said the spider to the fly

that's the story of my life, isn't it? always a victim, never a victor.

[gobleir]

#GOBLIER: "like i said before. i've been there. the suit, the power... they're like a drug. could you have handled things better? maybe, but as an ex-bad guy myself, i don't think you did anything unreasonable."

highly private harry osborn of marvel comics. mixed canon, mostly comics-informed. written by ani ( she / her, 25+), est 2021 ╱ please read carrd for all information.

¹ 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝚁𝙳 ² 𝙿𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚃 ³ 𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙶

[gobleir]

I just gotta have a little place to ramble on, but. One thing about Harry is that... he is an average person subjected to very extraordinary circumstances. He can definitely feel like he's greater than what he is due to the contexts of his stories, but, he isn't. Let me explain. Personally, Harry by himself is nothing special. He was born affluent into old American money (the Osborns were up there with the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers in terms of wealth and legacy), but he was never guaranteed any success. He never even really is someone "successful" on his own. He's not respected by his peers, he isn't taken very seriously, never was. His home life is poor. We don't really know how well he does academically, or any special skills that he has outside of just being really good at running a business (and that being his passion). In the raimi films, we're explicitly told he isn't good at school (he "flunked out" private school, but we don't know if it was a grades thing or acting out thing). So while I don't think he's stupid, I definitely don't think he's a secret genius. However, and this is key, is that Harry has strengths. And when he's given the contexts to play up those strengths, he is incredibly competent. Harry is extremely resourceful and cunning. He will find a way to get what he wants and what he needs to do when he applies himself. He can navigate situations very well. He's average and that's okay! Not everyone has to be super special or genius or a jack of all trades. But average people can do extraordinary things, and he's done very well for himself ever since he was given the space to do so — the space to properly flourish.

[gobleir]

pokes in here. hello. i miss him sooooo bad. i've just been so busy with things. but i miss and love harry.

[gobleir]

something interesting to note that i only recently learned because it's hidden away in an old early 00s databook :

— when norman died and harry found his body, he took off his goblin suit and replaced it with normal clothes, completely, and i mean completely and purposefully glossing over the fact his own father is a supervillain and murdered his best friend, gwen stacy. — bribed the coroner to not release any usual findings with the autopsy, like the chemical compound of the serum in his system and the healing factor it provides. — in delusion, believed he's at fault for the accident that caused norman to become the green goblin when that didn't happen. jameson was never going to talk shit about norman or oscorp because they're besties but harry still made sure his father looked good in the subsequent press releases.

and it's just funny to me because this was when harry was like... 21? and he didn't think twice about any of this. he has morality but it's very... selective. he has a good heart and everything but he really does act on emotion and emotion only.

[gobleir]

@mjaniewatson asked: "you can't trick me anymore."

"trick you?" a brief laugh paired with incredulous expression followed harry's feigned surprise. well, maybe that is true; they've known each other for years, and with that came learning the intricate (or obvious) tells and slips that snuck underneath their respective masks. though at the end of the day, what did any of that really mean? no, he liked to think he wasn't exactly tricking anyone. nor did he consider himself a remotely good liar. if you fell for whatever it is he gave, whether a harmless prank or a malicious deception, that was kind of your fault.

his legs were crossed, hands neatly on lap in a loose fold of fingers. he's looking at (watching) her as though his gaze alone could keep her pinned in her own seat. "no, i don't think i'm tricking anyone... but you sure fooled me." harry hand-waves it as though it's water under the bridge (it isn't). "i decided to forgive you. there are far worse betrayals in this world, after all. lying for survival isn't one of them."

gaze becomes more accusatory this time. "c'mon, we all know who's the real mastermind. really, i think he could do with being set straight."

[gobleir]

@arachnidbit sent: ❛  there’s a reason i never told you all of this.  ❜

he doesn't let that sentence come to a natural stop as he raises his hands, interrupting, as the classic osborn anger takes its rightful place at the forefront. "don't—" harry's not yelling (not yet), though it's abundantly evident that he could say one million and one things and it'd still never be enough to describe the overwhelming disappointment he constantly feels with regards to his best friend — quote unquote. "i don't want to hear your excuses, peter."

it's then racing thoughts catch up with that mouth of his and body follows as fingers curl into fists and posture lurches. looking big while feeling small; peter's always been the more capable one, the one who didn't need posturing to get points across. finally, he's raising his voice. "it's always the same with you! why do you always have to lie to me! whether big or small, you can't help yourself!"

"it's like you're not my friend at all!" he knows, he knows this is just another one of those moments where he feels so intensely, whatever hurtful words snap out like the smart tip of a whip, suddenly and sharply in defense of perceived transgressions. god knows he can make amends. harry stared at peter, long and hard with a bit of a snarl sitting quite ugly upon lips, before throwing hands in the air in defeat and turning away. "in your own little world, you don't trust anyone... and that's your problem."

[gobleir]

@valaentine sent: ❛  you will get better.  maybe not today, but someday.  ❜

what use is 'someday' dangerously encroaches the tip of his tongue. however, he knows, more than most, that gwen means well and it's that knowledge which abates any retort towards her offering of assuagement. instead, all he can do is heave a full-body sigh with shoulders sagging as he contemplates her words with his predicament. it didn't particularly matter exactly the details or what it even was — it's always something — but what did was that he had a friend in his corner. harry wrangles with his mind to allow that bit of positivity to supersede any lamentations and a small smile forms at the corner of lips, finally looking at her with appreciation, despite holding wistfulness.

"yeah, i mean..." his mouth moves, but all that comes out are stutters as he struggles to find something to say, to fill a space that silence would otherwise occupy. scratching the back of his head, he decides to simply speak his mind instead of overthinking. "i guess waiting is just... frustrating. it really is, you know? think about it — how much longer do we hold out for? something's gonna give. we either have to force it or it forces us."

[gobleir]

besides challenging the obvious neglect and emotional/physical abuse from his father, there's also another significant aspect to harry's character that comes in the form of toxic masculine dynamics. in harry's entire life, his father has been the linchpin. the one aspect keeping it all together is about how much of a man you can prove yourself to be. harry is, for all intents and purposes, norman's complete opposite. where he is cold, harry is emotional; where he is calculating, harry is rash; where norman is highly gifted, harry proves himself to be only average — skilled, intelligent, and cunning, sure, but nothing that has him stand out in the fashion that norman would've liked. none of these are qualities of a "real man". a real man takes what's theirs, does not yield, is powerful and most important: successful. his son has not grabbed life by the reigns — has not shown a metaphorical killer instinct to achieve great things, to be worthy of his accolades, to be worthy of being his son — and thus, in norman's eyes, fails to be even half the man he expects him to be. in his words: weak, sniveling, whiny, emotional, on another planet, spineless. he is not a man, barely a son. couldn't mold him into what he wanted, out of his control. norman emasculates him with disparaging words, petty remarks, and back-handed compliments. and so harry hides his insecurities. he hides it by lashing out when even slightly provoked. hides it by pushing others away. by acting as though his shoulders can carry a weight they're not fit to handle — to be the man society and his father want him to be. defending any admonishment to his father's name because that's what he wanted to be. so badly he wanted to conform. the picture perfect successful everyman. to perform his role in society. with the women he dates he wants them to conform with him as well. and then, at his breaking points, hides behind the goblin persona because to him, that persona means power. it means control. it means tossing away who he really is and hiding behind a literal mask and vanish away into the power fantasy that being the goblin is. everything he failed to be. really, it's about how performing toxic masculinity — especially under the flavor of w.a.s.p-y americana — fails and is damaging. and he only does it because he thinks it'll earn him love and respect. one thing though, harry will always love his father. a part of him will always want his love, his respect, his recognition. to be seen and not seen through. he stopped actively seeking it, but one day, his hopes that it'll happen. he's made peace with that. though, he's still his father's son, and by his own merits, he will achieve peace and more. being an osborn isn't about success, nor is it about pain. it's being resilient — that's what he chooses to take from the hardships he's risen through, like his father before him. norman osborn is what happens when you've been failed and then fail others. harry, thinks, that he should be what it means to be failed, fail others, yet still have the hope to make it right.

[gobleir]

the most harry moment in msm2 is when peter has a slip of the tongue (if you can even really call it that, he was speaking pretty casually) and harry got so unreasonably defensive over it LMFAOOOO peter: harry's starting up a new research foundation-- harry: we're starting up a new research foundation :) <- trying not to kill him with his mind

[iamnevertheone]

I thought you were supposed to save people. I thought that’s what you do, you save peoples lives. You’re just… you’re just gonna let me die. You’re a fraud, Spider-Man.

[gobleir]

falls to my knees what makes me sad about the fact harry's dead in most of his canons is that it has this feeling of that... it has to be that way. like in reality it doesn't, he could learn to heal and grow and be his own person, i feel like that's the most optimistic thing to be done with his character, and that's what i personally want for him. we got a glimpse of that in the comics before bad writing fucked up over forever. but i also see harry "needing" to die in the sense of like... his family has a history of a very human type of evil, which is the evil one does to their family. and him dying symbolizes the end of that evil. and it's not entirely or inherently a negative thing; harry often dies in the presence of the people he loves most — he was never alone, he had people. he is loved, the thing he wanted most in the world. to die with that love is bittersweet.

[gobleir]

[gobleir]

was hit with a wave of Harry feelings after reading this passage from the film novelization I am here.

[gobleir]

blows dust off this blog. hi. I love harry osborn send tweet. remembered how much I love him……… I’ll clean through this blog tomorrow it’s been over a year……..

[gobleir]

this is so harry vibes SHUT up

[kafk-a]

“It was a mistake to keep this single knife in my heart so long, but it is my knife, and my heart, too,”

— Richard Jackson, from “Basic Algebra,” Richard Jackson Greatest Hits: 1980-2004 (Pudding House Publications, 2004)

[archivedgaz]

SPIDER-MAN 2 (2/?)