- Location
- California
Norman, Norman, Norman; don't you know there is always a bigger fish?
Pound the Table | An X-Men Self-Insert
- Thread starter October Daye
- Start date
- Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Leeds
I mean, he knew... he just didn't expect opposing council to have a bigger fish on speed dial.
- Pronouns
- Masculine
Oooooh yessssssss!
That moment when Eric revealed himself and showed Osborn who was boss? SO. FUCKING. SATISFYING.
And using her friends in the Sanctum to fuck over the Goblin? Flawless.
That moment when Eric revealed himself and showed Osborn who was boss? SO. FUCKING. SATISFYING.
And using her friends in the Sanctum to fuck over the Goblin? Flawless.
I like the touch where Spider-Man was completely silent when he was webbing up those thugs @October Daye. Excellent chapter, and I'll be rooting for you!
- Pronouns
- Masculine
When Pete is silent like that... its like when he beat the hell out of Fisk with his bare hands after Fisk attempted to have May killed.
When Spider-Man doesn't quip, doesn't talk... those are the times when his real enemies know they've gone too far.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
When Spider-Man is dead silent, there are only two possibilities.
1) He has laryngitis.
2) He has put away the kiddie gloves and is on the god damn warpath.
Given that assuming it's option 1 is rather bad for your health if it turns out to be option 2 instead, Spidey's rogue's gallery tends to just immediately assume option 2, and if one of them has run afoul of a Spidey who wasn't saying shit, they go to ground until word of the webhead bantering with a two-bit thug hits the grapevine.
Also, thank you!!!! We're gonna be pushing hard; Omega doesn't know what's coming for it!
- Pronouns
- Male
It's nice to see Ozzy Gobbie treated like the street-level villain he is. He's a massive threat to Spider-Man thanks to him also being a street-level, local presence. But the thing is, he's not the biggest fish, or even a moderately large fish. Doom is smarter, Magneto is stronger, and Ultron is far more threatening in every single way. I liked seeing him get treated like a chump.
I feel the exact opposite. He's often shown to be a genius, if not one on pair of say, Octavius. Norman is an excellent engineer and chemist, and a great industrialist, able to resurrect a dying business multiple times. He's good enough at playing politics that he lands a government position as the head of the Thunderbolt program first and H.A.M.M.E.R. second.
He manages to lead for a sizable period of time a group that included Doctor Doom and Emma motherfucking Frost into almost conquering the world.
And he's completely and utterly mad. He's so insane that literally only things like a greater insanity in the form of Carnage or bullshit like the Sin-Eater's magic shotgun were able to stop his crazy drive.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The scary thing about the Green Goblin is that even after all this, I'm still scared to call this a win.
That's the terrifying thing about narcissists/abusers with poor impulse control like Norman, you can't always trust them to be rational. Maybe a few months from now when it's becoming clear that his business is in real trouble over this, Norman gets drunk, puts on the Green Goblin costume to feel strong again, and then talks himself into believing his life is over anyway and he might as well kill the bitch who did it to him.
It's why the most dangerous time when dealing with an abuser is when their victim has won and successfully gotten out, and it looks like this time it will stick. Or why there's a risk when something drives home that they're not coming back (a new relationship being made official, for example). Because even with abusers who previously haven't been violent, there's a risk they'll get extremely violent when they're left, even lethally so. Even if there's no way they're getting away with it.
If I were Noa, I'd still be sleeping somewhere else for a good month. You don't fuck around and assume people like this will be rational, and when someone has already been as screamingly violent as the Green Goblin, you really don't.
That's the terrifying thing about narcissists/abusers with poor impulse control like Norman, you can't always trust them to be rational. Maybe a few months from now when it's becoming clear that his business is in real trouble over this, Norman gets drunk, puts on the Green Goblin costume to feel strong again, and then talks himself into believing his life is over anyway and he might as well kill the bitch who did it to him.
It's why the most dangerous time when dealing with an abuser is when their victim has won and successfully gotten out, and it looks like this time it will stick. Or why there's a risk when something drives home that they're not coming back (a new relationship being made official, for example). Because even with abusers who previously haven't been violent, there's a risk they'll get extremely violent when they're left, even lethally so. Even if there's no way they're getting away with it.
If I were Noa, I'd still be sleeping somewhere else for a good month. You don't fuck around and assume people like this will be rational, and when someone has already been as screamingly violent as the Green Goblin, you really don't.
Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
According to WoA in one of the mirror threads, Norman thinks that Noa is a massively powerful mind controller who has hit him with a post-hypnotic kill switch primed to go off if he crosses the wrong line.
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
And Norman gets reminded he is a small fish in a big ocean.
- Location
- Argentina
This was great thank you.
- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Uh, as excellent as the chapter was, what you say did not come across at all in the text. All I got was that Noa wanted to scare Norman as much as possible. Nothing even hinting at "pretending to be a mind controller".
Lunaryon
Dual Aurora Wave
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I dont think that was at all the plan, more what Osborn jumped to because the idea of people working together is utterly alien to him.
- Location
- Massachusetts
I was sort of looking forward to a protracted court battle with Norman. And then he went low but so did Noa and Norman gave up the ghost. Fun stuff!
I like how Noa's allies also got a lot of payoff. Sam's probably even more infamous and so is JJ.
I like how Noa's allies also got a lot of payoff. Sam's probably even more infamous and so is JJ.
- Location
- Piney Woods
I remember that so hard. Unless you had really good lighting you couldn't see anything on that screen. At least until my parents got me the Night Sight. Still, better than Sega since I could play for a few minutes without having the batteries die on me.
- Location
- Soviet Canuckistan
Norman's No Good Very Bad Day has come to an end, but it was simply a prelude to many, many more very bad days to come.
Unfortunately, he's crazy enough, and spiteful enough, that even knowing Noa has significant allies who can help her, once things start going realyl, really bad for him with the other lawsuits.... well, I'm not going to be surprised if he decides to make a thunder run at Noa once it becomes clear that he can't weasel his way out of these consequences.
Unfortunately, he's crazy enough, and spiteful enough, that even knowing Noa has significant allies who can help her, once things start going realyl, really bad for him with the other lawsuits.... well, I'm not going to be surprised if he decides to make a thunder run at Noa once it becomes clear that he can't weasel his way out of these consequences.
wasn't a meaningless threat...outside of having MAGNETO gunning for you(for those that don't know in the early xman comics the US's policy with Erik was HANDS OFF THE MUTANT THAT CAN TANK NUKES AND THEN RETALIATE) there's the fact that Noa herself is a Meta of unknown capabilities(btw...illusionists? don't fuck with them, a good one can kill with no evidence)
Bronze_Moose
Okay at Omake
- Location
- Port Angeles, Washington
Excellent chapter, as always, October! And so soon after your previous one, to boot! I absolutely loved it when Noa got a chance to savagely one-up Norman with the help of Magneto, there, especially after she'd blindsided him with the Lieberman switch-out!
Is that Silver Surfer? Is Galactus coming? Oh, I so want to see what an attorney does in the wake of a Galactus attack! I'm betting she's going to represent the Silver Surfer afterward, perhaps even help him to get citizenship status in the United States!
Is that Silver Surfer? Is Galactus coming? Oh, I so want to see what an attorney does in the wake of a Galactus attack! I'm betting she's going to represent the Silver Surfer afterward, perhaps even help him to get citizenship status in the United States!
- Location
- California
Noa *sigh* ; "Galactus here is your cease and desist order as authorized by the Celestials as well as your restraining order to stay at least one light year from the Sol system."
Galactus takes the paper and leaves without issues
Spider-Man: "Who, Hiw what's it?!"
Noa: "He's a being of the natural order, kind of. So got in touch with natural law to get the proper forms made and understandable."
Galactus takes the paper and leaves without issues
Spider-Man: "Who, Hiw what's it?!"
Noa: "He's a being of the natural order, kind of. So got in touch with natural law to get the proper forms made and understandable."
- Location
- Somewhere in the Ashes
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Wait, did Norman ever actually see Magneto? Or did he walk out thinking Noa did that herself? If the former, he might try something if he knows Magneto is elsewhere. If the latter... Well he's far more likely to stay cowed.
Sucal
The Devil’s Cut
- Location
- Bottom of the barrel
Norman saw him.
Magneto was in the room behind a screen until it was time to make an entrance.
I actually feel that although this arc started pretty strong its ending was a little bit of a letdown. I was discussing the chapter with @Tempera and she helped me figure out what wasn't gelling with me.
The start was pretty strong - it was a small-stakes case, but the reader's (expected) knowledge of who everyone involved was meant you knew it was going to escalate into something more than that, and Osborn getting more and more threatening as he got more and more visibly unhinged was a pretty great leadup. The issue is basically that I don't think the chapter quite stuck the landing. The conclusion is essentially that Osborn/Goblin wrote a check his ass couldn't cash (via the virus) that basically instantly tied him to the crime (and made him a lot of powerful enemies besides) and the presence of Magneto as Noa's guardian angel to eliminate the possible physical threat Osborn/Goblin might provide negated the other aspect of his threat.
The big victory didn't feel as 'earned' as the prior victories Noa had, basically - and it's entirely realistic that sometimes the other guy's case is kind of weak or their temperament is one that they just kind of implode their own case, but it made the last 2 chapters feel a little anticlimactic after reading, even if they were pretty fun at the exact time. I understand that a lot of this is just going to be the natural and inherent consequence of writing a chapter-by-chapter thing and presenting it in a relatively unedited format, some chapters are just going to end up being a little rougher than others, and I think the story's great overall, it's just that the last bit of this arc felt a little more like faceslapping than it should have when all was said and done even if it held together well moment-to-moment.
It probably needed a little bit more time for Noa to figure out a way to prove the virus was a thing and Osborn was playing fuck-fuck games with her to the court, and Magneto to have just a smidge less of a Cool Badass Uncle vibe in the end, and I think it would have been an excellent arc instead of a merely pretty fun one.
The start was pretty strong - it was a small-stakes case, but the reader's (expected) knowledge of who everyone involved was meant you knew it was going to escalate into something more than that, and Osborn getting more and more threatening as he got more and more visibly unhinged was a pretty great leadup. The issue is basically that I don't think the chapter quite stuck the landing. The conclusion is essentially that Osborn/Goblin wrote a check his ass couldn't cash (via the virus) that basically instantly tied him to the crime (and made him a lot of powerful enemies besides) and the presence of Magneto as Noa's guardian angel to eliminate the possible physical threat Osborn/Goblin might provide negated the other aspect of his threat.
The big victory didn't feel as 'earned' as the prior victories Noa had, basically - and it's entirely realistic that sometimes the other guy's case is kind of weak or their temperament is one that they just kind of implode their own case, but it made the last 2 chapters feel a little anticlimactic after reading, even if they were pretty fun at the exact time. I understand that a lot of this is just going to be the natural and inherent consequence of writing a chapter-by-chapter thing and presenting it in a relatively unedited format, some chapters are just going to end up being a little rougher than others, and I think the story's great overall, it's just that the last bit of this arc felt a little more like faceslapping than it should have when all was said and done even if it held together well moment-to-moment.
It probably needed a little bit more time for Noa to figure out a way to prove the virus was a thing and Osborn was playing fuck-fuck games with her to the court, and Magneto to have just a smidge less of a Cool Badass Uncle vibe in the end, and I think it would have been an excellent arc instead of a merely pretty fun one.