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#I ship peter with mj because *I* want to marry mj
idk-bruh-20 · 2 years
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So, basically what Tony is trying to say is that he is not at peace because he wanted to spend his life with Pepper, Morgan, Peter, Happy, Rhodey and May. And he is not at peace because Peter is going through hell and Tony is powerless to help his kid.
You know what, actually I have now come full circle from the Big Sad into being VERY here for the righteous anger on Tony's behalf. The Russos did him dirty.
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Crossed Paths & Tangled Webs: Why I Ship SpiderCat
This is gonna be a controversial one through no fault of my own... but also it's all my own damn fault. A confusing contradicting statement to be sure, but when you're talking about Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy, that statement seems to ring the most true. Two people who are as perfect for each other as they are imperfect. In love through no fault of their own... and completely at fault for being so.
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My poll for another ship to cover picked this... I'm more than happy to talk about it but we're dealing with volatile stuff right now. As I write this, Spider-Man and Black Cat actually ARE in a relationship with each other. Peter has recently stated that he no longer feels romantically for his long-time love-interest, Mary Jane, calling her more akin to a sister. MJ was apparently stuck in some post-apocalyptic Narnia situation where enough time passed for her to have kids with another guy. And if that wasn't enough... Mary Jane may be about to join Gwen Stacey in the fridge, if you get my meaning. As Zeb Wells is teasing the most shocking Spider-Man story since Gwen Stacey's death and the solicits for the story afterwards say Spider-Man is about to suffer a terrible loss. Felicia is on the covers of at least one of those issues. So unless it's a complete fake out and Wells is going to kill off a relationship he has stated he both prefers and spent a ton of time setting up at the expense of the preferred romance among fans... yeah it's not looking good for MJ. I mean he might kill off Aunt May again, but... well there's no guarantees in comics... ever.
This is a strange time period to be a long suffering SpiderCat shipper. I have held a torch for these two for such a long time it feels like almost second nature. I see Felicia, I want to see her with Peter. No one else, man or woman, will do. (Yes she's Bi, shut up, it's canon) Yet right now, a SpiderCat shipper is now writing the Spider-Man books and everyone seems to absolutely hate Zeb Wells' execution of it all. I've gotten what I wanted, at last, but fans are outright rejecting it. Not so much for Felicia and Peter being together mind you, as much as they're annoyed MJ is being thrown under the bus.
Which I get actually, I may have wanted this ship over Peter/MJ, but not at her expense. I don't want her DEAD or badly written. And given how Marvel has basically treated MJ and Peter over the years, it's hard to argue that these reactions are anything but justified. Even decades later, One More Day's shadow still looms large. Marvel has constantly teased and poked and prodded and snickered about the possibility of Mary Jane and Peter Parker becoming an item again. If not married, at the very least dating. But Marvel seems insistent on this point. "The Marriage was a mistake, we're never going back to it. And anything that is even remotely similar to that status quo is not allowed. Ever." The inability of Marvel's Spidey writers to craft a compelling happy marriage between Peter and MJ has been an albatross around the neck of the ship forever! Even when they did it in an ongoing, it had to be a different universe! One where the Civil War comics event wasn't a thing, so that was also a plus. And MJ had to get Spider Powers too in order to smooth over the whole thing for writers.
So, yeah, MJ's been blamed for making Spider-Books dull and kept at arms length from Peter as much as possible. Because if Spider-Man is EVER TOO HAPPY that can only spell DOOM for the character. His world must always revolve around misery. Linkara of AT4W has said it time and again, in the eyes of Marvel, Spider-Man can never be allowed to be happy.
And yet, despite all that, I still hold true to this maxim, Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy are made for each other. If I ever had an OTP, if I ever had a ship I'd die for, if there was ever any romance I was forever evergreen invested in... it was SpiderCat. Despite whatever the world says, that it can't work, that it's a bad idea, that they don't need each other, that it will never be the way Peter/MJ were once... I don't care. I reject all of that and state proudly, without shame, every time that Spider-Man and the Black Cat are and always shall be perfect for each other.
So Let's Talk about Why that is...
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Usually I'm inclined to give brief synopsis points about both characters in separate sections. But Spider-Man is so well known and Black Cat so simply explained in their initial set ups it feels almost... pointless. When you can describe at least one half of the shipping dynamic with a theme song from a sixties cartoon it's hard to honestly come up with anything new or original.
So yeah, Peter Parker, nerdy wimp who gets bitten by a radioactive spider, doesn't get cancer from this, but super powers. Thinks about using these great powers to enrich his life, but after letting a criminal get away because it's "not his problem" he learns a harsh lesson about responsibility. His uncle dies at the hands of said criminal, it's all his fault, and Peter proclaims that as long as he has these powers he will use them to help people.
And as a result, Spider-Man is the hero that always gets up because he has to, he needs to. Because people, strangers and loved ones, depend on him. This comes at the cost of a great deal of things that would make him personally happy. Because if Spider-Man is about anything, it's about personal sacrifice and responsibility. It has been a running theme since his first comic and will continue until the heat death of the universe. If you know nothing else of Spider-Man, this is the most important fact about him going forward for the rest of this essay. Spider-Man is Responsibility and Self-Sacrifice Personified. Whenever he doesn't live up to either aspect of himself, bad things happen, to him, to the people he cares about and New York City at large.
On the other side of that coin, Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat. Infamous thief. While her origins are more fluid throughout her incarnations, her general story is pretty much the same. Felicia is a thrill seeking thief, who lives for the daredevil rush only a well-executed heist can accomplish. The Black Cat persona is that of a femme fatale thief of the highest order. There's no question that she shares more than a few similarities to Catwoman of Batman fame. Save for the fact she might possess a slight passive power that causes bad luck to her opponents.
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Different character of course, but that's just to establish that it is a superpower. Felicia uses it mainly to steal whatever she wants and get away scot-free. She, in general, tries to avoid personal consequences for these actions. While her motives may vary from one story or universe to the next, ultimately her purpose in life is the same. To live for herself, for her needs and how she wants. The Black Cat persona is just that, a means to indulge in her wants and desires to the fullest extent. She is, inherently, self-serving and selfish whereas Spider-Man is selfless.
On the surface this presents a dynamic akin to oil and water. Spider-Man is an avatar of personal responsibility. The Black Cat is the personification of independent self-interest. They are such opposites, such contradictions, that they should just not work. They should be enemies... and that is how they started.
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Amazing Spider-Man #194, Black Cat's first appearance where she and Spidey come to blows over her illicit activities. Felicia has contracted a crew for a job to spring her terminally ill father from prison. Spider-Man tries to stop her, only to end up buried under the rubble of the exploding prison wall. Black Cat flees the scene with a quip about crossing her path and Spidey with a bad arm post-fight. The next issue sees Spidey deduce Felicia's real identity and that Felicia only broke her father out so he could spend his dying hours with his wife and her mother. Spidey and Cat come to blows outside arguing over the merits of what she's done. However in the struggle Black Cat starts to fall off a roof into a surging river below. Spidey catches her with his bad arm, trying to stop her fall... but can't hold on as Felicia seemingly falls to her death. He tries to return to the Hardy residence, only to see Felicia's mother in grief over the death of her husband. Not wanting to add to it... Spidey leaves.
Of course, this isn't the end for Felicia, issue #204 sees the Black Cat return. She's actually been watching him it seems, taking photos of him swinging around town. They get reacquainted at the museum where Cat manages to slip away again after another fight with Spider-Man. Felicia is annoyed though that he keeps fighting her, not understanding why she's doing this. And by the next issue it's revealed, the art pieces Felicia stole were meant to symbolize what she thinks of Spidey. Namely, that she has developed a crush on him. No doubt because, despite trouncing him almost every time they've fought, she's clearly enjoyed all of it. And Spidey hasn't exactly helped in that regard as he has routinely flirted with her. He can't help it, she is hot. Felicia claims she wants to leave thieving behind, at the behest of her mother and she would like Spider-Man to help her reform. Seeing a similarity to a current situation with a girl he's instructing, and that Felicia might be suffering a bit of a mental break as a result of her father's death, he promises to get her help.
These introductory stories set the stage for Felicia and Peter's on again off again relationship for years to come. Felicia is self-servingly selfish, desiring things that aren't hers. Yet her motives are more complicated than pure greed, it is always based somewhat around her emotional state. Her need to give her father and mother some closure before she passes, her desire for Spider-Man to lead her out of a life of crime, as per her mother's wishes. She isn't evil, she has noble intent, she just goes about it in very self-centered ways. Spidey, in the meantime, is selfless to a fault. He'll keep chasing her down, he'll keep trying to set her straight, keep trying to stop her crime sprees. He is drawn to her by his selflessness and sense of responsibility to prevent her from just getting away with whatever she wants. But he does genuinely want to help her and he will not take advantage of her fragile emotional state, even if he himself is somewhat into her. Hell, the first thing he thinks about when he first sees her is that he hopes she isn't a criminal because he'd like to ask her out. He is clearly drawn to Felicia, even if it only starts out as pure infatuation, but he will not take advantage of her interest in him because he knows better than to try to exploit that for his own self-interest.
Of course it's a lie, well partially. Felicia faked being crazy to more easily escape a psychiatric hospital than a prison. But she is indeed in love with him. After her escape, she invites Spidey to a masquerade ball via a sky writer. Ultimately revealing that she lied to him about her mental breakdown in a selfish bid to escape consequences for her actions. But she wants to make up for it now, because this masquerade ball is being hosted by mafioso she stole from and says Spidey can now arrest them all! Crime is too easy she thinks, superheroing is her next thrill seeking adventure and she wants to do it with him. And despite being tricked and more than a little bribed into this, Spider-Man decides ultimately why not give it a try? If she really does want to go straight for him... isn't the responsible thing to do with her to help her out even if her motives are a tiny bit selfish?
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This is how their romance starts and sets up the ultimate tug of war dynamic. Spider-Man does want Black Cat, but is wary of her desire to push him into a more selfish mindset. Black Cat actually desires Spider-Man, but can't get over her compulsive selfishness. In this story alone she has to sort of trick Spider-Man into coming to a date that's actually a mafioso party that he can break up. It's a highly manipulative plan that appeals to her selfish infatuation and Spider-Man's selfless heroism. It is a constant push and pull between them at multiple points. By all accounts, they should not work and a good deal of comics past this point go on and on about why they can't work.
I could cover the lengthy relationship between both characters throughout the 80s, Spidey was actually dating Felicia for a long time during the Black Suit days, even after he gave up the Symbiote. And for the most part this dynamic does not entirely change. Peter wants to help Black Cat be a better person before he can truly commit to her. Felicia wants to be a better person and make things work with Spider-Man, but she has a hard time wrapping her head around selfless action over selfish indulgence. It's the roadblock between them truly working as a couple. And there are a ton of moments during this time period I could talk about, but frankly, they are ALL before my time.
None of them really prove my point either, all I've done is just explain why their dynamic as a couple is riveting. It's not exactly like Batman and Catwoman's, but its of a similar vein. The key difference is Spider-Man, being who he is, isn't as opposed to the idea at first as Bruce is with Selina. Catwoman plays a lot harder to get for a lot longer than Black Cat, she also doesn't become Batman's superhero partner. Felicia and Peter by contrast are much younger though, so their reasoning is frankly more in line with their age demographic. They're just quicker to jump in than most people. The only thing holding them back is Black Cat and Spidey's diametrically opposed ideologies, even though we'll see those two viewpoints somewhat crisscross soon enough.
If you want to know however where I actually came in on this, we need to hop over to another universe. The one firmly positioned in the decade that defines the pop cultural wasteland... the 90s.
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In an effort to compete with DC's Batman cartoon, Marvel fast tracked a Spider-Man show into production. While not on the same technical/narrative level as the landmark Batman: The Animated Series, Spider-Man: The Animated Series still did a tremendous job at capturing the essence of the character and is still a good series in its own. Even on a recent rewatch, I was surprised to see how well-thought out and true to form the series was. Yes, it's overuse of repeated animation and various other shortcuts was annoying, it certainly wasn't perfect, even by 90s standards, but it deserves recognition where it counts. Part of that was, in my opinion, the dynamic between Felicia and Peter Parker/Black Cat and Spider-Man. It certainly wasn't a slamdunk, I'm going to talk about where the writers fumbled it, but when it worked it worked and I think those parts where it worked so well were what cemented the idea in my head that this relationship, fraught as it was, COULD become something everlasting.
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There's no hiding that Felicia's story is completely different from the comics. She actually knows Peter to begin with before she even becomes the Black Cat. They actually date for a while and despite the fact Peter is poorer than dirt, she is clearly interested in him and remains so for a good portion of season one. Peter's first kiss in the series is Felicia in fact. Even when MJ is in the picture, Peter is still torn between her and Felicia.
You might think we're dealing with a Betty and Veronica situation, but it never really materializes as such. Felicia and MJ never really meet this early and Felicia herself isn't really the rich girl stereotype. She's not particularly girlish or whinny. She doesn't really look down on anyone for their status. In fact she more often than not tries to rebel against the stereotype. She does a lot of charity work, she shows concern for the good of New York's citizens and she gives credit to those who deserve it, not just because they flatter her. She also gives Peter a lot of chances despite seemingly screwing up with her. She is reluctant at first to go out with him, but is not embarassed to be seen with him. The issue that arises is, from her perspective, Peter is never around when she gets in major trouble... but Spider-Man is. This become important later, but the thing to note is she is still close friends with Peter for a good amount of time and shows an interest in hm.
The only reason Felicia doesn't get with Peter is, again, Peter's terrible luck as a result of his responsibilities as Spider-Man. He accidentally stands Felicia up one too many times and she... ugh... ends up falling for Michael Morbius. Yes... that Morbius. No, we're not doing the meme. I only bring it up here because its one of the flaws in the show, Morbius as Felicia's love interest feels so incredibly out of place. It exists purely to prevent Felicia and Peter from getting together because nothing about it works. Morbius is hardly charming, he's somewhat of a creep, he's rude, abrasive and his petty rivalry with Peter just makes him unlikable. Its this petty bullshit rivalry, in fact, that causes Morbius' transformation into a Vampire monster in this continuity. Peter tries to claim responsibility for it because it was caused with his radioactive blood, but Morbius was an asshole and did it to himself. He's at fault and he sucks... pun not intended, not entirely. But because he's doing all this to stop a plague in his home country, and he saves Felicia this one time when Peter doesn't show, we're supposed to buy that she's smitten with him. And I do not buy it. In fact, I'd argue the show's writers didn't even buy it and were somewhat forced to do this so they wouldn't step on the iconic romance with Peter and MJ.
Morbius' subsequent flight into exile, as he basically becomes a mutant bat monster, starts an ongoing subplot with Felicia, the fact she has seemingly terrible luck with men. Early on, after Morbius has left her life, Felicia begins to develop a crush on Spider-Man, as at this point he's been there for her more than most other men in her life, saving her or her mother. Spider-Man, as a result, has become a very huge constant staple in her life, more so than any other man as far she can see. Peter, despite his messy love life, does care for Felicia, and is very quick to jump in to help her whenever she is in trouble. Partially because of his connection to her, partly because he still blames himself for Morbius' transformation. So Peter is spending a lot of time as Spider-Man with Felicia at this point, more so than MJ even who is dating Harry Osborn for a while. As far as Felicia is concerned, Spider-Man has become something akin to a knight in shining armor who is always there for her. She can't help but fall for him.
She reveals this by suddenly kissing him on the balcony, pulling up the mask half-way and everything. Peter, however, says he can't reciprocate, as much as he probably still has feelings for Felicia. He says he can't have a girlfriend though because it would put her in danger. It's bunk of course, he's still trying to be with MJ even though she's currently with Harry, but I imagine it plants an idea in Felicia's head. Regardless, for now she's crestfallen and this leads her into the arms of another man, Jason Phillips Macendale, a rich well to do playboy-type. Even still, she retains her feelings Spider-Man throughout their relationship. There is a scene at a carnival where Jason wins a stuffed Spider for her, which she remarks she finds spiders cute while he acts rather annoyed and jealous over it. Despite the fact she very clearly still wants Spidey to be with her, Felicia does agree to marry Jason when he proposes.
At the engagement party, which Peter attends with MJ as she has dumped Harry at this point, he changes into Spider-Man to spy on the Kingpin and Osborn over some business with the Hobgoblin. Annoyed he has to leave MJ to deal with this problem, he's interrupted by Felicia.
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She asks if he's here to wish her good luck and Peter fumbles his words in saying as much. Which leads to this exchange:
Spidey: Do you really love this Jason Phillips guy?
Felicia: And why should you care about that? Unless you got a better offer?
Spidey: (Thoughts) This is crazy, I can't have one girlfriend as Peter Parker and another as Spider-Man! (Speaking) No, I don't... I just want you to be happy.
As Spidey swings away, Felicia mournfully says "So do I." It's a very clear statement, she's settling. Jason is rich and powerful and the person she's expected to marry due to who she is, but she's not really sure about it, or happy. Because the man she wants is currently swinging away. It's obvious that, in Felicia's eyes, she's missing something in her life that makes her happy and Spider-Man seems to be that something. Likewise, Peter, the paragon of self-responsibility, knows he can't abuse his secret identity to cheat on MJ, even though he seems very tempted to admit that he still has feelings for Felicia. But in the end, all he cares about is her happiness and if she can find it in this Jason dude, who is he to ruin that?
Well, he doesn't have to ruin it. Because we find out, shock of all shocks, Jason is the Hobgoblin and the revelation shakes Felicia to her core. The fact that this person she was dating, this man who she decided on because she couldn't have Spider-Man was a fraud, a criminal, a liar... it's a terrible thing to realize how poor your judgment is. Almost reaffirming that this was the wrong choice from the start.
Spidey of course once again comes swinging to her rescue and defeats the Hobgoblin. But Felicia has questions for her former fiancé. Jason relents that he used crime to create everything he is and get everything he has, including her. She's just another possession to him. What she deep down probably feared going into this, why her heart wasn't in this, why she wanted Spider-Man to give her a way out and save her again.
Felicia: I have to know, did you ever really love me?
Jason: I don't know. I love things about you. Your wealth, your beauty, your refinement.
Felicia: That's not love! I've experienced true love... and it's nothing like that.
And we don't get a flashback to Morbius, as this show constantly does because it's very not subtle, we don't see her talk about bat boy at all. She looks directly at Spider-Man as she says this and the camera zooms in on him as she speaks those words. This overtly informs the audience what love means in Felicia's mind. Love in Felicia's mind is being there for someone, who Spider-Man has been for a long time now. And more importantly, it's about wanting that person to be happy, which was all Spider-Man said he ever wanted. Spidey never asked anything of Felicia, he was just there for her and perhaps, in Felicia's mind, the reason he can't return it is because she can't be there in the same way. She is after all a damsel who he needs to keep saving and Spider-Man made it an issue that they can't be together because she'd be in danger.
In fact, this incident has given Felicia a complex that alludes to her future. "Every time I give my heart to someone, disaster strikes!" She sobs to Spider-Man. "I'm like a Black Cat spreading bad luck to everyone who crosses my path! Including my own."
By the next season things have taken a turn for the tragic, Mary Jane has vanished into realms unknown after mirroring Gwen Stacey's fall from a bridge into an interdimensional portal. As far as Peter knows though she's just gone, maybe forever. They can't say dead on this show, you know how it is.
This would probably leave the door back open for Felicia, but Peter is in no mental condition for another relationship right now and Felicia is smitten with Spider-Man, not Peter. Although he does wonder if she could help him with his grief as he swings over to her apartment. Not to say she doesn't care for Peter, but her heart belongs to his masked vigilante persona. In fact, so much so that she proclaims that Spider-Man is the only good thing in her life during that same visit. (Granted this is after an attack by Doctor Octopus, but the point stands) It's obvious that Felicia is now clinging to Spider-Man as one of the few constants in her life at this point, what with repeatedly being placed in danger by monsters and maniacs. The lack of control and helplessness is eating at her terribly.
However, this does lead into what we've all been waiting for, Felicia's transformation into the Black Cat and the start of the multi-episode season storyline, "Partners in Danger."
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Felicia's father isn't just a cat burglar anymore. It turns out he got a peek at the formula for the Super Soldier serum back in WW2. He was almost tricked into giving it to the Nazis but managed to evade them. He was a kid at the time and was on the run for several decades. He's been in SHIELD custody for the past few years, until now when the Chameleon breaks him out only to hand him over to the Kingpin. Soon after, Doctor Octopus kidnaps Felicia and brings him to Fisk to reunite her with her father. And basically blackmail her into performing crimes for Fisk to test out the Super Soldier formula.
Yes, the Black Cat in the 90s Animated Series is basically a super soldier thief. It is suggested its not a complete process, but it grants Felicia more capability than she used to have. As the Black Cat she's now stronger, faster, more agile, versatile and has heightened senses. She's basically a mini-Captain America sans shield and a less patriotic aesthetic. Also, the Serum allows her to completely alter herself, her hair turns white and grows longer, while she also becomes more ripped and taller. This is so people won't really recognize her, an important detail for later.
While it's obvious Felicia hates being forced to go along with this to protect her father, she doesn't hate the new powers she's been granted and seeks to use them to eventually turn the tables on Fisk and save her dad. However, for the time being she gets in more than a few scrapes with Spider-Man, one of which leaves him knocked out in front of her. She considers pulling off his mask, but decides against it, preferring him to do it for her himself. She does plant a kiss though, the first of many as the Black Cat. The sequence is clear, Felicia is no longer the damsel but Spider-Man's equal and she hopes that this means things can change.
True, Felicia still gets into trouble and Spider-Man has to save her before the episode is out, but they actually do come together as partners by the end and effectively work together to defeat Fisk and save her father. Sadly, he has to return to SHIELD custody, of his own free will, to prevent the secrets he knows from ever getting out. I'd kinda like to to think they would give him a more witness protection situation than imprisonment for the guy, even if he did become a thief. It's SHIELD though, it's kinda expected they don't always do the sensible thing.
However this sets up the dynamic for the next few episodes as Black Cat and Spider-Man work together more and more. Spider-Man is reluctant at first, still mourning Mary Jane, but Black Cat manages to shake him out of that stupor. Reminding him not to close himself off in his grief. And Spidey himself remarks, as he and Black Cat work together, that he's actually having fun for once as Spider-Man. This is something to keep in mind, Black Cat actually challenges Spider-Man more often than not throughout their time together. Pushing him to remember why he does this job, stopping his pity parties cold, reminding him to not see his power as a burden that he so often does and as a gift he uses to help people. Even if she's not the same self-serving Felicia from the comics, as the Black Cat she embraces the liberated self her persona grants her. She's finally being able to do the things that her position as a rich socialite kept from her. Her stance is that Spider-Man can afford to think about what he wants and what makes him happy as much as his own responsibilities.
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Frankly, it gets through to Peter. As time goes on, Spider-Man becomes more receptive to the idea that he should move on from MJ and be with Black Cat, a fellow crime fighter, on his level who can look after herself as much as him. This has been the problem Spider-Man has faced for a while, being able to protect the people he cares about despite his powers seemingly always getting in the way. In the same vein, Felicia's newfound abilities enable her to be Spidey's equal. Allowing her the opportunity to see him as a person and not just the superhero who saves her. This gives her the ability to challenge, as well as compliment him, as pointed out.
Their dynamic frankly rings more true and honest as a relationship. Even MJ never pushed Peter in the same way Black Cat pushes Spidey to be better. That's not to say MJ was a bad girlfriend, but on the show... she frankly resembled the comics version of Gwen Stacey personality wise. Black Cat may have been in love with Spider-Man, but that never stopped her from telling him off when he got something wrong. She had her own opinions and views on how this relationship worked and despite clashing with Spidey, they always seemed to be getting closer and more intimate every time she crossed his path.
That is until the goddamn Vampire comes back and ruins it all, because Felicia still has feelings for Morbius, I guess. In fact, he comes back so soon and suddenly, just as Peter is thinking of committing to Black Cat as Spider-Man, that it again feels like a mandate from on high. They're getting too close to each other, we can't have that, break them up by making Morbius a thing again. And quite frankly it feels forced because the only thing that seemingly prevents Spidey and Cat from sealing the deal is that neither of them have guessed at who the other is.
This is despite the fact that the Black Cat is obviously Felicia, given her very close relationship with Felicia's father that she doesn't even try to hide at all during her introductory episode. But Spidey has been consistently dense when it comes to secret identities, he couldn't even figure out Matt Murdock and Daredevil were the same person under similar circumstances. Using excuses THAT HE HIMSELF USES to cover his ass as Spider-Man. For being so smart, Peter is incredibly slow on the uptake when it comes to guessing Black Cat's identity despite how damn obvious it is. Not that Felicia is honestly much better, as both before and after this there are a number of clues to Spidey's true identity. Like... she kissed Peter AS Peter, she should know that mouth!
But the fact is, and this is where the forced editorial mandate thing comes in, that if they ever found out who the other was... that would be the end for any possible Peter and MJ relationship at this point. Felicia would finally realize why Peter seemed to never be around when she was in trouble, it's because he was Spider-Man. And given that Felicia's reasoning for being in love with Spider-Man is, again, the fact she feels he's always been there for her, she'd realize her most long standing intimate REAL relationship was with Peter all along! Peter in turn would realize that Felicia, the girl he first had a crush on, the one he was most conflicted about getting with before MJ vanished, a person he still has strong feelings for, is also the person who taught him to love again after MJ vanished. A friend he cares about who is now on his level and has also been there for him! There would be no way they couldn't get together at that point, or at the very least it would be very hard for Peter to decide between her and MJ from then on.
But no, the adventure with the returned Morbius leads to Felicia deciding to go with the creep Mutant Vampire and Blade to hunt other vampires and leave Spider-Man behind, just as he was about to be with her. Of course, Peter doesn't put two and two together that Cat is leaving with Morbius because as established he's an idiot when it comes to this stuff. If he was smarter, he'd have figured it out right now and probably revealed himself to her, and that would create a conflict and probably make her question this frankly boneheaded and nonsensical decision. So no, Felicia and Peter never find out each other's secret identities and she goes off with Morbius leaving Peter alone for no really good reason other than this felt like the fastest way to break them up so MJ could slide back in.
And MJ does slide back in, not long after this episode in fact and Spider-Man quickly fast tracks to proposing to her, revealing his secret identity, the works. However, Felicia isn't out of his life as MJ still keeps getting into trouble, constantly. At the wedding, Black Cat returns to make sure Peter's big day doesn't get ruined, because she does care about Peter even if she isn't with him. She does this again when MJ is seemingly kidnapped, first comforting Peter as Felicia reassuring him during a moment of hopelessness and then becoming Black Cat again to track down MJ for Peter.
And she admits aloud that she's doing this because she doesn't think she made the right call to follow Morbius and Blade, she still has feelings for Spidey, even though he's loyal and committed to MJ. Again, Felicia does not put two and two together given how gung-ho Spidey is for finding MJ. This also marks the only time MJ and the Black Cat meet, it's very quick, Peter has to answer a few obvious questions. After all that, Felicia decides to head back to Transylvania and once again Peter doesn't put two and two together that Felicia and Black Cat are back in town right at the same time. Because he's stupid like that.
What's important to note is that Felicia will drop everything for Peter, which suggests to me, on some subconscious level, she knows who Spider-Man is. And the fact she's still playing mental support coach to Peter, even outside of their secret identities, speaks volumes for their bond and connection. Even outside of the Black Cat persona and without directly knowing it, Felicia is there for Spider-Man when he needs her, just as much as he was for her.
But of course, all of this is for naught concerning Mary Jane's fate. Because... this is not Mary Jane. This hasn't been Mary Jane since she returned at the end of last season and conclusion of "Partners in Danger." Because we've been doing a random ass Clone Saga deal this whole time! This MJ, the one Peter married, shared his secrets with, probably most likely banged... wasn't his MJ. She was a clone created by Miles Warren who can use frickin water powers like Hydro Man because Hydro Man is an asshole ex who is obsessed with MJ and wanted his own version of her. But she wandered off, blah blah blah, point is her clone stability is breaking down and she's gonna evaporate. Cue one of the most gut wrenching screams in animation history.
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So yeah, Peter never got the real Mary Jane back, only to be set up for heartache all over again. One could argue he probably loved this Mary Jane more. Sure he thought she was the original, but everything he experienced with her were steps he was unwilling to take with the real one. Similar to how Felicia has been feeling conflicted, one has to imagine Peter is even more so at this point on several other levels. Not that he has much time to mourn though. Madame Web has returned after a long absence from the series and she has war for him to fight, a Secret War.
In a very loose adaptation of the original Marvel Comics Event, Spider-Man is tasked by the Beyonder to lead a team of superheroes to liberate a planet that has fallen to villains he's plucked from Earth. This becomes a bit of a crossover between pretty much every Fox Entertainment Marvel Cartoon running at the time. From X-Men to Iron Man to the Fantastic Four, not Hulk though, Hulk rights are always a problem. But even after he's picked all the heroes he can afford to recruit, like any Gamer he can't resist modding shit to give him more stuff. And of all the heroes and allies he could pick to increase his ranks... he chooses the Black Cat.
It's a fairly odd choice honestly. Spidey has worked with a lot of heroes, maybe not as extensively as the Black Cat, but he's fought beside Doctor Strange, he knows other X-Men who are on Storm's level or at least just as capable. But he picks Black Cat. He picks her despite knowing that Madame Web knows the Real Mary Jane's location and promises it as a reward if he helps her. He picks Black Cat, despite knowing she is currently with Morbius and Blade. Makes one wonder... why?
Felicia isn't happy with this herself, because she just got pulled away in the middle of a vampire slaying fight. Don't worry, they're fine. It's Blade he'll manage without her.
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What? Oh Morbius, yeah I guess he'll survive too just by being in close proximity to Blade. Have I mentioned I hate Morbius?
Anyway, the point is Black Cat is none too happy get pulled into Spidey's adventures against her will, like he can just do that on a whim. She's kinda right to be angry at him and she is for a good portion of the episode. When Spidey explains he picked her because he needs her support and they work good as a team, Felicia rightly says that he can't just rip her away from things because he needs to hold her hand. She'll be more than willing to do so on her own, he doesn't need to ask, he just shouldn't force her. It's a surprising role reversal, with Spider-Man being a bit more selfish than usual and Black Cat outwardly demanding to know when Spider-Man is gonna grow up. A question many comics fans wonder themselves to this day.
Spider-Man's ultimate ulterior motives are a bit more obvious though when he gets pretty jealous over Captain America and Black Cat bonding over her having the super soldier serum. And it doesn't help that Cap keeps kinda outshining him constantly when he saves Felicia a few times. But to be fair, Steve Rogers does that with everyone.
After the mission that topples the Red Skull ends, Spidey does apologize for taking Felicia against her will into this war. But she's no longer angry. Taking part in a mission bigger than even vampire slaying is important, a big deal, and if there is one thing Felicia has wanted its to not be left out of a fight for something bigger than herself. Plus, she get's to do it beside the greatest hero of all time. Spidey thinks she means Cap, but she corrects him, she's talking about the Web Head. Despite not being as perfect as Captain America, Spider-Man did prove himself out there as a leader to her and she admits she wouldn't want to miss this action with him for anything. Despite not wanting to be here initially, Felicia ultimately can't get over the fact Spider-Man wanted HER here with him. And given their last meeting had him coldly rejecting her advances, it says to Felicia that Spidey still feels for her and she clearly does too. Black Cat then kisses Spider-Man... and it's the last kiss he'll ever receive in the series. That's right, Peter's first and last kisses on this show come from Felicia. How do you not expect anyone to read into that?
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No matter what lame line Morbius tries to give at the end of the episode, Felicia's heart doesn't really belong to him. It is very evident, crystal clear, painfully obvious, to anyone paying attention, that Felicia and Peter, on this series at the very least, were specially connected. Maybe not at first, but Felicia became someone who could match Spider-Man, physically and mentally, in many ways. And it's undeniable that, regardless of anything else, Peter held feelings for both Felicia and her Super Thief persona. Their banter was perfect, their partnership was top notch, the chemistry was amazing. The only thing keeping them apart was a story writing mandate from on high that they could not be endgame. Even though the writers took every chance they could nab to put them together. To shove Felicia back into Peter's life, even after she went off Slaying it up with Morbius. When I rewatched the series, it became painfully obvious who the writers seemed to prefer Peter with. None of this is to knock MJ as a character, on this show or in the comics, but it's hard for me to buy that there wasn't some kind of bias towards Felicia given everything that happens in this show.
Or maybe they just wanted an excuse to keep bringing Jennifer Hale back, I don't know! But I still choose to think that someone on that writing staff wanted a different endgame. It's been known to happen, creative teams aren't immune to shipping. Avatar the Last Airbender apparently had an ongoing tug of war between the executive producers and some of the writers over whether Katara would pick Zuko or Aang. It honestly feels like something similar happened here and as a result it comes across as the best evidence in my mind that this relationship could work. And the insane reality that less than a decade after Spider-Man TAS concluded, a show that did everything to ensure Spider-Man never got with the Black Cat because Peter/MJ were too iconic to not happen... One More Day drops and Peter has barely been with MJ for more than a single run out of several writers since. Said single writer being Nick Spencer, the Hydra Cap guy! Possibly in an effort to redeem himself from being the Hydra Cap Guy.
But I digress, as one can plainly see concerning this short retrospective of the series above, the 90s Cartoon has been over for a long time. Next year, it will be thirty years old. I can point out how it could've worked in that show, but that does nothing to prove Felicia and Peter ever have a chance now. All it shows is that I have a nostalgic attachment to this pairing because of an animated series. One with a highly different set of canonical circumstances between Spidey and the Black Cat that were crafted uniquely for this show alone. Circumstances that are worlds apart from the comics.
And that's because, as loathe as I am to admit it, Peter and Felicia's relationship has always had roadblocks in every piece of media involving them before and since. And I would be remiss if I didn't address any of those before I can start proving its viability now. If I don't I'll just have to do it later anyway. We'll look at how SpiderCat appears in other works as we go through this, but we need to head back to comic book land if we're really going to lay down what's actually keeping these two apart, and it's not the very weak contrivances preventing them from figuring out the obvious like in the 90s cartoon. No, it goes deeper than that. As you can see here.
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90s Felicia wanted Spidey to unmask for her, but Comics!Felicia has had a hang up about that for a long while. This is the crux, the problem, with their relationship. The thing that always comes up when SpiderCat shippers argue for it. Comics!Black Cat loves Spider-Man... not Peter Parker. And mixing the two is too much for her to bare. This is what put strain on their relationship, Felicia didn't want her fantasy ruined by knowing the man behind the mask. Peter being an ordinary guy shatters her illusions about his prowess and ability. The phrase "Anyone can wear the mask" comes to mind and as long as Peter wears it for the Black Cat that is true. Take it off and Peter's normality leaks into things.
As a result, the main problem is Felicia can't love a man like Peter, who has a normal life outside of his superheroing. Felicia doesn't want normal, she likes what she is, who she is, doesn't want to go back to it. She wants to be the Black Cat because as the Cat she can do and get whatever she wants. Peter is, again, weighed down by responsibilities. While Felicia, once again, desires her independence from everything, including responsibility. Felicia would rather Spider-Man give up being Peter and just be the hero who swept her off her feet full time. To forever chase her across the rooftops and do what they want whenever they want. She's fine if that means fighting bad guys... so long as they're not tied down to normality. But Peter can't do that, he can never do that, not as long as he has ties to his life as Peter. And that's probably why Wells is considering severing a pretty big tie to that in order to make sure SpiderCat can't be reversed so easily. Can't really blame him for that though, given how comics are in constant flux. (Remember This)
This sort of issue is constantly reinforced. In the Spider-Man 2 video game, based off the Sam Raimi sequel, The "Spidey's loss of his powers" sub-plot is replaced by Black Cat trying to seduce him away into forever crime-fighting as his relationship with Mary Jane becomes strained due to her upcoming marriage to Jonah Jameson's son. Their dynamic matches the comics pretty well... and that means Spidey eventually breaks it off with her, saying he can't abandon his real life to forever play superhero with her. He needs a balance and that means he can't see her anymore. She leaves amicably, but it's sad to see happen.
In the Spider-Man: Web of Shadows game, Black Cat is revealed to still have feelings for Spider-Man and wants to be back together with him. This is pretty bad timing given the symbiote invasion going on. As the game is using the then popular trend of multiple choice endings there is one where you can have Black Cat be with Spider-Man at the end. It requires you basically healing her after a fight with your black suit, turning her into a Venomized version of herself. You can still pick the good ending after this where you defeat the Symbiotes, but all you know for sure is that MJ and him are on quits. You only see Felicia again if you pick the bad ending where Spider-Man breaks bad fully and decides to lead a symbiote army with Felicia by his side. Further emphasizing the idea that Peter can't pick being with Felicia without abandoning everything that makes him who he is.
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There's also Spectacular Spider-Man, the other beloved Spider-Man animated series. Shorter-lived, but just as impactful. Where Spidey and Black Cat seem to hit it off during the start of Peter's whole symbiote storyline. Their banter is great, the chemistry fits, Felicia and Pete seem destined to be star-crossed opposite sides of the law lovers. However, when they meet up again Felicia is breaking her father out as she usually does... but the twist this time is Felicia's father is the one who shot Uncle Ben.
Naturally this completely wrecks any goodwill concerning Black Cat and Spidey's second meeting. As from here on out he's adamant Felicia's dad is not getting out. While it turns out Dad doesn't want to leave either and he decides to sacrifice his chance at freedom to stop a mass jailbreak of supervillains, that changes little. Spider-Man does not forgive Felicia's father and Felicia blames Spider-Man for infecting her dad with sentimentality. Even knowing he took an innocent life, all Felicia sees is her dad rotting away in jail. She declares she'll never forgive Spider-Man for this and rushes off in anger. The series ended shortly thereafter and this was never resolved. Greg Weisman, the show's creator, says if it had continued the relationship would've been "fraught." And once again this is the typical line concerning the fact Felicia's selfish desires run up against Spider-Man's heroic responsibility. And letting a criminal get away, especially one that killed his Uncle, is just something he can't do.
And I could go on, there are a ton of examples of this very problematic element of the relationship. It's the thing Marvel has consistently used to explain why Peter and Felicia aren't the right fit. Any romance would require either character to make sacrifices they are incapable of. Namely Felicia's independence and Peter's Responsibilities. Marvel itself decided to set this in stone to a degree with the usual question they ask... "What If?"
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"What if... Spider-Man Married the Black Cat?" is the second part of a longer What If storyline answering what would happen if Peter and MJ did not get married. (HA! After OMD, one cannot help but laugh!) And as much as that cover paints wedded bliss... it's anything but. Felicia and Peter come to blows repeatedly, unable to reconcile their differences. Their goals are far too distant from each other overall and they just can't find common ground. By the end of the issue, Felicia lies dead, Spider-Man heart broken and the grim reality that this romance could never work is cemented in stone it seems. "What Ifs" aren't definitive statements about the only possible outcomes for the Marvel universe. But they are definitive statements from Marvel itself, a decree from on high that the current continuity, for all its faults, could be so much worse and we should be happy for what we have. And while the issue is loaded with nice panels that any SpiderCat fan would adore, the end result is still plain as day. Felicia and Peter are too oil and water to ever mix. And the end result would be the destruction of one or both.
How do you overcome the dreadful reality that your ship is declared doomed forever by the very company that in some sense set it in motion? Not just because Spider-Man can never be happy, but because the Black Cat is just too toxic a girlfriend to ever truly make him happy. Everyone argued that MJ and Peter's marriage was boring but they didn't want him to get with the next best option either because they think it's non-compatible, that they're just too different and of opposing thoughts to ever reach common ground.
And Marvel has tried to permanently set that in stone in canon once. To forever place SpiderCat as beyond possible, to sever their connection as decades long allies... and all because of an octopus in the brain.
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The image above is not that of Peter Parker fighting the Black Cat. This is Doctor Otto Octavius, piloting Peter's body after jacking his mind. This is the Superior Spider-Man, and he does not care about Peter's past infatuations. He's here to prove he's the better Spider-Man and that means apprehending all criminals. In an otherwise re-affirming storyline that proves Peter Parker is the true Superior Spider-Man, Otto failing to live up to his lofty ambitious boasts, this scene... this one bloody scene, leads to the absolute low point period for all SpiderCat Fans. I call it the "Bitch Be Crazy" Era, an offensive title for a frankly offensively disgusting sub-plot in the Spider Run post-Superior.
Peter Parker informs all his Superhero buddies that Doc Ock had taken over his body for a long time, explaining his shitty behavior for the past year or so. Most everyone's response is "Oh, yeah, that's obvious in hindsight." Not Felicia.
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The tables have turned, now Felicia has broke bad, but for real. And there is no way to describe what she becomes but extremely out of character. She doesn't accept Spider-Man's explanation, she doesn't even care. She is now obsessed with becoming the next Kingpin of Crime, a murderous, merciless mob boss who pulls the strings of supervillains, all in a bid to destroy Spider-Man and all he holds dear and it's absolutely, completely, stupidly, idiotically terrible. No matter how selfish Felicia can be, this is NOT her. Felicia has never shown any desire to be a crime boss, to be feared. Her desires have always been thrill seeking, shiny things and not being told what she can and can't do. She might be violent, but she is not a cold-blooded killer. She might be cynical, but she is not this petty. Every element of this terrible subplot makes no sense unless she's absolutely lost her mind or been replaced by a Skrull.
The only fun thing in this whole mess, was that Gwenpool's first in-universe story took place during this sub-plot and she crossed paths with her. And then did this.
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I guess that justifies putting a Gwenpool tag below somewhere. Win for me!
Suffice to say, no one liked this change. Everyone hated it, even more than Superior Spider-Man. People came around on that, no one liked Felicia the Big Black Cat of Crime. Dan Slott could never justify it because it made no sense that Felicia would care this much about street cred because Spider-Man beat her up. As if there isn't a single crook in New York at this point who can claim Spider-Man hasn't knocked out one of their teeth. Others tried to explain it, to give it a more sensible face. There was an explanation in the Silk comic, but it didn't really stick as something that would drive her to this extreme. Regardless, it was a dark time for SpiderCat Shipping Fandom. And it took way longer than it should've to fix it all.
But it did get fixed and that brings me the counter to ALL of this stuff that stands in Peter and Felicia's way. And that is that no matter how much things stay the same, comics always inevitably change and so do the characters in them. We like to pretend that the way we see a lot of the characters in comics now has just always been them. But no, they're not. Batman used to carry a gun in his early days, Superman didn't always fly, Captain America, a WW2 Veteran, claimed he never killed anyone for a short time, Deadpool didn't always break the 4th Wall and Starlord used to be a lot more of a straight edged serious space hero and not a rock music lovin' dancin' fool of a rogue Han Solo. Tastes change, writers change, people change... and so has Felicia.
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Felicia hasn't always been honest with Peter, she's tricked him into chasing her, played him to get away with a score, gotten superpowers from Kingpin in an effort to keep up with him which led to their first break up, she even dated Flash Thompson trying to make him jealous. But if one thing has been consistent, it's that Felicia can't help but cross back into Peter's life. And in the process, because she cares, even loves him, there are things she's had to accept, to admit to. And chief among them is Peter Parker is Spider-Man and Peter Parker's life is as if not more important to him than just being Spider-Man. She hasn't only loved Spider-Man for years at this point, for a long time. She loves both. and she is willing to accept both. If there is any problem, it's Peter accepting Felicia for who she is... which is a better person than even she gives herself credit for.
Spider-Man wouldn't be partnering up with Felicia so often if he didn't believe there was more to her than just a shallow thief. And the influence has affected Felicia, she's admitted as much. Maybe her shift to doing good was set off by a crush, but she owned that change and she kept pushing herself. She'll never have a strict moral compass, but she does know what the right choice is at the end of the day, what feels right. And when Spider-Man needs an ally, he can call on her as much as anyone. Spider-Man being in her life has only been a net positive for Felicia, Peter being with her has only been a net positive. And that brings us back to her time as a lame crime boss and how they fixed her. Because there's a better, deeper, actually meaningful reason for their schism besides Felicia's loss of street cred.
She forgot the man she loved and changed for.
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Yep, we're factoring One More Day into this thing proper like. After an adventure with Venom and Spidey, dealing with some symbiote nonsense, Felicia is convinced to hash it out with the Wall Crawler. And she admits to him that she lost something, his face. When Spider-Man made the world forget who he was under the mask it affected Felicia too. All her memories, all the time spent with Peter post reveal, everything that she knew about the man behind the mask... it was either gone or in a fog. She can't remember all those times that Peter trusted her with who he was and it has been eating her up inside for years! And Spider-Man never thought about how that would affect her, a person he's loved, been intimate with, and at least now cares about. That was an important time in her life and it's just gone now. And it may be selfish to want all of it back and even demand it back... but she's right. Those memories were hers and Spidey took them away. And Spider-Man, being selfless as he is, can't just let that stand anymore.
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Everyone says Felicia only loves Spider-Man, but that's not true. She may love the Spider... but she changed for the Man. She cherishes that time she had with that Man. And it's hard to believe that she doesn't love the Man as much as the Spider because, ultimately, they are the same person. That's the other difference between this and Bruce/Selina. Bruce Wayne is the mask for the boy who died in that alleyway, Batman is who he's been since that day. Peter and Spider-Man are the same person, it's why he can't leave either persona behind. And Felicia has long since accepted that, and that has never changed how she feels about him until she lost who he was beneath the mask. Now it's all back, the highs and lows of that tumultuous time in her life when she fell for a Spider and came to love the Man. It doesn't heal everything, but it repairs the bond that was broken so long ago and so unintentionally.
There is, however, another argument being floated around these days I have to address. That even if Felicia can accept the man beneath the mask, do either really NEED each other? I'd point to all the stuff above that shows how that's simply not true, but there's more to it than that. Love isn't always about what you need, it's just as much about what you want. And I'm not talking about a person or thing, not something material. What does Felicia want? What does Peter want?
Felicia wants to be more than what she is, always has been. She wants thrills, she wants to be her true self and I feel Spider-Man brings out those qualities more than any of her other boy or girlfriends, especially since he started her path to change and growth. She stops being selfish and reacts more selfless. His influence on her is undeniable and she knows as much as anyone. She'll never be a good girl, but she'll at least be a better one than she is without him in her life.
Peter wants to be at peace, to be happy with who he is, to not always feel burdened. Felicia has always been one of the ways he's released that burden, he's been happy with her. Sure he's been happy with others, but Felicia has met him on a level that none of them could, she's been able to be in the thick of it with him. She's been able to share the burden. She's been able to be an active participant. With her around, Peter's world as a superhero doesn't feel so lonely. And maybe, if Felicia could accept the man as much as it seems she has, so too could she accept Peter's regular life.
In Taylor Swift's song, Anti-Hero, she reflects on how exhausting for her it's been that she hasn't seemed to learn anything and keeps making the same mistakes over and over. And if you pay attention to the lyics enough, they start describing Felicia Hardy pretty well.
I should not be left to my own devices They come with prices and vices I end up in crisis (tale as old as time) I wake up screaming from dreaming One day I'll watch as you're leaving 'Cause you got tired of my scheming (For the last time)
However, just as much of it can sorta apply to Spider-Man as well. His heroic selflessness is frankly a very long depressing slog of him being unable to forgive himself for letting down Uncle Ben, placing all the blame on his shoulders and then repeating that process whenever his great power can never live up to his great responsibility.
Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism Like some kind of congressman? (Tale as old as time) I wake up screaming from dreaming One day I'll watch as you're leaving And life will lose all its meaning (For the last time)
When it comes to Spider-Man and the Black Cat, a lot of the things that make them unhappy are self-inflicted. Lewis Lovhaug of "Atop the Fourth Wall" Fame has argued that the problem with Spider-Man in a lot of modern stories is that he never learns from anything. He hasn't done enough to improve himself as Spider-Man or as Peter Parker, he just keeps feeling sorry for himself that one gets in the way of the other. And frankly, the same curse has affected Felicia. Because a lot of what has prevented her from being with Spider-Man has been herself. Ultimately both will, as the song says, always look towards the bright sun of what they think they want, but never in the mirror. They'll hurt themselves, never realizing that they're the source of their own dissatisfaction with how their lives are. It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero, especially when its yourself.
Maybe Peter and Felicia don't need each other, but they do need someone to set them straight and get them to stop believing their own bullshit. To make them stare away from the sun and into the mirror. Because they are each exactly the kind of person who would do that for the other, in fact they've been doing it for as long as they've been together. Their bond is stronger than people give it credit for.
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Early on in their relationship, Black Cat was badly injured and has to be rushed to a hospital. Helpless to really do anything, Peter could only stand by her bedside and hope she'd be okay again. For all his power, once more, he can't do anything but just stay with her. And actually, that's enough.
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But come now, would Felicia ever do the same for Peter you ask? Well... during a recent story event, Spider-Man was badly injured and slips into a coma. But there was one person constantly by his side throughout it.
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This isn't derogatory, Felicia is clearly lamenting the fact that someone so good who does everything so selflessly despite no thanks or praise, is so constantly placed into situations like this. It's unfair to her. It's why she's here now, like he was for her. And just like before...
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It's Felicia who gets the first response out of him. Claim all you want that Felicia doesn't need Peter, that she's moved past him, that Peter and MJ are too perfect for each other, that the Black Cat can't ever settle down like Peter probably wants or that Peter can never really be there for Felicia in the way she wants. But I don't buy it. And stuff like this is why.
No matter how much bad luck she is, Spider-Man wants and in some ways needs the Black Cat is in his life. And no matter how much she can try and say she's over it, The Black Cat will always find a way to cross paths with her Spider.
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In the recent PS4 Spider-Man game, Felicia came back after a stint of going straight to prepare for a major strike back against Hammerhead and the Maggia families. She coerces Spider-Man into another of her games where she steals $50 Million worth of stuff and forces him to chase her around the city to find it all. She leaves the loot behind though, because it was all trick to break into the police evidence lockup and snag her old gear. But she did leave Peter a cool new suit, a reference to the time when Felicia made a new black suit for Peter after giving up his symbiote. You know, so they match.
Felicia's little game comes to fruition when "The Heist" DLC comes out. Felicia strings Spidey along, pretending Hammerhead has her son, strongly implying its his. Ultimately this is revealed to have been a lie of course, another game. Because this, to Felicia, is basically the perfect date night. Spider-Man chases her, they team up, she gets what she wants and runs off into the night. In this case the entire wealth of the Maggia after double crossing Hammerhead. This gets a target on her back instantly. Spider calls her to warn her, leaving Felicia more than a little surprised.
Felicia: I just conned you and here you are trying to save me. How can you be so damn nice all the time?
Spidey: It's not about being nice, it's about doing the right thing! You have so many talents, I wish you'd use them to help someone other than yourself.
Felicia: Yeah well, you should know by now that's not how I roll.
Spidey: People can change, Felicia.
Felicia: Love you, Spider. I'll miss you.
Felicia's penthouse explodes and she appears to die. But eagle eyed players would notice the puff smoke just before the bomb goes off. The Black Cat fakes her death more than Doctor Doom uses robots. Felicia got away, scot-free, with all the money she could ever need or want. She conned Spider-Man, Hammerhead and everyone. She won hands down and can do whatever she wants from now on. No one will be looking for her. Hammerhead's plans to utilize weapons of war to take over the city isn't her problem.
And yet...
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Felicia comes back to help Spider-Man, knowing it will basically put her on the radar again given everything she's stolen. She doesn't stay, but she saves him and gives him the means to take Hammerhead down. No matter what anyone thinks of Felicia, especially herself, she is not nearly as incapable of being selfless as one thinks. And this is true of most of her incarnations. Perhaps because the Black Cat will do anything to get what she wants, even if it means turning over a new leaf for her Spider. It's how this all started after all. Selfish Selflessness, it's probably the best middle ground Peter can hope for. But at least it means he can count on her, to be selfish. And that's why she'll always be there for him. Felicia doesn't like to lose the things she has.
I think it also says a lot that many players felt that Peter and Felicia's chemistry was loads more interesting and compelling than his relationship with the estranged version of MJ Spidey has to deal with. And frankly, Felicia being in those stealth sequences would've made a million times more sense. There are some who have even speculated, with no real proof mind you, that Felicia was lying about lying about having a son. That she DOES have one, he just wasn't in danger. But of course, that's unlikely. For the same reason Peter remains hung up on Mary Jane in this game despite the fact most players seem apathetic to them getting back together. Spider-Man being a father out of wedlock is something that Marvel is not really prepared to sign off on. Just as much as they resist him being with someone other than MJ in other media, despite not wanting him to be with her in the comics.
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It all seems so arbitrary to me, that they just can't be together because of the iconography of Peter and MJ. Or because she can't love the man the Spider is, which isn't true. Or Spider-Man can't change her or trust her, which also isn't true. If there has ever been a more consistent, sustainable, supportive and bonded character to Peter Parker it has been Felicia Hardy. Romantically or platonically, Felicia has dropped things to be there for Peter. And the idea that they are toxic for each other has never rung true. People can change, and this romance proves it. They just need to be given the chance to do so, and have the right person along for the ride. And the forced separation feels more arbitrary when you take into consideration, that Marvel has kept MJ and Peter apart for over a decades worth of comics and has never bit the bullet on simply just letting Felicia and Peter be together until now.
Some have claimed the new romance is out of the blue, that Spencer was setting things up to undo OMD, and that Wells just pulled this off out of nowhere. Well... no. Because those scenes where Felicia brought Peter out of his coma, the re-unmasking, the re-entry into his life through a number of adventures... Spencer either wrote those himself or they were written in conjunction with his run. People have confirmation bias, I'm no different, I don't claim to be. However, everyone has wanted OMD to be undone since the storyline first concluded. Marvel has played with fans' heartstrings that it will do so and it has prevented Peter from moving on because if he's not in a committed sustainable relationship, there's always hope that Mephisto's deal will be undone! And it has not helped anyone in the slightest to keep buying that horse crap.
The fact is I'm honestly sick of this "will they won't they" garbage from Marvel on undoing One More Day and I think more people should be by this point. Let me make this perfectly clear, even if they undo the deal... they're not getting remarried. Marvel simply is not interested in going down that road for Spider-Man again. Even with the new Spider-Verse movie showing Peter B. with a kid. Because the problem has never been they won't let Peter be married to MJ. The problem is they won't let Peter grow. The problem is they won't let him move on and change. They stick him in a misery spin cycle and just never let him out.
Why not just end the charade? Let Peter grow. Let Felicia grow. They both already want to. They both already desire to. And they both have already done so for the other. Felicia has been there to challenge and push him, while also protecting and supporting him. And Peter has undeniably changed Felicia as a person. She may never have the same moral compass, but she's no longer as lost as she once was. Her selfish cynicism is kept in check when it comes to Peter. And his selfless self-destruction is held back thanks to Felicia. Why deny them the chance to both be truly happy? Especially when they make each other better people. Why deny chemistry that is so perfectly balanced in its contradiction?
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I don't begrudge people for preferring Mary Jane being with Spider-Man. I'm more or less at peace with the reality that some pairings are just thought of as the default and nothing is really gonna change that. I prefer Rogue with Deadpool, that doesn't change the fact she'll always be with Gambit. What I wanted to stress with this isn't so much an argument to ship it so much as the ultimate reason I simply can't let these two go.
For me, SpiderCat speaks on some primal level, more than wish fulfillment, but the idea of growth. That love can hold you up in your worst moments, or change you for the better. That it can make you look in the mirror and ask, who do you want to be? What do you want? What is worth changing for? Felicia found her answer, a nerdy, selfless, eternally tormented wall-crawler, who should know better than to go chasing her trying to save her from herself... but does it anyway. How could she not return the favor and be there for him? It's hard to say whether he caught her in his web, or if she just loves walking across his path. What is certain is they are bonded to each other, in one way or another. And that's the only thing about either character that I don't think can ever truly change.
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Well this was a long one, and probably a lot more introspective and personally relatable than I thought. I think now have a better understanding of what has always drawn me to these two. And also now think I have discovered the song that describes them both so... thanks Taylor Swift! Whatever future this rekindled romance holds in the comics, we'll see how it shakes out. But I can enjoy the ride even if some of it has been rocky. Not the first time I've had to deal with that.
If you're still here, congrats, you've made it to the end. And I hope I didn't completely bore you all with this fairly overly comprehensive look at a pairing spanning various mediums and continuities. But I like to be thorough. So I hope you can appreciate the amount of work I put into this whole thing for you all. If I ever do this again I can only hope it won't be so... all encompassing. But I make no promises.
One thing I know though, I'm probably gonna be riding and dying these two forever. The Cat and her Spider, the Self and Selfless. Beautiful in the mess they are apart and the whole they are together.
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stackthedeck · 1 year
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well I disagree with you about peter and mj cause they are meant to be together and andrew Garfield version needs his version of mj and vise versa.
tell me you've never read a comic without telling me you've never read a comic.
MJ and Peter are not meant to be together in the same way no comic characters are meant to be together, no couple is "endgame" because there is no end to this game. MJ and Peter's relationship should change and shift as long as Marvel Comics continues publishing. MJ is a dynamic character, she affects the narrative and vice versa. A Spider-Man story is only as strong as the supporting cast which is why modern Spider-Man comics have been so ass, all of Peter's friends are gone and MJ is a doll on the shelf.
I'm not trying to be progressive when I say Peter Parker isn't entitled to MJ, I'm saying it because it's good storytelling practice. Seeing Peter and MJ grow closer together despite not being the perfect couple was an engaging story, seeing them fight and break up every other week kept things interesting, even when they were married they had their ups and downs and major disagreements. Conflict means that the relationship stays narratively relevant. There are very few couples in comics that can get away with the happily married thing, and even then, they still change and are always working together as a team. MJ is not Peter's arm candy, she is an active part of his story, she challenges him and forces him to grow
If we want to talk about meant to be together, it was supposed to be Peter and Gwen, they were the classic all-American couple. And like that's coming straight from the writers at the time. They preferred Gwen over MJ as Peter's girlfriend because Gwen was the good girl. It wasn't until after Gwen died that MJ even became a blip on Peter's radar and even then Peter still believes that he would have married Gwen if she hadn't died and this is affirmed every time she comes back in almost any form. And that's not getting into the countless girlfriends Peter had before during and after his relationship with MJ.
MJ was the radical love interest, much of her clothing was inspired by the counter-culture movement of the 60s and 70s, and much of her dialogue and actions were taken directly from 2nd wave feminism. She's the party girl who uses the fun lifestyle to cover up that she's desperately lonely. So to treat her as nothing more than an object, as Peter's reward for being Spider-Man, it's antithetical to her whole character
Listen I ship Peter and MJ in every adaption they're both present in, I ship them in every comic universe, I adore this couple. But it is infuriating to watch current comic writers and comic fans reduce MJ to just Peter's girlfriend because she used to be Peter's friend. When people talk about Paul cucking Peter, it's about what the two men want and not about what MJ is experiencing which is likely stockholm syndrome.
MJ has had so many opportunities to shine as a character both with and without Peter. She doesn't exist to serve him as a character, they are two characters who are paired together because their relationship presents problems that are narratively interesting. When MJ becomes a cardboard cut out of a person, that's when the writers fucked up and they need to break up through something other than demon magic.
Mary Jane Watson is not a prize to be won, she's not Peter's reward for being a hero, she's not just a pin-up cover waiting to happen. She is a complete character that in order to as be interesting as she was in the fucking 70s needs to have narrative agency.
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demonlattee · 7 months
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I have discovered your male MJ and now I want to know MORE about him-
Aka bls gush about him so I can learn all about him and Noir.
OH, BOY. ARE YOU ASKING FOR MY MALCOLM?? ✨💖✨💕💖 I have written a little lore of it! (I warn that I am not a writer and English is not my first language, in case it looks too messy!!)
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This is Malcolm Jarvis Watson! He's 34 years old and he's a journalist of the Daily Bugle 🖤
(I ship him with Noir's 2020 comic, In that comic Noir adopts more the personality of the character in the movie. But in general his lore is set in the comics.)
Backstory: Malcolm Jarvis was born into a loving family in the heart of New York. From an early age he was drawn to the world of theater and dreamed of becoming an actor. He often spent his evenings rehearsing monologues and singing songs from shows he attended with his parents. However, tragedy came to him when he was only twelve years old; when the letter arrived from the army advising that his father was missing in action (MIA). Malcolm was devastated by the news and with no other options he had to grow up quickly to protect his sister and help his mother at home. After school, Malcolm did small jobs to help them meet their basic needs. He gave up his dream of becoming a stage actor, focusing on his responsibilities to his family.
When he turned eighteen, MJ left home and moved into an apartment, although he never stopped visiting his mother and sister, providing support with money he saved for them. Desperate to find a way to make ends meet, Malcolm turned to journalism. During this time he discovered that he had a talent for writing and storytelling. His charismatic personality and natural curiosity helped him land a job as a reporter at a local newspaper: the Daily Bugle. He discovered he enjoyed the thrill of chasing news. But the more he rummaged around the city, the more he found New York's dark secrets; cops and politicians commissioning criminals to do their dirty work, mobsters taking over the streets; people starving and attacks on activists fighting for their rights. This only increased Malcolm's determination to show the truth. MJ never forgot his dream of becoming an actor. He attended performances in his spare time, remembering his childhood dream.
• MJ unknowingly went to Aunt May's Bowery welfare center to help her out a little on the days her nephew Peter was not around. He meets Spider-Man Noir by chance, arguing a bit for meddling in crime scenes. But gradually their relationship changes for the better when they notice that the two have a common goal. They started working together in some cases because of the trust they had with each other.
More silly facts:
• Malcolm's birthday is 08/8
• He loves birds! his dream is to have a small cockatiel as a pet.
• Big nerd of musicals/theater(?
• They act like an old married couple. (that's the way you act with your job partner, detective-?)
• Personality: spontaneous, smooth Talker, thrill-seeking, optimistic, chillgoing, gentleman, polite, talkative, social butterfly, “Old fashioned” (and an ESFP! 💛)
• I think about his Voice Claim: Gerardo Reyero (in spanish 🇲🇽) Barry Bostwick (in english 🇺🇸)
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A tiny draw in Spiderverse's style! ❤️
And that's all, I guess! I'll post more about them and their lore!! Thank u so much for ur interest in my baby MJ ;v; <3
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thevindicativevordan · 6 months
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speaking of spider-man editorial being antagonistic, some people just can't understand, that this job is literally believed to be the worst one in the entire industry, because his fans hate everything and everyone. which is why they grew to dislike both them and things they want to see (married Peter, MJ, etc). Wells run is literally built on that, because they fed up with this.
Finally are giving us what we want on another Earth at least.
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God I'm so fucking happy, it's my dream status quo with a dream team of creators handling it. Hope the daughter is named Mayday, they can name the boy whatever they want (I think MJ should get to name him but that's unlikely to happen). Perhaps we might finally see some of the toxicity surrounding the Spider-Man comics simmer down from both fans and Marvel. Yeah I am feeling delusional, but regardless at least I am fully checked out on 616 Peter, they can do whatever the hell they want with him at this point. 6160 Peter is going to be my Spidey for as long as Hickman is steering the ship.
Expect a lot of similarities to his F4 run I reckon. He did a great job with Reed, Franklin, and Val, Sue was the weak part but she still got some good moments. Hickman came late to making comics, perhaps his “way in” he mentioned was taking a Peter who gets his powers as an adult, similar to how Hickman found his calling in life much later than most writers do (he was an architect originally iirc). God I am exuberant about this book, just praying there’s no rug pull where the Parker family all die to give Peter his new Uncle Ben moment.
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I saw one too many jokes about Norman shipping Harry and Peter only because he wants Peter as his son and came up with a multiverse hc where the Peters are catching up and because they saved Norman they saved Harry, and Peter-two is like "yeah I'm with Harry and MJ now" and both Peters assume MJ married him or Harry and Tobey!Peter's like "...no Norman wouldn't let Harry marry MJ, we're married MJ is out girlfriend" and I need someone to write it for me now
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starsnheroes · 6 months
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more clint verses + notes
if we ship, and you want a verse mention i'll add ya :)
affiliate verse // 616 // good people are like candles they burn themselves up to give others light (crisispider / thefleetsfine / hopeburns) // entangled to a loser like me (crisispider)
616 verses in which Clint is always in a relationship with @/crisispider
same notes as 616
always open to interacting in this verse as clint loves his peter b parker and wants to tell people
Clint and Peter live together in Bed Stuy
They just got engaged
Clint is the bonus stepdad to Mayday Parker
Clint and MJ hang out sometimes
Eventually Clint and Peter'll be adopting a baby Ashley too after they get married
Wurm :))
Peter follows events of the Spider-verse films so that's all canon
actually read this post goes into extreme detail on the Affiliate Verse
616 au // how can i watch you fade (crisispider)
a blindspot inspired au
clint's going blind and not enjoying it
clint's sorry he breaks peter's hearts all the time
616 divergent // ship verse with @/biitchcakes // how many more chances can i have with you (biitchcakes)
open for interacting in this verse
after their first break up due to clint's infidelity as seen in 2012 fraction's
Clint and Jessica would get together again shortly after working together in Secret Avengers (2014)
They would take their next big break, after a heavily canon divergent Civil War 2; Clint still kills Bruce and goes on trial. They kind of break-up / take a break, cause that was one of his girlfriend's best friends
Post Civil War 2, Clint tours America, drinking often and trying to right wrongs with Red Wolf via vigilante justice; while he does this he does call Jessica here and there, sometimes drunk and guilty
Eventually, he returns to New York with a few revelations, and one of them comes at recognizing an alarming relationship with alcohol ; while he back in New York, he asks Jessica and a local superhero doctor Leonard Mccoy (had to sneak him in okay) to help him with sobriety
Kate calls Clint from LA to ask him for his help with something, which leads to Clint deciding while he was in LA to move there and to take the next big chance. ASK JESSICA OUT AGAIN. Now just that, but skip a few steps and ask her to move out to LA with him. She says yes.
Kate's WCA happens, and Clint and Jessica have their own west coast superhero business; they adopt a runaway Beverley Hills kitty cat whose name is Leftovers or LT, they've got a place together, and quite some time
The next "break" that Clint and Jessica take is when they move back to New York, during the time of Devil's Reign and Mayor Fisk; the events of Freefall, Clint's grudge war with the Hood, and taking up the Ronin mantle leads Clint to relapse and realize that he hasn't exactly buried all his issues
Jessica is there to help him in the aftermath, along with Clint's friends that he manages to not burn bridges with
Clint becoming a T-Bolt under Luke Cage, is what leads to round 4 at a relationship with Jessica Drew, and gosh they got Lucky and Leftovers (their two "kids") he should maybe do something about a relationship upgrade with Jessica right?
LEFTOVERS IS CLINT'S SECOND FUR-SON and his favorite cat in the world, Leftovers is also just as much as a Cryptid as his mom JDrew :)) clint has had many a heart attack when these two LOOM over him waiting for food
616 closed // ship w/ @/mr-tony-stark // who shares your burdens (mrtonystark)
a closed 616 verse, inspired by a long running thread (i am getting back to)
where tony stark and clint barton, have a multiple times fling, and tony's the who clint calls at the end of freefall and helps clint with recovery, is his sponsor (and boyfriend) because they are messy
clint and tony are dating, after a 1000 reblogs
tony is raising brandy (that is going well for now)
gonna be exploring tony's relapse
and possibly the tony - emma sham wedding
616 closed // ship w/ @/mr-tony-stark // can we have a chance at this finally (mrtonystark)
a verse where tony and clint adopt an alien baby after her pod reaches earth
vaugely based off our first verse
let the boys be happy
616 closed // ship w/ @/blindbastard // do not hear do not see but know how to feel (blindbastard)
clint and matt !!
centered around hawkeye: freefall
clint knows matt is DD
has to walk the careful dance of not letting his boyfriend know he's ronin
while his boyfriend is actively hunting for ronin
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shrinkthisviolet · 5 months
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hellooooo, A, C and T for the ask game please :)
A: Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.
Oooh ok ok well, to start off with romantic:
Westallen, Snowest, Barrisco, Westhallen, Barriscowest, Snowstorm, Percabeth, Kataang, Maiko, Bumizumi, Shirbert, Samguel, Torisha, Narumitsu/Wrightworth, Franmaya, Klapollo, Junithena, Tedbecca, Roykeeley, Finnrey, Finnpoe, Reyrose, Jedistormpilot, ElizaDarcy (idk their ship name 😅), Kathony, Lukemara, Hanleia, PeterMJ/Spideychelle, Parksbornson
Keep in mind that these aren't all the ships I like, just the ones I love! Ex: Snowestallen is a cute ship, but it's a "like" ship, not a "love" ship. And these can always change tbh (they have, over the years), though usually this is what they are
Now for platonic (and I'm including brotps of my own making because I make the rules). Somewhat ranked but also not really:
Barry & Morgan (ofc), Jesse & Morgan, Lucy & Luke, Tina & Morgan, Lucy & Astra, Team Flash (Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Iris, + Harry when he’s around), Barry & Cisco, Original Quartet (Luke, Leia, Han, Lucy), the Gaang (Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Suki), Iroh & Zuko, Izumi & Zuko, Izumi & Mai & Zuko, Bumi & Aang & Katara, Caitlin & Morgan, Morgan & Cisco, Rey & Luke, Sam & Tory & Aisha, Sam & Robby, Daniel & Johnny (when they’re not being idiots), Amanda & Carmen, Anne & Diana, Anne & Josephine Barry, Peter & Ned & MJ, Phoenix & Maya, Apollo & Trucy, Athena & Apollo, Athena & Blackquill
There’s also Morgan & James, who are currently a ship but become platonic. Idk where to put that so I’m just making it its own category. And Morgan & Thawne are so interesting but in no way a brotp
This list isn’t exhaustive, but I got most of them, I think! It’s hard because I love so many more brotps than ships 😅
C: A ship you have never liked and probably never will
Gonna try censoring this one a little more than my previous “ships I don’t like” answer, so it hopefully doesn’t pop up in any tags…but if it does, I’ve heard putting a # in front of the search term can keep it out:
Sn0wb@rry. The origins of that ship just puts me off too much, I can’t ship it in any capacity (and tbh they both have better love interests, even if poor Caitlin doesn’t have a good love interest post-s1)
T: Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?
Doesn’t everyone? 😂 to name a few:
—Sam, Aisha, Demetri, and Eli were all childhood friends (the “Nerd Quartet”)
—Barry loves comics because of his mom, and that’s part of his motivation to be a superhero (comics canon! Headcanon in DCTV/Arrowverse)
—Ned’s the first one to figure Peter out, when they do their special handshake
—When they were supposed to be asleep, Iris used to sneak into Barry’s room, and they turned his bed into a mini pillow-fort 😂
—Barry’s Flashpoint adventure ~did~ change Caitlin’s past and give her powers—I’ll die on this hill, it’s the only way things make some amount of sense (and it’s no more ridiculous than the OTHER Flashpoint changes)
—Thawne was actually lying in s4 when he said he “hated every minute of [being Harrison Wells]”. Because literally wtf was THAT, writers??
—Maiko had two weddings: one for their close friends, and one for the Fire Nation. They were the first of the Gaang to get married…though they didn’t have Izumi until after Kataang got married. They wanted most of the “so, when are you having kids?” bs to die down first
—Lando introduced Luke (and Lucy) to hot chocolate, and Luke and Lucy love it 💞 (Legends canon I believe…tho ofc not Lucy since she’s not canon. In proper canon tho, this is just a headcanon)
—Barry makes the best hot chocolate ever
—Iris can bake better than she cooks…tho she gets easily distracted, hence the burnt/lumpy pancakes sometimes 😅 still, I gotta believe someone brownie-obsessed can make good brownies
—Finn is a legend among his former stormtroopers…as an enemy to some, as an inspiration to others
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, tho there might be more!
ask game!
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annamarielabeau · 1 year
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MCU Phase 4 ships I hope to see have some outcome.
Druig/Makkari-My favorite Marvel ship EVER!!! Like, seriously I want someone to love me the way Druig loves Makkari. Barry Keoghan and Lauren Ridloff just have amazing chemistry, need I say more. Whether it’s in a movie sequel or prequel series I just hope to see more of them being a power couple, working together more, I just want them to have more screen time than they did in the first movie, they’re so sweet! 
Sersi/Ikaris and Thena/Gilgamesh-If there’s ever more Eternals content, I would like to have a prequel series about the Eternals time on Earth to better understand the characters and the relationships. Ikaris and Sersi included. I was moved by their little moment at the end of the movie but I just want more of them to understand the severity of the scene a bit more. Thena and Gilgamesh, I tbh only see as a purely platonic friendship, but if it wasn’t that works just as well. Again with a prequel series of some kind we could see more of them together and understand the reason why Gil chose to take care of Thena. (Plus Don Lee did say he signed up for more than one Marvel project so.....)
Sersi/Dane-They were very cute together, whatever is in store for them I’m on board 100%!! 
Xu Xialing/Katy Chen-I don’t really ship these two but I can see it work. One’s the love-able dork and the other is just a bad-ass. Friends to lovers, yes! 100%
Maya Lopez/Kazi Kazimierczak-Like Gil and Thena this could very well be a platonic friendship or a romantic relationship. (The scene when Kazi is patching up her wounds tho and how Maya dressed up when she went to fight him like?!) Either way they definitely have a history together. As shown in the deleted scene for Hawkeye, I’m not sure if he’s actually dead. (95% sure he is) Whether or not he is blah blah I want to see maybe one flashback scene of them in the Echo series or how his death affects or affected Maya. 
Thor/Mighty Thor (Jane Foster)-Love and Thunder wasn’t one of my absolute favorite phase 4 movies ever but I liked this “remedy” of their relationship. The “Our Last Summer” monologue was so funny and served as a great way for the audience to understand the importance of their love etc. Jane is obviously dead, died a warrior’s death, she’s now in Vahalla. I don’t know how but at some point I just want Jane and Thor to reunite, even if it’s just for a moment. 
Wong/Sara-Not too many people know about this one I’m sure and Sara for those who don’t know Sara is the one who destroyed the Darkhold, then sacrificing herself. Again with the platonic or romantic relationship question. I think it can be seen as either of them. They might have had some history together. But the moment they had together before Sara sacrificed herself and how she touched Wong’s cheek, so sweet!
Doctor Strange/Clea-I don’t know anything about them in the comics other than at some point they get married and Clea is Dormammu’s niece. But if they get together, I’m down, I kind of just want Stephen to be happy. 
Peter Parker/MJ Waston-These two are so cute!! They deserve the world. I don’t think they’ll ever be together again which is probably for best since for the moment, they seemed to have set up a Tobey Maguire Spiderman self discovery arc for Peter. But somehow I’d love to see MJ and Peter reunite. 
Kamala Khan/Bruno Carrelli-Now Kamala Khan has a few potential love interests as she does in the comics. I’m not getting ahead of myself, there’s only been one season so far, (season 2! season 2!!!) I’m team Bruno. But if they ever get together, I’d rather see more of their backstory and more of them together. 
King Valkyrie/Captain Marvel-This ship has been around for a while and I know there has been a rumor of Valkyrie being in The Marvels because of the deleted Insta post, posted by Zenobia Shroff. I’d wouldn’t mind this at all. Kevin Feige said “Every King needs a Queen” I want to see more of Valkyrie’s bisexuality expressed.
Loki/Sylvie-I mean I don’t care either way if they end up together, I’m not uncomfortable that they’re their both Loki’s, they’re from different universes so, not that bad? When it comes to their future, I don’t see them actually end up together, for Loki season 2, they’re probably just going to ignore their history and work together, maybe flirt a bit a little on the way. 
Jack Russell/Elsa Bloodstone-I sensed a bit of romantic vibes between them, I have no idea when or if we’ll ever see them again but I kind of just want Jack to show up and see Elsa again while she’s basically creating a new legacy of her family’s name and stopping monster hunting etc. 
Jennifer Walters/(She-Hulk)Matthew Murdock(Daredevil)-Whatever happens for these two crime fighting lawyers, I’m down. They had amazing chemistry in the show and I liked it because Jen met someone who made her happy. 
Ayo/Aneka-I didn’t know this but they are a couple in the comics, this is briefly represented in the movie. Like Ayo saying “I told you not to bring the daggers” and then Aneka kissing her head towards the end of the movie. I just want to see more of these beautiful warrior women enjoying their lives in their lakefront house. Make it happen Disney Plus!!!
Shuri/M’Baku-There’s not a lot of hype around this ship, some fanfics. After seeing Wakanda Forever I just felt some romantic vibes between them. I don’t see them becoming anything. But I just liked throughout this movie Shuri and M’Baku are just these two leaders doing what’s best by their people, Shuri is struggling and receives some council from M’Baku. Even if there’s nothing romantic between them I still appreciate the respect they have for each other. 
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themculibrary · 7 months
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Fics With No Trigger Warnings Masterlist
5 Times Tony Denied Having a Kid (ao3) - scilessweetheart T, 8k
Summary: … and the one time he just went with it.
28 Days of Love (ao3) - Chellacat bucky/darcy E, 92k
Summary: Love All The Marvel Ships Challenge ~ 28 Day’s of Love ~ on Tumblr
I think this will probably be all Darcy/Bucky. But if not, I’ll add the tags.
A collection of stand alone and some interconnected stories.
The prompt will be in the summary for each chapter.
First prompt: Holding Hands.
Branches of Pine (ao3) - 27dragons bucky/tony T, 8k
Summary: It's Bucky's first holiday season with the Avengers, and he's determined to enjoy it, from the big Thanksgiving parade to the New Year's countdown. He's still dealing with his PTSD, but his new friends are there to help him with that. He's also dealing with a crush the size of those giant parade balloons, but his new friends are going to help him with that, too... whether he wants them to or not!
Cat Parenting (and Other Meet-Cutes) (ao3) - singingwithoutwords (orphan_account) bucky/tony T, 6k
Summary: Of all the ways Bucky could have finally gotten a chance to speak to his crush, why did it have to be his cat getting Tony's cat pregnant?
darkness will be rewritten (ao3) - princessironspider natasha/tony N/R, 104k
Summary: Peter is Tony’s biological child.
Natasha Romanoff has been married to Tony Stark secretly for years.
What would the movies be like if this were the case?
Day (ao3) - thenigotthisfamily (guitarplayer3) G, 4k
Summary: A look at an entire day in the lives of Natasha and Yelena while Natasha is on the run.
Friendly Neighborhood Superheroes (ao3) - steverogersandpeggycarter peggy/steve G, 2k
Summary: Peter Parker meets the Avengers and learns a few things about Captain America's domestic life.
Hello Midtown High (ao3) - AmyR G, 209k
Summary: This is basically domestic Avengers and Peter Parker, with a slight smattering of the Field Trip trope thrown in. It's really just domestic Avengers though.
just know you're not alone (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor tony/sam T, 10k
Summary: Tony was settling into his new life being an Avenger. Everything was going fine, great even, and then suddenly a kid was thrown into the picture. Peter Parker becomes Tony’s world, and he’s doing everything he can to keep his son out of the spotlight. Unfortunately, some things don’t always go to plan. But would it really be such a bad thing if his fellow Avengers found out about his son?
Kissin’ Dynamite (ao3) - crime_fighting_spiderling pepper/tony, mj/peter G, 27k
Summary: Where Peter and his class go on a field trip to Stark Tower.
Long Way Up (ao3) - calicotales bucky/clint T, 3k
Summary: “Then Clint sees Bucky reach over with his left hand a little and the door starts to close. Oh. Hell. No.”
Miscommunications (ao3) - Isnt_it_pretty_to_think_so T, 14k
Summary: Five times the Avengers learn about Peter Parker, and the one time the rest of the world does, too.
Ned Leed’s field trip to Stark Industries (ao3) - Drake_DiAngelo G, 15k
Summary: Your generic Field Trip trope, but slightly different because it’s Ned centric and hopefully everyone stays in character.
Also, Peter is absolutely everywhere they go but they never quite manage to actually see him. (Or realize its him) They did see Spiderman though, so that’s nice.
no one id rather be stuck with (ao3) - achillightning bruce/thor G, 4k
Summary: Whilst on a diplomatic meeting with government officials, Thor and Bruce get stuck in the building elevator.
Parenting for Superheroes (ao3) - somebocly steve/tony G, 5k
Summary: AKA Peter thought coffee and energy drinks would mix well together while staying at the Avengers Tower.
Petnames (ao3) - itsallAvengers bucky/tony T, 4k
Summary: One time.
Bucky said it one time. And now Tony isn't letting him live it down. But hey, two can play at that game.
*3-month long game of gay chicken ensues*
Pillow Forts (ao3) - geoffox steve/bucky N/R, 1k
Summary: Bucky's building forts again. Hold onto your hats everyone.
quaranteens (ao3) - blueh T, 6k
Summary: Or: a day in the life of the quarantined high school spider-kid, as seen through the eyes of his first-period chemistry class.
The Baby-Sitter Experiment (ao3) - nightwalker steve/tony G, 4k
Summary: Steve and Tony volunteer to babysit. Fluff ensues.
This Shower Isn't Big Enough for the Both of Us (ao3) - AShortInfinity steve/tony T, 4k
Summary: The four times that Tony Stark interrupted Steve's shower time and the one time Steve interrupted his.
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moonstone27ls · 10 months
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What is CBR’s Problem?
Forgive the minor rant or vent moment? Will delete later.
To those that don’t know CBR, is a comic website. It’ll cover movies/tv shows, etc as well. But just writing this cause lately ... I’m getting kinda miffed at how they’re complaining about Spiderman’s love life.
Before someone gives me  “its their opinion/respect it” crap I get it. But I also have an opinion so I’m just letting it out.
For I wanna say two months. They’ve been kinda dumping on Spidey/MJ’s relationship. And I’m not trying to start a shipping war. Depending on whom, I can be a multishipper. Heck I love reading AUs where Spidey is married to Gwen/or even Black Cat. But since there’s a new storyline (not getting into that, comics are drama lol), where they are split.
That part doesn’t bother me. Its comics, they always find a reason to break up a couple. So that the hero doesn’t seem old to the audience I guess. I mean this isn’t even the first time they’ve been split. So again its not news to me.
Whats been getting on my nerves is that they been dumping on Mary Jane like she was the weakest character to the storyline. One article was basically dumping on her/and writing that Gwen Stacy was the ideal choice. That compared to Gwen, MJ was never good enough. 
Now they wrote an article of how they want them permanently split. Because Spidey is apparently in DESPERATE need of a new girl. 
Again the split isn’t new. It doesn’t even bother me if Peter dates other women, he’s done it before. Whats bothering me is that CBR feels the need to dump on MJ like she’s in the way. I haven’t seen them do this to Scott/Jean Grey. Or even Scott/Emma (that I know offf). This wasn’t done when She Hulk is dating (I dunno who she dates a lot I don’t read that comic). 
And I find it hypocritical that they wrote how Gwen was better. But then I wanna say two weeks before that article they wrote how Gwen/Peter had issues and were apparently a doomed relationship.
Another reason it annoys me is that I feel in minimizes Mary Jane as character. Maybe depending on the writer(or even movie) she’s not handled well. But over the years Marvel has done its best to improve her as a character. She’s just as important as Gwen is (was. I dunno not getting into that either). Just cause she’s not a rocket scientist or whatever, doesn’t mean she’s worthless. I’m not gonna write a big article on her importance. But I have seen other accounts who have done it. And its made me see she’s important.
Not to mention I don’t know why they wanna rush Spidey so much 8B. Why aren’t they rushing Wolverine? Or tons of other heroes. I dunno it annoys me a little. Plus I’ll be honest whats the rush? They probably do have someone planned just take your damn time and wait 8B.
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the-sprog · 1 year
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Tagged by @nightmareinfloral
Ahh sorry for taking long! I had like no answer for most of the questions so I waited.
Top 3 ships:
Ok prefacing this by saying they're very dependent on what fandoms I'm in/things I'm arbitrarily obsessed with atm
So
Also these are in no particular order lol I like so many ships rn these are the ones I want to talk about though.
1. Jedtavius. Yes, the miniatures of the roman general and the cowboy from the Night at the Museum film series. You heard me. I just like how their relationship evolved, how protective they are of each other! "I won't quit you" is ingrained in my memory. I love that franchise.
2. Peter Parker/Jack Hammer. As in Weasel. As in the bartender from the Deadpool films. Listen- they have history in the comics and it's so funny??? And also fucked?? There's like 3 people (me included) who like these two together.
3. MattFoggy. I believe in the inherent homoeroticism of joking about marrying your **checks writing on my palm** best friend. They're just so- ugh. It's not so subtle. I could go on for HOURS but I'll spare you.
Honorary mentions for: MattFoggyMarci, SpideyPool, Frank Castle/Marc Spector, Jake Lockley/DuChamp.
Sorry about the lack of DC ships, I just need to read more about them. I do like Tim/Bernard, though I seem to be in the minority here.
First ever ship:
Firstly I thought this said *Favorite* ship, which is why I didn't include Peter/Gwen/MJ in the list above... I could fix it but it's funnier this way. That's my fav ship, full N1.
Onto my first ship, I vividly remember waiting patiently for Aelita and Jeremy (from Code Lyoko) to get their shit together and kiss. I'm sure there were earlier ones but I do not remember, unfortunately.
Last song:
"IDK If I'm a Boy" by Blue Foster (I *am* my own special kind of loser :))
Last movie:
I just finished "Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons". Had a lot more fun than I thought I would! I didn't love the art style and some of the design I hated, but the characterizations were nice and I laughed way too much at the jokes. They were just timed so perfectly ("Can't see Kent" had me fucking crying)
Currently reading:
-"We were liars" (paused because... Fuck man, no one warned me about the incest plot line)
-"Dirk Gently's holistic agency "(I am constantly confused! I love it!!)
Currently consuming:
Uuuh my own saliva, I suppose lol
Currently craving:
Gosh I want some liquorice gummies so much. I'm always craving those. Also I bought my dad honey w truffle and orange peel, and it was so good w cheese (we ate it on the 26th of December) I want more!!
No pressure of course uuh I don't think I have 9 people...
@murasakikou42 @coollizzylou @wolfsbanesparks @just-a-beautiful-fuckup
Yeah that's about it
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001 | Ultimate Spider-Man
001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:
• Favorite character:
I’m bad at choosing but I’ll pick Iron Fist! this guy is pretty chill
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• Least Favorite character:
hmm none I can think of.
• 5 fav ships
well this is hard.. I’m not much of a shipper of this show. i’m all about the action and comedy. I did take a look at this shipping lists so it’s easier to choose.
1. Harry x Peter
2. Flash x Peter
3. Ava x Peter
4. MJ x Ava
5. Gwen Stacy x Peter
• Character I find most attractive:
Aunt Mary!
• Character I would marry:
none.
• Character I would be best friends with:
Spidey and his gangs
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• a random thought:
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• An unpopular opinion:
breaking the fourth wall is UNBEARABLE no one deserves spider man all the time talking to the viewer. you don't want to give your opinion to spider man . you just want to see action!
• My Canon OTP:
MJ x Peter
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• My Non-canon OTP:
Harry x Peter
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• Most Badass Character:
Agent Venom.
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•Most Epic Villain:
Doctor Octopus
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• Pairing I am not a fan of:
none. I don’t really pay attention to pairings.
• Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):
maybe they could tone down the fourth wall joke because it gets really repetitive but hey since this is aim for kids who am I to judge. overall the story is okay. the solo spiderman episodes are good though.
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• Favourite Friendship:
Spidey and his gangs
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• Character I most identify with:
hm, none.
• Character I wish I could be:
Any characters with superpowers
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queen-rhaenyras · 2 years
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My thoughts...
WARNING: NWH and end credits spoilers under the cut!
So I initially went into this movie for Doctor Strange because it’s been far too long since I’ve seen my wizard husband on screen.
Anyway. With that said.
* First, Aunt May destroyed me. I hate it.
* I felt so much childhood nostalgia. I thought I would burst in the theater.
* Andrew’s spiderman saving MJ!!!! I knew it was going to happen, but it made me so emotional when it did.
* Doctor Strange was just perfect. I loved how he was such a dad the entire movie. Just his energy in this move did something for me. I’m so in love with him tbh. Although there is a few things I can nitpick that upset me, but I’m not going to get into that now.
* I love the friendship between Peter, MJ, and Ned. The scene where they comfort him on the roof. It was so sweet and well done.
* Doctor Strange getting emotional about the spell at the end just sent me. He really does wear his heart on his sleeve.
* I hated the ending. Not gonna lie. I hate that everyone forgot him. I just hate it and I feel like it makes the entire movie pointless. Seriously what was the point of everything? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll feel differently after my second watch. 
* The humor in this movie was great and completely underrated. I don’t see anyone talking about how freaking funny this entire movie was. I laughed more in this movie than any other marvel movie. I loved that about it.
* Doctor Strange. That’s it. 
Now let’s talk about the end credits MoM trailer. 
* I’m so nervous for this movie. I swear if they fuck up my two favs (Wanda and Strange) I’ll riot. 
* Wanda’s braid was cute.
* Stephen watching the woman he still loves marry someone else. Ouch.
* The floating door scene? It actually looks like Christine behind Stephen. Not Wanda. I’m so freaking confused. 
* Wanda looks so good. Although I’m afraid of what they’re going to do to her character. I feel like writers love using a female characters’ pain to turn them into murderous villains (is thinking of a certain tv show that ended very badly because of this trope). Anyway, I hope they don’t do that. I will not be happy.
* Supreme Strange at the end? Super exciting. 
* I’m very interested in America. I don’t know much about her, just a few things about her background and stuff, but I’m curious what role she’ll play. I love being introduced to new characters so it’s exciting. 
* I hope Clea is in the movie, or at least in the end credits scene or something. I just want her in the MCU so bad. I also hope they don’t mess up her character. She’s such an interesting female character and she’s an absolute girl boss in her own right. I just hope they hire an actress who will have great chemistry with Benedict Cumberbatch because those two are intense in the comics, and the MCU tends to struggle with romantic chemistry between characters. I’d hate to see their relationship portrayed as dull or uninteresting. I want people who don’t read the comics to love them and ship them as much as us Clea fans do.
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waitimcomingtoo · 3 years
Text
In Case You Don’t Live Forever
~chapter eleven rewritten~
Pairing: Peter Parker x Venom!Reader
Synopsis: you are Peters greatest love and Spider-Man’s greatest enemy
Series Masterlist
In Case You Don’t Live Forever by Ben Platt
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The next morning at 6 am, you got in a taxi and made your way to the airport. You packed up all your clothes the night before and told MJ to ship anything else to you. You figured if you waited until a few months, things between you and Peter would be settled and it wouldn’t be too awkward. Or sad. You mainly felt sad.
The sun was rising and your cab sat in stand still traffic. You wiped a few stray tears and looked out the window. You noticed a few people standing by the edge of the highway, taking pictures of the bridge. You couldn’t see because of the glare of the sun in your eyes. You figured it was a sky writer or something like that. But then you noticed people getting out of their cars to take pictures.
“What’s going on?” You asked the cab driver. He turned around. He was an older man with grey hair and thin, black tinted sunglasses. A kind smile poked out from under his mustache.
“There’s something written on the bridge.” He answered.
“Something on the bridge?” You asked.
“See for yourself. We’re not moving anytime soon.”
You got out of the car and squinted in the bridge. Your heart immediately stopped at what you saw. You walked towards the edge of the highway and leaned against the railing. Tears trickled down your eyes, happy ones this time. You blinked them away, not wanting anything to obstruct your view of the bridge.
There on the bridge in big webbed letters spelled out the undeniable phrase:
I LOVE YOU
Just as you were admiring it, Spider-Man swung down and swept you up in his arms. You heard applause and cheering as you two swung away. You held on tightly, as did Spider-Man. He landed on the top of one of the posts of the bridge and set you down, never taking his arms off of your waist. Likewise, you kept your arms around his neck and pressed your body close.
Peter quickly took off his mask and smiled at you. His eyes were puffy, surely from crying. But the loving look in his eyes remained.
“Did you get my message?” He asked excitedly.
“What message?” You played coy.
“On the bridge.” Peter said, not detecting your sarcasm.
“Oh, that was you? I couldn’t make it out. What did it say?” You asked. You knew exactly what it said.
“It said I love you.” Peter said proudly. “It was gonna say ‘I love you Y/n L/n please don’t move to San Francisco’ but I was on a time crunch and it’s very hard to write things on a bridge in webs. I practiced on the Brooklyn Bridge first and I accidentally wrote ‘I larb you.’ But that wasn’t what I wanted to say. What I wanted to say is, you’re wrong. You’re wrong about us being on different paths. We’re not on different paths, Y/n. Because you’re my path. I’ll give up Spider-Man. He means nothing to me if I don’t have you. I mean it. You and I are meant to be. If I know anything at all to be true, it’s that. I can’t imagine life without you. So if you go to San Francisco, I’m coming too. Hell, wherever you go, I’m coming too. They have crime in San Francisco, right? What I’m trying to say is, I love you, Y/n L/n. I am so in love with you. And nothing can keep me away.” Peter professed. You held him tighter and pressed your nose into his.
“I love you too, Peter Parker.” You whispered. “With all my heart.”
“Then will you stay with me? Or allow me to come with you?” Peter asked hopefully.
How could you say no? Every time you thought you could shut the door on Peter, he found a window.
“The world is rooting against us Peter.” You said. His face fell and his grip on your hips loosened. “But if it’s you and me against the world, then so be it.”
Peters smile lit up his entire face when you finished your sentence. He dipped you and kissed you passionately.
“I love you. I love you so much. I can never say it enough.” Peter said as he pressed kisses into your neck.
“I love you too.” You said back. You knew you should feel terrified given your fear of heights, but you couldn’t feel safer in Peters iron grip.
“Can we go home? I need to hold you for an entire day to make up for the time we were broken up.” Peter asked. You laughed.
“We were broken up for less than 8 hours.” You reminded him.
“8 hours of pure torture.” He fake gasped.
“Come on. Let’s get your stuff from the cab and go home. Did I mention you’re moving in? And that we’re getting married? Also what are we naming our children? Do you want it get a cat together?” Peter joked as he tightened his grip around your waist. A part of you hoped he wasn’t joking though. You wanted that with Peter. All of that. Even that cat.
“Does our apartment even allow cats?” You laughed.
“No.” He shook his head. “But if my baby wants one, we’ll get one. I want to start our lives now. I don’t want to miss another second apart from you. I’m serious. Never leave me again.” Peter said, tugging you into a tight hug. He nuzzled into your neck and pressed soft kisses there.
“I won’t. I won’t ever. I promise.”
Peter swung you back to the apartment after collecting your things from the cab. You spent the day in Peters bed just cuddling and talking about all the things you never could before.
“And then he told me you were going back to San Francisco to be with him.” Peter laughed as he told you about his encounter with Andy.
“I can’t believe he lied to you like that.” You shook your head. “He’s such an idiot.”
“He would’ve been a dead idiot if I had known he kissed you.” Peter joked.
“Hm. And I thought I was the only killer here.” You smirked as you pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
“What are your powers?” Peter asked as he brushed your hair out of your face. You kissed his thumb lightly.
“Same as you. Super strength, super hearing, climbing walls. And I have acid spit and resistivity to bullets. But I don’t have your uh…Peter tingle.” You told him. Peter chuckled softly.
“It’s called my spidey sense.” Peter corrected.
“That’s really not much better than Peter tingle.” You teased.
“Shut up. What about your weaknesses?” Peter asked. You toyed with his fingers.
“Fire. And sound. We hate sound.” You said.
“All sounds?” Peter asked curiously.
“No. Not all sounds. Just loud ones. Car alarms, feedback, amps, things like that.” You answered.
“What happens to you when you encounter fire or sound?”
“What’s with all the questions? You’re not trying to take me down, are you?” You teased. Peter laughed and shook his head.
“No. I just want to know everything about you.”
“Well sound makes Venom separate from me. And fire kills.” You said, remembering that night on Carlton Drakes rocket when the fire killed him and Riot.
“Both of you die?” He asked nervously.
“Both of us. Venom and I keep each other alive. If we were separated, we’d both die.” You told Peter. Peter looked at the ceiling with a weird look on his face. His heart was beating extremely fast. You took it as him being scared of you dying.
“But don’t worry about that. Venom and I are never going to be separated. No one knows our weaknesses.” You assured Peter. You felt a little strange sharing all your weaknesses with your former enemy, but you knew Peter would never try to hurt you it use them against you.
“What about you? What are your weaknesses?” You asked.
“You.” Peter smiled. You smiled back before something shiny in his closet caught your eye.
“Is that a keyboard?” You asked as you sat up and went into his closet. Peter sat up as well and rubbed his eyes.
“Oh, yeah. I used to play when I was younger. My uncle taught me. Do you play?”
You retrieved the keyboard and sat on Peters bed, answered his question by playing a few notes. Peter scooted next to you and slipped an arm around your waist.
“Play me something.” Peter said softly. It wasn’t demanding, it was a sweet request.
“I haven’t in so long.” You muttered as you began to press down on a few random keys. The keyboard made strangled sounds at first until you slowly began playing a song you had fallen in love with.
“I, I’ve carried this song in my mind. Listen, it’s echoing in me. But I haven’t helped you to hear it.”
You sang softly as you got the hang of playing the keyboard again. Peter looked wonderstruck at you. He didn’t know you had such a lovely voice. He didn’t recognize the song but he wanted to hear you play forever.
“We, we’ve only got so much time. I’m pretty sure it would kill me if you didn’t know the pieces of me are pieces of you.”
You sang with a little more confidence as the song progressed. Your voice wasn’t great but it was everything and more to Peter. Peter began to pick up on the pattern you were playing and softly rested his hands on the keys on his side.
“I’ve waited way too long to say everything you mean to me.” you dragged out the last note before going all in on the keyboard.
“In case you don’t live forever, let me tell you now. I love you more than you’ll ever wrap your head around.” You looked into Peters eyes and he looked deeply into yours. He leaned in so that his lips ghosted yours, but never touched.
“In case you don’t live forever, let me tell you the truth. I’m everything that I am because of you.”
You felt tears of joy pricking at your eyes. Peter felt it too. The moment was pure bliss. It was just you and the boy you loved. Nothing could ruin it.
“I have a hero whenever I need one. I just look up to you and I see one. I’m a man ‘cause you taught me to be one.”
Peter liked the hero line. It made the song perfect, like it was written just for the two of you. He had begun to play along with you and you finished out the song together, never breaking eye contact.
“In case you don’t live forever, let me tell you the truth. As long as I’m here as I am, so are you.” You finished. You and Peter took your hands off the keyboard and immediately pulled the other into a kiss. The keyboard fell to the floor with a clang but you didn’t even hear it.
“I love you. More than anything this world has to offer.” Peter said against your lips. You smiled and kissed him again. He tasted like strawberry chapstick this time. It was yours. He must’ve swiped it from you one day. You didn’t mind.
“Did you steal my chapstick?” You giggled against his mouth.
“Yes. But you stole my heart. Fair trade.” He argued playfully. You laughed and kissed his cheeks.
“It’s okay. You can keep it. What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is ours.” You told him as you ran your fingers through his chestnut hair.
“That’s so cute.” Peter whined.
“I know. I stole it from the Little Rascals.” You admitted sheepishly. He hit you with his pillow before tackling you onto the bed.
You spent the remainder of the day just like that until you had to leave for your final interview with Cletus Kasady.
“Y/n! My favorite gal. Sit down. I have so much to tell you. I got something real good for your story.” Cletus said upon your entry into his cell. You’d been interviewing him for about three months now. It was almost July and you two met in April. You had come to trust him and no longer needed a security guard to stand in the room with you while you talked. You also graduated from talking through those glass windows with telephones on either side to being allowed into his cell. He was still handcuffed to his chair and kept in a cage, so you had no fear of him harming you. You’d actually come to like him in a way. Sure, he killed people, but so had you. He was still charismatic and made you laugh every now and then.
“Nice to see you Cletus. What do you have to tell me?” You asked as you took a seat. Your eyes wandered to the partial wall at the bottom of his cage. You had grown accustomed to his habit of writing on his cell walls with his own blood, but this particular message made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. In big bloody letters it read:
WELCOME VENOM
You swallowed despite your throat being bone dry. Cletus gave you his signature smirk.
“I got me a bug. Just like you.” He drawled. He smiled at your proudly. You felt yourself beginning to sweat.
“A bug?” You asked.
“Are you familiar with the concept of asexual reproduction?” Cletus questioned. You nodded.
“Yes. It’s what plants do. Why?” You asked back. Where was he going with this?
“Not just plants. Symbiotes too.” Cletus stated. Your body went cold with fear. You immediately felt uneasy with the way he was looking at you. He didn’t blink, and had his face frozen with that smirk.
“Y/n.” Venom said cautiously. She held your hand and gripped it tightly for comfort.
“I’m sorry?” You asked. Your voice came out barely above a whisper.
“Yup. And sometimes, they don’t even know when they asexually reproduce. It could happen anywhere. Even in a prison cell.” Cletus continued. You began to piece together the story. Cletus suddenly leaned forward, as far as he could go with his restraints and lowered his voice.
“You and I are no different. We’re both killers. But you get to roam the streets freely while we’re stuck in here, starving. Does that sound fair?” Cletus asked. His eyes weren’t his anymore. They were milky white and bulging. You scooted your chair back in fear.
“No.” You said. You didn’t want to anger him so you agreed with him.
“No. It’s not. That’s why we’re breaking out of here. And when we do, there’s gonna be Carnage.” Cletus smirked, his eyes back to normal now. You trembled slightly.
Cletus Kasady had a symbiote of his own. One that was stronger and deadly than yours. At least Venom bonded to a reporter with morals. Carnage bonded with a serial killer. They made for a lethal combination and you knew you couldn’t stop the havoc that was coming.
“We want you to join us, Y/n.” Cleatus drawled. “You and Venom. Imagine the power we could have. The city would be ours. We could do whatever we want.”
You felt sweat running down the sides of your face as you carefully thought out what you said next.
“Thank you for the offer, but we have to decline. We’re not like you. We only kill very bad people. Cletus, you killed 17 women just because they resembled the girl who broke your heart in high school. We don’t see things the same way.” You told him slowly. Cletus’s face fell.
“I thought you were my friend. I don’t have any friends in here. Nobody wants to be friends with a serial killer. The only person who was ever nice to me was you.” Cletus said sadly. You let out a shaky breath. You felt a little sorry for him, despite his lethal intentions.
“I know and I’m sorry. But Venom and I aren’t killers.” You said in your calmest tone.
“Yes, you are. Whether you like it or not, you will always have to kill to feed. You’ve been a good person your whole life, Y/n. What has it gotten you? You told me about your parents. Did being a good person keep them alive? And what about Andy? You exposed Carlton Drake because you’re a good person, and Andy still broke up with you. Why not throw your morals away and just be the monster you were meant to be?” Cletus persuaded. Your fear turned to sadness quickly and hot tears spilled down your cheeks.
“I am not a monster.” You said angrily. “We are not a monster.”
“But you are. The sooner you realize it, the freer you’ll be. It’s your choice.” Cletus shrugged.
“We choose to be good.” You said firmly. Cletus gave you a disappointed nod.
“Carnage told me you’d say that. I told him you were different. I guess I was wrong. I’m going to be sorry to see you go.” Cletus said sadly.
“See me go?” You asked.
“Carnage said anyone who stands in the way must die. That means you, Venom, Spider-Man, and anyone else who tries to stop us from taking over New York.”
You felt sick to your stomach. Killing you was one thing, but Spider-Man? Peter hadn’t done anything to Carnage. Why was Peter a Target?
“Please don’t hurt Spider-Man. You can kill me but please, don’t touch him.” You begged. Cletus smirked.
“Looks like Carnage was right about that too.” Cletus chuckled.
“Right about what?” You asked. Cletus seemed to be conversing with Carnage in his head.
“Right about there being something going on between you and Spider-Man. I’ll do my best to keep Carnage away from him, but I don’t have much control. So no promises. Even though you let me down, I have a liking for you Y/n. You knew what I did to those women and you still agreed to write an article on me and hear my side of the story. Most people wanted to lock me up and throw away the key. Not you. You listened. We won’t hurt him. But we want a deal.” Cletus stated.
“What deal?” You asked bitterly.
“We want a battle. A fair one. Venom vs. Carnage. If you win, we’ll go back to Klyntar. But if we win, you become apart of our team and we destroy New York together, starting with everyone who got me thrown in this hell hole. Do we have a deal?” Cletus asked. You didn’t want to agree to it but you knew you had no other choice. Carnage was strong but he lacked the impeccable bond you had with Venom. You were confident in Venoms abilities in a fight. Your solemnly nodded your head.
“It’s a deal. When?”
“Tonight at midnight on top of the Oscorp building. Don’t be late.” Cletus said. Before you could answer, the security guard came in.
“The hour is up, Miss L/n. It’s time for Cletus’s meal.” The guard said. Your checked your watch. It was in fact 7 o’clock. The hour had gone the fastest it ever had. You shot Cletus one last look before you thanked the security guard and left. You could feel his smirk watching you as you went.
~
“Peter? Y/n’s at the front door.” May called from the kitchen. Peter perked up at the slightest mention of your name.
Peter went to his front door and saw you were still dressed in nice clothes for your interview. Peter loved your usual laid back style but he also loved seeing you dressed up. It reminded him of how bad ass you were.
“Hi.” You said shyly, noticing him staring.
“Hey.” He said back. “What’s up?”
“Can we talk in the hall?” You asked. Peter nodded gravely and followed you out into the hall. He shut the door behind him and turned to face you.
“Y/n-“ he began.
“I came here to break up with you.” You interrupted. Peter eyes snapped from the floor to your face. You didn’t seem upset. You seemed almost excited. Peter felt the opposite.
“Wh-“ Peter began but you cut him off again.
“Let me finish. I came here to break up with you. But I’m not going to do that anymore.” You clarified. “Peter, there’s a very bad man after me. I just found out that Carnage bonded with Cletus Kasady. He’s stronger than me, faster than me, and more deadly than me. He’s asked me to join his side and I said no. Now, he’s going to kill me. And he said he’s going to kill you too. I have until midnight until the fight.”
“Okay.” Peter followed along. “So what about the breakup?”
“I figured I’d come here and break up with you, and not just break up but really break your heart. I was gonna tell you I cheated on you and if that didn’t work I was gonna say I was using you to get over Andy and that I still loved him. All lies, by the way. My heart beats for only you. But I thought that if I made you hate me, Carnage would have no reason to go after you and he’d leave you alone. So that was my plan when I left the prison. But as I drove here, I remembered I wasn’t just dating some guy. I remembered was dating Spider-Man.” You said proudly, and Peter grinned.
“What I’m trying to say is, I believe in you. I know you’re strong and capable of anything you put your mind to. You’re extraordinary, Peter. And I don’t have to protect you, as much as I might want to. So, I did come here to break up with you. But now that I’m here, I’m asking you to fight Carnage with me. I want you by my side when I fight the biggest battle of my life. What do you say? Will you help me, Spider-Man?”
“I will.” He said confidently. “Thank you for believing in me.”
“Thanks for giving me something to believe in.” You shrugged.
You spent the remaining hours before midnight coming up with a strategy with Peter. Soon enough, it was time to meet Cleatus on the roof. You and Peter swung there, shaking with anticipation as Cleatus arrived. You held Peter’s hand through this suit, still not in your Venom form. Cleatus looked between the two of you, and then at your intertwined hands. 
“Remember when you said I could kill you if I left Spiderman alone?” Cleatus asked through a wicked smile. Peter looked at you, confused as to why you would say that as you nodded.
“Well, I’d like to take you up on that.” Cleatus said as he morphed into Carnage. He grabbed Peter in a quick movement and threw him off the roof, leaving you alone with him. You ran in the director that Peter was thrown but Carnage caught you and dragged you to him, stepping on your neck to keep you down.
“Told you.” He snarled in your ear. “There’s gonna be carnage.”
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miwtual · 2 years
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fandom wise HMMMM naruto and character wise Tasm!Peter cuz im evil >:) i don't have alot of ships for you atm so no #2 here dgtfdgh
alright this is going under the cut because its gonna get long lmao
send me 1, 2, and/or 3!
fandom: naruto
Favorite character: ill be basic and say naruto like i love so many of the characters but naruto i will always go back to <3
Least Favorite character: danzo all the homies hATE DANZO
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): (in no particular order) nejiten, sakuhina, kakaguy........ dude i never ship anyone lmao this is hard so thats all ur getting rn HJBSDKF
Character I find most attractive: kakashi. call me basic but that mf FINE and i feel VERY strongly about it
Character I would marry: shino my beloved <3
Character I would be best friends with: SAKURA
a random thought: naruto and jjk are not the same. yeah they have a lot of similar aspects to them but i think thats more the fault of shounen animanga in general and its tropes rather than "jjk is trying to "copy" naruto!1!!!!!'11!!!!"
An unpopular opinion: i dont think boruto should exist!!!!! the show or the child!!!!!!! naruto should have just ended and maybe gotten a short epilogue thing but other than that i feel very strongly that boruto is just boring and is a rehash of naruto where it doesnt even take away the characters FROM naruto!!!!!!!!!!!!! if it was something more like legend of korra where a lot of time has passed and things have changed pretty drastically in the world THEN it would be fine ig but it just isnt!!!!!!!!!!! its boring! if i wanted to watch boruto have adventures like his dad I WOULD JUST WATCH HIS DADS ADVENTURES!!!!!! AND I HAVE!!!!!!
My Canon OTP: i dont really have a canon otp. i do think sasusaku is cute tho so ig i'll put them here JHBSDKFJ
My Non-canon OTP: nejiten theyre canon to ME and thats what matters
Most Badass Character: sakura idc
Most Epic Villain: orochimaru tbh SJFL hes just funny to me
Pairing I am not a fan of: naruhina, its just hard for me to believe that they fell in love or whatever after she literally said like. 6 words to him ever JHBKDF
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): literally all of the ladies + shino, need i explain
Favourite Friendship: team kurenai theyre so sweet ok
Character I most identify with: probably hinata tbh
Character I wish I could be: sakura <3
character: peter parker (tasm)
How I feel about this character: because of personal trauma reasons from Bad People in my life who literally were OBSESSED with this version of peter i. cant say i like him very much JSBHKDFN not in a bad way tho just in a personal trauma type of way
Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: ngl i dont think i ship him romantically with anybody, like him and gwen are cute and all but i feel like gwen is just. way too good for him HSDNFL
My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: him and his aunt may are so sweet <3
My unpopular opinion about this character: hes a better peter parker than he is spiderman. it makes sense in MY head ok
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i wish we got to see what he meant by how he "got dark" when he mentioned it in nwh.......... like what do u mean got dark peter? did u become more of a batman vigilante type who was more violent and didnt care about who got hurt in the process??? what do u MEAN peter TELL US
Favorite friendship for this character: i feel like if we were given more time with harry they'd be such cooler friends......... i want them to be besties i just dont think 1 movie did it SKDFL
My crossover ship: this variant of peter and kirsten dunst's mj watson just makes sense to me dont ask me why alright. they just Make Sense
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