[ ooc ] [ meadowlark ] application.

[nerded]

> PLAYER INFORMATION
NAME: zelly
PRONOUNS: she/her
AGE: 21+
CONTACT: thwip | PM

> CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: peter parker
CANON: marvel cinematic universe
AGE: 17-18
CANON POINT: post-far from home

HISTORY: LINK
PERSONALITY:

From first impressions, Peter Parker doesn't particularly seem like the hero type. He's shy and awkward, he isn't terribly athletic, and he keeps to his very (very) small circle of friends. He does really well in school, hangs around home (or the dumpster) during his spare time, and seems to be perfectly content not to get in anybody's way. He's bullied at school, plays with LEGOs, and tinkers with old computer parts while watching old movies from the 80s. And while most of this is true about Peter, there's definitely more to him than meets the eye.

Peter is also friendly and kind-hearted and excitable. He's enthusiastic about trying new things and meeting new people (usually superheroes), and he's the kind of guy you wouldn't (and honestly, shouldn't) be afraid to approach. However, while seemingly warm and open, he does seem to keep to himself if he isn't hanging out with his two-person group in a school setting, which generally consists of Ned Leeds and Michelle "MJ" Jones. And when he's at home, it's clear that he and his aunt May Parker share a very close relationship; they're really the only family the other one has. Peter was orphaned as a child and left to the care of his aunt May and his uncle Ben. And while not explicitly stated in MCU's canon for Peter Parker, the Peter Parker/Spider-Man origin story has been said by the writers to be more or less the same (and a big reason why they decided to forgo the origin story in Homecoming). What this means is that the loss of his uncle Ben remains connected to the birth of the hero Spider-Man.

Peter alludes to this in a roundabout way when Tony Stark visits the Parker home in Queens to recruit him, saying that, "When you can do the things that I can, but you don't... and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you." It's his version of the famous, 'With great power, comes great responsibility' spiel, and means that he places the burden and guilt of his loss on his own shoulders. This shapes the way he views the world and the way he views himself. It influences the decisions he makes and guides his thinking. If he had stopped those bad things from happening, maybe everything would be okay. It's also likely why he becomes so adamant about keeping his superhero identity a close-guarded secret from his aunt and everybody he knows. Knowing the truth about him would devastate and upset his aunt (would she blame him for his uncle's death?); it would also constantly put her in harm's way. This is a core concept that remains within the Spider-Man ethos - Spidey is incredibly protective over his secret identity because it terrifies him to think that he could ever be responsible for the loss of another loved one. In this way, 'Spider-Man' becomes a dual identity that simultaneously isolates Peter from everyone he loves but also frees him in ways he could never express himself as 'Peter Parker'.

Of course, Peter being a seventeen/almost-but-not-quite-eighteen year old high school student and still-learning hero, is absolutely in above his head. He's still getting used to the idea of maintaining a dual lifestyle and honestly, he's not great at keeping it a secret from most people who might pay a little attention. Aside from Tony Stark, who managed to follow the clues and figure out the identity behind the mask, Ned Leeds just so happens to be in Peter's room when he unmasks, revealing everything without even the barest opportunity to lie. MJ gathers a series of unsubtle cues throughout their last year of school that pieces together Peter's identity, and confronts him about it. Peter pretty much reveals himself to Mysterio from the get-go in Far From Home. And while most of this winds up becoming something of a blessing, helping to ease the feelings of isolation from his peers, it does mean Peter's not as great with the whole secret identity thing as he thinks.

On that same thread (see what I did there #webjokes), as a junior hero, Peter is still incredibly green and impressionable. He looks up to the Avengers, particularly Iron Man and Captain America. Way before he'd even gotten his spider powers, Peter Parker was dressing up as Iron Man, making an attempt to face down a bad guy at the Stark Expo with nothing more than a plastic Iron Man mask and glove. Thankfully the real Iron Man stepped in to save the day, but it shows proof of the heroic quality that already lies within this young boy's heart. This event likely spurred Peter even further into his obsession with being a hero and doing good. Iron Man is his hero; Iron Man, in Peter's eyes, can pretty much do no wrong. It's very clear that he not only looks up to Tony Stark, but he's easily influenced by him too. Given this chance to work with Iron Man himself makes him desperate to prove that he's worthy of being like him and fighting alongside him - and the other Avengers. He spends a lot of his time proving that he's a worthy superhero in the age of superheroes, and while this does begin before the recruitment meeting in Civil War, it is something Peter will continue to struggle with for the rest of his canon. In fact, during Homecoming, his fascination with the 'Big Leagues' and wanting so badly to be a part of this big, flashy, important world of superheroes starts to make Peter forget that he's got his own superhero identity and purpose. And when he loses Tony Stark in Endgame, it's the empty mantle of Iron Man that Peter has to contend with, whether he can even fill those shoes or whether he even wants to.

Peter has a good heart and a strong will, and he has a very strong sense of right and wrong. He demonstrates this in his actions both in costume and out, but it takes a low point in Homecoming and Iron Man's death to really get a clearer idea of what kind of hero he is, and what kind of hero he wants to be. It isn't to be part of Iron Man's team. It isn't to become a big, flashy, famous superhero - but it's to help the little guy, to be there when the bad things happen because he can actually do something about it. Since the moment Stark recruits him, Peter starts to get lost in the pomp and circumstance of the superhero gig. Like all his spider-counterparts, the suit becomes a crutch for him; he relies on it so heavily that post-Civil War, the days are wasted away at school in boredom ('I've got better things to do', he tells Mr Delmar in the convenience store) right up until the moment when Peter can suit up and swing around the city hoping for a dangerous new mission like the one in Berlin. After desperately trying to prove himself by taking on Toomes on his own and endangering an entire ferry of people, he tells Tony that he's nothing without the suit because he momentarily forgets what it means to wear it and how he'd come to wear a mask at all.

Peter/Spider-Man values life because he'd seen so much loss in his short life so far. Even though he has every intention of stopping the bad guy and bringing him to some kind of justice (usually he'll leave a note and a tied up bad dude to the local police), he will not kill and will make any effort to keep as many people alive as possible, sometimes including the villains themselves. Even when Toomes tries to fly off on malfunctioning vulture's wings with a large crate of alien-tech in Homecoming, Peter tries to warn him to stop because the height combined with the very real possibility of those wings exploding means he might die. And when the wings do explode, Peter rushes forward through the rubble to save him. He demonstrates genuine bravery and integrity in this moment, and it's the turning point of young Spider-Man's career. Tragic and often complicated things happen in this world, but Peter can choose to protect the innocent and bring justice to those who try and harm others.

Like all Spider-Men before him, this Spidey also uses constant babbling and joking quips in the midst of a battle as a way to distract his foes, but also as a coping mechanism to hide how afraid he is and how dire and terrifying a situation is. He often references pop culture and movies, and makes silly jokes which lighten the situation and keeps him from freaking out. He is, after all, technically still just a kid in a costume and he's out there trying to fight super-villains but this is a habit he'll keep for the entirety of his superhero career.

By the end of Far From Home where I'll be playing him from, Peter has learned some hard lessons about himself. He's been tested with the responsibility of being a superhero, of trying to fill in a great mentor's shoes, and trying to live a normal 'teenage' life throughout. It's clear that Peter's heart is in the right place and a lot of his avoidance of joining Nick Fury and Mysterio had to do with his complicated emotions regarding Tony Stark's death; somehow it was easier (or so he thought) to retreat into 'Peter Parker' rather than the other way around (aka into Spider-Man), which is the more common Peter/Spidey trope, and also a big part of what Homecoming was all about.

He's got a much better idea of the kind of superhero he wants to be, and what he is capable of outside of Iron Man and the remaining Avengers. He's been hardened by more loss and more battles with bad guys, including the whole Blip experience which is nothing to sneeze at, but he's still out there protecting New York City - but as a superhero more in tune with who he is. Aaaaand then Mysterio has to go and blow his entire identity to the city proper, but that's all she wrote (for now).

CRAU: N/A

SPECIES: human
APPEARANCE: ONE | TWO
SKILLS:

Outside of his spider powers, Peter Parker is mostly an average human kid with average human strength. He is incredibly smart, thinks quick on his feet, has an above-average intelligence (college level and higher), and has a knack for inventing/engineering things from scrap parts. Taking apart computers and putting them back together, for example, is a pastime for him. He seems to have an affinity for technology and is by no means intimidated by new tech. Additionally, even without his spider-strength, he also still has the knowledge he'd learned for basic martial arts and acrobatics. He probably just ... shouldn't be doing the same jumps from really tall buildings anymore.

NEW POWER: MOLECULAR MANIPULATION - at seed power, Peter will be able to manipulate and disperse his own molecular form so he becomes intangible and essentially can 'phase' through solid objects. Eventually this will lead to him finding more ways to alter his molecular structure so he might be able to accelerate (melt), slow them down (freeze), or change a molecular form (shapeshift) to something else. This can be used as a combative power.

POWER REASONING: Given that Peter is a science nerd, he'll have studied and understood the physics of the world around him in order to create several versions of his webfluid, and learn how his spider-powers have affected his physiology. As Spider-Man, he sticks to and climbs solid objects, but it'd be a pretty fascinating study to see him grapple with working a new set of powers that seem to do the opposite and are much more attuned to his science-y side.

> SAMPLES
SAMPLE ONE: TEXT
SAMPLE TWO: LOG

(+ more from the TDM if necessary!)