— video.

[webshoots]

name: peter parker (ANONYMOUS)
date: 07/05
format: video

[ at first, there's a shot of sky; then, there's a shot of a wall, and then there's peter sat on the wall — or more accurately, there's a shot of someone sat on the wall in what, in some universe, could be mistaken for a red and blue wrestling suit.

(it's not though, it's just your friendly neighborhood not-as-spidery spider-man.)

that is to say: the explanations (quote-unquote) they've received to date are somewhat lacking, and he's still kind of hoping there's an absolutely anyone he can point a finger at and go 'I KNEW IT' rather than have this remain an apparently fluke accident of the multiversal variety.

there's a quirk of his lips and he holds his hands up, palms facing outwards in vague gesture of: and so. ]

Skipping past the Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore and going straight to the yellow brick road and wizard combo was— ... not exactly life affirming, but it did make me wonder about my sartorial choices.

[ he lets that comment hang for a moment before continuing, attention shifting up to the sky for a count of three and then back in the direction of the watch. ]

I mean, I get it: dimensional travel is [ pause. ] Complex. Temperamental. Annoying. [ that's not entirely the word he means, but it's the word he's using (there could be kids listening). nevertheless: ] I've been there, done this, passed on the t-shirt because it belonged to a guy with a color scheme that makes me look ill and come out the other side. Right side? Home side. There's got to be a better way of putting that—. Wasn't really interested in a repeat. Do you know how many voicemails I'm going to go back to? Accusations of being Bigfoot?

[ he holds his hands up — exasperation, folks — and it's followed by another pause, and another a quirk of his features beneath his mask. it's punctuated by a shrug, and he almost manages to look sheepish. ]

—You know, that felt good to get off my chest. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I’d love to say this is the weirdest thing I’ve done in my life but it’s not, which basically brings me to this question:

Anyone got directions to the lost and found? I think I dropped something exit-right of Earth.

Comments

[horkbajir]

[Toby inclines her head. It's a heavy topic and it should make people uncomfortable. She is the first of her people born free in generations, and she can never forget the weight of that.]

So it's not that someone who raised you gave you the name Man, it's something you chose. Correct?

[webshoots]

Yeah, it's mostly to go with the [ peter gestures at the spider on the front of his costume, ] spider theme... Proportional strength of, wallcrawling, webs—.

Spider-abilities, but also human.

[horkbajir]

[Superhero comics exist in her version of Earth, but she knows about exactly none of them. This is new ground to Toby, though she's aware of what secret identities are. That human resistance and all.]

Without transforming into a spider. You have... I assume you have a more American-typical name, but use an alias while masked? It must not matter if you have enemies who know you to be human.

[webshoots]

Not deliberately. [ because there was the time he had six arms, and then the time with the queen (gross, thanks). ] But yeah: got it in one.

—If I'd known I was going to be keeping the name for this long, I probably would've gone for something snappier.

[horkbajir]

You're keeping this up here, aren't you? This alias and persona. Is the other less well suited?

[Toby knows the human Animorphs would pretend to be normal humans here. Of course, if their access to morphing was blocked there would be no point in acting otherwise, even without risk of discovery.]

How long have you kept it?

[webshoots]

[ there's a whole host of reasons as to why the answer to that is yes, not least of which is that it's a distraction from the fact that he, peter parker, will have appeared to have just upped and disappeared from his life in new york, from may when she needs him, from mj when they were just starting to—

—he doesn't want to think about that, which means it's easier to focus on being spider-man, on getting answers and on maybe, hopefully finding a way home.

he looks down at the suit and then back at the watch. ] Instead of starting a conversation about potential deficiencies of my person under the mask, let's just leave it with a solid "maybe". [ he says, as if maybe is a solid anything. ] And long enough to have been able to celebrate a few milestone birthdays with my favourite enemies.

[ avoiding the question? peter parker? never. ]

[horkbajir]

[Evasion. Hork-Bajir do it too, though they tend to use words with fewer syllables. All right.]

Humans communicate a great deal with their faces. Does a mask impede that, or magnify the signals and make them visible from a greater distance?

[webshoots]

[ mumbled, entirely to himself: ] It's a mask, it masks— Impedes. No-one needs to the see the handsome face under the mask, and facial expressions aren't important to what I do.

[horkbajir]

[Patiently, definitely to him:]

Do I look like someone who can wear a mask, or who has a very flexible face?

[She has two blades on her head and not three, but humans not aware of that difference tend to call Hork-Bajir 'it' or 'he'. It's probably the deep voice.]

But you've somehow made the eye-spots adjustable.