floppycat

Bruce (while talking with his new student, Peter, for the ''first'' time) : And you are?

Peter : Suicidal.

Bruce :

Peter :

Bruce :

the man who gained his trust, his love, his admiration. someone he cared for

the person who filled the void after his father figure died

a man who manipulated someone in a vulnerable position, used him for his own selfish endeavours. who stole a tool and turned it into a weapon

who then tries to kill the golden goose. who admits he's better, and good, and that's why he has to die

a lackluster antagonist isn't going to drive the hero to reach new levels, to show these complex sides of themself and feel deeply (and cause us to feel deeply with them). the weight and pressure the antagonist puts on the story will make it or break it. we should be nearly as invested in the villain's actions and motives as we are the heroes.

and the different types of antagonists create different and fascinating dynamics with the protagonist and moral of the story.

— an antagonist who hurts because they are hurt: Loki. this is important for a hero like Thor because he's never had to face the fact that he isn't perfect and doing what he thinks is right isn't necessarily the right answer. he learns to look outside of himself because he was too arrogant to realize the ramifications of his and other heroes actions. if it was just another power hungry villain Thor would defeat them with his might and never learn to empathize.

— an antagonist who believes they're helping/doing what's right: Thanos. This being the Avengers first proper loss breaks the status quo of good vs. evil. MCU Thanos genuinely believes he's making the world better just like the Avengers, so good intention isn't enough to overcome the villain's power like in other stories. The fact that many people agreed with Thanos makes the protagonists look inwards and feel the weight of their actions. Their decisions in Civil War felt right and important at the time to each hero, but that break up meant they weren't together to fight Thanos. It's implied that if CW never happened they would have defeated Thanos, but they didn't, and instead lost those they care about permanently.

— an antagonist who wants power: Iron Man villains. Killian, Hammer, Stane. This pairs with Tony well because he grew up in an environment where power, intelligence, and wealth were always the priority. Even above himself. He fulfilled the Stark legacy and only when faced with a mirror of what this business and greed does to the world, what he's inadvertently done to others, does he step up to reverse the dark path he's been walking. Even though he regrets his past he's constantly learning how those actions did, do, and will hurt people. When you pair this type of antagonist up with someone like Captain America, such as Red Skull, the entire plot is different:

Captain America is an underdog story about how Steve's strong and ever-present moral compass makes him powerful. He's a role model and he teaches us to fight for the little guy no matter the odds or our own position. He was always a good person. Tony Stark is a redemption story. He didn't do the right thing, he was uninformed, he was selfish. His story is about change, guilt, and development. Steve wasn't a hero because of the serum, the serum just amplified the hero that was already there— but Tony wasn't doing the right thing, so it's important to know that you can change and make up for your wrongdoings any time in life. Regret is unavoidable but guilt is not permanent

The Obadiah Stane and Quentin Beck parallels extend beyond their own characters; Obadiah instigates the creation of Iron Man, and Quentin prevents Peter from stepping away from Spider-Man. Despite having opposing beginnings (rich, powerful, dangerous vs. poor, powerless, weak) both Peter and Tony are forced to be heroes due to their inability to allow others to be harmed because of them. Peter is able to learn the lessons Tony did far earlier in life, giving us hope of an even better generation of heroes. History repeats itself but so can the lessons and learning.

This is why I enjoy Peter and Tony's dynamic and connection in the MCU so much. the mentorship allows them to grow together/because of one another, and shows how you don't stop growing as a person despite your mature age or extensive experience, and you don't stop learning from someone just because they aren't around anymore.

​The 'ON AIR' bulb flickered to life. Remus slid the master fader up, straightening. "Good midnight, London. You're listening to the Signal 77. I'm your host, Remus Lupin."

​"And I'm Sirius Black. Tonight, we’re reading your live submissions. The secrets keeping you awake at this godforsaken hour."

​Sirius scrolled his screen. "Let's see. Got one here from a user who hates their flatmate's cooking. Boring. Ah, here." He adopted an easy, conversational rhythm. "Anonymous says: I think I'm ruining my own life by staying friends with the person I'm in love with."

​Remus glanced at his own screen. "Classic. Proximity is a killer. Anonymous needs to rip the plaster off and get some space."

​"Anonymous says that's not an option," Sirius continued. "They work together. They share a flat. He says he has to sit there every single day and pretend it doesn't completely gut him."

​Remus frowned, scrolling to find the post. "Well, he needs to set boundaries. Or move out. It’s masochism at that point."

​"He says he can't leave," Sirius murmured. He tapped his tablet's power button and turned the dead, black screen to face Remus. "Because his friend is a stubborn disaster who forgets to sleep, gets entirely too stressed about his university exams, and buries himself in massive fantasy novels to avoid dealing with the real world. Someone has to make sure he actually eats." He paused, locking eyes with Remus. "And he just doesn't want to."

​Remus froze. Sirius was staring at him through the red-tinged dark, his usual arrogance completely gone.

​A cold spike of panic hit Remus. He slammed Sirius's mute button. "Sirius," he hissed, his radio voice fracturing. "What are you doing?"

​Sirius didn't reach for his mute button, letting his voice carry across the physical space of the small room instead. "He says he's sitting across from him right now, and he's terrified he's about to ruin the only good thing he has."

​Remus stared, desperately searching Sirius's face for the punchline. For the smirk. "Stop," he whispered. "If this is a bit, Sirius, if this is some stupid joke—stop. It's not funny."

​"It's not a joke," Sirius mumbled. "I've never been joking, Remus."

​Through the glass, the producer pointed frantically at the dead air monitor. Remus stared at the 'ON AIR' light, fully aware ten thousand people were listening to the silence.

​Slowly, his hand slipped off the mute button. He pulled his microphone an inch closer so his words were directly in Sirius's ears.

he’s got only about a gazillion original failsafes, including the old ones programmed into the iron man suit. over 576 webshooter combinations, an integrated training protocol, a voice modifier for ‘enhanced interrogation’, scanners for criminal databases, heartbeat sensors, heat scan sensors, a drone, a tracker, a heater, a parachute. and that’s just barely scratching the surface.

tony stark thought of everything the kid could have possibly encountered, and made a function for it. he was sure that he hadn’t missed a thing.

they’re working together and tony asks him how his suit was holding up, if it needed any repairs or anything. he’s opening the door up. and peter starts rapid-firing ideas for the suit that never even crossed tony’s mind. which is crazy. because everything crosses tony’s mind.

the kid thinks outside of the box, he applies concepts to situations in unique ways, inventive ways. he’s scrappy, even in the most top-of-the-line tech. using the given materials to come up with a solution to a hyper-specific problem on the fly.

tony will make the next suit to match that quality— intuitive.

ehhh, idk…….. JUST KIDDING

THIS IS WHAT I WAS BORN TO DO

some people don’t deserve fanfics, much less for free.

also even if authors didn’t tag any specific warnings but they used the “creator chose not to use archive warnings” tag, then that is your warning.

May walks into the kitchen at 7 AM and finds Peter drinking coffee straight black while staring at the toaster like it personally betrayed him.

May: Honey, you’re sixteen.

Peter: and yet the bagel remains untoasted.

May: Why are you talking like that.