[avenueblob]

I rewatched the Spider Island episodes and recently re-read the Spider Island comics and while I totally understand why they were so casual about this particular arc in show I really wish we could've focused on it more.

It was a show for kids and it makes sense they didn't delve into it but like...the world certainly seemed like it was ending. The spider teams world at least. Their family, their friends, their parents, everyone was gone. They were all turned into monsters who would kill them if they got the chance. Their homes were destroyed by the spider monsters. Their school was destroyed by the spider monsters.

Man, their school. They all clearly care about Horizon High and they all spend a ton of their time there. I personally don't like Horizon (another post, one I'll probably never make) but they all cared about it a lot. They had to go through the wreckage and find supplies, go through the labs and get what they needed to try and make a cure, they had to exist in a place that used to be about learning and hope for their future and joy at being around people who Got It and try to save the world. Because the world was ending. And they were on their own.

Peter, Miles, Harry, and Anya were kids. They were all 15ish. Peter watched his aunt turn into a spider monster and try to kill him. Harry did to and while he wasn't as close with May he still calls her Aunt May so they definitely care about each other. Anya had to watch her best friend turn into a spider monster and had to hunt her down and try to protect her as Gwen tried to kill her. Imma be honest, Miles once again lucked out here he didn't get any personal trauma from the spider monsters but he didn't Need that. It was horrifying on its own. Also he got kidnapped and drugged (why is he always getting drugged in s1 lol) by the Jackal of all people. Not a particularly fun ordeal

Not to mention the cure stuff. I mean, Anya had to test her own cure on herself something that stressed her out in show (she was analytical about it but she was definitely stressed if I remember right). As it should because that wasn't safe! that could've ended very badly! she could've gotten herself killed but she had to try and she did and thankfully it worked out pretty well but she didn't know that. They all had to work together to try and make enough cure to save the city and that is a lot of pressure on. I know Peter and Miles are super heroes but Harry and Anya are civilians. Yes they're civilians who keep sticking their heads into problems but they are still civilians and either way this is a whole other level of problem. They aren't making a flame sword to fight blizzard or making a device out of carnival games to capture Sandman. The fate of the entire city and everyone they love is in their hands

I know that everyone in the show handled it really well and moved on very quickly (and we literally never talk about the city being spiders ever again). Like I genuinely get that in canon this is not a big deal and they never planned nor wanted to expand on the trauma that was the spider island arc but goodness gracious that was a LOT.

[avenueblob]

I am forever annoyed that we didn't get more Otto and Gwen content in msm 2017.

Okay, actually, we didn't get any real Otto and Gwen content. We got Gwen defending Otto and truly believing he was a good person and that's it. While I'm glad we got that I'm still just...so bummed there wasn't more done with it.

On Otto's side of things Gwen is smart. Like really smart. Like she's defused multiple bombs and hacked through a ton of super villain stuff smart. Her first appearance is being kidnapped and saved by Spider-Man then immediately telling him how to be a better hero cause she was pretty unphased by the whole ordeal. She got powers and fought Hydra within 24 hours. She (along with Anya and Miles) made a gun to capture Sandman in minutes out of carnival game parts.

In short Gwen is smart and while she's not as smart as Otto I genuinely think he'd enjoy her company especially because he's more comfortable around women/girls and would be nicer to her than Peter or Miles (him being more comfortable around women is a whole other post).

On Gwen's side of things she clearly sees Otto as a good teacher and someone to look up to. That's canon and she says it more than once. I feel like it's worth noting that her uncle turned into the Jackal earlier in the year.

All that was canon stuff and we're officially taking a random left turn cause I got an idea while writing this: I wish that Gwen and Otto had teamed up to be super villains cause it would've been great.

Is it in character? No of course not but it still would've been fun

I think that it would only happen if there was more pressure on Gwen with the whole Jackal thing. Maybe she's ostracized in school/in general and people think she's going to turn into a monster like her uncle. Maybe people think she knew he was the Jackal and helped him with his crimes. Maybe her parents believe that as well, since she spent so much time with him (she brought him groceries they clearly hung out a lot), and never noticed he was evil. I can see her being pushed further and further with it until she decides to try and be a hero to prove everyone wrong. She goes through her uncle's formulas and she find one of his genetically enhanced spiders and boom spider powers (or any powers he had a lot going on there).

She tries to be a hero and shows her face, just like she does in canon, and it goes terribly. Everyone hates her cause they think she had powers all along and still didn't stop her uncle or they think she's been working with him the whole time. Spider-Man talks Gwen into joining the spider team just like Peter talked Otto into it. Gwen and Otto get closer during that, mostly cause they're actually interacting for once and Otto likes her more than the other two cause they're annoying/supposedly don't get science stuff.

When Otto betrays Spider-Man Gwen isn't there and demands Spider-Man explain what went wrong. She doesn't want to believe another mentor went evil/is doing the wrong thing so she believes Otto rather than Spider-Man and joins him at Oz Academy (in this au she doesn't know Miles is Spy-D otherwise this wouldn't play out the same). Otto enlists her help to destroy Norman and she happily agrees.

Otto mind controlling the Sinister Six does give Gwen pause but at this point she is just as angry as Otto is. She's been a hero for months and people still treat her terribly. Otto further encourages this (not maliciously he just genuinely believes that nothing she does will ever be enough just like nothing he did was ever enough). When Otto asks her to join his villain team officially, she accepts.

I have 0 long term plan here I just really like the idea of Otto and Gwen being a fun mentor&mentee villain duo. Jackal is offended that Gwen is a villain for Otto but refused to join him (otto and gwen have fun making jackal's life miserable, Otto hates him by proxy) meanwhile Peter and Miles are just...so tired. Because this is SUCH a problem they don't have any idea how to deal with.

Anya is very cut throat in show and honestly? I can see her working with them in large part cause Gwen would flat out ask her to. Anya and Gwen have always been a healthier version of Peter and Harry (canon itself constantly compares them but i'll spare yall that rant) and I think Anya would be willing to reexamine her morals for Gwen. I think Gwen and Anya wouldn't want to go to far, so otto would have to cut back on the murder thing, but Anya would like the knowledge and resources she could get from their team. She'd likely be their man in the chair in her spare time.

The Superior Arc would totally still happen and I personally think it'd be WAY funnier especially because Gwen is like...pretty set with being a villain. She enjoys this thank you very much. The idea of Otto trying to talk her into being a good guy is so funny to me.

Oh and obviously Otto doesn't die in this au cause he never dies in my au cause I don't want him to die thank you very much

Anyway yeah, gwen and otto villain team up au cause they deserve it

[avenueblob]

Otto vaguely annoyed: I have grown tired of seeing my hands smeared with blood

Peter: Are you okay???

Otto: yes obviously

Peter: No, not obviously, you're going on about how your hands are covered in blood

Otto: I have a bloody nose

Peter: WHY DIDN'T YOU START WITH THAT

[avenueblob]

If Otto had survived I think that Peter would've eventually re-introduced him to Aunt May.

It would not have happened quickly. Peter would've needed at least a year cause Otto did possess his body and Peter needs a minute to feel secure in his life being his again but when Peter goes to college he really hates the idea of May on her own. He sees Otto as a brother at that point. Having them meet is an easy solution.

Also May is getting old, Otto and Peter both know it, and Peter would give anything to have another hour with Ben. He'd do the same if May died and, for Otto, May has been out of reach for a whole year. Peter doesn't want May to die without Otto getting to see her again.

So yeah Peter introduces Otto as his friend to Aunt May.

There are several ways this could go but I honestly don't know if May would recognize Otto. Peter had a lot of teachers in high school and Otto didn't even teach him for a full school year. Yes, Otto was Doc Ock but it's been over a year since then. Let's be honest, New York got turned into an island made of spider people. A man hunts teenagers through the streets and live streams it with 0 legal consequences. Peter's school gets attacked every other week. I don't think Doc Ock would stick out in May's mind if she watches the news to begin with.

I think there's a solid chance May wouldn't recognize Otto and since he looks around Peter's age or younger (something Peter said) May would buy that they're friends. May has consistently been nice to Peter's friends. She casually talked with Miles when she ran into him at the store, she has Miles's phone number and he calls her to rat out Peter, May teaches Gwen to make wheatcakes when Gwen asks even though it was late at night, and that's just off the top of my head.

Also like...I think Peter would give May a bit of a heads up. He wouldn't get into details but he would tell May that Otto's mom is dead and that his dad was awful. Peter would tell her that he's close with Otto and cares about him a lot. Peter would tell her that Otto doesn't have many people to depend on, that he can be abrasive but he cares a lot, and Peter knows that May is a good, kind person. Peter knows she'll be kind to Otto to, and she is, and that is such a relief for Otto.

But, at the same time, she doesn't...she doesn't know. It hurts Otto that she doesn't know that he's her nephew. It hurts that she sees him as a stranger when he sees her as the only safe parental figure that hasn't betrayed him (I assume he still views some of Max's actions as betrayals that's a whole other post). But it's something. Getting to interact with her as Peter's friend is something.

Also I am entirely open for constructive criticism on this. I'm not sure how Otto would react to any of it. I feel pretty solid in my assumption that May would be fine with him but, again, totally open to other interpretations.

[avenueblob]

I think out of all the Peters I've seen in various movies/shows/comics/etc the one in the msm 2017 show is shown to twist Ben's lessons the most. I could be wrong but goodness gracious even if he isn't the worst about it he's not doing great.

There are so many examples but the first two that come to mind are the ones in s1 e2 and s1 e26.

In e2 Peter has a flashback to the first time Ben said the great responsibility quote. Ben is using it to tell Peter he should tutor Flash even though Flash bullies him. It's really important to remember that Flash physically hurts Peter. We know that from the teacher in s1 e14. When he sees Flash grabbing Peter he says they shouldn't be fighting again (that time Peter and Flash aren't fighting but they clearly have in the past). So Ben was telling Peter to tutor someone who hurt him and didn't show any signs of remorse/apology.

I don't think Ben was trying to teach Peter that he should help others even when they hurt him and not expect them to change. I don't think Ben was thinking that far ahead. I think he just wanted to make sure that Peter grew up to be an understanding empathetic/compassionate person. But that's still the message Peter got out of that. He still learned that he should help others even when it means hurting himself.

Then we have the thing in s1 e26 which is, in my opinion, so much worse. Peter is holding up a massive chunk of collapsing building that Hobgoblin just used to try and crush him to death. He feels like he's failing cause Harry wants him dead and he screams out "I'm sorry Uncle Ben" while almost dying. Peter has a flashback to a day he came home from school after falling and losing a race (he looks 8ish). Ben says that, since he got up and kept going, he's a hero in ben's book and that peter probably inspired someone else. Current Peter uses that memory as motivation and says "I have to be the hero you saw in me. I have to be Spider-Man."

I can not stress this enough, Ben was talking about GETTING UP AFTER TRIPPING IN A LITTLE KID RACE and Peter took that as "I have to save everyone from being crushed to death then go after Hobgoblin aka my best friend who just tried to kill me because heroes don't give up."

Peter isn't twisting Ben's messages to justify doing bad stuff, he is pushing them to the extreme out of guilt over Ben dying. I really don't think Ben ever meant for Peter to push himself this far and frankly I don't think there's anything he could've done or said to stop that from happening.

[avenueblob]

I think out of all the Peters I've seen in various movies/shows/comics/etc the one in the msm 2017 show is shown to twist Ben's lessons the most. I could be wrong but goodness gracious even if he isn't the worst about it he's not doing great.

There are so many examples but the first two that come to mind are the ones in s1 e2 and s1 e26.

In e2 Peter has a flashback to the first time Ben said the great responsibility quote. Ben is using it to tell Peter he should tutor Flash even though Flash bullies him. It's really important to remember that Flash physically hurts Peter. We know that from the teacher in s1 e14. When he sees Flash grabbing Peter he says they shouldn't be fighting again (that time Peter and Flash aren't fighting but they clearly have in the past). So Ben was telling Peter to tutor someone who hurt him and didn't show any signs of remorse/apology.

I don't think Ben was trying to teach Peter that he should help others even when they hurt him and not expect them to change. I don't think Ben was thinking that far ahead. I think he just wanted to make sure that Peter grew up to be an understanding empathetic/compassionate person. But that's still the message Peter got out of that. He still learned that he should help others even when it means hurting himself.

Then we have the thing in s1 e26 which is, in my opinion, so much worse. Peter is holding up a massive chunk of collapsing building that Hobgoblin just used to try and crush him to death. He feels like he's failing cause Harry wants him dead and he screams out "I'm sorry Uncle Ben" while almost dying. Peter has a flashback to a day he came home from school after falling and losing a race (he looks 8ish). Ben says that, since he got up and kept going, he's a hero in ben's book and that peter probably inspired someone else. Current Peter uses that memory as motivation and says "I have to be the hero you saw in me. I have to be Spider-Man."

I can not stress this enough, Ben was talking about GETTING UP AFTER TRIPPING IN A LITTLE KID RACE and Peter took that as "I have to save everyone from being crushed to death then go after Hobgoblin aka my best friend who just tried to kill me because heroes don't give up."

Peter isn't twisting Ben's messages to justify doing bad stuff, he is pushing them to the extreme out of guilt over Ben dying. I really don't think Ben ever meant for Peter to push himself this far and frankly I don't think there's anything he could've done or said to stop that from happening.

[avenueblob]

YALL I DID NOT MEAN TO PUBLISH THIS WHAT THE HECK

I DIDNT???? CLICK PUBLISH??? EVER????

This has been in my drafts for several months

And it was not ever meant to leave my drafts

but Tumblr CLEARLY decided it needed to be posted

[thatgayoctopus]

As a fandom we don't talk about the living brain arc enough

[avenueblob]

I think out of all the Peters I've seen in various movies/shows/comics/etc the one in the msm 2017 show is shown to twist Ben's lessons the most. I could be wrong but goodness gracious even if he isn't the worst about it he's not doing great.

There are so many examples but the first two that come to mind are the ones in s1 e2 and s1 e26.

In e2 Peter has a flashback to the first time Ben said the great responsibility quote. Ben is using it to tell Peter he should tutor Flash even though Flash bullies him. It's really important to remember that Flash physically hurts Peter. We know that from the teacher in s1 e14. When he sees Flash grabbing Peter he says they shouldn't be fighting again (that time Peter and Flash aren't fighting but they clearly have in the past). So Ben was telling Peter to tutor someone who hurt him and didn't show any signs of remorse/apology.

I don't think Ben was trying to teach Peter that he should help others even when they hurt him and not expect them to change. I don't think Ben was thinking that far ahead. I think he just wanted to make sure that Peter grew up to be an understanding empathetic/compassionate person. But that's still the message Peter got out of that. He still learned that he should help others even when it means hurting himself.

Then we have the thing in s1 e26 which is, in my opinion, so much worse. Peter is holding up a massive chunk of collapsing building that Hobgoblin just used to try and crush him to death. He feels like he's failing cause Harry wants him dead and he screams out "I'm sorry Uncle Ben" while almost dying. Peter has a flashback to a day he came home from school after falling and losing a race (he looks 8ish). Ben says that, since he got up and kept going, he's a hero in ben's book and that peter probably inspired someone else. Current Peter uses that memory as motivation and says "I have to be the hero you saw in me. I have to be Spider-Man."

I can not stress this enough, Ben was talking about GETTING UP AFTER TRIPPING IN A LITTLE KID RACE and Peter took that as "I have to save everyone from being crushed to death then go after Hobgoblin aka my best friend who just tried to kill me because heroes don't give up."

Peter isn't twisting Ben's messages to justify doing bad stuff, he is pushing them to the extreme out of guilt over Ben dying. I really don't think Ben ever meant for Peter to push himself this far and frankly I don't think there's anything he could've done or said to stop that from happening.

[avenueblob]

Uh

hi

Apologies that I haven't been here in awhile lol. This is very specifically my Spiderman 2017 blog and that hyperfixation has temporarily died out. If you want to hear me yapping in general my main blog is @shoalofglassfish

[avenueblob]

Otto: get out of my house

Peter: I am literally just sitting here

Otto: I have an important video call in an hour and I do not need you to ruin it

Peter: I wouldn't do that!

Otto: maybe not intentionally but it would happen none the less

Peter: why do you have so little faith in me

Otto: i have lived all your memories. I have the correct amount of faith

Peter: okay that was not necessary-

Otto; leave or I'm getting the bug spray

Peter: fine fine fine you don't have to be so rude

----

Otto on the video call discussing the specifics of him potentially working at Midtown: While I can understand that my criminal past may be a deterrent-

Peter coming in the window: Otto, my close friend and colleague who I entirely trust because you're reformed and a good person now, I need your help with super hero stuff

Otto: *debating murder* Spider-Man I have to request that you-

Peter: I know you're worried about getting the people around you in danger, like say potential students or something I'm just spit balling here, and I know that you won't help unless you're entirely sure it won't put anyone else in danger. I can assure you that won't be an issue

Otto: excuse me for a moment *mutes the call and turns off his video* PARKER WHAT ARE YOU DOING

Peter: helping!

Otto: that was most decidedly not helpful!

Peter: nah I'm pretty sure it was

Otto: I am going to return to villainy solely so that I can throw cars at you

[avenueblob]

Happy National Electronic Greetings Day.

Do yall think that Peter sometimes texts Uncle Ben's phone number? Peter knows Ben is dead, obviously, but he misses his uncle. Texting him random updates and reminding him of stories is a good a way to grieve as any.

Peter doesn't put any information there that he wouldn't want May to find. He knows that she might go through Ben's phone at some point and doesn't want her to see that Peter is Spider-Man so when he vents he doesn't get specific. It's still helpful. It's just...it's just nice to pretend he can talk to his uncle again. Even though Peter knows he'll never respond.

One day Peter is going through Ben's phone to find some old photos and he gets a text. It's not exactly a happy message and it's formatted more like an email. When Peter clicks on it he sees a LOT of messages from that unknown number.

Peter starts reading through them, out of curiosity more than anything, and eventually he's really weirded out. This person is talking like they know Ben well, referencing stories that only Peter Ben and May know, and it's weird.

It finally clicks in Peter's brain that it's Otto. The unknown number is Otto doing what Peter has been doing. Texting their uncle because he's gone but they both still miss him.

Peter keeps reading the texts (is that crossing a boundary? yes, but Otto stole Peter's body/memories, these two never had and will never have normal boundaries). He finishes then goes back and looks at the text Otto just sent, the one that made Peter look at all this, and it...it's so different knowing it's Otto.

Peter gets the photos he was looking for. He prints out extras. He prints out extras of photos he already had, photos of Ben and May. Peter grabs a bottle of Ben's old cologne (Ben always bought in bulk after the holidays, when it was on sale so they could get it for cheap; well, cheaper, it wasn't expensive to begin with). Peter grabs one of Ben's scarves and writes down some of May's recipes from the official Parker cookbook (it's not very official, they just call it that, the recipes in there are for family only).

Peter drops the stuff off at the Spiders Nest when Otto isn't there. Peter doesn't know how to have that conversation, the one they had at the graveyard was hard enough, but Peter...

Peter doesn't like that Otto lives at the Spiders Nest. Hasn't liked it since he learned about it. Knowing that Otto has been texting Ben just like Peter has, has been missing him just like Peter has, and Otto can't even go up to Ben's old room? He can't go talk about Ben with May? Otto's grieving alone, entirely alone, because the love he got was second hand but the grief hurts all the same. Peter doesn't want that and he doesn't really know how to fix it.

Peter leaves Otto the box of stuff. Peter decides he's going to find a way to introduce Otto to Aunt May, as a friend, as anything, because Ben is gone, It's Peter's fault and he will never be able to fix that. But May is still alive and Peter will make sure Otto gets his aunt back.

[avenueblob]

Guess who can officiate marriages!

[gravitytrips]

Alright I'm curious: what is your favorite version of Otto and why?

(if you can't pick one that's more than totally fine, I can't either XD)

Ok I love most, if not all versions of him, but the Spider-Man 2 version of him is so near and dear to my heart. Alfred Molina Doc Ock my beloved. His design is so good and they picked a flawless actor for the role. I just love him so much.

I'm also gonna do my favorite animated Doc Ock because I cannot be expected to only have one favorite. 90s show Doc Ock is soooooo good. The design (very nineties), the voice (why did we not ever see German Octavius ever again?? he was so cool...), and just... IDK. The general way that he was. It was all so excellent. There was also the fact that (I'm pretty sure) he was the first Otto Octavius to have some kind of connection to Peter before Spider-Man. A lot of people think that them having a prior connection dampens their intended dynamic but.... I think it just creates a new one. One I really like.

but yeah I like to chomp on any version of him I can find they're all special to me

[avenueblob]

I gotta go rewatch the 90s show solely for Otto cause i barely remember him but I absolutely agree that Spider-Man 2s Doc Ock was fantastic

[avenueblob]

Alright dynamic I've never seen anyone talk about so I'm going to because I can: Otto and Anya

I whole heartedly believe that they should've been friends. They don't interact in canon one on one the entire show but still. They are so damn similar and we never addressed that! And it drives me bonkers!

Otto and Anya are both incredibly intelligent. I don't think Anya is quite as smart as Otto but that is a ridiculously high goal. She is still genuinely so smart, she's easily the smartest out of the Cluster/Spider-Team (in my opinion at least).

Anya is also very blunt and rude and holds grudges just like Otto does. She dislikes Peter for at least one season over the time he broke one of her machines (a machine that was actively on fire that he had to break to save everyone). That's entirely unreasonable and SUCH an Otto Octavius move. Don't get me wrong her and Peter were still friends/friendly with each other but she brought that up constantly.

Anya is very frank with the fact that she's smarter than other people. I don't want to say arrogant because she doesn't have an overly inflated ego but Anya is still very blunt with the fact that she is better than her peers. Again, very Otto thing to do.

Anya makes snap judgements about people and she is not quick to change them. Again Otto thing.

Actually, more specifically, both Otto and Anya firmly think Peter isn't smart because he's flaky. They have INCREDIBLY similar reactions to Peter's existence in s1. It takes a lot for the two of them to get over that. They both seem to believe that if you don't do well it's because you're not smart/you can't learn and totally ignore any other outside problems (ex: being spider-man, but even normal stuff like having a bad day or being tired).

Anya puts her future over heroics/other people and isn't apologetic for it. That's complicated and another post, don't get me wrong she is eventually a hero, but for a solid year she ignored her powers and even when she DOES start being a hero her career/future comes first. Which is fine/a good thing she's 16 she doesn't need to be destroying herself as a hero but it's worth mentioning that when given powers her first thought was "okay I'm ignoring these to focus on my career". That's her main priority, not other people

There's more but short version: Anya and Otto are very similar. Their main difference is that Anya had friends growing up and Otto didn't.

Oh and Anya wasn't abused which definitely helped.

Anya had Gwen and Miles and Harry and Peter and other friends at Horizon. She had a family who loved her. She had a school where she was allowed-encouraged!-to do well. She grew up safe.

Otto didn't get any of that.

Listen I don't think they'd be besties but I think they would've had a very interesting dynamic if we had been allowed to explore it. They are really similar and I think their friendship would've been really fun.

[avenueblob]

Kay concept: Jackal mind controlling Spider-Man into doing crimes and Otto having to talk Peter out of the mind control

The finale of s1 was Doc Ock mind controlling Spider-Man into crimes and Harry having to get through to Peter. Otto got the mind control tech from Jackal (that's always been his area of expertise) so Jackal would definitely have the ability to pull this off. I assume he'd do it to the other spiders as well but Otto would definitely be focused on Peter.

I like the idea of Otto trying to get through to Peter while being so heavily reminded that he Did This. Knowing that he used to be a villain, it was so much easier to be a villain, but he's committed to this now. He's committed to being a hero.

Otto gets through to Peter by reminding Peter that this isn't what their Uncle Ben wanted for them

[avenueblob]

Peter leaning against a tree, holding his very bruised ribs and trying to catch his breath: I can not be-leaf this is happening

Spot, who teleported the both of them to some random forest: oh stop it with the puns

Peter dodging yet another attack: like you'll do anything about it, you're all bark no bite

Spot: Your broken nose would say otherwise

Peter: *tries to punch Spot but Spot just portals away* Guess I should've known that woodn't work

Spot shoving Peter from behind: are you always this chatty

Peter: Aren't you having tree-mendous time? My jokes are unbe-leaf-able

Spot: you used that one already

Peter: it's hard to come up with ribbet-ing jokes when you have a concussion

Spot: what does that one have to do with anything

Peter: there's probably frogs somewhere around here. Don't worry, my next pun will leave you pine-ing for more. Get it, like pine trees? Guess it was a bit sappy

Spot: *ignores him and keeps trying to punch Peter in the face*

Peter: can't you leave me alone, it's national personal space day

Spot: and why would I care about that?

Peter: uh, cause you're supposed to give people personal space? it's in the name

Spot: I'd rather not

Peter: *rushes forward and hits Spot in the face, sending him flying backwards into a tree* please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be-okay good you have a pulse I was really rooting for you

Peter: get it, rooting like trees have roots?

Peter: you'd be laughing if you were conscious

[avenueblob]

Happy National Electronic Greetings Day.

Do yall think that Peter sometimes texts Uncle Ben's phone number? Peter knows Ben is dead, obviously, but he misses his uncle. Texting him random updates and reminding him of stories is a good a way to grieve as any.

Peter doesn't put any information there that he wouldn't want May to find. He knows that she might go through Ben's phone at some point and doesn't want her to see that Peter is Spider-Man so when he vents he doesn't get specific. It's still helpful. It's just...it's just nice to pretend he can talk to his uncle again. Even though Peter knows he'll never respond.

One day Peter is going through Ben's phone to find some old photos and he gets a text. It's not exactly a happy message and it's formatted more like an email. When Peter clicks on it he sees a LOT of messages from that unknown number.

Peter starts reading through them, out of curiosity more than anything, and eventually he's really weirded out. This person is talking like they know Ben well, referencing stories that only Peter Ben and May know, and it's weird.

It finally clicks in Peter's brain that it's Otto. The unknown number is Otto doing what Peter has been doing. Texting their uncle because he's gone but they both still miss him.

Peter keeps reading the texts (is that crossing a boundary? yes, but Otto stole Peter's body/memories, these two never had and will never have normal boundaries). He finishes then goes back and looks at the text Otto just sent, the one that made Peter look at all this, and it...it's so different knowing it's Otto.

Peter gets the photos he was looking for. He prints out extras. He prints out extras of photos he already had, photos of Ben and May. Peter grabs a bottle of Ben's old cologne (Ben always bought in bulk after the holidays, when it was on sale so they could get it for cheap; well, cheaper, it wasn't expensive to begin with). Peter grabs one of Ben's scarves and writes down some of May's recipes from the official Parker cookbook (it's not very official, they just call it that, the recipes in there are for family only).

Peter drops the stuff off at the Spiders Nest when Otto isn't there. Peter doesn't know how to have that conversation, the one they had at the graveyard was hard enough, but Peter...

Peter doesn't like that Otto lives at the Spiders Nest. Hasn't liked it since he learned about it. Knowing that Otto has been texting Ben just like Peter has, has been missing him just like Peter has, and Otto can't even go up to Ben's old room? He can't go talk about Ben with May? Otto's grieving alone, entirely alone, because the love he got was second hand but the grief hurts all the same. Peter doesn't want that and he doesn't really know how to fix it.

Peter leaves Otto the box of stuff. Peter decides he's going to find a way to introduce Otto to Aunt May, as a friend, as anything, because Ben is gone, It's Peter's fault and he will never be able to fix that. But May is still alive and Peter will make sure Otto gets his aunt back.