When was the last time you wrote something you were really excited about?

It's a rhetorical question, but feel free to answer in comments. :)

I'm really jazzed about the Peter/Felicia BND story. It's one that I could really only tell using BND as a plot element, because there's a Peter/Felicia/Mary-Jane love triangle and no one is the bad guy (admittedly, you could get the same thing by setting it before Peter and MJ's marriage, but this way is more interesting). Peter's not cheating on anyone and Felicia isn't 'the other woman'. Nor is MJ some shrieking harpy to drive Peter into the arms of Johnny Matt Felicia (as if I'd write that in a million years!). It was a horror to write at times (banter's fun, but striking that fine balance between advancing the plot and enough characterization to make it clear Peter and Felicia's relationship isn't just a fling...), but it ends up being a goddamn story and I love it like a firstborn.

I know just sounds like me tooting my own horn, but I just wanted to get across a few things. First, and least important, I did cheat a little and specify from the get-go that everyone who knew Spider-Man's identity before CW still knows it. To be fair, if Marvel's going to wait a year to spell out the new status quo (and still hasn't gotten done fully explaining everything, not in a "ooh, mystery!" way but in a "how the fuck does this make any sense at all!" way), I don't feel any need to abide by it after the fact.

Second, this isn't so much a BND story as it is a Spider-Man story. You don't have to have followed BND to get it (I know I haven't). None of the new supporting cast rates a mention and only a few references are made to ASM plots. It's designed for the audience who's outraged over BND and is mostly familiar with the storyline by Scans_Daily or internet rants. BND is only a jumping-off point.

And second, it's almost as much a Peter/MJ story as it is a Peter/Felicia one. Peter's relationship with Mary-Jane is always the elephant in the corner on several levels: him still having feelings for her, the marriage he can't remember, the metafictional expectation that he 'belongs' with Mary-Jane. It takes advantage of BND to delve into the only real story I can see springing from OMD, one that isn't just a retread of "Peter's dating someone but she can't know he's Spider-Man oh noes!" It's not Peter rolling off Felicia and saying "you're so much better than MJ!" It's a complicated, no-win scenario where there's no right answer, people get hurt, and there's no reset button to make everything better. And it's how Peter and Felicia would make a relationship work in a world where she's registered and he's a rebel.

So, if you're a Spider-Man fan and a Peter/MJ shipper and you're staying away because you think the story is going to be bashing MJ... it's not about ship wars. It's about actions having consequences and taking responsibility for your actions and, this is the really fun bit, Peter growing as a character from man-child into hero. And, admit it, you know you thought "what would Peter's life be like if he weren't in a committed relationship with Mary-Jane? He'd be in a committed relationship with someone else."

This is what it would look like.

What's up with me

So, a few days ago, my cat Punk is having troubles. Like, bad troubles. He's mewling really painfully, he can't walk in a straight line, he's drooling this weird mucus... it's almost like he's had some sort of stroke. I take him inside to the garage and pet him, which seems to help... he mewls less, at least.

Punk used to be an outdoor cat, in his youth. He'd come in occasionally, but the Venn diagram of his life and mine had a fingernail clipping in the middle. But for the last year or so, as he gets on in years, he's become almost a housecat. There's a wingback chair upstairs he loves to curl up on when he goes to sleep, and it's become his habit so much that there's a permanent orange fur imprint on the cushion. He likes to be petted, he's making an effort to get rid of the burs and tangles in his fur that made him a feral displeasure to stroke, and he often rubs up against my leg. It's quite a transformation, from the feline aloofness to a fond sort of friendship.

I left Punk to my little sister and Googled cat strokes. The symptoms weren't one-for-one with Punk, but it said to call a vet immediately. So I'm looking for a vet that has an emergency clinic open at this hour (it's late) and suddenly Punk walks right out of the garage and wants to go out. Not stumbling, not mewling, just perfectly natural. My sister reports that he farted.

My cat had indigestion and, I can only assume, performed a feline version of "I'M COMING ELIZABETH!" as he regretted getting into whatever rotten tuna he had found.