[IC CONTACT]

[photophobic]

You should know where to find me.
But if you leave a message here, I will see it.

Comments

[photophobic]

[it's certainly late enough that Kylo's already in his PJs and about to settle in for a comfortable evening of scoffing at The Bachelor with his extremely significant other...]

Approaching in the dark might be unwise.

[made_up_names]

yyyyyeah okay thats. fair.
and tomorrow i have school i guess
saturday morning?

[photophobic]

Of course. I wouldn't want to distract you from your studies.

[made_up_names]

well
"""""studies"""""
probably trying to be a normal student was a mistake

[photophobic]

[Someone has never been a normal student at a normal school and is both bitter and smug about it at the same time.]

Having difficulty sticking to the syllabus?

[Yep.]

[made_up_names]

it. look. i forgot how boring all this was
and why i even wanted to go back to school to begin with

[photophobic]

Perhaps you simply did what you knew was expected of you.
It's never enough.

[made_up_names]

[ Ah. Well. There's a sensitive topic. ]

i already know im not good at what im supposed to be doing so
whatever

[photophobic]

[Isn't it just.]

Then maybe it isn't what you're supposed to be doing.

[made_up_names]

im pretty sure it is, though
and im also pretty sure i dont have a choice any more

[photophobic]

[...well. That sounds... horribly familiar.]

Whatever your life was, before arriving here. Whatever you did. Whatever was asked or expected of you. Whatever you were still carrying of the past.

You choose how much of it you bring with you.

[made_up_names]

[ That's ... not bad advice? Who is he talking to again? Oh right, Kylo Ren. ]

huh
i guess youre right about that
i mean, i feel obligated, but its not like i am obligated?

[ Given the overwhelming number of superheroes versus ... well. The state his world is in now. ]

[photophobic]

Obligated to what. To whom.
You have a new existence, here. It's yours to do with as you choose.

You can choose to be what you were. If you want. You can spend your time here trying to recover as much of your old life as you can pull together. You can search for fragments of the familiar and tie yourself to them. But make no mistake, Peter. You have that choice.

[made_up_names]

[ What a strange thought that is. Kylo's not wrong - Peter does have a choice here. He could pretend to just be a sticky guy forever, and never don Spider-Man's mask again. And the fact that that thought doesn't feel right doesn't mean it isn't still a choice on some level. Mysterio would probably be thrilled if he hung up the cowl. Hell, he knows that bastard would love it. ]

i think
thats not a choice im gonna make in one night
also theres this asshole from home making it complicated so

[photophobic]

Perhaps it isn't a choice you only make once.

As for assholes from home. [Yes. He delights in parroting back phrases that definitely do not belong to him.] You have my sympathy. I think you've already encountered the majority of my complications.

[made_up_names]

[ Oh yeah, he kind of did, didn't he. Poe and Leia and Luke sure would be kind of upsetting, wouldn't they. He ... wisely decides not to say anything specific about that. ]

how do you deal with them?
like do you ignore them or do you try to live with them?

[photophobic]

That depends on how they decide to deal with me.

[made_up_names]

oh
thats
yeah okay, thats fair

[photophobic]

Most of them aren't the people I remember, yet. Many of them come from a time before I was born.

It makes for interesting Thanksgiving dinner conversation.

[made_up_names]

[ Oh god. Peter is so glad this is over text because he just bursts out laughing. Thanksgiving dinner with Kylo Ren and his original trilogy mom and uncle ... yeah. That's a hell of a mental image. ]

oh
so like they didnt recognize you or anything?

[photophobic]

I considered concealing my identity or avoiding all contact with them. But ultimately my presence in the Force would have betrayed me. Even if I was a stranger to them, I knew who they were. What they had done, what they would do. It would have been impossible to contain— and for what benefit? No. I choose the truth.

There had also been another Kylo Ren in this reality before I arrived. I didn't have to make introductions to any of them who had met him.

[made_up_names]

[ Jedi and/or Sith-adjacent, right. No hiding in that case. And ... well, the other thing. ]

yeah
me too
not the "time travelers are here" thing but like
there was another version version of me and another version of one of the people i was closest to back home
which is a long way of saying i think i get it

[photophobic]

Was he here for long? Your alternate self.
Mine doesn't appear to have left much of an impact.

[made_up_names]

years, apparently
there's a ton of posts on the comm
ditto for my mentor

[ And one post in particular with a video of his mentor trying to kill him. Which is. Awesome. ]

[photophobic]

Unpleasant. To find yourself with such an easily accessible comparison.