(no subject)

[made_up_names]

[ So here's a new kid on the network tonight. Trying to find an angle that lets him hide at least some of his nervousness. Or at least lets him use it to channel his best impression of a Definitely Normal Team, No Superheroics Here Honest. He mostly just looks awkward and nerdy, which is … accurate anyway, so let’s go with that. ]

Hey - um, so I’m Peter. Peter Parker. And I just got here, and -

[ He’s read through what’s left of his files, he’s read through the last couple weeks of posts just to get a feel for things. After that, he has one incredibly important question: ]

Did I seriously just barely miss out on a Death Star being here? For real? That’s not fair. Please tell me it’s coming back at some point.

[ That’s probably an objectively incorrect thing to want, but. Look. That would have made his entire life. He could die happy. For the second time. Well, the second time dying, first time dying happy. Anyway, he turns reluctantly to the list of actual serious questions he made. Not enough time to ask them all (unless he just takes in a breath and rapid fire asks all of them in thirty seconds) so he’ll just pick one for now. ]

So, school. How is that working out for people who still hafta go? And can you like … argue with it at all? Because I’m all for finishing high school, but this is my third time going into sophomore year and I’m starting to feel like that movie with the Ghostbuster being depressed in Pennsylvania.

(( OOC: Spoilers for Far From Home are likely, but I can avoid them if necessary! ))

Comments

audio;

[dragony]

Don't worry. We can tell you're new.

[ It's one thing having the same people come back over and over again and not remember anything, but it's always weird when the ages aren't anywhere close to lining up. He looks like a baby.

... though, still not the weirdest. So: ]

As for school, you're in exactly the year you can get away with. [ It's a girl's voice — she sounds like she can't be physically that much older than Peter, but god does she sound exhausted. ] Even if they have an age or a number on file for you, it's not like they can tell what your curriculum was. Or how many times you failed your exams.

[ is she teasing, or does she actually believe that's why he's on round three? verdict's still out on that one. ]

[made_up_names]

[ Sigh. He'd rather not be obviously new, but here they are. At least she's not yelling at him for wanting to see a weapon of mass destruction up close. ]

I didn't fail any exams, okay. Half my class died before the end of sophomore year, so they made us redo it when we got un-killed.

[dragony]

... No, I don't suppose most realities would put a study hall in limbo.

[ SOMETIMES...... EVERYONE DIES...... AND THEN THEY AREN'T DEAD ANYMORE...... ]

Or, wherever else you might have been. I can't imagine it was an easy thing to go through.

[made_up_names]

[ Look. He can either be flippant or depressed about this topic, and if he gets depressed this is going to get sad super quick. He shrugs, awkwardly. ]

Normal people didn't really feel much of anything. Just - one second you're on the bus to school, and then the next you're back on that bus, except it's full of classmates who were five years younger than you but are in the same grade now.

[ For people with spider-senses, though ... it had been excruciating. He didn't feel very good. ]

[dragony]

[ Avoiding the sensation of dying, sure, that's a bonus, but... ]

Everything moved on without you.

[ It's not said with any great weight or maudlin sympathy; she hums a little note, to fill the silence, and when she continues, it's with all the verbal equivalent of a shrug.

He doesn't know how not to talk about it, but that doesn't mean he wants to. ]

Displacement isn't too uncommon here, either. People wind up here from all sorts of places, or times, or versions of reality. Infinite timelines and infinite realities, and all that.

Why do you want to go to school here, though? You won't remember any of it if you go back.

[made_up_names]

Yeah, yeah. Exactly like that. It's been a weird year.

[ And he'd been dealing with more than just the effects of school. Without the Avengers around, it had kind of just been him? It certainly had been when he'd been dealing with Mysterio, anyway, though there's some obvious plot holes to be filled around how the hell a teenager gets left on his own. Anyway. Deep breaths, don't think about that.

He can't really talk about infinite timelines without talking about being Spider-Man, so... ]

It's something normal to do. I just want to focus on something simple for once in my life.

[dragony]

I understand. [ How much to say...? ] I couldn't attend regular schools at all, where I came from, like ordinary people. So, I tried it for a while. It's... mmm, well, I can't say much to the proper subjects, but it's a quick way to learn about... the people of this world.

You might want to focus on something simple, but you won't have an ordinary time. You're an imPort, now; they'll treat you like a minor celebrity, no matter what kind of person you are.

Well. You might get away with passing for someone from around here; you're pretty normal-looking, at least above the shoulders. But, don't be too surprised if you wind up with a fan club.

[made_up_names]

[ Ugh. A fan club sounds like the actual worst? Better than being stalked and harassed, maybe, but not by a whole lot. ]

So if I try it, invest in wristbands, huh? And don’t stick to anything if I can help it.

[ He had successfully hid his identity back home, of course. But a) no one was looking for him and b) Ned and MJ still figured it out. And now that his secret identity is public ... he’s probably never going back. ]

Why couldn’t you go to school? Back home.

[dragony]

Oh, um. Health problems. My heart couldn't take the strain. It didn't really go away, or anything, but the risk was lower.

[ That's the... simplest way to explain it, anyway. ]

Wristbands can help, and long sleeves, but that depends where you live. Something like that's a dead giveaway in Heropa. You might try enrolling under a different name, or at least a nickname. Make it a little harder for them.

[made_up_names]

Oh, man. I’m sorry. Is it better here, at least?

[ And a nickname, huh ... maybe he could do that? ]

I guess I could go by my middle name. And maybe my aunt’s maiden name.

[ Because “Ben Reilly” surely won’t ring any bells. ]

[dragony]

... Those sound like answers you'd have to give on, like, a password recovery form. And then get your identity stolen after you fill out a "what's my stripper name" meme on Bwitter.

[ Ben Who ]

It's the same with "hero" names, really. The closer it is to the real you, the easier it is to see though. Honestly... it's always surprised me about them. You know, a lot of people come from universes where heroes and stuff are real, right? So, some of them get here, and use the same names they always have... and then act surprised that people know who they are.

... Oh, um. My health isn't really better, but, well, if I die here, it probably won't stick, so, it's... easier to take risks.

[made_up_names]

Look, I’ve already sworn off social media, so I’m safe on that front.

[ But she has a good point. He’ll really have to think about this one. ]

I did already have someone say I was from a comic book or whatever. And I think ... I think I’ve been here before.

[ He’s plugging through the archives slowly, but. His predecessor was here for a very long time. ]

[dragony]

People really have no tact at all, do they?

[ There's a note of... frustration? That edges into her voice, and quite abruptly goes private. ]

Did anyone actually explain?

private until noted otherwise

[made_up_names]

[ That’s not a good sign, is it. Peter’s eyes widen a bit, startled by the change in tone as well as the privacy. ]

Explain? Explain what?

[dragony]

That's no, then.

[ Other people are the worst. She sighs, mostly off-mic. ]

Short version is, you were brought to this place from your "world," and others might have been brought from "your" world, too, but the Porter doesn't just draw from one place, or one time. That means you might meet people here whose last memories are things in your relative past, or who come from a time to your relative future. The difference might be short, but it can be years. Decades. Centuries.

But, because there are multiple dimensions, there are multiple histories, multiple versions of a world — different versions of people you might know. Different. Versions of you.

There's no real way to know, for sure, if someone is from "your" world's history, or from one like it. There's no "real", or "more true" version of people. Even the people you meet here — not everyone stays, and sometimes the Porter will bring the same... type, of a person, more than once, but often they don't remember being here, because they weren't here. They're "that person" from a different history. And people can be very different, depending on their circumstances.

[ This is the short version???? ]

Infinite dimensions, and infinite possibilities, so — sometimes a life like yours is replicated in a story in another world. Some of the people here, they might seem as stories in yours. ... Normally, people have the good sense not to say, "hey, welcome to a new world, you're a fake person with a fictional life," because — well, how cruel is that? Assuming that your existence is somehow more real, or theirs less, because of a quirk of improbability. But, unfortunately, many people are idiots who have never experienced a moment of empathy in their entire lives.

[ She feels VERY strongly about the fourth wall, thanks. ]

... So. Yeah. You're not the first Peter Parker to come here, but, it doesn't mean he is who you will be. He was who he was, and you are who you are. Your lives are your own, to do with what you want, but the chance exists for similarities. Things you experienced, people you knew. The kinds of jokes you tell. But... being similar isn't being the same.

[made_up_names]

[ That’s a hell of a lot. A little too much; he’s silent in the wake of it, just. Processing. Trying to respond.

For starters, he now feels incredibly guilty about the Death Star enthusiasm. Also, a lot guilty about all the Star Wars characters he freaked out about - and glad that he hadn’t done worse to their faces. At least he’d kept it to plausible deniability? And he hadn’t called anyone fictional to their faces.

The rest ... god. He swallows, thickly. ]

So the guy I saw on the network. He really was a version of Peter Parker. Does that mean - does that mean that everyone knows I’m Spider-Man already?

[dragony]

[ And look, she was even nice enough to keep her judgment to slight, deniable passive-aggression in a locked conversation. She's trying!! ]

It's hit or miss, really, but you should assume more hits than misses. [ A little calm, but sympathetic. ] Most, like, regular people don't dig back very far, even when they should. Regular people might assume, since their memories are longer.

... What does it change, for you, if people know?

[made_up_names]

It changes everything. It means the people I love get targeted, and I can’t live a normal life at all, and social media is just done forever. My twitter inbox was full of nazis making death threats within twenty minutes of getting exposed back home.

[ So it’s a very, very sore topic for him. ]

[dragony]

Fucking nazis.

[ SORE SUBJECT FOR EVERYONE, WITH GOOD REASON. Ugh. ]

So that's what it changed, back home. What does it change, here? If you have loved ones here, they'd be imPorts, too — that means they would have powers of their own, even if they didn't before. There's no real... well, "normal" life for you here, even if you didn't wear a mask. And social media is....... um, it depends on your audience. But, I haven't heard anyone getting, like, threats. Especially not like that.

The things holding you back — are any of your limits here?

[made_up_names]

[ That’s ... honestly a good argument. Of the people from back home, he’s only seen fellow superheroes. And there’s no doubt in his mind that Thor, Wanda, and freaking Captain Marvel are all entirely capable of kicking his supervillains’ asses. If May or MJ or Ned were here that might be different? Depending on their powers. But they’re not here. And he can’t have a normal life, and ... ]

It’s part of who I am. I can’t just give it up.

[dragony]

Then don't. Be who you are.

Besides, they make a bigger deal out of things if it's a mystery to be solved, anyway. If you are who you say you are the whole time, well, that's just what normal is, right?

The truth wants to exist in lighted spaces. Let it.

[made_up_names]

[ God. He can’t cope with this right now. ]

I need to think about it.

[dragony]

Sure. I mean, it effects you most of all, right? [ shruggies. ] There's a lot to get used to.

[ A pause. ] ... My name's Ruka, by the way. I've... been around, a while. [ Understatement. ] I was around when the other Parker was, but we weren't particularly close, or anything. ... He was a good man, though. Did a lot of good work.

It's... nothing you have to chase after, if you decide to do something else, but... ah, most people like knowing, whether or not their different dimension selves were unrepentant assholes. Yours wasn't.

[made_up_names]

[ A good man, she says. That answers a couple of implied questions. His shoulders slump a little. ]

Good to know I wasn’t a dick, at least. I’ll take it.

... I’m a lot younger than he was, aren’t I?

[dragony]

Yeah. He was... somewhere in his thirties, I think. He came and went a few times, and it's hard to keep track when it's like that. So... fifteen, twenty years?

... Swings in age like that aren't very common, but it's not unheard of.