Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 86: Robbing Hood

"I'll admit, it all seems kind of obvious," Gwen Stacy concluded once she'd explained the emoting tips and techniques that she'd used in the film she was appearing in, "but when you step into a new role, sometimes these things can go right out the window. Believe me, I've been there."

"That's about it for today, but I've posted some videos with behind the scenes clips showing just how Zane Richardson works, and I really encourage you to check them out. Zane's an amazing talent, and he's really going places!"

Gwen beamed again at the camera, giving the viewer a look deep into her rich, blue eyes, framed by her perfect white smile and long, blonde hair.

"If you're enjoying my videos, please don't forget to like and subscribe. Bye for now!" she winked, before blowing a kiss and shutting off the camera.

Gwen gave a sigh as she picked up her phone. Even though the Christmas holidays were in full swing, Gwen had still been very busy. In between doing Christmas shopping, spending time with her friends and her boyfriend Randy Robertson, working at the Santa Claus display at Macy's Department Store, appearing in the indie film directed by the aspiring mutant director Zane Richardson, alias Erg, keeping up with her social media and patrolling the city as the spectacular Spider-Woman, Gwen had barely had time to sit down, much less take a breather.

In the past, Gwen had felt overwhelmed by the amount of things she'd had on her plate, but right now all she felt was a sense of accomplishment. She knew she'd done pretty well on her final exams for the semester, things were great with her family and friends, and she was making good money at work. Zane's production was also going along great, and they would likely be finished shooting before the winter semester resumed in the New Year. She still had to track down her old enemy Polestar for what he'd done the last time they fought, but Gwen knew it wouldn't be long before they crossed paths again.

Smiling to herself, she logged in to her Facebook account and uploaded a link to her YouTube video. Noticing the number of comments, she turned to look at them.

Hot damn, one commenter wrote. Do you realize that I could do things to you that you've never even dreamed of?

That was just one of the lewd comments that made Gwen's skin crawl.

Shaking her head, she did her best to delete the worst ones. She thought of the perverted attraction that her supervillain enemies Supercharger and Tendril had displayed towards her, the way many other criminals she'd encountered had catcalled her when they met her for the first time, the comments left by some of the supporters of the hate campaign Vincent Gonzalez had launched against her as Spider-Woman, the way Roderick Kingsley had leered at her, the way her efforts to try and reach out to any half-siblings on Facebook had gotten the same kinds of replies that Eliza Dushku and Linda Evans wished they'd never received…

Swallowing hard, she turned to some of the other comments that looked more promising.

Nice to see you're actually taking a production seriously, one of the commenters wrote. Why the hell couldn't you do it for April Reese? Too busy sucking it off your sugar daddy?

Gwen's face reddened angrily as she read that, recalling the accusations that she had only gotten a part in the last film she'd appeared in because she was sleeping with its sponsor. It also brought back uncomfortable memories of her audition for the TV series An Officer and a Mutant, when a producer with a grudge against Gwen had questioned whether she really had the talent to play a serious role. That had struck a nerve, and Gwen's yelling at the producer had cost her the audition.

Admittedly, the commenter may have had a point about Gwen's unreliability during the production. The problems she'd been having, not to mention the time she had to spend on her studies and superheroing, had kept her from fully committing to the production. Her lateness and fatigue had caused problems for the production, but it wasn't like she could explain why she couldn't keep up with her commitments.