#its interesting that were reaching that point in superhero shows now like it reminds me of the post watchmen era in comics

[macbethz]

i make fun of mcu fans so much for someone who literally eats up literally any piece of meta/subversive superhero media

#i think just bc i grew up reading comics n still do i like to see tropes played with even if its bad #its interesting that were reaching that point in superhero shows now like it reminds me of the post watchmen era in comics #everyones trying to make their own version and eventually the media will be saturated w that too #literally i feel like big corporations r draining superhero media im scared that it'll go the way of the western. i really hope not #warlock wartalks

[milliedazzledust]

If A Look Could Kill (Bucky Barnes imagine)

Words: 1429 words

A/N: this is literally a blurb from a scene in the 2nd episode of fatws when they're all in the car after they fought the supersoldiers

They had been in the same car for no more than ten minutes and Y/N was already holding herself back from punching the smug smile on the man pretending to be Captain America. Both fake heroes had showed up in the middle of their fight, throwing around Steve’s shield, acting like the world owed them anything.

Earlier that day, inside the comfort of the apartment she shared with Bucky, she had watched the cocky man parading in front of cameras, standing in a stadium. She had heard him talk about Steve like he knew him, like he had fought along side with him. And when he had compared Steve to a brother, when she had seen the look of hurt and betrayal on Bucky’s face, her heart had shattered.

She knew that sometimes grief could come like a runaway truck, that despite seeing it careening down the highway, we might not have enough time to get out of its way. And she had seen it that morning, that grief smashing Bucky right in the face when he had least expected it. She didn’t know the man the government had chosen to replace the Captain, but she already hated him for causing her lover pain.

"If you guys joined us we could …" The man pretending to be in charge started as the military vehicle was moving.

"No." Bucky hostly cut him.

There wasn’t a lot of space between the five of them. She had been forced to sit next to the man with the shield while her friends were in front of her.

The tension was almost palpable. Sam had his arms crossed and his lips pursed and Bucky was visibly clenching his jaw. Their patience was hanging by a thread and only she seemed to have notice.

Ignoring the conversation they were having, she exchanged a knowing look with her boyfriend. He had a short temper and habits he had picked up from his alter-ego that could potentially get him to explode. Judging by the side glances Sam kept giving him, she guessed she wasn’t the only one worried.

"What do you say, Y/N ?" She heard the man sitting next to her talk.

Unwillingly, she turned around to look at him.

"What was that ?" She asked him.

His smirk alone was enough to make her roll her eyes.

"We could use a … woman like you" He told her suggestively. She didn’t miss the way he looked her up and down, neither did Bucky.

"A woman like me ?" She repeated, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah, you’ve got potential, babe. So what do you say ?" He said in a seductive voice. "Interested in joining us ?"

A quick glance at her boyfriend was enough for her to tense when she saw him going from annoyed to seriously pissed off. He was scowling at the man with all his old ferocity, looking everything like the assassin he had once been.

"Does he always stare like that ?" Battlestar inquired, nodding toward Bucky.

"You do know your friend is disrespecting Y/N in front of her boyfriend who also happens to be one of the most prolific assassin on this planet, right ?" Sam ironically told him.

The woman narrowed her eyes at the man sitting next to her, irritated by his behavior.

"At what point did you decide we were close enough for you to refer to me as ‘babe’ ? Because I think I missed the memo between the need to punch your face and the craving to shove your ego up your ass"

Bucky’s chest swelled with pride at her comeback and he sniggered. He knew she was a strong woman and had always loved that feisty side of her. She was fire and he was ice, a perfect combinaison yet dangerous association. Even Sam seemed pleased when he noticed Walker growing uncomfortable next to her.

"Look, we know you don’t like us" The other soldier known as Battlestar answered.

"That’s an understatement" Sam muttered under his breath.

"We’re on the same team here" Walker added.

"No, we’re not" Bucky glared at him.

The soldier with the shield sighed. He pursed his lips, thinking for a moment before glancing at the men in front of him.

"I’m not trying to replace anyone" He started to explain.

"You couldn’t if you tried" Y/N mocked him.

"My point is, I know I’m not Steve and I’m not trying to be. But I am Captain America"

"Like hell you are" Bucky scornfully stated.

"It takes a lot more than knowing how to throw a shield to become a superhero" Sam reminded him.

"I am what the world need right now" He insisted.

"What the world want. Big difference" Sam continued.

"You were getting your ass kicked back there" Battlestar told them, helping his friend’s case. "We saved you"

"Should we say thank you ?" Y/N ironically threw at them.

"This isn’t up to you. Why are we even arguing about that ?" Walker was getting annoyed.

"Because you’re not even half the man Steve was yet you keep parading like a clown pretending to be someone you’re not" Bucky aggressively spoke with a cold voice. "You don’t get to mention his name, Walker, not when you’re destroying all he’s ever work for"

"Bucky…" Sam called him with a cautious tone, trying to get him to calm down.

The former assassin shut his mouth, refraining himself from saying anything more.

"Obviously there’s some issues you still need to work on" Walker spoke with a grin on his face. "But my offer still stands. We’d work better together"

"Keep on dreaming" Y/N expressed, rolling her eyes.

"If we’re being honest here, the only thing I dream about is you out of that suit" He forcefully flirted, looking down at her superhero outfit

She cringed at his useless attempt of seduction and missed the way Bucky’s expression turned dark in the split of a second. He clenched his jaw so hard his veins were visibly noticeable and his blue eyes were boring into Walker. If a simple stare could kill, he’d already be dead. He looked as menacing as can be with that hostile glare and his anger was reflecting itself through the way his muscles were bulging, ready to attack.

"Don’t do anything stupid" Sam warned him when he realized the man’s patience was running low.

Bucky growled and before any of them could react, the super soldier watched his newfound nemesis casually placing his hand on his girlfriend’s thigh. His entire body tensed and his blood ran cold.

"If you don’t take your hands off me in the next two seconds, you’re gonna lose both of them, Walker" Y/N threatened him.

"I’d take her word, Captain, ‘cause you’re about to be eaten alive" Sam advised him.

The soldier dismissed him and laughed, which only seemed to anger the woman and her boyfriend.

It all happened too fast for anyone to react. Just as Y/N was about to assault the man, Bucky decided to let his rage speak for himself and reached for Walker’s hand, twisting his fingers. He could almost feel the bones on the verge of breaking and his skin had started to turn red as the former assassin applied more pressure. The soldier grunted loudly in pain, trying to release himself from the tightening grip.

"Stop the car !" Bucky shouted.

The vehicle slowed down and he menacingly leaned toward Walker.

"If you so much as glance at her again, I will rip you to pieces"

Maybe it was the tone in his voice, or the serious promise of death he could see in his eyes, but the soldier bit back the lump in his throat, unable to answer. He looked terrified.

"Told you" Sam shrugged as Bucky released the man.

They both stepped out of the car, waiting for Y/N. The woman, still angry, turned to stare at the soldiers in blue and red.

"One more thing" She tilted her head.

Without notice, her fist collided with John Walker's jaw. The loud impact with his face was enough to almost knock him out and she smiled. Pleased with herself, she got up and followed her friends.

"Was that really necessary ?" Sam joked and they started walking.

"Oh c’mon, you know you’ve been dying to punch the guy" She smirked.

Bucky placed his human arm around her shoulders and a sweet kiss on the side of her forehead, secretly satisfied.

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x you #the winter soldier #the winter soldier x reader #the winter soldier imagine #the winter soldier imagines #the winter soldier fanfiction #winter soldier #winter soldier x reader #winter soldier imagine #winter soldier imagines #winter soldier fanfiction #tfatws #fatws #bucky x female reader #bucky x reader

[dreamwritesimagines]

Burn The Witch 3 - Ensnared [Bucky Barnes x Reader]

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful support and feedback my loves ! ❤ Here’s the next chapter, I hope you like it as well and please let me know what you think! ❤ Thank you! ❤❤❤

Warnings: Enemies to lovers, fake dating, mentions of blood, sex, violence, death, manipulation, language, guns.

Summary: Things aren’t always what they seem to be.

Series Masterlist

Finding out that the target you had been assigned to seduce and manipulate for information was actually a good person had its advantages and disadvantages.

For starters, the biggest advantage was that now you could prepare a strategy based on his personality. After all, good people were easier to trick, it was the people like you that would’ve given you a hard time if the roles were reversed. You had been taught to approach everyone with suspicion and pinpoint their weak spots to use against them and as it turned out, Bucky didn’t adapt the same strategy when it came to other people.

The disadvantage? You had no idea how to deal with that.

For years and years you had been trained to kill, lie, manipulate and not look back or feel guilty about any of it because you were told that all your targets were the kind of people that would’ve harmed you or others if they had the chance; so Bucky not being evil was surprising at the very least.

The infamous Winter Soldier hadn’t tried to hurt you when he was under attack, hadn’t tried to use you as a leverage to get out of there unlike what you would’ve done if the roles were reversed.

Needless to say, you were confused as hell.

“I mean when you think about it, it’s not surprising that he’s a good guy,” Chloe said, resting her feet on the table in the empty conference room, “Didn’t he fight against Thanos with Steve Rogers and everyone else?”

“I would’ve fought in that war if I could as well, it doesn’t mean that I’m a good person.”

She pouted, “That’s debatable. I think you’re a great person.”

“No I’m not. I swear to you I’m not.”

“Come on, you don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“If it were me, I would’ve pushed him into the line of fire without a second thought.”

“Exactly. We’re terrible people and we acknowledge that, Chloe.” Keith said as you tapped your pencil on the file,

“Back to the first impression strategy, guys. How do I meet Barnes?”

“Hold on, before we continue with the strategy you need to give me an answer about your cover job,” Chloe said, “We can’t have him suspect you’re hiding anything from him. Jobs are a huge part of someone’s life, it’ll come up.”

Keith raised his head, “What are the options?”

“Oh you know, the usual. Sales assistant, retail—“

“The last time you put me in retail for an undercover job, I ended up punching a customer.” he cut her off, “I vote no to the retail.”

“I’m sure they had it coming,” you deadpanned and Chloe hmmed.

“Fast food?”

“No, it makes my hair smell bad.”

“There’s a milkshake shop I can put you in, it doesn’t smell bad. It’s close to the coffee shop he and Wilson get their coffee from.”

“What’s the catch?”

A small grin pulled at her lips, “It’ll be good for the mission.”

You frowned as Keith sat up straighter, curiosity written all over his face. “Chloe? Share your devious plans with the class please?”

“It’s a retro milkshake shop and the uniforms are like….1940s pin up meets 1950s diner waitress.”

Keith started laughing and you stared at Chloe before letting out a groan, burying your face into your palms.

“I hate you so much.”

“Come on, it’s going to be Bucky Barnes’ wet dream, you know that!” Keith said, “On a completely unrelated note, can I see those uniforms?”

“No!” you snatched the phone from Chloe’s hand before Keith could take a look, “No you can’t!”

“I’m so going to take pictures, and when you become a handler I will use them to humble you.”

“I will shoot you if you do that, and can you please focus?” you insisted, “I have a meeting with General soon, and he will ask me about the strategy and I can’t go there with no ideas.”

“Just find something you and Barnes are interested in both, that never failed me,” Keith paused, “Well that, and my good looks.”

Chloe turned to look at him, “I gave her a huge file containing everything there is to know about him,” she said, “It will help her to make him fall in love, but meeting him is something else.”

“Guys,” he rolled his eyes “What are you, fifteen? It’s incredibly easy to meet people.”

“No, it’s incredibly easy to meet civilians,” you corrected him, “Or the bad guys. It’s not like Barnes goes to bars or anything, he’s not very social.”

“Yeah I get that but he has to do something.” he insisted, “Just hand me the file, are you sure you didn’t miss anything?”

“We didn’t—he does the same thing every superhero does,” Chloe threw her hands up, “He saves people if they’re in need, but how are we going to use that?”

You opened your mouth to answer but when the thought struck you, you took a sharp breath, narrowing your eyes. A smile lit up your face, the plan slowly forming in your mind and Keith frowned at you over the file.

“Y/N you’re smiling,” he reminded you, “It’s creepy when you do it genuinely.”

“He does, doesn’t he?” you asked as you turned to Chloe, “You’re right. Superheroes save people, and—and Barnes is not only a superhero, but he’s also a good guy right? He didn’t use me as a leverage while getting out of there, so he cares about people’s wellbeing, so to speak.”

“Yeah?”

You snapped your fingers, “I need to find someone to shoot me.”

“Same, you’re not special.”

Chloe gasped, “Keith!”

“Relax, she’s not serious.”

“No I’m very serious.”

He scowled, “Did you forget what happened when I accidentally shot you on a mission three years ago? It was just one time and you bitched at me for a whole month. You found me when I was working undercover in Brazil to show up at my apartment so that you could complain about it more, I don’t even know how you found my address, it was classified info.”

“I gave her your address.” Chloe held up a hand and Keith heaved a sigh.

“Thank you Brutus.”

“You had it coming,” you pointed out, “But forget about that for a second, okay? I think I just found our strategy. We’re going to use me as a bait.”

“What?”

“That’s how I’ll meet him. We will put me in a dangerous position and he will…” you tried to ignore the bitter taste at the back of your throat, “He will have to save me.”

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said, “He will help you and you will use that to lure him, did I get that right?”

“Exactly,” you grinned, “What better way to manipulate a hero than to give him somebody to save?”

She blinked a couple of times, then turned to Keith.

“Honestly, in times like these I wonder why I’m friends with you guys,” she commented, “Do you have any idea why on earth I’m friends with you?”

He shrugged his shoulders,

“I don’t know,” he said, “Because we’re fun when we’re not diabolical?”

                                           ***

The plan was pretty simple, it would look like a robbery gone wrong. You would be accompanied by one of the lower ranking agents who would pose as a robber so that if he got caught while getting away, it would pose no threat to your cover afterwards, not to mention it couldn’t be traced back to you or the operation.

Of course, you had to make sure that Bucky would stay behind and meet you while Wilson chased the bad guy off. Based on your observations on Wilson, saving people always came first rather than punishing the other person, he put the safety of innocents before anything else, so you had to find a way for them to think Wilson was more suitable for the chase.

Motorcycle. The rookie agent would get away on a motorcycle, which would require Wilson to use his wings to gain speed on him.

But God, you just hated playing the damsel in distress.

“I just want to say I’m honored that you picked me for this mission,” the agent was almost buzzing with excitement in the back alley while you waited until Wilson and Barnes was anywhere within hearing distance. “I heard- I heard so much about you Shrike. Ma’am.”

You leaned your back to the wall, crossing your arms.

“Is it true that you once killed a target using just a pencil?” he asked, “Or that you took down five armed people with a dagger?”

You turned your head to look at him better, amusement making you smile.

“Or- or that you can get information out of someone in just five minutes?” he held his breath, “Or that your father-“

“Don’t talk about my father.” You cut him off, the harsh command leaving your lips almost too fast and you felt the slight guilt pulling at your heartstrings before you shook your head.

“You’re a good shot, right?” you asked, “I don’t want to get the bullet stuck in my arm, you’ll just graze me.”

“I’m a great shot ma’am, top of my class.”

“And you need to make it look believable. Remember, if Wilson catches you—“

“He will take me to the nearest police station, and I will stay there until an agent is sent to pick me up. But do you want me to get caught?”

“Try not to,” you shrugged your shoulders “But if he does, don’t worry about it. He has no reason to believe it’s anything more than some mugging.”

His phone beeped and he checked it, then took a deep breath, “Barnes and Wilson are within hearing distance. Are you ready?”

“Let’s do this,” you said and he grabbed his gun, then pointed it at your arm. You cleared your throat, looking over your shoulder before you turned to him and let out a very high scream, probably enough to reach the people nearby. He pulled the trigger and the gunshot echoed through the alley, a burning spreading all over your arm and making you fall to your knees.

“Are you okay?” he stepped closer to you and you tried to catch your breath.

“Go!” you hissed and he ran to the motorcycle before he rode away and as soon as he was out of your sight, Barnes and Wilson ran to the alley and you started sobbing, holding onto your arm which throbbed in pain.

Good news was he was a good shot, and he had managed to only graze you. But considering that your cover was a civilian, you doubted civilians were used to gunshot wounds, so you had to make it dramatic.

“Ma’am?” Wilson rushed to you with Barnes following him and you tried to breathe through sobs.

“Thank God, please help me—“ you sniffled and looked at the other side of the alley, breathing fast, “He took my wallet, and-and he had a motorcycle…”

“On it. Buck, stay with her.” Wilson said and ran out of the alley as Barnes crouched down to your level while you kept panting, your knees pulled to your chest, leaning back to the wall.

“Hi,” he smiled at you softly and you took a trembling breath, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“Hello,” you managed to say as he stole a look at your arm before his eyes snapped back to yours.

“I’m Bucky,” he said, “What’s your name?”

“Y/N.”

“Can I look at your arm, Y/N?”

You pursed your lips together, pretending to consider it before you raised your hand so that he could see the graze on your upper arm. He furrowed his brows for a moment, and carefully lifted your arm to see it better under the street lights while you sniffled again.

“Am I—am I going to die?” you stammered and he let out a small chuckle.

“No,” he said, “No you won’t. It’s just a graze, it doesn’t even look like it’ll need stitches. I promise.”

“But how do you know?”

“Let’s just say I’ve had my fair share of arm injuries.”

You tried to keep the look of confusion on your face before you slowly averted your gaze from him to his metal wrist and you gasped, your jaw dropping as if you were distracted from the pain.

“Bucky? As in Bucky Barnes?” you asked, “Wait, no. Right? Can’t be.”

A look of regret flashed over his face, apparently he thought that would scare you but lucky for you, you had seen it coming while coming up with a strategy.

“I heard about you!” you said, “You fought against Thanos!”

He was taken aback at the fact that you didn’t accuse him of anything his head was obviously swarming with, and that would be the one thing you could base your whole plan on.

In order to make him fall in love with you and trust you, you had to act like you trusted him, act like you had little to no knowledge of the dark side of his past. Naïve civilian girl with a soft heart was the perfect cover because as far as you could tell from his file, Bucky Barnes just wanted to come back home from war.

He had been looking for something he could call his home for decades now and you’d let him believe you were his home until your orders told you otherwise.

“That’s it?” he asked when you didn’t continue and you pulled your brows together.

“Hm?”

“That’s all you…all you wanted to say?”

“Right—” you took a deep breath, “Right, I’m sorry. Thank you for all you’ve done, for saving the world.”

“No no, I didn’t mean—“ he stopped himself, “That wasn’t what I meant. Trust me, you shouldn’t be thanking me.”

“Well I am though,” you winced when you moved your arm before turning your head to check the dark alley “Bucky? Do you… do you think that robber would come back?”

“Sam’s got it covered.” he assured you, “Don’t worry. He’s not getting away, and he’s definitely not coming back here.”

“Okay.” You murmured and wiped at your eye again with the back of your free hand before you clutched at your arm again, a sob tearing itself from your chest. “God, it just—it hurts so bad...”

He shushed you gently, “I know it does sweetheart. Let’s get you to the hospital so that it will stop hurting, alright?”

Ah.

Even by 40s standards, sweetheart was a good sign.

You shook your head, “But I can’t go to the hospital.”

“Why not?”

“I’m on a budget.”

He blinked a couple of times, “Come again?”

“I don’t have enough money for the hospital. I’m sure if I put a band aid on it or something it’d work, you said it wouldn’t need stitches and there’s a pharmacy right around the corner you see—”

“That’s not how bullet wounds work, let’s go.” He helped you up but you stumbled into him, letting him catch you as you looked up at him.

“I apologize, I just feel dizzy…” you said and he smiled softly.

“Don’t worry about it,” his voice was soothing, “You think you can walk? I can carry you.”

“No I can—I can walk,” you stammered and let him lead you out of the alley, his arm wrapped around your waist tight before he looked down at you.

“You’re shaking,” he murmured to himself, then he took off his jacket to put it over your shoulders. You pulled the oversized jacket tighter around you, brushing the sleeve over your forehead to push back your hair and only when he turned to stop a taxi you let a tiny smirk pull at your lips despite the throbbing on your arm.

Well, your superiors were going to be pleased. The first part of the mission was done.

Now all you had to do was make him fall in love with you.

                             Chapter 4

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes imagine #marvel #the falcon and the winter soldier #falcon and the winter soldier #bucky barnes imagines #marvel imagine #marvel imagines #the winter soldier #the winter soldier x reader #tfatws #fatws

[flourgirl]

Sleepyhead

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Peter will try just about anything to help out the very pretty insomniac from his math class.

Work Count: 11.2k

Warnings: Just some sweet, pure fluff with a few curse words every now and then.

A/N: Either the tags aren’t working for me or you guys just didn’t like it, but the final part of “Even If It’s a Lie” has been out for a few days now if anyone’s interested in reading it 🥺 Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this super long piece I’ve been working on to help me get through finals <3

“Touch you softly I call you up late at night No doubt it isn't right But you could be my one and only” -Softly, Clairo

Peter had seen you around campus a few times, but it wasn’t until you started sitting two rows ahead of him in his linear algebra class that he really started to notice you. 

He thought you were really pretty, and he liked how cozy you always looked in the puffy winter coat you kept on in the perpetually freezing lecture hall. You took a lot of notes, which told him that you cared about the class, and never showed up without a giant cup of iced coffee.

You’re being a creep, Peter told himself. He had thought about switching seats to somewhere in front of you, so he could actually listen to his professor discuss permutations instead of staring at how you chewed on the end of your pen when you were thinking.

It was even worse when you started sleeping in class, your soft hair falling around your shoulders as you leaned your head against your desk. It seemed like all the coffee in the world couldn’t keep you awake, and Peter wondered if he should ask if you wanted to borrow his notes or something. But that would mean him admitting to looking at you way more than he needed to, and that was weird, so he quickly dropped the idea.

Still, he was worried about you. So when he came back from patrol in the middle of the night and bumped into you outside of the dorm kitchen, he figured it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce himself and maybe even find out why you were so tired all the time. 

The only problem was that he had accidentally knocked your pan of banana bread out of your hands, and you were currently staring at it laying on the floor with your sleepy eyes, not saying anything.

“Shit, uh, I’m so sorry,” he told you, crouching down to scoop up the remnants of your late-night snack into the pan. “Were you really up baking at 3 a.m?”

You blushed a little, starstruck that the cute guy from your math class was talking to you. “Um, yeah. I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d come down to the kitchen while nobody else was here and make something. Baking always helps me calm down, and so here I am. And here we are. And there’s my bread, all covered in whatever kind of dust the custodians refuse to sweep down here.”

He offered a soft smile, and it made you feel better about the fact that you were rambling way more than you wanted to.

“I’m Y/N,” you continued, gently taking the pan from his hands. “You’re in linear algebra with Professor Meyers, right?”

“Yeah, you, um, you sit right in front of me. Well, not right in front of me. Two rows in front of me. Shit. I’m not creepy, I promise. It’s just… uh… My name is Peter and I’m going to stop talking now.” 

That couldn’t have possibly gone any worse, he thought. You were probably thinking he was a serial killer or something.

“It’s okay. I know you sit behind me,” you reassured him. “You answer a lot of questions.” He was cute and smart, and you hoped he couldn’t notice how flustered you were to be this close to him.

“What are you doing up so late?” he asked, which made you laugh at how ironic his concerns were, considering he was also wandering around the dorm basement at this hour.

“I could ask you the same thing,” you replied, sitting on one of the benches that jutted out of the walls of the corridor. “I mean, you’re here too. At least I was baking. What’s up with you?”

You had a point. “I had an emergency… with my internship. I work for Stark Industries, and Mr. Stark rang me in the middle of the night to come to the lab immediately for something, so, yeah. That’s why I’m awake right now.”

“Okay,” you said, not buying his story. “So that’s why you have a black eye and you’re lurking in the basement hallway? Did Tony Stark punch you?”

Fuck. Did he really have a black eye and not notice? He didn’t think that Doc Oc’s stupid mechanical arm had punched him that hard, but apparently, he was wrong. And now he had to come up with some reason as to where it came from, although he could already tell that you were about to call his bluff.

The only solution he could think of was to change the subject. “Why are you always asleep during class?” he blurted out, causing you to give him a funny look before frowning down at your slippers.

“Isn’t it obvious,” you yawned, stretching your arms out in front of you. “I’m an insomniac. It’s actually kind of funny. I never really had any problems with falling asleep until I moved here. Maybe it’s the cold weather or the constant pressure to get good grades, but I just can’t sleep anymore. It sucks.”

Normally, you’d never tell this much about yourself to somebody, let alone a complete stranger. But somehow, you felt really comfortable around Peter. There was just something about him that made you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Peter caught himself staring at you again, your baby pink pajamas a far departure from how put together your usual outfits were. Even without your makeup or hair done, you were still the prettiest girl he had ever seen. For some reason, even the dark circles under your eyes were really cute to him.

“You never answered my question,” you reminded him, hoping that he’d say something to fill the awkward silence. “What’s with the black eye and wandering around in the middle of the night? Are you some kind of superhero?”

“What? No! That’s crazy. Me, a superhero,” he laughed awkwardly, wondering if you had somehow figured out his secret identity. Had you spotted him that one time he made sure that you and your friends got home safely from a late-night study session? Even so, you totally couldn’t have known it was him, right?

“Relax, I’m just joking,” you giggled, thinking about how cute he looked when he was flustered. “Although my friend did tell me she thought she saw Spider-Man a few weeks ago on her way back from a party.”

“Haha, yeah,” he breathed out, a wave of relief washing over him. It was times like these that he really started to appreciate how well-hidden his muscles were underneath all of his oversized sweaters.

“Does that hurt?” you asked, bringing your hand up to lightly brush his lip, which was bleeding. He flinched instinctively before settling under your touch, your eyes focused on the small cut. “I have a first aid kit in my room if you want some help cleaning it up.”

“Oh, no, it’s cool. I wouldn’t want to bother your roommate,” Peter told you, scooting further away on the bench, nearly falling off the edge of it. Ned hated it when he stumbled in at some ungodly hour after patrol and woke him up. 

“Don’t worry about it,” you said, standing up and gesturing for him to follow you. “I have a single.”

Peter looked at you in awe. Freshmen never got rooms to themselves, and yet somehow you had one. “Okay, fine. But only because I’ve never actually seen a single in this building before.”

“That’s cool with me,” you smiled, reaching for his hand so he could keep up with your pace. He noticed that you were chewing some of the banana bread, which he really hoped was from the part that didn’t fall on the floor. To be fair though, it did smell really good.

Not only did you have a single, but you lived on the first floor. Peter couldn’t believe how lucky you were, considering the building that the two of you lived in didn’t have any elevators to traverse its seven floors.

He was even more shocked when you opened your door, revealing the coziest dorm room he had ever seen. How on earth did you transform the glorified prison cell into something that felt so... comforting? From the twinkling lights that were wrapped around everything and the soft rug under his feet, Peter found it really hard to believe that you had trouble sleeping here.

“Sorry, it’s a bit messy,” you apologized, piling your many throw pillows and blankets into a basket to clear up some space on your bed. “You can sit here.”

If this was messy, then Peter and Ned’s room needed some serious help. “No worries,” he said, watching as you rummaged around your drawers in search of your first aid kit.

Eventually, you found it hidden under a bunch of graph paper and colored pencils, untouched ever since your overprotective grandparents had helped you move in. “Here we go,” you mused, now looking inside it for alcohol wipes and band-aids.

He winced as you rubbed the little cloth against his lips, and you made sure to be more gentle as you cleaned up the other cuts on his face. Thankfully, nothing was bad enough to require stitches, something you were seriously under-qualified to do.

All Peter could focus on the entire time was how close you were and what it would be like to just kiss you right then and there, but he knew that was way too forward of him. Plus, he didn’t even know if you liked him like that. Surely you were just being nice.

Still, the way he caught you staring into his brown eyes after smoothing a band-aid on his forehead made him think otherwise.

“You’re going to have to tell me eventually who beat you up,” you sighed, gathering up wrappers to throw away and tucking the first aid kit back into its place in your drawers.

“It’s a long story,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding your stare.

“I’ve got time,” you replied, climbing onto your lofted bed to sit next to him, innocently brushing your bare leg against his jeans, which made his breath hitch. “Tell me about it.”

“Uh, how about another time?” he stammered, hopping off the bed and running his hand through his hair. “After class tomorrow, or something. It’s getting pretty late. We should, um, go to sleep.”

“You can stay here if you want,” you offered, his eyes widening at your invitation. “On the bean bag, I mean. It’s actually really comfortable. You mentioned something about bothering your roommate and I figured that maybe you’d like to avoid the trouble tonight.”

“Oh…” Peter hesitated, looking for a reason to say no. He knew he’d never be able to sleep knowing that you were in the same room as him. “I don’t have any pajamas.”

“True,” you agreed, a little disappointed that he wasn’t interested in sticking around.

“I don’t actually even wear pajamas to sleep,” he continued, making you look back up at him instead of playing with the hem of your shirt. “It’s just… I sleep in my boxers.”

“I’m sorry for asking. I didn’t mean to put you in an uncomfortable situation,” you sighed, your face hot with embarrassment.

“It’s not that! I mean, I do want to stay here. But, uh, you… well, you make me really nervous, Y/N,” he muttered, his glance bouncing around the room.

“Why?” you asked, your brows furrowing. “Did I do something?”

“No, no! Nothing at all. I promise, okay?”

“Okay. You can, um, get ready for bed, I guess. I promise not to look,” you assured him, turning on your side to face the wall.

“Thanks. Yeah, alright.” You heard him fumbling with his clothes, his sneakers making a soft thud on your floor. You did your best to resist the urge to glance back at him.

“Can I just use any of these?” he asked, although you had no idea what he was talking about.

“Peter, I’m not looking, remember? You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.”

“The blankets. Do I just pick one, or are you particular about them?”

“Oh. You can use whichever one you want to. But the coral one’s the softest and my personal favorite.” Peter stared at the basket in confusion. To him, they were all just pink. But based on touch alone, he pulled one out that he figured was a little more orange than the others.

He walked over to the light switch and flipped off the overhead fluorescents, letting the room be illuminated by the warm glow of your fairy lights, which weren’t too bright, but still twinkly and beautiful.

“Goodnight, Peter,” you whispered, snuggling into your comforter in the hopes that your heartbeat would slow down and let you fall asleep for once.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” In a matter of minutes, you could hear his soft snoring, and you figured that it would be okay just to take a quick peek since he’d probably be bundled up in one of your blankets.

His hair was perfectly messy, and he looked so cozy wrapped up in the blanket you had recommended. Still, as much as you could stare at his adorable face all night, you were exhausted. Burying your face under the covers, you did your best to calm your nerves and get some rest before class tomorrow.

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

“Peter,” you whispered, jostling him lightly by the shoulders in the hopes of waking him up. “Uh, we have an hour before class. I was thinking that it would be enough time for you to go shower and change, and then we could go get coffee or something.”

He blinked back up at you, amazed at how well he slept on your bean bag. You had already gotten ready for the day, doing your makeup and picking out one of your many fluffy sweaters to keep you warm in the New York snow.

“Thanks, that sounds awesome,” he yawned, accepting the hand you held out to help him up. The blanket fell, and you stared at each other in shock, having forgotten that Peter was in nothing but his underwear.

You dropped his hand as fast as you could, covering your eyes. “Oh my god! I’m sorry. Shit, I completely forgot, Peter. I’m so sorry. I’ll let you get dressed.”

Peter watched as you stumbled around the room, your eyes squeezed tightly as your hands attempted to guide you away from him.

“Y/N,” he started, catching your attention as you nearly ran into your bed frame. “You can open your eyes. Really, I don’t care if you see me like this if it means I can keep you from breaking your nose.”

You hesitantly opened your eyes, relieved that Peter had already managed to pull his pants back on. Still, he was completely shirtless, and you found yourself staring at the abs you would have never expected to be hiding underneath his clothes.

Moments later, you averted your gaze, although you knew that he probably noticed you looking at where was now covered by his plaid button-down and dark blue sweater.

“I’ll, um, be right back,” he muttered, before practically sprinting out of your room and up the stairs. You groaned in embarrassment, burying your face in a pillow before attempting to take a quick twenty-minute power nap.

Peter couldn’t believe it. Sure, he had thought one time about you seeing him without clothes on, but this wasn’t how he thought it would go at all. Still, the image of you staring at him shirtless, your face flushed, made him feel like he was going to have a heart attack.

“Dude! There you are,” Ned screamed, startled at his roommate’s unexpected entrance. Peter panted, having run up four flights of stairs as fast as he could. “Wait a second. Did you finally get laid? Is this a walk of shame?”

Before Ned could praise him any further, Peter was grabbing a change of clothes and sprinting towards the bathroom. Don’t think about her, he begged himself.

The memory of your leg touching his last night immediately came to mind, and Peter was so angry at himself for being this starved for physical intimacy. To be fair, though, you were the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and so he cut himself some slack.

Shit, he told himself, making sure the water was set to cold. He needed to calm down, but instead, his thoughts were stuck on how good you looked in your pajamas, but also how good you would look without them and—fuck it. 

Peter liked you a lot, and if thinking about you like this in private kept him from being a complete weirdo in person, then maybe he just needed to get his feelings of desperation over with.

When he came back down to your room about thirty minutes later, you were still super tired. You trudged your way towards the door, your hair now noticeably messier than earlier, but at least that meant your nap had been a success.

His hair was still damp and this time he was wearing yet another blue sweater, which made you wonder if he ever wore any other color. He had his backpack slung over one of his shoulders and a nervous smile on his face as he locked eyes with you.

“Hey,” he said, pushing some of his hair out of his face. “Are you ready to go?”

You leaned against the doorway a little bit, letting out a yawn that was literally the cutest noise Peter had ever heard in his life. “Yeah, let me get my backpack.”

“It’s so heavy,” you continued, rightfully complaining as the weight of all its contents practically pulled you downwards. “I think it’s so stupid how almost every professor bans computers from class. Like, it’s not fair that I have to lug around three textbooks every day. I don’t have time to run back to my dorm in between classes like some people!”

Peter frowned. Three textbooks were nothing to him, but he knew that you didn’t have spidey-strength and that you were also pretty tiny compared to him. It must’ve been hell on your back to be carrying all that stuff around every day.

“I can carry it for you,” he offered, holding out his hand to switch with you. “Here, you can take my backpack if it’ll make you feel better. I have a lot of programming classes today, so I’ve only got my laptop and a notebook in there.”

You gave him a look of gratitude as he traded bags with you, literally taking the weight off your shoulders. He was right. His backpack was much more manageable for you, even if the dark grey contrasted with the light colors you always wore.

In contrast, it looked kind of odd for him to be walking around with a backpack that was covered in a soft pink floral pattern, much like everything else you owned, but the sight of him carrying your books brought a smile to your face. 

It was one of the sweetest things a guy had ever done for you, and Peter wasn’t even your boyfriend. He probably didn’t even think of you in that way.

“Uh, where do you usually get coffee?” he asked, slowing his pace so you could keep up. He felt bad seeing how tired you were, no doubt due to the lack of sleep you got last night.

“The Starbucks next to Hendrie Hall,” you replied, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. “You?”

“I don’t drink coffee,” he admitted. “I’m actually more of a tea person.”

“Oh,” you hesitated, wondering if it was worth it to walk all the way across campus just for a caramel ribbon crunch frappuccino. “We could go somewhere closer then.”

“It’s okay,” Peter reassured you, grabbing your hand and pulling you along to your destination. “I like walking.”

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

You hadn’t really talked to Peter since that morning before class, but sometimes you would peek behind you and catch him stealing glances at you. Eventually, he had started to feel brave enough to give you a little wave whenever you caught him looking at you. Well, at least the times when you were awake.

One day, not even the loud shuffling and growing chatter of your classmates exiting the lecture hall could wake you up, and Peter figured he better do something before you got chewed out by one of the TAs.

“Y/N?” he said, leaning closer so that you could hopefully hear him. “Y/N. You gotta wake up. Class ended three minutes ago.”

He shook you a little bit, nervously hoping that you wouldn’t mind him touching you. Your eyes fluttered open, and you smiled softly as soon as you realized it was Peter. 

“Oh. Thanks,” you said, standing up to slide your empty notebook into your backpack. Your hand brushed the side of your mouth, making sure you hadn’t drooled onto yourself.

“You can borrow my notes,” he offered, glancing at you sheepishly as you gathered up your coat and fixed your hair. “If you want to.”

“That’d be great,” you sighed, wondering whether you should skip your next class and just go take a nap. At this point, you weren’t even bothering to put on makeup and you basically wore whatever clothes you had that weren’t already sprawled across your room.

“Are you alright?” Peter asked, walking close to you to make sure you didn’t fall over. He knew you were an insomniac, but you looked seriously sleep-deprived today. “Have you been sleeping at all lately?”

“Nope,” you huffed, lugging your perpetually heavy backpack along. “But I’m skipping the rest of my classes today. I’d rather lie that I’m sick through an e-mail than have to explain to my professors why I was sleeping during their classes.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed, stopping you in your tracks to take your backpack from you. “I’ve actually got some time before my next class. I can walk you back to your room and give you my notebook if that’s okay with you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” you told him, reaching to take your bag back from him, although he didn’t let you. 

“Y/N. Come on, you’re exhausted. At least let me carry your stuff, alright?” He had such a kind look in his eyes, and you certainly didn’t have the energy to keep arguing for no reason.

“Okay.” You crossed your arms, the cold air slowly waking you up as the wind hit your face. Your ears were super cold, but you were glad you had pulled your hair into a quick braid to keep it from flying everywhere.

It wasn’t long before you were kicking your boots off in your dorm room, your teeth chattering as you wrapped yourself in a blanket. 

“Do you want some tea?” you asked Peter, inviting him to sit down wherever.

“Sure, but I thought you drank coffee,” he reminded you, watching as you pulled an assortment of tea bags for him to choose from.

“I do,” you said, handing him the box and running to your bathroom to fill up the electric kettle. “But you drink tea.”

Peter’s ears suddenly felt hot. You had gotten tea just for him. Or maybe you were just a really good hostess and kept some around for all of your visitors. Probably the second option, he thought.

“Are you even allowed to have one of those?” he asked as the two of you waited for the water to boil.

“No,” you laughed, sitting next to him on your bed. For someone with so much space to themselves, you really needed to invest in more places to sit. “But you can’t have candles or fairy lights either, so I guess I’m just a rule breaker.”

“Guess I’ll just have to report you to the RA,” Peter teased, getting up to make himself a cup of earl grey. “Do you have any sugar?”

“Top drawer on the right,” you replied. “Do you have a sweet tooth?”

“Yes.” You watched as his lips blew on the tea to cool it down before remembering that it was weird to stare.

“You should let me bake something for you. What’s your favorite dessert?” You were kicking your dangling legs, suddenly feeling a lot more awake than this morning.

“Chocolate cake. With chocolate frosting,” he said in between sips, walking back over to you. With you on the tall bed and him standing, your faces were level with each other.

“I’ll have to make you one to thank you,” you smiled, peering into his eyes. Peter felt your heartbeat quicken, and the grin on your face as you stared at each other made him weak in the knees.

“Can I get those notes?” you asked, making him remember that people don’t just look at each other and say nothing like that.

“Oh! Yeah, definitely.” He quickly set the mug down on your nightstand to rummage through his backpack, flipping one of his notebooks open before handing it to you. “There are the ones from today, but all of the ones I’ve taken this semester are in there too.”

“Wow,” you laughed, making a worried expression form on his face.

“What’s wrong? Are they not good?”

“No, it’s not that. They’re just, uh, very thorough.” He had basically transcribed your professor’s lectures onto the pages. “You must write really fast. But thank you, Peter. I really appreciate it.”

Peter nodded before nervously gulping down the rest of his tea, not even noticing how hot the liquid still was as it nearly burned his throat. 

“I should go now,” he started, looking around the room for his things. “I want you to get some rest, Y/N. Please.”

He had this look in his eyes that was so genuine—so full of care and concern—that it made you want to do whatever he asked you to.

“I’ll try,” you told him, awkwardly rubbing the top of your arm in the hopes that you could actually fall asleep after he left. “Have a nice day, Peter.”

“Bye, Y/N. I’ll stop by later,” he said, already halfway out the door. “For the notes, I mean! Uh, bye. Again. Okay. I’m going to go now.” 

You giggled, giving him one last wave before he left. Like magic, the more you thought about how Peter was worried about you, the easier it was for you to drift off into a peaceful sleep, finally feeling at ease for the first time in weeks.

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

You woke up later that day to Peter knocking on your door, this time standing next to some guy in a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt.

“Hi, Y/N,” Peter greeted you. You looked a lot less tired than when he saw you this morning, which relieved him. “This is my roommate, Ned. He just wanted to know who I’ve been hanging out with, so I hope it’s okay that I brought him here to prove you’re real and not a figment of my imagination.”

Ned leaned closer to you, your hair still a little messy from your nap. “Blink twice if he’s paying you,” he whispered, causing you to giggle. Peter looked on nervously, unsure of what his best friend had just said to you.

“What did you say!?” he asked, lightly pushing Ned on the arm, knowing that it was probably something meant to embarrass him.

“Ow! Okay, now I’m really not telling you,” Ned replied, rubbing the spot where Peter had just hit him.

“Y/N, what did Ned say to you?” He turned to you, a worried look on his face as you and Ned held back your laughter. Peter’s face turned as red as a tomato, making you instantly feel a little bit bad. 

“It was nothing, Peter. Really,” you said, pulling him into the room with you. “It was nice to meet you, Ned. I’ll make sure he’s back before curfew.”

Ned laughed, offering a quick thumbs up and mouthing “I like her” to Peter before you shut the door on him.

“I knew that was a mistake,” Peter sighed, his back against the door. You were still a bit giddy from the exchange, giggling softly as he slowed his breathing.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed around me,” you reassured him. “We’re friends, right?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s just that…”

“What?” You could barely hear him as his voice trailed off.

“Well, uh, not all of my friends are, you know…”

“Spit it out, Peter,” you said, leaning closer so that you could hear him better.

“They’re not as pretty as you,” he muttered, making you blush at his words. Did he really think you were pretty?

“Oh. Thanks,” you smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. Peter lifted his head up, relieved that you didn’t think he was a creep or something.

“Your notebook’s on my desk,” you continued, stepping back a little to give him some space. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding as the distance between you and him grew. “I just took a bunch of pictures, so I can look at them on my computer whenever.”

“Alright, awesome,” he said, walking over to collect it before turning back to you. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty well, actually. The best I’ve slept in a while. I think you’re some kind of good luck charm.”

“Really?” he asked, a little surprised that he had been helpful.

“Really. You know, I’ve been thinking…”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe it’d be nice if we hung out somewhere that wasn’t my room all the time,” you said, a hopeful look in your eyes. “If you want.”

Peter had never noticed it before, but the two of you really did spend most of your time together in your room. It really was a nice room, but it made sense that you’d want to get out of it every once and a while.

“I’d like that. What did you have in mind?” Play it cool, Parker, he told himself. You can freak out with Ned later.

“How about ice cream on Friday?” you suggested, which came as a bit of a surprise to him.

“In the middle of winter?” As far as Peter could remember, you were always cold.

“Yeah. I really love ice cream,” you added, smiling up at him.

“Okay, then. Ice cream it is,” he agreed. There was absolutely no way he could ever say no to you when you looked at him like that.

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

“May! No, it’s not a date. She’s just a friend. Yeah, I got it. Open the door, pay for her, don’t be an idiot!” Peter sighed into his phone, hoping his aunt’s unwarranted crash course on first dates would be over soon. “Yes, I’m wearing the green sweater. Thanks, love you. Bye!”

“I have no idea who told her I had a date tonight,” he groaned, slumping down onto the couch next to his best friend.

“I texted her,” Ned replied nonchalantly, not even looking away from whatever video game he was playing. “Knew you’d need some kind of pointers. Y/N is way out of your league.”

“Hey!” Was he right? Yes. Did Peter need to be reminded of it right before his not-a-date date with you? Definitely not.

“Come on, you know I’m right. It’s Liz Allan all over again. I have no idea how you keep pulling all of these pretty girls, but hey, credit where credit is due.”

“You’re so mean.”

“I keep it real and you love it. Good luck, man.”

“Bye,” Peter grumbled, slipping on his coat and walking out of their room. Four flights of stairs later, he was at your door.

“Hi!” you squeaked, wrapping your arms around him. This was the first time the two of you had ever hugged and Peter was not going to forget about it anytime soon. “Come in. I have a surprise for you!”

“Here,” you continued, holding out a blue and white beanie for him. “I made it for you. To match all those blue sweaters you wear all the time.” Except this time, he was wearing a forest green one, which brought out the slight hazel tinge in his eyes.

“You made this for me?” he asked, eyeing the different stitches you had used and fiddling with the pom-pom on top. It looked store-bought.

“Well, yeah, silly. I just said that,” you replied, hoping that he liked it. With all the time you didn’t sleep, you were knitting anyway, but this was a special present for him. “Try it on.”

“I didn’t get you anything,” he sighed, pulling the hat onto his head. He looked really cute, the ends of his wavy hair peeking out from underneath the brim.

“Don’t worry about it,” you said, pulling him out of your room and towards the front of the dorm building. “Getting to hang out with you is good enough for me.”

“Where’d you learn how to knit?” Peter questioned, walking alongside you on the snow-lined sidewalks. With how cold it was, and considering he didn’t have a hood on his coat, it seemed like perfect timing that you had given him a hat.

“My grandma taught me,” you shared, taking in the twinkling of the streetlamps and how they bounced against the snow. In New York, that was practically the closest you could get to stargazing. “My, uh, grandparents actually raised me.”

“Oh. I was raised by my aunt and uncle,” Peter confided. It made you feel not so alone to find out that he didn’t grow up with his parents either, even though you knew firsthand just how hard it was.

“Do they live around here?” you asked, stealing glances at him and how rosy his cheeks were in the cold air.

“Yeah, my aunt lives in Queens,” he told you, staring at his feet to both avoid eye contact and make sure neither of you accidentally slipped. Not that he wouldn’t catch you, but he wanted to be safe. “My uncle actually passed away a couple of years ago.”

You stopped walking, immediately feeling a sense of regret. “I’m sorry, Peter. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay, Y/N. There was no way for you to have known that,” Peter reassured you, his warm breath coming out in clouds, and he reached for your hand to run his thumb across your knuckles. He gently pulled you along, keeping you from dying of embarrassment in the middle of campus.

“What about you? Are you from around here?” he asked, hoping to break the silence and make you feel a little bit better.

“No, I just moved up here for college. I grew up in Texas but moved to North Carolina when I was 13, so I finished school down there,” you explained, Peter suddenly noticing a slight Southern twang to your voice. “I just really wanted to go to school in a big city and not next to a farm for once in my life.” 

“That makes sense,” he laughed, wondering what it would be like to live somewhere else. “I’ve only ever lived in New York City.”

“Do you like it here?”

“I love it. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, to be honest.”

“Me either,” you sighed, squeezing his hand tighter as the two of you enjoyed your walk in the snow.

It seemed like forever before you reached the ice cream shop, but you didn’t mind. That just gave you and Peter more time to get to know each other better. Turns out you both competed in academic decathlons, although you were more of a math person and he preferred science.

“Okay, you’re wrong. Night at the Museum 2 is so much better than the first one. I mean that kiss between Ben Stiller and Amy Adams? The Jonas Brothers as little cherub angels? Name one thing from the original that tops that,” you ranted in between spoonfuls of peppermint ice cream.

“I just really like when the little cowboy and gladiator are driving that toy car around,” he reasoned, subtly admitting defeat.

“Don’t even get me started on why the second Shrek movie—”

You were interrupted by the sound of Peter’s phone ringing, and you immediately recognized his ringtone as the Coconut Mall theme from Mario Kart. He peered down at his phone screen, sighing and mouthing an apology to you as he accepted the call.

“Uh, hey, Mr. Stark. Did you need something?” Well, at least you knew he wasn’t lying about his internship at Stark Industries. “Toronto? Tonight? I’m kind of busy.”

There was a long pause as Peter mentally kicked himself for talking back to Tony, resulting in an earful about how being an Avenger should always be at the top of his priorities.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I’ll be right over… but I need a favor. Could you send Happy to pick my friend up? Yeah, it’s the ice cream shop on 1st. Thank you so much, Mr. Stark. Bye.” He frowned at you, and you could tell from what you had heard that he had to go.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. It’s just, something came up last minute and Mr. Stark really needs me to go on this business trip with him,” he apologized, pulling his coat on. “But, uh, he’s sending a car for you. So don’t worry about walking back alone, alright? I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you when I get back, okay? Bye!”

“Oh, okay. Bye!” you managed to call out before he was running out the doors and down the street. Lots of customers were staring as you awkwardly gathered your things and went to go wait on the sidewalk.

A few minutes later, a shiny black car had pulled up to the curb in front of you, a man rolling down the window.

“Miss Y/N? I’m Happy Hogan. Mr. Stark sent me to drive you home,” he called from the driver’s seat, before getting out to open your door for you. You stepped in, a little starstruck at how nice the car was. You had never been in anything this expensive before. 

The two of you were sitting in silence until you finally got the courage to speak up. 

“Mr. Hogan,” you started, causing him to turn down the smooth jazz that had been playing on the radio. “Do you know why Peter has to go to Toronto?”

“Yes,” he replied, glancing at you in the rearview mirror. “But I can’t tell you that.”

“Oh, okay,” you accepted, shifting to look out the window at all of the places in the city that you hadn’t yet gotten the chance to explore. 

Eventually, he was dropping you off in front of your dorm, and you were trudging inside to your room to sulk about how your not-a-date date with Peter had gotten interrupted. You stared at your ceiling all night, wondering when the next time you’d see each other would be, and whether or not he’d come back with the same cuts and bruises as when you had first met.

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

Peter had been gone for six days and counting, and you were starting to worry that he might never come back. You had already started missing him the night he left, and now it was just some agonizing waiting game for him to return.

You must have spent hours in the basement kitchen before deciding to visit the fourth floor where Peter lived. You knocked on the door and was quickly met with Ned’s shocked expression.

“Uh, hi, Y/N. Peter’s not here right now. Did you need something?”

“I know,” you acknowledged, holding up the plate in your hand. “It’s just, well, I’ve been baking a lot and I didn’t really know who to give all of these cookies to, so I was wondering if you wanted any.”

“Oh, in that case, sign me up!” You watched as his face lit up as he noticed the assortment of chocolate chip, sugar, and snickerdoodle cookies all still warm from the oven. He offered his hands out to take the plate from you, which you happily relinquished. 

“These are really good,” he complimented, his mouth full of a sugar cookie. “Can I keep the rest of them?”

“Yeah, of course,” you answered, doing your best to smile despite how much you wished it had been Peter opening the door. ��I’ll see you around, Ned.”

“Hey, Y/N,” he called out to you, making you turn around on the stairwell. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Peter’s going to be back any day now.” You nodded, offering him a wave and walking back down to your room.

Turns out Ned had been right. The strange noises outside of your window were masked by how loud you were jamming out to We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel, jumping around and listing off the lyrics that had never made much sense to you. Peter knocked louder on the glass, startling you as you quickly switched off the music to investigate.

“Holy shit,” you whispered, squinting your eyes to make sure you weren’t hallucinating. “Spider-Man? Is that really you?”

You fumbled to push up your window, extremely confused as to why one of the Avengers was outside your bedroom this late at night.

“It’s me, Y/N,” he explained, his voice suddenly becoming extremely familiar. Your eyes widened as you realized who was behind the mask.

“Oh my god! PETER?” you screamed as he slipped through the window, pulling off his mask and clapping a hand over your mouth.

“Don’t freak out. It’s okay. It’s just me, okay?” he stammered in an attempt to get you to calm down before an RA heard. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I really wanted to tell you, but we were in public when I left, and I couldn’t risk it. And I didn’t want to text it or do it over the phone because it’s kind of a big deal, so I figured I’d just come to see you as soon as I got back and Mr. Stark said that you have to promise—”

“It’s okay, Peter,” you interrupted, wrapping your arms around him and burying your face into the very weird material of his spider-suit. “I won’t tell anybody.”

He softened under your touch, resting his head on top of yours. “I like your dance moves,” he whispered, making you glare up at him, your face suddenly very red.

“How long were you watching?” you groaned, dramatically throwing yourself onto your bean bag, your face covered by your hands.

“Only for about a minute,” he answered, pulling your hands down so you could see him grinning at you. “I especially liked how you used your hairbrush as a microphone. Plus, I thought we agreed to stop being embarrassed around each other?”

“Well, that was before I knew you were freaking Spider-Man!”

“Okay, fair enough,” he agreed, nudging you to scoot over and make room for him.

“So, that’s what that whole Toronto thing was?” you asked as he sat next to you, your knee touching his.

“Yep. There was this thing about aliens and these guys that could shapeshift. It’s a lot to explain.”

“Are you going to keep that thing on all night?” you asked, gesturing at his outfit, which was very tight and very distracting from whatever alien story he had to tell.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess so,” he shrugged. “I don’t have anything on underneath it.”

“How scandalous,” you teased. “Not so family-friendly after all, huh, Spidey?”

“Oh, shut up,” he quipped, rolling his eyes as you let out a long yawn.

“Have you been sleeping much?” he continued, suddenly remembering the issue that had brought the two of you together in the first place.

“Of course not. I’ve been too busy worrying about my classes and, oh, just some idiot I know that abandoned me in the middle of an ice cream shop. Pretty sure he said he’d make that up to me, by the way.”

“Okay, okay. Message received. What would you like?” Please say a kiss. Please say a kiss. Please say a—

“Can I meet them? The Avengers, I mean. It’s not like anyone else really has a secret identity except for you.”

“Oh. I mean, I’d have to ask Mr. Stark and the rest of the team and see if they’re cool with it, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Awesome! You’re the best,” you chimed, wrapping your arms around him and planting a kiss on his cheek.

It was then that Peter decided he would just never be able to wash that side of his face again, his heart nearly skipping a beat.

“Peter,” you said, breaking the silence he had left the two of you in. “I’m tired.”

“Me too,” he sighed. “I should head up to my room. Gotta make sure Ned knows I’m still alive.”

“Yeah, of course,” you agreed, standing up to see him out. “Aren’t you worried somebody will see you, though?”

“Y/N, it’s 4 a.m. I’m pretty sure that you and I are the only people on campus that are awake right now.”

“Oh, right. Still, be careful, okay?” you told him, slightly worried at his secret identity being found out by some college kid that just couldn’t stay off Twitter.

“Will do,” he said, smiling and giving you a little salute before leaving.

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

A few days later, before you could even greet him, Peter was already walking into your room. It was 10 p.m., a little earlier than when he usually came over, but by now you were used to him showing up at your door unannounced.

He was already wearing his pajamas, a t-shirt with a science pun and some flannel pants that he had invested in to avoid any more awkward moments between the two of you. You were dressed in leggings and a sweatshirt, the clothes you usually threw on after class just in case you fell asleep on accident. There had been more times where you had woken up sweaty with your jeans stuck to your legs than you were willing to admit.

“Okay, so I asked Mr. Stark about your request and he told me he doesn’t think now is a good time, but…” he grinned, holding out a giant cardboard box with some kind of minimalist home appliance on the front for you to look at.

“Am I supposed to know what that is?” you blinked back, trying to figure out what the hell you were staring at, considering that all of the text written on it was in a language you didn’t know how to read.

“It’s some fancy white noise machine from Japan. If I remember correctly, Mr. Stark said he made Pepper order it because I wouldn’t shut up about you, and it would be in everybody’s best interest if you got some sleep, so I could stop annoying him and the rest of the team.”

“Oh. That’s pretty thoughtful, I guess,” you said, gathering things off your floor to make space for it.

He set the box down on your rug and got to work opening it. Meanwhile, you were busy translating what exactly Tony Stark had so generously gifted to you.

“Peter, wait. This thing is like $300. Doesn’t he know that you can just look up whale noises on YouTube for free?”

“Yeah, but this one adjusts its volume based on the noises around it, has a light that simulates the sun rising, and has an alarm noise that’s supposed to support healthy cortisol levels.”

Peter peered up to see your arms crossed and brows furrowed, it suddenly becoming clear to him that the things he had just listed meant very little to you.

“Plus, he’s a literal billionaire, so I don’t think it was that big of a loss for him,” he added.

“Fine. Let’s just hope this thing works,” you sighed, watching as Peter leafed through the instruction manual before tossing it behind him. “It’s a little early to go to sleep, though.”

“Y/N, plenty of people go to sleep at 10. Not everybody is nocturnal like you.”

“I guess you have a point,” you agreed, kneeling down beside him as he fiddled with all the settings.

“I know,” he said with a smirk as you rested your chin on his shoulder to get a better look at what he was doing. “What time do you want to wake up? 7 a.m. would give us time to go get breakfast before class, but we could do 8 if you wanted to sleep in.”

“We?” you mused, liking the sound of that. “I guess that means you’re staying here tonight?”

“Well, yeah. I’m not letting you have all these overpriced rainforest noises to yourself.”

“Do 7. We can go get those blueberry muffins that you like,” you decided, standing up to get Peter’s makeshift bed on your bean bag ready. “Do you actually like sleeping on this thing, or were you just trying to be polite the first time I asked?”

“Dude, that thing is awesome. It’s like I’m on this little cuddly cloud, and then you add all those warm blankets and the twinkly lights and it’s the perfect recipe for me to fall asleep.”

“Wow,” you nodded, looking around your room to see all of the things that Peter was talking about. “I wish it worked that way for me.”

“Maybe it will, tonight.”

It didn’t. You were tossing and turning for nearly an hour to the agonizing sounds of birds cawing and the occasional monkey chatter, all set against the backdrop of a heavy thunderstorm. To be honest, it was something that would’ve given you nightmares when you were little.

“Y/N?” Peter whispered from the floor. “Are you sleeping?”

“No.”

“Me neither.”

“Could you turn that thing off? It’s really distracting me.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said, leaning over to switch the noise machine off. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything.”

He hesitated, not really sure if he should ask the question that he had been thinking about for a while now. “How old were you when your parents died?”

You had to think for a moment, not really sure about the answer. For as long as you could remember, you just lived with your grandparents. “Um, well my mom left when I was a baby. And I think my dad passed away when I was four.”

“Oh,” Peter mumbled. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a parent leave you, but he didn’t want to pry just in case it was a sensitive topic. “Are your grandparents from your mom or dad’s side?”

You rolled over to rest your head on the edge of your bed so that you could see him better. He looked so cute bundled up in all of your blankets, his hair already a bit messy. “They’re my mom’s parents. It’s weird. I see a lot of pictures of her from when she was growing up, and I look so much like her, but she’s basically a stranger to me.”

Peter opened his mouth to say something else, but there was a long pause and he decided not to.

“What about you? How old were you when your parents passed away?”

“Five or six. They met while working at the C.I.A. together, but most of my memories are from the stories my aunt and uncle told me when I was growing up.”

For a moment, neither of you could find the right words to say to each other.

“Peter,” you spoke up, interrupting his thoughts. “I’m really glad I met you.”

“I’m really glad I met you too.”

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

Peter’s next plan of action involved even more advice from his fellow Avengers, and you were not looking forward to trying out any of their suggestions. 

“Okay, so, Steve—I mean Captain America—said that when he was little, you know, in the 1940s, all he had to do was drink a glass of warm milk before bed.”

“I’m lactose intolerant,” you groaned, crossing your arms.

“I just saw you eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry’s in one sitting the other day.”

“Regular milk has almost 15 times more lactose than ice cream. You’d think a science nerd like you would know that.”

“I’m a geek,” he scoffed, clearly a little bit offended. “Not a nerd.”

“Yeah, I can see that now. It’s okay, though. At least you’re pretty,” you said, pinching his cheek.

“Just try it,” he grumbled, handing you the warm glass and waiting impatiently for you to take a sip. If anything, the milk did a better job at keeping you up that night than putting you to sleep. Not even thirty minutes after you had gone to bed, you were feeling sick to your stomach.

“I hate milk,” you gagged, Peter holding your hair back as you kneeled over the toilet bowl. “My grandpa could never get me to drink it as a kid.”

“Is that why you’re so short?” he laughed, helping you up. You glared at him as you moved to the sink to wash the acidic taste out of your mouth.

“Shut up, Parker,” you quipped, tired and grumpy from how terrible you felt. “Let’s just go back to sleep.”

“Alright, munchkin,” he smiled, pulling you out of the bathroom and back towards your bed.

Somehow, the warm milk wasn’t even the worst of Peter’s ideas, because a few days later, he was standing at your door with a bottle of some Asgardian sleep aid from the lightning god himself.

“Are you sure this is safe for me to drink?” you asked, your eyes widening as you stared at the silvery liquid that was almost shimmering.

“Uh, I’m about 87% confident you’ll live,” he said, “But I’m 100% sure that it’ll work.”

“Gee, thanks. Now I really want to drink this weird alien potion,” you sighed, looking at him nervously.

“Just drink a little bit and see if you feel anything,” Peter encouraged, leaning over your shoulder. You nodded, hesitantly bringing the drink up to your lips to take a sip.

“This stuff tastes amazing,” you mused, taking a bigger gulp this time. “Like a blue raspberry slushie.”

“Whoa, that’s enough,” he warned, taking the bottle from your hands before you could drink any more of it. “We don’t want you to go into a coma.”

“I don’t feel anything,” you shrugged, frowning back at him. “Maybe I should—”

You stopped mid-sentence to let out a loud yawn, the potion starting to take effect. Peter caught you as you slumped down in your chair, helping you into bed.

“Okay. I definitely feel it now,” you admitted, already half asleep. Peter tucked you under your blankets, placing a kiss on your forehead as your eyes fluttered shut.

“Sweet dreams, Y/N,” he whispered, turning off your lights and softly closing the door behind him. 

For a moment, Peter had thought he had finally found a solution to your insomnia. At least before you slept through class the next morning. And then the day after that. But it wasn’t until the third day that he really started to freak out.

“Where’s Thor!?” he panted, having run all the way from his class over to the Avengers Tower. Wanda and Vision stared back at him from the kitchen, very confused at what he was so panicked about.

“He’s in his room,” Bucky called from the couch, his mouth full of popcorn as 13 Going on 30 played on the big screen. “What’s going on, kid?”

“No time to explain. Gotta go!” Peter called, sprinting up the stairs towards Thor’s room. He knocked frantically until the door finally swung open.

“Greetings, young Spiderling. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Thor smiled, his long, golden hair shiny as ever.

“I think I killed my almost-girlfriend!” Peter blurted out, practically sweating from how stressed out he was. “She drank that stuff you gave me and she hasn’t woken up in three days now!”

Thor chuckled, patting Peter on the head. “Do not worry, my brother. I’m sure she will wake up given time. It was a very potent drink, after all. Calm yourself.”

“Okay,” he sighed, relieved to know that he hadn’t poisoned you to death. “Cool. Cool, cool, cool. She’s fine. Everything’s fine. Thanks, man. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you around.”

“Farewell, Peter. May we meet again soon,” he grinned before closing the door in Peter’s face.

On the way back down the stairs, Peter figured he’d give you a call and see if you were still sleeping.

“Hello?” you groaned, your throat dry from just waking up. “Peter, what the hell happened to me?”

“THANK GOD YOU’RE ALIVE!” Peter yelled into the phone, making you recoil from the volume of his excitement. “You’ve been asleep for three days, Y/N. I thought you were dead.”

“I am very much alive,” you laughed, slowly feeling the potion wearing off. “Where are you?”

“Uh. I may have run all the way to Midtown to ask Thor if I had killed you,” he admitted, feeling you roll your eyes through the screen. “I was worried, okay?”

“Now you know how I feel whenever you leave for a mission,” you countered, glad that Peter couldn’t see how much you were blushing. “Hurry up and get your butt back over here. I have the weirdest dream to tell you about.”

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

Even if you still weren’t getting a full eight hours of rest at night, it was obvious that all of Peter’s efforts had vastly improved your sleep schedule. Over the past few months, you had gone from staring at your ceiling all night to actually being able to stay asleep for small periods of time.

“Your eyelashes are so long,” you mused, playing with Peter’s hair. He was sitting in between your legs and How the Grinch Stole Christmas was playing on your TV.

“Really?” He tilted his head back to look at you, batting his eyelashes and making you giggle.

“Yes. It’s not fair that boys get all of the pretty eyelashes,” you pouted, watching as the Grinch explained his plan to steal all of Whoville’s presents to his dog.

“I think yours are pretty,” he replied, a soft smile on his face. “But there’s a rogue one just hanging out on your face right now.”

“Can you get it?” you asked, your eyes still glued on the TV screen. Peter nodded, twisting around to gently brush the eyelash from your cheek.

“Do you want to make a wish?” he laughed, holding the little eyelash on the tip of his finger in front of you.

“Okay,” you agreed, squeezing your eyes shut and blowing it away. When you opened them, Peter’s face was only inches away from yours.

“What did you wish for?” His gaze shifted downwards to look at your lips for a split second, before returning to look into your eyes.

“I can’t tell you, dummy. Then it won’t come true.” You weren’t about to tell your best friend that you wished for him to kiss you. At least not now, while the two of you were stuck in this really weird “not dating, but more than just friends” limbo.

“Fine,” he frowned, crossing his arms and pouting in a way that you recognized had been mimicked after you.

“Don’t make fun of me,” you said, mirroring his stance. Your puppy dog eyes were definitely a lot more convincing than his.

“I’m not.”

“Uh-huh, sure. You smell really good, by the way. Well, your hoodie does. I could just wrap myself up in it and fall asleep.”

“How come you’ve never mentioned that before? You could’ve been out cold every night months ago!”

“Guess I was just too distracted by your dreamy face,” you teased, causing Peter to blush.

“Whatever. Seriously, though. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know. I think it took me a while to realize how sleepy I got whenever you were really close to me,” you shrugged. “You’re not mad at me, right?”

“Of course not. But if I had known sooner I would’ve just given you one,” he said, slipping the hoodie over his head and handing it to you. “Here, put it on. You better fall asleep instantly or I’m calling bullshit.”

“You caught me, Peter. This was all some elaborate plan for me to steal one of your hoodies.”

“Just put it on. The suspense is killing me.”

You rolled your eyes and pulled his hoodie on. Just from looking at Peter and how slim he was, you never would have guessed that it would be this oversized on you.

“How do I look?” you asked, striking silly poses in front of him. Peter involuntarily licked his lips and he knew he’d be replaying this image of you in his head for the next few weeks.

“You’re going to have to keep that,” he stammered, doing his best to hide how much he really liked seeing you in his clothes. “It looks a lot better on you. I, um, have to go do my homework. And call my aunt. And walk my roommate.”

Peter stumbled to his feet, staring at his wristwatch to maintain his act that he was late for something before grabbing his things and heading out the door, making sure to hold his backpack in front of him. “Let me know if the hoodie thing works. Bye!”

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

Brushing off Peter’s strangely abrupt departure from last night, you nuzzled into your pillow, the warm morning light spilling through your curtains. Last night had probably been your best sleep in months, and you even got to wake up late since it was Saturday. Things probably couldn’t have gone any better.

Before you knew it, you were running up to Peter’s room and banging on his door. He opened the door on your fourth knock, right after Ned had chucked a pillow at him, and you were met with his sleepy eyes and messy hair.

“It worked!” you yelped in excitement, twirling around and still wearing his hoodie. “Well, kind of. I fell asleep after about an hour, and then I slept for maybe three after that. But I had to pee in the middle of the night, and when I got back into bed I couldn’t fall back asleep until 6 a.m.”

“That’s some good progress,” he yawned, stepping out into the hallway to keep your little celebration from bothering Ned too much. “If only we could get you to sleep the entire night.”

“I know right. But I’m so happy!” you cheered, wrapping your arms around him. “We finally did something right!”

“We need to celebrate!” you continued, grabbing Peter’s hand and dragging him down the stairs. “Come on. We’re making you a chocolate cake!”

You stopped by your room on the way to the kitchen, piling a bunch of ingredients into Peter’s arms from your mini-fridge and various shelves.

“Okay, eggs, flour, butter, sugar, chocolate. Damn it. We’re all out of milk.” You side-eyed him, remembering the whole Captain America induced fiasco from a couple weeks ago. 

“I think we might have some in our room,” Peter laughed. “Ned drinks a lot of milk mixed with Milo powder. It’s some obsession he picked up when his family took a vacation to Australia. I’ll go get it.”

He set all of the ingredients you had given him on your desk and sprinted back up the stairs to raid Ned’s stash, already thinking of ways to apologize for it later.

A few minutes later he was knocking on your door, out of breath, and dressed to brave the many inches of snow that had fallen overnight. 

“We didn’t have any milk,” he panted. “But I can run to the dining hall and get a few cartons.”

“I’ll go with you.” You quickly pulled on your snow boots and layered your puffer coat on top of Peter’s hoodie, wrapping a hand-knit scarf around your neck just to be safe. “All ready.”

Getting the milk was the easy part. Making sure you didn’t die of frostbite was another story. By the time you and Peter got back to your room, your nose was super red and you couldn’t feel your toes.

“Okay,” you said, your teeth chattering. “I thought I was used to the snow by now, but that was something else.” You dropped your coat on the ground and climbed into your bed, burying yourself under your comforter.

“I thought we were making a cake,” he laughed, walking over to see you peeking out of the pile.

“Cake will have to wait,” you whined, your voice slightly muffled by the blanket. “Come here. I need some of your body heat.”

“Okay,” he stuttered, kicking off his sneakers and climbing in beside you. He had sat on your bed a lot since the two of you met, but this was the first time that he was actually laying in it. You snuggled up to him, and he hesitantly wrapped his arms around you.

“This is nice,” you sighed, nuzzling your head into his chest. “Is this one of your superpowers? Spidey-warmth?” Peter let out a soft laugh. It was silly but true. Ever since the bite, he never really noticed how cold it was outside anymore.

“Y/N,” he whispered, tightening his grip around your waist. Your head was nestled underneath his chin, and he could smell the faint citrus scent of your shampoo. “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it, Pete?” you yawned, your eyelids heavy from how comfy Peter’s cuddles were.

“I love you.” He held his breath, nervously waiting for you to respond.

“I know,” you giggled, intertwining your legs. “Sometimes, you talk in your sleep. You’ve probably professed your love for me at least eight times by now.”

“Oh.” Peter had no idea how he was supposed to respond to that.

“Don’t worry. I love you, too,” you assured him, grinning and placing little kisses on his jawline. “I thought that was obvious.”

“Maybe you could make it a little more obvious,” he mumbled, his heartbeat getting quicker as you shifted up to kiss him on the lips, your hand running through his hair.

“I will,” you smiled, your forehead resting against his. “But after we take a nap, okay?”

“Okay,” Peter agreed, snuggling as close as he possibly could to you, never wanting to let go. In no time at all, he watched happily as you fell asleep in his arms, wondering how the two of you hadn’t thought of this sooner.

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

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[prettyboy-asmo]

Aquarium Date

Pairing: Diavolo/Reader(Gender Neutral reader)

Pure fluff/attempt at humor- SFW

Summary: Diavolo asks about your favorite things to do in the human realm, and you tell him about aquariums. He decides you should go to one together.

Huge thank you to @jugodeflores for motivating/ encouraging me to write this and also beta reading for me!

“MC,” You look up Diavolo from your D.D.D, wondering when he’d stopped doing his own paperwork. Instead, his gold eyes focused on you as he propped his chin on his hand, “What’s your favorite thing to do in the human realm?” 

“Well, I guess it depends,” You tell him, smiling a little as he listens to you speak with intense curiosity, “Do you mean day to day, or special occasions?” 

“Special occasions?” He questions, leaning forward in his seat now.

“Yeah, Like vacations, day trips, or dates and stuff.” 

“I’m interested in special occasions,” He answers. 

“Okay, Well, I never really went on vacations or traveled much,” Which in a way, is what had prompted you to sign and mail the mysterious exchange forms that had found their way in your mail one day, “But I liked taking trips to the cities I lived near, just to explore and find new places and stuff. There were a couple of water parks around, and some carnivals during the summer, along with an amusement park a few hours away, a few museums too. I think my top favorite was the aquarium though, alone or for a date.” 

You watch the Prince tilt his head slightly, his expression urging you to continue. “There’s just something about the experience that never gets old for me. Seeing all the different creatures that I wouldn’t see otherwise, and it’s more than just looking at fish too, sometimes they have live feedings for certain animals, and the one I went to had penguins and sea otters and A jellyfish tank. I could watch the moon jellies for hours. And there’s information on everything housed in there, so you can learn about them while you observe them. I went for a field trip in second grade and I fell in love with it.” 

“That does seem like it would be an entertaining experience.” he grins warmly at you, “Let’s go to one.” 

You blink at him, processing his words, “Huh?” 

“Let’s go to a human realm aquarium. I want to experience one with you.”  You feel your face flush when he laughs, “I’ll make all the necessary arrangements.” He already looks so excited that you can feel your heart melt. It’s not like you’d have said no in the first place, but you nod your agreement anyways. 

So a week later you’re visiting the human realm, Your hand gripping Diavolo’s as the Demon Prince led you along to the aquarium he’d chosen to visit. It wasn’t very often you got to see him in casual clothes, So while he was focused on your destination you took some time to admire the way he looked in the dark red button down and black slacks. It was kind of unfair, really, how good he looked. 

Soon, though, you had reached the doors and Diavolo was paying the entry fees, taking a map and leading you into the building farther before stopping and turning to you, “What should we do first?” 

“Well,” you pondered, glancing at the pamphlet he held out to you, “There’s a show with the dolphins in two hours if you’re interested in that. Until then, we can start here and work our way through the building, unless there’s something you want to see right now.” 

Diavolo shook his head, “I want to see it all.” and with that he sets off again, his enthusiasm drawing a laugh from you as he leads you in the direction of the exhibits. His eyes light up as you walk into what you note is supposed to be an exhibit on the Amazon, and the look of wonder that graces his features is something you want to commit to memory for the rest of your life. 

You move along the tanks, and he leans in close to each one. Sometimes, you’re able to point out a specific fish and give a few facts about them, and sometimes you read him the trivia posted around the exhibit.

“It kind of reminds me of Leviathan,” Diavolo says suddenly, prompting you to turn from the sign of facts about Piranhas you’d been reading. You can’t help the laugh that you let out when you see he’s observing a rainbow boa that’s draped lazily on one of the many large branches in its enclosure. The pattern along its body does indeed remind you of Leviathan’s demon form. You don’t have time to respond as Diavolo takes out his D.D.D, double checks the flash is off and snaps a picture. 

You try to peer over his shoulder to see what he’s doing, but with a grin he finishes typing and turns the phone toward you. The Picture of the snake is there, soft iridescent sheen on it’s skin visible along with the pattern, under it is a short message that simply reads, Is this you? And you can only imagine how Levi will react when he opens that message. The thought is amusing but it quickly drifts to the back of your mind as Diavolo starts moving toward another enclosure, attention captured by something there. 

You follow him through the rest of this exhibit, letting him lead you around the rooms and take as much time to observe everything he wants. You’re glad he’s so tall, otherwise you might be afraid you’d lose him in the crowd with how suddenly he seems to take off to other exhibits when something catches his eye. The interest and child-like excitement that continues to shine through him rubs off on you, and soon enough your hands are intertwined once again as he pulls you gently along. You make it through a freshwater fish exhibit before you decide it’s time to head to the show. 

As you’re heading there you pass a group of young children clearly on a field trip, and apparently heading to the same show you are. A few of them stare at you- or, more accurately, Diavolo. One of them whispers to their friend, a not so quiet- “He’s really tall, like, as tall as a superhero!” You feel the soft chuckle Diavolo lets out, biting back your own laugh. Diavolo though turns back slightly, sending a wink at the pair before guiding you to your seats for the show. 

Now, instead of his grip on your hand he wraps his arm around you, pulling you flush against his side. It causes a slight blush to dust your cheeks, but you lean into his side anyways, enjoying the closeness of the moment. “Are you enjoying your day so far?” he asks as people continue to find seats, shuffling around and settling while waiting for the show to begin. 

“I’m having a lot of fun,” you tell him honestly, your own smile bright, but your conversation is cut short by the show beginning. You both give it your attention, though every so often, after a dolphin performs a particularly impressive trick or amusing maneuver, you glance at the demon beside you to see his reactions. Each time he laughs in delight you can feel it move through him, and you can feel the way his arm tenses around you during tricks, can see the awe in his eyes when the trainers explain some of the mannerisms of the animals, the relationships they form with one another, and efforts to help the earth’s environments to help the natural habitats of the animals. 

After the show, you end up at the touch pools- something that sets off a whole new level of excitement in Diavolo. He’s extremely careful when he reaches in, fingers gently grazing the creatures sitting in the shallow water. “It’s fascinating,” the Anemone his hand brushed against swayed gently with the movement of the water. 

“You don’t expect them to feel so...squishy, right?” 

You go through a few more exhibits after that, and you even manage to sneak a few photos of Diavolo, your favorite being the one where he’s nearly leaning against the glass of the beluga whale enclosure, one of the creatures on the other side  staring right back at him, the delighted expression on Diavolo’s face is priceless. You also manage to send it to Lucifer, knowing he’d appreciate it as much as you do.  A while later, Diavolo takes your hand in his again. 

 “The Aquarium is hosting a jellyfish exhibit for a limited time,” he says, leading you along to a staircase that has another attendant standing at the top, “I got us the passes because you said you liked them.” He hands the attendant the passes, who nods as you continue on down the staircase. Even in the dimmer light as you reach the bottom you can see the faint tinge of pink on his face. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” you squeeze his hand, smiling up at him, “but thank you, I love it.” 

The pace you took around the exhibit was slower now, moving along the dim rooms and taking minutes at a time to watch the strange creatures drift through the lit tanks. It’s quieter here than the rest of the aquarium, and less crowded, probably due to the fact that it required additional passes- but it feels almost serene, despite the low chatter of the other guests roaming the rooms. 

“I believe I understand what you meant when you said you could watch them for hours,” Divaolo says next to you, his golden eyes are tracking the movement of the Jellies, his features bathed in the blue glow of the tank’s lighting- it makes everything feel softer somehow, the way his lips are curved into a smile, how his hair falls just slightly into his eyes, even his gaze. 

When he turns to you there’s something else in his eyes that makes your face heat up. “They really are beautiful,” he says, and you realize he’s leaning in closer, as he continues, “Almost as beautiful as you,” he finishes, and even though there’s sincerity in his voice- even though you know he doesn’t lie- you have to fight the urge to roll your eyes. 

“That’s...so cheesy.” you say, but you can feel your own grin on your face, your hand squeezes his tighter, and you lean up, almost completely on your toes to meet him in a soft, quick kiss. “Thank you for this,” you say earnestly, “I’m happy we got to come here together.” 

“As am I. I should thank you for putting up with me dragging you around all the exhibits, I’m sure you are used to a more relaxed atmosphere than that.” 

“I think it’s cute.” You answer, satisfaction washing over you at the blush that covers his face, “I like how excited you are. It means I can tell you’re having a good time.” 

He chuckled slightly, “I would say any time spent with you is good.” 

The two of you lingered in the Jellyfish exhibit for a while, silently admiring the displays. 

When you finally emerge you have to blink at the sudden increase in light, but Diavolo is already leading you along again. “I was told that these sort of trips aren’t complete without a visit to the gift shop.”  

“I guess that is kinda true,” you admit, following him into the shop. Immediately, something catches your eye. “Dia, look!” You hold up an almost perfectly round stuffed seal in your hands, squeezing it’s soft sides slightly, “It’s so cute!” It’s little flippers dangle slightly as Diavolo looks at it- and you- with unveiled amusement, “Feel it!” 

He takes it from your hands, squeezing it slightly. “It is incredibly soft,” he turns it over in his hands, squishing it again, “Do you want one?” 

“Wait- really?” 

“Why would I ask If I didn’t really want to know?” 

“I do like it,” you admit- “Reminds me of you, in a way.” 

Diavolo looks at the Seal’s face, then back to you, “It reminds you...of me?”

“Nice to hug. Cute.” 

“Is that so?” Diavolo’s cheeks are flushed pink again, and even though your own face feels warm you can’t help but admire the ability to make the Prince of the Devildom blush. He tucks the seal under his arm without saying anything else- and then it seems that a display of t-shirts catches his eye. “All proceeds go to charity. MC, do you know this charity?”

You glance at the sign. “I do! It’s a good one, they support a lot of rescue habitats and environmental efforts- and they actually use their money for what they say they do, unlike some.” 

Divaolo’s eyes shine as he takes in the shirts, Colorful cartoon fish decorate the fabric, and bold, bright letters declaring “Don’t be Shellfish, Protect our Oceans,” are written on the front. He moves to the display, rifling through the shirts before pulling out three different sizes. 

"Three?"

"One for Lucifer as well!" 

You laugh out loud at the mental image of Lucifer wearing the shirt and nod, "Good idea."  Diavolo wanders around the shop a bit more, when another stuffed animal catches your eye. A beluga whale. Your mind flashes back to the delight on his face when you’d snapped that picture of him and the whale earlier that day. You pick the stuffed beluga up, it’s large and, to your delight, is just as soft as it looks. You glance over at Diavolo and see that he’s distracted by a book display, so as stealthy as you can you make your way to the cashier with the whale. 

You pay, thanking the cashier, then make your way to the door before calling out, “I’ll be waiting outside, Dia!”  

It’s not long after he exits the gift shop with a curious expression, multiple bags gripped in one hand and the seal tucked back under his arm. “MC?” 

You hold the whale out to him, “I thought you’d like this,” you say, pleased by the fondness obvious in his expression, he frees the seal under his arm, handing it to you and taking the gift. 

“I adore it. Is this why you left before me?” 

You grin, squeezing the seal with one arm and linking your free hand with his, “I wanted it to be a surprise, as well as a thank you for all of this.” 

You feel like you’re half asleep when you get back to the Devildom, eyes drooping and legs slightly aching from all the walking you’d done that day. You eat dinner with Diavolo, and then you insist on joining him in his study when he says he has some paperwork to finish before he goes to bed. 

You’re curled up in one of the armchairs, the stuffed seal Diavolo bought you under your head like a pillow as you watch him do paperwork. You feel your eyes droop, slower to open them each time. Eventually you decide it’s easier to give into sleep, figuring Diavolo could wake you before he went to bed for the night. 

“Dia,” You mumble, waiting for him to look up from whatever paperwork he was pouring over now, “Thank you for today. I love you.” 

He smiles softly back at you, “I love you, sweetheart.” You give him one last smile before curling up tighter and letting yourself fall asleep. 

#long post #obey me shall we date #swd lord diavolo #diavolo x reader #diavolo x mc #fluff #aquarium date #swd obey me #gender neutral mc #gender neutral reader #it's soft

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #1: Avengers Assemble!

September, 1984

WHO will answer Hawkeye’s call to join the new team?

I assume Mockingbird? I see her silhouette in the cover box and the assumption was that she and Clint were a package deal? I don’t know what it’s being played like its not a given.

Some good or at least interesting options here for the second team.

Red Wolf, Iron Man, Puck, I thiiiiink Crystal?, Doc Sampson, Mockingbird, Cyclops, Black Widow, Wonder Man, Tigra, Quicksilver, Hercules, Ant-Man, Namor, and the Shroud.

A lot of interesting options. I really want it to be Cyclops and I know its not going to be Cyclops.

STOP TEASING ME WITH AVENGERS CYCLOPS IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GIVE IT TO ME!

Also, this issue #1 of West Coast Avengers. Or at least the first issue #1. The team is introduced in a four issue miniseries before getting an ongoing - and a second issue #1 - about a year later.

This will be moderately confusing for my numbering but I’m brave enough to barrel on through anyway.

Last time in Avengers: Vision became the chairman of the Avengers and announced that due to the threat of the Dire Wraiths, the Avengers would be opening up a West Coast team led by newly married Hawkeye. In one page reminders of the subplot in various issues, Hawkeye and Mockingbird arrived in Los Angeles, went real estate shopping, and set up a new HQ in a nice compound that used to belong to an actress.

The team is only missing one thing.

A team.

Maybe it’s just me but I’d think that you’d get the team sorted out before you spent who knows how much renovating a compound up to the level required for a superhero team.

It’s going to be really embarrassing if you open a new Avengers team and nobody comes.

(Vision agrees and has taken the liberty of reaching out to several likely candidates.)

Mockingbird confirms that Hawkeye has invited her onto the team but she’s not even sure she’s Avengers material, she doesn’t even have powers.

Hawkeye: “Neither does Captain America! Neither do I! If I can be an Avenger -- !”

Mockingbird: “Anyone can, right?”

Hawkeye: “And people wonder why you took the code-name Mockingbird!”

Haha! I do like their chemistry!

He does clarify that its totally not just because she’s married to him (although I would point out that he kept trying to get Black Widow on the team based on them dating) but that she’s totally earned it! She has years of experience as a SHIELD agent!

Hawkeye calls Vision to let him know that the place is all set up and Vision lets him know about the reaching out to several likely candidates biz.

BOOM SCENE TRANSITION TO DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO at the office of private investigator Jessica Drew.

Because, yeah, Jessica Drew did the PI thing as an ex-superhero way before Jessica Jones. And Jessica Jones is probably Drew with some of the serial numbers scratched off.

ANYWAY, she’s talking to hardboiled Tigra, who helped her on the Enselmo case.

Jessica Drew: “I still laugh when I think about the way you ran our pigeon up and down Telegraph Hill!”

Tigra: “That was the best part of the case! After all... bringing pigeons to ground is second nature to a lady who’s half-cat!”

Jessica tries to offer Tigra a job (since this is before the internet and Tigra can’t find a lot of modeling jobs for models covered with fur) but Jessica’s secretary interrupts with a call for Tigra.

The call sounds ominous from Jess only hearing half of it but I’m 99.9% sure its Vision offering Tigra a spot on the West Coast Avengers.

Read Tigra’s replies with that context and you’ll laugh.

Tigra tells Jess that she’s got to book it to LA for business that she has to settle on her own but they’ll talk about Jess’ offer later.

Tigra: “Don’t worry, I’m a big girl... I can make my own mistakes!”

I feel like a little bit of clarification would have gone a long way here, Tigra.

Because Jessica assumes that Tigra is in trouble and decides to call someone to tail (ha) Tigra.

Meanwhile, a car chase in the Mojave Desert.

To cut to the car chase, this is a movie set filming a stunt spectacular car chase scene for what I’m pretty sure is James Bond.

Pyrotechnics are easy if you don’t stress blowing up the stuntman.

Because he’s near invulnerable.

The stuntman (Simon Williams, Wonder Man) does need to have buckets of water thrown on him to cool him off after being in an explosion but he’s otherwise fine.

Cool that Wonder Man found an acting job he can handle. He seems pretty thrilled with it.

One of the staff on set tells Simon that his trailer is buzzing and he realizes its his Avengers transceiver.

He receives his offer from Vision (although apparently a much more vague one than Tigra) and flies off after making sure he has no more stunts scheduled for the day.

An hour later and hundreds of miles elsewhere, Iron Man (the James Rhodes version) is flying around, minding his own business, thinking about how cool it is to have relocated to California to help Tony Stark open a new business, admiring the Standord University Linear Accelerator Center.

Just as he’s thinking that he hopes that Tony isn’t in a hurry to being Iron Man since he’s gotten used to it, Vision cuts in on the secret Iron Man radio frequency to call him in to the meeting.

Iron Man arrives twenty minutes later at the West Avengers compound on the Palos Verdes Peninsula bluffs and paraphrased does an impressed whistle at what a nice place it is.

Iron Man: “Some spread! This looks like the kinda place Tony would’ve hung out... before he lost Stark International! The best part of being his pilot in those days was ferrying him to spots like this! Who’d have thought I’d ever be invited on my own? Then again, who’d have thought little Jimmy Rhodes would grow up to be Iron Man?!”

Future knowledge bums me out a little with this. This is spoilers for a year from now and several issues from now but in the time gap between the West Coast Avengers limited series and the ongoing, Tony does take over being Iron Man again. I hope you enjoy all this while it lasts, Rhodey. And hey, War Machine is only like eight years away!

Tigra arrives and starts acting familiar with Iron Man because she thinks she knows its Tony and they were teammates for a bit.

She ditches the briefly identity obscuring trenchcoat and hat because dammit she has a year round fur coat and its hot in California!

She also might be flirting, although hopefully not as bad as she’ll get later in the ongoing. Spoilers for a year and several issues for now but it is a bafflingly bad subplot that Tigra gets given.

The other reason I bring it up is that this is the exact situation that led Rhodey to quit the Avengers when he became Iron Man. He felt it would be awkward interacting with people who already knew Iron Man well.

I guess he’s more comfortable with it now.

The West Coast Avengers roster that we already know about are all people who either quit the Avengers or don’t feel like they’d be a good fit. Which is just a great start so I’m interested to see if we’ll get justifications for why they’d sign up the minute a franchise opens.

Hawkeye takes Tigra and Iron Man off on a tour while a mysterious shrouded figure watches.

The tour concludes without us seeing the tour, boo. But it comes up that neither Iron Man or Tigra know why they’re here.

Iron Man was just told he was needed but didn’t get any more details. We know that Wonder Man got the same vagueness. And Tigra was just offered a $1000 dollar stipend to fly out to LA and see if she could “help the Avengers out!”

So Hawkeye gives them the sales pitch.

That Captain America made it a rule that except in emergencies, the Avengers’ roster would be limited to six members. But Vision decided that they need more than six Avengers but wanted to keep the team from becoming unwieldy so told Hawkeye to set up an expansion team: the West Coast Avengers!

It’ll basically be the same thing as the original Avengers in terms of by-laws and rights and privileges and both groups will be affiliated but the West Coast Avengers will be running their own show west of the Rockies.

If everyone here agrees to sign up, that’ll make a team of five with a sixth spot to fill.

But Tigra objects that she left the original team because she felt out of her depth and why would that be different here?

Ah, now there it is.

Justify it, Hawkeye.

Except he doesn’t because the intruder alarm goes off.

The intruder alarm all the way in the first basement level, which means their intruder has already penetrated deep into the compound and bypassed a lot of the security systems.

Hawkeye is sure that the intruder is actually a highly organized commando raid and he’s instantly proven wrong with an infrared scan shows just one guy.

Womp womp.

Hawkeye is also sure that however this just one guy got as far as he did, the security system in the next area will totally--

Womp womp.

Hawkeye is fed up at this point and seals off the security levels, forcing the dude back through the domestic areas. He then orders Iron Man, Tigra, and Mockingbird to split up to cover more ground that way and surround the intruder.

Not having much better to do, they do, but everyone has some misgivings in their thinky thoughts.

Iron Man: Hawk sounds like he really gets into giving orders. I don’t know if I like that.

Tigra: I must be some sort of masochist to get involved with Avengers again! They always seem to know what they’re doing... not like me! What am I doing here? What am I trying to prove?

Hawkeye: Should I let the others catch our intruder... or rush in and collar him myself? How would Cap handle this?

Mockingbird: Poor Hawk... He wants so much to be a good leader! I know he can do it, but I wish he wouldn’t try quite so hard! In a way, though, it’s funny... His first act as leader was having the team split up!

Mockingbird is the first to run into the intruder, suddenly being enveloped in a cloud of darkness. She can’t see anything but hears someone moving and launches one of her staves from her spring-loaded sleeve launcher.

Its a near miss, breaking a lamp instead of the intruder, who turns out to be Shroud. Y’know, that friend of Jessica Drew’s we met in that two-parter about saving Jessica Drew’s ghost?

Shroud realizes how skilled Mockingbird is and that he might have trouble if he takes her lightly so he goes right for the Vulcan neck pinch, knocking out Mockingbird. But she hits Shroud in the stomach guts with her second stave as she’s passing out.

Hawkeye then shows up, concerned that he hasn’t run into Mockingbird yet and drawn to the cloud of darkness, except not the Final Fantasy villain.

He shoots a light arrow, except not the Legend of Zelda powerup, into the cloud to no real effect so shrugs and shoots a sonic arrow instead.

Shroud flees the area and Hawkeye finds Mockingbird who tells him to shut up with the EEEEE arrow.

Hawkeye: “Where’d our man go?”

Mockingbird: “How should I know? It was dark!”

Hah.

The cloud of darkness passes through the area of the mansion/compound that Tigra is in and she recognizes it as Shroud’s darkness. She calls out to him but he doesn’t hear her because he’s in another wing about to be tackled by Iron Man who can see Shroud with his in-helmet radar.

Controlling darkness is all well and good until technology.

Ain’t it said, Rumia?

Shroud is also blind so all he knows is that an armored man is lunging at him until Iron Man calls him a fool for trespassing on Avengers turf.

And that’s when he realizes that he done goofed.

Hmm. What is that symbol on Shroud’s hood, anyway? It looks kinda like Aku.

Shroud manages to escape Iron Man’s grasp, sacrificing some of his neat cape. Although, it tears into an even cooler look so is it really a sacrifice?

He decides that he’s just going to get out of here.

Shroud: Have to get undercover and think out my next move. I don’t want to fight Avengers! That could become a life’s work -- and I have better things to do!

I can’t decide whether he means that he’d be at it all day or that this misunderstanding fight would lead him down an unwilling path of villainy as some third-string grudge holder.

Probably the former?

Anyway, Shroud is just leaping over the balcony when Wonder Man finally arrives and spots him. And unfortunately for Shroud’s ribs, he has been cultivating a reputation as a crimelord so Wonder Man flies in and tackles him into a tree.

Womp womp, except for Shroud this time.

Tigra shows up and jumps on Wonder Man from forty feet away to stop him from hurting Shroud any further, explaining that he’s her friend.

Shroud: “I’m certainly glad I’m not an enemy... I’d hate to think how I’d be treated then!”

Hah.

Later, in the medical room, I guess, Mockingbird applies bandages to Shroud’s ribs except on the outside of his costume. Does... does that do anything? Obviously not for open wounds. But for bruised bones, I guess the point is compression. But it feels less than ideal because he’d have to take off the bandages to take off his shirt. Just feels better to apply the bandages under the clothes, MOCKINGBIRD.

What makes it weirder is that we see him a couple panels later pulling his shirt down over the bandages. Which makes me think Mockingbird bandaged him on top of his costume and he had to pull his costume top out from under them and pull it down. He didn’t just stop her because that would be rude?

Shroud explains that Jessica Drew asked him to keep an eye on Tigra because of how the phone call made her act all weird. He followed Tigra from the airport to here and ran into a gaggle of superheroes. 

In the meantime, Hawkeye has verified Shroud with a report Captain America filed on him so Hawkeye believes he’s a good guy now.

Wonder Man and Iron Man apologize for going in swinging and Tigra for not just telling Jessica what the call was about. But Shroud tells them no permanent harm done.

Hawkeye decides to offer Shroud the last spot on the team (assuming that everyone already invited is going to choose to stay).

Hawkeye: “That trick you do with the dark is one slick little number... and anyone who can hold his own against us as long as you did obviously has what it takes in the skill department. Besides, what you did reminds me a little of how I introduced myself to the Avengers -- I broke in, too! Come on... What do you say?”

Shroud say... no.

He’s honored and a couple years earlier he would have jumped at the chance. But Wonder Man’s assumption didn’t come from nowhere. Shroud has been spending the last many months building up his outlaw rep so he can take down gangs from the inside.

Like the Green Hornet, I guess?

But since it’d be hard to be an Avenger West Coast AND keep up the fake outlaw thing, Shroud has to turn them down.

Shroud then pulls his cloud of darkness disappearing trick and nopes out.

With all that tied up, Wonder Man asks whats the big thing that Vision called him out for, leading an exasperated Hawkeye to start his West Coast Avengers sales pitch from the top.

Mockingbird: “That’s the spirit, fearless leader! Just remember, it can only get better from here!”

Hah.

So, that was the first issue of West Coast Avengers.

And there’s still no West Coast Avengers team.

Tigra and Iron Man still have reservations about the idea. Wonder Man has no idea why he’s there.

Its an interesting decision to hit the ground walking with this team. But it makes sense. The initial plan wasn’t for the West Coast Avengers to get an ongoing. This limited series was supposed to establish the concept, give a few Avengers affiliated characters something to be doing off-panel, and be able to be pulled in for crossovers and guest appearances as needed.

So the book can focus more on Hawkeye’s trials in actually getting this team going. He’s finally gotten to be a leader of the Avengers like he’s always wanted and now has to deal with all the frustration that Captain America or Hank Pym had with him, and then some.

Still, funny that the West Coast Avengers’ first adventure has them not only not a team yet but spending their time beating up a friend due to mistaken identity.

Will they get their act together by the next issue? Only time will tell. I tell a lie because Chronos never spoils stories. Only me will tell or maybe the Internet.

Follow @essential-avengers​ for the rest of the West Coast Avengers limited series. And for eventual bafflement when they get an ongoing. Also, like and reblog.

#avengers #West Coast Avengers #essential avengers #Hawkeye #Mockingbird #Tigra #Iron Man #James Rhodes #Wonder Man #the Shroud #Jessica Drew #essential marvel liveblogging

[free-pool-trash]

folklore - isaac lahey {1/?}

my first isaac piece... y’all i can’t even lie this kind of got away from me but here we are so let me know if you want me to commit to making this a series!!

this is pre-bite isaac!!!! because i haven’t seen anybody write for him before he was bitten so i wanted to explore the dynamic of him and reader while he was just normal, which obviously i’ll get more into in future parts if anyone would be interested in reading more <33 feedback would be really appreciated !!!!!

masterlist

word count: 3.2k

warnings: swearing, mentions of abuse (i think that’s it but let me know if i missed anything)

mostly fluffy but a lil angsty

i’m gonna tag the people that replied under the post i made asking if anyone wanted an isaac fic hope that’s okay <3 let me know if you want to be added or removed from the list for possible future parts!

tagging: @makeusfreefromthisfandom​ (thank you for putting up with me while i attempted to write this), @cece-lives-here​, @chocolate-raspberries​, @tanyaherondale​ again lemme know if you wanna be removed or added <3

PART 2

You could remember with complete clarity the day you'd met your best friend, who also kind of happened to be your only friend, but that minor detail didn't even matter as you wouldn't ask for anyone else or anyone more and what was better was that you knew for a fact that said best friend felt the exact same about you.

It was the first day of middle school when you'd met your long time best friend, both of you had been wide eyed and hopeful about the coming years as you were seated beside each other in your very first class. He'd been shy at first, glancing at you with a nervous smile and playing with the zip of his pencil case when the teacher instructed you all get to know the person beside you.

"My name's (Y/n), what's yours?" You asked him, a friendly smile on your face- you knew from the get go that you were the louder of the both of you. 

"I'm Isaac." He answered you with a smile that was more certain than the last one he'd offered you.

He'd tensed up again, however, when you pointed towards his backpack. Even so early in the day someone had already poked fun at the bag that was covered in comic book characters that the boy loved so much, with the way you pointed at it excitedly he couldn't help the nerves that built up in him, he didn't know why you were excited, you either liked his backpack or you liked teasing people, he seriously didn't know.

His nerves settled down once you'd actually opened your mouth, "Woah, your bag is so cool! You like Spider-Man too?" Your eyes sparkled with excitement and Isaac finally allowed himself to reciprocate it.

"Thanks! Spider-Man is my favorite superhero! Do you read comics?" He asked you with a smile that had widened significantly since the beginning of your meeting.

"No, I don't have any comic books at home…" You explained with a slight frown before your lips lifted back upward as you continued, "I watch all the movies with my dad, though!"

Isaac nodded in understanding, blue eyes shining bright with happiness that he'd made a friend so easily, while he usually found the task quite difficult since he was very soft spoken, your charismatic energy seemed to rub off on him as he found himself talking to you easily.

"I've got some in my backpack, do you want to read them with me at lunch?" The boy asked hopefully, his shy demeanor returning ever so slightly as he realized he'd just taken a leap of faith, something he didn't love doing.

Head nodding enthusiastically, your smile grew only wider, "Yeah!"

The memory always made you smile as you'd sat with each other at that lunch time and at every other lunch time from that day onwards. You and Isaac were a pair, as you grew up you did mostly everything together, his father and brother loved you and your parents loved him just the same.

He knew all of your secrets and you knew all of his, including how abusive his father became after the death of his older brother, he'd told you but under the condition that you didn't breathe a word to anyone else, so you kept your mouth shut but did everything in your power to support him in the aftermath of a punch or emotional scar. 

Isaac often voiced how much you meant to him, despite the fact that he wasn't great with putting his feelings into words, he always managed to remind you that he was sure you were some sort of guardian angel to him or how you were really and honestly his favorite person in the whole world. The proclamations more often than not came mixed with shaking breaths and sobs from your favourite boy. You were both sixteen the first time it happened.

A knock on your front door tore your attention away from the show you were watching, you raised an eyebrow in question. Neither of your parents were home and you weren't expecting them back until the next morning, shrugging your shoulders you made your way to the front door, opening it revealing Isaac looking more broken than you'd ever seen him in your five years of friendship, his blue eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with red, cheeks painted in tear tracks and loud sniffles sounded from him along with a sob that threatened to rip your heart out when he met your eyes.

Immediately you'd rushed him through your doorway, barely taking the time to shut the door before you had your arms wrapped around his shoulders, standing on your tiptoes to reach him due to how tall he'd become in the last few years. His arms wrapped around you in seconds as he began shaking against your smaller frame, sobs wracking his body violently. 

After a minute, when his cries didn't die down as they usually did, you ushered him towards the couch, sitting him down and taking the seat beside him while you looked him over for any obvious injuries.

The only thing you noticed was that his fingernails were stubbed and bloody, as if he'd broken them trying to claw himself out of somewhere. You slowly and gently placed your palm to his cheek, stroking your thumbs under his eyes, removing his tears as you did. He was cold, no, he was freezing and you couldn't tell if he was shaking from the temperature or from whatever trauma his father had inflicted on him to put him in such a state.

"What happened, Isaac?" You asked softly, scooting closer to him when his hands reached out for you, they clutched the fabric of your hoodie- his hoodie- tightly, he only shook his head, pulling you into him completely, arms now wound tightly around your torso as he cried into your shoulder, you'd never seen him this shaken up, you'd never felt his tears soak through two layers of your clothing but you supposed there was a first time for everything as your curly haired best friend couldn't fight the tears that just kept flowing.

Your hands ran through his curls, scratching softly at the nape of his neck, something that usually always worked in calming him right down, only it wasn't working and you couldn't stand the way he was still freezing, you wanted to help him, you always helped him, you were at a loss as he cried this time though, you didn't know how to help.

"You're freezing." You murmured, his breath hitched at your statement and you had to move his head from its spot between your neck and shoulder, hands back on his cheeks.

Reluctantly you separated from him, fighting the urge to throw yourself back in his arms when he let out a panicked whimper, quickly you grabbed the throw blanket you kept on the armchair beside the couch and made your way back to Isaac's side, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders tightly and rubbing your hands up and down his arms softly, you tried your best to heat him up.

"I'm going to make you a hot drink, ok? Then we can talk- or watch a movie or just- yeah. I'll be back in a minute. I'm right in the kitchen if you need me." You fretted, kissing his forehead before rushing into the kitchen. Hot chocolate always cheered Isaac up, he'd once proclaimed that if he could only drink one beverage for the rest of his life it would be hot chocolate. You really needed a win with him tonight so with shaking hands you began making a cup of hot chocolate for your best friend. 

It got hard sometimes, staying strong when you saw him so broken, sometimes you wanted nothing more than to cry with him, let the pain you felt for him consume you, but you never did, not in front of him anyway. If there was one thing he hated more than himself being upset it was making you upset and you knew that, you knew that it you cried for him in his presence he'd be reluctant to confide in you in fear of upsetting you. You couldn't have that, he needed you and you needed to be there for him, even if it hurt.

So you took a deep breath and walked back to your living room, cup of hot chocolate in hand, relief flooded you when you noticed Isaac had stopped crying, he was still sniffling but the tears had ceased.

"Here bub." You placed the cup in his cold, shaky hands before returning to your place pressed against his side, "Thank you." 

His voice was scratchy and broken as he spoke, "Not just for the drink." He added on, voice merely a whisper.

Shaking your head you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, "You don't have to thank me for anything." You told him quietly, he'd never ever owe you anything and you wouldn't want him to ever think he did.

"But I want to." Isaac placed the cup on your coffee table and took both of your hands in his, "You're the only good thing I have left." His voice was certain and as steady as he could make it because as horrible as his experiences were, the thought of being able to collapse into you once it was over got him through it.

Without saying a word you rested your head against his shoulder and tightened your grip on his hands, holding them in your lap while you waited for him to continue.

"I don't know what I'd do without you."  Titling your head up at his words you let your lips press to his cheek, something you did often.

"Well, you don't ever have to worry about that because I'm not going anywhere." You reassured him, a smile rising on your face when his lips met your forehead.

You and Isaac were always affectionate with each other, from sharing beds at sleepovers to holding hands if one of you was anxious. Naturally, you were very touchy person and it played in your favor that your best friend craved physical affection. The two of you just worked.

And sure sometimes when he'd hug you from behind or when he'd absentmindedly play with your hair you wished that he was more than just your best friend. What you didn't know was that Isaac felt the same, every time he told you that he loved you he wanted you to know just how much he really meant it, let you know that the words ran way deeper than just your friendship. 

What made things difficult was trying to act none the wiser about Isaac's home life when his father would invite you over for dinners or movie nights, the same way he used to before he started using his youngest son as an emotional and physical punching bag. It was genius really, he kept up appearances and if you hadn't gotten the truth out of Isaac you probably wouldn't have guessed that his father was such a scumbag.

Tonight was one of those nights. Mr. Lahey invited you to stay for dinner when he noticed you studying with Isaac, helping him with chemistry, at the dining table. Not wanting to leave Isaac alone with the man for any longer than he absolutely had to be you had taken him up on his offer.

You even helped him make the meal, it was times like that you were extremely thankful for your acting skills.

Isaac's father sat at the head of the table while yourself and Isaac sat across from each other either side of the table.

"So (Y/n), d'you find yourself a boyfriend yet?" The older man asked you with a smile, "Dad-" Isaac chastised, his eyes wide and cheeks blushing a rose red.

"Um, no not yet." You answered, glancing at Isaac quickly before moving your gaze to his father, "How are things at the graveyard?" You asked sweetly, praying to God that he'd drop the topic of your love life. What were you supposed to say? "No I don't have a boyfriend but I am in love with your son who you're abusing you piece of shit."? 

Luckily, he didn't push on the subject any further, "It's been busy lately with all these animal attacks." 

"It's a mountain lion right?" You asked with interest, looking at Isaac now, the boy shrugged, letting out a chuckle at your curiosity, "That's what everyone's been saying."

"I heard from Scott McCall that it's some kind of wolf." You explained, finishing off your plate as Isaac raised an eyebrow, "You know McCall?" 

"Yeah, he sits next to me in homeroom, he's pretty nice. Anyway he said him and Stiles were out in the woods and he swears that he heard a wolf howling." You shot off, a million theories cooking up in your head as the words left your lips excitedly. You didn't miss the soft smile on Isaac's face as he listened to you talk so passionately.

The hearty chuckle of his father cut you off and you turned your head to look at him, "There hasn't been a wolf in California in over sixty years." He stated, standing from the table, collecting your plates and placing them in the sink before pointing to Isaac.

"Whatever it is, it got someone else last night so I need you to go down to the yard and start digging." Isaac only nodded, pushing himself up, "I'll walk (Y/n) home and then I'll head over." 

"Sure, you kids be careful out there." He replied superficially, letting out one last chuckle as he left the room completely.

"You ready to go, bubs?" You ask, grabbing your backpack and throwing it over your shoulder, "What?" You asked when you noticed Isaac hadn't moved but was instead looking at you with a quirked eyebrow and a fond smile, his arms crossed infront of his chest.

"You gonna be warm enough walking home in that?" He motioned towards your blouse and you threw your head back in frustration and grumbled, "No probably not."

"Wait here, I'll grab you something." He told you, pecking your cheek as he passed you.

It only took Isaac a minute to return to the kitchen, grey cardigan in hand, he loved that cardigan but in all honesty he loved it more when it was on you, which is why he picked it for you to wear on your walk home. Usually you forgot to give his clothes back to him when he'd leave you at your doorstep, which always led to you wearing it into school the next day, he absolutely loved when you wore his cardigans and his hoodies, the way the sleeves hung way past your wrists made you look so adorable to him and he had to stop himself from throwing his entire closet at you.

"Is that your favorite cardigan I see?" You questioned, a knowing smile on your face.

Isaac gave you a playful shrug, handing the cardigan to you and stating, "My favourite cardigan for my favorite girl." 

*

"Hey!" A whisper hissed from the desk behind you, glancing back you saw Stiles Stilinski leaning forward towards you, his entire upper half against his desk.

"Hi?" Your voice was uncertain as the boy with the buzzcut gave you a triumphant grin while Scott rolled his eyes from his seat beside you and infront of Stiles.

"You know Derek Hale right?" The question threw you off slightly, your family had been close with the Hale's before they'd all perished in the house fire six years ago, all except Derek- the prime suspect although you knew it couldn't have been him who set the house ablaze.

"Well, I knew him. He and Laura used to babysit me. I was friends with his younger sister too, back in elementary school." You answered Stiles' question, "Why?"

"Did he seem murder-y to you?" Stiles asked, ignoring your question while Scott let out a tired sigh at his best friend's antics. "No. He was sweet, they all were." You told him sternly, growing tired of his questions about people you would've considered your second family until the vast majority of them burned alive.

Scott's voice was softer than Stiles' when he leaned towards you, "He's uh back in town. We saw him at the Hale house yesterday. We were just wondering if you knew why he was here?" 

"Derek's in town?" You asked, eyes wide while Scott nodded in response, brown eyes searching yours for any kind of answer to his previous question. "I didn't even know he was back." Your voice was merely a murmur, you tried your best to digest this new information but all you could think about was how you needed to see him.

"If you're looking for him, I'll help you find him." You offered to the two boys who shared unsure looks causing you to release a sigh, "Come on you two, out of the three of us I'm the only one whose gonna get any answers out of him. He's not exactly welcoming to strangers." 

The words left you flatly and the two of them knew you were right, "Yeah you're right. We're going to stop by the house again after school you could meet us there?" Scott agreed, furrowing his brows as he watched you shake your head and scribble something down on the corner of your page, ripping it off, "I've got plans with Isaac after school today but I'll ask my parents if they know anything, they were really close with the Hale's." You explained, handing the scrap of paper with your phone number on it to Scott, "Give me your numbers so I can call you if I find out anything useful." Scott nodded gratefully, scribbling down his number on the side of his page the same way you had while Stiles just looked at you with a funny expression on his face, "Don't you hang out with Isaac like every day? Can't you just ditch him this once?" You let out a humorless chuckle, raising an eyebrow at the boy, "Would you ditch Scott?" 

Stiles grumbled something under his breath, finally seating himself back in his seat properly, defeated by your retort.

Stiles wasn't wrong, you did hang out with Isaac almost every day but you'd never once ditched him just as he never ditched you, you weren't going to change that for the sake of two boys that you barely knew.

You'd met Isaac during a dark period of your life, when the Hale fire happened and all the people you'd been raised around suddenly disappeared from your life, he'd been exactly what you needed and he continued to be that person who always made you feel like there was always something to hope for even if everything looked grim.

He was the living embodiment of surviving hardships, and although he'd never realize it, he was the reason you were able to pull yourself out of slumps and keep pushing forward even when you felt like the weight of the world was crushing your chest. One smile or word of encouragement from Isaac and all that weight would evaporate into nothing.

As the bell rang you wanted nothing more than to find the boy who occupied your thoughts and tell him about the information you'd just been given, you definitely needed a pick me up after finding out Derek was back in town and you hadn't even seen him.

So you set off, giving Scott a small smile before exiting the classroom and making your way into the busy hallway, starting your search for Isaac the second you entered the crowd.

#isaac lahey x reader #teen wolf x reader #isaac lahey #isaac lahey imagine

[skylarmoon71]

Harry Wells x Witch Reader (Flash) Short Story: Chapter 1

“Harry get down!” The male ducked at Iris’s words, and Iris flinched, barely dodging the blaze of fire that blasted in her direction.

“Whooo! Next time make sure those cuffs are on!!” Their present metahuman had not very safe fire wielding powers. After just barely stopping him from blowing up his old job building, they were now struggling to contain him. Barry was dealing with another situation, so they were fighting to hold their own.

“Killer frost would come in handy right about now.” Iris squealed, ducking behind an overturned table, and Harry frowned, jumping to the same location. Without his gun he was a sitting duck.

“What’s the plan?” Harry asked.

“Wait it out.” she advised. They couldn’t exactly face him off. Harry raised his head to glimpse the spot of his weapon. It was on the other side of the room. If he was fast enough, he could make a break for it. Iris followed his gaze. “Harry no, we wait for Barry and the others. I don’t want to explain why you got barbecued!!”

The laughter of their assailant wasn’t very comforting.

“Come on old man, let’s see if you can outrun my flames.” He challenged. Harry’s mood was quickly depleting.

“Ready or no-” The bright flash of a light temporarily blinded the meta, and both Harry and Iris turned in the direction. She sighed in relief, assuming it was Cisco vibing in, but was surprised when a young woman jumped through the circular portal. Sporting a duffle bag too. It disappeared almost as quick as it appeared, and now all the attention shifted.

“What do we have here?” the male snickered, raising his hands as flames erupted.

“W-Watch out!” Iris yelled.

Your eyes shifted between the man standing in front of you and the two people hiding behind a desk.

“You’re kinda cute, might not set you on fire.” He spoke. Harry thought for sure you would at least react to the man that was holding fire in his palms, then again, you’d just jumped through a portal from who knows where.

“Damn it, so much for a vacation, I was so ready to kick back and relax, now I gotta deal with this.” you dropped the bag, stretching your limbs. The meta raised an eyebrow, a bit annoyed at your reaction.

“Hey! Don’t you realize you’re in some real danger. Don’t ignore me you bi-”

“Somnum.” As soon as the words left your lips his eyes shined blue, and he fell to the ground, unmoving. Iris and Harry released a breath, now they were facing an entirely different problem. When you saw the guarded way they were looking at you, you waved your hands around.

“O-Oh shit no I didn’t kill him or anything, he’s just asleep!” you said hurriedly, running over and flipping him unto his back. Iris felt a bit more reassured when she saw the steady rise and fall of his chest. “See, completely fine. Maybe a moron but fine.” you grinned, and Iris picked herself from behind the desk. Harry wasn’t as welcoming. He squinted, taking slow steps to his gun, just in case.

“You really saved us there. Thank you.” Iris moved closer with a friendly smile which you returned. “Of course, fighting demons is sort of my thing.” Iris’s brows furrowed. “Demons?” you nod. “Yeah, what else could he be. Humans don’t exactly have magic powers am I right?” you laughed at your own joke, and Iris realized at that moment that maybe she didn’t really understand this. She thought for sure you were a meta. “He..he wasn’t a demon, he’s a meta.”

“A what now? “

You had no idea what metahumans were, so the theory of you being one was completely off.

Harry grabbed his gun, charging it up and pointing it at you.

“Who are and what do you want!”

“Harry!” Iris scolded.

“What, she just pops up from a circle light and knocks that meta out without so much as a flinch. I think we should be a little more cautious. “

You were still smiling widely at Harry. He didn’t know what was more unsettling, the fact that you didn’t look the least bit intimidated, or the way your smile directed at him was giving him weirdly calming vibes.

“I’m a witch!” you chirped.

“Come again?” Harry spoke.

“Witch, you know, magical powers, fighting demons and other evil magical creatures. I know what you’re thinking, brooms and pointing hats which personally I’d like to say is a bit offensive if you really think about it and-” The whiplash of wind smacked into your face and your eyes widen at the man now standing at the dark skinned women’s side. He was wearing a suit and all.

“Woah, that’s a lot of red..”

“Iris are you okay, what happened? I got a notification that the lab was under attack. “ He seemed distracted with his worry for the woman, and she quickly reassured him.

“I’m good Barry, after you guys dropped that meta off he kind of went on a rampage. The cuffs got loose.” Barry looked over, now noticing the way Harry was still holding a gun, when he followed he saw the very unconscious male, and an unfamiliar woman.

“Uh, hi.” he said a bit awkwardly.

“Sup.” you greeted.

“Who umm, who is this?” he inquired.

“(Y/N), (L/N) at your service. Full fledged witch.”

“A...witch?”

“Yep! So you guys get any food around here. Been travelling for a while. “ you just started walking around, in search of a fridge it would seem. Barry’s brows knitted and Iris sighed.

“Interesting...”

That was an understatement.

~~~~

“So while we were out superheroing, you guys found a wizard?” Cisco voiced.

“Witch.” you corrected, munching on your fries.

“Well, I’m just glad you came in when you did, you really saved us.” Iris thanked.

“We had it handled.” Harry groused from his side. He was messing with some type of machine, and you just scrunched your nose at him. In which he blinked in confusion. “Please tell me why again we’re entertaining this kid.”

“Excuse me I’m thirty-five! Although I’m flattered by your compliment.”

“You’re older than me?” Barry asked in confusion. You nod. “What, do I really not look like it.” It did make sense why those bouncers always asked you for ID before entering.

“What can I say, got good genes.”

Iris was still watching you with a little smile. You smiled back of course, a bit confused, but still happy that she wasn’t as mean as Harry. Barry noticed, and he had a feeling he knew why his wife was looking at you so fondly. He reached over, giving her arm a squeeze, and she looked up at him, glowing. There was a secret exchange between the both of them.

“Can I just comment that you guys are so cute, kind of remind me of Harry and Macy, if they ever stop avoiding the obvious that is.”

“Wait, there’s a Harry in your world too?”

“Well yeah, but he isn’t like Mr. Grumpy over there. Plus he british. He’s a whitelighter.”

“What’s that?” Cisco was as expected curious about all you had to offer. He’d been quizzing you since he got back from as he phrased ‘superheroing.’

“They're like guardians, they protect witches like me. Macy and her sisters, their witches like me. I needed to take a break from the whole helping save the world thing. It seemed safe now so I thought I’d do a little universe jumping. My day job was getting a little stressful too. My brother thought I could use the relaxation so he’s running our business right now. I wonder sometimes if we’re even related because the guy loves working. Guess you get that way when you work long enough and I feel like I’m rambling, am I rambling?”

“Annoyingly.” came Harry’s flat response.

“Kay..so do you guys mind if I stick around town for a while. I can even help with your little meta problem which is even crazier than fighting demons every once in a while. “

You were grinning so widely, Barry didn’t really have the will to turn you down.

“S-Sure why not.”

“Are you serious Allen, for all we know this whole story could be made up. Witches, really? What if she’s just some psychopathic meta.”

“First of all, ouch, I’m not some psycho.” he looked utterly unimpressed.

“Is it really that hard for you to believe in magic, you fight superhuman people on the daily. “

“They were brought about by science, logical explanation. Magic isn’t real. No proof, no logic.”

You shifted from your seat, dusting your hands. Stepping closer, you stopped when you were face to face with him. He was pretty tall now that you were closer.

“Handsome.”

He was still somewhat glaring at you, and the others in the room were watching in anticipation.

“Let our eyes reveal what cannot be seen, and show those what seems make believe.” you turned your palm, and Harry’s gaze shifted to the pink light now emitting from your hand.

“Terra, ventus, ignis, aqua.” 

Right before his eyes, he could see the elements swerving in your hand. The four major elements connected, right before they rose, in seconds the light from you dissipated, flashing quick and evaporating, leaving nothing but bright specs of what appeared to be crystals. Harry gaped.

“Awesome…” Cisco muttered.

“Somethings in life aren’t logical Harrison, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Love, fear, hope...these are all things that exist, but we can’t see it, touch it, does that deter the belief in its existence?”

Harry was speechless. This time when you watched him, you were just beaming, and he couldn’t comprehend why it erupted a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. You just stared at each other, after a few silent moments, Harry moved his gaze to the floor, clearing his throat and adjusting his glasses. Without another word he was walking off. You watched him until he made it around the counter.

“I think he likes me.”

Cisco laughed, and so did everyone else in the room.

#charmed/flash #love #harrywells #caitlin snow #flash #cisco ramon #starlabs #ccpd #Central City #meetings #witches #spells #care #family #Barry Allen #BarryxIris #teamflash #friendship #harryxreader #metahumans #crime #powerfulreader

[yamalegacy]

OVERLOAD & BUNNY GIRL

[ prologue ]

SUMMARY: A new small group of villains is spreading chaos all over Japan and no hero agency seem to know what to do about them — they are perfectly organized, always manage to escape arrest, never cause any casualties and its members remain impossible to identify. All heroes can do is wait for them to strike again and hope that they will be able to capture them. Convinced that she can do a better job than everyone else, a rising Pro, Rabbit Hero: Mirko, dives in head first into an investigation and realizes too late that she might be biting more than she can chew.

mirko x villain!female!oc

   Of all the popular spots in the city, there were few that she found more despicable than the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall. Unnecessarily vast, stores spreading endlessly under her gaze, bright colors ready to blind anyone who stared too intently or for too long. And loud. It was so goddamn loud, no matter what time of the day she visited that cursed mall, it was always filled to the brim with obnoxiously loud people — the hustle and bustle of life had never been much of a bother to her, but there, stuck in a crowd that she could barely escape when tucked away in a corner, everything was too much.

In spite of all that, in spite of her boss knowing exactly how much she hated that place, he still sent her there for his ridiculous scouting mission. There was absolutely no point in scouting the place when it was so easy to find a map with every store on it, was there?

She let out a deep sigh and rubbed a hand over her eyes. If it were not for this tenuous task, she could have been home, settled comfortably under a heavy blanket to watch videos of superheroes getting their ass kicked, or compilations of the most awkward superhero moments in superhero history, on her phone. But she was stuck there instead, leaning against a pillar, desperately trying to avoid any sort of physical contact with those who passed too close to her.

"You look so stiff your attitude screams super-villain. Relax and live a little, Overload."

The grating voice came suddenly from her earpiece, making her wince. She could not resist the urge to press a hand to her ear, even though she knew it was useless to chase the noise away.

"Don't call me that," she whispered, not bothering to try to hide her annoyance. She had never felt the need to have a Villain name — she was not one of those people who needed to show with their fancy Quirk and their fancy code-name that bore little to no meaning. Obnoxious.

"Then relax and start looking like you at least aren't here against your will." Her partner's tone was teasing, once again a reminder to live a little. "People are staring. But maybe that's 'cause you're super hot."

Her only response was a groan. It was always like that between the two of them. He tried to tell her to not be so stiff, she complained, he tried to flirt, she ignored him for three days in a row. He was far from being a terrible person, not a constant buzzing annoyance, and his playful flirting could be quite amusing at times (but that much she could not bring herself to say out loud, as it would merely encourage him further). He was no good person either, though. Neither of them was. But that was the whole point, was it not?

She looked up at the floor above her, easily spotting his large figure in the crowd. He was leaning over the railing, watching her with too intense eyes, and all she wanted was to show him her middle fingers. But that was impossible. It would only bring attention to their connection, something they could not afford right now. Discretion was the whole point of their mission today. Observing without being noticed — why their boss would send both their tallest male and female members for such a task was beyond her.

So annoying and entirely useless if you asked her.

"Second store on your left. Big one. Looks like there'd be loads of cameras. Check it out."

Even from down there, she could see that he looked pleased with his suggestion. No matter what that store sold, she already knew that she would hate it and want to burn it to the ground. But she did not speak her mind. She simply hummed, took out her phone to pretend to check something, and made her way to the store that Boomboom had indicated.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," she muttered under her breath at the terrible sight that spread under her eyes like an endless nightmare.

It did not take more than two seconds for a loud laugh to echo in her ear, Boomboom much too happy about her reaction to try to hide his — even though he knew that he needed to be discreet and not bring attention to himself, he was laughing like an idiot. Too pleased with himself and the fact that he had guided her to a superhero merchandise store.

She was surrounded by capes, costumes, mugs, figures, posters, and various decorations that were brightly colored and shaped like the Quirk users that the common folk admired more than they ought to. That store was hell on earth, but she could not afford to run away now that she had stepped inside. She needed to spot every camera in the store, that was her mission. A mission that she hated with a burning passion.

So, instead of fleeing the scene as she wished she could, and escaping that nightmare of a vision, she walked around, pretending to examine the contents of the rows of shelves, picking up a mug here and there only to put in back down. She had to dodge several too excited children screaming about All Might and Kamui Woods and whatever other Pro Hero kids liked nowadays.

It was only when she approached the counter at the back of the store that she found something that piqued her interest. Protected by glass panels, stood a little exhibit of figures, statues, pins, and other memorabilia that she could not help but admire. There was a banner that rested above the shelf, white letters on a beautiful shade of muted red; ‘Heroes Of Our Childhood’ it read.

She knelt in front of the display, her eyes moving from one side of the lowest shelf to the other.

“You like vintage heroes, uh?”

The voice belonged an employee she had spotted when nearing the back of the store. He was not particularly tall or handsome, he was not particularly anything, really. A very plain looking man that she would not have even looked at, had it not been for her mission. He had a kind smile, though — a man who seemed like he could be trusted. But she did not trust anyone.

With a deep breath, she brought a hand up to her earpiece and disconnected it, refusing to let Boomboom hear any part of the conversation that was bound to follow.

“Why aren’t Locked & Loaded together?” she inquired, still too entranced by the display to look at the man.

“You know Locked & Loaded?”

There was a tint of admiration and excitement in the man’s voice, and finally, she looked away from the shelf. The man’s eyes were wide open in surprise, apparently caught off guard by her knowledge.

“We’ve had this display up for a bit over a week now, and nobody has ever noticed that Locked & Loaded are on opposite sides of the shelf,” the employee explained, kneeling by her side. “I had this idea that I would sell them at a reduced price to whoever realized that they belonged in a set, since I never expected that someone would recognize them.”

He scratched at the back of his head, the gesture almost bashful.

“Are you interested in buying them?” he asked, his voice barely containing his excitement. “I can do two-for-one, for someone like you.”

He looked her up and down, his eyes lingering just a second too long on the sliver of skin that peaked between her jeans and crop top. Ah. No matter how kind and trustworthy that man looked, he was one of those guys. She could not point it, could not make a scene, had no desire to bring any attention to herself right now, in the middle of a mission, so she merely shook her head at the offer and tried her best to give him a small smile.

“Regular price, please. The names of heroes like Locked & Loaded shouldn’t be tainted by reduced prices.”

What was she even saying? She should not be refusing such a generous offer when she barely made any money, should not be spewing such chivalrous nonsense about long gone Pro Heroes, but there she was, unable to stop herself from talking. It was a good thing that she had had enough sense to cut the connection with Boomboom, or she would have never heard the end of it — the man loved to tease her more than enough as it was, and he definitely did not need more reasons to keep teasing her.

“Wait for me at the counter while I get Locked & Loaded ready for you!”

She stood up, knees cracking inelegantly as she did, and made her way to the counter as the employee disappeared behind a door. The counter was just as obnoxious as the rest of the store, bright young heroes, and their bright costumes; pins, patches, and other small objects that nobody could possibly have a use for. There were tiny figures standing on the counter as well, far from the high quality and details of the statues she was about to buy. Her eyes landed on one that only appeared taller than the others because of the white bunny ears sprouting from its little head. Tan skin, fluffy ears and a body suit that did not cover any of the taut muscles of the female hero.

"Interested in Mirko?" the employee asked as he came back from the concealed room, large box under his arm.

"A bunny girl?" She blinked, unable to look away from the unexpected hero. "Is this what Pro Heroes have come to?"

The man laughed, "we can’t choose our Quirks, right? She's a rising Pro Hero. Really popular lately, super strong legs. She kicks villain butts!"

She only hummed at the words and finally looked away from the small figure. Bunny hero was weirdly cute, in a way. As cute as extremely muscular heroes in a tight and revealing body suit can be (not all that much, all in all).

The employee reached over the register to grab the small figure and placed it in the bag he had prepared, on top of the box that contained the statues that she was about to waste her money on. Why was she even buying them? It would bring her any sort of joy, would it? She had no idea where in her apartment there even would be room for them. What would she do with a mini bunny girl?

Probably sensing her confusion at the gesture, he spoke up.

“It’s a gift. I’m a fan of Mirko, and I was always a fan of Locked & Loaded, so I hope that one day, you’ll look at Mirko the way you looked at these Locked & Loaded statues.”

The smile he directed at her was soft, kind, genuine, but she could only arc an eyebrow at his words.

“I highly doubt I will ever look at any hero the way I looked at them.”

His smile remained. Obnoxious.

“You never know!”

Definitely obnoxious. People who thought they knew better were insufferable and exhausting to talk to — which was why she always avoided conversations with her boss so carefully.

Her money wasted, credit card back in her pocket, she headed out of the store, not without casting a last glance around the place, making sure that she had spotted every camera there. It was what she had gone inside for, after all, not to buy some Pro Hero merchandise. 

“Yo!”

She jumped, every muscle in her body tensing as she readied herself to throw a punch, but Boomboom’s large silhouette was casting a shadow over her, protecting her from the overbearing sun that would have otherwise undoubtedly hurt her eyes.

“You know it’s not good for us to be spotted together, right?”

He only shrugged. Under her questioning gaze, he finally tapped his ear.

“You disconnected. And Bossman said we should head back to HQ.”

Her lips formed a surprised little ‘o’ shape. She had turned off her earpiece to make sure that Boomboom would not hear her talk about superheroes to the employee of that stupid store.

When Boomboom’s eyes fell on the bag clasped in her hand, her grip on it only tightened, and she moved it behind her back, out of his sight, as if it would actually quench his curiosity.

“Whatcha got in there? Don’t you hate Pros more than Bossman does?”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“I bought something so I wouldn’t look too suspicious after looking around for so long. It’s nothing interesting.”

Boomboom’s grin showed too many of his too white teeth. 

“Show me!”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Show me or I’ll show myself.”

Boomboom was now frowning, and while she knew that he rarely was grumpy, she was too aware of his insatiably curious personality. She had never minded that particular trait of his; it made him cautious in general and a very good partner for missions, as he never hesitated to do research before going anywhere. But Boomboom also was much taller and had a lot more raw physical strength than she could ever dream to have. If he really wanted to take the bag from her, it would barely take him a minute.

“I’ll show you one thing?” her tone was unsure as she tried negotiation, but Boomboom still smiled, and she knew that it would be enough.

She fished the small bunny girl — no, Pro Hero — figure from the plastic bag and placed it in his large hand. He brought it closer to his face, pushing his sunglasses on top of his head to take a better look at it.

“Mirko the Rabbit Hero?” he questioned, seemingly confused, though he had clearly gotten the name right.

“Yes, bunny girl.”

Finally, he looked away from the small figure to look back at her.

“I didn’t expect her to be your type,” he said, almost too calmly, “but it makes sense. You do seem like you’d like them with abs and big biceps.”

“I look like I would like Pros with abs and big biceps?” It was her turn to be confused.

Boomboom shook his head. “Women. Not Pros.”

She gathered all the patience in her body to let out a sigh instead of unleashing her Quirk at full power in his face. Rather than give him the honor of reacting to his attempt at teasing her, she merely grabbed his arm and started to head for the exit of the cursed mall she had already spent too many hours in. At least it did not feel so bad with him right by her side — no matter how pleased with himself he looked. Boomboom was safe, he felt like home.

#bnha oc #mha oc #mha oc x canon #my hero academy oc #🖊️ overload & bunny girl #pre canon events #mirko isn't official top 5 yet in this #can you tell i'm obsessed with rumi yet? #ANYWAYS #now i go back to trying to write some x reader stuff

[fillingthescrapbook]

Jupiter's Legacy: To Err is Human, to Bore is a Superpower

Spoiler Alert: I will be getting into a very detailed rant on why I think this is a well-written but ultimately bad show, so if you plan on watching it and don't want to be spoiled, scroll away now. Thanks!

Having seen the entirety of Jupiter's Legacy, I would say this series consists of three different shows fighting for time: the good (the story set in the past, where the first superheroes get their powers), the bad (anything that happens in the present, especially the finale), and the boring (all the stuff that's in between). And that battle for focus spoils the great moments that the show does have.

The biggest problem I have with the show, to be perfectly honest, was that it likes to repeat itself. Scenes from one episode pops up in another through flashback, or through a different perspective, or through echoes. And while it's sometimes a great narrative device, it isn't utilized well in Jupiter's Legacy because of one thing: there's no clear main character in the show to anchor that narrative device to.

Josh Duhamel's "The Utopian" might be front and center in the promos and publicity photos, but his character is more a nuisance and a plot device than anything else. Sure, he's central to the moral conflict of the show--but he's not the one at the crossroads. He's an immovable object that causes the dilemma; he's neither the solution, nor the character who needs to make a choice.

Of all the other characters, the only two that has actual progression are Lady Liberty (Leslie Bibb) and Brainwave (Ben Daniels). Lady Liberty, in the past, is a woman who chases after the truth. In the present, she becomes subservient to the Utopian. And during the show, she (very) slowly regains her agency to think for herself.

Brainwave is presented as a sympathetic character you're supposed to root for. But certain acting and directing choices made throughout the series clearly paints him as a budding antagonist. A much bigger antagonist, it turns out, by the finale episode. But at least his character had a trajectory.

Brandon (Andrew Horton) had more potential in that he was the most affected by the show's thesis of how can good ultimately be effective when it lets evil survive; his character is the one who starts the conflict that propels the show forward. Unfortunately, the show completely forgets about him by Episode 3. By the time the show deigns him important again, in Episode 7, he's had an off-screen epiphany that he needs to follow his father's example. Only for the finale to take that development back again.

Which leads me to another problem I have with Jupiter's Legacy; the story-telling choices it made are... not great. While I stand by my initial statement that the show is well-written (except for the seventh episode), it feels like the episodes are written with no thought of what came before or what comes after.

Like, going back to Brandon's character; the first episode forced him to make a choice: kill the bad guy or let his family die. He chose to kill the bad guy. It's a decision that puts his father, the Utopian, in a bad light because he was the one who made the rule that heroes aren't supposed to kill. Episode 2 is supposed to deal with this fallout, but instead Brandon is sent to a farm while the main story focuses on the Utopian trying to reconnect with his other child: Chloe. A storyline that doesn't even get picked up again in the remaining episodes.

Episode 2 ends with funerals. The parallelism between how the funeral in the past ignites the story forward, while the funeral in the present signals the beginning of an ending is great. The moment Brandon has trying to reach out to the surviving family of one of the dead heroes is spot on. But neither timelines have any impact to the viewers because the characters are seemingly pushed by plot instead of by their traits, leaving the episode like a computer-generated piece of art: beautiful but emotionless.

And instead of continuing Brandon's journey and his relationship with his family, Episode 3 focuses instead on a new character: a petty thief with a super-powered crew. Hutch (Ian Quinlan) is a charismatic enough antihero, but he has no card to play in the game yet. The episode writer weaves in Hutch's story well with flashbacks of who George (Matt Lanter) was; so well that when it's revealed that Hutch is George's son, it doesn't feel out of the blue. Unfortunately, neither Hutch's story nor George's moves the story of the first two episodes forward. Instead, the episode feels unnecessary. Like the two episodes that follow it.

Things only get moving again in Episode 6, the episode that follows Lady Liberty in the past and present. She gets a great scene with new hero Ghost Beam (Kara Royster) who needlessly dies because she upholds the Utopian's code--but the whole episode only feels necessary because we've wasted so much time on non-essential character-building that the show needed to remind the viewers of what the show's main premise was. And by this time, the show has already lost all its momentum, and outside of Lady Liberty and Brainwave, no other characters has developed enough to make us want to root for the good guys to win.

This is Episode 6. The season only has eight episodes. Why did the show waste so much time?

Meanwhile the story being told in the flashbacks are being allowed room to breathe. Too much room, to be perfectly honest. While I get that they allow for great parallels in the individual episode, the actual decision to make them play out throughout the season instead of grounding them to just one episode feels like it was made for style rather than substance.

I mean, I know that Matt Lanter is a charming actor who needs to be in all the episodes--but how about writing him a better character that appears both in the past and present? Instead of just prolonging his screen time by stretching the flashbacks so much they felt like they had their own show?

And don't even get me started on the way they treated their characters of color. What was the point of diversifying your cast if you were just going to shortchange them anyway? Fitz (Mike Wade) had a great characterization in the flashbacks, but he just existed in the present timeline. His daughter Petra (Tenika Davis) would've been a great foil--and maybe love interest--for Brandon, but she too was underutilized. Anna Akana's Raikou was wasted, and the end they gave for her character was bordering on criminal. And I could go on and on, but I wouldn't. Because I'm tired and I already spent way too much energy on this show.

Steven Deknight did such a great job when he was the showrunner for Daredevil's first season on Netflix. I don't understand how he went from that to this: a show that talks a lot but says nothing. Beautiful but emotionless.

#Jupiter's Legacy #Netflix #tv review #tv talk #my words

[gaillol-13]

ITTHIGSS AU

Cartoon encounter

The Thrilling Adventures Of Captoon Underpants. By George Beard and Harold Hutchins

Despite it's old appearance, it was made in 2021 by cartoonists George Beard(20 and 0/5 yrs) and Harold Hutchins(21).

They said that they made the cartoon in memory of their boss, Benjamin Krupp, who was tragically killed in a car accident(?). And despite his grumpy, strict, and sarcastic nature, they did miss him (in the interview they joked that black and white cartoons were played at his high school, despite that he was in his 40s, and technology didn't work like that back in the day). And it was also based off the comic books they made when they were young.

The Cartoon itself was about George and harold (as kids) and a chubby half-naked goofy superhero called Captoon Underpants. The trio go on wacky action packed adventures, stop alot of evil baddies, or just have a bunch of fun. It has a decent amount of potty humour, well-balanced in the adult jokes department, and was a hit for kids (and even some adults) everywhere.

The only unhappy customer was Theodore Murdsly, a rich businessman with a huge company (called Ted corp), and a ego to match. The main reason he found the cartoon unacceptable was that he was a major antagonist and Captoon's rival. And it potrayed him as a selfish, cocky, greedy, perverted (yes, I went there), and lying pig (what pissed him off even more was that George and harold dont regret it one bit, even enjoyed that he was annoyed). When he stated this problem, Harold simply said "Look if you dont like that we made your character so accurate, you don't have to watch it at all."

The viewers laughed their heads off, and no one seemed to cared about Theodore's complaint.

On December 4th, seven criminals who worked for Ted kidnapped George and Harold and took them to the abandoned Jerome Horwitz school (which was also where the two cartoonists got their education) to "end the production".

When people asked how George and harold got out alive, they didn't answer and looked at each other with worry. So the police (along with class S scientist Melvin sneedly, who also went to school there) went to the school to investigate, all the evidence they found was a room with 5 dead bodies (no doubt the criminals) and a small TV.

From what Melvin described, 1 body had their neck twisted off and skinned to the bone, 2 had been hung from handmade nooses (that were, strangely, just a bunch of briefs tied together), another one had the top half of their torso missing (with teeth marks,human teeth marks), and 1 looked like it was crushed by a heavy object. There was no trace of the other 2 criminals. Here's what he said in the interview.

"Do you think George and harold are responsible for these murders?"

"Of course not! Sure, those rusty water pipes are very clever, but they wouldn't kill a human, not even if its self defense!"

"You said one was crushed, can you define exactly how?"

"Actually, it seems that the killer crushed him using...some sort of weapon. *pulls out a small broken piece of the weapon out of his pocket and shows it to the camera* I got a sample of it right here"

"The weapon was made from...grey wood?"

"That's the thing! It has the texture of wood, right?! But-but it feels... *drags finger on sample* wet, like ink, just a little. But it's also static-like!"

"Static-like?"

"Y-yeah, and its definitely solid, but it feels like you can bend it too, sorta like rubber!"

"So...its moist rubber wood that feels like...static?"

"I know I know, it sounds crazy. But thats just how it feels, we ran some tests on it, all the computers (after some errors) could say was that it was "hammer wood". So we can confirm this person used a hammer."

"But you said it was rubbery, so how could this person smash them with it?"

"They must have swung it hard, and judging from this picture... *pulls out a picture of the completly smashed corpse* ...it must have been a pretty big hammer. *chuckles a bit*"

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. Just imagining this guy smashing someone with a hammer probably bigger than his body, while its obviously barbaric and gruesome...it kinda reminds me of the captoon cartoons George and harold make..."

"It does?"

"*Nods* mm hm. *pulls out the picture of 2 criminals hanging* And they also made a noose out of underwear! There was actually a Captoon episode where Captoon kinda did that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, *crosses his legs and smiling* Theodore said to some people something about him winning a contest and gloated that he was gonna win Edith (like that's ever gonna happen), and-"

"Do you know who Edith is in the cartoon?"

"Of course! She's Captoon's love interest, her first appearance was in "Captoon's train troubles", and just like George, Harold, Theodore, and me (yeah, I'm in there too), she's an actual person in real life. And she didn't seem to mind the role those two gave her *leans foward* if you know what I mean. *winks and leans back to his original spot*"

"*chuckles*"

"So anyway. Theodore says that, but what he didn't know was that Captoon heard and saw the whole thing through the window, and boy, did he look pissed! So Captoon tapped the window to get Theodore's attention, then pulls out a bunch of underwear from his utility waistband (one of his powers in unlimited underwear), then ties them into a noose, points at him, then at the noose, and then does the "slit-throut" gesture, all while making direct eye contact with Theodore!"

"Woah...that's kinda dark for a family-friendly cartoon."

"I know!! Captoon didn't even say a word in that moment, but that was CLEARLY a death-threat!!! He had full intentions to KILL that smug rich douchebag!!! I mean, they ARE aware kids are watching these, right?!?! Anyway, my point is whoever killed these criminals are obviously a fan of the cartoon, that would definitely explain why he let George and Harold live. *takes a sip of tea*"

"Heh, your one to talk."

"*spits out tea* NONONONOITSNOTLIKEILIKEITORANYTHING I-*ahem* Its just those two keep bugging me to watch it with them, they really love how their work turns out in the end, and I respect that, a-and I seem to remember what happens in the episodes, heh. *nervous laughter* I think we're getting a bit off track. Back to the murders."

"Right, there were seven criminals who took George and harold, but you found five. What happened to the other two?"

"Oh that's...a great question, we couldn't find them, but... *freezes for a moment* remember that there was also a small TV in the same room as the bodies were?"

"Yes."

"W-well, when I was alone in there, it was on one side of the room, and there was a door to the storage room on the other, it was a big room. I noticed there was blood, coming...o-out of...the TV screen...

"W-was there anything showing on the TV?"

"*shakes head* The TV showed nothing but static on it, but bloods was oozing out of the corners...and...when I got closer...I could hear someone...humming..."

"What?"

"*shivers* The-they were humming the Captoon theme song...I could hear it...and...hands..."

"Wha?"

"I could feel...hands...reaching out toward me...from behind...I could hear the storage room door opening...the breathing...footsteps that repeatedly stopped to tap to the rhythm of the song he was humming...that was the moment I realized the man who killed the criminals was right behind me..."

"Jeez."

"His breathing seemed like it was coming from a radio, scratchy...static-like...but that wasn't the unsettling part..."

"What was?"

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I KNEW one person who breathed like that, it was too familiar...but...It just...couldn't be...he's been deseased for over a year now..."

"Who?"

"... *shakes head* never mind, I think it's time for us to end the interview anyway."

To be continued.......

#TTAOCU cartoon #captain underpants #cap #krupp #drawing #george #harold #ITTHIGSS AU #Captoon #Krupptoon #Ted Murdsly #melvin #writing

[sonofjeddah]

Why Superheroes still matter in Arabia

The pop-culture segment in general and superhero segment in particular is the least considered in Saudi Business community (local and international players included). Toy companies, Entertainment houses, Media production companies and even FMCG companies still consider kids (esp. tweens) as primary audience of these properties that have inspired, excited and entertained old and young for more than eight decades

While the society has shown tremendous interest in activities organized by General Entertainment Authority since 2017, the consensus within the business community is antithetical to the wishes of this niche segment of 5 million plus. Shocking as it may seem, the level of interest, fan following isn't restricted to cosmopolitan centers (Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam/Khobar); in fact, regions such as Hail, Qassim and Al Jouf are among the top 5 out of top 10 regions with most search queries in the country concerning these subject(s)

The Quest for Superhero Content: Saudi Arabia vs The World

Saudi Arabia:

Worldwide:

Search Queries: Marvel Cinematic Universe (Blue), Marvel Comics (Red), Shang Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings (Yellow)

While for me this information isn't new as I've been mining data on Google and Facebook since 2013, I chose today to talk about it in the form of an article. I did so because at this moment in time, the biggest happening in the world of heroes is not being led by DC Comics flagship characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman or Justice League; nor it's being led by Marvel's flagship characters like Spider-Man, The Avengers or X-Men; nor by Star Wars, Transformers or Game of Thrones for that matter. Instead, it's being led by a highly underrated superhero of Marvel who was created in the 70s thanks to the Kung Fu craze (mainly because of Bruce Lee) during that time. His name: Shang Chi, the first Asian/East Asian Superhero

Both graphs show us that audiences in Saudi Arabia show a higher level of interest than the rest of the world combined. Both MCU and Marvel Comics related queries/searches are half as much popular or more (vs Worldwide audience), the underrated superhero Shang Chi is reaching the same mark. Of course, one can't ignore the superior marketing tactics deployed by Marvel Entertainment and Disney plus the character's movie has been released yesterday. The million dollar questions here are:

Why would audiences in the Kingdom show incremental interest in a character whose animated series never existed nor broadcasted on Saudi Channel 1 or 2 in the 70s, 80s or even 90s? (Reminder: Bruce Lee VHS were available for rent and David Carridine's Kung Fu series was on air throughout the 80s on Saudi Channel 2)

Why would audiences here be interested in a character whose Arabized comics never were part of Amlaq Digests or reprinted editions of Marvel that were available in neighborhood mini-markets or imported comic books at Star Markets, Sarawat Supermarkets or Tihama Bookstores (distributed by Al Khazindar)?

Before attempting to answer my own questions, we need to understand that Shang Chi is one of those characters who may not have long-running series in the comic book world that span decades but because of their appeal and strong following, have been part of some of the best stories ever written but with the age of diversity, inclusion and online media, he is important for winning over new audiences of East Asian origin around the world, not just China!  

If this is the impact of an underrated character, imagine what happens when Spider-Man: No Way Home is released in December 

Superhero Content & the Arab

Before Content Strategy & Marketing were a thing, comic book publishers were doing it even before World War 2. Over the decades, what was being published was resonating with audiences not just in White America but across the world. In the Middle East, the 70s was the starting point for countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt but the trend made inroads into the Gulf region, especially in Saudi Arabia in the late 70s

The values shared in American superhero comics resonated with Arabs because of their own history of rich story telling as well as adaptations. Just like the Arab folklore, real historical figures of the region were presented as heroes; in fact superheroes in some cases. Another reason for this is that most of the characters produced in the Golden as well as Silver Ages of comics were created mainly by individuals who came from Abrahamic households. Their story telling borrowed heavily from the Biblical accounts of Prophets and other noblemen (who are also mentioned in Quran) regarding Good vs Evil, Light vs Darkness, the virtue of Doing the Right Thing. It was inevitable that such Western creations would resonate with Arabs

The seeds were planted and once an idea or interest takes root in the hearts and minds, it's hard to let it go

And now, the Superhero Content is being published in over-drive mode. Just check Youtube, Facebook, Instagram for starters and you'll see that the Arab content is there; driven primarily by creators in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain; ranging from comics to collectibles and even cosplays. This...is the Aladdin Effect

Aladdin was actually Chinese. Thanks to Abbasid Ruler Haroon Al Rasheed, he became an innate part of Arab Literature

Businesses in Saudi Arabia are losing out

Like the community of Anime fans, the superhero community has been there for decades. It came out with full force during Comic Cons that happened in Jeddah and Riyadh between 2017-2019. The first Saudi Comic Con saw a whopping attendance of 20,000 geeks during 3 days of festivity. It wasn't surprising to see a father attending Stan Lee Super Con Riyadh (2019) with his daughter and son waiting anxiously to meet Lou Ferrigno (the star of 1970s Incredible Hulk series). A Saudi Gen-X Father with his millennial daughter and his Gen-Z son (all fans of the Hulk) or Expatriates travelling to Riyadh to attend the festivity and participate in artist alleys and cosplay comeptitions. No wonder this community was referred to as 'Buried Talent' by Arab News

As they say: Data is the new Oil. Unfortunately, international brands and local businesses in Saudi Arabia haven't taken this segment seriously. The collection that's available at an international 'Megastore' in Saudi Arabia pales in comparison to its sister outlets in Dubai. Toy stores, international or locally owned, are still adamant to sell toys to kids instead of focusing on key collectible properties which are being ordered from US market by Geeks in Saudi Arabia thanks to Amazon. Gaming console companies organize impressive launches of their Superhero game in neighboring Gulf countries but nothing as such takes place here. Dairy brands are still using Superheroes for their "Got Milk" approach. What's needed is to take a look at Data that's available on Google and Facebook's Business Suites, for the very least

While young entrepreneurs with limited resources have opened up shops (online and offline) in major Saudi cities (Examples include: Jeddah's Konami licensed Gaming Lounge, a proper Comic Book Cafe in Dammam) and Riyadh having hosted the world's major Toy Fair as well as Stan Lee Super Con and Saudi Anime Expo BUT more needs to be done. The data is there. Action is needed from the Private Sector

The starting point would be with seed investors and venture capitalists who are currently obsessed with re-inventing the wheel by investing in ride hailing apps, food delivery apps, online baqalas, fintechs while a niche segment's wants mostly remain unaddressed  

#superheroes #saudi arabia #mcu #marvel comics #Shang Chi

[buginateacup]

Alright fandom we’re twelve fics in now its time I got some thoughts in order. Specifically the thoughts of Damsel as Sacrifice

I want to talk to you about the idea of a damsel as the Acceptable Collateral Damage.

Something my brain keeps throwing at me again and again is the question of why there has to be a damsel and why they have to be regulated and why any hero/villain who may not even be interested in the damsel themselves still agrees to keep one in the picture. To take on the role of damsel basically means you are signing a waiver for the next three years of your life that you might die and there is nothing you can do about it. 

To kidnap a random bystander is dangerous, its like sending someone with no training in to fight a fire. They don’t know what they’re doing and they’ll make it a danger for everyone else.That’s why there are things like orientation and why cities want to use Official Endorsed Damsels who know what they’re getting into. 

If you live in a world where every major city has some form of superhero/villain rivalry that can run the gamut from streetfighting to giant lasers, you could threaten anybody. You could threaten half the world and then what? Half the point of the battle is showmanship and the higher you reach as a supervillain the more your role becomes that of a solo apex predator. our space, your rules and here’s the thing. Villains are active, heroes are reactive. A villain run city is capable of being a safer place to live than a city purely run by heroes. But a villain must stay active. They cant reach ten years in charge and go “Nah, I’m good, you lot take care now” someone new will try to take them down and for a villain to become reactive means they are no longer in charge. Then the city has to go through the whole rigmarole of building itself back up again. This is also why villains tend to die young as well.

When it comes down to it. The damsel is there for the really really bad times. The absolute worst of the failsafe’s failed or the badguy finally really loses it because if there is no way to win then its the damsel and not the rest of the world that loses. 

If you cannot save both then you let the damsel die. This is drilled into every heroes head time and again. It doesn’t matter if they’re the love of your life, if the choice comes down to the school full of children or the woman tied to the bomb then there is no choice.

You save the city. Every time you save the city. 

There is no damsel, official or otherwise anywhere, anytime, who knows if the clock really does run out that they are not leaving in anything other than a bodybag.

That’s also why so many of them finish after only three years, its a short brutal time of being constantly on call that wrecks your social life, your family life (and is why marrying the hero is an automatic out) and if you are lucky. If you get out without permanent injury and spend many years on the talk show circuit promoting your book so you can earn enough money from probably not having a real job for three years and retire somewhere you know you wont get kidnapped every couple of weeks and try to learn how to wake up without screaming.  

That’s why Roxanne hates the mentoring part in TWT-verse. As the villain/hero thing becomes more commercialised these new kids are getting into it for the benefits. Roxanne made the choice going in (maybe not the wisest choice, but a choice nonetheless) that she was going to drag her career upwards by doing the equivalent of reporting from an active warzone. She knows Megamind, she might trust him in a weirdly roundabout kind of way but he’s still the villain.

Megamind does not want Roxanne hurt, but that does not mean she is not at risk.

So under the cut for example, is a snip from one of my fics that takes place a significant amount of time from where its up to currently that leads on to a kind of reminder that this game has stakes and the stakes are the damsel.

IDK, just needed to get some thoughts out I guess...

"You are supposed to save her!" Megamind hissed.

"There were three schoolbuses!" Metro Man snapped, "She's the damsel! She knows the risks!"

"Damsel does not mean sacrifice!"

"Yes it does." Roxanne said quietly, interrupting the argument. "Megamind let me up properly right now I need a goddamn hug."

Megamind didn't even bother untying her, he just slipped a knife out of somewhere and slashed through the ropes around her waist and feet. Roxanne stood up, slapped ineffectually at the coating of dust on her skin and threw her arms around his shoulders, uncaring of the spikes. 

Megamind clutched her tightly, "I am so glad," he breathed, "That you are the worst damsel in existence and I had to spend the last seven years building every fail-safe into that chair I could."

"Me too," Roxanne mumbled. She turned her head and flinched.

"Careful," Megamind guided her back and pressed his forehead to hers, cupping her face in his hands "Spiky bits"

"I know." Roxanne leaned against him and focused on slowing her frantic heartbeat.

Metro Man slumped to the ground beside them, "I'm sorry Roxie," he said into his hands, "I was pretty sure you'd be safe. I-" he looked anguished, "They were kids!"

Roxanne sighed and stepped back, "I know, you made the right decision," she turned and leaned down to hug the superhero as well, wrapping her arms around his neck and patting his head, "We're all okay". Metro Man made a pained noise and nodded.

#damsel meta #my thoughts #spoilers for twt kinda? #bug has opinions #megamind

[immortalcoelacanth]

Brand New Animal (BNA) Oneshot: Cool

I’m a sucker for the mental image of Shirou and Michiru running around and fighting crime in matching trench coats. The imagery is too good. 

Word count: 1910

Summary: For as scary as Shirou could be at times, there was no denying how cool he was. Was it foolish of Michiru to borrow his trench coat? Maybe, but she just wanted to feel cool too. 

“Ughhhhhh, this is so boooooorinnnnnng.” Michiru groaned as she lay sprawled out on the ground, looking up at the ceiling of the study she had been stuck in for the past hour or so. 

Shirou had some business to attend, apparently, and she had been explicitly banned from tagging along. No matter how much she had argued and pleaded, he had refused to tell her what he was doing and then vanished not long later, but not before giving her instructions to stay put until he got back. 

A part of her wondered if he had found some sort of lead about her condition and had decided to investigate it himself considering how… dangerous his investigations tended to be. 

Michiru shuddered, recalling the sensations of freefall after that chameleon beastman dropped her. If Shirou had not caught her-

She quickly pushed herself upright and swiftly shook her head, hair flying around her face as she did her best to ignore the disturbing mental image. Nope! Not thinking about it! Definitely going to forget that asap!

… But she was still bored. Horribly bored. 

“At least you’re here with me, Kuro.” She sighed as she looked over at the crow that was perched on the desk not too far away. Sleeping from the look of it. 

“Okay, just me then I guess.” Michiru dejectedly muttered before shuffling over to her basketball and scooping it up. 

Shirou probably thought he was doing her a favour by letting her bring her basketball with her before she was confined to this room, but it only made her feel worse. She was constantly reminded of the fact that she was stuck indoors, and there was barely enough space to dribble the ball. 

She could not practice shooting hoops or anything like that. Just… dribbling, and the occasional trick. 

It sucked.

Michiru squatted and listlessly bounced the ball, listening to the rapid tap tap tap as it hit the wooden floor. One could argue that at least this activity was engaging in some way, that it gave her something to do that helped the time pass by faster, but from her perspective it just made everything worse.

She was intimately aware of how slow each second seemed to tic by, how dragged out each minute was. It just made her overall annoyance towards this situation grow stronger. It grew, and grew, and grew-

Until she eventually hit her breaking point. 

In her fit of frustration, she failed to see the sparks of light that took over the arm that was dribbling the ball, and the next time she brought it down-

CRACK!

It broke the floor, but that was not the only thing it did.

Due to the bouncy nature of the basketball, after slamming into the ground it flew up towards the ceiling, where it promptly embedded itself as some bits of wood fell to the floor. 

Shirou was going to be so, so mad.  

Well it was his fault anyways! Basically, locking her up in here, even if she was fairly certain the door was not locked and that she could leave at any time. She just stayed because… 

Because she did not want to disappoint Shirou. 

For as interesting as their relationship was and how annoyed she could get with him at times, that did not mean she disliked him. On the contrary, there was a part of her that was downright awed by him at times. 

He was like a superhero! A wolf superhero who could get super violent!

At least he was starting to do better on that front, reigning in his more brutal attacks when Michiru was around unless the situation called for it. 

… Well, it would probably be a good idea to try and get that basketball down before Shirou got back. She jumped up, taking a moment to stretch her legs as she glanced over at Kuro. 

Still asleep.

It was probably too stuck for Kuro to be of any help, anyways. Which meant she would need to rely on her… powers. Ability to shapeshift, whatever you wanted to call it. 

She took a deep breath, narrowed her eyes, aimed her arms at the stuck ball, and-

Slap!

“C’mooooon.” Michiru wailed as she desperately tried to smack at the stuck ball, her gangly limbs flailing in the air. Unfortunately, none of her strikes were hard enough to dislodge it, and she did not want to risk breaking anything else. 

Hopefully, it would fall out before Shirou got back. 

With her only source of entertainment now gone for the foreseeable future, she was forced to look around and figure out if there was anything else, she could use to distract herself with. Tons of books, she definitely was not in a reading mood at the moment, so that left the desk. 

The official looking desk that she probably should leave alone.

…

As Michiru investigated the desk, she quickly noticed that in his haste, Shirou had left something rather important behind. Something she had rarely seen him without. 

His trench coat. 

There it was, resting on the back of the chair. A perfect distraction. Hesitantly, she walked over to it and poked it before looking at the door, assuming that with her luck Shirou would show up the second she touched it. 

But he did not. 

There were no witnesses other than Kuro, who was still asleep. 

It was the perfect crime.

Michiru’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she swept the trench coat off the back of the chair and immediately put it on. Funnily enough, due to the fact that she was a bit shorter than Shirou, this meant that the ends of the trench coat occasionally brushed the ground as she moved about and struck different poses. 

She felt so… so cool!

This was the best way to cure her boredom!

Of course, after she had her fill of striking cool and intimidating poses, all ones that she had seen Shirou do, she started running around the room. The bottom of the trench coat fluttered in the generated breeze, and she laughed to herself. 

No wonder he liked wearing this so much!

The sounds of her merriment mixed with her somewhat loud footsteps woke Kuro up, the bird appearing to yawn while stretching its wings. Michiru, upon seeing the bird awake, rushed over to the table and spun around. 

“Kuro! Don’t I look awesome?!” 

The bird scanned her over before nodding. It then flapped its wings and flew over to join her, settling down on the top of her head rather than her shoulder. An interesting perch for sure, but it made her smile. 

Now getting a bit more caught up in her imagining, Michiru jumped onto the desk, happy that there were no papers on it for once and struck a pose. She leaned forward, a hand resting on her forehead, making it look like she was searching for something. 

“I’m the great Ogami, protector of all the beastman!” She twisted and looked the other way, bracing her foot on the back of the chair to keep her balance. “Sometimes I’m super badass and solve crime, but other times I act like I’m a grumpy old man even though I’m an ancient, grumpy old man-”

And it was at this moment that the door to the office opened. 

Naturally, the sound immediately caught Michiru’s attention and she whirled around to see who had entered. Unfortunately, it was at this moment that she ended up slipping and falling off the desk. 

Kuro, lucky Kuro, had the wits to fly off her head the second her balance was disrupted. She let out a pained yelp as she smacked her head against the ground, curling up and clutching the aching spot. 

From the doorway, Shirou watched. He was, naturally, concerned even if he did not express it all that well. He was also wondering why she had put on his trench coat, but that question could be answered later. So, he strode towards her, Kuro perching on his shoulder as he went. 

He quickly reached the miserable ball that was Michiru and crouched down beside her. A swift look over her showed that she did not seem to have any actual injuries, and he doubted she would get a concussion from a fall like that. 

With his observations complete, he was ready to start the questioning process on why she had his trench coat. However, before he could begin, she spoke up. 

“... Sorry for wearing your coat, I just wanted to for a bit…” 

He blinked and raised a brow at the admission, curious as to what the actual reason was. “... Why?”

Michiru was silent for a moment before quietly muttering under her breath. “Becauseitmakesyoulookcool-”

Cool?

Well that was an unexpected opinion. He never would have thought that she felt that way, given how rough their relationship could be at times. It was actually quite flattering to know that she looked up to him in that way. 

Not that he showed it, of course. 

Michiru was relieved to see that it looked like he had no intention of making fun of her or mocking her for essentially dressing up as him and took this as a sign that she could press the conversation further. 

And maybe be able to use his trench coat again in the future. 

“Can I borrow it sometimes? Pleeeasee?” She begged, quickly standing up and clasping her hands together. “I promise I won’t get it dirty or lose it anywhere!” 

Shirou stared at her, appearing quite confused by her strange fixation on his trench coat. As Michiru continued to stare up at him, eyes wide and pleading, he finally figured out what to respond with. 

“If you don’t cause any trouble the next time you go out, I’ll buy you one. Might as well since I pay for practically everything of yours anyways.” 

“Really?!” Her pleading had immediately turned to excitement at his answer. She threw her arms up into the air, smiling brightly. “Thank you so much!” 

“Why’re you acting like you’re going to get it?”

“Hey! I barely cause any trouble-”

“Really?” The disbelief in Shirou’s voice was immense as he raised a brow at Michiru. “Should I recite the list?”

“The list-you’ve been keeping track?!”

Rather than answer her question, he smirked at her and cleared his throat. “Incident one-”

“I take it back! I take it back!” 

The cries mixed with Michiru flailing her arms at him got a quick, sharp laugh out of Shirou. Upon seeing how amused he was with the situation, she quickly halted her mild freak out and crossed her arms, somewhat pouting. 

Which only made Shirou laugh harder. It took a bit to get his chuckles under control, but when he did all was silent. Silent, until the no longer pouting Michiru decided to get the last word in. 

“Y’know, I bet you’d look even cooler with a tiny detective hat, or a fedora-”

“No.” 

Seconds later, the forgotten basketball finally fell from where it had been stuck in the ceiling and landed on the ground beside Shirou, bouncing several times before stopping.

Michiru looked at the ball, then looked at Shirou, then looked back to the ball.

“S-So… uh-”

“Another thing to add to the list.”

Michiru’s dismayed wails could be heard throughout the building. It looked like it would be some time before she was able to get her trench coat.

                                       xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have so many WIPs, I have too many, but I have a mighty need to generate fluff.

I hope you all enjoyed reading!

- ImmortalCoelacanth

#my story #fanfiction #brand new animal #bna #michiru kagemori #shirou ogami #found family dynamic #fluff #the trench coat make a return