Well, who said they did?

Fandom sideblog of archaeopter-ace, I'm going to try to keep this to one fandom at a time, though what that fandom is will almost certainly change. Currently up: Spider-Man, specifically Noir!

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

I just want to make a blanket statement, as I continue to post esoteric New York trivia, that I do not think our actual-world history should be treated as show canon. It is demonstrably not! (O'Brien was the incumbent mayor in 1933 and was unseated by La Guardia) (also people are running around with superpowers)

I take the view that canon is what we see on screen, full stop. But also, fanworks are free to disregard canon to their heart's content! You can do whatever you want to Already Fictionalized Depression-Era Manhattan!

This is about Spider-Noir, btw, but it is also about the Comet Panic of 1910, the Straw Hat Riots of 1922, and Moving Day.

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

If Ruby 'Great Power, Great Responsibilty' Williams wasn't a suffragette, I'll eat my hat. I know we don't see much of her, but from the famous quote alone we can extrapolate that she was definitely civic-minded. Possibly her and Ben's meet-cute was at a Votes for Women rally; she forcing literature into his sticky hands, he unable to take his eyes off her, and unable to let go of the pamphlet (not that he wants to!)

P.S. Aunt May was also a suffragette. And a labor movement activist. Bread and roses!

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

Popeye parody entirely inspired by the idea that the specific amino acids that would best replenish organic web fluid, alanine and glycine, can be found in spinach, which was available in the 1930s (and, indeed, the Popeye comics of the time boosted sales):

'Abyssinia = jazz age slang for I'll-be-seeing-you'

[frostybearpaws]

I think that Curtis or Courtney Connors would be a good edition to a Spider-Noir season 2.

Think about it.

A veteran who has been disabled by the war and left to rot in the depression. They start trying to replicate the research done on Flint, Lonnie, and Megawatt so they can get their arm back. They want to return to “normal” and it consumes them.

Maybe they find Faber’s research and try to stabilize their injection not realizing that Ben masks most of his spider tendencies and suffers from feeling inhuman at times.

As we all know how Curtis Connors usually ends up: an eight foot tall sewer gator.

It could even be like a werewolf situation. They start transforming into a beast under stress and prowling the streets.

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

Fun historical context about sewer 'gators! This urban myth began in the 1930s! On February 10, 1935, the New York Times published an account of an alligator being pulled out of a manhole in Harlem. Some teenage boys shoveling snow lasso it and then beat it to death with their shovels when it tries to bite.

Now, newspapers of the time where not paragons of reliability and would publish sensational stories to keep circulation up without doing as much fact-checking as they do today. Per reporting from Michael Miscione at The Gothamist, the Harlem Gator does appear to have some corroboration from other newspapers of the time, and not because they all copied from the same source.

What I found very interesting is that the urban legend of alligators in the sewers is very specifically about alligators being in some sort of pipework under the city; wild alligators in New York's waterways where a known thing in the 1930s. Still remarkable (people remarked upon it) but not outrageously unbelievable.

The Herald-Tribune, 1937

The 1930s were a wild time. And the proliferation of the 'alligators in the sewers' myth tracks with the proliferation of alligators as pets. You could mail order a Live Baby Alligator for as little as $1.50, so about the same as three gallons of milk. However, they do not make good pets and they do not stay babies forever. Also reading this ad reminded me that T-rex was discovered in Ben's lifetime (1905). Like, the Bone Wars were in full swing during his formative years. Also passenger pigeons were still alive but had entered their sharp decline. There's just so much interesting unnecessary context out there!

I absolutely adore the idea of this period-accurate urban legend playing a prominent role in a Noir Dr. Connors!

[frostybearpaws]

Okay so,

I have an idea for Otto/Olivia Octavius if he/she were to show up in Spider Noir.

Did you know that the tentacles of an octopus has eight “mini brains” for each other their limbs? It allows their tentacles to perceive and interact with the environment a little faster because the distance to the mini brain is shorter than the distance to the central brain. In this sense the limbs of an octopus are also described to have “minds of their own.”

In Spider-man 2, the AI in the arms start talking to Otto and convincing him to go through with his project.

So….

What if our Doc Ock’s limbs are more on the biological side. Since it seems that supers get their powers from animal DNA being mixed into their bodies via radiation, Otto/Olivia could have gotten octopus DNA.

This culminates in them suffering from the four semi-consciousnesses that are created by the octopus mini-brains in their limbs.

(And maybe to be in line with the time period that Spider Noir takes places in Doc Ock could be experimenting with radiation rather than making a nuclear fission based power system.

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

I love that Robbie is the professional wordsmith with an apartment full of books and yet Ben is the one who peppers his speech with five-dollar words, like a sesquipedalian weirdo. Besties!

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

Knitting is such a good hobby for spider-people, but have we also considered basket-weaving?

This 1922 photo from the Reeve Photography Collection (National Museum of Health and Medicine, Otis Historical Archives. CC BY 2.0) shows recovering WWI soldiers engaged in basket weaving as occupational therapy at Walter Reed General Hospital.

Ben Reilly could have woven so many baskets in his efforts to get his tics under control. Oodles of baskets. He gifts Janet a fruit basket with only two fruit in it, but the basket is exquisite

[zombiegirl01]

Spider-Noir and the cube of mystery~

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

fanon role reversal: instead of Matt Murdock mentoring a young Peter Parker, Ben Reilly takes a young Matt Murdock under his wing

Like, I know in the Daredevil: Noir comics Matt is an adult, but in the Noir line of comics Peter is young and we're not talking about comics, anyway. I'm not even talking about canon; Mentor!Matt is a canon invention. So why not mentor!Ben? Give Frankie a friend his own age!

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

We know from the way Ben treats Frankie (like a junior co-worker) that if he came across a young Matt snooping on the rooftops, Ben would be much more likely to think "new informant for my network" than "this child needs adult supervision"

[millennial-review-deactivated20]

[nattousan]

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE 

[awesomesauce-n-sassypants]

I hope we get to know more about Robbie Robertson, while also seeing more of his interactions with Ben in the future Spider-Noir seasons.

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

I think fishing would be really therapeutic for Ben.

I would expect now that the excitement is over and his mind has a chance to process, his shell shock* would make a reappearance: hiding under his bed, selective mutism, night terrors, idk there's a lot of symptoms that vibe with being a wwi vet and also a spider person.

*the nuance of 'what is a spider tic' and what is 'shell shock or a psychogenic movement disorder or PTSD' is the subject of a future post

Robbie might seek advice from his oldest brother, Jack, who I like to imagine has found a life of peace working on a horse ranch in upstate new york. Which isn't to say Robbie hasn't seen Ben in a rough patch before, just that Robbie is close with his brother and they send telegrams back and forth.

Jack recommends getting away from the noise and crowd and sensory hell of the city. Take a fishing trip!

Tangent that I swear becomes relevant eventually: Anansi is a Trickster. Buggs Bunny (who Cage credits with 30% of his performance inspiration) is a Trickster. Want to know what the oldest trick in the book is, older than books? The fish hook! [Can't remember who first made this argument but do highly recommend Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde]

Reasons why fishing would appeal to a spider:

they are ambush predators. sit and wait for prey to come to you

wait until you feel the vibration in your webline

a solitary activity, can be done alone

unlike other sports, the reward is food

Ben, perfectly balanced on the prow of a tiny rowboat, unmoving for over two hours, staring at the water, fishing pole in hand Jack: Is... is he alright? I know I suggested this but we could try something else Robbie: Nah, he's good. Let him have his fun

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

When Robbie first pitches the idea of a fishing trip, Ben is resistant. Not only is he a city boy through and through, but also:

Ben: I don't have a script for this!

Robbie: It's fine, you don't need a script

Ben: I do, I do, Robbie, and it's all comedies. I only know fishing from comedies, and I don't want to make a fool of myself. I don't want to be Edgar!

Robbie: No one is making you be Edgar

Ben: I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of your brother. I don't know what to say that doesn't make me look like a damn fool

Robbie: ... You don't have to say anything. Just let me do the talking

Ben: You'll do the talking? All the talking?

Robbie: I'll do all the talking

Ben: Won't that be weird, me not talking?

Robbie: When Jack got back, he didn't talk for weeks at a time. You'll be okay. He won't think you're weird

Ben: ... Okay. Let's go fishing

[bananadramaaa]

Your Spider-Noir art is to die for, omg!!! I love the way you draw Ben, he’s so meow meow 🥺

Thank you💜 Ben's wet cat energy is unmatched. What a guy.

[morbeed]

this show was a big win for us (the freaks)

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

I think fishing would be really therapeutic for Ben.

I would expect now that the excitement is over and his mind has a chance to process, his shell shock* would make a reappearance: hiding under his bed, selective mutism, night terrors, idk there's a lot of symptoms that vibe with being a wwi vet and also a spider person.

*the nuance of 'what is a spider tic' and what is 'shell shock or a psychogenic movement disorder or PTSD' is the subject of a future post

Robbie might seek advice from his oldest brother, Jack, who I like to imagine has found a life of peace working on a horse ranch in upstate new york. Which isn't to say Robbie hasn't seen Ben in a rough patch before, just that Robbie is close with his brother and they send telegrams back and forth.

Jack recommends getting away from the noise and crowd and sensory hell of the city. Take a fishing trip!

Tangent that I swear becomes relevant eventually: Anansi is a Trickster. Buggs Bunny (who Cage credits with 30% of his performance inspiration) is a Trickster. Want to know what the oldest trick in the book is, older than books? The fish hook! [Can't remember who first made this argument but do highly recommend Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde]

Reasons why fishing would appeal to a spider:

they are ambush predators. sit and wait for prey to come to you

wait until you feel the vibration in your webline

a solitary activity, can be done alone

unlike other sports, the reward is food

Ben, perfectly balanced on the prow of a tiny rowboat, unmoving for over two hours, staring at the water, fishing pole in hand Jack: Is... is he alright? I know I suggested this but we could try something else Robbie: Nah, he's good. Let him have his fun

[ckostudio]

I loved spider noir . It was so fun. I really hope it gets a season 2

[frostybearpaws]

so I'm coming with this to you cuz you proved you have the knowledge

what kind of spider is Ben? like what kind of spider was in the jar that changed the soldier to Man-Spider that then bit Ben and so he became the Spider?

(sorry if this is a mess, i'm tired xd)

I'm going off of silhouette here becuase we never actually see the spider in the jar other than veiled in shadow, this is literally the best image I could find of it lol

However from what we can tell, these jars are pretty bit, and it looked like a similar one was housing a praying mantis when Ben Reilly picked it up. So we can assume that this spider is pretty big for a spider.

Also from it's body proportions it looks like it's probably a tarantula. I also decided to look up which tarantulas were most used in filming and they are brachypelma smithi (aka smith's redknee tarantula)

These cuties (I've linked their wikipedia page becuase they are interested)

Funfact about tarantulas is that they don't make typical spider webs that we are used to seeing. Instead they are burrowing spiders.

This means that they find holes in the ground and line with with web, these webs pick up on tiny vibrations created by the spider's prey. When an insect passes they rush out of their burrow and pounce.

A couple more funfact about this spider in particular

the females are a little bigger than the males

males are smaller because being smaller is better for long travel, males travel because they seek out females in their burrows

males also live less long as females becuase when they become sexually mature they spend their energy in finding a mate, females don't do this which allows them to live decades longer than their male counterparts

male tarantulas have a tibial hook on their front most legs which are used for lifting up and locking the female spider into place so they can desposit their packet of sperm to the female without her eating him

tibial hooks look like this

also males court females (which is a highly dangerous thing to do becuase if she's not impressed she'll just eat him) by creating tiny seimic vibrations, rythmic tapping, and specalized body moevements. (just look up jumping spider mating dances, granted they are different species but it should give you an idea of how spiders court) in conclusion Ben should have been fighting the urge to tap dance around Cat Hardy.

Anyway, do with this information what you will. There are of course discrepencies between how Ben uses his webbing and how tarantulas use their webbing, but we could chalk that up to utility.

[turnips-dont-grow-on-trees]

The redknee tarantula's first line of defense when threatened is not to bite, but to kick urticating hairs off the back of their abdomen at their perceived foe! The hairs are very itchy and can cause a rash!

Given that these are burrowing spiders not known for their climbing ability (even a relatively short fall can kill them; all that hydraulic pressure bursting), one can interpret Ben's "not really afraid of heights" in a couple different ways. Either A) he was Like That before he became a spider, B) he learned to rationalize away any fear because his human mind knows he'll come out alright, or C) it was actually an arboreal tarantula, not a redknee in the jar