and Wanda are getting closer, Reader puts an end to her confusion and the past is at Rader's doorstep.

As always, English is no my mother tongue, so please forgive the grammar, spelling and funny mistakes!

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17 - Chapter 18

Chapter 8

Breaking the past

The sun had a way to sneak inside her room, the light rays of light projecting hues of colour with a welcoming warmth that soothed her to sleep again. The memories of childhood days spent in bed, trying to sleep in before being taken away from the comfort of her bed and made to be an avid participant in the house chores. Wanda fluttered her eyes open to see the time gleaming from the digital clock in her bedside table. 

9 am. 

She smiled knowing the twins must be asleep as well, Saturdays had become one her favourite days of the week. It was a time in which she could spend time with her children, she was able to read and to paint, to do all the things she had denied herself for too long. But that particular morning, her smile was brighter, and the fluttering butterflies at the pit of her stomach were a memory of your words the night before. 

I was hoping you would come to my place and we could have lunch together. 

Wanda felt a tug on her heart, she closed her eyes for a brief moment only to see your smile from the night before. She never imagined that spending time with you would result in her having so much time, or in you being a complete child while taking the kids with you to form a team during the game. She had seen a part of you that had melted away her heart and her resolution. Wanda turned to her back glancing at the ceiling with her heart speeding at the memory of the kiss you placed on her cheek. 

But before she could delve even more in the memory, before she allowed the sweet, tortuous tingling in her body to travel down to her crotch, there was a knock on her door. Wanda sat almost right away, her eyes going big with anticipation, she spoke before she could stop herself with a voice heavy with sleep and confusion. 

“Who is it?” Wanda winced, rolling her eyes at her own stupidity. She tried to stand up before the door was opened but it was late. 

There standing by the door were the twins, they were holding one white rose in their hands and some superhero mugs with big smiles, behind them you were carrying a tray filled with eggs, bread, coffee and orange juice. 

The world came to a halt. 

Wanda observed the scene trembling like a leaf. Her breath caught on her throat, her eyes going from her children to you then back to them. She opened her mouth and closed it again, but there was nothing she could say without breaking up and giving into panic and tears. 

“Hey, sorry, they called America, but she stayed over at Loki’s place and America called me and… Well, you were asleep, and they were hungry, and I thought that you may need the sleep and…”

The twins snickered entering the room slowly, the both of them offered the white rose to Wanda who took them with trembling hands. The look in her eyes cut off you babbling, and you regretted doing what you just did. You had overstepped quite foolishly, assuming whatever had happened last night was an open invitation to… to be a freaking stalker or something equally awful. 

“Mommy, Y/N made pancakes like dinosaurs!”

“And we played, and helped her, and she let us pick the flowers!”

“Mommy, Y/N told us that we could watch the whole Jurassic Park movie on her TV, can we go?”

“You like the pretty flowers, Mommy?”

Wanda was bombarded by two hyperactive twins waiting patiently to Wanda 

You kicked yourself for just barging in the other woman's home without even asking, for thinking that perhaps this was okay. You and Wanda were not friends. Or, were you? 

Your trail of thoughts was cut short by a warm hand on yours. Wanda offered a trembling smile, she opened her mouth and then closed it again. 

“I… I…”Wanda snorted, shaking her head. “You didn't have to do this.”

You tilted your head holding onto the tray, it was true you didn't have to do it. You did it because you wanted to, because you hadn't stopped thinking about Wanda. Because you woke up thinking you could have kissed her the night before. 

“I just… I'm shocked, I've never had breakfast in bed.” She said, trying to ease out the uncomfortable silence in the room. 

“Never?” You asked incredulously, Wanda shook her head and just as you were to say something else Billy came forward speaking loudly. 

“Daddy said mommies didn't deserve breakfast and they should be serving us.” Billy made up a face sulking a little. “But Balder told us that his dad serves breakfast to his mommy… Because he loves her…”

Tommy placed his hand on his chin, pursing his lips while glancing up at where you were standing frozen in place after such a revelation. 

“Do you love mommy?” Tommy finally asked, and it was his question what broke the uncomfortable tension in the room.

Your face turned in a mask of reds and disbelief, while Wanda was just as mortified as you. The twins, blissfully ignorant of what they had just done, went back to crawl inside Wanda's bed and turned the TV on. 

Wanda was afraid to lift her gaze and discover disgust in your face, perhaps to find you looking at her as if Vision had been right all along. You don't deserve to eat, dear, last night I wasn't satisfied as I should be and you have to make it up to me today. 

You cleared your throat stepping closer with a grin in place. Your eyes gleamed warmly, tilting your head to catch those green irises in yours. 

“Well, boys, mommies deserve breakfast in bed every single day of the week.” You declared casually. “You guys love your mommy, right?”

Wanda's heart shrank with emotion when the twins exclaimed a loud yes, you were now dangerously close to her. 

“Then, it is obvious that she needs her breakfast.” You cleared your throat once more and this time around Wanda did look up to see you before her. “Let me make sure you have your first warm breakfast in bed, Wands.”

For a brief moment, you and Wanda stared into one another's eyes without any need to break into explanations. You were not asking for them, and Wanda was too afraid to say something and scared you away. The young woman fixed her position in bed, and you soon placed the trail on her lap. You offered a quick smile nodding to the twins and the tray. 

“Now, Wands, you go ahead and eat while you watch some cartoons with the children.”

“Cartoons?” Wanda asked amusedly, whatever nervousness she was experimenting with was diminished by your comment. The twins nodded watching as you surf the channels looking for some good cartoons. 

“Yes, Saturday mornings are mornings of cartoons and sleeping in until you can't take bed anymore.” You winked at her, and Wanda melted at the sight. 

She was foolish not to think that this was nothing more than a friendly gesture, and Wanda knew later on she would need to provide explanations about the comments made by Billy. But at the moment she could give in the moment, enjoyed the warm meal and the familiarity of the scene. 

Soon you found something Billy and Tommy asked for and the room filled with the sound of paw patrol. You smirked at Wanda who winced lightly while Tommy and Billy were hooked from the start. 

“And, what are you supposed to do now?” Wanda asked teasingly, you stood there for a moment putting the rose you had in your back pocket out and placing it on the tray. “Are you going to stay with us?”

Wanda tried to make it sound casual, as if she was just teasing you. But the air left her lungs when you leaned in, your eyes locked on hers, twinkling with an emotion that made Wanda's heart jump in her throat and her core tremble with longing. 

“Now you enjoy and later on I will wait for you at my place for lunch.”

“Stay.” Wanda said before she could stop herself, she opened her eyes, lowering her gaze. “I mean… You're here now, so you could have breakfast and…”

You chuckled winking at her, “perhaps at another time. Right now I have to run some errands and I want to make sure Billy and Tommy are okay before you wake up.”

“Thank you.” Wanda mumbled, you waved away her words walking backwards with a grin adorning your features. 

“Don't mention it, it was my pleasure. See you later, Wands.”

You almost crashed against the threshold, cursing lowly while hearing the snort of amusement from Wanda. Blushing lightly you shook your head and exited the room before you could do or say something that would put you in the spotlight. 

Wanda was left with her children, the food was warm and her stomach grumbled reminding her that she had been angry when waking up. 

“Okay, guys, I need you to tell me why you call America again.” Wanda finally asked, turning to Billy first then to Tommy. 

The twins took their attention away from the TV looking at Wanda. 

“She is cool, Mommy.” Billy said as if that was the best argument in the world. 

“I know she is, Billy, but she probably was asleep at home and she has things to do.” Wanda tried to reason with them, it was not the first time they had done this and Wanda was starting to think this could be bothering you and America at some point. 

“I like America and Y/N.” Tommy said, leaning closer to Wanda. “They make mommy smile.”

Billy nodded in agreement, “mommy, you like them too?”

Wanda flushed at the question, she pressed her lips together and decided to stuff her mouth with pancakes instead of answering that particular question. She let her thoughts run rampant, her body tingling with anticipation for the lunch time to be there already. 

__________________

Laughter filled the room, reverberating deep inside her soul at the sight before her.

Billy and Tommy were on the floor, holding onto their stomachs while laughter erupted from them with a young woman poking at them while a grown adult kept on making noises while the voice on the phone demanded seriousness. Wanda sat on the dark blue chair in the corner, she was closer to the fireplace and the window, the rain falling freely right outside the house. If anyone had asked her a couple of months ago the changes she had experimented in her life, she would have thought them crazy. Wanda had never considered herself strong, or even extraordinary, and quite frankly she never thought she would make it out of Vision’s grasp; when the time came for her to make decisions, it came as a surprised just how strong she really was. How ready she was to start fighting for who she was, and what she wanted.

Leaning back against the cushioned back of the chair, Wanda chuckled at the sight of Billy and Tommy enjoying themselves without a care in the world. Her green eyes flickered briefly from Billy and Tommy to America, the young woman was grinning like mad while putting the mobile away before turning the TV on, her soothing voice and clear wording made it impossible for the twins to ignore her. Wanda had seen the growing affection between her children and their babysitter, how that young woman had come over their lives and help the twins out of their scary shell.

For a moment, Wanda kept her eyes on a single spot between the twins and America. She was fighting over with her thoughts, the fluttering in her heart made her tingled until fluttering butterflies awoke at the pit of her stomach. Without any excuses to keep her eyes away from you, she let her green stare to fall upon your relaxed form on the floor.

You were resting your back against the sofa, one leg on the floor and the other bend slightly towards your chest. Your face was a mask of pure relaxation, there was a soft trace of flush on your cheeks and those eyes were completely soft and warmth as they focused on the children. Not for a single moment had you shown any disgust or exasperation against the twins, you were not even bored after answer a million questions and then telling them stories about yours and America’s younger days. 

Wanda held her hands closer to her chest, her heart twisted inside her chest making her experiment a spark of longing. Wanda longed for this to be her life, and just for that brief moment, Wanda could pretend this was her life. With Billy, Tommy, with America and with…with you.

But just as this thought sneaked inside her mind, she shook it away with panic rising inside her mind. It was impossible! She was not attracted to women, and she most certainly was not attracted to you! She couldn’t! She shouldn’t! And thus, she would bury those emotions and forget all about them. With time, Wanda knew she would realize this was just her way of developing friendships. Right? 

“Woah, earth to Wanda? Earth to Wanda!!” 

You were waving your hand in front of her face, the young woman shook her head blushing profusely with you just a few inches away from her grinning amusedly. Wanda could tell everyone had her attention on her, and she just hoped she had not been staring at you in an obvious way.

“I thought you want to either hit me or kiss me for the way you were looking at me.” You teased shaking your head in triumph when Wanda winced mortified.

“I wanted to hit you…” She stated through gritted teeth, you chuckled leaning back.

“Keep telling yourself that, Princess.” You winked at the young woman, before tilting your head back. 

Billy, Tommy, and America were now seated on the sofa watching a movie, and while the rain was still falling right outside your windows, it was no late than four in the afternoon. 

“I was asking you, if you want to start working on the preparations for the festival.” You lowered your gaze furrowing your brows. “We can use the studio and leave them here watching a movie.”

Still shaken by your early comment, Wanda tried to regain her wits before facing you again.

“Yes, I think we could go and work a little, there are a lot of things I would like to ask you about, and perhaps get to know a little better.” Wanda was about to stand up when you stretched out your hand, offering a support for her to take and stand up.

It took her a moment of hesitation before she came into contact with your hand. It felt warm against hers, and your fingertips were soft under her calloused palm. You offered a half smile, Wanda tried to smile back but it came as a grimace making her wince at her lack of decor to actually return such a simple gesture. Wanda thought you would let go as soon as she had stood up, but instead you took her hand in yours guiding her through the living room down the dinning room to the hall leading a to a single white door.

“My dad built his mancave in the basement.” You started explaining while going down the stairs with Wanda following close behind. “It became the studio for everyone in the house since he was incapable of being alone for far too long. He started bringing my toys and my things as well as some of America’s or even mom’s stuff.”

“This place is huge.” Wanda couldn’t help but admire the room, it had been well-adapted and there was no humidity or coldness sneaking inside the place. 

It had a single desk in the far corner, with a lamp and a laptop. There were a couple of inflatable chairs, a sofa bed, and a couple of futons; on the wall there was a TV and Wanda could see three different gamer consoles with the respective controls. This really had become more than a studio and more like a game room inside the house, and whenever America and her friends were up for a sleepover this was the place they stayed in

You were standing at the bottom of the stairs, scratching the back of your neck waiting for Wanda to say something. The young woman walked around the place, her eyes following the different patterns, the furniture, and then to the pictures decorating one of the walls. In there she could see the pictures of your younger self with your parents, some of you and your friends, and then America and her friends. Wanda softened slightly, her eyes falling into one picture that had a baby America clinging to you, behind the both of you were your parents smiling happily at the picture. For all your bravado, and rudeness, these were the glimpses of the real you that Wanda found endearing; she turned around to see you fidgeting near the stairs, as if you had been waiting her approval. 

There was a single moment in which she found herself looking directly into your eyes. You were trying to hold yourself in a casual manner, trying always to look as compose and in control as you presented yourself most of the time. But right now, you were just nervous and Wanda couldn’t help but think you were looking cute, and apart of her was hoping perhaps, this sudden nervous trait of yours was because of her.

“This is a game room, you know that, right?” Wanda finally exclaimed, her lips curling slightly. “And it looks like the playground of a 15-year-old teen.”

You crunched up your nose lifting your finger, “now look here, this is a pretty decent game room, and it fits the needs of a couple of orphans that wanted to make this a good place to play.”

Wanda chuckled making her way to the laptop, you followed her soon after sitting down on your favourite chair while putting your mobile out. 

“We haven’t changed anything, you know?” You finally revealed, Wanda took a seat right beside you tilting her head with curiosity. “I mean, this is how dad decorated it. Sure, we added some things, and some pictures and games but…dad decorated it himself. He…he was a 15-year-old at heart.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t—” Wanda started but you stopped her waving your hand away.

“Oh, no, no, don’t worry, I just…you made me remember that discussion with mom.” You shrugged then. “I think, America and I never thought of changing this one room, the rest of the house has to go through some renewals, but this place…our last movie night was in this room. I think we never thought this place needs changing.”

It was the first time Wanda saw the vulnerability in you, the way your words tinged with sorrow and nostalgia, how your eyes held onto the glistening tears while your lips quirked upwards. You turned to Wanda, and in there she could see a strong woman that had been dealing with more chaos that she let on. Wanda hesitated for a moment before placing her warm hand on top of yours, her own features softening to offer you a single smile.

“It looks incredible, you know? I think that it really suits you and America.” 

You snorted nodding before looking away, “so, let’s get to work then, I have a couple of ideas that may work for this occasion.”

Wanda accepted the sudden change of topic with a short nod, but she didn’t miss the smile playing on your lips or the closeness you two were sharing at the moment. The young woman turned to the laptop to a word document you just opened, ready to start working. 

“So, what shall we do?”

Wanda chuckled with her cheeks warming up, she too turned to the laptop opening her mouth to start sharing the ideas that had been in her mind for a couple of days. Your fingers moving fast on the keyboard, your own ideas being brought upfront until you and her engaged in a conversation you would replay in your mind for days to come.

___________________

Time passed by so quickly, by the time you decided to look at your watch it read 9 p.m.

Rain had stopped a long time ago, and the noise from upstairs came muffled by the close door of the basement. You were laughing at some silly story Wanda had told you about her twin, and the young woman was just grinning at the sight of your own smile. While you had never doubt Wanda was smart, this was the very first time you shared a conversation with the woman; her quick wit, alongside her opinions and her own ideas let her shine with a light of her own. She was not only smart, but also funny and soon you found yourself wanting to continue with the conversation, to not let go of the fuzzy shivering of your heart just as Wanda gestured with her hands, speaking excitedly about the arrangements in the main hall of Stark’s compound.

And while you seemed completely hooked by the woman sitting in front of you, Wanda was not in a better position.

It had been far too long since she allowed herself to get closer to anyone that was not pre-approved by Vision. She had almost forgotten what it was to give her opinion and to actually share her thoughts and her knowledge in a conversation. You were not only smart but funny, and while you and her thought differently on many topics, you were always up for a negotiation and a well-thought argument that Wanda loved to retort only to see your eyebrow twitched, and then the glint of disbelief in your eyes. It had been so long since Wanda allowed herself to be this close to anyone, to actually leaned in just to get closer to another person without breaking the distance to steal a kiss.

Wanda found herself relaxing into the banter, and as the night progressed she found herself longing. What for? She was scared to even go behind the answer to such a question. And still, she hoped for you to just do something and ended with her misery and her uncertainty. Of course, as soon as these thoughts flourish in her mind, another darker one came in, and soon she found the face of Carol Danvers sneaking in just to remind Wanda you were already taken.

Her eyes flickered down to her feet, her heart tugging painfully in her chest. She felt tears pricking at her eyes, while her stomach dropped at the memory of you kissing the blond-haired woman, of that woman holding onto you in the Stark event. 

“Hey, you okay?” Your hand rested tentatively on top of hers, Wanda let her green eyes focused on the hands before she nodded curtly.

“Yes, sorry I just…” She tried to explain herself, the tears just rolling slowly making her felt like an idiot. She was about to speak when your fingertips wipe the tears away.

You were frowning deeply, Wanda found herself lost in your eyes and the honest concern she saw written in them. 

“Wands…” You started but Wanda just shook her head standing up, she put on her best smile stretching her right hand to grab yours.

“Come, I think we need a tea or something, and the kids have been far to silent for my taste…” 

Your frown deepened, but you decided to not make a comment about it. You grabbed Wanda’s hand in yours and soon you were following her close behind, her hand was warm against yours, your heart beating painfully in your chest. The first floor was in complete darkness, the only light coming from the living room that had the TV on, a movie was playing there, and on the sofa were Billy, Tommy and America, all snuggled up covered by a blanket and pillows to make it comfortable.

Wanda stopped on her tracks, her face softening at the sight.

She let go of you, stepping closer to the sofa and brushing Tommy’s hair away. The boy sighed turning slightly to snuggle closer to America, Billy was sprawled on the free space, and America had her hand wrapped protectively around to child’s knee. The whole scene was overwhelming to Wanda, the peace in her children’s face, the fact she could just let go of her worries knowing they were safe, that she was safe…

It was overwhelming.

Wanda never thought she would get to where she was at the moment, she never thought the day she met you that she would allow you to engulf her in a hug letting her sob for a moment. You stood there, making soothing circles on the young woman’s back not really knowing what to say, but making sure Wanda was following into the kitchen.

You sat Wanda down on the chair, turning towards the stove to start heating the water for the tea. The room was in complete silence, Wanda let her hand covered her face for what seemed an eternity until she gathered enough courage to start talking.

“You must think I’m weird, that I’m just this crazy person that doesn’t know how to keep her emotions in check.” Wanda blurted out glancing at the counter while wriggling her hands. “We were just having a good time, and I come and mess it up by crying and acting like an idiot.”

You stopped what you were doing, for a brief moment your back was still turned towards Wanda until you turned around facing the other woman.  Wanda never looked up, but you didn’t need her too, not yet anyway.

“I think you are amazing, Wands.” You leaned back against the sink, your hands resting on the table. “But I guess, your life has not been easy.”

Wanda snorted bitterly, her arms wrapping around herself, she had not forgotten about Billy’s comment early that morning, Wanda knew you had listened to it as if that wasn’t enough, you had also seen the scars in Tommy’s back. You had seen her at her most vulnerable, after the party thrown for the school; Wanda was afraid to look into your eyes and discover disgust in your eyes. She was afraid to actually find in those eyes understanding, and sympathy…

The world around her froze in time, a pair of fingers placed tenderly under her chin. Wanda felt the air on her lungs tangled in her throat, she trembled to her very core when her eyes found yours in a single stare. Whatever she expected to find in your glance, it was certainly not the warmth emotion filled with affection and something she could not name. You smiled at her, your hand brushing lightly on her skin before putting a strand of hair behind her ear.

“We don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to.” Your voice was soft, Wanda shivered shaking her head afraid to break the moment.

“I left my husband a couple of months ago.” She whispered placing her hand on your wrist. “He was not good to me or my children, and I just knew I have to leave before anything bad happen.”

It was not the whole truth, and Wanda felt bad at not being completely honest with you but in reality she was not ready to tell you the full story. How her life and that of the twins had been in danger, that the last time he had hit Wanda she was left to dead and taken to the hospital after Vision realized she could actually die. That he had used a cord from the television to hit Tommy on his back, and then had broken Billy’s arm. That he had threatened to kill the twins and then used Wanda like a breeding stock to keep her by his side.

Wanda was not ready to tell you, of all people, these things. 

You opened your mouth wanting to ask something, anything, but you decided there was nothing else you needed to know. It is not my story to tell. 

Natasha had said to you once, and now that you were looking into Wanda’s face, you realized, it was a story that the other woman needed to be ready to tell. You pressed your lips together, taking your hand away while stepping back a little.

“I’m sorry, Wanda.” You said the first thing that came to mind. 

Wanda broke into a bitter smile, her mirthless laughter sending shivers down your back.

“People don’t usually know what to say when I tell the story, so it’s fine.” Wanda shrugged turning her back to you. “I’m still getting use to…everything, that’s why I’ve been going to Doctor Hope, and why I ended up here.”

You didn’t need to ask anything else, it was not secret that Natasha was part of a secret group that helped people victims of violence. You had even contributed at some point with money and contacts, but it had never been your forte, your stepmother was the one involved with the group. Knowing that Wanda ended up at your doorstep because of this, because she was running and hiding stirred something deep inside your heart.

You felt the need to protect her and the twins.

“I guess it doesn’t help that I’m an asshole to you most of the time, eh?”

Your commented caught her off guard, and soon Wanda was actually laughing. You joined her sitting on the counter while leaning against your hand. Wanda put her hair away shrugging.

“You were the only one actually being you around me.” She replied. “So, I kind of appreciated you being an asshole, it helped me focus my anger against someone different than me.”

You snorted, bowing mockingly at her.

“I’m always glad to be of service, Princess.” Then, in a moment of inspiration you winked at her and added. “I can always be of some use, and continue being an ass to you, so you have someone to fight with.”

Wanda shook her head, this time around her face transformed into an expression you were far too afraid to decipher. Her eyes gleamed, and her lips broke into an easy smile.

“Even though your proposal is very tempting, I think I like you more now.” Wanda opened her eyes really big she waved her hands stuttering with a full blush on her face; you arched your brows looking at her amusedly.

“Oh, you like me now? Really?” You teased, and she stood up rather fast stepping back making her way to the kettle. 

“Oh, shut it, you know what I mean.” She tumbled over her words, with her back to you to hide away her embarrassment.

“Yes, you mean you like me, woah, Princess I didn’t know you swing that way…” Your laughter died off when the dishcloth she was using hit you in the face. “Hey!”

Wanda rolled her eyes trying to control her flustered cheeks, she mocked glare at you before spreading her arms rather exasperated.

“Can you help me with the tea, please?” She huffed when you chuckled jumping to the floor.

“Sure, Princess, anything you want.” You said winking at her, “after all, this is why you like me…”

“God, you’re impossible.” She mumbled trying to ignore her beating heart, or the grin threatening to break upon her lips.

You chuckled grinning smugly at her, nothing much was said about the topic, you didn’t press for more information and Wanda was just glad to share her story at her own pace. The silence that followed your teasing was one of pure familiarity, with you working alongside Wanda while making sure the tea was served with honey and milk. 

“Have you ever been to Kamar Taj?” Your question came out of the blue, Wanda made a face blinking a couple of times while shrugging.

“Not really…” She answered tentatively not really knowing where this question came from.

“Well, let me show you…” You fumbled with your mobile, the tip of your tongue poking through your lips as you search for the images. “And, let me tell you the story of how America and I got therapy after our parents accident.”

Wanda found herself admiring you from afar, your words held just a tinge of sadness in them, but your eyes gleamed with peace and affection as you located the pictures and started showing them to Wanda. You opened up to her, telling Wanda about Stephen and Cristine, about Tony and Pepper, and how everyone came together for you and your sister.  You were talking excitedly, your hands expanding the sights you had seen in Asia, but Wanda’s eyes had never left your face, or your expressions…She had never stopped looking at you, and if you had been paying attention, you would have noticed the deep affection gleaming in those green eyes.

__________________________________

Monday morning came with more troubles than solutions.

You hit your head on the desk, your assistant huffing in disapproval while she continued with your schedule for the rest of the morning and the afternoon. You had just come to the office after an accident in the production floor, some of the computers had malfunction, and half of the operation had stopped until IT and the facilities team to fix everything up.

The only thing holding you up, was the memory of your weekend. 

Saturday ended with Wanda staying at your home, the twins were fast asleep and it would have been rather dangerous to just carry them in the middle of a cold night to their house. They were warm, and the chilly night could make them sick, or so you reasoned with Wanda; you won the argument, and she slept with the twins on the basement, while America kept on shooting you knowing glances you didn’t even bother to acknowledge.

Then, Sunday came in and Wanda decided to repay your generosity with breakfast. 

Everything had been too damn domestic, and you had woken up on Monday morning panicking. What the hell were you doing? What were you thinking? Wanda was straight as an arrow! She had children! She was married! Sure, her husband was an asshole and no longer in the picture but she was way beyond your league!

She probably didn’t even like women or was curious about being with one! She was probably…

“Really, Y/N, if you’re not going to pay attention to me I’m not going to be here to pass you notes or messages to know what you’re supposed to be talking about.” Maria Hill crossed her arms glaring at you with such intensity you sometimes doubt who was the boss in here.

“Sorry, Maria, I’m…I’m just distracted.”

“No shit, boss.” Maria sighed stepping forward before sitting down. “Spill, I cannot do my job and you certainly can’t do yours if you keep this up, what happened?”

You sighed leaning back on your chair while glancing at the ceiling, you had been an emotional mess all weekend but it only worsened as soon as you woke up that morning and you realized you missed Wanda. Which was completely ridiculous since you had just spent the weekend with her, and it wasn’t even that extraordinary! You both had worked on the preparations for the festival, you had just spent the weekend with a friend and her children. Nothing more.

“I just had the strangest weekend ever.” You mumbled knowing Maria had her brown eyes fixed on you, more than an assistant, Maria had become in your confident whenever you felt the world on your shoulders.

It was a relief, and the woman always had the right words and the right advice for you. She was a good person, and her willingness to usually put up with you was enough to make you trust in her.

“Strangest…how?” She inquired placing her tablet on the table.

You chuckled crowing your hands on your abdomen, tilting your head you locked eyes with her.

“My neighbour, America’s teacher, we…Natasha selected us to organise the Winter Festival for the school,” you shrugged looking away, you missed the flash of recognition in Maria’s stare. “She came home and we just…I don’t know, we just talk and kinda bond…you know?”

Maria cocked a brow not missing for one second your wishful stare, or the inflections on your voice. She had heard from Natasha the strange hate/friendship relationship you had developed with your neighbour. But this was the first time she saw it in action; now Maria understood why Natasha had decided to meddle in it.

“And you bond…physically?” She asked half amused and half exasperated at your reaction.

You jumped startled, your cheeks burning red just as you started stuttering an answer.

“N-no! Of course not!” You shook your head standing up and passing left and right, “I was just…we were just…it was a friendly bond! You know? We talked about ourselves, and our lives and shit like that.”

“Charming.” Maria rolled her eyes once more, she then grabbed her tablet again clearing her throat. “Look, Y/N, I think that you have to wonder why this non-physical bonding with a neighbour you found infuriating is affecting you so much.”

You stopped your passing turning to the window, the sight before you were that of a busy city filled with people coming in and out of the streets. You could feel Maria’s eyes on you, she was waiting for your answer and you knew you needed to concentrate on the oncoming meetings; besides, she was right. Why were you so worked up about the weekend? Why were you so affected?

“I just…I’m not sure.” You dropped your shoulders turning slightly. “What else do I have for today?”

Maria pressed her lips together, she was very tempted to pressing the matter and get more answers out of you. But she had been by your side long enough to know, it would be pointless you were far too confused to actually get into a serious talk. By the time you turned to face her, Maria knew you were in full business mode and whatever had been distracting you was pushed deep inside your mind, avoiding your emotions was something you were very adept at. 

“You have lunch with Carol Danvers.” Maria smirked at your reaction; you winced placing a hand at the nape of your neck. “She actually made it official; we still had some contracting with the government and since she is the new liaison for Camp Davis you couldn’t say no.”

You nodded curtly, knowing the meeting was Carol’s way to get your attention on a topic you had been avoiding for more than a week. When did you relationship with Carol changed so much? Why did it change so much?

“And then, after that you have a business meeting with Edwin Jarvis, you know? The CEO from Vision Enterprise.” Maria furrowed her brows putting up some files. “He is looking to get some investment in AI technology and has some interesting ideas.”

You nodded absentmindedly, your mind still on Carol and Wanda.

“I think I’ve heard of him, Tony mentioned him at some point.” Maria clicked her tongue and this time around you did pay attention to her. “What is it?”

“This individual, he is also being investigated.” She replied softly, your eyes open slightly taking a seat on your chair you leaned forward.

“Go on, what is it? Should I cancel the meeting?” 

Maria pursed her lips before shaking her head.

“He is being investigate for some fraud and industrial espionage.” Maria put the file in front of you, you turned to your screen reading the file she just sent to you. “It seems this is an ongoing matter, but there is also a sealed file about his wife and his children.”

“He sounds like the kind of individual I don’t want to be relate to, Maria.” You pursed your lips reading over the investigation for tax evasion and industrial espionage, the one on his wife and children was left blank and had a seal from the federal government on top of it.

“I know; however, Tony wants you to meet with him.” 

This time around you couldn’t hide your surprised, you cocked your head to the side and then your eyes opened wide in understanding.

“Very well, what do I have to do?”

“I’m so glad that you always catch up once you have your mind out of the gutter.” Maria smirked leaning in while ignoring your sputtering protests.

_______________

The restaurant was packed.

Carol had chosen the restaurant right around the corner of your building, it was an old place filled with golden lights, and white tables with a darkened interior and sweet classical music dancing around the place. It was the home for old and new members of society, and it was the preferred place for the high ranking officers of the military when they wanted to make a good deal.

Your eyes swept the interior trying to locate the woman that was waiting for you, Carol waved at you from the far corner of the restaurant the table for two located it near the window right beside a beautiful fountain made of coloured water. The young woman wore her uniform, the signs that she had been in a formal meeting moments before meeting with you.

“Hey.” You greeted leaning in to place a kiss on her cheek, Carol smiled sweetly at you indicating the chair while calling over the waitress.

“Hey, thank you for coming.” She stated lowering her gaze for a moment before facing you again, you winced grabbing the menu and asking for something light and some water before focusing your attention on Carol.

“Why wouldn’t I?” 

“You had been avoiding me.” Carol didn’t beat around the bush, she grabbed her glass of water and took a long sip with her eyes pinning you to your spot.

You shifted your weight leaning forward, your mouth opened ready to deny her words but unable to do so. In reality, she was right, you had been avoiding her; ever since she proposed to you the trip to Eastern Europe you knew the relationship should stop but you didn’t dare to do so, and this inability to get your relationship clear with Carol had been the downfall of you affair with her.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have.” You replied lamely, Carol sighed dropping her face her voice marked with the vulnerability she felt at the moment.

“I think you know I’m in love with you.” Carol took a deep breath, her lips trembling as she spoke. “I’ve been trying so hard to make you fall for me, I…I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to this relationship, but I always thought…I really want you to come with me, Y/N, let me…let me be the one for you, just as you have become the one for me.”

The room filled with heavy air, and deafening silence.

Your heart shrank at her confession, and your hand stirred at your side wanting to reach out and grab Carol’s hand. The blond-haired woman offered a single smile, but it was quite evident to you that tears were threatening to leave her eyes.

“I’m sorry.” You mumbled passing your hand through your hair. “I was not fair to you, Carol.”

Carol snorted looking out of the window, the waitress chose that moment to bring the food and, as soon as he was gone you continued.

“I do love you, you know? I never thought of this to be jus an affair, and I…” You trailed off not knowing how to explain to Carol that you tired, you really did.

She had always been special, a friend that you could always turn to whenever things went bad or good, she had been there for you when your parents died and when Shuri broke your heart. At first you hadn’t understood why she was so unconditional until, one day while you were hating on yourself and the world she kissed you and the affair was born. It was supposed to be with not attachments, and yet Carol couldn’t help herself once she got to see a side of you she had never seen before. You wished it had been the same for you, but you always thought this relationship was nothing more than two good friends helping one another.

You had been unfair. And Carol didn’t deserve it.

“I wished I had fallen in love with you, Carol. I really do.” You finally confessed, this time around you did stretch your hand and grabbed hers in yours.

Carol lowered her stare to your hand, tempted to just pull away but giving into the comforting touch. She swallowed down her tears, her lips breaking into a bittersweet smile.

“I thought this meeting would be different, you know?” Carol let out a breath, pressing her lips tightly. “I thought perhaps…”

You lifted her hand, leaning in placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. 

“I’m still here, you know?”

Carol nodded hesitating before speaking, “so, will you go with me? Will you…give us a chance?”

You dropped your eyes, your mouth opened then close again.

“Would you stay? Would you try to give me a chance?” You asked back, and just for that brief moment Carol was tempted to say ‘yes’, but the truth was she could not stay.

Carol had worked from an early age on her dream to be part of the Airforce, to get on top of her game and surpass that boy’s club that had dominated the Airforce for far too long. She and Maria had been working hard on this, and when she was offered the position, Carol knew what she had to do. Her love for you was there, and you had been the only one that made her doubt her career choices; Carol had been ready to say no, until she talked to Maria again and was faced with her dream and her goals.

I know you love her, Carol, but are you ready to leave your dreams behind for someone, anyone? Are sure this won’t come back later on as a reproach for missed chances?

“I’ve been waiting so long for this.” Carol mumbled; you smiled nodding.

“I know, and you don’t know how proud I am. You deserve this, Carol, and you will always count with me to be there for you.” You hesitated before standing up and putting your chair closer to the blond-haired woman, Carol opened her eyes letting out a chuckled when you finally put your chair closer to her.

“What are you doing?” Carol laughed when you fixed everything so you would be closer to her, without letting go of the hand you had been holding for comfort.

“Just moving closer to you, you have always been my friend, Carol, regardless of what happened I do love you, and you are my friend, I hope you know that.”

Carol melted under your words, she returned her attention to her food before speaking again. 

“You are my friend as well, Y/N.” Carol looked back at you, “and that’s why I have to ask, are you…do you…what’s going on with Wanda, Y/N?”

“What? Why?” You leaned back, eyes opening at the sudden question. 

Carol rolled her eyes, this time around she did look rather upset.

“Well, it is quite obvious something is happening, I’m mean the last couple of times you couldn’t stop talking about her, and then when we met at the supermarket you were…weird.”

You sputtered shaking your head looking away from Carol, “no, no, nothing, I just…she is…she is the mother of the children America babysits for, nothing else.”

Carol didn’t seem convince by your words, she took a sip from her water pursing her lips.

“Are you sure? I mean you look…” Carol could see this topic was not something you were ready for, you squirmed on your chair emptying the glass of water while playing with your food. “Y/N…”

“Nothing, there is nothing, she is just a neighbour… nothing else.”

The conversation changed afterwards.

For Carol it was quite evident you didn’t want to talk about the topic, and if she was going to be honest, she didn’t want to know. Those two different times she had seen you interact with the redhead; she had seen a glint in your eyes Carol was not familiar with; it was a glance she yearned to obtain from you, but it seemed to just be for a single individual. You hadn’t even look Shuri in such a way, and this was what made Carol hesitated about the situation.  

But the time lunch was over, you and Carol had found peace in the conversation. You two found a common topic, and soon business was on the table while she asked for your opinion on the subjects that would soon dominate her life, while you asked about the oncoming meetings.

“I will miss you.” Carol said hugging you tightly, you hugged her back smiling softly while enjoying the woman in your arms.

“I’m going to miss you too, Carol.” She stepped back, but she was still close enough you could feel her warm breath on your face. “Carol…”

Your words were cut off by a pair of lips against yours, the kiss was slow tentative touch of the lips teasing you. Carol was flustered once she stepped back, she offered a smile that you returned with a shake of your head.

“Just a good-bye kiss.” She winked at you turning around and walking towards the parking lot. 

You watched her leave, a heavy heart inside your chest wondering if you made the right decision by letting go of a woman that had shown you so much love in the last couple of months. You put your hands in your pockets turning round to walk towards your building, you couldn’t keep her by your side waiting to fall in love with her, that wouldn’t be fair with her, or with you.

With a last glance to the sidewalk, you stepped back and went back to your office, a weight you didn’t know you were carrying on your back finally lifting up and leaving you lighter and open to the world of possibilities you had been trying to bury deep inside your mind, a world of possibilities that had a name of its own: Wanda Maximoff.

________________

“Oh, I didn’t know you were a woman.” The man smiled charmingly at you, his hand stretched out while he glanced around the room as if waiting for someone else to come forth into the meeting. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see you are a beautiful woman, but for some reason I have always thought of Y/L/N instead of your first name.”

You forced a smile at the absurdity of his comment, he merely laughed and went to take a seat to the left side of the table. You crossed stares with Maria who shot you a cold glare as a warning to keep your cool and not to do or say anything incorrectly. 

“Right, I bet it is a common mistake.” You sat down as well leaning back on your chair while pointing with your hand the file on the table. “I’m glad I get to know you as well, Mr. Jarvis, I’ve been reading to your proposal and me and my team had a counteroffer for you.”

“Oh, a counteroffer?” Jarvis grabbed the file in his hands, he started reading while ignoring the rest of the room.

You had chosen the conference room of tenth floor for the meeting, the place was packed with only a couple of offices and some storage rooms that were the home of the material used on the production floor and the operations room. It was the most neutral ground you could find, more so after finding out how the man operated. The room was almost empty, no decorations on the walls, with a single window that was left facing the city. You let your eyes wandered to Maria who was sitting at the other end of the table, her hands busy with her tablet and her phone while she too made sure to watch the man closely.

“Everything seems to be in order but, I don’t get it.” He stated pointing to a section in the contract. “It says in here that you would only provide with money if I worked here, is that correct?”

“Yes, I prefer this kind of deals to be in a controlled environment.” You shrugged putting your hands together. “Our contracts go directly under the government, and we cannot risk losing any data because of unknown facilities.”

“My business is very secure, Mrs. Y/L/N.” Jarvis straightened up hardening his stare. 

“I don’t have any doubts about that, but you have to understand this is part of the non-negotiables, this is the most secure red in the world and what you intended to do will require such facilities to prevent espionage. I think this is a pretty sweet deal for the both of us.”

Jarvis clenched her jaw close, his cheek burning up with embarrassment at being played at like a child. His eyes drifted to the contract, not only was he being ordered to work in some unknown facilities, he would also be made to sign a non-disclosure clausule and the rights for his technology. 

“You are asking for far too much, Mrs. Y/L/N, and I'm afraid I'm not seeing the benefits such a deal will bring to me.” Jarvis leaned forward placing his arm on the table, his hand playing with the pen. “You are not the only company interested in buying this idea, and I have to say their proposals are more seductive…”

“And yet, here you are.” You leaned back against your chair, your eyes examining the man sitting in front of you.

Maria had done a good research of him, a married man he started his business thanks to a small inheritance on his father's part and then to the money left by his father in law. He had built a solid company in the industry of technology and entertainment, nothing too extravagant but enough to make him a notorious and well-adjusted member of society in Westview and Jersey. He had tried to jump into major leagues with a risky inversion that ended up with him almost in bankruptcy. Then, all of a sudden, his business got better and now he was someone selling away his ideas to the best buyer. It was then the investigation started leading Homeland and some federal authorities to be not only after him but also after some red of business people that had dedicated their lives to steal ideas of millions of dollars from others. 

You knew you were not risking much in this deal, and quite honestly you would be more than happy if the man decided to go after another buyer, but right now your company was being targeted mainly because you were the number one in the business. Maria had assured you he would bite the bait, people thought your company while one of the most powerful in the world had lost its edge after your dad's death. They were looking for the weakest link to just get their hands in a portion of the business you dealt with. No one could imagine you had been dealing with one crisis after another with an iron fist and good advisors. 

Jarvis seemed to think that this was the opportunity he had been waiting for, he didn't seem to like the fact it was you the one he had to deal with. When he first acceded to this he was told he would deal with the old man in charge of Alchemax. He never thought he would need to deal with a young woman, but he could always start the deal before charming his way into her pants and getting something good out of this. 

“You are right, here I am.” His whole demanour changed in a second, he opened up his arms, tilting his head he sent a flirty smile your way with his eyes twinkling at you. “I never thought I will be bested at negotiations by such a beautiful and young woman such as yourself, Mrs. Y/L/N, but I can tell you I feel confident of the business we are making today.”

Jarvis grabbed the pen signing the contract with a flourish, you smiled back lifting a single eyebrow to the man who was now trying to be charming and flirty towards you. 

“This is the beginning of a great relationship between Alchemax and Vision Enterprise.” You replied standing up while offering your hand to the older man, he stood up as well taking your hand in his and placing a kiss on your knuckles. 

You never left the smile off of your face, Jarvis stood dangerously close to you towering above you while pressing you back. Maria was about to stand up but a single gesture from you stopped her. You lifted your head, your eyes going from those eyes to his lips and the smirk in the man's face was all you needed to know at the moment. 

“I recognize when I have been bested by someone as beautiful as yourself, what o you say if we go out for dinner and celebrate this new deal?” Jarvis let his thumb brushed the skin of your backhand, he winked at you before continuing. “I know just the place you may like, and perhaps…Who knows? This could be the beginning of something else.”

You giggled, shifting your weight from one foot to the other, the man holding back the victorious smile that was threatening to break on his lips. 

“Something like what, Mr. Jarvis?” You asked, lowering your voice, Jarvis this time around straightened up. 

“Something more pleasurable for the both of us…”

“Oh, but what about your wife and your children? Are they coming as well, Mr. Jarvis?”

Up until that moment, Jarvis had all but forgotten about Maria sitting at the far end of the table. His shoulders put back, the tension around his eyes heightening the wrinkles in his face, his eyes lost all flirtatious glint while he glared at the other woman. The subject of her wife was a sore one for him, and while he knew these people didn't know the truth it still made his blood boil whenever that fucking bitch was mentioned. 

The embarrassment she had made him experiment was something he would never forgive her for, and he had most of his resources dedicated to find Wanda and the twins and make sure they were brought to him before he made sure they would never leave his side. 

“Wife and children?” You clicked your tongue stepping back while taking the contract in your hands. “I would love to take your offer, Mr. Jarvis, but I do not mess with married men and, most importantly, with business partners. The facilities are ready for you and your team, and the security access has been approved, so you are free to start tomorrow if you want.”

“Now, wait a moment,” Jarvis stepped in trying to salvage the situation, his face once more red with embarrassment. “My wife and children are away with their grandmother, and I just wanted to make it clear my marriage is more a formality to a poor woman who thought getting pregnant would trap me into her delusions of love…”

You turned to the man, your face à mask of disbelief that soon changed into a blank stare. Jarvis smiled weakly at you, lowering his gaze while putting a hand on his pocket. 

“I stayed for the children.”

You were not asking for explanations, but the fact this man was ready to give them told you what type of person he was. Maria had made her way to where you were standing her brows out together while ignoring the heated glare Jarvis sent her way. 

“Please, Mr. Jarvis, no need to explain yourself.” You replied, shaking your head offering the same innocent and shy smile you had presented him a moment ago. “it is not my business, but either way, I will ask for a rain check since I already had a commitment this afternoon and was not able to accept your invitation.”

Jarvis sighed in relief putting on his charming smile once more. If he got to score something with you, perhaps he wouldn't need Wanda or the brats to get money out of them.

“Then, let me see what can be arranged for you and I to celebrate at a later date.”

“It's a date, now if you excuse me I have a meeting with the board in five minutes.”

You dropped your smile once the lift doors closed in front of you. 

“God, I will need a fucking shower after this.” You shivered in disgust, Mary snorted writing something on her tablet. 

“At least Fury is going to be happy.” She replied, shrugging. “It's a win-win situation.”

“Next time we're going to let him kiss your hand and try that creepy smile with you, okay?” You retorted crossing your arms. “The nerve of the man! To think I am straight at all!”

Maria laughed at your comment, she held onto her abdomen shaking her head before leaning back against the walls of the lift. You smiled at her lifting a single accusing finger to her. 

“Next time, I would let everyone think you are straight and that Natasha is just a really good friend.” That silenced Maria who blushed profusely, turning away from you. 

“That's not funny.” She grumbled. 

“Oh, it is if you remember how you and Natasha came to be a couple.” 

Maria winced trying to bury the memories in her mind, it wasn't so much she didn't treasure the moment she and Natasha found one another. It was just that it was also the most embarrassing time in her life and remembering That moment made her cringe from time to time. 

“Anyway, I found the man disgusting, and I considered his wife.” You commented lightly. “He really is quite the character, you could find something else about his family?”

“No, it is a closed file, so I will need special clearance to see it.” Maria waited for a moment but you shook your head. 

“No, it doesn't matter anyway, Fury is after the man for tax evasion and espionage. We don't even know what really happened with his wife.” 

“Very well.” Maria exited the lift after you, afternoon was already falling and the lights of yellow and orange decorated the sky giving way to the darkness of the night. “Miguel just finished putting the security measures on the red we gave them, and everyone is already aware of what to do.”

“Good then, let's get this one last meeting over so I can go home to my sister…”

“... And your neighbour.” Maria smirked mischievously at you, her amusement growing when your feet falter at the mention of Wanda. “Are you going to tell her you and Carol are no longer together?”. 

“Why would I do that?” You replied sharply trying to hide the blush on your face. 

“Oh you know? Because you two are friends and there may be a possibility she wants to jump your bones?”

“God you and Natasha are going to be the death of me someday!”

Maria laughed following you inside the main hall towards the conference room. Maria found it amusing how Natasha picked up on this kind of things, now that she and Hope had talked about the topic and that Maria had seen your reactions and the way you talked about Wanda she had to agree that there was something there. Whatever it was, it brought a silly smile to your lips, it made you more relax and open. Maria was certaines you were not ready to admit these changes, or even the implications of your emotions, but there was time and perhaps these moments you were sharing with Maximoff while planning the Winter Festival were the push you needed. 

There was only one thing that was worrying Maria and that was  the truth behind Jarvis and Wanda. She hated lying to you, and even more so when someone as important as Wanda was for you was involved. But Natasha had assured her this was the best way to trap the man, and to make sure Wanda and her children were protected while Jarvis faced justice for a long time. 

Y/N cannot know anything, Maria, please, she is already involved with Wanda as it is and knowing this could make her act harshly and we need to do this with care to trap the bastard. 

“Anyway, I don't even think she… Likes me that way,” there is a hint of regret in your tone, your hand hovering above the knob of the door, you licked your lips frowning deeply before turning to Maria. “Not that it matters at all or anything just… WeWe're good friends, you know? And she is straight as an arrow… So,yeah…”

There was a moment of silence, Maria narrowed her eyes at you but you put on your best smile before opening the door and entering the conference room, whatever you were thinking or even experimenting at the moment completely forgotten as you took the reins of the meeting. Maria storing away this moment, she knew she would need to have a serious talk with Natasha once she got home.

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

Next chapter: Reader and Wanda are trying to deny what had become evident to everyone, Riri played her cards well and America is at a crossroads. The twins are getting far too comfortable, and the Winter Festival preparations create a tension between you and Wanda that you didn't dare to break.

#fanfic #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wandaxreader #female reader #imagine wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x female reader #reader #wanda/y/n #wanda x you #wanda x y/n #wanda x reader #wanda/reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff x y/n #wanda mcu

[jangofettjamz]

Happy Halloween

Jenna Ortega x Autistic!Male!Reader

Summary: You and Jenna attend your sister Emma Myers' halloween party to try and boost your social confidence.

Words: 2400

TW: Sexual Harassment.

Set in the same timeline as "Confessions"

Jenna POV

October has finally rolled around, tis halloween season; my favourite season. Y/N and I are going to a Halloween party that his twin, Emma Myers, is hosting.

Not only is this Y/Ns first Halloween party, but it's his first party in general. I told him that he didn't have to go if he didn't want to, but he insisted. He's been trying to improve his social abilities for the last year and he believes that going to this party might help him gain that much needed boost I'm confidence. I'm so proud of him for trying.

We've decided that we're gonna be dressed as superheroes this year; his choice. Normally I'd go for something much more "macabre", but it's his first Halloween with me so I let him choose the theme of our costumes.

Originally we were going to go as Wednesday and Xavier, though we decided against it as, one: it was unoriginal and two: it hadn't been announced that Y/N was replacing Percy as Xavier for Wednesday Season two, so we wanted to keep it on the down low.

I'm going as a female version of Spider-Man, we'll I guess it would be "Spider-Women" in my case. It's a generic choice I know, but who doesn't like anything Spider-Man related, especially after that masterpiece of a movie "Across The Spider-verse." My costume is a rwd and blue Spidey suit; classic style.

Y/N however, he chose an outfit that I dunno if it constitutes as a "superhero" costume. Mainly because that this character is downright evil. He is going as one of the best TV villains ever: Homelander.

Jack Quaid, who worked on The Boys and scream 5 with me, managed to get in contact with the producers and procured one of the costumes they used for Antony Starr. It pays being a celebrity sometimes. The suit was a perfect fit for Y/N, he absolutely loves The Boys, so you imagine how happy he was when Jack managed to source this suit for us.

Dying his hair to match Homelander's was a bit nerve wracking for him as he'd never dyed his hair before, but I eventually convinced him after a while and he definitely looks the part.

The party is going hold around 50 people, all at the Myers' house. Atleast the party is at a familer location making it easier for Y/N. Though, I admit I'm still a little nervous that he'll become to overstimulated from all the music, lights and people. I take pride in making sure that everything is adjusted for Y/N comfort and accessibility, but this is completely out of my hands and I hate that.

He assures me that he'll be fine, that he can manage on his own and that he'll be fine if anything goes wrong. Still, I can't help but worry about him, he is my everything after all. I do get a bit motherly over Y/N sometimes.

- 3 hours later - Myers Residence.

We just pulled up the Myers House. Many different coloured lights gleamed put the windows, loud music invaded our ear drums even from inside the car. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all" Y/N said nervously; the kind of of nervous you'd hear from someone when they know something bads going to happen.

"Do you wanna go back home, bubs?" He looked at me, then back at the house, contemplating his choices. "Honey, I won't be mad if you wanna go back home, we both knew that this would be difficult for you. There's no shame in wanting to go home, baby." I said with a smile to let him know my words are genuine.

"I wanna go in" He finally said.

"Are you sure?" I said, needing firm confirmation that he wanted this. He nodded and I smiled. "I'll be right beside you, if at any point you get uncomfortable, you tell me right away." He nodded again and we made our way to the front door, the sound of loud music increasing with each step we take.

Pumpkins lit with candles were displayed on the door step, clearly Emma has a talent for carving pumpkins I see. Y/N walks behind, I can practically feel his eyes staring at my ass. I turn around and he immediately turns his head, making me smile widely.

"Were you staring at my ass, Y/N L/N?" He didn't answer me and kept his eyes to the ground, confirming my suspicions. I kiss him on the lips "It's okay, I don't mind" He smiles and reaches for the doorbell.

Y/N rang the doorbell with an unsteady hand, his foot nervously bouncing up and down against the pavement as we wait for someone to answer the door. The door eventually swings open revealing Emma. She's dressed as Enid in her black cat outfit.

"Oh my god, Y/N, you're here!" She says pulling him into a tight death grip of a hug. He laughs while returning the hug with an equal amount of pressure.

"Good to see you too, sis. I should've known you would've went as Enid for Halloween" he says playfully, she nudges his arm in response at his cheeky little comment.

She turns to me and gives me a bug hug. It's been a while since I've seen her, so it was nice to catch up after all this time. "Your costumes look amazing guys, that Homelander suit looks so authentic!" Little did Emma know, it was very authentic.

She leads inside to the living room, the sound of music was turned down a bit now that Y/N was here much to some peoples dismay, but no one objected, at least not verbally anyway.

"How's your Halloween going so far sis?" Y/N asked his sister.

"Oh it's going great dude, we have a lot of candy for all the trick or treaters that knock kn our door." She takes a seat on the couch in the living and so do we, my hand interlocks with Y/N to keep him close.

"I'm surprised you came here, Y/N/N. I know you don't like the party scene all that much. I'm proud ofnyou for coming though, bro." She says pridefully, bunping her fist against his shoulder affectionately. He smiles at her, besides me and his parents, Emma is his number one supporter.

Suddenly a girl appears out of nowhere, intruding on our conversation. "Oh my god! Jenna Ortega!" At first I thought it was only an innocent fan wanting a picture so I spoke to her at first.

"Hi there, very nice to meet you" I say politely.

She looks over to Y/N with a smirk and a lick on the lips. "Well hi there handsome, nice costume" she says with a sultry tone. "Wanna ditch this party, I know a place where we can hang out, if you know what I mean" she says with a wink, she actually winked.

Y/N looked back at me looking extremely uncomfortable, his eyes just screamed "help me, Jenna." His grip on my hand tightened, indicating his stress and anxiety.

Before Y/N could so anything I set her straight. She went to touch him but grabbed her wrist tightly, earning a squeal from the bitch "He doesnt want to go anywhere with you, he's with me. I think you should go"

she leaves with a pout etched onto her bitchy face. "I'm not no expert on social interaction, but I'm 100% sure that she was flirting with me" he says, still shocked from what happened.

Emma spoke up "You okay, Y/N?"

He nods, still clearly uncomfortable with what just went down. I hug him tightly, keeping my arms securely around him. "I'm sorry she did that, bubs. I promise I won't let that happen again." He nodded at my words, my hands working my way under his cape to rub his back. Something tells me that bitch will make another move.

-2 hours later

The party is a lot more lively than we first got here, around 55 people for sure. I haven't had any alcohol since I didn't wanna get drunk, I've gotta drive home. I've been talking with Emma's friends, getting to know them a little.

Y/N sat next to me, though he struggled to talk with them and kept silent more often then not. He tapped my shoulder "I'm gonna go get a drink, I'll be back in a minute." I nodded, though admittedly I kinda wanted to go with him, but he's his own person and can handle himself. Like I said, I can't help but worry about him.

I keep my eye on him from afar, just in case anything were to happen. "So what's been going on with you and Y/N then, Jenna. Has my brother been behaving himself?" She jokes

I laugh and respond to her "He's great; both of us are. He's been trying to improve on his social skills lately, he thought coming here would help with that" I say, eyes quickly glancing to Y/N every once and awhile. I turned back to Emma and continued "Though, I think he's been struggling tonight, lots of people new people, not to mention all the lights and music."

Emma sighs, knowing her brother's struggles with socialising. "It'll take time to build his confidence. It seems like everytime he makes progress there's always something bad that happens, like what happened with Percy." Emma says that part with disgust.

I look over to Y/N who's still choosing what drink he wants, he's very indecisive, like me. "You're staring, Jenna" Emma catches me staring at him. I point my gaze back to her.

"Sorry I'm just worried about him, y'know." She nods at my words.

"Yeah I get it. I worry about him all the time." She admits with a sigh.

Suddenly I hear Y/N start to plead for someone to leave him alone. "Hey please leave me alone! I have a girlfriend!" He shouts, the girl from earlier had come back to harass.

"She doesn't deserve you, baby. Let me show you a good time" he shakes his head erratically, he looks like he's about to go into shock. I make my way over to save him from this psycho bitch.

She suddenly starts kissing him, causing him to whimper from disgust. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her off immediately out of pure desperation. "LOOK LADY I DONT WANNA GO OUT WITH YOU! PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!" All eyes were on them, his hands shook violently.

He looked at me, desperately wanting escape this situation. I dragged the girl up off the floor by her hair and slammed against the fridge. "You ever sexually harass my Y/N again, you're fucking dead" she nods and runs out the front door. Emma hugs Y/N, who's still a bit shaky after all that.

"You okay, baby boy?" I ask worriedly, cupping his cheek at the time. He nodded while releasing his grip on Emma and began wrapping me in a hug. There were no tears, he was still in shock from the whole thing his eyes were erratically darting across the room, noticing all the people that watched waht had happened.

He needs a quiet space "Emma is there a place where Y/N can calm down?"

"His old room is upstairs, that's his quiet place" I immediately take him upstairs, pushing past all the people who were in the way.

I opened the door to his room and sat him on the bed, still holding tightly in my arms. His frame was shaky but his breathing was less erratic now that he had less people watching him. Only a few sniffles were let out. "It's okay, baby boy. She's gone now."

"I didn't mean to, Jenna! She just kissed me without consent! I didn't kiss back I swear!" He pleads with me.

"Shh shh I'm not mad. I know it's not you're fault, she should never have done that. I'm so so sorry baby." I keep his head tucked into my shoulder.

I really don't think he should be at a party right now. He was just sexually harassed and is extremely stressed, far too stressed to socialise with anyone right now.

"Baby let's go home. You're way too stressed right now. We'll have our own little party, just me and you. We'll watch a couple scary movies together, make some popcorn and eat lots of candy. Whaddya say, sweetheart?" He nods and takes my hand.

We head back downstairs to tell Emma we're leaving. She's in the kitchen talking with her parents on the phone, absolutely fuming at what had just happened. I go up to her "Hey Emma we're gonna go. Y/N is really stressed out right now."

"That's okay, Jenna. Y/N I'm sorry this happened. If you ever need to talk to me, just call. Okay?" He nods at her comforting words and pulls her into a gentle embrace. "I love you both. Drive safe." We nod and head out the house.

- 45 minutes later

Me and Y/N are sitting on the couch, out costumes off and into our pyjamas. We've got popcorn, candy, chips and other snacks at the ready for our horror movie marathon, starting with "Candyman" then after that "Halloween".

Y/N moves his head to my chest. My hand made its way through his hair. "Thanks for getting me out of there, Jenna. Any longer and I think I may of had a nervous breakdown." He chuckles.

"It's alright baby. You're safe now and we're gonna have lots of fun. Just you and me." He smiles, eyes staring at my lips. I lean forward and kiss him tenderly and gently, my hand cupping his cheek as I did.

It was definitely worth leaving that party. The time I get to spend with him is better than any party.

#jenna ortega x y/n #jenna ortega x reader #jenna ortega x you #wednesday x reader #wednesday x you #wednesday x y/n #tara carpenter x reader #tara carpenter x y/n #tara carpenter x you #male reader

[pluckyredhead]

so what did you not like about worlds finest teen titans? There were a lot of dropped plot threads and bits I expected Waid to develop more (Roy and Ollie conflict, Roy, Garth and Wally never resolved their sleepover argument, Karen's reaction at the con to nearly being unmasked, Wally's parents, ect) and also the queerbaiting with garth (and his eyes changing colour halfway through???) was annoying. I thought it was cute overall but maybe I'm not familiar enough with some of the characters?

I held on to this ask because I was going to reread the miniseries to answer you more accurately, and then I decided to not put myself through that, so...hopefully my memory is accurate lol.

(I should note before I get into it that none of my quibbles are with Emanuela Lupacchino's art. She's a treasure and we're thrilled that she's here.)

But yeah, you've put the nail on the head with a lot of it. It was just terribly paced, like Waid didn't know how many issues he had or something. Aside from all the dropped threads you mentioned, it felt like the main bad guys were...pretty much hastily introduced, or at least assembled, in #5? There didn't seem to be any kind of...well, point to this miniseries. There was no theme. There was nothing Waid was trying to say, as far as I could tell, except "Fuck Roy Harper." (Oh, we'll get to that.) It wasn't an origin story for the team. It wasn't about adolescence or coming of age or learning who you are, except maybe a little bit for Garth. It was just...there.

And I want to be clear here: Mark Waid is one of my favorite comic book writers of all time. When he hits, he hits. The regular World's Finest book and his Shazam are wonderful. I just think this wasn't the right match of writer/characters, because he didn't handle these very well. Taking them one by one:

Dick: DC is fully in their "Dick the unbearable Mary Sue" era and this book is no exception. If I never see another comic where a whole team of experienced superheroes with major league powers and training stands around like incompetent jackasses until a Bat comes along and tells them what to do, it'll be too soon. I'm here to read about an ensemble book where everyone is a three-dimensional character, not The World's Most Perfect Boy and his loser sidekicks. Not only is it unfair to everyone else in the cast, it's doing a disservice to Dick, who is a much more interesting character than this book (or Tom Taylor, ahem) gives him credit for.

(There's also something very weird and inconsistent Waid is doing across his books with Dick - WF, WFTT, and BvR - where sometimes he's throwing a tantrum because he doesn't get to be a circus star with everyone looking at him all the time, and sometimes he's screaming at Roy for filming them, and both feel utterly arbitrary to me as well as contradictory.)

Donna: Donna's characterization in this was just...bizarre. I was a little worried about how Waid would handle her, since he has a tendency to turn more quote unquote "wholesome" female characters into the Mom Friend (see: his Champions run, where he tries to get away with it by having Kamala announce that she's not going to be the Mom Friend because she's the only girl on the team...and then immediately becoming the Mom Friend), and Donna's already very much a Mom Friend, and I didn't know what Mom Friend Squared would look like. But instead he went for this...Manic Pixie Nightmare Girl approach? Where she's really into bungee jumping and monster trucks? I'm not offended by it, it's just so utterly random. This isn't who Donna is? It's never been who she is? Baffling.

I am offended (I mean, mildly, but still) by the fact that she and Garth are shoehorned together in this. He's the only boy on the team she's never been romantically linked to, even in dreams/hallucinations/whatever, so completing the set feels very much like Donna's only narrative worth is in being a love interest, which...gross.

Garth: Garth probably got the best treatment of the bunch, to be honest. He was in character as the shy little weirdo he was in the Silver Age and in pretty much every flashback we've ever seen. He's smart and perceptive and bad at saying what he wants and generous towards those who have hurt him, all of which is very Garth. I have no complaints about him except the weird queerbaiting, and I'm not blaming Waid for that because from what I understand, solicits are written by editorial working off of a pitch, potentially before the comic is even written, so who knows what happened there? It might have been a stupid joke that didn't land, it might have been a story that was pitched and then a higher up vetoed it, it might have been a story Waid was going to write and then changed his mind. I'm not going to say it's his fault when I have no idea if that's true. Otherwise, I think he handled Garth well.

Wally: Wally was another one where I was just like ??? the whole time. He didn't feel like Wally, he felt like Bart. But, like, fanon's innocent child version of Bart and not the actual canon character, who has a lot more backbone. Why is he hero worshipping Dick like that? Why is he so docile? What was up with that weird line where Dick's like "you're the youngest?" Yes, historically Dick had already dropped out of college while Wally was still in high school, but otherwise they've always been portrayed as the same age. And if it's a reference to debut year, Donna's the youngest. It's such a random throwaway line dumped in at the very end for...why? Confusing me personally?

The worst, though, was whatever the hell was going on with Wally's parents. Wally's parents are not an idyllic suburban couple! They are not the Kents! Rudy West is only not classified as a supervillain because he doesn't have a costume! Even if he hadn't tried to kill Mary, sold the Earth out to alien robots, faked his own death, or run a deadly labor camp for children at this point in the timeline, he definitely hit Wally and, uh, poisoned Wally's Little League coach. I don't think Mary is as bad as some of fandom does, but she's certainly a difficult person. Wally was desperately unhappy at home as a child, which is why he latched on so hard to Barry and Iris. And Waid knows this, because he wrote a lot of that canon. If it's a retcon, it's such a strange, pointless one that makes all of them a lot less interesting. Just baffling.

Karen: I think it was a very smart choice to add Karen to the founding roster and make the team slightly more gender-balanced and not all-white. It's kind of a wasted choice, though, when she's so aggressively sidelined. All she does in this book is hang around with Mal and the support staff. She isn't looped into any of the major emotional conflicts - Garth and Donna, Dick and Roy, Roy and Wally and Garth. She's not treated as a headliner in the same way the others are, and that really sucks.

Roy: Hoo boy.

When Waid was announced as the writer of Batman vs. Robin, I was worried, because I had a feeling he didn't like Damian. I couldn't put my finger on why, it was just a feeling I had. And boy howdy, was I proved right! Damian is treated like shit in that book.

I had the same feeling with this book and Roy, and...let's just say I'm two for two, okay?

Here's the thing. I'm okay with Roy being written as kind of shitty, especially during his period of his life. Teen Titans: Year One writes him as an utter fuckboy, and I love that comic. The Mal and Karen issue of The Other History of the DC Universe retells the Bronze Age Titans era from their perspective, and it pulls absolutely no punches regarding Roy being, well, kind of an asshole...and it's right to do so, because it's drawing very directly from those 1970s comics, and he was often awful in those.

But Waid writes him as a generic 80s movie villain. He's a human popped collar. He's a stereotype of a bully. My problem isn't that I need him to never do anything wrong, it's that nothing in this book is specific to Roy, his history, or his established personality.

For instance, all of his bragging about how much money he has? He comes off like a kid who was born into wealth and has never known anything else, but that isn't true. He was at best middle class before Ollie, probably more likely working class given the economic situation on most reservations - but there's no indication that he's responding specifically to that shift in circumstances. He's just, like, Draco Malfoy with arrows. Also, Dick has a nearly identical history but none of the same issues. He even says "Roy and I have the same background but he sucks." Why is one of them a perfect angel untouched by filthy lucre, and the other is Bradley Uppercrust III?

And then there's the subplot with Ollie neglecting Roy, which fizzled out to a real wet fart of a resolution. But honestly, at no point did I know where Waid was going with that, because...well, if you know Roy's history, you know Ollie neglecting him is what leads directly to Roy getting into drugs. And like...first of all, the timeline here is off, because historically Ollie didn't ditch Roy until after he lost his money, and he still has it here. (How interesting would it have been to have Roy pretending he was still rich in addition to pretending Ollie was around?) But also, this comic ends on an "and now everything is fine!" note, but it isn't! It really, really isn't. So Ollie showing up at the end and being like "I'm here for you, buddy" doesn't ring true, because he is demonstrably not in this very comic, and we also know he won't be in the future. And Roy getting what he wants doesn't feel like a satisfying resolution either because we don't actually get to see changed behavior from him, and again, we know this won't last. (Again, TT:YO handles this dynamic very well, where we see that Ollie is an affectionate but negligent guardian who Roy is learning some very bad habits from.)

And to top it off, constantly contrasting Terrible Roy to Virtuous Dick and simultaneously pretending that Ollie was at this point a responsible guardian has the (I hope unintentional) effect of implying that Roy will eventually become an addict because he's just a bad and weak person, instead of a struggling teen who needed support and didn't get it. I would have actually preferred a story that hinted at the beginning of Roy's addiction and how he hides it from the Titans, because we've never had that story told in comics, but I don't think Waid's the one to write it. Instead we get a conflict that's out of character for Roy, a resolution that doesn't feel at all earned, and the looming threat of Roy's immediate future which Waid refuses to address.

In conclusion, this book was a mess, and you should all read Teen Titans: Year One instead.

#meta #teen titans #dick grayson #robin #donna troy #wonder girl #garth #aqualad #wally west #kid flash #karen beecher #bumblebee #roy harper #speedy

[lvvcian]

Hope you have a nice day/night 👋 Can I order a rottmnt headcanon where leo and donnie have a female partner who has multicolored eyes like douma's :D

Te saludo desde México🇲🇽👋

☆ First reuqest, screaming crying and kicking my feet c: I apologize for changing readers gender, I don't write female readers but I liked idea so much I had to write it!

☆no tw! here (good old fluff headcanons); gn!reader

𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞! 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 & 𝐋𝐞𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬/𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬!

I really like the thought of Leo having a thing for colorfull and shiny things. He hoards them somewhere in his room, like some box or on the shelf and shows them off to anyone he meets!

So when he meets you, someone with beautiful and colorul eyes Leo can't help but take interest in them. I mean cmon, it's not common for someone who has such awesome eyes to come into his lie!

I can see him having your eye colors as a wallpaper totally not a tik tok trend or just have a theme in those shades !

He stares so so much into them! He can't help it, just can't. He can be training, hanging out with the brothers or doing something important : he will stare or take a look at your eyes. Just for a second... or two. Or maybe a few minutes

At random times, while he's being on a rooftop, and sees something that would match your eyes his mind goes "Oh this color would make their eyes even brigther." and thoughts like that.

Loves when when your eyes bright up when you see something you like : like a cat or a dog walking by you or when you tell him about this new superhero movie you saw earlier this day

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Donnie is something else. Instead of complimanting you and telling how pretty your eyes are he just says "Stop it. Stop staring at me with those beautiful, majestic, breathtaking big eyes. It's distracting me."

Secretly adores when you look at him. Do it, don't mind his stupid comments, stare at him with those eyes of yours (maybe you'll get him to go to sleep, this dude needs it)

I can picture him looking at you but the moment you notice it he's denying everything. "Yeah yeah 'cause you didn't stare at them for 10 minutes like you were hypnotised or something" - his brothers were teasing him about it all the time (specialy his twin, he is THE WORST)

Him getting distracted when he's working with how bright and shiny your eyes get when you're staring at his monitors. All the codes, projects and plans mirroring in your eyes... dream come true.

Says something like "Your eyes have some weird... colour... unnatural even. I shall do some tests to see why you have such eyes... No other reason, really"

Holds your face. definitely, 100% sure

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

☆ Sorry if it's too short, first time writing for these characters ":). I hoped you enjoyed it though! I did enjoy writing it for sure!

☆ Hope you have a good day/night <33

#rottmnt x reader #donatello rise #donatello rottmnt #headcanons #request #tmnt fandom #teenage mutant ninja turtle headcanons #rottmnt #leonardo hamato #tmnt leo x reader #tmnt donnie x reader #disaster twins rottmnt #autistic donnie #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt leo #rottmnt mikey #rise of the tmnt #turtle tots

[clarissasbakery]

About the Pokémon AU, Miss Power as Pheromosa is good and all, but hear me out

Mega Absol.

Because it looks all angelic and shit with the wings kinda like how Miss Power was initially passing herself off as this really good superhero.

And Mega Absol has fur covering the side of its face like Miss Power's fringe covering her scaly face so the Pokémon AU version of Miss Power ripping her fringe off to reveal her lizard face could be Mega Absol reverting back to her original form, revealing that her face is clawed/scarred or something.

And Absol is an omen of doom so it's visual foreshadowing that Miss Power is actually evil.

Also Mr Big as Wigglytuff (PINK SQUISHY BUNNY!!!) and Leslie as female Meowstic

And Rhyme and Reason as either Alolan Vulpix and Regular Vulpix or Pachirisu and Morpeko (because Rhyme has the same colour scheme as Pachirisu and also buck teeth)

more pokemon au cus this ask fueled me

Mr. Big as Wigglytuff is so good…. i made leslie an espathra cus tall secretary bird with karen cut fits her. i really love the idea of miss power being mega absol, i think i may draw thag soon!!!

as for rhyme and reason i like those ideas!! maybe even rhyme as alolan ninetales cus she’s tall….

#wordgirl #illustration #my art! #my art #becky botsford #fan art #my artwork #pokemon au #pokemon #pokemon redesigns #eevee #grookey #chuck the evil sandwich making guy #wigglytuff #mr big #miss question #alolan raichu #emboar #the butcher #espathra #leslie #tobey mccallister iii #captain huggyface #pikachu #lady redundant woman #rotom

[boreal-sea]

Hey, about your 'fictional characters can't be disrespectful, they aren't real and can't be objected etc' post. By saying this you're saying that there is no such problem as female objectivization in games and other products which is not right. It's like you justify tons of tons of bad fanservice designes and, for example, hentai artworks or writing including rapes. You are a feminist, right? You should have been giving a thought about it, because such things done to the fictional characters WILL hurt real women around the world because they form men's opinions about women and I mean sexist opinions. You may also add here a homophobic/transphobic and racist problems, when some people change fandom characters gender or orientation or paint them with a different skin tone (note that I'm also about white characters who suddenly turn to others colours). All of this caused by objectivization because people think they can change character they like and this is just unacceptable. Next, you wrote that you can't disrespectful fictional characters, but doing such bad things to characters that don't belong to you is a disrespectful towards their creators, like you said you can write a tentacle porn with some characters, this doesn't make you a bad man but if those characters don't belong to you, then sorry, but you'll show your luck of respect to their creator especially if that person is against such things. Like, you objectivizate and make fanservice things with their characters. Also saying that fictional characters aren't real (which is true of course) and they are just things is also very unethical towards those who create them. Try to say such things to any who made some characters and world where they live. Many people add some of their own traits, habits or behaviour patterns and spend a lot of their time dedicating to their characters so you may think a little better. And I think, you can't just say to people they don't have a right to treat their characters as living persons or kids, in any case let people to chose their own treatment

So, I was approaching this seriously until I got to the bottom where you being hand-wringing about how treating characters badly disrespects the creators of those characters, and then I realised you are a person with some extremely internalized Christian guilt and puritanism and a huge heaping of sexual oppression.

Please stop applying your morals and your hangups about sex and sexuality onto other people.

Below is everything I wrote addressing your points up until I hit the fandom nonsense.

---

You are doing what everyone else on that post is doing: you are conflating how a character is treated/depicted and whether or not that harms the character with how that can theoretically affect real people in the real world.

Real people and characters are not the same thing. The inability to separate these two concepts is causing endless problems.

The female character being sexualized is not hurt by sexualization for the same reason she is not "empowered" by it: she does not have agency because she is not a person. I bring up empowerment because a lot of the guys who try to claim this kind of sexualization is fine do so by claiming the sexualization is "empowering" the female character. She is not actually making the choice to dress in a flimsy skin-tight outfit, the artist is making that choice. Therefore, she cannot be harmed or empowered by it.

As many feminists involved in this debate have noted, it is not the existence of a sexualized female character that is the problem, it is the ubiquitous nature of this type of representation. It is in fact fine to draw a sexualized female character. It becomes a reflection on society as a whole when every depiction of a female character is sexualized - when every female superhero wears skin-tight latex, for example. This is especially true when she is sexualized in ways that reveal the patriarchy's ideal picture of what a woman should look like, namely thin and white.

The existence of material that sexualizes women is not the problem. I am an explicitly sex-positive and kink-positive feminist. I enjoy all the things you listed as problematic. I like noncon, I like rape fantasies, I've even enjoyed some hentai and porn in my day. I am the wrong feminist to fearmonger about "bad kink" to.

As for your hand wringing about how fanfic is "disrespecting the creators" - No, it's not. I'm not even going to go into a big long discussion on this one. You're being silly. Nothing a fan does to a character can affect the canon character in any way, shape or form.

#anon #fandom #fanfic

[rancidpancakebatter]

We Write the Story-[P.P.] | Chapter Two

Pairings: TASM!Peter Parker x (Black!)Hispanic!College!Female!Reader

Chapter Summary:  The battle at Liberty begins after a trail down memory lane

Takes place during No Way Home

Word Count: 5.5k words

Content: Some superhero fighting, angst, language, mentions of death,

( Previous | Chapter List | Next )

A/N: This is yet another thing I found in my drafts. Chapter three has one paragraph written but two is done, so yay! As I said in the first chapter, this is very self-indulgent. I tried to put more focus on the reader being Hispanic than black but both are pretty relevant to my experience so there are some minor details that allude to the reader being black. I'm too lazy to edit them out. I hope you can understand.

Your anxiety continued a slow accent as the Spider-Men discussed their game plan. You were put on “babysitting duty,” instructed to watch over Michelle and Ned as they climbed through the portal to fight interdimensional villains. 

You watched Peter’s live and felt a twinge of moroseness at his words. Even now, as he was trying to save New York, he accepted the cruelty it threw his way. The chemistry lab was quiet. You had all pulled up chairs at the entrance of the portal, silently watching- waiting. You had hugged Petey before he walked out, but it didn’t calm you as much as you had hoped. As you sat on this unstable wooden stool, your mind wandered to the past.

You remember when Petey first moved in. You were playing in the living room, your wooden puppet jumping as you jerked at the strings. Your father was in the kitchen, the smell of toasted tortillas and seasoned chicken wafting through the air. You liked flautas, but you preferred when your mom would make them. Your father was less familiar with the seasoning your mother would use; he stuck more to his Creole roots. 

There was a knock at the door, but you remained unbothered. You and Señor Payaso were on a fabulous adventure, that you didn’t want to interrupt. They knocked again, and this time your father called out to you.

“Can you see who’s at the door, baby?”

You begrudgingly got up and pulled a chair over to the door. As you peeked through the peephole, you saw a familiar face, the sweet woman from across the hall. You liked her a lot. She always complimented your hair and all of your drawings. She was friends with your mother; when she died, the woman came over and cooked a lot, bringing her husband along. Mr Ben was nice too. He would put you on his shoulders and twirl you around.

You moved the chair and called out to your father, “It’s Ms May!”

You opened the door and let her in. She complimented your dress and asked about your day. You told her all about your new colouring book and left to get it for her. When you returned, she was talking in hushed whispers with your dad. Their faces looked serious and sad, but when they saw you, they painted on a smile. 

Your father beckoned you, and you happily clambered into his open arms. As he rested you on his hip, he moved some hair out of your face.

“Hey, honey. So, Ms May came over to ask if you would want to play with her nephew. He just moved in and he doesn’t have any friends.”

You looked at May, not fully understanding. “Why does he live with you? Where are his parents?”

Your father said your name in a warning tone and you were confused, but Ms May cut him off, “No, no, it’s okay.”

Her smile was kind and you loved when she smiled at you.

“He lost both of his parents, like how you lost your mom." She explains. "So now he lives with me. He’s very scared, and I was hoping maybe you could hang out with him. You were so brave and it might be nice for Peter to have someone he can talk to about all of this.”

You thought about it for a moment. You couldn’t imagine what you would have done if you had lost both of your parents. You missed your mom a lot; Peter must be feeling that double. You liked Mr and Mrs Parker a lot, so you supposed you would like their nephew too.

“Okay." You agreed, "Does he have a favourite toy? Does he like to colour?”

May told you he would love to colour with you, so you rushed back to your room and grabbed all of your colouring books and three boxes of crayons, just in case. When you returned to the living room, you declared that you were ready to go. You walked across the hall with your father’s hand on your back instead of in your hand as they were very full.

As you walked in, you looked around but only saw Mr Ben. He spoke to the adults while you sat on the couch. You couldn’t hear everything they said, but you caught some of it. Their whispers swirled together and you couldn't tell who said what.

“-in his room”

“I don’t know”

“Thanks”

“He’s just so young”

Your stomach twisted. You remember hearing similar things said about you not so long ago. You hated when the adults around you tried to relate to what you were feeling. You didn’t even understand what you were feeling. You didn’t care what they had to say; you just wanted your mom. There was no one your age to talk to. No friends who got it. You didn’t want Ms May’s nephew to go through that.

You made your way up the stairs, deciding you would find him yourself. You saw an open door and peeked inside. There was a small bed and a lot of boxes in the room. It looked half-unpacked, not really a “room”. 

“Hello?” You tried.

There was a scuffling sound but no response. 

You walked in and looked around, “Are you Ms May’s nephew?”

You were looking at your feet, careful not to step on anything, when you noticed a pair of eyes under the bed. You set your colouring stuff down and lay on your stomach. He shimmied back some. 

“Hi, I’m (Y/n). I’m your neighbour, do you want to play?” He didn't respond, just continued to stare at you. 

“Tu hablas español?” Still he said nothing. 

“Okay…I’ll just speak both.” You muttered, setting up the colouring supplies. 

“Tengo crayons y colouring books, pero si quieres jugar something else podemos.” You began to colour, leaving a stack for him to choose from and the other boxes of crayons at the entrance of the bed.

You silently coloured for a while before you saw a small hand reach forward. He remained under the bed as you heard him flipping through pages. Soon enough, the adults came through the door. They were each surprised by what they saw. 

“Where’s Peter?” Mr Ben asked. 

You pointed under the bed, continuing to draw. 

Ms May laid next to you, “Come on, Peter. Why don’t you come out and play? (Y/n)’s really nice, I promise.”

You shook your head, speaking to the shadows. “No tienes que salir if you don’t want to.” 

Ms May looked at you with a question on her brow, one you recognised on adults by now. The "Why are you speaking Spanish?" look. Sometimes it was because you didn't look like your mom, and sometimes it was because they didn't know what you were saying. But you knew her's wasn't mean; Ms May was just curious.  

“He hasn’t answered to Spanish or English. I don’t know what he speaks,” You replied with a shrug. 

Mr Ben chuckled, “He doesn’t speak Spanish. I think he’s just shy, but thank you for trying.”

They eventually left you be, and you continued to colour. Peter still hadn’t left his hiding spot, but you could hear him scribbling across the page. 

“I lost my mom,” You say in an effort to connect. “She got really sick, it happened a few months ago.”

He had stopped colouring, the only sound in the room coming from you and the switching of crayons.

“Grown-ups try to say stuff they think is nice. They tell you they’re sorry. Or they’ll say something like ‘you’re brave’. It’s annoying. I used to hide too.”

You heard him shuffle. He had crawled forward just enough that you could see his face emerging from the shadows, “Do you wanna come in?”

You wriggled in next to him, and he pushed the book he was working on between you. You coloured on opposite pages sharing a box of crayons between you. He used a lot of outlandish colours, his giraffe looking more like an alien than anything you’d seen at the zoo. You focused on your parrot. You passed a lot of time this way.

“How you say, ‘thank you’ in Spanish?”

You were excited to hear his voice again, “Gracias.”

“Gracias, (Y/n)”

He was so small and so scared. Everything he knew had been ripped away from him. You couldn’t help but think he was going through the same thing, only this time he couldn’t hide under his bed. He had to save the world.

You thought of all the times Petey had to be brave. You thought of all the times he didn’t. Like when you watched a horror movie for the first time, and he made you stay up with him all night because he was convinced that something was gonna come out of the closet as soon as he closed his eyes.

You thought of how nervous he was to ask Liz to the homecoming dance- how you had to coach him through it. You thought of how he would trip over himself anytime he talked to her. You thought of how he was just as nervous about asking out MJ. He would text you the whole trip about it (and also some of the Spider-Man stuff, but mostly MJ).

You thought about how kind and sweet he was. An absolute treasure. Petey would speak to you in Spanish if you were alone, knowing that it was a special thing to you, something that kept you connected to your mother. He had learned it through you, but also by studying on his own, surprising you every now and then with all he knew. 

You thought about how he had learned to do simple braids in your hair. You had complained about how long it would take to do, and Petey stayed up all night watching youtube tutorials and practising on May. The next day he showed up with a rat-tail comb and a bag of rubber bands, ready to help.

You thought about how he and May would practice making dishes that you grew up with to surprise you for “family” dinner.

Actually, no. Family dinner. No quotes necessary. They were your family. They were all you had, and they were wonderful.

They were your family. Now it’s just Petey. Petey who is currently broadcasting his location so that he can fight a bunch of psychos who would not hesitate to kill him. 

You stand abruptly, surprising the not-so-much kids beside you. You rush through the portal and ignore their calls for you to return. You can’t, not now. The Spider-Men hear the commotion and quickly group together. As you turn the corner, Petey’s face is wild with concern.

“(Y/n), You can’t be here-” 

You cut him off with a hug. You pull him as close as you can, and don’t hesitate you crush him with all of your strength. He lets out a small “oof” as you accidentally push all the air out of his body. Tears silently fall from your eyes, and Petey finally reciprocates. 

“(Y/n), You have to go back. It’s not safe.”

You make no effort to distance yourself, instead mumbling into his chest. “Don’t die.”

Petey pulls you away enough to see your face, “I’m not gonna die.”

Your face twists in anger but he knows it’s not for him. “You will come back to me. In one piece. Or so help me god, these a-holes are gonna wish you had kicked their ass instead.”

A small smile spreads on his face, “I know. I will. No voy a ir a ninguna parte, lo prometo.”

You wipe at your face and Petey chuckles. He’s trying to cheer you up. Even now, Petey is trying to keep you happy, like always.

“Besides, todo el mundo sabe que tengo la hermana más aterradora que hay. Cualquiera que se cruce contigo sería un pinche supido hijo de puta.” It wasn’t perfect but you grasped the message.

You gasped in faux horror, “Aye Petey, Quién te enseñó eso?”

Peter only laughed, “You did. You curse more in Spanish than in English. Which is crazy 'cause you have the foulest language I’ve ever heard.”

You slap his arm, and he pretends it hurt. You glance around and lose your breath. You could see all of New York from here. The city glistened against the deep ocean, the lights dancing across the rolling waves. It was breathtaking. Movement over to your left catches your attention and your eyes landed on Peter. He was leaning against the railing with his arms stretched out while talking to Pete. When you looked, he quickly turned his head, but he was looking at you. Petey chuckled, breaking you from your trance. Man, maybe your attraction was obvious. 

“I’ll send him over,” Petey says with a smirk.

You scold, telling him not to, but he was already shouting for Peter.

As he sauntered up, Petey sent you a wink, patting his multiversal counterpart on the shoulder as he passed. Peter looked at you with a playfully confused look. His brows were slightly furrowed but his grin was unmistakable.

“So, what’s up?”

You couldn’t help but laugh. He was so flippant about this whole multiversal mayhem. But also he made you a little nervous, and you were laughing through your flustering. 

“Oh, I was just uh- you know...givin’ the whole ‘Don’t Die’ speech before battle. You know how it is.” Peter’s face fell a little sombre, giving you the impression he knew all too well.

He played along, not wanting to address the severity of the situation. You both knew; there was no reason to loll in it. He nodded his head a few times before his arms folded crossed his chest and his head tilted to the side, a soft smile taking over his face.

“So, do I get one?”

You smiled, “Peter Parker. I will be very upset if you die. Don’t do it or I’ll come kill you myself.”

He chuckled, the sound of a sweet song. “Sounds like a lose-lose, I don’t think I’m getting a fair deal.”

You roll your eyes, “Yeah? Well, how about this: If you die, no date.”

It was risky, but what did you have to lose? Pete’s words had been on your mind more than you would care to admit. Everything you once knew had been flipped on its head. Maybe there was a chance, maybe he was the right one. But did it matter? It’s completely possible that this man will evaporate from this world in an hour. What harm was there in flirting with him? He was nice with a kind smile, and it felt good to be looked at like that. Like you were something to behold.

Your words seem to surprise him. A deep, thunderous laugh ripped from his chest. It was a delightful sound. One you wanted to hear more often. His hand flew to his heart as he took a step back as if blown away. He looked at you with an amused glimmer in his eye and a grin that split his face. He was the perfect embodiment of "boyish charm."

“Now, the stakes are high,” He teased.

It’s safe to say you were freaking out. You stood at the mouth of the portal, its fizzling crackle a static that you had become accustomed to. MJ held the magic-cube-thing as you tried to keep the both of them calm, coaching Ned to breathe deep and focus. You could hear the zaps of electricity flying through the air, bright flashes of light shocking out the shadows in the dark room. Everything got cloudy for a moment, and you recognised this dust storm as Flint’s arrival. Everyone was showing up fast, and you should have been miles away, but with the portal open, you were nowhere close to safe. 

A loud crash echos out and startles a scream out of the kids. You gently shush them, not wanting any unwanted attention. You were working through a plan, an escape route. You loved Petey, but he wasn’t very good with backup plans, and this was a perfect example.

You heard heavy steps and spun to look through the Portal. The talking lizard was stalking towards you.

“Hey! Hey! We gotta go!”

The kids follow your gaze and their eyes widen in fear. You grab the box from MJ and start pushing them in front of you. The Lizard has landed in the room and is throwing tables and chairs.

You make it to the doors and point down the hall, “You guys run to the cafeteria, watch each other’s backs and hide!”

They hesitantly run, glancing at you periodically over their shoulders. You look behind you, and the lizard is trained on your hand. You wave the box, “Come on, big boy, this way!”

He rears his head back and lets out a gut-wrenching roar. You push through the door and into the hall. Your footsteps echo in the dark, empty corridors. You hadn’t necessarily liked high school, but the dreadful memories did nothing to relieve the creepy atmosphere. You could hear his talons cut into the metal lockers around you as he got closer. You whipped your head around to confirm your suspicions. You felt nauseous as you saw his yellowed teeth bared at you.

You swung a sharp left into the library. You ducked under a table and crawled quietly in the dark. As the creature broke through the doors you heard him stop. You could hear a subtle growl leave his throat, sharp breaths as he sniffs around the room. You reach the wall and grab a book off the shelf. You can see his feet as he walks across the floor. Your heart is beating in your chest as he gets closer. His tail swings in front of you, working side to side. You take a steady breath and throw the book into the corner behind you.

He roars and charges at the sound. You make a break towards the lined shelves while he’s distracted. You silently hoped the books you heard being decimated would accept your apology, that they would understand. There’s a door on the other side, it will put you in the hallway right across from the gym. You didn’t like the idea of a big open space, but maybe you could hide if you could make it to the bleachers. It’s the best idea you have right now.

The Lizard had begun throwing the tables you were hiding under before. It wouldn’t be long until he started destroying the shelves too. You crouched down and made your way to the door, pushing it open with shaky hands and closing it as softly as you could. You entered the gym and looked around. You spotted the supply room and tried the handle.

It was locked, “shit!”

You could still hear the library being ransacked. Your only way in was to break the window. You knew it would make a lot of noise, but you had to arm yourself with something. You raise the box and bring it down as hard as you can. The glass shatters and you hear a roar erupt in the building. You ball your hand up in your sleeve and push through the glass wiggling the handle. You grab a bat by the door and a football flag that was hanging on the wall. You hear stomping in the hallway and panic. Well- more so than you were before.

The bleachers were pulled out and you thanked whatever deity might have been watching over you. You find a gap in the bars and squeeze your way through. Just then The lizard kicks in the heavy metal doors. You fall back into the shadows and watch through the space between the seats as he makes his way to the middle of the floor. You try to tame your shaking hands, knowing there was nothing you could do with the adrenaline coursing through your body.

You place the bat between your legs and tie the box to a belt loop on the back of your jeans, that way you can have two hands to swing. You tried to remember everything you knew about the creature in front of you, anything that may give you an upper hand. You remembered him talking about “healing the world.” Apparently, this “enhancement” mutated his genes and he had faster healing and was super strong. He was also a man-eating lizard. And you were just a poor college student from Queens.

Suddenly he stopped, his head turned towards you as he continued to sniff the air around him. A sneer besmeared his face, his eyes opened and it seemed he was looking right at you.

“There you are...” his nauseating voice drew out.

He charged forward and you screamed. His claws reached through the slits and pried at them. He got his arm through and swiped; you fell back as you narrowly dodged them. He continued with that for a while before he abandoned the approach. His yellow eyes glared at you through the gap he had created before growling. He must have grown up watching Dora too. If you can’t go through, you can't go above it, if you can’t go under it, you have to go around it. He backed away and bounded towards the bars you had slipped through. You ran to meet him there, to hopefully hold him off.

He reached his hand through and you swung at it. It didn’t seem to deter him. The response was more like someone playfully pushing your hand away from their plate, as opposed to a twenty-something swinging a metal bat at full force. He reached for you again but this time he caught your bat in his claws. It shredded the barrel, the metal blossoming out at jagged angles. You could work with that.

You brought it over your head and aimed at his arm. He reared back as the metal cut through his scales. You could hear the fury in his scream, your blood ran cold at the sound. You watched as the flesh slowly melded back together, soon the damage was erased. It hit you then, you were truly no match. He brought his hand back up and sliced through the barrier of bars, bending them with little effort to push through. You took steps back as he got closer. He was hunched down, unable to stand in this space. You were trapped if you couldn’t find a way out.

At the other entrance, you saw a fire extinguisher. You rushed to grab it, pulling the pin and aiming it directly at him. You felt the metal bars against your back. He let out another roar and you pulled on the trigger. Foam flew through the air and the smell of compressed CO2 made you dizzy. You threw it and he caught it in his mouth, as his teeth punctured it white plumes billowed from the canister. While he was blinded you tried to squeeze through the bars. In his thrashing, he caught you on the arm. His claws felt like a blade, cutting through you easily.

You cried out as you collapsed on the floor. Rolling over, you pushed yourself up, ignoring the searing pain in your bicep. Your bat was long gone and you were on your own. You made your way to the middle of the gym, trying to plan your next escape. You heard the grating noise you hate to say you knew, he had slashed through the other set of bars. You sympathised with the groan the metal released as it was bent and twisted against its will.

His horrid eyes fell on you again and you turned to run. He gets down on all fours and breaks into a sprint, he's gaining on you (Shia Leboeuf). Your body hurts and all this running is pumping blood, you’re getting woozy from the loss. You trip and hit the ground hard; you feel disoriented. You start crawling forward, hoping to put enough distance between you.

Just then a loud crash rings through the gymnasium. You turn your head to see The Lizard slammed into the bleachers, the seats folding around him under the weight. Something flew across the room and soon a cloud of green smoke enveloped the space. You heard footfall quickly approaching you and curled in on yourself; your brain unable to catch up with the chaos of the situation.

“Hey, hey, It’s okay. It’s just me.” His gloves caught on the cotton of your ribbed top.

You slowly opened your eyes and they fell upon shining stars; chocolate and autumn leaves and everything sweet in the world. His jaw was set, strong enough to cut diamonds. His lips looked velvety and decadent; though they sagged heavily at the end, his distress evident in his frown.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? I smell blood.” He quickly questioned.

You motioned that you wanted help up, but instead of offering you his hand, he scooped you up in his arms. Your stomach fluttered at the act, the gentleness he was showing you. You were pressed tightly against him, you could feel the rise and fall of his chest.

You took a shaky, flustered breath. “I’m fine. El cabrón caught me in the arm, but I’ll be okay.”

He took notice of the way you were holding your arm and shifted you to take a better look. He curled you like he was using you to train his biceps, pushing your chest into his. His eyes grew as he looked over your wound. 

“It’s okay. You’re- you’re gonna be okay.” He reassured.

He was breathing heavily. You thought before that it was from exertion, but the panic in his eyes was one you recognised.

“Yeah, I know.”

Your words fell on deaf ears as he continued to mumble; repeating that you would be fine like he was trying to manifest it in truth.

"Peter, Hey. Listen to me, I’m okay.”

He shook his head, breaking his trance, and then finally looked back at you. “Let’s get you out of here.”

You met everyone out on the scaffolding; Lady Liberty had seen better days. Peter had finally set you down, and he had used your mangled sleeve to wrap around your cut. As you stepped through the portal it closed behind you. You glared at the spot it used to occupy.

“Por qué no hiciste eso antes, huh?”

You heard your name called out from behind you and as you tuned you were knocked back by the strength of your two-out-of-three of your favourite teens. You held them close, happy to be in their embrace- relieved that they were safe. They talked over each other, spewing their concern and everything that had happened while you were separated. As Ned spoke he flailed his hands, sparks flew from his fingers and with a flourish of his wrist he accidentally opened a portal.

You threw the kids behind you, waiting for whatever may emerge. To your surprise, Dr Strange stepped forward. He whipped his hand and the box flew from your waist. You all protested: a series of ‘wait’s and ‘no’s leaving your mouths.

“Where is he?”

“Before you do anything Mister- Dr Strange, sir,” Ned pleads. “Peter’s plan is working!”

You all nod adamantly as he eyes your group sceptically, “What plan?”

“He’s curing them!” Ned explains, pride dripping from his words.

You pointed to the corner. There sat an older man who looked a little ridiculous dressed in some gym shorts and a mesh, orange jersey for flag football. Strange stepped forward to get a better look.

“Who’s that?” He asks, his tone losing its previous hostility.

“That’s Dr Connors, the giant lizard,” MJ supplies as the man in question gives a tentative wave.

The wizard looks between the reformed man and your odd group a few times before he slowly nods his head, “Well, I’ll be damned.”

He walks off and you grow nervous. You hope he can see the vision, that he lets Petey do this. He’s sacrificed so much, It would be a shame to see his victory ripped away from him. You watch as the three of them swing around, their synchronization mesmerizing to you. It was almost beautiful. If not also death-defying and frightening.

But the little fear you felt grew tenfold, at an exponential rate. Over the horizon, you saw a flying figure approaching. Your blood ran cold and you can’t help the way your body starts to tremble.

You quickly turn to Ned, “Can you open a portal?”

He looks at you confused, his anxiety rising as he tries to understand why you’re upset. “No, Dr Strange took the ring back.”

You silently curse the old man and spin around, trying to find somewhere to run, when his nauseating voice rings through the sky, “Can the Spider-Man come out to play?!”

You freeze. His haunting cadence fills your ears, and you don’t know what to do. You think of his freakish, twisted smile as he gave his “We are gods” monologue. You could hear his sickening cackle as Peter beat in his face. You heard his taunting drawl as he choked Peter. You thought of how he had killed Ms May. The only mother you truly knew. You wondered if she was as scared as you were in her final moments. You couldn’t breathe; you couldn’t move. Completely frozen in fear.

You could vaguely hear Ned and MJ calling out to you, but the world was too far away from you now. It felt like your skin was melting off of you and your brain was spinning in your skull. He couldn’t be here. Petey couldn’t be here. He was dangerous. He wasn’t like the others, his only objective was wreaking havoc, and he had no remorse for the pain and suffering he dealt.

A loud boom erupts through the night air, a crescendo of collapsing metal and golden rings. You feel the scaffolding shake and see it falling apart around you. It gives way. Michelle panics as she starts to tip back and without thinking you pull her towards you. You watch as she grows smaller and smaller in your view, as everything gets further and further away. You hear a scream but don’t realise it’s yours, the sound leaving your lungs as the wind whips around you. Ned hangs from debris and you scold yourself for not protecting him better.

Your arms wave helplessly around you as your brain looks for something to grab onto. Suddenly Petey appears in your view. His face is battered and bruised, his eyes are trained on you. He looks aged, as if the last twelve hours have stolen what was left of his innocence. It was hard to watch him grow up, he was no longer your Little Petey. But this hurt more. Because this wasn’t him growing up, this was him falling apart.

He extends his hand to you and you reach for it. Your fingers brush against the cool metal of his nanotech before he’s ripped away, pinned to the front of the Goblin’s glider.

You hear a gut-wrenching cry from Peter as he was toted away, saw the defeat and rage in his eyes. You close your eyes and swallow back tears. You had never given much thought to how you would die. You were always so busy worrying about everything else. You worried about your father, you worried about May, you worried about Peter. You worried about your grades, you worried about your job, you worried about keeping your place clean. There was always so much to do, so much going on.

But as the end drew near, you still couldn’t think of you. Petey had lost so much and you hated to think you would be another boulder to carry. Another reason to grieve. You thought of all the milestones you would miss. He had always joked that you would one day be his best man, and he would be your maid of honour.

But you wouldn't be there for his wedding. You wouldn’t be there when he graduated from high school. You wouldn’t be there for his first hangover. You wouldn’t be there for his child’s first steps. You wouldn’t be there. You sent out an unguided wish, a silent prayer to anyone who might hear.

Please, let him be okay. Tell him that I love him, that he was the best friend, the best family, the best brother anyone could wish for. Tell him it’s gonna be okay.

You closed your eyes and let the tears slip. It was odd. They didn’t drip down your face, but floated up, as if not to stain you. You hoped the ground would be merciful, that your death would come swiftly. You imagined you were on the high dive at the pool you and Peter used to frequent in the summers. You were sailing into the deep waters, soon to be comforted by the chlorine and Petey’s cheers. You smiled.

Let me tell you, this depressive episode is going CRAZY, so again, I'm sorry for not posting as much and thank you for your patience. And I would like to reiterate, I am getting through it with the love and support of friends and medical professionals. I will eventually be okay, but I'm not now, and that's okay too. I hate to ask, but if you guys could leave some comments or nice words it would really mean a lot to me :))

Taglist: @actuallypeterparker, @alexa4040, @andrews-lovr, @barbecuetiddy, @cherriescherriesred25, @heejinw0rld, @ilovemoonknight, @Isshecrazyorissheclever, @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs, @negasonic-teenage-asshole, @preciousbabypeter, @princesskittycatofmeowland, @purple-amaranthe, @raajali3, @rudy-the-winged-wolf, @scorpiolystoned, @tayswiftlovebot, @wannapizzamymindposts, @whoreforklitz,

#rancid writes #best friend!mcu!peter parker #best friend!peter parker #tasm!spiderman x reader #peter parker x hispanic!reader #hispanic!reader #peter parker x you #spiderman x reader #peter parker x y/n #spiderman #spiderman imagines #peter parker imagine #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fluff #peter Parker imagines #spider-man imagines #mcu spiderman #tasm spiderman #tom holland #andrew garfield #tom holland spiderman #andrew garfield spiderman #peter parker headcanon #peter 1 #peter 3 #nwh spoilers #spiderman no way home

[darksaiyangoku]

Avengers of Remnant Profile: Ruby Xiao Long

Name: Ruby Xiao Long

Codename(s): Red Widow, Black Widow, Spider-Woman

D.O.B: 31st October

Race: Inhuman (half-human/half-kree)

Nationality: Valen

Gender: Female

Height: 5'8"

Hair Colour: Dark red

Eye Colour: Silver

Complexion: White

Affliation:

Avengers

Beacon Academy

SHIELD

Weapon(s):

Escrima sticks

Staff

Dual pistols

Dust infused gloves

Powers:

Widow's bite

Enhanced strength

Enhanced agility

Enhanced reflexes

Family:

Mar-Vell/Taiyang Xiao Long (father)

Summer Rose (mother)

Yang Xiao Long (sister)

Jaune Arc (husband)

Sage Ayana (brother-in-law)

Blanc Arc (brother-in-law)

Noir Arc (brother-in-law)

Saphron Cotta-Arc (sister-in-law)

Terra Cotta-Arc (sister-in-law)

Adrien Cotta-Arc (nephew)

Likes:

Cookies

Strawberries

Yang's cooking

Tai's cooking

Summer's desserts

Avengers

Video games

Anime

Manga

Comics

Superheroes

Training and sparring

Missions

Dogs

Cats

Jaune's motivational speeches

Beacon Academy

Cold weather

Dislikes:

Red Room

Zodiac

HYDRA

Masters

Inhuman Royal Family

Ten Rings

A.I.M

Squadron Supreme

Dill pickles

Raisins

Homework

Losing

Death and destruction

Feeling weak

Yang's puns

Saphron's singing

Goals:

To become a great hero and help those in need.

Notable Events:

TBA

#rwby #rwby au #rwby fanon #ruby rose #character profile #rwby character profile #marvel comics #black widow #spider man #marvel universe

[buttherainbowhadabeard]

The Beauty of Barbenheimer

A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and a surge in streaming platform content has made life very difficult for cinemas in recent times. Why venture out, find a parking spot, queue for snacks and sit with strangers in the dark when you can watch whatever you like from the comfort of home, right?

But convenience can come at a cost. Our at-home screens and digital devices have been dominated by superheroes, seasons and remakes of late, and fatigue is starting to set in. Franchises have ballooned so much that even die-hard fans are finding it hard to keep engaged, let alone keep up. This bombardment of unimaginative content has left many lovers of cinema bored.

Enter the Barbenheimer phenomenon.

Dubbed Barbenheimer due to the dual release date (July 20th here in Australia) of Warner Bros. and Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ and Universal Pictures and Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’, these films have been smashing it at the box office, persuading people to return to their local cinemas in droves.

Sure, a saturation of ads, interviews, trailers and exclusive clips have had something to do with their success so far, but it’s mostly been fuelled by a desire for fresh stories and a contagious case of FOMO.

The notion that both movies are best experienced in the cinema surfaced organically with the hype, and a healthy dose of cross-promotion from the creatives of both sides has been yet another driver for record ticket sales.

Nolan is known for his large-scale epics of practical effects, big sights and even bigger sounds, so it was only natural that ‘Oppenheimer’ was going to be promoted as a must-see on the big screen.

Veteran Nolan collaborator Cillian Murphy (who plays J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb”) is mesmerising is his first, proper leading role in Hollywood, and is backed by an all-star ensemble cast that includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett and Kenneth Branagh. And Ludwig Goransaon’s suspenseful score acts like a character of its own.

Although most of us knew a bit about The Manhattan Project, the Trinity test and the subsequent (and horrific) bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, very few of us knew about the man behind the story.

‘Oppenheimer’ is an explosive, 3-hour look at his early life, his work and relationships, his obsession with quantum physics and his eventual role as the face of the Atomic Age. It’s about the biggest, global gamble to date (the bomb was either going to exacerbate all wars, end all wars or end the world), and it plays out in typical Nolan fashion with staggering IMAX camera visuals, going from the dusty desert vistas of Los Alamos, to the black and white colour gradings of claustrophobic courtrooms.

Gerwig on the other hand, is best known for acting in mumblecore movies and directing arthouse style, female-led films like ‘Little Women’ and ‘Lady Bird’.

‘Barbie’ is her first turn at a blockbuster, with an ensemble cast that is yes, mostly women, but has some stellar supporting male actors in the mix. With a picture-perfect Margot Robbie at the helm, ‘Barbie’ follows the titular Mattel doll’s journey from Barbieland into the real world, where she is confronted with an existence that is wildly different to her own.

Hilarity (and some heartfelt moments) ensue, with Ryan Gosling stealing every scene he’s in as her peroxide blonde, lovesick sidekick Ken, plus some fun supporting performances from the likes of America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell, Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

Gerwig’s plastic fantastic, feminist world gives off serious summer vacay vibes, all technicolor blue skies, hot pink dreamhouses, glittery dancefloors and sunny beaches - with a super catchy soundtrack to boot!

With one movie about a bomb and the other about a bombshell, on the surface, it looked like they were going to appeal to two very different types of moviegoers. But we couldn’t have been more wrong, and hallelujah for that!

People have turned Barbenheimer into an event, getting big groups together, dressing up and booking back-to-back screenings. There’s even merch and memes, but more importantly, there’s hope. Hope that Hollywood still has more to offer than CGI, stunts and sequels.

In their first three days in the theatre, Barbenheimer generated a whopping $244.5 million dollars combined. If that’s not the definition of going off with a bang, I don’t know what is…

‘Oppenheimer’ 4/5 stars. ‘Barbie’ 4.5/5 stars.

#barbie #oppenheimer #barbenheimer #christophernolan #gretagerwig #margotrobbie #ryangosling #cillianmurphy #emilyblunt #mattdamon #robertdowneyjr #florencepugh #americaferrrera #michaelcera #willferrell #cinema #movies #boxoffice #blockbuster #barbieland #barbiegirl #manhattanproject #trinitytest #atomicbomb #worldwartwo

[barrencelenny]

What even is the general central city resident’s understanding of speedsters in the city honestly? Like do they even know the names of all of them?? Why are there so many speedsters compared to the rates of other powers??? Do these questions keep CC people up at night???? (I have very little recollection of later seasons despite watching them so genuinely welcome any answers) i assume it’s something like:

The Flash - that’s our resident superhero :D sure he does really annoying things sometimes like completely mess up your hair when he runs past, but on the whole we love him :) we named a day after him :) (is flash day a public holiday in central city? Can they even make public holidays for only one city?)

Reverse Flash- do they even know him? Did he ever introduce himself to the public at large? Do people notice that every so often they’ll see red lighting rather than yellow and go huh, guess that other one is back again. Does he have a place in the flash museum’s villains wing? (And what would the plaque describing him even say without revealing details of Barry’s mother’s murder?)

Zoom- hey wtf he broke our flash’s back on tv :(

Jay Garrick- also answers to the name the flash? Wears a hat? Who even is this man??

Kid flash- so he’s a yellow speedster but he’s not evil like the other yellow speedster? Okay. He seems young :) hope he comes back one day :)

Jessie Quick- well I mean I guess it’s nice we know her name. Where did she even go?? (She’s dead after crisis on infinite earths right???)

Savitar- does the public know Literally Anything about him????

Iris west in one episode (did she even have a code name)- oh yay another female speedster we haven’t seen one of those in years. Why did we only see her for a day. She had purple lightning that was cool.

XS- Huh purple AND yellow lightning haven’t seen combination colours before. Also her outfit is the same as the other lady speedster what’s up with that?

Impulse- oh a silver outfit that’s fun. We can literally see through his goggles though, it’s barely a mask? Seems really young

Godspeed- oh great this guy has white lightning, the dude that had black lighting was evil so maybe he’ll be good? Oh god. Oh no. Why are there so many of him.

Meena/ Fast Track- who?

Also given that so many of these speedsters get their official name and introduction from Iris writing about them in her articles, are there a bunch of people online who’ve realised the flash’s identity because they looked her up, saw her wedding photos on insta or smth, and went oh lanky white boy yeah that’s probably him that’s how she’s getting all the scoops. do they all agree to just keep this knowledge unspoken amongst themselves?(there’s several thousand of them in the subreddit)

#you know in fics how Lisa often figures out Barry’s identity through Facebook snooping while Len’s first resort is Torture? #yeah that’s the vibe of the difference between figured out the flash’s identity through Iris West vs Barry Allen #it’s 1:31am so it’s clearly keeping ME up at night #k.txt

[cardboard-writer]

It's sad that the Hawks have hit such a slump Post Crisis at DC especially once you read their older stories. The two of them were utterly devoted to each other and were equal partners. A true battle couple. Even early Post Crisis, Hawkworld was an amazing read and could have done for the Hawks what Year One did for Batman and Man of Steel comic did for Superman. It was DC's insistence of setting it in the present that screwed over the characters history.

I think the best solution for the Hawks would be to have two sets of Hawks:

-The Reincarnation Hawks: Carter Hall and Shiera Hall who are lovers reincarnated to save the world from the evil Hath-Set. An ancient Thangarian landed in ancient Egypt and falls in love with an Egyptian Princess but are backstabbed by a jealous priest kicking off the reincarnation cycle. In the 40's Carter becomes Hawkman while Shiera suits up as Hawkgirl and is the first female superhero in-universe as she is publication wise.

-The alien Hawks: Katar and Shayera are two Thanagarian peace keepers born to two different classes. Katar is born to the upper caste with his scientist father. While Shayera is born to the slums in a much lower caste. Their love transcends the rigid caste system of the Thanagar and they defy Thanagarian laws and find peace living on earth.

The similarity in their names is because Katar's father visited earth during the Golden Age Hawks time and was inspired by them. As established in Ostanders Hawkworld run. He may have known Shayera's parents as well. In the comics, Shayera Thal took on her mothers name who was also named Shayera Thal. In the Hawkworld comic, she was similar to Kiera Knightly's character in Star Wars; a body double for the royals, meant to die in her place.

Ideally, Hawkman/Carter Hall would be the primary lead in a Hawkman book dealing with his various reincarnations as well as Indiana Jones style adventures. Hawkwoman/Shayera Hol would be the primary lead in a Hawkwoman or Hawkworld book with her Hawkman/Katar Hol and it would be more of a Star Wars style space fantasy book.

Kendra Saunders would be Hawkgirl. The grand niece of the original Hawkgirl/Shiera Sanders. As in the comics, Kendra would be a girl who was on the verge of suicide. But this time she would be rescued by Shayera and Katar who would take her under their wing. They train her and she takes up the Hawkgirl identity as gratitude.

She would also meet Carter Hall but no creepy reincarnated lovers angle between them. Carter sees her as just a family member of his deceased lover.

Kendra mostly operates on her own but she would be sometimes be guided by the ghost of Shiera Sanders whose voice only she can hear in her head. Kendra would be the lead of the Hawkgirl book. And for a truly deep cut you could have Charley Parker/Golden Eagle as one of her supporting characters.

That's it! Neat, tidy, straightforward. Ever character has a role and a place and does not contradict pre established lore too much.

Also pet peeve I would like to address: in my ideal version Carter is blonde, Shiera has auburn hair, Katara has jet black hair, Shayera has fiery red hair and Kendra has brown hair with slight reddish as a subtle connection to Shiera. Geoff Johns playing mix-and-match with the Hawks hair colours is one of my pet peeves with his recent handling of the Hawks.

#Hawkman #Hawkwoman #Hawkgirl #carter hall #shiera hall #kendra saunders #katar hol #shayera hol #charley parker #golden eagle #dc #dc comics #comics

[iczer-ryuga2]

How Toei wanted to make their own ver. of Silver Surfer in the early 80′s (Get ready because it’s about to get wild)

All the information I’ve gotten is in this one blog here, documenting about what Toei and Marvel were collabing on at the time: https://spider-man.at.webry.info/200802/article_3.html 

From the blog in the link above:

‘As mentioned in this blog several times before, after Spider-Man aired from 1978 to 1979, Toei planned and considered several programs using Marvel characters, including 3-D Man, Moon Knight and Silver Surfer. We introduced 3-D Man (26 May 2007) and Moon Knight (14 January 2008), but Silver Surfer had not yet been introduced, so we thought we would introduce it sooner or later, but the other day we happened to receive a copy of the "New Programme Proposal" that resulted in Silver Surfer's death. I was planning to introduce it sooner or later, but I happened to get a copy of the Silver Surfer's lost 'New Programme Proposal' the other day, so I'll write about it this time, weaving in its contents as I go along.

This is the Silver Surfer proposal. Four colour photos of the main characters are attached.

The show is a colourful and varied action series centered on three Marvel Comics heroes - Silver Surfer, Ms Marvel and The Thing - and features Marvel characters from time to time, plus original characters from Japan.

Title: Silver Surfer Type: SF hero action film Format: TV film with extensive use of VTR synthesis, 30-minute complete episodes, 26 or more episodes. Target audience: Young people and other families in general. Based on the novel by Saburo Hate (from the Marvel Comics version) Planning cooperation: Kikakusha 104 Production: Toei Co.

Planning details The Great Invasion Army, led by the space emperor Galactus, extends its power across the universe. Their next target is our home planet, Earth. At ・・・・・, Ms Marvel and The Thing, who belong to the Japan Branch of the Independent Strategy Office, have a fateful encounter with the superhero Silver Surfer, who has escaped from Galactus' army to Earth, and are told by him of the enemy's true intentions. The three are united by a strong sense of comradeship and rivalry as they face their giant enemy.

Introduction of the characters

Silver Surfer (Koushi Shibuki). A silver-coloured alien who pilots a surfboard named Skyboard and travels through space at the speed of light. He was a resident of the planet Zen Ra, but was captured when an invasion force destroyed the planet and converted into a space combat soldier in the psychic strategic development section. After being converted, he attempted to escape to his late mother's planet.

Fights enemies with Cosmic Power, an ability that allows him to manipulate cosmic energy. Cosmic Blast = Attacks by firing energy blasts from the fingertips. Cosmic Burst = Energy discharge generated from both hands spread wide. Cosmic Attack = The strongest attack method, in which the energy stored in the body is released, the entire body is enveloped in energy and the attacker strikes with the body. However, this technique drains all of Silver Surfer's energy and can only be used once in battle, as he has no attack ability for "one hour" until the Cosmic Energy is charged up in his body again.

Usually a young man who enjoys ocean sports, mainly surfing. When he catches sight of an enemy invasion, he heads for the battlefield as a warrior Silver Surfer. His father is from the planet Zen Ra and his mother is from Earth.

Miz Marvel (Masumi Suzuka). An Earth superheroine with inherently superior precognition and clairvoyant abilities. In everyday life, she is a female university student who works part-time at a coffee shop frequented by Koushi Shibuki. She is actually the daughter of the wealthy Suzuka family.

Thing (Gen Ishihara). A power fighter who punches with great destructive power, defeats his enemies with great monstrous strength, and is an earthling who specialises in ground combat. He is usually a truck driver. He often frequents the coffee shop where Suzuka Masumi works part-time. During the investigation of a previous case, he was involved in an explosion at an enemy hideout, at which time he was exposed to special energy along with a monstrous beam of light, and became a superhuman with immeasurable power.

That's roughly how it went down. The rest of the book contains information about the 'Independent Strategy Office of the Earth Defence Organisation' to which the three belong, an introduction to the 'Galactus Army', a sample story of the first episode, and so on. We will introduce this proposal when we have a chance.

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

By the way, I looked into this lost project to see if it was utilized in any later Toei special effects programs, and found some matching settings in Space Detective Gavan, which was broadcast from March 1982. The Gavan project started in the spring of 1981, around the same time as Silver Surfer. The story is about the defense of peace in space, which is a different dimension from existing heroes. He wears a silver combat suit. He emits rays of light from his fingertips. His father is an alien and his mother is from Earth. He rides in a sidecar (Cyberian), reminiscent of the Silver Surfer. 

[Image reference.]

There may be more, but I don't think I'm the only one who feels that this is similar. However, I haven't seen any reference book that states the fact that the 'Silver Surfer' setting was used for 'Gavan', so this is a matter of speculation.’

------------------------------------- End of Translation

So that was my find of this info. All while I’m trying to find info of ‘Tomb of Dracula’ anime animated by Toei so I tried to find info on Google using Dracula’s Japanese title and lo and behold, I found this blog that has quite the info on it.

Next time, info on ‘Tomb of Dracula’ anime movie and how Harmony Gold crammed WAAAY Too much story into a condensed movie that was different in the intended way by Toei.

#toei tokusatsu #toei #Marvel Comics #marvel #silver surfer #jack kirby #1980s #80s #superheroes #tokusatsu #Toei and Marvel Collab #40th anniversary Metal Heroes #Metal Heroes #space sheriff gavan #Metal Heroes 40th #comic book heroes #comic books

[stshloop]

It’s a bee, maybe a tiny wasp. But when you look closer, it’s a stubby little spider. Meet Rhene flavicomans, the wasp-mimic jumping spider from the rainforests of India, to China, like this male from Hong Kong.

Look at that beautiful, precious little face of his ((:

These fellows are remarkable for well, their striking yellow-and-black markings in males, almost like a superhero suit. They also have a boxy head and some*huuuuge* forearms. I don’t know exactly what they’re for, but I’d assume it gives them a better grip at prey.

Pretty cool right? Here’s a female from the same species!

A pale colour and a big fat abdomen, maybe not as flamboyant as the males, but just as charming (: irresistible little faces they have.

I’m hoping to do more series of cool invertebrates I find, so lmk if you want more!

#jumpingspiders #spiders #invertebrates #salticidae #awww #bugs #look at his fucking face

[cowsandcomics]

On The Dissatisfying Characterisation Of Wanda Maximoff in DSMoM and a Brief Aside on the Misogyny Of Superhero Films

This is very long winded, unedited and has sat in my google docs since the day after DSMoM's release. I love it dearly.

Word Count: 3203

Warnings: Obvious spoilers for DSMoM, discussions of motherhood, discussions of the Red Room and violation of female autonomy, Fleur's thinly veiled desires to replace Joss Whedon and Michael Waldron for their poor writing, many rambles to many other essays that I will eventually write.

Please let me preface this by acknowledging that outside of this movie, there are definitely things done poorly with Wanda's characterisation, storyline, and the MCU in general. I will always be first and foremost a comic fan and champion, but the thoughts I had on this topic refused to leave until I wrote them. If anyone wants to discuss anything further, I'm more than open so long as conversation is civil. That being said, please enjoy my lengthy, unceasingly detailed thoughts on fictional, non-existent characters.

Let's begin!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while fantastical and a great delivery on a genre bending superhero film, is not without its faults. In particular, I’ll highlight the lack of carry over on Wanda Maximoff’s character growth from the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, inclusive of her show WandaVision. 

While she made for a compelling villain, it would’ve been much more satisfying for her characterisation to see the Darkhold’s corruption - also known as the main point of the film - to slowly seep into her as she grapples with knowing her children and husband are so close yet so far away, and that she has the power to find them on hand. To have it hidden from the other characters that she was in possession of the very thing they fought to destroy, and using it, would’ve made the film infinitely more meaningful as it would’ve portrayed just how broken am individual she had become, and empathy would have flown out from the audience - after all, who doesn’t know the experience of being at your wits end, so close to the happiness you want in life yet so, so far away? 

Yes, we could empathise with her from the first scene, we’re quite literally led into the depths of her grief. We see the life she could’ve had in some reality that wasn’t as cruel, the love and support that used to come from the very people she lost.  We’re brought to a bright colour palette with sweeping shots, showing the joy and chaotic nature of motherhood, with hints of a Wanda we’ve only briefly seen in the illusion of Wandavision. The choices made in the mise en scene of the moment tell as all we need to know - from Wanda’s brown hair reminiscing her days of Sokovian childhood, where she would watch sitcoms with her family and run rampant with her twin brother, to the athleisure wear of her outfit symbolising her comfort in this reality and the brightness of everything in this scene portraying the brightness within Wanda when she is with those she loves. After being comforted by this scene, the filmmakers tear the illusion apart and cruelly reveal Wanda’s withered state, a broken woman climbing out of bed, facing the nightmare of her true life. The colour palette dims, reflecting the life flowing out of Wanda, the score is ripped from our ears. We are left with the stark, soundless reality of grief, a tear teased out of our eyes akin to those so freely falling from Wanda’s.

I’m also led to note the absence of Vision, her husband, in this dream scene. Even within an idyllic reality, she subconsciously believes she must sacrifice something - after all, it has been compounded throughout her life. This notable absence is seen throughout the movie but is not without commonality in the MCU - they like to replace one loss in Wanda’s life with the newest. Throughout Age Of Ultron the closeness of the twins - Pietro and Wanda - is conveyed. From checking on each other in battle, speaking without words, tender platonic forehead kisses and their shared turmoil over their orphaning, their sibling relationship seems central to their characterisation. All moments lead up to Pietro’s sacrifice of life to save a young boy and the guttural, cutting scream Wanda releases while feeling the life seep out of her brother, the only longstanding family she ever had. You truly believe you can convince me that a woman, so close to her brother who she shares these sacrificial  ideals with, would be so easily corrupted by a Big Bad Evil Book that she’d kidnap and murder a child just to find happiness? There’s no true believability in that, especially when you factor in her longstanding temperament to sacrifice her livelihood for the good of others. Regardless of measures of believability, Marvel once again forefronts the most recent loss in Wanda’s life, her children, without properly concluding her connection to other losses. Sure, it can be argued that some closure was found during WandaVision over her brother’s death, but death stays with us forever. If grief, like Vision told Wanda, is love persevering, why would the love of her brother not factor into her search through the multiversal cosmos? During her speech at Kamar-Taj, where she highlights all the loss and sacrifice experienced in her life, it feels disjointed that she wouldn’t bring in the intimate loss of her brother, and furthermore it feels like a disservice to her character, who is so interpersonal and motivated purely by the desire for family and connection, that she only searches for a partially fulfilling reality where she just has her kids and not her husband and brother. It feels like another notice in a long list of missed opportunities by Marvel.

Further exploration of her memories - or even mentions of her passed brother - would’ve better fed into her role as the tortured hero. Through brief mentions of how she “blew a hole into the head of the man [she] loved,” we see the most recent of her losses, but what about those that initiated her grief? Those that set off a chain reaction in a long, complex process of sacrifice? Every fragment of her story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films sees her sacrifice, lose something or suffer for great powers that seem to control her rather than the other way around. They exact a toll without the influence of the Darkhold, a concept that has been extremely compelling to audiences thus far, so why was her archetype as the tortured hero not explored in more depth? I again fall to the subject of subtle corruption, seeing a continued grapple with a hero who has lost so much in her life being tempted to maybe, just maybe, take something for herself. 

Even with the corrupting influence of the Dark Hold, I believe that Wanda wouldn’t accept without hesitation. To do so would negate the entirety of her growth in WandaVision, where she made the excruciating and gut wrenching choice to set the citizens of  Westview free, even at the cost of her personal happiness and the only thing she ever wanted - a family. In fact, it was this aching longing for family that led to Westview’s entrapment in the first place: the continual compounding of trauma in her life, accompanied by the fresh memory of having seen her husband’s corpse and being denied the right of a funeral for him - and, in extension, the right to grieve - sees her reactive magic cast out in a cascade of emotion, building her some modicum of comfort, even though she didn’t consciously decide to cast that hex. The conclusion of the series sees Wanda once again isolated in her grief, hoping for a moment to say hello again to the family that gave her life purpose. Even with these desires, she chooses to accept responsibility for her actions and leave Westview, retiring to a cottage in the woods. She can be said to be at a crossroads - in possession of the Darkhold and the knowledge that she is the Scarlet Witch but also still a hero at heart, continuing her life of sacrifice for the good of others. 

Wanda’s character would’ve better been developed in her own solo film, where her peril at being held captive by the Darkhold would be in the limelight, where a grapple with morality and who she believes herself to be falters under the sway of all she ever desired. Even prolonged exploration into other options to find her family, to bring her boys - her boys specifically, not multiversal iterations ripped away from their mother - back to life, would’ve better grown her. Even a throwaway line mounted by the enormity of her desperation, of how there was no other choice but to use the Darkhold, would’ve defined her in more sturdy strokes than the entirety of her so-called character arc in the film. To see a complex, multilayered descent into villainy that was something beyond the typical superhero trope of a powerful woman declining into madness when emotionally unstable would’ve truly grabbed my attention and held it hostage. Instead, we are greeted with an unrefined and underdeveloped character driven to the edge by a lack of motherhood, as if there weren’t a myriad of other intricate losses that guided her to the tyranny she now exacts.

The dichotomy between motherhood and monsterhood are seen as extremes for Wanda to oscillate between by the film’s writer, rather than a labyrinthine space for her to embody. The tenderness she holds for her children is conveyed as she dreamwalks, weeping twin tears of joy and grief as she is able to hold her children again, the American accent she adopted dropped for the Sokovian one she had hidden away, her true self bared in the emotional enormity of the scene. A masterful moment by itself, it is soon discredited by an uncharacteristic flip back to the search to steal America Chavez’s powers, which would subsequently kill the child. The believability is swept from beneath our feet, the Darkhold may make Wanda ruthless enough to go through with it, but should she not stumble? Should she not consider the horror her boys would feel upon discovering that is how she reached them? Again, Wanda’s nuanced character is cheapened to pigeonhole her as a deranged villain instead of the tortured person she is. Wanda’s lack of desire to renounce her quest to find family and understanding makes her out to be a monster. Yes, she is unjustifiably murderous and in the wrong during this film. Yet she is also more, and the film had the opportunity to showcase a multifaceted character who is neither hero, antihero or villain but failed. My disappointment lies within the threads of greatness weaved between the disorganisation, the possibility so easily seen that a woman may be characterised by more than just her relationship to motherhood. The sloppiness of it all cheapens the authority of Olsen’s acting, which brings more depth to the film than the writing ever could. (And I’m not even going to discuss the choice of Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff instead of a Romani-Jewish actress, that’s discourse for another essay.)

Monsterhood vs motherhood has already been utilised by Marvel Studios to simplify female characters in the past, such as their painting of Natasha Romanoff as a monster for being unable to have children during Age Of Ultron. A child assassin, one raised in the most harrowing of environments where she constantly knew she was replaceable, that ruthlessness was the only currency she may trade in, where death must be a constant companion tucked close to her heart, reduced to one dimensionality over the fact that she has no uterus. Natasha Romanoff, who is arguably one of the most excruciatingly painful depictions of female agony, a woman who has been denied agency and self expression by the men in her life, is supposed to think herself an abomination for what someone else did to her? The plausibility of the situation is minimal. Though Natasha is known for her intensive self loathing and driven to help others to wipe the red out of her ledger, she understands the people who operate out of monstrosity: men like the handlers in the Red Room who tormented her. The Red Room is known to be a place that snatches young girls from their beds, removes their autonomy and gruellingly subjugates them into unrecognisable killing machines devoid of purpose beyond that which their trigger is aimed at, and a wombless woman is depicted as the true horror. Those people manipulated young girls into believing they only have the propensity for murder and bloodshed, yet the emphasis of monstrosity is enforced upon a woman who was unwillingly sterilised? How despicable modern media is, that its veiled misogyny positions women to believe themselves to be empty vessels that are only filled by the pursuit of motherhood.  A woman without the capacity for motherhood is deemed as a monster by a male writer, just as a mother without her children is worthless and incomplete. It’s as if the complexity of female superhero stories often goes undiscovered purely to simplify them into something easily categorizable, rather than something as murky, blurred and complicated as their male counterparts. 

Moreover, the femininity of characters is often used to credit them as easily disposable. Despite Wanda’s blatant villainy, she was still being possessed and corrupted by the Darkhold, an item that fed off of her trauma and twisted her innermost longings into hellish, insatiable desires. Any other character would receive attempts for help, to save them from this fate, and yet Doctor Strange dismisses the convolution of her situation with a simple “Wanda’s gone now,” treating her as an assailant, rather than a fellow soldier with whom he marched into battle with. Now, you may consider me crass or radical for this interpretation, and I would too, had we not recently received Spiderman: No Way Home from Marvel Studios. One of the prominent thematic issues of the film is that all are redeemable, and a considerable portion of the plot sees the protagonist attempt to remedy and help the afflictions of the antagonists. What is it that others Wanda from this fate, what separates her from these established and continual villains of the MCU? Why, she’s an emotionally unstable woman, and despite being corrupted by external influences that may be overcome by factors seen in the movie (say, the antithesis of the Darkhold, the Book Of Vishanti), Hollywood views her as utterly disposable. It is far simpler to discredit and toss away a powerful woman than it is to explore her in full complexity, to file her away in a long list of emotionally unstables than to exhibit the complicatedness that is her sum total, allowing her the space to grow beyond the limiting archetypes of hero and villain into something much, much more enticing. So many missed opportunities, so much thinly hidden misogyny.

During the final scenes of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, we are once again shown a broken, grief stricken Wanda. While I think a slow corruption would’ve better serviced the continuity of her characterisation, I understand and acquiesce to the choices made here. Wanda, in her corrupted, ruthless state, is brought to the reality she’s been aching for. Her children are terrified as this is no longer the kind, gentle mother they know. They fear her. They scream at her. They beg her not to hurt them. This torrid rejection from the people she quite literally corrupted her soul for shatters her. As the only people she believes meaningful, it makes sense that they can pull the wool from her eyes (though I must wonder why Billy and Tommy did not fight back against this demented version of their mother with their powers, instead only throwing toys and cowering. It’s almost as if the writer likes to forget to incorporate details from a certain series called WandaVision - oh wait.) Wanda did not believe she was a monster, only a mother reaching out for the unconditional love of her children, and now she sees the extremity of her actions. It is laid out in front of her, the immense harm caused by placing her happiness over the safety of others. It truly feels as if the essence of this film was an undoing and redoing of Wanda’s growth in WandaVision, a keen cinematic cycle where self awareness ends in self abhorrence. It’s a film that we’ve seen played before, only now with amplified stakes and a lack of emotional depth that WandaVision brought. We see the same growth produced by WandaVision’s conclusion replayed in Multiverse Of Madness seemingly for no reason other than to have an intense, ruthless villain for Doctor Strange to project his moral quandaries onto. While extraordinarily enjoyable, the nuance of Wanda’s character was renounced to make her into a simple plot device. At the film’s conclusion she is no more and no less developed than she was in WandaVision, the only thing that may have doubled was her self loathing.

The ending of Multiverse of Madness is the only thing I can say was in step with any previous characterisation Marvel Studios has given Wanda. It parallels the position Wanda was in during WandaVision, when she becomes aware that her grief and trauma is spilling over onto and affecting the Westview citizens. It’s as if she’s brought to consciousness, and when she is, she is horrified. This self awareness ushers her to take accountability and do whatever is in her power to make things right by destroying the hex. While it is unseen by the Westview citizens, who have only felt her pain in vague extension and not comprehended the expansive trauma that brought Wanda to this moment, the audience understands Wanda’s true heart to help others, even at a cost to herself. Multiverse Of Madness’ ending somewhat depicts this sentiment too; it may be but a faint echo of the emotionally intune WandaVision, but I’ll take it. Other characters in the story don’t comprehend the full brunt of her motivations and suffering, even some of the audience do not. And despite Wanda doing everything wrong, we inexplicably cannot help ourselves but empathise and connect ourselves to her. We have all experienced the agony of being so close yet so far to that which fulfils us, desperate for what we believe will complete us. We all ache for true happiness and supportive love, to know that who we are is valid and that we are loved despite our flaws. Wanda is a character who craves love, the epitome of the human condition, and has no one and nowhere to receive it from. The only comfort she can receive at the end of the film, where she is left with the carnage of her actions, is to know that her boys will be loved. Only Wanda herself, though a multiverse variant, can understand the anguish of 616 Wanda. (Afterall, if our Wanda could dream of her children, 838 Wanda must be harassed with a nightly deluge of trauma where her boys disintegrate, her brother’s body fills with bullets and her husband has his forehead ripped apart.) And as she makes the choice to collapse the Wungadore Temple around herself, Wanda takes true responsibility for her harrowing villainy.

While not a satisfying conclusion to her journey, this end feels fitting. Wanda continues her sacrificial streak, this time forfeiting her life in order to close the Darkhold across the multiverse and ensure no others will be tempted by its corrupting force. I feel vast sadness for Wanda, a character whose main flaw is being ruled by her emotions and the longing for connection, one that so strongly resonates within myself. I feel deeply saddened by the trajectory of her journey, that no matter what path she takes, self sacrifice or self servitude, she cannot find happiness or that which makes her life meaningful. While not a beautiful or redeeming end to one of my favourite characters, it eventually manages to reinforce the primary tenets of her character and hold a mirror to the tortured soul within us all.

You've reached the end! Congratulations, you deserve a cookie for your efforts. Thanks for taking the time to read, it means the world to me :)

#wanda maximoff #scarlet witch #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #marvel mcu #marvel comics #doctor strange #dsmom #doctor strange multiverse of madness #doctor strange in the multiverse of madness #pietro maximoff #quicksilver #pietro maximov #wanda maximov #vision #the vision #wandavision #natasha romanoff #natasha romanov #natalia romanova #black widow #the red room #red room #age of ultron #aou #avengers #the avengers #billy maximoff #tommy maximoff #billy kaplan

[fortressofserenity]

Appealing to the other girls

When it comes to the North American comics industry’s woes, I feel some of it has to do with appealing so much to a certain audience’s taste to the point where it’s going to be real hard trying out something else without experiencing backlash. Some of the problem might have to do with how superhero-centric the print sector of the North American comics industry is, it might be changing for the better when it comes to webcomics. But I don’t think it’s substantial enough to attract anybody else who would be more interested in anything else that has little to do with superheroes at the very least, though you’d have to hire more people who’re interested in those kinds of stories and topics.

Maybe publishers like DC and Marvel are trying their hardest to do what I suggested, the best they can do about it given they don’t want to alienate their longtime readers. But when it comes to some readers not getting to read the other kinds of stories they want to read, it needn’t to be genre fiction as it could involve stories about say dogs harassing wildlife, church cats or garment workers. Though unfortunately whatever stories that focus on any of these subject matters are likely to be really rare, at worst they might as well be so nonexistent that this is likely why readers who’d like to find the stories they’d like to read end up reading something else altogether.

I’m projecting my preferences here but you should know where I’m coming from, since I don’t read comics that often and I actually tend to read a lot of nonfiction. Nonfiction that’s based on the things I like reading and want to read myself, but that’s to give you an idea of how my reading preferences are pretty underrepresented in comics. This is likely true for other female readers and any other reader in general, where their own reading preferences are also very underrepresented. It’s like if you have a lot of comic book stories involving colourful battles and preternatural abilities deployed in them, but not enough stories that involve criminal investigation that’s going to alienate those who’d be interested in that subject matter.

It’s no different from what I experience where there’s not a lot of comics that I can think of that focuses on dog predation on wildlife, despite making decent appearances in nonfiction (both news reports and academic studies). The one fictional example that I can think of that focuses on this, or at least close to it, would be Watership Down and even then it’s an animated movie that’s adapted from a prose novel. Even if this is a subject matter that has important implications for conservation, in that dog owners need to be more careful around their pets because they could easily endanger a vulnerable species at any point, it’s not a subject matter that I could easily find in comics the way I would with nonfiction sources.

There are actually instances of publishers like DC and Marvel using professionals outside of the comics geek circles to write comics, most notably people like Ian Rankin and Denise Mina. But when it comes to the North American comics industry being mostly focused on providing genre fiction, particularly the speculative variety, it’s going to alienate everybody else who’re interested in something else to read. I believe if DC and Marvel were sincere in attracting other readers, they should be churning out more magazines and stories like Gotham Central. Gotham Central could easily be the one DC comic to lure in crime fiction readers with, since what the story’s about is familiar territory to them.

Both DC and Marvel did have a habit of publishing stories outside of the DC and Marvel universes, they still do to some extent but much of it’s focused on well-established franchises rather than publishing stories that would interest other readers. Especially these days where it’s easier to do comics based on either Marvel, DC or any one of the other established brands within the Warner Bros and Disney corporations, this is pretty much why Marvel publishes Star Wars comics and more recently Alien comics too. But not something like doing comics adaptations of something like Jemima Shore, though somebody else has done the same for Nancy Drew in fairness.

You could say that a character like Jemima Shore is too obscure to get an audience in comics, but then again Adam Dagliesh is better known than her and he himself hasn’t starred in any comics adaptation that I know of. So the real problem lies with how North American publishers generally pander more to speculative fiction enthusiasts a lot and not anybody else who want to read something else in comics, it could be something like everyday life but also crime fiction or cats and sailors. It could also involve what’s like working in dressmaking that while there are comics that do revolve around it, it’s also unfortunately rare if it does exist at all and likely the same with sailors and cats. So this is why the North American comics industry has difficulty attracting different readers.

The North American comics industry is almost too focused on satiating the speculative fiction enthusiast’s tastes without regarding the reading tastes of other people, including those who may not be interested in the fantastical to begin with. While a compromise is doable, I don’t think it’s going to be easy publishing other stories without hiring writers who’re interested in anything else to create those for like-minded people. But that would mean those kinds of people, both as writers and readers, are very underrepresented. So underrepresented in the comics industry that they might as well not exist, so it’s easier to cater to speculative fiction enthusiasts this way.

#crime fiction #crime novel #crime novels #crime books #nonfiction #dc comics #marvel comics #marvel #gotham central #batman #comic books #comics

[runthepockets]

Fill this in with stuff about you

Age: 24

Where I’m from: Kentucky

Where I would like to live: Anywhere that has a decent population of black people and a respectable Hardcore / Metal scene.

Favorite food: Nachos

Religion: Agnostic

Sexual orientation: Straight

Single/taken: Single

Eye colour: Brown

Favorite movie: Boyz n The Hood, Good Time, Jacob's Ladder, & Mid90s.

Favorite TV show: Atlanta, Bojack Horseman, The Boondocks, The Boys, Breaking Bad, King of the Hill, and Malcolm in the Middle.

Favorite band/singer: Breaking Benjamin, Bolt Thrower, Dystopia, Linkin Park, Rudimentary Peni, and Serpent Column.

Random fact about me: My older brother sliced my pointer finger with a pocket knife in first grade, and my childhood best friend's little sister stabbed me with a kitchen knife in 6th grade. I was fine both times, cus I'm a badass.

Favorite day of the year: I really like New Year's Eve

Favorite colour: Cerulean Blue

If I have any pets: My roommate has a dog.

What I’m listening to right now: Basket Case by Green Day

Last movie I’ve watched: Heavy Trip

What’s my ringtone: New Divide by Linkin Park

Favorite male character from a TV show: Jesse Pinkman

Favorite female character from a TV show: Marceline the Vampire Queen

What my name means: "he descends"

Favorite superhero: Wolverine

If any of you wanna repost this or make a tag game out of it you can, I just thought it'd be fun to do myself, lol.

#my shit